Fun rides

It was surprising to see him as he didn’t inform me beforehand. My lips curved up with a smile but I came back to my senses when I saw Eric struggling to catch his breath. 

“Who the hell are you?” Hayden growled. 

I held Hayden’s hand that was holding Eric’s throat and tried to free Eric while saying “Hayden, leave him. He is my friend.”

Even after hearing me, Hayden gripped his throat for a few seconds and then he left him. 

Eric fell to his knees, coughing. I crouched down and patted his back, gently. “Eric, are you alright?” 

As he was still trying to catch his breath, I looked at Hayden and shouted “What have you done, Hayden!” 

“He’s lucky he’s still alive.” He mumbled. 

“Eric! I’m so sorry.” I held his face in between my palms. 

Finally, our gazes met after a long time. His chocolate brown eyes, which I always adored, made me smile. 

“Serena!” he spoke while standing straight. Then his gaze fell on Hayden, who looked unbothered even after what he had done. “Who is he?” 

“Who are you?” Hayden raised his eyebrows. 

A messed up introduction I have never done in my life. One was trying to catch his breath, the other was throwing daggers with his eyes, and in the chaos, I spoke pointing my finger at Hayden “He is Hayden.” Then I shifted my gaze towards Eric. “He is my friend, Eric.” 

They both neither shook hands nor greeted each other. I asked Eric “What are you doing here? You surprised me.” 

“I reached this afternoon. I thought to surprise you so I headed to the shop where you work and got your new house location. But, you startled me by screaming your lungs out and having me choked by a random dude.” 

“What a stupid surprise!” Hayden scoffed. 

I asked Hayden “What are you still doing here?” 

He averted his gaze and started rubbing the back of his neck. He kept avoiding my stare as if he didn’t want to answer my question. 

I scoffed. “Don’t tell me you are still here to check if I’ll reach my home safely.” a part of me knew I was just imagining but another part of me felt what I said was true. 

“I don’t need to explain anything to you.” He rolled his eyes. “And… why would I even do whatever you said?” 

Huh! This dude! 

Then I looked at Eric, who was looking at us with questioning eyes. I said to Eric “I hope you are fine. Come, you need to have some water.” 

As I turned to Hayden, he was looking at me, raising his eyebrows. I said “Hayden, thank you so much for your help. Now, you see I am fine. I don’t want to trouble you anymore, you can go home.”  

He crossed his arms over his chest and stood still not speaking anything. 

“…or you can also come home?” I invited him as I felt it would be rude if I invited only Eric, and also by Hayden’s look, I could understand Hayden was expecting me to invite him. 

We three reached my home and Hayden sat on the couch comfortably as if it was his home. I didn’t mind it though. Then Eric sat on the chair, saying “It’s good to see you again.” 

I looked at him, smiling. “I’ll get you water.” 

I brought them glasses of water and juice and started to have casual conversations with Eric till we were interrupted by Hayden. 

“Aren’t you bored talking about your silly childhood again and again?” Hayden asked. 

“Who even says that?” I shouted. “Those are the memories that make you smile and laugh.” 

“Really?” he scoffed. “I prefer new memories though.” Then he looked at his wristwatch and said “It’s so late. I think you should get some sleep.” 

He stood straight to leave and I waved my hand at him. Instead of leaving, he remained in the same position which confused me. 

“W-what…”

“Are you going to stay here forever?” Hayden asked, looking at Eric. “I said she needs sleep.”   

“Huh! Oh, yeah!” Eric stood straight. “I should go now.” 

I walked out along with them. Before leaving, Eric said “Serena! If you are free tomorrow, shall we go out? It’s been so long since we spent time together.” 

“Sure. But to where?” 

We both smiled, pointed our fingers at each other, and said in unison “Amusement park.”

Whenever we ran out of places to go, we always ended up in an amusement park during our school days. It used to be our favorite hangout spot. 

“At ten. Don’t be late.” He said and walked away. I waved my hand at them and they both left.

