~Nick's point of view~
I had it all planned out. Carmen and I had gotten pretty close. And I was running out of time. Disney World would be the perfect place to implement the final phase of the bet between Brian and I. He'd be paying up soon enough.
"Have you packed up all your stuff?" Brian interrupted my thoughts. We had come back from an exclusive "gang" movie- just the four of us. Cassie and Brian seemed to've patched things up.
"Yeah, I'm ready to go. This time tomorrow we'll be at Epcot," I answered.
"August is looking forward to it," Brian said, dreamily. "Although as soon as that's over, the cruise is pretty much over..."
"Yeah, I'm sorry, man..." I knew how he felt. I'd miss hanging out with Carmen. She was a good friend. Well, I mean, more like girlfriend. I was lucky to have met her. She was everything I wanted in a girl... beautiful, smart, sophisticated...
"I'll still see her though... I mean, it'll work out, right?" he asked, more to himself than to me. "The end of the cruise doesn't mean the end of us does it?"
"No. Stop worrying about it. You've still got time," I tried to assure him.
~August's point of view~
"Come on!" I said, happily.
"The park doesn't even open for another five minutes..." Brian said, still looking sleepy.
"So, we've still gotta get tickets!" This time it was me with a camera ready in hand instead of Michelle.
"None of the others are coming until lunch time... Nick was still sleeping when I left... what a lucky guy."
"Don't you realize that this is Disney World? Disney World," I repeated, going for some sort of dramatic emphasis. We got in the line for passes.
"With little kids rides based after the pointless movies? Yeah, it's Disney World," Brian smiled, not nearly as impressed with our location as I was.
"All right, if you ever refer to a Disney movie as 'pointless' ever again, I'm afraid I'll have to leave you for Mickey Mouse, understood?" I asked, as we entered the park.
I had a perfect view of the wonder dome that is the Epcot ball. The symbol of the park. I snapped a picture.
"You've wasted all your film already, and we haven't even gotten inside," Brian laughed.
"Kodac moment!" I snapped a shot of his face.
"Ouch... man, that flash is bright.... I'm seeing little red Mickey's everywhere now..."
"Good, maybe that will get you into the spirit of things!" I said, as we handed the gate person our park hoppers.
"Man, it's not even crowded yet."
"Hence the reason we got up early," I said. "Let's ride in the Epcot ball first."
"That thing is a ride?" I asked incredulously.
I rolled my eyes and smiled, looking at the brochure map at all of the ride options.
"So is this park your favorite?" Brian asked, as we got in line for the park.
"No, nothing beats the Magic Kingdom. I mean, it has the Cinderella Castle- which is the symbol of love, fairytales, and happily ever after. I'll never forget the first time I looked at the castle."
I thought back to that day. When my family, after years of me pleading, went to Disney World. The castle is huge, with towers that stretch to the sky. You can just imagine Tinkerbell flying around among the clouds, shooting sparks out of her wand.
You can no doubt see the castle from the parking lot and right outside the gate, but I wanted to see it all at once. I waited uptil I got inside the park, fighting the urge to look up. Finally, I was standing on Mainstreet USA. I looked up, and there it was. What I had been seeing in my dreams for years.
I could just imagine Prince Charming walking me right up to it.
"Hello?" Brian was waving his hand in front of my face. "Having a nice day dream?"
"Yes, actually, the best," I said, dreamily.
Brian took my hand into his, our fingers intertwined. "Ya know, if I have to spend several days at Disney World with all the crying three year old's and bratty kids running around, there's no one I would rather spend it with than you, August."
I couldn't smile. "That was the sweetest thing I've ever heard... well, sort of." He didn't describe the theme park in the best of light, but he referred to me kindly. And that's all that matters.
We spend the morning on the rides. We met up with everyone else for lunch in "China" in the around the world section of the park. We stayed that night for the Illuminations. Everyone gathered around the lake that's in the center of the park.
The air was breezy, the stars bright. Anticipation hung in the air.
"Can you believe we've only known each other for a little over a week?" I asked Brian.
He shook his head. "It seems like I've known you my entire life." He paused and made a face. "That sounds corny, doesn't it?"
"No, it sounded sweet until you added the face and the 'is that corny?' thing."
"Sorry. I guess I'm not so good at saying these types of lines. I need a Disney writer to help me out with all of those fairytale quotes and story lines you like so much. Even though the fairytales aren't realistic..."
"Once again, you were doing beautifully until you added that last part. What am I going to do with you?" I laughed.
"Hmm... this," he slid his arms around my waist and gave me a kiss.
Right then, the center island of the lake lit up and lights started the spectacular show. They were portraying exactly how I felt at that moment, standing next to Brian.
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Sixteen
Drowning
Frick's Fairytales