It took me an embarrassing amount of time to choose an outfit for today.

I couldn't decide on anything. Whether to wear shorts, jeans, or leggings. I couldn't decide if I wanted to wear a t-shirt, a tank top, or a long-sleeve.

After making a complete mess of clothing options in my room, I finally decided on a light pink tank top. It's new; I ordered it online recently. I paired the top with black skinny jeans, which will probably forever be my go-to bottoms.

It's safe to say my mom would not approve of my choice of clothes one bit, but she's not here today, which works out perfectly for me.

I grab the last of my things and place them into the small black backpack Brooke got me for my birthday last year.

From the view outside of the front window, I see Asher's black car pulling up in front of my house.

I walk over to the front door, locking it behind me. As I near his car, I realize it's not Asher inside. It's Aaron.

"Hi," I say as I open the passenger door.

His mouth parts as his gaze switches from the large house he's parked in front of to me. I press my lips together, waiting for him to return my greeting.

"Hi." He smiles. "You look— you look good, Estella."

My face heats up at the unexpected compliment. I buckle my seatbelt, attempting to cover as much of my face as I can with my hair, which I decided to leave down for the occasion.

I clear my throat, meeting his eyes again. "I wasn't expecting you to pick me up... Where's Asher?"

"Still getting ready," he replies, left hand on the steering wheel and the other resting on the center console. "He gave me his car keys and told me to pick you and Devin up."

"So we're going to Devin's house right now?" I ask.

"Yeah."

I nod, looking out of the window as we drive around my neighborhood. He hums to the song playing on the stereo.

"Do you like roller coasters?" I ask him as I turn my torso to face him.

"Come on, who do you think you're talking to?" He murmurs with a small grin. Glancing over at me, he adds, "Of course I like roller coasters."

I laugh, nodding my head. I already knew he would respond saying he did. Aaron doesn't strike me as someone with a fear of roller coasters.

"Do you?" He questions.

"I think so," I reply. "I guess we'll have to see when we get there."

A couple of minutes later, we're parked in front of a blue house. It's medium-sized, with a nice porch set and small plants lining the front of the house. The lawn looks freshly cut and the tree in the parkway does, too.

Aaron pulls out his phone, presumably sending Devin a text message letting her know he's waiting for her outside.

Less than a minute later, Devin, clad in a white tank top and a pair of light wash mom jeans opens the door, stepping outside and making her way over to Asher's car.

"Morning," she says as she opens the door to the backseat. Her distinct scent of vanilla spreads throughout the car as she sits in the middle seat.

"Hi, Devin."

"What's up, Dev," Aaron replies as he starts up the engine again. "You ready?"

"Hell yeah."

We arrive at Asher's house about ten minutes later. If I ever imagined what Asher's house would look like, it would be exactly as it is.

His house is modern, similar to mine. But different in so many ways. While my house has much more white and grey, his implements darker colors like brown and black. Everything in his house just seems so... Asher. From the foosball table to the collection of soccer trophies lined along the hallway that leads to bedrooms.

I admire the grand piano in the foyer. It's dusty, seemingly untouched. I run my hand along the shiny material before following Aaron into the hallway on the right side of the first floor.

"That's you," I say, pointing to a picture of a soccer team among the trophies. I turn to Aaron as my finger remains on the young blonde boy standing beside Asher. They both sport burgundy uniforms, wide smiles on their faces.

"Yeah." He nods, smiling. "Little league is how me and Asher met."

"How old were you guys?"

"Eight," Asher replies, finally stepping out of his room, dressed in a simple black t-shirt with a plaid flannel paired with light wash jeans, similar to Aaron's. "We were the two best players on the team."

"Everyone wished they were as good as us." Aaron shrugs confidently, a cocky smirk plastered on his face.

"They even called themselves the Double A's in middle school," Devin adds, rolling her eyes. "They thought they were so cool."

"As in... the batteries?" I ask, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Okay, first of all—"

"It was cool back then." Aaron defends, cutting Asher off.

"We didn't name ourselves." Asher rolls his eyes, correcting Devin. "The hot girls named us The Double A's. Sheesh, get it right."