____ 

Having my watermelon juice, I sat on the bench while looking at the people, who were taking fun rides. I kept looking at my watch every five minutes, waiting for him. It was already ten and still, he didn’t arrive. 

After a few minutes, I felt him standing beside me and he cleared his throat to get my attention. Smiling, I turned my head to look at him but after seeing Hayden instead of him, I was shocked. 

“You?” 

He sat beside me, crossed his legs, and mumbled “Did you wait so long?” 

“What’s happening? Why are you here?” 

He took off his sunglasses and shouted “It’s already ten. Where is he? He planned this and now he is making us wait. I came here despite my busy schedule.” 

Confused, I mumbled “… and you think that plan included you?” 

He shifted his gaze away and I put my palm on my forehead. 

“People are too much. They are overexcited about everything. They don’t have to shout that much.” He scoffed, looking at the people.

I gritted “Are you an alien? Because as far as I know, those rides excite humans.” 

“Really?” he raised his eyebrow. 

I let out a sigh. “You…” he seemed he was genuinely asking it. “Don’t tell me you have never taken these rides.”

He didn’t reply. As I kept looking at him, he said “Well, I’m not interested in these kid's games.” 

“I’m not a kid but I’m interested.” I rolled my eyes. “Do you want to try them?” I asked. 

Our conversation was interrupted by Eric’s call. He said there was heavy traffic and asked me to wait for him. 

“If you insist on taking rides, I cannot say anything,” Hayden said, standing straight. “It might take some time for him to arrive so I can give you the chance… let’s go on rides.” 

“Huh?” I narrowed my eyebrows. He held my hand and dragged me towards the rollercoaster. At first, he sat making his usual serious face but once it started to move, I noticed him smiling. After a few seconds, he started to laugh and got excited. It was my first time seeing him smiling, wholeheartedly. He was not controlling his smile.

We went on other small rides that gave me the chance to see the great Hayden smiling so brightly instead of scaring others. 

I took him to a candy store and bought us both cotton candies. I was surprised to know it was his first time trying all those things. 

Seeing him smiling, my lips curved up with a bright smile. To me, he always looked like a handsome jerk but at that moment, he looked like a cute puppy enjoying his life. 

“You are smiling,” I said while he was having his cotton candy. 

He stopped smiling and looked at me, narrowing his eyebrows. 

“It’s my first time seeing you like this. You look so good. Be like this always.” I spoke. 

Suddenly, he pulled me to him and twirled before covering me with his strong arms to protect me from the water splash. 

I gasped at his actions and raised my head to look into his deep eyes that were sparkling. It was not soulless but contained many emotions. He didn't let go of me neither did I want to go away. We remained in the same position till I got distracted by the vibration of my cell phone. 

I distanced myself from him and answered the call. I walked towards Eric, who already entered and was searching for me. 

“Hey! I’m so sorry. I started on time but the traffic was too much.” 

“That’s why, you should start early.” I scoffed. “And Hayden is also here…” I turned around but I couldn’t see Hayden. I walked forward in search of him but I couldn’t find him. 

“Serena?” Eric stood in front of me. “Searching for something?” 

“Yeah! Not something but someone… Hayden was here. Now, I cannot find him.” I let out a sigh. “This dude… he left without even informing me.” 

“Hayden? Is he your boyfriend?” Eric asked. 

“No, no, no…” I shook my head. “He is just… someone I know.” 

“Oh! Okay, leave it. Shall we go on rides?” he asked. I nodded and then headed to other fun rides with him. If I hadn’t seen Hayden, the entire time I must have kept my focus on Eric but after spending time with Hayden, I couldn’t stop thinking about him and his smile. 

“Today was nice. After a long, I have enjoyed like this.” He said, smiling. 

We walked to reach his car, talking. He kept talking about his studies, part-time jobs, and his friends. He then dropped me at my home and when I was about to go inside, he said those words that made me feel I was truly dreaming. 

“Serena! This Sunday... Can I take you out? Like a date?"

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