The Way You Make Me Feel(53)

All of us were a little sunburned and soaking wet after a few rides. Cynthia was reapplying sunblock on Felix’s neck, and Rose and I had ducked into the shade of a bushy palm. Hamlet pulled out his map. (I now understood why it was laminated.) “Okay, so next is Dueling Devils. Oh, this ride is amazing, two people can race each other!”

We followed him down one of the paths and stopped when Hamlet slapped his forehead. “Oh crap, this is one of the closed ones.”

“What? That looks awesome, though,” Felix said.

We looked over at the ride, which had yellow tape draped across the entrance and a sign that read CLOSED TEMPORARILY. The look that appeared on Patrick’s face set off alarm bells. “Hey, I bet we could still sneak on.”

Rose shook her head adamantly. “No. We are not doing that.”

Hamlet pushed his sunglasses up onto his head and peered over at the ride. “Yeah. I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s cool. The next ride is the Beast, which is like a roller coaster—”

But Patrick was already scrambling over the fence with Felix and Cynthia close behind.

“Hey!” I yelled. But they ignored me, making their way to the other side of the fence in seconds. The one athletic activity we all excelled in.

Rose ran over to me. “Get your friends in order!”

Hamlet was already at their heels, and he nimbly hopped up onto the fence, leaning over the top. “You guys! Come on, it’s not safe!” he yelled.

If I was being honest, there was a part of me that wanted to jump the fence with them, but one glance at Hamlet’s worried expression squelched that compulsion. So instead I jogged over to the fence and hollered, “You better not get on that ride! I swear to God!”

Hamlet helped me up so that I could see them on the other side.

The three of them were already running to the top of the stairs that led to the giant tubular slides. “Come on, Clara! You know you want to!” Patrick shouted.

Felix was pushing Cynthia into one of the slides. Before he hopped in right after her, he pointed at me. “See you at the bottom!” Then he and Patrick jumped into their respective slides—their whoops audible as they whooshed through the pastel green and blue tubes, hidden from view.

“I’m sorry, Hamlet.” I glanced at him

But Hamlet was already over the fence, running. “I’m serious—it’s not safe!” he shouted as he headed toward the end of the ride, his legs moving so fast they were almost a blur. Crapcrapcrap.

In a few seconds, Rose was on the other side, too. She looked up at me and held out her clasped hands as a sort of stirrup. “Here!”

I used the stirrup as I hopped down, landing a little low and scraping my knee. Rose pulled me up. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine! Follow Hamlet!” Both of us booked it, the hundred-degree sun scorching us as we sprinted after him.

We were stopped by an ear-piercing scream. Rose and I looked at each other in alarm, then ran even faster.

When we reached the end of the ride, I gasped. The slide ended at a giant pool, where it jettisoned people. A giant pool that was currently only half-filled.

“Oh no,” Rose muttered. Hamlet was already in the pool, and I saw him bent over someone—Felix. Cynthia was sobbing, and Patrick was sitting waist-deep in the pool, looking dazed.

I ran over, and my heart hammered in my chest when I noticed the blood spreading like ink through the water. Surrounding Felix.

“Is he okay?” I asked, my voice shrill and unrecognizable.

Rose immediately jumped into the pool and helped Hamlet—grabbing the other side of Felix, who was limp but had his eyes open, dazed. There was a wound on his head, the source of the blood.

“Go get help,” Hamlet said to me in a low voice.

“But, I—I don’t have my phone!” None of us did; we’d left them in our lockers at the entrance.

“One of the workers can call,” he replied, pointing at the exit gate. Then he looked over at Patrick. “Are you all right?”

Patrick nodded, but he was clutching his left arm, which was bent at an unnatural angle. I felt vomit rising in my throat.

“Clara.” Hamlet looked at me again. I nodded and ran to the gate, finding one of the workers. After he called 911, I ran back to everyone, hoping that somehow when I returned everything would be different. That my friends were pulling another prank.

But Rose and Hamlet were sitting next to Felix, keeping his head out of the water. The sight of Cynthia holding her bundled-up tank top to Felix’s head, soaked red with his blood, made me woozy.

Nope, it was all very real.

“Don’t close your eyes,” Rose said firmly. “Unless you want to die.”

Cynthia sobbed, and Hamlet threw Rose an exasperated look. She frowned. “Well, it’s a possibility!”

Patrick stood next to them, still cradling his arm. When he started to sway, I ran over and steadied him. “Hey, how about you get out of the water and sit down,” I said.

He followed me, nary a wisecrack for once, and I helped him climb the stairs out of the pool. As I set him down on a bench, I heard sirens. Shortly after that, a group of medics were running in, some of the park’s employees close behind.

Everything happened in a blur—Felix was lifted onto a stretcher. Cynthia was okay but wanted to ride in the ambulance with Felix. After some inspection, a medic told Patrick he’d probably broken his arm and needed to go to the hospital, too.