Chapter 17: Ride With Me

SEBASTIAN

The following Saturday, Sebastian got his secret wish for the Abrams kids to hang around Lima for the weekend since their dad's baseball team was playing out of state. Griffin, Artie, and Ella were staying back home instead of going to Akron for their weekly visit, and after an eventful first week at work, Sebastian desperately needed some quality time spent with his siblings.

After waking up and making himself a cup of coffee in the Keurig machine, he'd gone off to find Artie and see what he was up to– his usual morning routine these days.

He pushed open Artie's door without warning and found him sitting on the edge of his bed, one leg resting on top of the other as he worked his foot into his shoe. Artie looked up at him briefly before returning his attention to the task at hand. "Hi…"

Even though Sebastian had been the one to initiate this interaction, he still considered it to be too early in the morning to really converse with anyone. For that reason, he just silently continued into Artie's room, setting his coffee mug on one of Artie's bedside tables before flopping onto his back on the other side of Artie's queen-sized bed.

Artie immediately dropped his hands to the mattress on either side of him to steady himself as his six-foot-two step-brother jostled the surface he was sitting on so abruptly. "What do you want?" was Artie's second attempt at making conversation with him, revisiting the task of putting on his shoes as soon as he regained his balance.

"What do you have going on this morning?" Sebastian presented Artie with a new question instead of answering the one he'd asked. "Wanna, like, play Xbox or something? We haven't done that in a while."

Artie shrugged before nodding. "Sure, I guess so." He reached for his chair and transferred into it so that he could go turn on his gaming system on the other side of the room and retrieve the controllers, as Sebastian remained lazily in place on the bed.

"Call of Duty is in here already," Artie told him. "Is that cool with you?"

Sebastian nodded. He hadn't played that one in a while, since whenever he and Artie had the chance to hang out and game together, they usually went for Halo on the PlayStation. This was going to be a welcomed change.

Artie– always player one– got them set up before making his way back to join Seb on the bed.

"You struggling a little bit?" Sebastian teased, mostly paying attention to his own side of the screen, but keeping a close eye on Artie's point of view too. He knew that by doing that, it would eventually give him the upper hand in their battle. Up until now, they had played mostly in silence, each concentrating on the task at hand– trying to beat their brother.

"I'm just getting warmed up," Artie insisted, his tone showing that he was a tad annoyed by Sebastian's cocky attitude this early on in their game. "I'm a little out of practice, is all."

"Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say," Sebastian said, continuing to be a pest. Sometimes it was just too easy.

They'd been playing for over an hour by the time Griffin appeared in the doorway.

"Hey," he said, resting his left arm against the door frame and leaning on it. "It's a beautiful day out, and you losers are in here playing video games?"

"Nothing better to do," was Sebastian's minimally-worded response, his eyes still glued to the television, determined to beat Artie in this intense round of their game.

"Not true," Griff replied, stepping further into the room and hoping to get the attention of his brothers, which was difficult to do in their current zombie-like state. "Pause it, will you?" He pleaded, exasperated. "Just for a minute. Hear me out, then I'll let you finish."

Artie relented, hitting the pause button and both boys gave their eldest brother their undivided attention.

"Thank you," he said. "Anyways, I'm planning on seeing Hadley today, but I want to do something fun with her. For once, Ella doesn't have anything going on, so I came in here to see if you guys were busy, and clearly, you're not."

"We are too busy!" Artie argued, pointing lamely at the paused screen again. "We're in combat!"

"Listen to me," Griffin continued, ignoring Artie's objections. "I have an idea. Cedar Point."

"Like, the amusement park?" Sebastian clarified, not knowing what else Griff could be talking about. He set down his controller and sat up a little bit straighter on Artie's bed, suddenly very interested in what Griffin had to say.

The older guy nodded. "Yup."

"Isn't that a little far?" Artie asked, always the guy thinking ahead to the logistics of a situation before he committed to anything. To Sebastian, that seemed exhausting. "That's, like, two hours each way. And it's already eleven o'clock."

"There's still a lot of the day left," Griffin pointed out. "Come on, it'll be fun. Ella's on board, and Hadley said she'll meet us there."

