Roommates

Thank you everyone who read my first story, your kind words and encouragement meant a lot to me.

If you haven't read the first "Roommates", I encourage you to do so otherwise you might feel a little lost. Enjoy!

Summer had come, sending the temperature in the city soaring. Our apartment's AC had to work overtime.

Roxy and I sat on the couch drinking some concoction that she had cooked up earlier that evening. It had rum. That was all I knew. A commercial came on showing an amusement park located outside the city.

"Oh, Sam look!" she pointed excitedly, sloshing her drink down her hand. She looked like she had been transformed back into being a kid as she began to list all her favorite rides she had been on. "I love rides!"

"Really did not think you were that crazy about roller coasters?" I admitted. It was fun seeing this more playful side of her.

She nodded, taking a long drink from her glass, finishing by licking the previously spilled liquid off her fingers. It was a normal, everyday motion, but somehow, it was something more. Her voice pulled me back.

"Oh yeah! My family loved going to those places growing up. The food, those sketchy ass games, and the rides...man it takes me back. I haven't been in years because of work."

I nodded, giving her a few reasons why I hadn't been to many. Work, school, lack of people to go with. The truth was, I was embarrassed to admit the actual reason I hadn't been to one in so long. My fear of heights.

The commercial ended with the location and open times.

"You want to go this weekend?" She asked. Pleading eyes staring at me over the top of her glass.

I had planned to go in on Saturday to finish some work since everyone else would be out, leaving me undisturbed. Looking up from my phones calendar, I found Roxy had gone full "puppy" eyes on me.

"Come on! It'll be fun! Don't tell me you don't like the rides?"

I shook my head, even as I felt my palms sweat at the thought. "I don't mind rides!" Liar. "Its just I had really intended to get some work done...." I trailed off, her eyes boring into me.

My head fell back onto the couch. "Fine." I relented, "Just stop looking at me like that."

She clapped her hands together. "Whoo! Saturday we eat funnel cake and ride roller coasters till we puke!"

"I would really prefer not to puke."

"Then we'll ride roller coasters and eat various things until I puke!"

That seemed to be about as good as I was going to get from her. "Fine, until you puke, or the place closes for the night. Whichever comes first."

She slapped my thigh with the back of her hand. "That's the spirit! Should we see if Brian and Emily want to go too?"

Brian and Emily belonged to our, mostly coworker, friend group. I never thought I would be the type to enjoy hanging out with coworkers, willingly spending more time with them than I already had to. The story had changed though. It was nice having friends that I would see at work and got along with well enough that we could do stuff outside of the office, which usually included going to a bar and making small bets on various things or singing along to the songs on the jukebox.

Conflicting thoughts tumbled around in my head. It would be fun to hang out with them, but I wasn't keen for them to learn out about my issue with heights. Would Roxy find it strange if I insisted on it just being the two of us?

Memories of the night we had explored each other rushed through my head. Even after months had gone by with no repeat of those activities, I still felt my blood grow warm and begin to flow to my groin.

No, it was best to go as a group. That would avoid any awkwardness. I would just have to face my fears head on and deal with it. I realized how long I was taking to answer her question. "Yeah...let's invite them."

Saturday began by being awoken by the jolting sound of the apartment's intercom buzzer going off.

I rolled out of bed, confirmed that it was indeed earlier than I would ever prefer to get up, and went to the intercom.

"Who is it?" I demanded, a little more aggressively than originally intended.

A familiar voice replied, "Brian and Emily. I'm guessing Roxy didn't tell you what time we were gonna leave today, did she?"

Still rubbing sleep out of my eyes, I glanced at the door to her room. Roxy came shuffling out, her hair matted on one side, her eyes barely open as she ran into the countertop.

"No. She did not."

"Figures. Buzz us up, we'll hang out until you guys are ready."

I hit the button and went to help Roxy get the coffee going. Brian and Emily arrived at our door just as the coffee was done.

Emily had on a tight fitting sundress covered in yellow flowers with a wide brim hat on her head. Her hair was in a pair of braids that she had pulled up over her shoulders and tied with matching yellow ribbons.

"You look like summer threw up on you." I said.

