Noah's POV:
I could hardly sleep last night thinking about how I fucked up with Venus. I felt terrible for pushing her, but I didn't even mean to.
I searched for my phone on the nightstand and when I picked it up, I was happy but nervous to see there was a response from Venus.
From: Venus
Hey Noah. I probably overreacted. There's just so much you don't know about me, I don't want to get close to you and scare you away or get my heart broken. We can be friends, but nothing more, I hope you can understand.
I feel like someone just punched me in my chest. I know it sounds crazy to have feelings for someone you just met, but Venus had something different about her, something I've never seen in anyone. She was pure and innocent and fragile, like a dragonfly. She had wings, but I don't think she quite knows how to use them. She's never felt free, I can tell because she closes herself off to the world. I want to show her how great life can be. She's been hiding in a shell because of her mom's illness but now that she's cured I just want her to enjoy life and live it to the fullest.
To: Venus
Can I see you today?
I anxiously waited for a response. I wanted to see her and apologize in person and try to explain myself. I just want to spend time with her and continue getting to know her but I probably ruined my chances.
I decided to get ready for the day and to try and stop worrying about what Venus was thinking.
I put on a green and blue plaid shirt with a white T-shirt underneath and black jeans that were ripped at the knees. I put on some white vans and tried to tame my curly hair.
I heard my phone buzz and I literally bellyflopped onto my bed to see the message.
From: Venus
Animal Kingdom?
A smile came across my face reading that message from her. I was so relieved that she didn't completely hate me. I grabbed all the shit I needed and left the cabins to make my way to Animal Kingdom.
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On my way here, I texted Venus saying that I would be near the Rainforest Cafe outside the park waiting for her.
I was getting nervous when she hadn't shown up after having waited almost half an hour. I felt a shadow approaching me and I turned around to be met by two blondes and their mom.
"Hey." I put my hands in my pockets and smiled at them nervously.
"Good morning, Noah!" Their mom said, sounding happy to see me, "We're so happy you could join us today."
"Uh, yeah, me too," I gave a real smile, feeling relieved, "And good morning!"
Venus gave me a sad smile but Ellorie just looked annoyed with her sister.
"Shall we go in?" Their mom said happily.
"Yeah, let's." Ellorie said, crossing her arms.
We made our way towards the bag check and Ellorie and her sister went in a line together, leaving me alone with their mom.
"I'm sorry about Venus," she said, "I've been trying to get her to break out of her shell for who knows how long. She's sensitive. She doesn't have friends back home and the only guy she ever liked broke her heart so she's too scared to try to get to know anyone. Give her some time. She'll come through."
Hearing what her mom had to say opened my eyes a little. Venus didn't mention much about boys or relationships so I guess I didn't know enough about her to try and have her come to the party last night. I'm more determined now than ever to break down her walls.
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When we finally got to enter the park, Ellorie wanted to go on Expedition Everest first, but refused to sit by Venus so she chose to sit alone, leaving me to be the one to sit by Venus since their mom doesn't ride stuff like this.
"Did you sleep well?" I asked, nervous as shit.
She nodded 'yes' but didn't want to look at me.
"I'm an ass. I didn't mean to pressure you yesterday, I was just so excited to get to know you that I didn't realize it wasn't what you wanted." I apologized, feeling like shit.
"I'm sorry for overreacting. I just..." She paused, thinking of what to say, "I don't know how to do this."
"Do what?" I asked, very confused.
"Friendships or relationships or... anything I guess." She frowned.
"If you don't wanna be friends, then—" I tried talking, but I got cut off.
"No! I do, I do, I just..." She looked so sad, I could see it in her eyes, "I don't wanna get hurt."
"I would never hurt you." I said just as the gates to the ride opened and we were told to get into our seats.
"Let's just have fun today, okay?" She gave me a soft smile before the ride took off.
We were going so high up and I could see the fear in Venus's eyes. We kept going and we reached a point where the tracks completely ended and we had a view really high up in the air, scaring Venus to cause her to grab my hand and lace her fingers with mine.
"I thought you liked these!" I shouted right before the coaster took us flying backwards in complete darkness.
We went down so many drops and when we went back inside the mountain, we both looked up to see a huge, scary, bloody Yeti reaching down at us, causing Venus to attempt to hide her face with my chest before we took another drop and a camera flashed, taking our picture.
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When the ride came to a stop for us to unload, Venus looked at our hands, still holding each other's. She gave me a small smile without letting go of my hand.
Is she messing with me? She says she wants to just be friends and yet she's holding my hand, ducking into me when she gets scared, giving me sweet smiles here and there. Maybe I'll be the one getting my heart broken when this trip is over.
We got off the coaster and went to look at our photos. Ellorie was smiling with her arms up in the air, excited for the drop. When we found Venus and I's picture, you could see her trying to hide from the massive Yeti and you could also see us holding hands. I decided to take a picture of our photo before any cast member came and yelled at me for taking a picture of it.
"How was it??" Venus's mom asked happily as we walked up to her in the gift shop.
"So cool!!" Ellorie said, running on the adrenaline.
"There was this massive creature that reached his hand down, trying to grab us and it was so scary!" Venus said, still catching her breath.
"Noah? How did you like it?" Their mom said, catching me out of my thoughts.
"It was fun." I smiled softly.
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I tried enjoying the rest of our time here but Venus kept sending me mixed signals throughout the whole day. She held my hand on rides and during shows, she wanted to share a milkshake with me, but whenever I tried putting my arm around her shoulders or waist she would push me away. Is it only okay for her to be the initiator? This is total bullshit and I was starting to get mad over this because I don't want to play anymore games.