"I'm in," Sebastian told him. He'd never been to Cedar Point before. His dad had never been a huge theme park guy, so they'd never made the trip up there. He'd also only met Griffin's girlfriend once– briefly, at the wedding– so this sounded like a pretty fun plan.

"Art?"

Both Sebastian and Griffin were looking at him expectantly, waiting for the final piece of their sibling puzzle to give them his answer.

Artie shook his head. "Nah. I'll stay back. I have some application deadlines to double-check, and I might see if Mom needs any help running errands and stuff."

Griffin may have been prepared to accept this for an answer, but Sebastian sure wasn't. "Oh, come on Artie, it'll be fun," he whined. "You can't put those applications to rest for one day? That's all you've been doing lately. You have all summer to worry about that stuff."

Artie just shrugged, unbothered. "Why push it off if I can get it done now? But you guys should go! I want to hear all about it when you get back."

Seb didn't reply, he just looked long and hard at Artie, hoping that the expression on his face would change Artie's mind. It didn't.

It was hard for Sebastian, in that instance, not to think back to the family trip they'd taken to Aruba for spring break. It was impossible not to have noticed the way that Artie would rather stay away altogether than have others worrying about accommodating him. Artie had confided in him once about how he worried so much about being a burden to his friends and family members that he'd sooner bow out of an experience than put his loved ones in a position that prevented them from doing something they would have otherwise enjoyed with their able bodies.

Sebastian didn't know how to convince Artie that nobody felt that way toward him– especially not his siblings. They'd told him that on numerous occasions, but he never seemed to believe them. Artie's fear that people would someday resent him for needing some extra help now and then was completely unfounded in Sebastian's eyes. He knew that this was some internalized insecurity (Artie had given the phenomenon a proper name once, but Sebastian couldn't remember it) that Artie needed to work through on his own, but it still resulted in a queasy feeling in Sebastian's stomach.

"Well, that's okay," Griffin told Artie as he clapped him on the shoulder, not pushing back against his decision as Sebastian had. "Next time, then." Artie nodded, and the feeling of unsettlement continued to pulse through Seb's insides.

"Ella and I were thinking of leaving here in about forty-five minutes. Think you can be ready by then?" Griffin asked Sebastian. "After you finish this game of Black Ops, I mean."

"Yeah, that sounds good," Sebastian replied, and Griffin turned to leave Artie's room and go get ready himself.

When he was gone, Artie pressed the button to resume their game as if Griffin hadn't come in there at all, but Sebastian could hardly concentrate on crushing Artie in the game. He was thrown.

"Look who's struggling now!" Artie poked fun at him the way he'd done to Artie earlier. When Artie's character killed his, Sebastian turned his attention to his step-brother once more.

"You know, if there's something you're worried about that's making you not want to come with us today, you can tell me," Sebastian said gently. He was treading lightly on this conversation topic– he wanted Artie to know and see that he really wanted him to come along on the day spent with the other siblings, but he also knew that it could be a bit of a delicate subject. He wanted to be respectful. "I have no problem giving you a lift or whatever."

Artie just shook his head again. "No, I'm fine. I just have a lot to do. That, and it's a little too hot out there for me today. I might go for a swim later on. Have you looked at the forecast? It's supposed to be close to ninety degrees!"

Sebastian was able to see through Artie's façade quite easily– especially once he started babbling and changed the subject a little bit to take the focus away from himself. Seb knew that, deep down, Artie wanted to come with them. Or, at least, that he would have come if there were no barriers in his way. He was adamant about not wanting to ruin anyone's fun by having everyone worrying about him, whether it be focusing on keeping him cool in the blazing July sun to prevent him from overheating, to– Sebastian guessed– helping him out when needed with some of the trickier transfers onto the rides. Sebastian knew better than to really argue with Artie about something like this, as he knew it could be a bit of a touchy subject.

"Alright," he said, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Well… we'll miss you today."

"There's no need to make a big deal about it," Artie teased him, shrugging.

Seb remembered what Artie had said once about other people being more affected by his situation and his chair than he was. Sebastian realized how it was awfully strange that the task of consoling those other people seemed to fall back into Artie's lap. Was Sebastian being one of those people now, he wondered? Was he making Artie feel badly? Awkwardly? Was he using Artie's situation to throw himself a pity party?

