Hearts Collide

She turns back to face him, a big smile on her face, and says “I want to go to an amusement park.”

...

“Ride’s over scaredy-cat”

“Pfft, I w-wasn’t scared!” Her legs were jello and her stomach lost to the abyss. Her nerves were practically fried.

“Really? You weren’t scared?”

“Not one bit...”

“Where’s your arm?” She looked around and noticed that she had one arm wrapped around Oliver’s in a death grip. She blushed and slowly let him go. “Wasn’t scared huh?”

“Shut up!” she huffed but then smiled, “Thanks for letting me cling.” The Tunnel of Horror was next. It was rumored to be the scariest ride in the county. It was rumored to be so scary that there was “chicken exits” where people could escape when they got too frightening or disturbing. The operator was so confident that he was willing to pay anyone fifty bucks if they completed it. The couple decided to see if it was that scary.

“You can always back out. I won’t judge you too much.”

“Please, want me to hold your hand Ollie?” they got into the ride. As soon as they entered, the sound of revving chainsaws abruptly filled the air. Made Oliver jump for a second but he calmed down. Then, screams. And then a squirt from another room, red liquid. It begins to splatter out from different directions, forming puddles onto the floor. Then guts were being flung around.

Being around Oliver and Rome most of her life had made her desensitized to blood and excessive violence. Most of the carnage was the brothers on a lazy day, Oliver, insensitive to the others on the ride, was laughing and mocking the show carrying out around them.

“You do not get blood splatter like that from a bat! Amateurs!” After the “horror” the scene in the tunnel calmed, though it only got darker.

Then the speed of the car picked up a bit a hoard of “zombies” rushed from behind curtains, chasing them. A few got close, grabbed at Jen’s hair a few times. Oliver merely laughed and stuck his tongue out at them like he was a 12-year-old boy.

After the hoard faded away, their car dropped down. Oliver felt Jen grab hold of his arm. He looked over at her and poked her cheek.

“You’re safe now.”

“I-I know!” The car traveled through what they supposed was supposed to be like a twisted Disneyland where many of the characters were rotting, infected with a zombie disease. Oliver rolled his eyes. “Creepy, huh?”

“Yeah…” He responded, sarcastically.

“Hey, they’re trying.” She said as quietly as she could, so as to not offend the actors.

Then the last room. It was a bloodbath with all of the twisted versions of fairytales with cute characters getting maimed, ripped apart, fake blood gushing everywhere. Jen watched with silent admiration for the effort put in to making everything look so real.

When the ride was over, they were laughing hard. The operator’s expression showed a mix of amusement and concern, but “kids will be kids” he figured. He paid them without saying much and walked away quickly.

“What is wrong with us?” Jen laughed as they walked away.

“We’re messed up! Society can’t handle us!” Oliver laughed. He looked to Jen, her face alight with joy, her smile as wide as a mile. They stared into each other’s eyes for a minute, maybe two. Oliver took a step towards her, his eyes locked with her. Nervous and unsure, Jen turned and saw the games area.

“Hey, let’s go play some games! Win some prizes.”

As they approached, Jen’s eyes locked onto a stuffed owl with glasses holding a book. “ITS SOOOOO CUUTE! Nerd owl, I want it!” She exclaimed.

“You want it?” she didn’t know she was lingering and gushing at the adorable little thing. She nodded excitedly. Her excitement was adorable and made Oliver weak. The game was knocking down the targets. Oliver grabbed the ball and started throwing. He hit every target down except the large one. His eyes narrowed. This was an opportunity to impress Jen. It wobbled and toppled but didn’t fall. The vendor smirked.

“Ooh, nice try pretty boy.” He said in a raspy voice.

“Screw you, it’s weighed down!”

“Prove it!” Oliver smirked. He jumped over the stand and grabbed the bottle target. “Hey!” He tipped it over to reveal rocks inside. Snatching the owl away, he hopped down and marched confidently back to Jen. He put his arm around her and they walked away, the ginger vendor fuming and red faced.

...

“Thank you again Ollie!” Jen said as they walked away from the booth. She cuddled her owl protectively.

“Whatever; just keep the little guy safe for me. I went through a good deal of trouble to get him.”

She chuckles. “I will. Will that vendor be okay?”

“Who cares? That’s what he gets for trying to screw people over.”

“But did you have to steal his prize? I mean don’t get me wrong, I love this little guy. But… was that right?”

“It’s the only way he’ll learn.”

A little later Jen admires photos the two took in the photo booth. She took some pics on her phone as well from within the mirror maze. Getting Matthew to smile was a task in itself, never mind being silly. The pictures came out with her smiling and getting him to smile. She tickled his ribs. He cracked a grin but just for a second. She smooshed his face. The smile lingered a little more on him. The coup de grace was when she kissed his neck and touched his hair curl. The look on his face was priceless. She laughed hard, leading to the final picture of his nooging her as punishment.