Emily, who was a notorious morning person in our office, just smiled and stuck her tongue out.

"Sam... you wish you looked as good as me." She retorted as she walked into the apartment like she was on the catwalk for some luxury brand.

My brain, still struggling to process data let the comment pass without rebuttal.

Brian followed her in. He wasn't dressed as vividly as Emily. Just a pair of khaki shorts, flip flops, and a loose fitting blue button up shirt. A pair of dark sunglasses were nested in his always perfectly styled hair. How did the man make such a simple outfit look so cool?

While he wasn't even close to Emily levels of chipper-ness, he had definitely been awake longer than me and it showed. "Morning, Sam. Roxy probably didn't tell you that I was driving us up there, either? If that helps things."

I shot a dirty look towards Roxy, who was currently cradling a mug of coffee at the table. When she finally noticed mine and Brain's disapproving looks, she just thew a shrug.

"You would be correct." I replied, "I guess it's good that we don't have to worry about catching the train then."

Brian rummaged through our cabinets, searching for a mug. Finding one, he filled it to the brim and held the pot out for me to refill my own. "Don't have to catch a train, but we do have to get out of the city before eight. Otherwise we're gonna get stuck in the traffic. Emily said there's a good little diner near the park that we can stop at to kill some time before the park opens."

This information did make me feel a little better. I left them to their coffee while I went to get dressed.

I opted to go the same route as Brian. A pair of shorts, flip flops, a loose fitting button up and sunglasses. It was hot and I didn't want to worry about too much clothing.

"Don't forget to bring a swimsuit." Emily called out.

I poked my head out of the door of my room. "Swimsuit? Does this place have a pool too?" They hadn't shown any in the ad we had seen.

She nodded enthusiastically. "It's not a ton of stuff, but it's nice to be able to cool down for a bit."

Knowing that, I added my suit and a towel to the bag, along with a phone charger, wallet, and water bottle.

Roxy had picked a light blue sundress similar in style to Emily's. The difference with hers was the cut and what she was doing with it. The neckline swooped down, framing her more noticeable bust. It was a simple dress, but she made it look as provocative as a slinky cocktail dress. Her hair was tied up into a loose bun with a pair of massive sunglasses sitting atop her head. It still looked like she could use another couple hours of sleep but she was doing better than I was.

Brian drove a nice, sensible sedan that fit all of us comfortably. I sat up front with him, while Emily and Roxy sat in the back. Brian handed me his phone and told me to pick the music.

As we began our trip Brian and I discussed work until Emily told us to shut up and enjoy our day off. We obliged, changing topics to movies and shows we had been watching recently. This got everyone involved and ate up a good chunk of the drive time.

Leaving early had been the right choice when it still took us an hour just to get out. As we left the traffic began to really pick up. I rolled my window down and enjoyed the still cool morning air before the heat of the day stole it away.

The conversation shifted towards things that I found less interesting. I let their voices fade to background noise as the wind blew across my face. The sun was on my side of the car, warming my face as I looked out a the passing world. The cup of coffee I'd had fought valiantly to keep me awake, but found itself outmatched. My eyes began their slow drooping descent before I drifted off entirely. The next thing I knew, the car was coming to a stop and Emily was shaking my shoulder.

"Get up, we're gonna get some food."

Reluctant to give up the grasp on my sleep I grumbled and cracked an eye, glancing at the time on my phone. The park wasn't going to open for another hour.

I was about to tell them to go in without me while I slept some more, but my stomach had other plans. It let out an audible growl. The smell coming from the diner was heavenly. I've always been a sucker for greasy spoon diners.

We made our way inside, the other three looking much more ready to take on the day than I was after my little nap.

Squeezing into the booth after Roxy, I perused the menu. It was your standard diner fare. That made it easy to decide on a basic order: bacon, eggs, and toast. Brian got the same but added hash browns.

True to her character, Emily ordered a waffle smothered in fruit and heaped with whipped cream. Her eyes lit up as it was delivered to the table. Roxy ordered the french toast but made a special request for a small side of chicken fried chicken. Our server gave her a look but nodded that they'd be able to handle the order.

"It's just like chicken and waffles." She explained. The three of us just looked at each other and shrugged, causing Roxy to grumpily defend her choice.

