The Heartbroken - S01 E69

Story 2 years ago

The Heartbroken - S01 E69

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 69

“I’d never been to an

amusement park.” I

didn’t mean to say it

out loud, but it slipped

out. I almost wanted to

take the words back,

feeling embarrassed for

no apparent reason.

Going to the

amusement park

seemed like something

everybody had done

before.

“No shit?” he said.

I tried not to show how

curious I was, almost

buzzing with

excitement.

“Come on, then,” he

said. “It’ll be fun.”

He got out of the car

and I followed suit. He

locked it and walked

over to where I was

standing. I couldn’t keep

my eyes away from

the rides. It was stupid.

I wasn’t a little kid, but

I couldn’t help but

marvel at the sheer

speed of the roller

coaster and the height

of the Ferris wheel and

the loud cacophony of

music and chatter and

laughter and screams.

It rendered my

breathless.

Standing beside me, he

looked up at it too. His

arm was pressing

against mine. The back

of his hand was almost

but not quite touching

the back of mine, and

slowly, quite slowly, he

looped his pinky with

mine.

I was suddenly

breathless for a

completely different

reason.

“Before everything else,

though, we’re grabbing

some lunch there.” He

nodded his head

towards a small, old-

school looking diner on

the other side of the

road. It was

overflowing with

customers, some

couples but mostly

families and group of

friends. No matter how

old it looked, the whole

place was buzzing with

life.

“Judging by the number

of people eating there, I

think it’s more like

we’re grabbing some

dinner there.”

One corner of his mouth

lifted. “Everyone’s

already there, waiting

for us. Warren’s family

owns the place.”

“Uh, wow. That must

be—” I trailed off,

searching for the right

word.

“It’s something, all

right,” he said. “Wait ‘till

you taste the onion

rings. Come on.”

He started walking

towards it and I

followed, pretending

not to think too much

of the fact that our

pinkies were still loosely

looped together. And

that I liked it. I heard

somewhere that

looping pinkies meant

promising something.

And this, walking with

Seth with our hands

linked in this little way,

felt so simple; not quite

holding each other so

much as telling the

other I’m here,

connected like a

promise.

—