Chapter 37

“And, as is true of any other strong and addicting drug, true first love is dangerous.”
—Stephen King, Wizard and Glass

“DON’T LET GO! Don’t let go! Don’t let go! Ahhh!” I wasn’t about to let go of my grip around Rachel’s waist as we plunged down the flume ride at the indoor amusement park. We got sprayed a little when we hit the bottom of the ride but I did my best to protect her by holding her close.

When Minnesota opened its first indoor amusement park at Mall of America, V1 rolled his eyes.

“What stupid idiot would go to a shopping center for amusement park rides. Parents have no idea how to entertain their own kids these days.”

Now I had my answer. The place was packed with teens just released for spring break and it had been a ten-minute wait in line to reach the top of the log flume. We were ready to get in line and go again. I figured anyplace that had winter months and teens would want one of these. We hit the multi-level miniature golf course for our next adventure. Who cares if it’s raining outside? It was bright and sunny at the amusement park.

Of course, a lot of the adventures were ‘virtual’ adventures. I know in my head that we didn’t move on a glider ride through the Grand Canyon, but it sure felt like we did. My legs were a little wobbly when I got off that one. Memorial Day, the outdoor extension of the park would open and I wondered if anyone would still be playing on the virtual rides when you could do regular water slides, rollercoasters, and Ferris wheels outside.

The miniature golf course gave us time to settle down our pace a bit and talk as we moved around the course, holding hands.

Rachel had insisted on an age-appropriate date and since I couldn’t drive, I walked to her house, about half a mile away from mine, and we caught a city bus to the mall. I’d been on the school bus enough times in the past two weeks not to be quite as nervous about buses in general, but I still held Rachel well back from the curb when the bus arrived. My heart settled soon after we were seated and I got a schedule so I’d know when we had to catch a bus home.

“You’re going to get a reputation for taking girls on incredible dates and we’ll have to put a barricade around our lunch table,” she laughed.

“Not interested in other girls,” I said. “Got all I need right here.”

“I don’t think I’m ready to go steady, Jacob. We’ve only known each other for a week.”

“Best week of my life as far as I can remember,” I said. “I’ve loved getting to know you like this.”

We had our burger and split a shake before going to the theater for Dumbo and splitting a tub of popcorn that cost more than the movie. And yes, my stupid fifteen-year-old body cried during the movie. Rachel, however, leaned over and kissed the tears off my cheek. It was worth it.

“Will you be okay walking home, Jacob?” she asked as we stood at her door. “I could get the car and drive you. It’s only a little out of character.”

“No, sweet thing. This is the kind of night when a man wants to walk a ways fresh from the arms of his girlfriend and thank the stars how lucky he is. Maybe I’ll write a poem or sing a song or something. You wouldn’t want me doing that in your car.”

“You are a romantic, aren’t you?” she giggled. We stopped at her front steps and she went up one so she looked me straight in the eye. “I had a wonderful time today, Jacob. Kiss me?” Well, hell yes.

We didn’t let it ramp up too much. I wasn’t going to try and feel her up on the front steps. It was sweet, though, and as I walked away from her door, I actually felt like the fifteen-year-old that I now was.

The five of us had decided to still get together on Sunday afternoon to ‘study’ at Joan’s house, but after about half an hour, we put on a movie and just veg’d out. Joan’s mother helpfully brought in popcorn for us. She was dressed in a peignoir that showed pretty much anything we were interested in looking at, but we all just raised a hand and thanked her as we kept watching the screen.

“Hey, why don’t we have a little party at my house tomorrow,” Rachel said. “Mom knows all of you now so she won’t have a problem with me having you over. I’ll order pizza for lunch.”

“That sounds like fun!” Beca chimed in. She was spreading her charms around a bit by sitting on Desi, who didn’t quite know what to do with her.

“Can we bring anything?” I asked.

“Just your charming wit. It will probably be pretty much the same as this—sitting around watching movies.”

“Only without the maternal slut parading around,” Joan sighed. “Sorry, guys.”

“Love you, Joan,” Beca said, kissing her on the cheek. “Don’t worry about the mumsy. Not even Jacob is affected.” Well, that wasn’t completely true, but I had more important things to think about—like holding Rachel’s hand. At the door we all paused for a kiss goodbye. No tongues. Beca’s mom pulled up to pick the two of us up, Desi getting a ride with Rachel. I got dropped off and just went to my room to play the guitar for a while.

Suffocating darkness pressing in on me from all sides. Collapsing my lungs. My heart. My soul. Nothingness beckoning me.

“It’s just a dream. Just a dream, J. C’mon. Wake up.”

I gasped air into my lungs and turned my head to see Pey standing by my bed holding my hand.

“Sorry, Pey. Did I wake you up?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. I just knew someone needed to hold your hand. I couldn’t do any of the grown-up stuff when you had to have help after the hospital. I felt bad because I couldn’t help you. But I can do this. I have to go now. Em is having a nightmare.”

My baby sister padded back to her room and I could hear the muffled sounds of her comforting Em. I lay there thinking about it. What could the dream mean? I was becoming suspicious that Em and I had been in an accident sometime when we were little and had to hold onto each other for a long time while we waited for rescue. I wondered, How long? What kind of accident? Where were we? If she was having nightmares, too, we must have been there together. I wished I could remember so I could deal with it.

The first thing that happened Monday morning was that I flopped onto my chair at the breakfast table right on a whoopee cushion that belched out a huge noisy blast of air. My sisters, sitting across from me, started giggling.

“Did someone put that whoopee cushion on your chair?” Mom asked accusingly. “Girls?”

“No, Mom,” I deadpanned. “I just farted.” She snapped around to look at me and all three of us yelled out “April Fools!”

Of course, we had to have little bits of fun for the first of April. I checked the sugar first to be sure it wasn’t salt before I put it on my cereal. But when I poured milk on it, it was all curdles.

“Oh, yuck! Who made an April Fools joke out of the milk? That’s so wasteful,” I complained. Mom snatched up the carton and sniffed, wrinkling her nose. She looked at the box.

“This milk is way past its expiry date! I’ve warned your father to only buy canned goods at Grocery Outlet. I bet he took a shortcut when he shopped Saturday.” She snatched my bowl of cereal and poured it down the garbage disposal with the spoiled milk. “Here! I have to go to work. Emily, take your brother and sister to McDonald’s for breakfast.” She handed Em a twenty and headed for the door. “And don’t go overboard on practical jokes today!” she called back.

“Get dressed, you guys. If I leave without you, you won’t have any breakfast!” Em said as she scooted toward her bedroom to get her clothes.

At eleven-thirty, exactly when we set the time of the party, I walked up the steps to Rachel’s house and rang the bell. It took a minute before a sleepy looking Rachel in her pajamas opened the door.

“Jacob?”

“Um ... Are you okay, Rachel? Didn’t you invite us over at eleven-thirty? I must have misunderstood. I’ll go.”

“Oh ... uh ... no. Don’t go. I just ... Well, it was the first day of vacation so I stayed up most of the night watching Netflix. All caught up on Castlevania now.”

“You want me to wait outside until you get dressed and all?” I asked. This was really weird. And where were the other girls? I was suspicious of another prank.

“No. Come in. It’s okay.” I stepped inside and glanced around. The house seemed quiet and empty.

“Where’s your brother?”

“Oh, he’s starting the week with an overnight at his buddy’s house.”

“I didn’t know boys did sleepover things.”

“You didn’t? Heck half of the year there’s either a boy over here or he’s at some other guy’s house. They play video games and drink pop all night and then moan and groan in the morning. Not like me,” she giggled. “Have a seat. Would you like some coffee?”