Page 29 of The Friend Zone

I grab it and go to the register to buy it.

“Ryker, you already bought me dinner.” She argues, when I offer her the small, white paper bag with the trinket.

“I just wanted you to have a memory of our date,” I say. “You promised me some funnel cake, I’m still holding you to that.”

“Deal.” She smiles. “Thank you, I love it. I wish we could go on the Ferris wheel, but it’s closed, they’re restoring it. Star Cove’s Ferris wheel is an antique, it has been in operation since the pier first opened.” She looks at the tall wheel at the end of the pier, her gaze wistful.

“We’ll have to come back when they reopen it.” I propose.

“It could be months. It’s low season, so they might take their time.”

“We’ll be here.” I insist.

I let the implication that I want to come back here with her, even if it’ll be months before they reopen, linger between us.

Usually just the thought of seeing someone for months would make me run for the hills. But this is Bay, and I think it’s time to accept that she has me under some kind of spell. The crazy thing is that I don’t want to snap out of it any time soon.

The funnel cake is as good as Bay promised and we share one, walking toward the end of the pier.

The wheel might not be working, but she promises that the view from the furthest point on the water is breathtaking.

It’s one of the best nights I’ve ever had, walking side by side with Bay, laughing and talking about everything and nothing.

“My sister told me that there’s a Mouth of Truth horoscope game that gives surprisingly accurate predictions.” Bay says when we’re halfway to the Ferris wheel.

I’m not trying to be an asshole, but I can’t stifle a skeptical smile. “Do you believe in that kind of thing?”

Bay narrows her eyes, reminding me of the way she reacted to everything I said until very recently.

“I’m not judging,” I explain. “I just didn’t think you’d believe in that kind of stuff. You’re a woman of science.” I really don’t want to end this night with a fight.

My words have the desired effect.

“I don’tbelievein it,” she explains, appeased. “But I don’t not believe in it. You must admit that there is stuff out there that science can’t explain.”

I remain cautious, more curious than judgmental. “Maybe because science doesn’t have the means to explain certain things yet, but it might in the future. You must admit that things that used to be attributed to the gods in ancient times, were explained by science later. Like thunder, you know? The Greeks thought that was a sign that Zeus was angry with us.”

Bay stops walking to look at me for a brief moment. “Yeah, that’s one category of things, but it’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about things that science is actively studying but no matter how in depth, they still can’t come up with a sound explanation.”

My curiosity is peaked. “Like what?”

She must have given this some thought, because she doesn’t hesitate to answer. “Like the connection between twins. Science has been studying identical twins for decades and yet, they can’t really explain some really odd phenomena.”

Everyone knows that Bay has a twin sister, so I ask her the question on the tip of my tongue. “Have you experienced anything you can’t explain?”

Bay nods, her blue eyes shining with passion as she explains. “Yes. So many times. My sister laughs at me, she thinks I’m a little… quirky. But there’s no other way to explain certain things.Like for example, the summer after we graduated middle school, I wanted to go to a cheer camp. I wanted Lakyn to come with me, because I couldn’t bear the idea of spending weeks apart from each other. But Lakyn has never been very athletic and she just went along with cheer because I was into it.”

I’m invested in the story. “You were into it?”

She nods. “I loved cheer. At that point I had started tumbling and doing some stunts that our school team didn’t do. Our cheer coach told my parents that I had talent and suggested the camp. Lakyn agreed to come just to make me happy, but a couple of weeks before leaving, we were told that camp goers would be split into groups based on their skill level. The whole point of Lakyn coming was to spend every minute together, but we both knew we would be separated.”

That makes sense. “So she didn’t go?”

Bay sighs. “She ended up not going, but that isn’t the point. Lake and I have very different personalities, but we have one thing in common. We’re both very determined.”

There’s no way I can contain the snort at her words. “Determined is a nice way to put it. I haven’t met your sister, but for you I’d say more stubborn as fuck. In a good way, though. I admire that in you.”

She doesn’t take offense. “Thanks. My parents would agree with you. But the point of the story is, Lakyn started practicing in secret. She wanted to learn some of my stunts so she could be put in my same group. One day, while I was out shopping with our mom, Lake had been doing tumbles in the backyard. She fell and broke her arm. Now you have to consider my mom and I were ten miles away at this big mall. We were getting something to eat and all of a sudden, I experienced this searing pain in my arm. It was sudden and so intense that I dropped the cup with my soda. I immediately knew that something had happened toLakyn. My arm even bruised for a little while but there was no reason for that to happen.”

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