▌│█║▌║▌║Chapter 6║▌║▌║█│▌

I am worried about today honestly. My anxiety pills had run out yesterday, and my mom hasn’t gone and renewed the prescription yet. I want to make this day fun for everyone, but I just don’t know if I will be able to if I’m going to be freaking out the whole day because of all the people and chaos at the waterpark. I will try my best though.

My brother and I climbed in the car in the morning to go to the waterpark. Apparently, Gia’s older stepsister is taking them to the waterpark, so I don’t have to take them and deal with Gia all the way over there.

Mom packed us some snacks and first aid for the trip, and we made our way through the thirty-minute trip to the park. When we finally got there Gia and Rom were already inside of the park, and Danny was in a hurry to get to them inside.

When we got inside, we could see the whole park. There were resting areas right in front of the entrance where Gia and Rom were, and the slides were right in front of that. There was a lazy river to the left, and a kid area to the right. There were four slides total with various degrees of height. I’ll probably stay on the lazy river and relax the whole day to be honest.

We walked to the table Rom and Gia were sitting at and they were sitting alone with a white bag in a chair next to them. Gia ran up and hugged Danny and told him, “I missed you sooooo much. Come on we have to hurry and go! Sandy already has a head start on us on the slides!”

Gia was wearing your standard bikini, it had purple and pink stripes with pink frill, Danny probably really liked it. Gia grabbed his hand, and they were off to the slides. I went over to the table, and while I sat down the bags we brought I asked Rom, “You aren’t going with them on the slides?”

She leaned her head on her knee that was up on her chair as she looked at me, and she told me in her quiet voice, “I think it would just be awkward for me again.”

She had a short-sleeved, light-pink jacket over the top of her swimsuit that covered the upper half of her body and also acted like a skirt. It’s probably going to be just as awkward for her if she went alone, and I don’t want what happened at the mall that time to happen again. I offered to her, “Want me to go with you then for the first couple of times? I can’t handle the higher slides though.”

Her head jolted up from her knee as her face brightened up, and she quickly nodded her head. I guess she really didn’t want to be left alone after all.

She took off her light-pink jacket and started to run to the slides before turning around to wait for me. I took off my sandals and followed her. She wore a bikini that was almost a one-piece that was pink with light blue frill on the top. It brought me back to a time last summer Gia went shopping with us, and I could swear that she wanted to get that one. When she tried it on however, both my mom and Danny liked another one better. I didn’t pay that much attention to it, but I could swear that was the one.

I smiled with the knowledge of the past. When I finally caught up to her, I told her in a casual tone, “Looks cute.”

I wonder if Gia remembered it? I could hold this over her head when she gets annoying again. I looked to my side to see that Rom had her head down and was walking a little slower. Is she upset? The realization then hit me like a truck. I called a freshman cute when I’m going into my first year in college. I was too caught up in savoring the small victory to realize that was a weird thing to say if interpreted differently.

“Uh…Umm. Sorry about that. I didn’t mean it like that.”

"This is why I don’t have a girlfriend." I thought to myself. I can't read social situations very well.

I put my head down and started walking faster to the slides out of embarrassment, but I felt a sudden tug on my arm before I could create some distance. I stopped, and I heard Rom say in her small, quiet voice, “Thanks.”

I looked back to see her looking down, and her shoulders and part of her face was red. I thought to myself, “Did I really make her that uncomfortable, and did she put on sunblock? Could she already be sunburnt?”

“Let’s hurry to the slides before the line gets too long.” I told her as we sped up our pace to the slides.

After we went down a couple of slides, Gia and Danny met up with us and grabbed Rom to go down the taller slides with them. She looked back to me as if to ask if it was okay to leave me, and I just gave them a thumbs up and said, “Okay, I’ll be in the lazy river if you need me.”

When I started to float down the river, I closed my eyes and thought about how my anxiety has been good today. Normally I would be super stressed out by now or be having a severe headache, but I have been really enjoying the day today. I Closed my eyes and relaxed on the inner-tube in the river, and let the sun beat down on me. I wish I could relax like this every day.

