As they reach Romeo's house, Casey drops his bag into Romeo's bedroom and they greet his mother out in the backyard where she is hanging clothes on the line.

"So what time does this thing start at Luna Park?" she asks.

Romeo looks at the flyer.

"It says from six and it's open until midnight," Romeo explains.

Mrs. Smith checks her watch and sees the time is just after three thirty.

"Well, you boys' best shake a leg. After I finish with the washing I'll grab my bag and we can go," she informs.

Casey grabs his phone from his bag and checks it has enough charge as Romeo flicks through his wallet making sure he has enough money for his and Casey's admission as well as games and the two teens wait eagerly for Mrs. Smith to be ready.

They make their way down to the main part of Sydney.

"Alright, boys; first things first: some dinner," Mrs. Smith states.

They catch sight of a little store that made its own fresh pasta and go to check it out.

Romeo and Casey both order the pasta and meatballs with parmesan cheese, while Mrs. Smith orders Alfredo.

After they eat their meal they make their way over to Luna Park.

Upon paying their admission fee and entering, Mrs. Smith makes an agreement with the boys on where she will stay whilst the boys go on the rides.

Casey and Romeo widely smile at each other.

"What should we start first?" Casey asks.

The teens eye the Tango train and decide to go on that first, then after that they try the basketball toss game in which Romeo manages to beat Casey by two points however both win a prize; Romeo choosing a packet of sports cards and Casey choosing a slime pack.

Next they both try out the high-striker; Romeo goes first and picks up the large hammer and instantly makes a ding sound.

After selecting a prize of a couple of magic puzzles, it is Casey's turn and like Romeo, Casey manages to score the winning goal and gets to select his prize.

Thinking back to the time Kyle brought home something for him, Casey decides it would be nice to get Kyle something and after selecting a woodpecker that taps down a metal stand for himself, Casey selects a small brainteaser puzzle and mini lava lamp for Kyle.

"Do you want to go to Coney Island next?" Romeo asks, to which Casey eagerly nods.

They race to find Romeo's mum and drop their prizes off with her.

"Can you mind our prizes while we go into Coney Island?" Romeo asks.

"Very well, you boys go and have fun in the mini theme park," Mrs. Smith says with a smile and takes the boys' prizes.

"You're tops Mum!" Romeo states and the two teens run off towards Coney Island.

They pass through the obstacles and wonky walk to get to their destined ride: the carpet slides.

Over and over the two race, going down the carpet slides at high speeds; laughing as they reach the bottom and quickly race back up to the top.

At one point Romeo trips as he is about to go down and ends up sliding down sideways and almost losing his carpet at the end.

As Casey goes down for his turn, he can hardly contain his laughter and loses concentration.

He loses his grip on the carpet and ends up leaning down on the carpet, getting severe carpet burn on his elbows, causing bleeding.

"Ow!" he shrieks as he goes down, as it burns badly.

Romeo is laughing his head off seeing Casey all lopsided coming down the slide and shrieking.

When Casey reaches the bottom he rubs both his elbows.

"Ouch: that hurt! It really burns," Casey moans, but couldn't help crack a smile as Romeo continues to laugh at his best friend's misfortunes.

"Maybe we should end it there and start our competition?" Romeo suggests; also eager to see who could vomit first on the rides after stuffing up on food.

Casey nods.

"Yeah, I'm getting hungry anyway."

They make their way to the hot dog stand and order four each to start scoffing them down and laughing before lining up at the rotor.

Entering the ride, they glance at each other as they start to stick to the walls of the centrifugal ride, seeing who is going to cave first.

After the ride Casey and Romeo shakily get off; feeling queasy and dizzy.

"I'm fine," Romeo states proudly despite his stomach rolling around.

"So am I," Casey says.

"Okay time for round two!" Romeo announces and goes and gets four hot dogs each again.

With their stomachs bursting they enter the gravitational ride for a second time.

Exiting the ride this time, Romeo holds his uneasy stomach but doesn't vomit.

"I'm fine," he moans.

"Me too," Casey bravely tries to say but seconds later he holds his mouth as his stomach heaves and he vomits up all over the concrete.

"Oh: you lightweight. I guess I win that one," Romeo teases.

Casey glares up at Romeo.

