You Stole My Heart

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Christmas Eve

"Come on, Sarah, don't be chicken." Shane taunts as he tries to coax me into the building.

"Nuh-uh, no way am I doing it." I shake my head in refusal, the petrified screams backing up my statement.

"Sarah, I will literally carry you kicking and screaming into that hotel." Zac threatens, amused. I turn a pleading glance towards my boyfriend, hoping he'll take my side in this.

"Don't worry, Sah, I won't let him touch you," he winks. "I, on the other hand, as your boyfriend, have a very serious duty to fulfill, in getting you onto that ride." He grins wickedly, and scoops me up without further hesitation, carrying me bridal-style into the Hollywood Tower Hotel, Zac grumbling behind us about being a third wheel.

The entire hotel-well, the part that's open to us-is designed to look like it was abandoned years ago, complete with cobwebs and cracking plaster. We, along with the other people inline are all herded into the library by some guy with a blonde mustache in a creepy '60s bellhop uniform, where we stand facing an ancient-looking television. Suddenly the lights go out and I find myself clinging to Shane in the darkness. The television comes on in a burst of blue light, and we hear a narrator telling us about The Twilight Zone and how in the 60s, this hotel was some really fancy hotel for Hollywood showbiz, but then 5 people disappeared into The Twilight Zone the video is in black and white and complete with those bad movie effects like the cheesy lightening, and the fading in and out of people who "disappear". Normally, it would be funny, but now, here, in this spooky set-up, I'm downright creeped out. As the camera pans around to face the narrator, he invites us to take a trip into The Twilight Zone down an old service elevator...if we dare.

The screen goes black, leaving us in darkness. A few of the tourists hoot and holler, Zac and Shane joining in. As the lights come back on, the crowd pushed us down towards the "basement" of the hotel, where we wait inline again to get strapped into our seats. The line is crazy long, and it takes nearly an hour for our turn.

"This is taking forever," I whine, immediately hating myself-that sounded exactly like something Sabrina would say.
"Well, we could do something while we wait." Shane's eyebrows quirk suggestively.

"No. I'm not sitting here watching you two make out in an amusement park line. Do something less cliché." Zac demands, crossing his arms over his chest in annoyance.
"Aw, come on, I've never done it before, I want the experience." I tease, sticking my tongue out at Zac, turning to face him, since he was standing behind me.

Shane, seeming to take my words seriously, wraps his arms around me from the back and presses his lips to the hollow at the base of my neck, near my collarbone. I resist the urge to moan out loud and smack him away.

"Shane, too much PDA, okay?" I giggle, causing Zac to roll his eyes for the hundredth time since he got to Disneyland. I wonder if he would be so irritated if he was the one kissing my neck.

Woah, where did that come from?

Just before we make it to the front, I try chickening out one last time. "Guys, Daniella did the Tower of Terror yesterday, she said it scared the shit out of her."
"She also said it was the best experience of her life, babe." Shane reminds me, humor lacing his voice.

"Yeah well..."

"Miss, if you'd step in here," the guy helping people into their seats addresses me, and the guys share a triumphant grin, knowing they've got me cornered. I slide into a bench between Zac and Shane, taking note that Shane is on my left, so as to avoid clutching onto Zac in the dark during the ride.

As soon as we step out into the daylight, I breathe a sigh of relief.

"Never again." The ride had consisted of a constant up and down lurching, and eventually, we just dropped from the top of the hotel, down to the bottom again.
"I think I left my stomach on the tenth floor." Shane groans, then adds with an evil grin, "but so worth it."