“MARRRKK!!” My peaceful moment in the lazy river was abruptly interrupted by Gia shouting my name throughout the park. I was so shocked by the sudden loud noise right next to me that I flipped off of the inner-tube into the water.

I rose back out of the water and asked in an annoyed tone, “What is it?”

Since she was out of breath, she told me in between breaths, “It’s Dom…She fell and…has a cut on her knee…It’s bleeding.”

I crawled out of the lazy river, and grabbed Gia by the arm. “Come one let’s put some first aid on it then. How bad is it?”

“It’s bleeding!”

“That’s a very broad answer…” I thought to myself, but I hurriedly dragged her along to the table where I set the bag with the first aid stuff down.

When we got there Rom was sitting in a seat beside Daniel, and there was also a girl about my age standing behind her holding her shoulders. She had not too long, not too short dark-brown hair with a bleached streak, tanned brown skin, and an athletic body. Her eyes were maple, and she had a warm aura to her. The swimsuit she wore was black with purple straps, and it had the same length as Rom’s. She was beautiful, but I already knew there was no way I would be able to get with her.

I got there and knelt down to Rom’s level and looked at her cut. It wasn’t nearly as bad as Gia made it out to be, but I still saw tears swelling up in her eyes. “Are you Danny’s brother?” The older girl standing over Rom asked.

I replied, “Yieep.” as I reached for the first-aid in the bag next to me, “Who are you?”

I started digging in the first-aid bag and brought out the cotton balls, rubbing alcohol, Neosporin, and band-aids as she responded back saying, “I’m Gia’s stepsister, Sandy. Did she not tell you about me?”

I dabbed a rubbing alcohol-soaked cotton ball on Rom’s cut, and said, “Yeah, but she didn’t really say what you looked like.”

“Oh, that’s weird. She’s usually super talkative.”

“It just wasn’t brought up! I was too caught up in wanting to go down the slides!” Gia responded to the conversation.

I shook my head listening to the conversation, but I do have to admit that it seems a bit out of character for her. She would normally give every annoying detail about everything in a loud tone.

I smeared the Neosporin on Rom’s cut, and then I carefully placed the band aid on the wound. “Woww…Do you do this a lot?” Sandy asked.

As I was putting the materials back into the first aid bag, I told her, “Well, it’s not like it was a big cut or anything, but I’m used to fixing cuts and scrapes like this. Dad is home on and off, so I have to bandage up myself and Danny when Mom isn’t home.”

Rom put her knee down, and I could hear her whisper, “Thanks.”

I looked at her downtrodden face with a smile and said, “No problem. I brought the first aid kit just in case this happened.”

“Thanks for doing this. I’m really bad with blood.” Sandy told me.

I remembered how little blood there was, but I stood back up and told her, “No problem, I just want everyone to have fun today.” I looked back at Rom, “You can go back in the water. It shouldn’t hurt it. I can just replace it again after everyone is done.”

“Has everyone already eaten lunch? It’s past noon.” I asked.

Everyone nodded their head, and I turned to go back to be met by the wide eyes of Gia string at me in awe. “You should be a surgeon…” She told me in a spacey tone.

Danny grabbed her and dragged her back to the slides saying, “Come on, let’s head back to go on the tall one again!”

Rom followed close behind them as they left to the slides. I started my way back to the lazy river before I heard, “Where are you going?”

I turned around to see Sandy looking at me with a confused look. I pointed to the river, and I said, “Back to the lazy river.”

“Have you been on the tall slides yet?”

I turned back around in the direction of the river, “Not yet…”

She ran in front of me, and she gave me an earnest look as she said, “You have to go one them before you leave! It’s so fun! I can go with you if you want?!”

I wanted to say no so bad. Everything in me was saying to tell her no, but the earnest look on her face made me say, “Fine.” In a defeated tone.

“Yayy!” She exclaimed as she skipped her way over there.

“What did I just agree to?” I thought to myself.

▌│█║▌║▌║║▌║▌║█│▌