by Jus Accardo
I was about to mirror her statement—Dez hadn’t told me the park would be full of so many people—but she interrupted. “It’s safe. Kale knows how to avoid contact. He’s been doing it his whole life. He’s wearing gloves and a long-sleeved shirt. He’ll be fine unless someone tries to kiss him.” She winked at me. “And if that happens, I’d kill ’em before they ever got the chance.”
And just like that, my worries faded away. I wondered if one day it would be possible for me to make Dez feel the way she made me feel. Perfect. Infallible. When she looked at me, I was the most important person alive.
We made our way farther into the park, keeping out of the main line of traffic and off to the side. Dez was right. It wasn’t bad. People tended to give each other space—which was something I’d never understand. If you had the ability to touch someone, why wouldn’t you? The sensation was amazing.
Down the main path, we came to a large statue of a man with a too-pale face and strange blue and yellow markings on his skin. His clothing was bright, ill fitting, and reminded me of something Sue—my surrogate mother and, ironically, Dez’s biological one—had shown me in a book once when I was a child. A rainbow. I couldn’t remember her saying anything about people wearing them, though, and would never understand the fascination the world seemed to have with bright colors. Did it not occur to the normal mind that glaring colors painted a target on your body that could prove fatal? No one here even tried to blend in.
The Statue Man’s wild hair matched his clothing, and he had a circular red object in place of his nose. There was something about him that stirred an uneasy feeling in my belly. Like at any moment he might jump forth and try to snatch me away. I extended a finger and poked his chin. Still solid. “Are you sure people come here for fun?”
Dez chuckled and tapped a finger against the Statue Man’s head. With a grin that sent little shivers up and down my spine, she leaned into me and whispered, “What do we have here? Is my super-hot assassin boyfriend freaked out by clowns?”
I glanced back at the statue. It was still standing motionless, but its beady brown eyes seemed to follow us. “I fail to see the draw of this place.”
Kiernan snickered. “That’s Jeepers the clown. Like, the mascot of the place. Come on, everyone likes clowns!”
I looked from her to the Statue Man. If everyone liked clowns, then this was just another example of how I would never fit in with normal people.
Colorful structures in various shapes and sizes lined either side of the narrow road that went through the park. Several looked as though they might be vehicles of some sort, having multiple seats and complicated-looking controls. Others appeared to be shelters, housing hundreds of identical toys in various sizes. There were small pink bears and larger blue ones, as well as dolls in the image of the strange, shifty-looking Statue Man.
One shelter had a large table at its center full of glass cups. Each cup had a small orange fish floating inside. That must be where they stored the food.
We continued on until we came to a large sign with a crude picture. A map of the park. The sign had several pictures of the strange Statue Man—I refused to think of him as Jeepers—pointing to different locations.
Beyond the sign, just across the way, was a large, colorful wheel with what appeared to be buckets hanging in equal increments around its entire surface. The strange Statue Man’s face was on the front of the wheel in large form. He seemed to be everywhere and Kiernan had called him a mascot… This led me to believe he must be of particular importance to this place.
I wondered how it was still open.
“What is that?” I asked.
Dez looked away from the map and across the lot. “The Ferris wheel?”
“Ferris wheel?”
“It’s a ride. Like the coasters. You sit in the seats and it spins around. It’s fun!”
People had an odd definition of fun. What was amusing about sitting in something that spun in a circle? “I’m starting to wonder if the majority of the population is more severely damaged than I am. I’ll never get used to the way people think.”
“Good,” she said, rising up on her toes and kissing me briefly. “I like the way you think.” Large wheel forgotten, she turned back to the map. Tapping the largest picture of the Statue Man, she said, “This is us.”
I traced a line from where we were to Coaster Alley. It was a semicircle consisting of six points of interest. At the center was a large red star with the Statue Man’s face. He wore an ugly expression, baring a row of pointy teeth. “What’s this?”
