How They Met (and other calamities)
Chapter 2: Riku/Namine
The real story: (submitted by Abbey Sian on Facebook) One of my friends was on a ride at Alton Towers with her friends but only she wanted to go on the ride therefore she just went through the single rider thingy. Anyways she sits down next to this boy who was 'very hot' and as the ride started she got so scared so he held her hand to try and calm her nerves. Then after the ride she felt extremely dizzy and ended up throwing up on his shirt... well that's how they've now being dating for almost 8 months now omg
Namine loved roller coasters.
Whenever she mentioned that fact to people who didn't know her, they all seemed shocked. They pictured adrenaline junkies as teenage guys who used it as an alternative to getting high, instead of tiny blonde girls who spent more time in a sketchbook than in the real world. But she was that friend who dragged everyone else to amusement parks at least once a month, and rode all the rides till her friends began to whine and the park speakers blared closing times.
She had a checklist tucked into the back of her journal of all of the places that held roller coasters, whether it be in America or China. The list was covered with various colors of ink, the words detailing when she would go, who she would bring, or if she had already conquered it, how it was. Namine had been to the typical Disney World and Six Flags parks time and time again, and her family vacations consisted of her begging to get away to check another rollercoaster off of her list. Her parents put up with it when she was a kid, but as she grew, it began to become a hassle. So she dragged her friends along, who were at first shocked to see her come out of her shell. But soon, they most likely began to wish she would go back into it.
When Namine graduated, she took a gap year before college. Her best friends Kairi and Xion accompanied her on her road trips around the United States for six months, until they finally saved up enough for tickets to England. There, they backpacked around Europe for another month, and visited every coaster they could find.
It was their last week in Europe before heading home, and Kairi had surprised them all with tickets to Alton Towers, a resort in Staffordshire. For four days, the girls stayed in a Motel 6 outside of the place and were up at the crack of dawn to get in. Resorts weren't really their normal style, but Namine and Xion couldn't stop thanking Kairi when they saw the spas, waterparks, and theme parks that were all included. They spent a day at the spa, two at the waterpark, and another two at the theme park. While they were all fun, none of them were nearly as eventful as some of their other endeavors (nothing like forgetting to buckle your safety belt all the way in before going on an upside down ride to show you what terror was).
That is, until the very last day.
Kairi and Xion were exhausted. It was nearly ten o clock, and Namine wasn't running out of steam. Even after they had ridden nearly every ride, she kept going, dragging them along with her. Finally, they reached the very last one, something called "The Oblivion".
The Oblivion was one of the many rollercoasters on Namine's list that she was determined to conquer. This particular one was advertised as a complete 200 feet vertical drop, and as the blonde looked at it through the fence, she could tell that the website wasn't lying.
"That is so stupid!" Kairi said next to her. "Seriously, why would you choose to drop straight down that far?"
Xion grinned cheekily. "Have you met us, Kairi? Because it's fun!"
"So, you'll be going on it with me, Xion?" Namine asked, raising an eyebrow.
The blackette backed away. "Um, how about no. I may be an adrenaline seeker," she said, flipping her hair back, "But I'm not stupid. You're kind of encouraging the dumb blonde stereotype right now, Nams."
Namine rolled her eyes. "Chickens. I'm going, and you can't stop me!" she said, walking towards the entrance.
"Trust me, we want to get this on film!" Kairi called after her, laughing.
As Namine made her way through the single riders line, she tried to ignore all of the terrified screams coming from above her. As typical of many rides, along the line barriers were signs designed to scare her. Some simply read "Turn back now!" but others detailed all of the horrible things that could happen if things went wrong. What kind of sicko designed this place?!
Don't look at those, Namine. Just look around you. Not at those stupid signs. I've ridden practically every ride ever, why is this one messing with me?
She took her own advice and glanced around at what would be her fellow riders. A middle aged man stood with two young teenagers, both of which looked excited. The man just looked bored. A woman who looked to be in her late twenties was looking at her phone, and-
Woah.
Now, you have to understand that Namine was anything but boy crazy. Unlike her two friends, she didn't gush over every hot guy they had met over the course of their travels who was just looking to hook up. She had only had one boyfriend, who stayed with her for six months in junior year before cheating on her with a college girl. Romance was kind of ruined for her after that.
But this guy was downright Kairi-and-Xion-freaking-out-because-of-him hot. Somehow, he made silver hair look good. He was built, but not in a "Yeah, I work out every day. Wanna see?" way, and was at least a head and a half taller than her. He couldn't have been more than 20. And even in the dim lighting provided by the cheap streetlamps at the park, his eyes were obviously an aquamarine color that she wanted to capture in a drawing. She had never seen irises that color before. Heck, she'd never seen that shade in her life.