"It's not over; let's go again. I bet I can beat you next time," Casey challenges when he finally composes himself.

"You're on," Romeo replies, accepting the challenge with a laugh before running back over to the hot dog stand with Casey slowly following behind.

"Back again fellas?" the worker asks.

"Yeah," Romeo replies then turns to Casey.

"Let's make it interesting this time. Can we please get another four hot dogs, and a chicken kebab stick?" Romeo asks.

"You boys must have holes in your legs or something to be going through this amount of hot dogs," the worker laughs and hands over the hot dogs and kebab sticks to the teens.

"We're having a competition," Casey explains.

"Well as long as you boys know when to stop before your stomachs burst, huh?" the worker laughs and goes to serve another customer whilst Romeo and Casey force down their food.

As the teens go on the rotor for the third time, Casey feels his stomach doing flip-flops as the ride spins around and he holds everything he can not to vomit on the ride.

Romeo for the first time starts to feel like his food is coming up into his throat.

As they exit the ride Casey stumbles away as fast as he can and can barely hold his mouth before he vomits up violently.

Romeo chuckles but soon holds his own mouth and expels his stomach contents for the first time.

Romeo is quick to recover but Casey is beginning to feel miserable, he tries to compose himself again but as he does so he vomits up again.

"I guess that round goes to me again," Romeo states.

"How; you vomited too?" Casey exclaims, tasting the horrible bile in his mouth.

"Yeah but I only went once," Romeo teases.

Casey groans, determined not to let his friend win and blaming the fast spinning of the rotor for his losing.

"How about we go one more time – winner takes all, but this time on the rollercoaster?" Casey suggests.

Romeo glances at Casey, not sure if he should let Casey continue but also not one to back down from a challenge.

"Okay if you're sure," Romeo agrees.

"And let's do it after eating fairy floss," Casey dares; right now not wishing to ever see a hot dog again.


Romeo and Casey struggle to eat half a stick of fairy floss and line up for the rollercoaster.

"You sure you want to do this, you seem pretty sick already?" Romeo asks.

"It's my turn to win this time," Casey says proudly.

"Okay," Romeo says with a shrug, before they are escorted onto the ride.

As the ride begins, Casey feels his stomach ready to explode and Romeo tries to hide his queasy stomach.

Towards the end of the ride Casey is unable to hold it in anymore and vomits on the floor of his seat.

Both Romeo and Casey try moving their feet away from the vomit as best as possible and thankfully moments later the ride stopped.

The worker unfastens the bars and looks at the unwell teens.

"I'm sorry," Casey says as he gets out.

"Don't worry, it happens all the time," the worker assures.

Yeah but not for the same reason, Casey thinks to himself.

Romeo holding on to his vomit is unable to laugh and rushes off to the bathroom which is near the rollercoaster.

Casey goes into the bathroom after Romeo and hears Romeo vomiting badly into the toilet.

"I guess neither of us won that one?" Casey groans.

He hears Romeo groan before vomiting again and seconds later Casey rushes into a cubicle and continues to vomit.

After a good fifteen minutes, both teens finally feel they have expelled all they had and shuffle out of the toilets looking all worn out.

"I don't think I could handle anymore. Though I don't think I have anything left after how much I've vomited but my stomach still feels like it's riding this monster wave," Casey moans.

"Me either. Let's go find my Mum," Romeo replies.

Romeo and Casey make their way towards where Romeo's mum is waiting patiently with the boys' prizes.

When she sees the teens she stands up and frowns.

They were holding their stomachs and dragging their feet and smelled sick.

"What happened to you boys? Were you sick from too many rides?" she asks.

"Kind of, Mum, but we want to go home now," Romeo replies; not telling the full story of what happened.

"Well okay, the park closes soon anyway, it's already eleven-thirty," Mrs. Smith states as she glances at her watch.

"Do you two want to hold your prizes now?" Casey and Romeo look at each other and groan.

"Sorry Mum, can you hang onto them until you can put them in the car?" Romeo groans.

Mrs. Smith sighs and guides the teens towards the exit and her car.


It has not even reached thirty minutes of the hour and a half trip when Casey and Romeo groan.

"I think I'm gonna be sick again," Casey whines.

"Mum, I think you need to pull over. Casey is about to blow and I think so am I," Romeo says wearily.

