15. Chapter 15 #2
Harris and I team up to make the group dinner, before we all wrap up and head out to the scare-fest that Teddy prebought tickets for.
“Are you sure man? I can send you the money if you give me your details.” I look into the back of the car as we drive towards the Halloween event, the other guys in Harris’s car again.
Being near the coast means the chill in the night air is fridged, so we’ve all got thick layers on, as well as hats and Micah even has on a cute pair of knitted mittens.
Teddy waves me off, as for the second time today my car braces itself for another grass carpark. “You can buy me a drink and call it even.”
“Are you sure? You booked so much, I don't want you to be out of pocket.”
Miles brushes the top of my hand on the gear shift with his knuckles, shaking his head and coughing Sugar Daddy under his breath, to which no one else hears. My eyebrows rocket up into my curls, but our pink haired friend is just paying attention to his phone and fiddling with his hoodie strings.
Parking the car, Micah is already jumping out of the back of Harris’s car before he's even turned off the lights. Em slams the passenger side door, glaring at the back of his head as he strides straight over to where we’re waiting.
Faye and Mason had squeezed into my car, so no one can tell me what the hell that's about and I am not asking either of them.
Harris gets out last, shooting worried but confused glances at Em.
“The car ride ok? You look a little sick.” Miles meets Micah and starts rubbing his back–so maybe it's just a case of all around travel sickness. I'm not that stupid to believe it, but they walk ahead of me together and I wait for my friends who both don't say a thing.
There's already a small crowd entering the scare-fest, so we stick together as we move through the gates, Teddy pulling up the tickets on his phone. We get wrist bands and then we're let loose, my first thought immediately being that I do not like this.
A guy kitted in full cosplay–a killer clown sweeps in front of us and just skims the front of Miles’s jacket, who is laughing like a maniac. Shrieking, my feet leave the ground as I ricochet back and hide behind Harris, using his bear sized frame to hide myself.
A high pitch cackle sounds from somewhere on my left and I flinch again, grasping at his coat as I dig my face in between his shoulders. “No! No, no–fucking no!”
Everyone falls into fits of laughter and I’m practically choking Harris, who tries to peel my hands off himself. “Get off me you fucking Eejit!” He laughs too, pushing my rigid body back into line.
“Baby noo, are you scared of live actors?”
Adjusting my woolen hat, my eyes flick all over the place, picking out the horror character actors who are too close to our group, the built buildings which look like Halloween fun houses and the food stalls that lead the way to a funfair.
That's where I need to go; safe ground, maybe a Ferris wheel.
“I just don't like horror or being scared.” I mumble, turning red as he slings his arm around me. We've spoken about this a few times–I think–but maybe I didn't emphasise how it's really not my thing. “I'm more Disney Halloween Miley…this is disturbing.”
“Bless my heart,” he can’t stop the little sniggers, but he also won't stop looking down at me with a toothy smile.
He looks at me like I'm adorable, which is how I know he's not making fun of me.
I generally think he would wrap me up in a blanket and take me home if I wanted.
“Ok, we’ll let the guys go get scared to death, and we'll hang out in the funfair.”
“Boring!” Teddy shouts, but when I turn my head, he's only grinning over at us. Blowing a kiss, he grabs Micah by the hand and they run into the first scare-house with streams of mist leaking out of the doorway. Hell no.
The rest of our group all seem to walk in different directions. Entwining our fingers together, Miles pulls me into him chuckling a little still, brushing his face against my temple. “Oh Cassie, what am I going to do with you?”
I grumble a bunch of nonsense, but he just squeezes my hand and deters me away from a bloodied zombie dragging itself our way. This is going to be a long night…
Armed with sugary warm donuts, Miles is shoving pink strands of candy floss into his mouth as we walk.
We've been on a few of the funfair rides, and I know he must really like me because he's discovered how much of a baby I am.
I pretty much gripped his hand on the twister, trying not to squish him too much, but all he did was howl into the night laughing.
I only calmed down when he let me annihilate whoever I wanted on the bumper cars–no women or child spared.
“I just need you to explain it to me. What is so entertaining about being scared? I don't get the horror scene.” I say, bewildered as I finish off my fourth donut.
Silently chuckling as he chews, Miles finishes his piece of candyfloss and launches into a spiel.
“I don't know what to compare it to for you, but I watch a horror movie for how it ignites my entire body.
I feel every emotion, until they've caused this vortex.
I'm hooked on each second–the outside world doesn't exist, just this film where characters I've somehow connected to are fighting for their life.
It's adrenaline and the unknown, where these unhinged events can really happen, meaning the ending could go any way the directors see fit.”
I'm hooked on every word. I don't realise he's guided me to the Ferris wheel line.
Licking his lower lip, his eyes briefly flick around us, a pink hue on his cheeks joining his red nose from the chill.
I don't want him to ever doubt himself or his words–hes fucking brilliant, so I take his hand and squeeze.
I want more. Leaning in to me, he looks at his candyfloss, something uncertain lingering there in his eyes, blur like a warm storm, before he looks at me.
“Have you ever been in a real life situation where you're hanging on by a thread?
You're in so much suspense over what could happen next, because you're not in control, that you feel it everywhere? Your chest, fingers, legs, gut?”