He stopped gazing up at the ride and locked eyes with her, and when he gave her a smile it made her want to…well, if she were Kairi, she'd say jump him. But because she was Namine, she was very tempted to go over and do things like ask his name and get to know him.
She glanced away from him before he could tell she was staring.
The line made its way forward, till eventually, Namine was standing next to him, waiting for the next car. She was busy pointedly not looking at him and trying to keep a blush off of her face whenever he accidentally brushed against her until he, lo and behold, actually spoke.
"Scared?"
Gulp. "Um, excuse me?"
He gave her that grin again. "I asked if you were scared. You don't really strike me as a nervous rider, for some reason, but you've been tapping your foot and playing with the bottom of your shirt for about five minutes straight now."
Oops. Was it that obvious? "Um…I mean, a little. I love roller coasters, you don't even know, but this one has me a little nervous. It's been on my list forever, and now that I'm actually about to ride it…" Wait, did she just mention her list? Gosh, she was so dorky.
He picked up on the phrase with a confused look in his blue-green eyes. "List?"
She blushed. "Yeah. I kind of have a list of rollercoasters I want to ride. I told you, I love them."
"So, where are you from, then? You don't have an accent, so you must have come a while to get here," he questioned.
"I did. I took a gap year with my best friends, and we've been traveling around Europe for a few months before I head back to Illinois," she answered. Noticing his deep voice held no trace of an accent, she added, "You don't seem to be from around here either. Are you?"
"No, I'm not. Wait, you're from Illinois? Which part?" he asked.
"Chicago. Why?" Oh gosh, if he said he was from around there…
He grinned. "You've got to be kidding me. Me too! I'm just here because my aunt lives around here, and my niece has been showing me the place. But she didn't want to come on this ride."
Okay, Namine, breathe. Nothing major, just a super hot guy chatting you up and showing interest and who happens to live in the same freaking city as you even though you're thousands of miles away from said city. "That's awesome! Yeah, my friends were too chicken as we-"
Her words were cut off by the sound of the employee unhooking the gate to get into the ride's car. "Oh gosh." Suddenly, Namine's stomach lurched. She felt like she wanted to get as far away from here as possible.
The silver haired boy offered his hand in a mock serious manner. "Not going to chicken out, are you? Now, watch your step," he said, as he stepped into the row of seats. She reluctantly followed behind, and after sitting down and buckling in, she looked over at him.
"You're really going to make me do this?" she sighed.
"Yep!" The boy grinned. "Trust me, it'll be fun. Here, do you want to hold my hand?"
She rolled her eyes, and grabbed his hand as she tried not to freak out. Seriously, what was happening to her? She was scared of a roller coaster and holding some random guy's hand?
The loudspeakers crackled overhead. "And, here we gooooo!" The rollercoaster began its ascent straight up hundreds of feet in the air. No worries. Just a drop. Just a drop.
She looked over to see aquamarine eyes looking at her with worry. "Are you going to be alright? You have a very strong grip right now."
Namine relaxed her hand, embarrassed. "I'll be fine. Just another checkoff on the list, right?"
He nodded with a smile. "Right."
He suddenly looked away, his smile disappearing in a heartbeat. "Holy sh-"
His words were cut off by the sound of air rushing by at 100 miles an hour as the ride flat out dropped. Namine gritted her teeth and just tried to tell herself it would be over soon, all while gripping the boy's hand like her life depended on it.
The ride continued in loops and twists, all designed to make the rider as nauseous as possible. Which it was doing very effectively. I swear, if I throw up…
Thankfully, after way too long, the ride came to a screeching halt. Namine let out a long exhale…
Before throwing up.
All over the guy she had been holding hands with.
Gosh darn it.
"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh-" She panicked; why did she have to mess up everything?!
The guy at first looked stunned, then disgusted, and then…
He laughed.
He couldn't stop laughing, even while the employees tried to talk to him, handing him a wet towel to wipe himself off with, even while she sat there with a WTF look on her face.
Finally, he winded down, chuckling, and smiled at her. "What an ending to a ride, huh?"
"I'm so sor-"
"Hey, don't worry about it. It's not every day I meet pretty girls who love rollercoasters and are willing to go on one that scares the living daylights out of her," he told her. "Seriously, it's okay."
She exhaled. "Well, now that I've thrown up on you, can I at least get your name?"
"Oh, yeah." He held out a hand to her as they got up from the ride, now puke-free. "I'm Riku."
She shook his hand with a smile. "Namine."
"Well, nice to meet you, Namine. Since we're now pretty much old friends, how about dinner before we both head back to Chicago?" Riku asked.
"As long as we don't go on any rollercoasters afterwards."
Tada! The second installment. Hope you guys enjoyed! I actually did my research on this one; both the park and ride are very real. d=
If you did enjoy, please follow, favorite, and review! I didn't get any of those last time, which stunk, but hey, it can only get better from here!
-Audrey