Mrs. Smith glances at the boys in the rear view mirror and pulls over as soon as it's safe.

Both quickly unclip their seat belts and fling open the door to vomit on the side of the road.

Mrs. Smith shakes her head and after a few minutes of the boy's vomiting, turns her head back.

"Are you both alright?"

Romeo wipes his mouth with his hand and slides back into the car.

"Yeah Mum, but do you think you could maybe drive so it doesn't feel like the whole car is rocking and making the world go round and round."

"I don't think my driving will help you at the moment, Baby. How is Casey?" Mrs. Smith says with concern; noticing Casey still hadn't stopped coughing and spitting up.

"Case; you okay?" Romeo groans.

Casey does one final cough and shuffles back into the car, feeling miserable and giving a nod.

Mrs. Smith starts up the car again and drives as carefully as she can while sticking to the speed limit so as to not jolt the boys' upset stomachs further.

"What you two need is a good rest and plenty of fluids to keep you hydrated. Somehow I'm not convinced just going on too many rides is the cause of your upset stomachs, so do you care to elaborate? Did you both eat something that might have caused food poisoning?" Mrs. Smith asks.

"No, Mum. I don't want to talk about food," Romeo moans.

"I am not asking for the sake of it. Now I want to know if there is anything I need to be worried about, in case there is something serious going on with you two," Mrs. Smith says a little more firmly as she begins to get frustrated over her concerns for the teen boys.

"We just had a little competition and ate lots and lots and lots..." Casey trails off as he scrunches himself up, trying to stop his cramping queasy stomach as he gazes out the window.

"Honestly I would have thought you two would have more sense than to stuff yourselves then go on rides," Mrs. Smith scolds.

"Can you not remind us, Mum?" Romeo complains.

Mrs. Smith continues the drive home and soon enough Casey falls asleep and Romeo dozes off but keeps waking up.

Mrs. Smith stops for a quick coffee at a takeaway driver reviver then continues home.

They get home just before 2AM after all the stopping.

Casey and Romeo stir when the car stops.

"Come on you two; we're home now, so get inside and clean yourselves up and go to bed," Mrs. Smith instructs.

Romeo and Casey both shuffle inside and Romeo's mum grabs their prizes and takes them inside.

After using the bathroom to brush their teeth and wash their faces, Casey and Romeo get into their pyjamas and Mrs. Smith comes into their bedroom with a small glass of water each and some pain tablets.

"Drink this up and have some tablets, it will help settle down the pain and help you both sleep," she says.

Casey grabs his phone, not feeling too tired anymore after having a big sleep on the way home and searches for funny videos.

He giggles upon seeing a compilation of fails including sports and animals.

"Romeo, check this out," he whispers to his friend.

Romeo, still feeling tired but not enough not to respond, looks over and laughs.

They sit up for another hour watching videos on Casey's phone until both start to yawn, and Casey's phone sends a warning of low battery, before falling asleep.


The following morning, Casey and Romeo wake up about twelve, having had a big sleep in and get dressed for the day.

They shuffle out into the kitchen, seeing Mrs. Smith in the adjoining sunroom reading a book.

"Good morning boys; welcome back to the land of the living. How are you both feeling?" she asks as she greets the teens.

"Like I've been hit by a bus," Romeo replies.

"I feel I could never eat another thing again," Casey mumbles.

"Well, sorry to dampen your moods, but what you both need now is a good breakfast, so why don't you both take a seat at the table and I'll cook up some oatmeal that will be gentle on your stomachs," Mrs. Smith instructs.

Romeo and Casey take a seat as Romeo's mum walks into the kitchen to prepare their breakfast; giving Romeo a kiss on the head as she passes.

"Oh that reminds me: Casey your brother texted me this morning asking how you were after I let him know you were sick last night. He said he tried to text you but didn't get a reply. I told him you were still in bed," Mrs. Smith says casually.

Casey groans, knowing Brax is already aware of him being sick and pulls his phone out of his pocket to see if he has a message.

He sees it completely dead, remembering he didn't have much power before bed.

"Oops," he says and puts his phone back in his pocket.

"I told him I would take you back home when you were awake and had something to eat," Mrs. Smith informs.