Devin and I share a knowing look before bursting into laughter. She stomps her foot on the ground, amused by the boys' defensiveness over the nickname.

"Fuck you. Both of you." Asher laughs.

"Let's just go," Aaron says. "Come on."

-

Devin holds the map out in front of her as we discuss on which rollercoaster we want to ride first. I'm unfamiliar with most of them, only having bits and pieces of what they're like from Tuesday, when Devin told me about them. I think that might have been the first full conversation I've ever had with her.

"Let's go on Silver Bullet first."

"The Ghost Rider line is gonna get super long if we wait."

"Why can't we just go on the blue one?"

"Silver Bullet is the closest from where we are right now," I speak up, agreeing with Aaron's suggestion. Asher narrows his eyes. "Just saying."

"Thank you."

Devin sighs, looking from the wooden rollercoaster, Ghost Rider, back to us. "Fine," she huffs. "But we're going on this one next."

Everyone agrees as we make our way to Silver Bullet. The main reason I voted for this one is because Ghost Rider looks intimidating and I have no idea what blue roller coaster Asher is talking about. The wood on Ghost Rider looks old and creaky, giving me an unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Not that Silver Bullet doesn't. I see the way the passengers' feet dangle in the air when the ride is in motion and how close it gets to the pond under it. I make sure to double-knot my shoe laces while we're in line.

"Uh oh," Asher says with an amused smile as he looks over at me. "You're looking a little pale there, Estella."

"Mhm. A little scared if you ask me," Aaron adds with a grin.

My eyebrows furrow. "I'm not scared. I'm fine. I feel fine."

I crack my fingers, watching the roller coaster take off, the passengers' feet dangling in the air wildly. Is that safe? It doesn't seem safe. What if my shoe falls off? Wait, I double-knotted.

"She's gonna chicken out," Devin says to the boys as she tilts her head. "How much you wanna bet?"

"I'm not going to chicken out." I defend.

"Ten bucks," Asher replies.

Next thing I know, we're being allowed on the roller coaster. I chew on the inside of my cheek as I place my small bag in one of the storage cubbies. I can run right now if I wanted to. The exit gate is only a few feet away from me.

Don't run. Prove them wrong.

"You okay?" Aaron asks as I sit next to him. He sits on the seat on the right, me right next to him. On my left is Asher, with Devin on his other side.

"I'm fine," I lie, watching as the employee comes around to make sure everyone is buckled in correctly.

Moments later, the platform beneath our feat lowers, and our legs are left to dangle freely in the air. I look down, swinging my legs while simultaneously gripping the thick bars pressed against my body like my life depends on it.

"Fuck yeah, here we go!" Asher laughs. He looks over to me. "You good?"

"All good," I reply through clenched teeth, giving him a thumbs-up without releasing the metal bar.

I feel a warm hand making contact with my skin. I look over as Aaron wraps his hand around mine, gripping it lightly in a comforting manner.

A scream elicits from my throat as the roller coaster starts to pick up speed. I instinctively grip Aaron's hand tighter as we go through loops, turns, and drops. I keep my eyes wide open the entire time, not wanting to miss a second of the enticing experience. Adrenaline courses through my body as we flip upside down.

Laughs escape my mouth once the ride begins to slow down, sadly coming to an end. I'm not sure when I released Aaron's hand, but I no longer feel his warm palm in mine.

"How was it?" He asks me.

"Amazing," I reply, smiling.

We ride a few more roller coasters before deciding we can't go any longer without eating. Luckily, the group decided the line was too long for Ghost Rider. Or as I like to call it, the roller coaster of death.

"Let me get a picture of us," Devin says as we stand outside of Johnny Rockets, waiting for our number to be called.

We huddle together for the picture. I smile at the camera, waiting for her to snap a photo.

"Can you guys smile for fuck's sake?" She rolls her eyes, looking to Asher, who was holding up a middle finger and Aaron, who was looking at the camera without a trace of a smile on his face.

"Just take the picture already."

