CHATROOM LOVE
Chapter Thirty
November 17, 2001
Las Vegas, Nevada
November 17, 2001
Las Vegas, Nevada
Rose shrieked,
half in delight, half in terror, as the roller coaster zoomed around a loop,
momentarily suspending them upside-down. She grabbed Jack’s hand, squeezing it
so tightly that he tried to pull away, and shrieked again, giggling, as the
roller coaster made one final loop before returning to the beginning of the
track.
They were both
laughing when they got off the roller coaster, even though Jack was rubbing his
sore hand and casting occasional baleful looks at Rose. When they reached their
friends, he commented, "You sure can scream."
"Oh, like
you weren’t yelling yourself," Rose scoffed, taking her drink from Dawn
and taking a sip. Jack eyed her warily, worried that she would get motion
sickness again.
"At least I
don’t scream like a girl," he replied, a bit defensively.
"She is a
girl, dummy," Dawn informed him. "Do you want her to scream like a
guy?"
"Let’s not
argue," Helga interjected. She and Fabrizio had been on the roller
coaster, too, a few seats back from Jack and Rose. Fabrizio was staggering
exaggeratedly, looking more drunk than dizzy. "What should we do
next?"
"The
merry-go-round," Dawn decided. "I saw one of those back there a ways,
and I’ve always liked them."
Tommy groaned.
"That’s kids stuff."
"Well, you
wouldn’t go on the roller coaster, either. You can just hold our stuff while
we’re there."
"I don’t
want to go on the merry-go-round, either," Fabrizio remarked.
"Me,
neither," Jack added.
"You guys
are such spoilsports," Dawn told them. "But I guess that means less
of a wait for the rest of us. You can hold our stuff, and we’ll go have
fun."
When they got to
the front of the line for the merry-go-round, the girls handed their drinks to
the guys, then got on the ride, each choosing a fancily decorated horse. Jack
stared at Rose as she got on, waving as the ride started and waving again each
time she came around.
"Why don’t
you take a picture?" Tommy teased. "It lasts longer."
"He doesn’t
have a camera," Fabrizio pointed out. "He’ll have to draw her."
"Yeah, I
will," Jack replied, waving to Rose as the merry-go-round came around once
again. She looked beautiful there, her cheeks pink from laughter and her eyes
sparkling. Her long, curly red hair hung down her back, bouncing a little each
time the horse moved down.
When the ride
was over, the girls took their drinks back from the guys, all of them laughing
merrily. "Now what?" Rose asked.
"Something
we can all do," Dawn said, before anyone could object. "How about the
Ferris wheel? And don’t even try to object," she told Tommy.
"I wasn’t
going to," he informed her. "It gives us some time alone together,
away from everybody else."
"Nice to be
with you, too," Rose told him, scowling a little.
"Oh, come
on. You know I didn’t mean it that way. Besides, you get some time alone with
Jack."
"That’s
true," Jack pointed out. "What do you say, Rosie?"
"Oh, I
suppose I could put up with you," she teased him.
"Well,
then, what are we waiting for?" Helga asked. "Come on. You can sit
with me, Fabrizio."
"Thanks."
*****
Jack and Rose
sat together as the Ferris wheel came to a stop, suspending them almost at the
top. Rose sighed contentedly, leaning back as Jack put an arm around her.
"It’s so
nice up here," she commented, leaning her head against his shoulder.
"Even if it is a little cold."
Jack grinned,
putting both arms around her. "Better?"
Rose grinned
back, giving him a quick kiss. "Yeah."
They sat
together for several minutes as the Ferris wheel gradually came closer to the
ground, content just to be together. As the ride circled around and began to
take them back up, Jack looked out at the lights of the city.
"Look at
all that," he commented, taking in the brightly lit sight of the city’s
attractions. "I wish I could draw that, but I don’t think I could do it
justice."
"You could
try," Rose suggested.
"Yeah,
but…I think I’ll try something else."
"How about
me?" Rose suggested. "You’ve never drawn me."
"Actually,
I have, but I just never showed you the drawings."
Rose looked at
him. "Why not?"
He shrugged.
"I don’t know. I didn’t know if you’d want to see them."
"You didn’t
draw any nude pictures, did you?"
"Uh…no. I
don’t like to guess." He blushed.
"Don’t you
have any imagination?" Rose teased him.
"I have
plenty of imagination. But…uh…I’d rather get it right."
Rose giggled, a
little embarrassed. She was about to reply when she looked down and saw several
familiar faces looking up at them.
"Hey, isn’t
that the Bergens down there?"
"And your
mom?"
"I wonder
how they found us."
When they got
off the ride, they found another person waiting for them—Paola. Tommy gave her
a puzzled look.
"How did
you know we would be here?"
"Tommy
mentioned where you were staying, so I decided to stop by and Ms. DeWitt-Bukater
answered the door. She said was going
to check on you guys, with the Bergens, and invited me to come along."
Fabrizio and
Helga stepped out of the shadows and the crowd at that moment. "Where were
you guys?" Jack asked.
Tommy, Dawn, and
Paola grinned, having seen what they were doing. "They were getting to
know each other a little better on the Ferris wheel," Dawn told him.
"A lot
better," Tommy added. "I think they know each other’s lips pretty
well by now."
"What? How
did you guys know…" Fabrizio wanted to know, staring at the three smirking
faces.
"Dawn and I
were right above you two," Tommy pointed out.
"And I saw
you from the ground—and saw you sneak off when you got off the ride,"
Paola added, laughing with her cousin and his girlfriend.
Helga turned
red. Flustered, she sputtered, "Well…well, I’m sure we weren’t doing
anything the rest of you weren’t doing."
"Nope,"
Paola told her. "They were all lip-locking, too."
The adults tried
to look stern, but didn’t quite succeed. Finally, Ruth spoke, trying not to
laugh.
"We’ll
leave all of you to your own devices—as long as you stay out of trouble. Is
that clear, Rose?"
Rose gave her a
sheepish look, realizing that her mother had seen her making out with Jack on
the Ferris wheel. "Yes, Mother."
"Now I know
she isn’t listening," Ruth remarked to the Bergens. "She never says
‘yes, Mother’ when she’s paying attention. Stay out of trouble, Rose. I mean
it, or you’ll be sharing a room with me instead of with your friends."
Rose sighed.
"Okay, Mom."
The teenagers
looked at the adults, eager to get back to their own fun. Ruth waved them off.
"Go ahead.
We’ve got our own plans. We’ll see you back at the hotel later."
"Sure."
Rose looked at Paola. "You wanna hang out with us?"
Paola shrugged.
"Sure."
Waving to Ruth,
she followed the others, the whole group soon disappearing into the crowd,
leaving the adults to find their own entertainment.