Chapter Seven

Sam

 

That moment was the closest I’d ever come to kissing Kate since we met and now she wanted to shift to another dark attraction. We took the next raft back to the mainland and got in line for the Haunted Mansion.

She doesn’t see you like that, I repeated internally.

She was here for good-clean-fun memories, not a secret make-out.

And I was leaving in two months.

We continued to cover as much of the park as possible, the day long this close to the summer solstice, but the temperature not unbearable. I snuck a photo of my happy, beautiful best friend any time I thought I could get away with it. Disneyland billed itself as The Most Magical Place on Earth, and maybe today, that might be true.

I’d never had so many thrills here before.

Until our stomachs demanded dinner.

Her family liked The Plaza Inn, so we found seats in the Main Street eatery.

“We’ve hit everything open once by now. What do you want to ride again?”

She checked her watch. “Hmm, I don’t know. Maybe we leave after fireworks.”

Nightly fireworks would go off at 9:35.

“Tired?”

She shrugged. “It’s when the buses are heading back to school.”

“Is that a hint you don’t want to drive me home?”

A roll of her green eyes. “I just didn’t tell Dad I’d be closing the park. If we stay late, I should use one of the payphones.” She twirled pasta on her fork.

The park closed at midnight.

“No problem. We can do that.”

“Sorry…guess I am a bit tired.”

“Kate, I’d always rather you drive safe over extending the fun, much as I enjoy your company. We can take off after the fireworks if that’s what you want.”

“Okay.”

Issue settled, we didn’t rush dinner, and also ate dessert. Then we only needed a spot to watch the sky show without a tree in the way. The colors would explode over the center of the park. I checked the camera roll.

“Hey, we have one shot left. Where would you like to take it?”

“I don’t know. Is that thing going to work in the dark?”

“Hell if I know. Dad’s the expert at photography.”

Then the music started and people crowded around us. I tossed my arm around her shoulders to keep her with me. She leaned into my body as she sang along.

Like a friend.

The crowd ooh’d and ahh’d at the shapes and colors above. Small children pointed and shrieked with delight. For ten minutes or so, everyone was a kid without a care in the world.

And then, people started to disperse.

“Families will rush the exit,” Kate said above the noise. “We need to give it a bit.”

I nodded, grabbed her hand, and we moved into the nearest gift shop.