Page 37 of Vas

Vas raised a brow and dipped his head, giving her his ear. “What?”

“I said, I should warn you. This ride is pretty intense.”

His eyes darted around the station. “Yeah, I got that vibe.”

Before she could elaborate, a tram arrived, coming to a stop in front of them. They waited for the riders to get off before climbing into their seats. She pulled the orange safety restraints over her chest, hearing the click as they locked in place, making her look as if she was wearing a life vest. Rather apropos, she thought, causing her nervousness to ramp up another few notches.

“You okay?” Vas leaned in to whisper in her ear.

His expression was stoic, looking like he didn’t have a care in the world. She, on the other hand, was internally freaking out. “Yes. Just ignore me. I always get uneasy before a ride starts. I’ll be fine once it’s over.” She tugged on the safety harness to make sure it wouldn’t budge.

“The ride’s perfectly safe.”

Maybe safe in the sense she wouldn’t fall out of her seat or the train wouldn’t fly off the track, but with the way her heart was pounding, a heart attack wasn’t out of the question. “I know I’m being silly. I really do love roller coasters.” After the fact, once she was safely back on the ground, she amended to herself.

“Give me your hand.”

She placed her hand in his and Vas entwined their fingers. She took a deep, fortifying breath.

He eyed her. “Better?”

Funnily enough, it did seem to help. It was as if part of Vas’s strength and courage transferred through their connected hands and into her body. She gave him a smile. “Yeah.”

The truth of her statement must have shone through because he gave her hand a squeeze. “Good.”

An attendant came by, checked that their restraints were secure, and a minute later, their seats tipped back and they were off.

Suspended on a wing that projected from the main body of the train, they started their climb, ascending higher and higher until the whole of the park came into view and Anna couldn’t believe the sheer magnificence of the sight. That view alone was worth the cost of the massive amount of butterflies roosting in her stomach.

They reached the top and she glanced over at Vas. His eyes were already on her. She saw him mouth, “Ready?” and she gave him a nod, squeezing his hand tighter.

Their seat tipped back and soon they were falling, their seat spinning around until they were falling face-first into what seemed a never-ending drop. The 360-degree rotating seat flipped them this way and that as they sailed through a series of dives, turns, and twists. She was so disoriented, she didn’t know which way was up, which way was down, and, flipping frontwards to back, half the time she didn’t even know what was coming up next.

Though the ride couldn’t have been longer than a minute, it felt like an eternity, with Anna screaming the whole time until they finally pulled back into the gate.

Vas turned to her, concern on his face. “You okay?”

She looked at him with a big smile. “That was great. Can we go again?”

They didn’t ride again but they did go on all the other big roller coasters and even a few of the smaller rides. It was when they were strolling through the back lot of the park, Anna hanging on Vas’s arm, that they ran into the carnival games.

“Oh! I know it’s a waste of money, but will you win me a souvenir?” She knew she would never forget that day but she would love to have something tangible as a keepsake.

He looked down at her, raising a brow. “Why is it a waste of money?”

“Well, let’s face it, you always spend more money trying to win a stuffed animal than if you just went out and bought one.”

His gaze traveled around the different booths that dotted the perimeter. “I’ll admit, I’ve never had the time or money to play any carnival games growing up, but they don’t look that tough.”

Knowing he wouldn’t appreciate her pity, she instead shared a bit of her past with him. “I get that. Times were tough for a while when my parents got a divorce. My mom struggled to make ends meet. We ended up losing our home.”

“How old were you?”

“Young. Six or seven.” A lump formed in her throat as unexpected sadness filled her. Her parents’ divorce had had a huge impact on her. She swallowed past the emotion, shoving it down and locking it in that secret place she never dared go poking at. “Is this the game you’re going to play?” she asked, abruptly changing the subject.

She knew Vas was a smart guy, and he reinforced that belief by reading her correctly and swiftly adjusting. “I was thinking about it.”

Vas filled a spot someone had just vacated, stepping up to the counter and slapping down a five-dollar bill. Anna took a place at his side, marveling at all the rows of little white paper stars lined up on a corkboard a few feet in front of them. It seemed almost an impossible task to land a dart in the tiny black circle at each of the stars’ centers.

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