"When I finish everything I want to get done today, I'll call Quinn," Artie told him, snapping him out of his thoughts. "We'll take advantage of y'all being out of our hair for the day."

Sebastian was still torn. He really wanted Artie to join them. He just knew that Artie would end up having a lot of fun if he'd just give it a chance. But Artie was also the most stubborn guy he knew.

"I'm good, Seb, really," Artie insisted, seeing the hesitant look on Sebastian's face. "Go get ready."

"Alright." Sebastian nodded, standing up and handing Artie back the second controller. "If you're sure."

…

"It's moments like these that I wish Artie was here," Griffin said, wiping sweat off of his brow before crossing his arms over his chest as they waited in line for Maverick– one of the most popular rollercoasters at the park, hence the super long line. "Then we could use that pass that Guest Services gives him and skip the line."

"Not to mention we'd be in the shade," Ella added. "This sucks."

Artie had been right when he'd told them to check the weather for the day– there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and having the hot mid-summer sun beating down on them while they waited in the long line was anything but ideal. A slight breeze was blowing off of Lake Erie, but it wasn't nearly enough to cool them down. They'd only been at the park for an hour, and they were already starting to get miserable.

"We could play a game to pass the time," Hadley suggested brightly.

Griffin's girlfriend Hadley was turning out to be pretty cool, Sebastian had concluded. She was wearing a white tank top and a matching white tennis skirt that day, with big black sunglasses and her light blonde hair tied back in a bouncy ponytail. She was pretty and well put-together, Sebastian thought, and he imagined that she was a lot like the 'old version' of Quinn that he'd heard so much about. You know, before the untimely teen pregnancy.

They'd gone ahead and taken Hadley's suggestion, and after several rounds of the alphabet game, they'd made it to the front of the line. The (only, Sebastian was quickly realizing) good part about Artie vetoing the day trip to Sandusky was that they had an even number in their party. This meant that Griff and Hadley could sit together on the rides, Sebastian could sit with Ella, and nobody was left to sit by themselves.

"Are you a big rollercoaster guy?" Ella asked, taking her seat and pulling the protective harness over her head to secure herself in place.

"I… I don't know," Sebastian realized as he sat down beside her. "I haven't been on many. Not since I was a kid."

"Seriously?" His sister raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Sebastian shrugged. He'd been to the Disneyland in Paris once when he was younger, but that was years ago and he wasn't sure that he'd actually ridden any of the big rides. He'd never been to a big park like this one since he'd moved to the States, and this was only the second ride they'd been on that day, thanks to all of the long lines.

The first one– an old-fashioned wooden coaster called Gemini– was nice and gentle. It didn't go upside down, and there were two separate tracks, meaning that two cars full of people went on simultaneously and spent the ride 'racing' each other. It was a cute idea, Sebastian had to give it that. It was the type of coaster that was just thrilling enough– it gave you a pretty good adrenaline rush, but it didn't have the average person holding on for dear life. In fact, Ella, Griffin, and Hadley had even decided not to hold on at all– they stuck their hands in the air and put all of their trust in the seatbelt and lap restraint to keep them from flying away. Sebastian was not that daring. He was perfectly content with holding onto the handles.

"Well, you'll know the answer to that soon enough," Ella told him, just as Maverick lurched to a start.

The first part of the ride was a near-vertical ascent, and the higher they got in the air, the louder Sebastian thought he could hear his heart beating in his ears. No, he realized as they were approaching the top, I don't think I like this at all. Just then, the ride immediately plummeted toward the ground, and Sebastian squeezed his eyes shut, willing the experience to be over already.

From start to finish, the whole ride lasted just over a minute, but to Sebastian, it had felt much longer. The constant twisting from left to right had left his brain spinning, and the way that he was attempting to catch his breath now told him that he'd been unknowingly holding it the entire time.

"How'd you like that?" Ella asked as they were stepping out of the car they'd ridden in when they'd returned to the station. Sebastian stumbled a little bit, even on the level ground, trying to get his bearings.

"I…" Sebastian's voice trailed off as he struggled to find the right words to describe his experience.

