Margie and I were soon laughing hysterically.
“This is so much fun, guys!” she yelled.
“I know!” I yelled back.
As we went past my parents and Ally, I saw that my mom was taking pictures of us. I waved at them and then Margie tried to as well. It was hard because we were spinning in our tea cup so fast.
We were still spinning in our cup as the ride started to slow down. We had been going so fast that I wasn’t sure if we were going to stop or not. A few seconds later, we finally started slowing down, and then it stopped.
“That was so much fun; can we do it again?” Margie asked as we made our way out of the ride area and toward where my parents and Ally were waiting for us.
“Let’s let the first ride settle before we go again,” Justin said.
We spent another few hours going on different rides. My mom even went on one with Margie. Justin played a ring toss game and won Margie a stuffed bear.
When we got back to the van and started driving down the highway, Margie passed out. I sat in the back with her again. I watched her eyes light up over and over throughout the day, and it brought me so much joy.
The ride back to my house seemed so much longer than it had on the way there. I figured it had to do with all of us being so tired. It had been such a long day, but we all had a blast. These were memories I was going to cherish forever, especially since my mom took so many pictures.
“I’ll make sure to tag you on the social media,” she said.
I laughed.
“You mean Facebook?” Ally asked.
“Facebook is social media, right?” our mom asked.
“Yeah, but you don’t call it ‘the social media.’ Just call it Facebook. You don’t have a twitter or Instagram account. There’s no point in saying ‘social media,’” Ally explained. She was laughing, but I sensed a hint of irritation in her voice.
“You knew what I meant, Ally bear,” Mom said.
The rest of the ride was quiet, and I was glad when we made it home. We said our goodbyes, and I picked Margie up out of her booster seat. She was still asleep, and I followed Justin to his car, where he put the booster seat in. I gently placed her in the car, trying not to wake her.
“Thank you,” he said.
“Thank you for coming with us,” I said in response.
“It’s no problem. I think Margie had a blast.”
“She definitely did.”
We stood there for a moment. I sensed neither of us really wanted to walk away or say goodnight.
“I guess I should get her home,” Justin said after a couple minutes of silence.
I nodded my head. “Yeah, you probably should.”
At that moment, I wanted to tell Justin just how I really felt. I wanted him to know that the way I acted around him were my true feelings, that this wasn’t just a big show for my family. I wanted him to know the truth, but I was terrified. I didn’t know how he really felt about me. I didn’t know if this was all pretend to him. The last thing I wanted to do was read more into things than was really there. I didn’t want to come on too strong and drive Justin away.
“Goodnight, Anna.”
“Goodnight, Justin,” I said.
And then he grabbed my face and kissed me. I could sense there was more there than just a ‘goodnight kiss.’ It was passionate, but I could feel what might be love. And when we finished kissing, I felt breathless.
“Drive safe,” I mumbled, my lips were numb from the passionate kiss.
“I will,” he said. He smiled at me before climbing into the car and driving away.