Page 127 of Sharkbait
“What do you mean? What other way?”
“I just mean that our parents don’t have to die to overly influence our lives. If we disagree with how they raised us or how they’re living, without realizing it, we can launch this quest to do everything the opposite way they did, or we can make all of our life choices in an effort to spite them. That’s no road to happiness or authenticity either.”
Is that what I’ve been doing? Letting their shortcomings steer the decisions I make in my life?
“Alright, Cold Brew. We’ve arrived.”
He shifts the car into park and shuts off the engine.
“You ready?” he asks.
“I have absolutely no idea.”
“Here, let me help.”
He exits the car and walks around to my side to open the door. He guides me out, then stands flush against my back, his arms around my waist, his breath on my neck.
“Moment of truth,” he says. “May I?”
His warm fingers brush my ear as he reaches for the blindfold.
I nod.
He lifts it off me and… what I see in front of me is the last thing I expect. I’m not exactly sure what I anticipated. Maybe I thought we’d have a romantic dinner? See a cool show? Go to an outdoor concert? But this?
“Splash City?” I nearly shriek. “You brought me to Splash City?”
“Yeah!” he enthuses. “Have you ever been?”
“No, dude! Because I hate getting in the water!”
“Right, yes. I know. You’ve mentioned that. But I thought this could be a way to get over that fear while having a stupid amount of fun!”
My heart starts pounding.
“But I don’t even—I didn’t bring a suit.”
“In the bag.”
I reach for more excuses. “It’s almost dark out. They have to be closing soon.”
“Tonight’s a special late-night event. They light up all the water slides. They bring in a live band. It’s awesome.”
“What do you say? Give it a try? I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
I just stare up at the sign, frozen.
“Listen.” He turns me to face him and holds both of my hands in his. “If you really don’t want to do this, we’ll turn around right now. I told you there was a good chance this idea would be a disaster. I just hate to see an ocean-loving girl like you missing out on all the joy that comes with actually getting in the water. I thought this could be a fun baby step in the right direction.”
“Alright, let’s do it,” I say.
“Yeah?” James squeezes both of my shoulders and bends his knees to look right into my eyes. “You sure?”
“I’m sure.”
Ten minutes later, we’re standing at the top of The Swirling Sidewinder, a curly water slide designed so two people at a time can go down in a double-seated raft.
“Isn’t the name Swirling Sidewinder redundant?”