His uncharacteristic hesitancy elicited a laugh from Ella as she just gave him a side hug and said, "Yeah, that's what I was expecting. Well, there are still a lot more where that came from, so hang in there, okay?"

After they exited the Maverick ride, the four of them ended up wandering around the paved pathways, in search of their next ride conquest.

"I definitely want to ride Millennium Force today," Griffin stated, pointing in the direction of the massive blue rollercoaster as they came close. "We don't usually get to that one when Artie's here, so we should head there next to make sure that we get a spot in line."

"I love that one!" Hadley squealed, taking Griffin by the hand before skipping off after it, dragging her boyfriend behind her. Sebastian and Ella exchanged a glance and a shrug.

Ella and Sebastian chased after the couple, and as they grew closer, Sebastian paused a moment to glance up and take in this monstrosity of a ride. If the last one had messed with his state of equilibrium, this one was sure to do wonders for him, too. Oh boy.

As they entered the line, Sebastian noticed a big sign listing all of the ride's safety information. A lap bar and seatbelt secures each rider across the thighs and pelvis and must be in firm contact with the pelvis and muscular parts of the thighs. Due to the nature of this ride, guests must have a minimum of three functioning extremities; guests may ride with one leg amputation; amputation must be below the knee. Riders will have to take several steps on their own and be capable of stepping up and over the side of the ride unit. Riders must not use the ride restraints for support while entering and exiting, as they will shift.

As Sebastian scanned the lengthy list of pre-riding safety warnings, it suddenly dawned on him what Griffin had meant when he'd said that the siblings 'didn't usually get to that ride when Artie's here'. What he'd meant was that Artie couldn't ride this one with them, so they usually skip it altogether.

"Hey," Sebastian said to get Ella's attention as they joined the back of the line. "Does Artie usually go on a lot of these rides with you guys? How does that work?"

"Not this one, no," Ella admitted, catching Sebastian's drift. She had seen the big sign with the ride's prerequisites too. "He's never gotten to ride this one. The summer he was finally going to be tall enough to ride it was after the accident. So all of us usually avoid going on it when he's here, in solidarity, which he hates."

"Are a lot of rides here not safe for him?" Sebastian asked.

"Not necessarily," Ella replied. "A lot of the rides here require 'three functioning limbs' to ride, but some are more lenient with that rule than others. They just require him to be more in tune with his body and his balance, which is just a lot more work on his part. Like that Gemini ride we went on earlier, for example."

Sebastian nodded. He could see why Artie had opted not to come along on today's trip. It was very clear now– there were rides that he preferred to or had to sit out on, and he didn't want his siblings to feel like they had to pass over them, too.

"Sometimes he'll go on something like that with us, he may just need to put his stubborn independence aside and let Griffin or someone help him on," she continued. "But, yeah. Places like this are not his favorite."

After seven months of living with someone with a disability, Sebastian's third eye had been opened to see things through Artie's lens. He'd grown a lot more conscious about accessibility, and he was extra conscious today, knowing that Artie would sooner opt out of the fun day altogether than try to work past the issues that the chair poses. It wasn't even just this sign on Millennium Force– he'd also noticed the way that the line for Gemini had climbed a couple of stairs. Upon seeing that, Sebastian had immediately begun to look for a ramp or other alternative way of getting on. There was kind of a janky lift off to the side, and as soon as Sebastian had seen it, he understood Artie's frustration about theme park accessibility. A whole loud, stare-drawing, expensive lift just to get him up four stairs? Wouldn't it just be easier to make the platform accessible in the first place?

Sebastian didn't know what had gotten into him. Why was he worrying so much about Artie, who was not even here, when he can be having fun with the other three who were? The only logical explanation he could come up with was that he supposed that was what having a sibling was all about– being concerned about the happiness and contentment of someone else, even when it had nothing to do with you.

Sebastian knew what Artie would say if he was here. He'd make some sort of movie reference, something like Sebastian being like the Grinch when his heart grows three sizes after he learns to develop empathy and compassion for other people. And then Sebastian would insist that he was nothing like that fictional green creature, and then Artie would smirk before leaving it at that. Sebastian grinned to himself at the thought.