Her stomach growled.

"Hungry?"

"Starving." She responds as she shoves the photographs into her purplish pink alligator purse.

They headed towards the grub area.

...

“Remind me to never upset you...” Oliver and Jen, after winning every prize from the dunk tank, decided to get something to eat. She was eating a hotdog and he munched on chili cheese fries.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,”

“You beamed him with a ball...”

“Accidentally!”

“Whatever you say.” he replies, “but you look cute when you’re angry,” the two laughed and the conversation flowed on from there, each looking deeply into the others eyes, smiles on full display. Neither had ever felt this connected to another person.

“Bad experience with kettle corn,” she said.

“Oh? What happened?”

“I went to the carnival a few years back and smelt this delicious popcorn! I didn’t know where it was coming from but I tracked it down. I found it in little time. It was in these huge bags. I was about to devour it into nothingness and tasted sweetness. I thought it was just a mistake and took another handful and realized it was all sweet.” he laughed.

“Poor thing. Yeah, it’s an acquired taste especially for popcorn lovers. Let’s get some funnel cake instead,”

“That sounds good! I didn’t know you had a sweet tooth. Mr. bad boy.”

“I don’t.” he said rubbing the back of his neck. She smirked and poked his cheek.

“Aww I guess I don’t have to make you that recipe I found, now what was it again? Double chocolate brownies with a maple honey glaze?”

“Hey hey now, I don't mind the occasional sweet treat” she laughed.

“I’ll make them granted you go on the carousel with me after the funnel cake.”

...

He helped her onto the carousel. For some reason, she always liked going on the ride. It wasn’t just the lights, the music, or even the fresh air, she always liked the idea of riding something like this, bringing back a nostalgic feeling that she never felt. Her earliest memory of being on one was when she was a child. A kind man helped her on, she rode a black horse and looked out over the crowd, over at her parents, her mother telling her that it would the closest she could ever get to a pony without breaking its back, then around again to her father walking away, around again to her mother glaring at his direction, around again to them both staring at more “normal” children. She gripped the horse.

In the present, little words needed exchanging. They merely glanced into each other's eyes for much of the ride, smiling and blushing, surrounded by carnival lights.

Once the ride was over and they were on their way out, something caught Oliver's eye. “Keep walking, I’ll catch up,” said Oliver. “Oy, I want two of those, one blueberry and one maple flavored and if you know what’s good for you, it better not be American made.” The vendor chuckled at the young man's comment.

...

When they left the carnival, the pair began the drive back into town. Oliver then decided to make a detour. The night was young and he knew how to end it perfectly. He drove to a clearing in the woods. He stopped and they got out. He laid down a blanket, lit a candle, and whipped out the bottle of wine Ace had given him.

"The Tempest."

"The Tempest?" She asked.

"Ace gave it to me. I looked it up, it's like a merlot wine." He poured two glasses and set them down. Then he glanced up at her and padded the spot next to him.

She snuggled up close to him and they laid back to watch the stars. Oliver grinned. For the first time in God knew how long he felt a real, genuine connection to a girl. No fighting, no running, no retaliation, just him and Jen under the stars, with cotton candy and wine.

“Enjoying yourself?”

“Yeah, I really had fun tonight.”

“I’m glad,” he said pulling her closer, “it was either this or Chick Flick marathon.”

“Eww! No!”

“It was Noah’s idea. I told him only he liked stuff like that,”

“No, the carnival was great! Now I have a love for maple cotton candy and thanks to you I think I know the difference between Canadian made and American made maple syrup,”

“The American stuff tastes like trash, therefore all American syrup tastes like Rome.” She laughed.

“At least let him defend himself, Ollie.”

“He knows he’s trash without me having to tell him face to face. You know, you laugh more when you’re away from home.”

“I’m more relaxed when I’m away from home, that’s why.” She said, wondering why the conversation was coming to this.

“I mean I like seeing you happy and all and I just don’t get it. You’re a good kid, heck any parent would be happy to have a kid who rarely gets into trouble. I know Noah would, he has to deal with me and Rome. It just irritates me that your parents don’t seem to know how lucky they are to know that the worst trouble you get into isn’t that bad...”

“It scares me that outsiders like you can see it. Everyone in my family has been in some sort of heavy trouble, jail time, juvenile hall, and other things but everyone plays me out to be the bad one. The smart one but the bad one and it just hurts that no matter what I do or how hard I try, I’ll always be the evil, black sheep of my family.”

“Evil my behind. When someone needs something, you’re always there to help however you can. That’s why we like having you about. You’re just you. It’s strange but yeah,” he rubbed the back of her head, “I don’t want you to change.”

“I don’t want to change.”

“Then stop being your fam’s doormat. Dating me is a good start.”

“Trust me. Mom’s angry about it but I don’t care.” He ruffled her hair.

“Come on, I’m getting you back on time.”