– Wendy –

As the last threads of day fall into night, I find Marko at my doorstep wrapped in his patchwork jacket; all innocent smiles and a mischievous air about him.

I let him take me by the hand and pull me from the safety of my home. I let him lead me to his motorcycle and off into the night.

Miles pass us by, a blur of motion punctuated by stoplights and pedestrians. The familiar surroundings lull my breath back into a steady rhythm.

We come to a swift stop, nearly crashing into the motorcycle next to us as we park in the boardwalk's entrance. Loosening my grip around Marko's waist, he pushes down the kickstand before gracefully getting off the bike. His larger hand is cool as it wraps around mine.

His grip tightens almost imperceptibly as he easily lifts me off the bike and rests my feet on the solid asphalt next to him.

Marko's smile shines brightly above me. The darkest edges of my mood fall away as I see the way his eyes light up, reflecting an untempered joy in the quiet depths of his green eyes.

Tightening his grip on my hand, he tears his eyes away from the boardwalk, firmly locking them on mine before letting out a quiet laugh and excitedly pulling me toward the entrance.

Pushing past people and weaving our way through the crowds, we slowly inch forward. We make it a few more steps before coming to a stop beneath a sign that cheerfully read: Santa Carla Boardwalk.

Red and gold lights flicker around the sign at stuttering intervals, casting a warm glow over our faces as we pass underneath. The boardwalk is teeming with life most nights, but there seems to be something about this night in particular that makes the people around us more vibrant. It's as though the sights and sounds of the boardwalk have lent themselves to a wild, unpredictable sort of glee.

Marko's voice was a familiar presence in the cacophony surrounding us, "Come on," he said, yelling over the noise and tugging me closer as we navigated the crowds. "There's somewhere I wanted to take you first."

I yelled in reply, trying and failing to be heard over the noise. Giving up, I offered an indulgent smile and a nod of my head as he led us past the wide swaths of people. Not for the first time, I found myself feeling grateful for him.

As the crowd thins, we pause, finding ourselves in front of the spinning, animalistic form of the carousel once again. It had become a local haunt I had visited with him and the other boys several times a week growing up. It was a comfortable sort of place and it showed. One that had remained fairly unchanged over the years, only growing faded, with chipped paint as I became older and time failed to touch the Lost Boys.

I turned to Marko with a false frown tugging at my lips, "I know what you're trying to do, Pigeon, and I promise, it won't work." My crossed arms and raised eyebrows are met with a shocked look.

"Me?," he gasped. "I'm just trying to show my Winnie a fun time at the boardwalk."

He paused, gesturing at the carousel, "Besides, there's nothing wrong with the classics."

Seeing hesitation written plainly on my face he steps closer and looks me in the eyes, saying, "Hey, lighten up! Won't you at least try to enjoy spending time with me? I know you're worried, but you don't know for sure that your girlfriend is part of all this, none of us do. That's why the other's had to go to Newport." The worried tilt to his brows lifts after a moment.

A grin spreads over his features, cracking the edges of his otherwise angelic face as he scoops me up. Without warning, he tosses me over his shoulder and weaves past the line of people as he moves closer to the carousel.

An unexpected squeak leaves my lips as my pleas to be put down go unnoticed.

The carousel attendant steps back as we approach, from my tilted angle, I can just make out the other boy holding up his hands towards Marko, though trying to ward him off.

Marko notices this with a smirk forming at the corners of his lips. He plops me down next to him at the front of the line knowing no one would bother to stop us. They've heard rumors of the boy's reputation, after all.

Leaning against the attendant's booth, he settles against the metal panel with a wink aimed at the other boy. Resting his head against his hand, he smoothly ushered me to choose a seat.

With a small smile, I step forward, considering my options and trying to decide the best seat to throw rings from.

A few feet from the carousel stood a large light up caricature of an open mouthed clown. While somewhat horrifying in its own right, it served a purpose. If someone was lucky enough to toss one of the rings given by an attendant through the clown's mouth as they passed, their next ride would be free.

Just as I began to move towards the ride, a burly security guard stepped forward and took note of our sudden appearance at the front of the line. He unclasped his baton from his belt, using it more as a means of showing his authority than as any indications of him planning to dispel a riot. Even still, he didn't look to be above cracking a few heads.

He flicked his baton in front of me, stopping me cold in my tracks just as I was about to take my place atop a cheerful looking unicorn. I stepped back hurriedly as the guard advanced, gesturing between the two of us with the business end of his baton.

"What's all this then?"

His gaze flickered between us, trying to find someone to blame before settling on the ride's attendant. His tone takes on a patronizing lilt, drawing out each word as though speaking to a child, he gruffly says, "You got two jobs here, kid. One, operate the carousel. Two, if you have people trying to weasel their way past you, you tell them to pay up or you call me so I can take care of them, alright?"

He paused, resting a hand on the younger man's shoulder, jostling him slightly, "Does that make sense to you? You do your job, you get paid, you go home. It's as simple as that."

I step forward, trying to break the tension, "It's fine, really. We can just pay."

The security guard frowns as he glances in my direction. A sneer twists his mouth and shapes it into an ugly gash, "Did it look like I was talking to you, little lady?"

"No but I—"

"Exactly, I wasn't. So give it a rest, will you?"

The clear chime of a bell rings through the air, stopping the argument in its tracks. Training his eyes on the guard, Marko picks up a few more plastic rings. Each one he threw hit its mark, landing in the clown's gaping mouth and causing several new rounds of cheerful bells to split the air as the nose lit up red.

Without missing a beat, Marko starts in, "I believe I've won the lady a free ride on the carousel."

The security guard's frown deepens as his gaze refocuses on the nonchalant form lounging in front of the attendant's booth.