Asher smiles brightly at the camera, still holding his middle finger in the air. Right as she's about to snap the picture, Aaron places an arm loosely around my neck, casually resting his hand on my right shoulder with his chin on top of my head.

"Thank you," she chirps, saving the picture before posting it on her Snapchat story. "You can all go back to being hungry assholes again."

"I will, thank you." Asher crosses his arms, staring at the device that will light up once our table is ready.

I turn my body, Aaron's arm staying in place so it's now wrapped around the back of my neck. His fingers absent-mindedly tap my shoulder.

"What are you doing?" I ask him.

He furrows his eyebrows, slightly angling his head as one of his hands comes around to twirl a strand of my hair. "I don't know what you mean."

I halfheartedly roll my eyes. My mind is telling me to remove his arm, but I don't. For some reason, I like the feeling of being so close to him, making any type of contact with him. But my freakin' heart is beating out of my chest.

"Do I make you nervous, Estella?" He asks me in a low voice, his gaze traveling all over my face, stopping at my parted lips.

I swallow, suddenly losing the capability to talk. My face is surely solid red by now, courtesy of Aaron's intense stare.

"Finally!" I hear Asher exclaim from the bench he and Devin are sitting on. I quickly pull away from Aaron to join them.

Clearing my throat, I ask in a voice full of hope, "Our table's ready?"

"Fuck yeah it is."

I don't think I've ever seen Asher as excited as he is in this moment. He has a certain pep in his step as we all walk into the restaurant to finally be seated.

About twenty minutes later, we all have our meals in front of us. I didn't even realize how hungry I really was until my cheeseburger and fries were set in front of me by the waitress.

-

"I can't do it."

Asher's mouth drops open as we stand outside of the entrance for the roller coaster of death. I press my lips together, watching as Devin's shoulders slump and Aaron's eyebrows furrow.

"Wh— what do you mean you can't do it?"

I look at Asher, shrugging. "I can't go on this ride. Honestly, I was never planning to."

It's now dark out. We've gone on practically every other ride in the park. I hesitated on a few, but ultimately ended up going on all of them. But this one I can't, won't, go on.

Sure, it looks cute with small bright yellow lights lining the roller coaster, but I haven't forgotten about the awful wood it's made of. I can almost hear it creak when the ride's in motion.

"I'm going," Devin says. "We saved the best for last. I'll even go on by myself if I have to."

"Estella, just get on it," Asher attempts to persuade me. "I promise you it'll be worth it."

I spent the entire day silently hoping that the ride would miraculously close before we ever got to it. There is no way I'm getting on it, especially not after Devin explained the huge drop and the sharp turns it entails.

"I can't."

"We're wasting time just standing here," Devin says, addressing the two boys who are both looking at me with expectancy. With a roll of her head, she adds, "I'm going in."

She turns on her heels and enters the area that leads up to the line for the roller coaster. Asher gives Aaron a look that I once again am unable to decipher.

"I'll stay with you," Aaron says.

"No, she's going on the ride," Asher counters before turning to look back at me. "Estella, I swear to you that you'll regret it if you don't get on."

I shift uncomfortably on my feet. "I'll wait out here for you guys. Just go. Seriously."

Asher shakes his head, not wanting to let it go. "I'm not letting you skip on this one. You've been on every other ride and this one isn't any different."

"Asher, if she doesn't wanna go on—"

"She does."

Asher's green eyes bore into mine as he waits for my response. I stare back at him for a couple of seconds, wondering why he's forcing me onto this roller coaster I've shown nothing but disinterest in since we got here.

My shoulders drop. "Fine. I'll go on."

He smiles, cocking his head in the direction of where the line begins. We walk inside, making our way to where Devin is already waiting in line.

"You don't have to go on if you don't want to," Aaron says once we reach the back of the line. "Seriously, Estella."

"Asher's right." I shrug. "It's just like every other roller coaster."

"Atta girl." Asher smiles, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. "Aaron, I'm getting on this one with her. I have to be there when she likes it so much she wants to go on it again."

"I wouldn't go that far," I say.

He shrugs. "I guess we'll just have to see."