“That,” Kiernan said, clasping her hands together, “is the Tower of Screams. Best ride in the place. First, though, we totally have to hit the Jipsey.” She pointed to a bright red structure with a pointed roof and a sign that read, Jeeper’s Jipsey Hut.
I looked from her to Dez, then at the building. “Dare I ask?”
“It’ll be a great way for me to get to know you guys,” she said with a mischievous smile. “I’ll even pay.”
“A fortune teller?” Dez groaned. “Really? What’s next, dancing bears?”
I looked at the building again, trying to figure out how the whole thing worked. Dez had said there were vehicles. They must be hidden inside. “Does it go fast and turn up-side-down?”
Kiernan blinked. “Does it what?”
Dez took my hand. “It’s not a ride. It’s some chick dressed in a costume who pretends to read your future.”
That seemed silly. “Pretends? What’s the point?”
Kiernan rolled her eyes and snorted. “No pretending. She’s the real deal. I promise.”
Dez and I both stayed put.
Kiernan stomped her foot and motioned us forward. “Come on. It’ll be fun.”
I still didn’t move. “Fun? How could that possibly be considered fun?”
She folded her arms and started toward the building, unwilling to wait any longer. Over her shoulder, she called, “I doubt you’d know fun if it smacked you on the ass and called you Sally.”
I turned to Dez, desperate. “Sally?”
She tugged me to follow Kiernan. “Remember how you told me it sounded like I was speaking a different language?”
I nodded. It was true. Sometimes I didn’t understand what Dez was trying to say. Slang, she called it. It was nearly as bad as all the expressions people used.
“Well, Kiernan has her own language, too.”
This didn’t make me particularly happy. I wasn’t in the mood to try and learn a new language. Especially since I still couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling someone was watching us.
4
The Jipsey wasn’t there. Dez didn’t seem particularly upset about this. She and Kiernan argued, then finally agreed that we would hit some rides and return in a bit.
“So tell me about these people you wanna take me to see,” Kiernan said, stuffing what looked like a handful of blue fluff into her mouth. Dez had one, too, but hers was pink. She’d tried to get me to taste it, but I refused. Forget that it looked like large tufts of cotton; it smelled bad.
“They’re all like us. Sixes.”
“And how can they keep me safe from these Denazen people?” She waved the blue fluff, frowning. “Your boy was right—I’ve heard of them, and the things I’ve heard are nas-tee with a capitol T.” She hesitated. “For all I know, this whole friendship thing could be an act. Maybe you’re with them. Trying to lure me out…”
I laughed. It was involuntary, and I couldn’t stop it. It was a nice sensation—though not as nice as having beer. “I’m not with them anymore.”
Kiernan froze. “Anymore?”
“It’s not like that,” Dez said. “Kale grew up at Denazen—but not like you’re thinking. I told you back at the house; he was held there. Captive. They used his ability to hurt people. It’s what they’ll do to you if they get the chance.”
“I’m a human chameleon. What could they possibly use me for?”
“Don’t,” I said. The word c
ame out a bit harsher than I’d intended, but if she knew what she was asking… “Don’t ask. Don’t even entertain the thought. Trust me when I tell you, you do not want to know.”
“Oookay then,” Kiernan said. After a moment, she pointed to a large structure that looked a lot like a boat. “How about the Pirate Ship? I love that ride.”
The next thing I knew, Dez was tugging me forward, toward the back of a short line.
“Ahoy!” the man at the end of the line greeted us. “Arrg! Ye be ready to set sail?”
Kiernan stomped her foot and saluted the strangely dressed man. I hoped I wouldn’t be expected to do the same.
We were herded forward and shown to seats. There were four people per row. Kiernan was seated behind us, and since we were the last two in line, we were given the last seat alone. Finally. I had Dez to myself.
As if able to read my mind, Dez leaned close and whispered, “I know this isn’t exactly what we had in mind…”
I pulled off my right glove and took her hand. “It’s okay. This girl needs our help.” I leaned close and nuzzled the side of her neck. “And I have you to myself right now, don’t I?”