"And I believe you've overstayed your welcome, young man," he paused, his eyes flicking between me and Marko as his lip curled. "Now, you two need to move along before you start any more trouble."

His eyes fully settled on Marko, "And I thought I told you to stay off the boardwalk. Go before I have half a mind to radio this in."

Marko stepped back, his hand flicking in my direction, silently asking me to follow. With a shrug he turned and called back, "It was just a bit of fun, really! No need to call for backup, especially for two teenagers! But, go ahead, I'm sure it will do wonders for that glowing rep you have!"

Slipping my hand through the crook of Marko's arms, I did my best to steer him away from the onlookers staring at us past the carousel. Giving a tight lipped nod to the attendant and the security guard, I step back, simply saying, "We'll go."

The guard's voice followed us as we left, "I'll be keeping a close eye on you two."

After walking in silence for a few moments, I turn to Marko and whisper, "Since when does trying to cheer someone up involve getting kicked off the boardwalk?"

He sighed next to me, letting the sharpest edges of his grin fall, "It doesn't. I just wanted you to get a ride on the carousel, for old times sake."

"There are better ways to do that than by being a public menace."

"Yeah," he says, gently flicking the end of my nose, "But it's so much more fun that way."

Laughter bubbles between us as we walk arm in arm to the next big attraction the boardwalk has to offer. With the promise of fun following closely behind us, we wind our way through the boardwalk, passing the bumper car station.

I huff a quiet laugh, taking in the icy glare that left the attendant's eyes and embedded itself in the place Marko's heart should be.

"Do you make trouble everywhere you go?" I ask with a disbelieving shake of my head.

"Only if there's nothing better to do," he said with a sly wink.

"So, what's the story there? It takes two to cause the amount of trouble that warrants a glare like that."

I pause, thinking for a moment before tapping him on the arm and comically widening my eyes, "Wait! Weren't you and Paul banned from here?"

Marko sighed proudly, before swinging an arm around my shoulders, "It isn't the first time and it certainly won't be the last."

"I can't believe you actually got banned from bumper cars," a stunned laugh left my lips.

"Well," Marko started, running a hand through his curls, "We did go the wrong way around the track trying to ram into each other head-on. It turns out, they really hate it when you smash the glass headlights on those things."

He continued smugly, a shrug of his shoulders the only indication that he wished they hadn't been caught. "We had to get out of there pretty quickly, but it wasn't anything we couldn't handle. Man, bumper cars sure were fun back in the day."

Our conversation broke off as we found ourselves in front of the towering silhouette of The Giant Dipper. Learning our lesson for the night, we move to stand at the back of the line, inching forward as small groups of people board the roller coaster and surge down the track ahead of us.

The minutes tick by with idle chatter before we find ourselves at the front of the line. Moving past the attendant with practiced ease, we sit side by side in the last car, where it's fastest.

Darkness envelops the roller coaster this far back in the loading dock. It would have been eerie had I been alone and had the chatter of the other passengers not been on constant loop. The voices in the cars up front became quiet as the coaster started inching forward, clinking all the while as the chains pulled it further up the incline.

The ride suddenly jerked forward, earning a yelp from me as the top car crested the peak's summit. The roar of it filled our ears as the cart thundered down the tracks. Sharp fear melted into surprised, adrenaline filled screams as wind whipped around us, buffeting us from all sides and throwing our hair into a wild tangle. As soon as it started, it's over and the coaster came to a jolting stop as it returned to its starting place.

After getting off the ride, my face is flushed with the heady rush of excitement. Stepping past the line, we take a breather, leaning against the cool metal of the railings and waiting as my breath returns.

People pass by talking amongst themselves, smiling and eating food. Across from the railing stood two people. They had taken off their borrowed roller skates, switching them in favor of their normal shoes, not wanting to stand on the unstable wheels as they grabbed funnel cake from a nearby food cart.

Overhead, the first strains of 'I Ran (So Far Away)' by A Flock of Seagulls crackled through the speakers. With a wicked grin forming on his face, Marko turned to me, taking my hand in his before pulling me in the direction of the forgotten skates.

Handing me the smaller pair he whispered, "Put these on. I see an opportunity for some fun."

Following his lead with a roll of my eyes, I shucked off my floral print boots and laced up the ratty pair of skates mumbling under my breath as I went, "Just so you know, if they catch us, I'm letting you take the fall."

The green in his eyes glows brighter as mischief washes over his features.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," He said with a wink before catching the eyes of the skate's original owners.

"I think that's our cue, Winnie."

He grabs my hand, pulling me along as we dash down the boardwalk. Combat boots in hand, laces trailing behind us, we build up speed flying down the boardwalk as the dreamy tune plays us out.

Laughter falls easily from our lips as we race past booths and weave through the crowds. Soon enough, the song overhead drowns out everyone but us; our laughter is at the forefront of the moment as we link hands through our shoelaces and spin.

The sounds of the boardwalk are distant as the lights glow brighter around us. In the haze, they become a disorienting blur of color urging us on.

Distantly, the sound of shouting filters back in as the song reaches its guitar solo. We slow our movements and turn to find the carousel security guard barreling towards us at a breakneck speed, howling all the while.

Readjusting our hold on our shoes, we lock hands again. A wild smile passes between us as we race down the boardwalk towards the entrance. We pause only to wrench off the skates, flinging them to the wind behind us as we make the last few steps to Marko's motorcycle.

The rumble of it cuts off the guard's shouts as it comes to life. The song fades out behind us as we flee the boardwalk; tail lights flashing as the shrinking form of the security guard watches us go.

Marko turned to me for a moment, a wild grin flashing across his face, "It's nice to see you smile again, Wendy."