Mrs. Smith finishes cooking and dishes out two bowls of fresh oatmeal infused with banana and topped with apple slices and cinnamon.

Casey smiles at Romeo as he shovels down his breakfast.

"I told you my mum makes the best oatmeal," Romeo says.

"Is it okay, boys?" Romeo's mum asks.

"Yeah, it's really nice; thank you," Casey replies.

"Well I hope you both have learnt a lesson not to get carried away with competitions that make you sick."

Romeo and Casey laugh, as despite their sick stomachs they'd had an amazing night.

After hanging out for a short while, Mrs. Smith instructs Casey to grab his belongings in order to head back home.

Casey grabs his prizes and pops them into his bag.

"I'm ready," Casey announces.

He and Romeo follow Mrs. Smith out to her car, and within minutes they are on their way over to the Braxton house.

Mrs. Smith pulls up outside just at two o'clock.

"Thanks for letting me stay and for taking me to Luna Park and driving me home," Casey says, remembering his manners.

"You are most welcome, Casey," Mrs. Smith replies.

Casey grabs his belongings and opens the car door.

"I'll see you at school on Monday!" Romeo calls out.

"Yeah, I guess; even though I wish we didn't have to go," Casey jokes.

"Don't I know it," Romeo jokes back.

Casey shuts the car door and waves a final goodbye before walking up the path and opening the front door to his home and sees Brax on the couch.

"Oh, hey, Brax," Casey greets and chucks his bag on the floor.

Brax pops his head up from his bookwork he is doing on the couch and gets up, giving his full attention to his youngest brother.

"Welcome back, Case; how was your night?" Brax asks.

Casey smiles widely.

"It was amazing and the best night ever!" Casey exclaims.

Brax now folds his arms, getting ready to address his baby brother's antics.

"Even with you being quite sick?" Brax implies.

"Well, besides that. Brax, I know Romeo's mum told you how I was sick and well I...it wasn't as bad as she may have made out," Casey says, trying to defend his actions.

"Really, and how bad would that be? Casey, she told me you couldn't stop vomiting for most of the night; is that true?" Brax asks.

"Um, maybe...I guess," Casey replies sheepishly and stares down, not wishing to be grilled by Brax.

"She also told me that I shouldn't panic because it seemed it wasn't because of some food poisoning or a bug, but instead a more deliberate act? I don't suppose it had anything to do with that ridiculous idea you had about some competition you were eager to set up with Romeo about eating and going on rides to see who would vomit?" Brax demands and stares down at Casey who is still avoiding Brax's gaze.

Not getting an answer, Brax concludes his speculations.

"Honestly, Casey; what were you thinking?"

"I didn't think she would tell you that," Casey mumbles.

Brax shakes his head.

"She was concerned about you and given the nature of it she had every right to be, and to notify me," Brax explains.

Casey shuffles his feet, hating that he is being scolded after having a fun evening.

"Surely after the first time you boys got sick you should have stopped but you didn't: did you?" Brax demands rhetorically.

Casey shakes his head.

"I warned you not to be silly and not only deliberately making yourself sick but to do it continuously that it leads to you being really sick, is a very immature thing to do," Brax reprimands and relaxes his arms.

"It was just for a bit of fun. I didn't think it would get that out of hand. Isn't it bad enough that I felt miserable afterwards? I don't need you giving me a lecture on how I made a stupid decision in your eyes. If you didn't want me having fun then you should have been the one to take us," Casey argues quietly; secretly wishing his big brother had taken time out to take him and Romeo for their night out.

Brax sighs and holds Casey's chin in his hand; tipping Casey's head up and forcing his gaze.

"Don't pin that on me, Case. You know I understand your need to have fun, and you are not stupid, despite you not always choosing bright ideas, though maybe hanging out with Romeo is too much of a bad combination sometimes," Brax comforts, softening his tone from before and then removes his hand from Casey's chin.

"Don't restrict me seeing my best friend; how could you?" Casey argues.

"Casey, I am not restricting you from seeing Romeo, I'm merely saying that you two get up to some unwanted mischief together. Don't think I've forgotten the time you both stole the beach buggies and took them for a joyride," Brax reminds.

Casey scowls, remembering that day wasn't as fun as they had hoped.

