Roller coasters.

Just thinking about them makes me want to run back to Mateo's truck and lock myself in there. Gosh why would I let him bring me here. I mean don't get me wrong I'm happy to spend time with Mateo, but why does it involve having to get on a roller coaster. Maybe if I act like I forgot something in the truck he won't notice.

"Crap. You know what I think I forgot my phone in the truck. You think I can have the keys so I can go get it?" He turns around and I'm hoping he falls for it. But of course he doesn't. "Oh really? So you aren't holding it right now?" I look down at my hands and mentally facepalm myself. I look over Mateo and spot his lanyard hanging out of his front pocket. Looking back up at him he doesn't seem to take notice of the plan in my head so I decide to just go for it.

"Have you gotten on that ride before?" I point to some random ride behind him and he turns around to see. Quickly stepping forward and yanking out his keys I start running away only to bump into someone and hurt my nose.

Great, my plans never work. I rub my nose and look up at the person who I bumped into and see Alejandro trying not to laugh. Alison is next to him laughing to the point where she's about to cry. Meanwhile, Mateo takes his keys out of my hand and chuckles at the scene that just happened.

"Oh come on Veronica, it's gonna be fun," Alejandro says while throwing an arm over Alison's shoulder. "If Alison wanted to come, that means something," laughing at his statement I try to catch my breath. Ugh this is so great, finally I can embarrass Ali. "Well that's cause both of you have huge crushes on each other," I comment while Mateo laughs behind me. Alison turns red as a tomato and Alejandro's cheeks turn into a rosy pink color.

"Anyways how about we start getting on some rides. We should start small since the girls here are too scared," Alejandro says and Alison pushes his arm off.

"Um excuse me. We are not scared so maybe you should get your facts straight," Alison protested starting to walk towards me. "Now are we just going to stand here or actually go have fun," she takes my hand and starts walking into a random direction. Sometimes I feel like she drinks five iced coffees before getting to school, she can be so energetic.

As promised, the boys did take us to small rides. More specifically, baby rides. Okay Ali and I might not like riding roller coasters but we aren't scared of these baby rides. I glare at Mateo and he just gives me a shy smile.

"Okay." Clearing my throat knowing once I say this the boys aren't going to deny it. And for Alison, well I hope she isn't upset. "How about we go ride that big ass death machine to get it over with and maybe, just maybe it will help us get comfortable. How does that sound?"

Mateo and Alejandro look at each other as if they're sharing thoughts with one another. They look back at me and start nodding their heads like two year old's who just got promised some ice cream. Before I even get the chance to speak again, Mateo grabs my hand and starts speed walking while I'm tripping over my feet behind him. Taking a quick glance behind me, I see Alison and Alejandro holding hands, talking to each other with huge smiles stuck on their faces.

I'm happy for her. She finally found someone for her. The thought of her being happy in a relationship with Alejandro doesn't make me feel some type of way. I've seen some people break their friendship just because their best friend finds someone else. That wouldn't be the case for Ali and I, we both always said that we wouldn't forget about each other when we found someone. Smiling at the thought, I turn back around and see that we have arrived at the death machine.

Oh gosh, why would I say that back there. Now I'm getting more nervous.

Mateo pulls me next to him still holding my hand. His soft hand fits mine perfectly and I don't plan on letting go soon. He looks down at me and smiles. But not just any smile, a smile that makes my nervousness be replaced with something else. I'm not quite sure what the emotion is but just by him looking at me it makes my heart want to leap out of my chest. We keep a steady conversation going while the line moves forward until we're next to get on. I start getting nervous and start to bite my bottom lip.

"Hey," I look up at Mateo and he smiles a little. "You don't have to get on if you don't feel comfortable. I can stay with you if you don't feel like getting on," shaking my head at his comment, I squeeze his hand and look back at the empty seats in front of us. "No, I want to at least try it once. Come on let's go," pulling him to one of the empty seats, Alison and Alejandro follow behind us and we start getting situated in our seats.

Mateo and I let go of our hands only to put the seat belts on. Once they're on, I grab his hand once again and look at him with a shy smile. He squeezes my hand for reassurance and I look forward at the tracks we're about to ascend. God please let me live. I think to myself as the worker tells us to hold on and have fun.

We start moving up and I squeeze Mateo's hand.

"Mateo if I die my death is completely on you," I turn to look at him and all he does is silently laugh and shakes his head side to side. I can't bear to look the higher we get. I should've accepted his offer to not get on.

"V, open your eyes. You won't have a complete experience with your eyes closed," I open my eyes but not to look at where we are. He called me "V," no one has ever called me that before not even Alison. I turn to face him but before I can even do that, all I see is the ground below me. Letting out a scream as we start heading down, I can't manage to close my eyes. My adrenaline starts running through my veins as we speed our way around the tracks. Not even a second later, the ride is done.

The seat belts loosen up and we step out from the seats. Surprisingly, I feel great. I grab Mateo's hand as we make our way down the steps. A smile plastered onto my face and I seem like I am off the walls now.

"That was so FUN! I didn't think it was going to feel that liberating,"

Turning to look back at Alison, I see that she feels the exact same way I'm feeling.

"Come on guys let's go ride other stuff!" I exclaimed and tugged Mateo so he was behind me.

As the day went on, we got on more roller coasters, ate some food, and now Mateo and I are walking hand in hand around the park. Alejandro wanted to win Alison a bear from one of the booth games so we left them since they seemed to be having a good time alone.

We stopped in front of the roller coasters and the view was amazing. The sun was starting to set and everything seemed perfect. All thoughts of the argument that happened with Christopher this morning were long gone. I felt at peace holding hands with Mateo. A comfortable silence surrounded us while we just watched the sunset.

"Thank you Mateo," I say while still looking forward. "What for?" He questions and I turn to face him. "For all this. Going into senior year I thought it was going to be the shittiest year ever. Now look at me. I'm getting out of my comfort zone and it's all because of you. That's why I'm saying thank you Mateo. You may not think you made a difference, but you really have," I look up at him and I see him smiling down at me.

The emotion I couldn't identify earlier in the day is present is his eyes now. My heart speeds up as he raises his hand to brush some of my hair out of my face. Staring into each other's eyes deeply, I'm absolutely positive I'm catching feelings for him. Slowly, he starts inching closer to my face until we're a few inches a part. I close my eyes and feel his hand make its way up to my cheek. Just as we're about to have our moment, we're interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Hello everyone, the one and only Adam Michaels has arrived,"

Opening my eyes and looking behind Mateo. I see Adam standing with Alejandro and Alison waving at us with a goofy grin on his face. Mateo lets out a sigh and turns around to face Adam. We make our way towards the rest of the group and start walking towards the rides Adam says he wants to get on. I take a quick glance at Mateo, only to find him already looking at me. Quickly looking down at my feet, I smile as my cheeks immediately heat up from just the eye contact.

I don't know what he's doing to me, but I'm hoping it has a good outcome.