Jay-Jay's POV
The "Final Boss" of the amusement park stood towering over us: The Giga-Coaster. It was a massive, twisting mountain of steel that screamed "bad idea" in every language.
I looked at the "Big Four." They were standing in a line, looking at the tracks with various expressions of "Hell no."
Keifer was trying to look bored, Yuri was analyzing the structural integrity, Aries was crossing his arms, and Percy was checking if his hair could survive 80mph winds.
I looked at Elara. She had that "devilish" glint in her eyes again. We didn't even need to speak; we just nodded.
"Oh, look!" I pointed at the entrance. "The line is short! Let's go!"
"I'll pass," Keifer said quickly. "I need to... check on the security of the park."
"Coward," Elara whispered, loud enough for everyone to hear.
"I am NOT a coward," Keifer snapped.
Before they could argue, Elara and I basically became human bulldozers.
We pushed, shoved, and dragged the four of them toward the loading platform.
We managed to orchestrate the seating plan perfectly: Keifer and Aries in the front row, with Yuri and Percy right behind them.
"Wait, Jay—!" Aries started to protest, but the attendant was already locking the safety bars.
Clink. Clink. Clink.
As the coaster started its slow, agonizing climb up the first hill, the atmosphere was thick with awkwardness. Keifer and Aries were sitting
shoulder-to-shoulder, staring straight ahead, refusing to acknowledge that they were basically touching.
Keifer: (Voice tight) "If you scream in my ear, Aries, I'm throwing you off."
Aries: (Voice just as tight) "Don't worry, Watson. I'll be too busy laughing at your pale face."
Behind them, Percy was having a crisis.
Percy: "Honey! Honey, look at me! Is my face still aesthetic? I feel like my skin is sagging from the gravity! DAMN IT, YURI, STOP SHAKING THE BAR!"
Yuri: "I'm not shaking it, Percy, that's just the machinery. Also, stop gripping my arm, you're cutting off my circulation!"
Percy: "SHUT UP! I'M DYING!"
Then, they reached the peak. The world stopped for a second.
"OH SHIT—!"
WHOOSH.
The coaster plummeted. The "cool" silence was replaced by pure, unadulterated chaos.
Keifer: "SON OF A—! JAY-JAY, i think you need a punishment !"
Aries: "WHOOOOOOOO! EAT DUST, WATSON! And stay away from my sister."
Percy: "MY HAIR! MY BEAUTIFUL HAAAAAIIIR! F*** THIS RIDE! I WANT TO GO HOME!"
Yuri: (Laughing hysterically) "WE'RE ACTUALLY GOING TO DIE! PERCY, QUIT CRYING!"
In the rows behind them, the rest of Section E was losing it.
Ci-N: "RAKKI! I SEE THE LIGHT! IT'S BEAUTIFUL!"
Rakki: "THAT'S JUST THE FLASH FROM THE ON-RIDE CAMERA, YOU IDIOT!"
Felix: "I THINK I SWALLOWED A BUG! HELP!"
Mayo: "GOD FORGIVE ME FOR STEALING DREW'S LUNCH LAST WEEK! I'M SORRY!"
Even Elara, who was sitting behind me, let out a rare, loud "WHOO!" as we went through a corkscrew.
I was laughing so hard I couldn't even scream.
By the time the ride pulled back into the station, the "Big Four" looked like they'd been through a war.
Their hair was standing up in every direction, and their eyes were wide.
Keifer stepped off the ride, stumbled slightly, and then—unexpectedly—started laughing.
He looked at Aries, who was leaning against a pole, clutching his chest and wheezing with laughter.
"Your face..." Keifer gasped, pointing at Aries. "You looked like a panicked owl."
"Me?!" Aries barked a laugh.
"You were cursing so loud the kids in the front row probably learned five new words!"
Yuri and Percy joined them, both breathless. The wall of "ignoring each other" had finally been knocked down by G-force and terror.
They weren't "fixed" yet, but for the first time in months, they were just four guys laughing about a ride.
Elara walked past them, patting Keifer on the back. "See? I told you you were a coward. You survived, didn't you?"
Keifer smirked, finally looking human again. "Shut up, Elara."
When the bars finally lifted, we didn't walk off—we basically oozed out of the seats.
My legs were doing a vibrating thing that I'm pretty sure isn't medically normal.
Even the "Snakes" were wobbling. We all ended up finding a long row of benches near a fountain, sitting down in a daze to wait for our souls to catch up with our bodies.
Elara and I found a spot on a bench slightly away from the rowdy boys.
Usually, Elara is like a statue—cold, unmoving, and perfectly composed.
But today, her hair was a mess of tangles from the wind, and she looked... human.
I looked at her, then I glanced over at Keifer. He was leaning against a nearby lamppost, trying desperately to fix his hair while maintaining his "King of the School" posture. He looked like he was trying to pose for a magazine while simultaneously recovering from a mild heart attack.
A stupid, dangerous, intrusive thought popped into my head.
I knew I should probably keep it inside, but the adrenaline had made my filter disappear.
"Elara?" I whispered, leaning in.
"Hmm?" She didn't even look up; she was busy checking if her phone had survived the drop.
"I have a question. And it's really dumb. But don't you ever... you know... feel anyth.....?"
Elara stopped moving. She slowly turned her head toward me, her eyes unreadable.
"Like... huh, leave it. Forget I said anything. My brain is just scrambled eggs right now," I mumbled, waving my hands frantically.
But Elara didn't look annoyed. She actually chuckled—a soft, low sound that caught me off guard.
"Jay, complete the question. I promise I won't be angry. I'm actually curious what goes on in that head of yours. Ask it."
I swallowed hard, looking over at Keifer again. "I mean... uuu... mmm... hhh... leave it, Elara. It's too awkward."
"Jay," she said, her voice dropping into that serious tone that usually makes me want to confess to crimes I didn't commit. "Complete it. I want to answer."
"Okay! Fine!" I blurted out. "It's just... you know, Keifer is... well, he's Keifer. He's incredibly handsome, everyone knows that. And yeah, he's reckless, and he's a jerk, and he has the ego of a small sun, but he's still... attractive? I was just asking because, you know, most girls have a... well... they tend to like him. I was wondering if you, being around him so much, ever felt like that."