“You do. Now all we need for everything to be perfect is for someone to turn off that annoying music.” She covered her ears, grinning.
She laughed and said something else as I pulled the glove back on, but I didn’t catch it. A blur in the crowd beyond the ride had my attention. It was there and gone in the blink of an eye, and the same uneasy feeling I’d had at Kiernan’s house was back. I pulled away and surveyed the area. Kiernan was in front of us, lost in conversation with the three boys she was seated next to. In front of her was a mother and what I assumed to be her three small children. One was screaming and pulling the other’s hair, while the third simply sat there, arms folded and breath held.
When I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary on the ride with us, I turned my attention back to the lot beyond. The crowd had thinned in front of the ride, and all I could see was an elderly couple on the bench directly across from us; a group of kids, younger than we were; and a man.
The man.
His back was turned so I couldn’t see his face, but his meticulous black suit and silver white hair made the breath catch like tar in my throat. I squeezed my eyes closed and took a deep breath. When I opened them again, the man was gone.
“What’s wrong?” I heard Dez whisper.
“I—sorry. There’s a lot to see here. I was just overwhelmed for a moment.” A lie. Something I didn’t do—not with Dez. But what could I say? That I thought I’d seen… No. What I thought I’d seen was impossible. Denazen was desperate to get me back and to get his hands on Dez, but there were some lines even he wouldn’t cross.
“I hope it was a fun kind of overwhelmed.” She laughed.
I kissed her. Warm skin. Soft lips. Rushing pulse. Euphoria in its simplest form. Every inch of me was alive when I touched her. It was like I walked through my life in a haze, only waking when we were close—when she set my senses on fire and made my heart pump faster.
She pulled away a few inches to look at me. Other people’s scrutiny sometimes made me uncomfortable, reminding me of my days at Denazen. How Cross would parade agents and new Residents past me like I was some kind of exhibit. Not Dez, though. The spark I saw each time our eyes met made me feel like I could do anything. Be anything. All I wanted in that moment was to drag her closer and kiss her some more.
But she pulled back and let out a loud hoot. “Better hold on!”
The wind kicked up, and for a moment I thought it was getting ready to storm, but then I realized it wasn’t the wind that was moving—it was us. And it was amazing…
5
I tried to sit up, but whatever it was that had broken our fall was making movement difficult. Dez had dragged me up a long set of stairs for a ride called The Cyclownian Slide. Once at the top, the man—also wearing an annoyingly colorful suit—made us sit. Dez wrapped her arms and legs around me—that had been the best part—and suddenly we were moving. Gliding downward along a smooth, narrow surface. Smooth but not level. We dipped low, then to the right and left. At one point, we’d been moving so fast, I was sure we’d fly over the edge. When we landed, it wasn’t on solid ground like I would have expected, but in a pile of…spheres. Colorful ones.
I picked one up, turning it over in my hand several times. “What are these things?”
“They’re…” Dez was having a problem maneuvering herself through the stuff. Each time she tried to stand, the spheres would hamper her balance and she would topple sideways. Why would they put these things at the bottom knowing people came down here? “…balls. The slide empties into a ball pit.”
“A ball pit?”
A familiar hoot, faint at first, then louder, filled the air as Kiernan appeared. She landed in the balls beside us, screaming and waving her arms in a frantic motion. At first, I panicked, thinking something was wrong, but then I realized it was just excitement. She was excited. To be rolling around in colorful balls.
Dez tried—and failed—to climb to her feet again, waving both arms and legs in an attempt to struggle upright while laughing hysterically. “Yeah. You remember. Like the one we saw when we spoke to—umf—Katy Macnamara. That Six in Fenfeild?”
Our second stop had been to warn a Six with the ability to speak with animals. We found her working at an odd eating establishment whose spokesperson was a rodent with a hat and shirt. On our way out, we observed children playing in what resembled an oversize tub full of colorful plastic balls. The kids bounced and laughed and admittedly I’d felt a little jealous. It had looked like so much fun.