"Now as for the reason you ignored my several texts this morning, was it because you thought I might reprimand you before you even got home?" Brax implies.

Casey blushes and shakes his head.

"Um, no...my battery died, and I didn't realise you texted," Casey admits quietly.

"I thought I told you to make sure you kept it charged," Brax reminds firmly.

"It was, well until Romeo and I watched videos before bed. I guess I just forgot to charge it again. I'm sorry, Brax," Casey replies heartedly.

Brax sighs, seeing Casey's remorse and concluding he might have suffered enough and didn't need further reminding.

"Are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah, I guess. Romeo's mum gave us some pain meds and water before bed and made us some oatmeal this morning," Casey replies.

"Well, that's good, and did you sleep okay when you settled?"

"Yeah," Casey replies, giving a small smile up at his big brother, feeling relieved that Brax was becoming relaxed.

Brax places his hands on Casey's upper arms.

"Well, I'm glad you had a good time, but I hope you learnt not to be so silly with competitions next time," Brax tells with a smile, to which Casey nods.

"Go and unpack your things then pack your bag for school and go for a shower so you can relax for the rest of the day," Brax instructs.

Casey nods and grabs his bag from the floor and heads down to his bedroom, expecting to see Kyle, wondering why his brother hadn't made an appearance to greet him; thinking Kyle mustn't have heard him and that he was in the bedroom watching or listening on his laptop with his headphones.

Casey reaches the bedroom doorway and frowns.

"Where's Kyle?" Casey calls out.

Brax pops his head into the hall.

"He's still over at Toby's; he will be home later though," Brax explains.

"Oh, okay," Casey replies, feeling a little saddened his brother wasn't at home for him to tell how his first time of freedom was.

Casey continues into the bedroom and rolls up his sleeves, rubbing his elbows; they are still tender.


As Casey starts unpacking his bag, he doesn't realise Brax has walked down towards the bedroom until he gets startled by his presence.

"Listen Case, I was thinking..."

Brax suddenly stops as he takes sight of Casey's injured elbows.

"What in the world happened?" he exclaims and instantly approaches Casey.

Casey spins around.

"What do you mean?" he asks, confused.

"Your arms; what happened?" Brax demands and points to Casey's elbows.

"Oh that: it's nothing. It was just something that happened while having a bit of fun," Casey replies with a shrug and looks down.

Brax scowls and walks over to Casey and takes one of his arms, having a thorough look at the graze.

"This doesn't look like nothing. How did it happen?" Brax demanded again, this time checking out Casey's other arm.

"It really was just an accident. It kind of happened on the carpet slides. I was having too much fun and slipped down oddly one time and kind of got carpet burn," Casey explains.

Brax shakes his head.

"Why didn't you tell me or even show me this just a moment ago when I was talking with you about your night?" Brax asks.

Casey shrugs.

"I didn't think it mattered."

Brax shakes his head again.

"Never-mind, how do they feel?"

"They are a bit sore," Casey admits.

Brax sighs and gives one of Casey's elbows a gentle rub, to which Casey winces.

"Did you at least clean these up when it happened?" Brax asks.

Casey shrugs sheepishly and turns away.

"I was having too much fun," Casey admits.

"Well, I want you to give them a good clean when you have your shower and put some antiseptic cream on; I don't want them getting infected," Brax instructs.

Casey nods slightly.

"I mean it, Champ," Brax warns.

"I know, Brax," Casey moans then changes the subject.

"You were going to say something when you walked in?"

"Yes, I was going to say I planned to get Chinese for dinner, but I'm thinking it might not be a good idea for you and that you may need something a little easier on your stomach," Brax says.

"Why? I love Chinese," Casey whines.

"I know that Casey..."

"Why am I being punished just because I got carried away with a bit of fun?" Casey complains.

Brax holds Casey's upper arms.

"I'm not punishing you for having fun. I just want what's best for you and your stomach."

"But Brax, I want Chinese too," Casey whines and pouts.

Brax sighs.

"Look: how about after your shower you tell me how you are feeling and then I'll decide if you are okay to have Chinese and I don't mean, a just: I'm fine lie; deal?"

Casey nods and Brax pats one of his arms.

"Good kid," he praises, "Go and have your shower now."

Brax leaves and Casey finishes with his bag and goes for his shower.