Millennium Force lived up to its reputation and left Sebastian feeling a little lightheaded and queasy. Sebastian wasn't sure he'd ever get used to the strange, stomach-dropping sensation these rides posed. For someone who had just discovered their slight aversion to big, dizzying rollercoasters, by the time they'd exited Millennium Force, Sebastian was in desperate need of a breather before boarding another ride. Lucky for him, he spotted a concessions stand selling fries, soft pretzels, and ice cold lemonade immediately across from the ride's exit.

"Hey, does anyone want to grab some food?" Sebastian asked, gesturing to the snack stand he'd spotted. He was asking for selfish reasons, of course, but he was also sure that the others wouldn't mind taking a break to sit down and refuel either, especially on a day as hot as this one.

"Sure," Griffin replied. "If Hadley and I snag a picnic table, would you and Ella be willing to grab the food?"

That sounded like a pretty good deal to him, so Sebastian and Ella ordered two waters, two lemonades, two pretzels, and two orders of fries (one without ketchup, Sebastian had insisted) from the stand so that they had a variety of options to split between the four of them. Sebastian swiped his dad's Amex card (his first paycheck from the ice cream shop hadn't come in yet), and they loaded everything onto two trays before bringing it all over to the table that Griff and Hadley had claimed.

"Seb and Ella are back now with our food," Griffin said, talking to someone through the screen of his phone. "Here, say hi."

Sebastian had only just sat down next to Griffin on the bench of the picnic table when the other guy handed him his phone. The others immediately began to dig into their food, and it took Sebastian a moment to register what was going on as he accepted the phone from Griff.

"Oh, hey!" Sebastian exclaimed as soon as he saw Artie and Quinn's faces on the screen. Sebastian had been so worried about Artie feeling upset or left out about not being at Cedar Point with them today, but just seeing Artie through FaceTime made Sebastian feel a sense of relief. "What's up with you? Get all of those applications out of the way?"

"Not exactly," Artie confessed with a laugh. "You were right, I have all summer to do that kind of stuff. So, I just called Quinn instead."

"Hi!" Quinn stuck her head in the frame again, reminding everyone that she was there too since the way that Artie was holding his phone nearly cropped her out.

"Griff said you guys tackled Millennium Force," Artie said, doing an exceptional job of masking his negative emotions, if he was feeling any. "How was that?"

"Overhyped," Sebastian replied truthfully. "I'll be okay if I never ride that one again. Too overstimulating." Artie nodded understandingly.

"What are you doing?" Ella asked Artie, peering over Sebastian's shoulder and changing the subject from their day at the park. "Are you inside? I would have thought you'd be swimming on a day like today."

"That was the original plan, but it feels too hot even to do that," Artie replied. "So we opted to stay inside and enjoy the air conditioning."

"Artie, we've missed you today!" Hadley said as Sebastian tilted the phone in a way so that Artie and Quinn could be seen by everyone sitting at the table.

"I know, I've missed you guys, too," Artie told them. "But I can't wait to hear about your day later. Maybe sometime soon we can all take a trip up there and go on some rides," he suggested.

After what Sebastian had heard from Ella, he was pleasantly surprised that Artie was the one to suggest this. He knew that this plan would include Quinn too, which would be fun. Plus, they'd still have an even number of people to go on all of the rides with.

"Alright, Art, that's all," Griffin said, dropping a handful of fries in his mouth. "I just wanted to call and check in. See ya when we get home. Bye, Quinn!"

"Bye!" Quinn and Artie said in unison before Griffin hit the red button to end the call. He set down his phone and immediately went back to being a ravenous college boy, eating all of the food in sight.

To Sebastian, all day had felt like there was a piece of their sibling puzzle that was missing without Artie there with them. His presence was bigger than his stature, and they'd all felt his absence immensely that day. Getting to see him for a quick minute, though– and seeing that he was having fun with Quinn, and not just spending the day alone– made Sebastian feel a lot better.

"What's next?" Griffin asked as they were finishing up their food. "Think you guys can handle, like, one or two more rides before we leave?"

The food and rehydration had done wonders for Sebastian's queasy post-rollercoaster stomach. After sipping the last of his lemonade, he was finally beginning to feel like his typical self again, so Sebastian nodded– surprising himself and the others alike.

"Let's do it!"