We ate our food, offering commentary on each other's choices. The debate was centered mostly on Roxy's food order. Emily thought it was weird but both Brian and I agreed, after a bit of convincing, that the sweet and savory combo had us both wanting to try it. Roxy tried to get Emily to take a bite, but she wasn't having it.

We finished our meal by performing the ritual dance of trying to split the check the correct way along with who owed what in tip. With the check paid, we sat drinking coffee and making idle chat until we were ready to leave for the park.

It was only a few more miles to the park from the diner. As the tops of the taller features came into view Roxy became noticeably more excited. From the road, I could see at least three large roller coasters, one of those tower drop things, and a massive ferris wheel. All were painted bright colors and looked fairly new.

Panic began to rise inside me. I'll be okay....I'll be okay...I repeated to myself mentally while taking deep breaths. The others were distracted, pointing out the rides, leaving me free to get my heart rate under control.

Arriving at the parking lot, we found that getting a space would be more difficult than anticipated. Apparently we weren't the only ones who had planned to arrive early. From what we could see, most of the other cars were families with children, but there were a few that looked to have brought groups like ours, young professionals escaping the city for a day, trying to remember what it was like to be a kid again.

A game soon sprang up as we cruised down the aisles of parked cars. We all took turns pointing out each unique 'dad' archetype we could find. For example, there was the 'sports dad' with his matching jersey and hat. 'Boy scout dad' with a belt-mounted cellphone, a massive cooler, socks with velcro sandals, and a wide hate that left little room for the sun to hit him. No dad was safe from our judgement.

Roxy's favorite was the 'wacky' dad. He's the kind of dad that has the odd-colored, mirrored sunglasses, an extremely well-worn shirt with a tacky catchphrase from the 90's on it, and to top it off, a vizor that made his hair look like it was a strange color and stood up like a hedgehog.

"Pure Alpha mentality." Feigning admiration oozed from Roxy's voice. "You just know he fucks!" She declared before letting out a comically loud moan and licking her lips seductively.

Brian pointed to a particular dad who was trying to get his teenage son's eyes off his phone. He cracked a smile. "I dunno, that guy could probably take him." We explained to him that his choice was basic while continuing to search for the one who would be crowned 'Ultimate Dad'.

My eyes locked on a rotund man wearing plaid swim trunks, water shoes, and an umbrella hat. His complete lack of shame from his wardrobe declared him as my champion. He was currently shirtless behind a massive SUV, slathering copious amounts of sunscreen on the ample surface his body provided. A woman, who I assumed was his wife, looked to be trying, albeit unsuccessfully, to get their daughters out of the car. They were clearly embarrassed by their dad's exhibitionism. Having finished basting himself with the sunscreen, he gave his belly a proud slap, threw a button up shirt on and walked around the car, not a single button being fastened along the way.

"I declare that man King Dad!" I pointed for the others to see, "There can be no other."

Emily let out a whistle in agreement. "How can one man posses that much raw sexual energy?"

Roxy pulled her sunglasses down her nose to get a better analysis. "Just thinking about him telling me that there's burgers on the grill has me absolutely dripping!"

Emily broke down into a fit of laughter before returning with her own, "The things I would do just to hear him say, good job sport."

The girls continued egging each other on. The comments growing more obscene each time as they tried to outdo the other with awkward dad stereotypes.

At last Brian found a free parking space, putting an end to the "Dad Olympics" conversation. The laughter had grown to the point that I had to wipe tears away from the corner of my eyes before getting out of the car.

Gathering our things, we headed toward the entrance. Stopping to collect the tickets Roxy had insisted we purchase ahead of time. She had explained that it was to maximize the amount of time we would get at the park.

Roxy pointed out the rides that could be seen rising into the air, as we approached the entrance. "Oh, we have to try that one first! Or maybe that one! God I can't wait!" She was practically squealing by the time we got up to the ticket counter. Despite my trepidation, I enjoyed watching Roxy's excitement continue to grow.

Tickets were redeemed in exchange for wristbands, locker keys, and a colorful guide to all the attractions offered in the park. A quick security check was performed on our bags, but then we were inside the park.

