Page 119 of Delinquents Turned Fugitives
“Come out of there, you nerd,” I told him.
“Come make me,” he taunted, holding the bag of burgers up to one ear and making moose antlers with the other.
“You know I can’t,” I laughed. “Now get your cute butt over here and stop wasting your magic!”
“Admit I’m a great catch.” He crossed his arms and jutted out a hip.
“Fine. You’re a great catch.”
His arms were around me instantly. I hadn’t even seen him coming before he was there—squeezing me to death in a monstrous bear hug. “See, that wasn’t hard. Now, let’s get this date on the road!”
I shook my head against his shoulder. “I can’t believe you wasted that much magic to prove a point.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll make it up with a nice long power up,” Z’s tone dripped confidence.
“Oh will we?”
“Yup. Third date. So long as you don’t throw your burger at me, I’m gonna be putting out.”
I chuckled as I slid my arm around his waist and tucked myself in even closer. “Good to know.”
Z led us straight to the Wacky Shack, which made me raise my eyebrows in confusion. “What …” I trailed off. Since the vampire’s slept here, I had considered this off-limits. But, of course, Zavier wouldn’t, the little troublemaker.
“We’re going in through the vamp’s back door. Get it?” He laughed at himself as he led me around to the back of the shack and pointed out an employee entrance.
“I don’t think Callum and them would appreciate …”
“Relax. I told him this was the only enclosed building left other than the bathrooms and that we needed a little one-on-one time. Besides, you really think we’re coming back here after tonight?” Zavier asked.
He had a good point.
I let him open the door for me and used my hand to create a glowing orb of soft yellow light so that we could see once we were inside. The walls were painted black and cobwebs stretched in long, unbroken webs from the ceiling to the top of stacked boards on either side of us.
“This has got to be the most romantic, uncreepy thing I’ve ever seen,” I snarked.
“It’ll be hard to top the last date on creep factor,” Z replied, letting the door fall shut behind us.
We maneuvered around several rotted set pieces and severed head props that were clearly earlier versions of the Wacky Shack’s glory. Then, once we’d passed those and opened a sliding door, we found ourselves in the hall of mirrors that we’d only glimpsed last time we’d been here. Unlike the rest of Joyland, the mirrors were in pristine condition, probably because most people came through the front of the ride and were deterred by the idea of wading through the ball pit. Mirrors lined either side of a narrow hall, creating a small maze for us to wander through. As we walked forward, some of the mirrors were normal and some were twisted.
We walked by a mirror that made my lower half apple shaped.
“Oh, your ass looks good, girl!” Zavier exaggerated his tone and then gave a long whistle. I gave a little twerk, falling into a silly mood with him and we danced in front of that mirror for a second before heading around a corner to another mirror that stretched us thin, our heads tiny pinpricks on top of our shoulders.
“I think this one is an accurate presentation of your mental faculties,” I told Z as I swiveled my body around in the mirror and watched it distort further, my arm becoming as thick as Andros’.
“I think my mental faculties are gonna give your faculties detention.”
I grinned up at him as I hugged him around the waist. “That was lame.”
“What do you expect? You gave me the word ‘faculties’ to work with. Who talks like that?”
We walked around the maze, hugging each other, the smell of the burgers filling the space and making me realize just how hungry I was. A minute or so later, we came out into a circular open space that was surrounded by mirrors. We’d made it to the middle of the maze. Unlike the rest of the tiny labyrinth, these mirrors were straight and undistorted, an icosagon with twenty perfect sides. I tossed my ball of light into the middle of the room, letting the miniature sun hover there. Twenty different versions of it winked back from the mirrors, just as multiple versions of myself and Zavier did.
“Group date?” I quipped.
“Orgy,” Z snapped back.
We both snickered as he set down the food in the very center of the black wooden floor. Together, we laid out the red plaid picnic blanket. He pulled out our burgers and handed me one. And as he unwrapped his, an Anti-Conception Amulet fell out.
