Kingdom Keepers IV(2)

Luowski spotted Finn and made a face like a football player who’d taken a knee in the wrong place. Finn didn’t want to get drawn into that.

“Come on, let’s go,” he said, as Charlene returned.

The three took the stairs to the second floor, and Charlene led them to CyberSpace Mountain.

The ride was a virtual roller coaster that allowed visitors to pick preexisting twists and turns or to design their own. There were five levels of challenge, from easy to terrifying.

“I’ll take mine lite,” Finn said.

“Me, too,” said Amanda. “I get sick on roller coasters.”

“We should go together,” Finn said, confessing, “because I’m basically a chicken.”

“Oh, right,” said Charlene. “You a chicken? I don’t think so.”

“Seriously! The Barnstormer is about as tough as I can take.”

Both girls laughed. Then they exchanged looks that had they been Taser shots would have dropped each other to the ground.

Bill Nye the Science Guy tutored Charlene as she scrolled through selections to create a wildly scary roller coaster for herself. Maybe she was trying to make a point to Amanda, maybe she just loved roller coasters; but it had enough loops and jumps to make an astronaut puke.

She used her entrance ticket to store it. Then she quickly worked with Bill Nye to make another, very basic, ride. She saved it onto Finn’s ticket.

“I love it as scary as it gets,” she said looking directly at Amanda. “It’s awesome.”

They headed for the short line of people that waited for the next simulator. Charlene was bumped into by someone, so hard that had she not possessed the grace of a dancer, she would have fallen to the floor.

Greg Luowski.

She dropped the two tickets in the process. In a surprisingly polite gesture, Luowski asked if she was okay and collected the tickets and returned them to her. Finn caught this look in Luowski’s eyes—the jerk liked Charlene; his bumping into her had been no accident.

“Lay off, Luowski,” Finn said.

Amanda took Finn by the arm.

“Lay off what, Whitless? My bad for the knockdown. Can’t I help her up?” He faced Charlene. “I really am sorry.”

“No problem,” she said. But Finn was still seething. “As in: we don’t want any problems.” She said this slowly, making sure Finn heard every word.

“I’ll be around, Whitless. If you want me, you can find me.”

“Try some deodorant, Luowski.”

Charlene cupped her mouth, hiding her smile.

Luowski didn’t just smell like a jock, he smelled like an entire team that had been working out in the summer heat for five hours. He smelled like a guy who hadn’t showered since sixth grade.

“Or maybe I’ll find you,” he growled at Finn.

“I’m not worried,” Finn said. “I’ll smell you coming.”

The line moved. Finn and the girls were shown up the stairs. The simulators were designed for a maximum of two people. Charlene lined up in front of door 1, Finn and Amanda, door 3.

“No holding hands, you two, if you get scared,” Charlene called down to them.

Finn faked a grin; he was scared already.

A Cast Member wearing a name tag that said megan accepted Finn’s card from him and chose the only predesigned ride it contained. The door opened and Finn and Amanda were escorted into the simulator chamber. They climbed down into the padded seats of the red metal capsule. The seats faced a large flat-panel screen. Megan directed them to stow anything loose in their pockets. That was when Finn started to worry. She then pointed out the two red stop emergency buttons, one for each rider.

Finn’s stomach turned. He didn’t like the idea of taking a ride that needed panic buttons. He pulled down the black padded chest brace as directed. Amanda did the same. Megan double-checked everything.

“You’re good to go,” she said. She hit a button and the simulator’s lid closed slowly, locking in place. The only light came from the flat-panel display where the ride’s parallel tracks stretched out in front of them.

“This was a stupid idea,” he mumbled.

“You’re telling me,” Amanda said.

“But did you see the course Charlene created for herself? No way I would go on that thing in a million years.”

“She wanted to impress you.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Trust me. She picked the scariest stuff possible. It would terrify the guy who designed it. But she’s going to come out of there and tell us she loved it.”

He wanted to disagree, but thought she was probably right.

The lights dimmed. The ride began.

“If I scream,” Finn said, “it’s just to make it feel all the more real.”