Roxy pulled us towards one of the large coasters as soon as we were through the gates. The line for the coaster was already long, and quickly growing as more people filtered through the gates.

"Hurry up!" Roxy urged, taking hold of Emily's arm and yanking her forward. Emily not ready for such a violent action, let out a surprised yelp, stumbling to regain her footing as Roxy dragged her along.

Up close, the roller coaster loomed at the edges of my vision. I could feel my skin go cold at the thought of being at its highest point. Hearing the screams of the riders, wasn't helping. My mind said that there no danger. These rides were thoroughly engineered and tested, but some primal part of me said that I would be the one who it would fail on. Before I could attempt to back out, I had been maneuvered into the line by Roxy's forceful hand. Swallowing hard, I fought to gain control over myself.

Despite its length, the line moved fairly quickly much to my dismay. Roxy was practically vibrating by the time we reached the front. My stomach had twisted itself into a knot.

The attendants had us to empty our pockets and remove anything that might fly off during the ride. Any potential projectiles were removed and stuffed into bins to await our return. The same attendants explained how to strap into the waiting carriages, while helping anyone who needed it. My pulse pounded in my ears drowning out their words.

The fear had me floating. Alien legs moved my body towards the ride while my mind drifted off to observe from a safe distance. Just as I was about to say that I didn't feel well and excuse myself, I felt a soft touch on my arm.

Roxy, beamed up at me. "Are you ready for this?" Excitement was radiating off of her, infectious in its brilliance.

Clenching my fists, I took a deep breath before responding. "Something like that, yes."

She smiled before moving to take her place on the ride.

Roxy and I were next to each other while Brian and Emily sat ahead of us. The floor dropped away, leaving our feet dangling in the air. Roxy was laughing and swinging her legs in pure, unadulterated joy, distracting me from what was about to happen.

Continuing to look at her, I was taken back to that night a few months prior, our evening on the couch. Neither of us had brought it up since, whether that was out of shame, fear, or regret I wasn't sure. Today though, those thoughts melted away. Looking at her dress, that left just enough to the imagination, had me recalling what lay hidden beneath. I shook my head, clearing away those wonderful images before I got myself into trouble. I was pleased to find that those risky thoughts helped to drown out the fear rising within me.

With a lurch, we were off. The next few minutes became a blur of color and noise. I screamed the entire time, questioning the choices that had lead me to this place in my life. Roxy, on the other hand, spent the entire ride laughing gleefully. I hoped she mistook my screams were for excitement and not for the sheer terror that it actually was.

The ride slowed, coming to its end. Relief filled me with warmth. I had made it! Nothing had happened, I was alive, and no one seemed the wiser to my true feelings about these rides. Both of us were breathing hard, grinning like idiots as we looked at each other. Some hair had fallen out of her hair tie, whipping around as we blasted through the twists and turns. She looked amazing. The sheer naturalness of her unhindered joy pulling me towards her. No sooner had we retrieved our belongings than Roxy was pointing and prodding us along towards our next stop.

This continued all morning. The four of us running from ride to ride with Roxy leading the charge. I managed to keep it together each time, which had me feeling particularly proud of myself.

Lunch rolled around, thankfully putting a pause on our mad dash around the park. Roxy was the only one to protest stopping, but gave in when she realized how hungry she was.

Wandering around the different food vendors I was shocked by the prices "They want $20 for a cheeseburger and fries?! Holy shit! That thing better taste magical." I grumbled as we walked between the rows of food vendors.

Brian nodded, his arms folded in front of him. "Don't get your hopes up. It's like going to a stadium. They feed off the excitement and then hit you with the $15 pint of beer."

My whining fell on deaf ears it seemed. It was either overpay for mediocre food or go hungry it seemed. Roxy came back with a sandwich that definitely was not worth what she paid for it. But she looked happy, so who was I to judge? Both Emily and Brian opted for a slice of cheese pizza and a drink. They explained that it was a combo deal which saved them a whole two dollars!

As we sat down, Roxy's attention was diverted by a nearby funnel cake stand. Her eyes lit up and were filled with a cross between lust and downright rapturous envy. She ate quickly before jumping up to go claim one for herself.