What had I been thinking?
I pushed my foot down, trying to find the floor. After several tries, it finally hit solid ground. “You said this place was supposed to be fun, but I’m not sure that’s completely accurate.”
She laughed. “Just trust me on it. It’s cooler than it looks.” She was finally wading successfully through the sea of spheres.
Kiernan came up beside us. She tossed one of the balls in the air, then let it fall to the floor. “Not a fan of the ball pit, huh?”
Dez laughed again. The sound was enough to make me forget about my irritation with the impossible-to-maneuver spheres. “He’s not a ball pit kind of guy.”
Kiernan waggled her eyebrows. “Well, tell me. What kind of guy are you? What’s your idea of fun?”
I thought about it for a minute. No one had ever asked me that question. What kind of guy was I? My idea of fun was Dez. My eyes found hers. Spending time with her, holding her…kissing her. Just being close to her. These were the things I enjoyed. The things that made me feel most alive. I believed without a doubt that my heart began to truly beat the day I met her.
She cleared her throat and looked away, blushing. It took a moment for me to realize why. She’d been thinking of kissing. I’d told her just last week kissing her was my second favorite thing to do. The first—well, she told me that was something we should keep between us. I didn’t understand why exactly. Everyone should know about something so amazing, but I took her word on it. She knew the ins and outs of society far better than I did. Probably better than I ever would.
“Something with a bit of a challenge,” Dez said. “Oh, maybe a table game. A first-person shooter or something?”
“No way. I’ve got just the thing!” Kiernan hopped from the pit as a pair of screaming children came cascading down the slide. “Follow me.”
Ten minutes later, we’d walked across the park—passing more of what Dez called mandatory eats. By the time we arrived at our destination, I’d eaten two corn dogs and something called fried ice cream. Dez said she was impressed because no one she knew could stomach more than one corn dog. I took this as something to be proud of, promptly informing the man we bought a soda from. He didn’t seem overly impressed, though. In fact, he apologized and then, for some reason, directed me to the bathrooms.
We stopped in fr
ont of a small crowd gathered around a large red and yellow wall. They were cheering and yelling as two men struggled up a thick-knotted rope. The first made it to the top, jumped down, and proceeded to drop to his belly and crawl through a plastic tube. When he reached the end, he hopped onto a narrow beam hovering over murky-looking water.
The second man was still trying to climb the wall.
“What’s this?”
Kiernan laughed. “This is the Podunk version of American Gladiator. Jeeper’s Jungle. It’s a guy thing.”
Other than the fact that it was a guy thing—which I assumed meant I should do it if I wanted to fit in—it looked fun. Watching as the first man crossed the finish line, my eyes traveled back over the course. I saw at least ten ways he could have cut his time in half.
“Okay,” I said, stepping forward.
Dez’s nose wrinkled in confusion. “Okay, what?”
“Okay. I’m going to do it.”
“The obstacle course?”
“Of course.”
“Why?”
“Kiernan said it was a guy thing…”
Her confusion melted into a smile. “Another expression. She just meant most girls find it mindless, and yet for some reason, the guys seem to love it.”
“Oh… Well, what do you think?”
“Me? I think it looks awesome.”
“Okay, then,” I repeated. She thought it looked awesome. That was a good thing. And Kiernan said it’s what normal guys did. I wanted that. If not for myself, then for Dez. I wanted to give her normal—at least a little of it. “I’d like to try it.”
“Woo-hoo!” Kiernan yelled, waving her fist in the air. “We got a contender!”
They showed me to the wall where a man in a colorful suit—he must have borrowed his clothing from the Statue Man, too—was standing. He explained the rules. Simply get through the course as fast as you can, making sure to hit all the stations. He also handed me a whistle, saying it was in case I got into trouble. I wasn’t sure what kind of trouble I could get into, but I tucked it away just in case. It never hurt to be prepared.
