Page 124 of Don't Let Me Go
“But fun-kidnapped,” Tala adds, turning around in the front passenger seat to flash me a reassuring smile.
The two of them showed up at my house this morning just as I was finishing breakfast and informed me that I’d be spending my birthday with them. I’m pretty sure they arranged the whole ambush in advance with my dad. Normally he insists on us spending birthdays together as a family, especially when a birthday falls on a weekend and he’s not consumed with work. This morning, though, he couldn’t have been happier to see Audrey and Tala carry me out the door.
I should’ve seen this coming. I haven’t spoken to my friends in almost two weeks, and I haven’t left the house except to go to work. It makes sense then that Audrey and Tala’s impromptu birthday kidnapping feels less like a celebration and more like an intervention.
“Where are we going?” I ask suspiciously as we merge onto I-4.
“It’s a surprise,” Audrey answers.
“Where’s Duy?”
“Duy and Caleb are meeting us there.”
I nod and stare out the window at the passing hotels and outlet malls. I should be excited to spend my eighteenth birthday with my friends on some mystery adventure. But as with everything else in my life right now, I can’t muster much enthusiasm for it.
“Are you still missing Jackson?” Tala asks, studying me carefully in the rearview mirror.
I sink down into my seat to avoid her gaze. “I don’t want to talk about Jackson.”
“No problem,” Audrey says. “We won’t mention him for the rest of the day.”
That’s a very agreeable and thus very un-Audrey answer. I narrow my eyes in wariness. “You promise?”
“Hey, your birthday, your rules.”
“Says my kidnapper.”
Audrey rolls her eyes. “Please. It’s not kidnapping if nobody wants you.”
My mouth drops open.
“Audrey’s kidding.” Tala laughs. “We want you. And we love you.”
“Eh.” Audrey shrugs.
“We do. We love you, Riley. And we are going to have the best day at Dizzy World.”
I sit up in my seat. “Dizzy World?”
“Oops!”
“Wow, babe, really?” Audrey groans, casting an exasperated glance at her girlfriend.
“Sorry! It just slipped out.”
Audrey shakes her head and sighs. “Well, cat’s out of the bag. Surprise, we’re taking you to Dizzy World.”
Despite my all-consuming sadness about Jackson, a small part of me can’t help feeling a smidge of excitement. Dizzy World has the distinction of being Central Florida’s “most affordable” theme park. It’s also, as the name suggests, an unrepentant knockoff of Disney World. Instead of Space Mountain, they have Galaxy Peak. Instead of Thunder Mountain, they have Lightning Canyon. Instead of Splash Mountain, they have Waterfall Drop.
Even their mascot, Mackey the Mole, in his red overalls and white gloves, looks a lot like a certain cartoon mouse.
It’s honestly shocking that Disney hasn’t sued. And maybe they will. The park opened only a few months ago, but as soon as their sketchy commercials started airing on TV, my friends and I became obsessed with going. It just seemed like such a clusterfuck of bad taste and copyright infringement, we couldn’t resist.
“Well, is it everything you were hoping for and more?” Audrey asks half an hour later once we’re standing in Ye Old Town Square (which is definitely not a knockoff of Disney’s Main Street, U.S.A.).
“It’s fucking glorious,” I answer as I take in the cheap and gaudy storefronts designed to look like shops in a colonial village despite the fact that they sell burgers, ice cream, and an endless supply of Dizzy merch. A man in a Daryl the Drake costume waves at some kids, but the lopsided wild eyes sewn into his headpiece make him look like he’s either drunk or rabid, and the children scream.
“I can’t believe this is an actual place,” Tala whispers in awe.
