Turbulence.

"UGH! HAILEY! I don't think you understand how much I want to hate him!"
I laid stretched out on Hailey's bed with my head hanging off the side of it. I was starting to get a small headache from the blood rushing to my head, but that didn't want me to change my position.
"I don't know. I say invite him in. But that's only because I know what he looks like aaaand that man is extremely attractive. Ask my sister. You know I'm never good at giving advice like this."
"You're right!"
I quickly rolled off her bed, running down the hallway to her younger sister's room.
Hailey's all about physical appearence. If you fuck up, she'll hate you. That is, unless you're attractive, then she'll take you back as if nothing happened.
"MEL! BOY HELP! I NEEED YOOU!"
I ran into her door and dramatically started banging on it, whining her name.
"Good lord! You're obnoxious!"
The door quickly swung open to reveal Hailey's 17 year old sister. Her and I were the same height, which I was appreciative of, I was tired of looking up to talk to people. Her hip length hair was pulled up in a pony tail, showing off the skunk patch she has in her hair, her blueish-gray eyes being covered by her bangs.
"Come in, then."
As she walked, her hips swayed side to side. Secretly, I was always jealous of her. She's two years younger than me, but her body looks so much better than mine. I'm curvy, but with weight on me as where she's curvy, but alot smaller than me. She sat down at her computer desk, cross legged in the chair, and motioned for me to sit down on her bed. I've been over at Hailey's almost everyday since we became friends, but never been in Melanie's room. On the opposite wall of the door was her bed which was pushed in the corner of her room, under the window, with her stereo on the headboard.
Her computer desk next to the bed with a few books piled up on the side. At the end of her bed was a table with a tv on it and a small fish bowl that had a betta fish in it. On the same wall with her door was her small closet and her dresser. The things that made me smile about her room was all the band posters that decorated the walls. Just like my room, same bands too. Her room was small, but it was personal and I really liked that.
"So boy problems, huh? You're coming to me and I haven't had a boyfriend since my freshman year."
She closed her laptop and spun her chair so she was staring at me.
"What are you now? A senior?"
She smiled proudly as she answered.
"Yes I am. And I'm graduating early. Before everyone."
She crossed her arms and put on her best therapist face.
"So. A boy you say? Tell m about him."
I covered my face with my hands while falling back and groaning loudly into them.
"He's a sweet asshole that I just want to hit!"
She laughed and laid down next to me, looking up at her ceiling.
"How do you know him?"
"I met him back at high school. I sat with his friends at lunch."
"So, what's the story behind you two?"
"Long story short. I was in love with him, he cheated on me with my bestfriend, then after that I stopped talking to him. A year later, he's back in my life and being persistent as hell. I hate him but at the same time I don't. It's like... the highschool part of me wants him back, but me now wants him to go to hell. Worse part about all of this! I made plans with him tomorrow!"
I rolled over and buried my face in her blanket.
"I JUST WANT TO GRAB AND KISS HIS STUPID FACE! UGH! THEN I WANT TO SLAP IT!"
"Hm, Well, to make sure that doesn't happen. Have him bring a friend along and bring Hailey with you."
I groaned once again before looking at her.
"I could just cancel on him."
She rolled her eyes and sat up.
"No. That's not happening. We're gonna make you cute and make him hate the fact he fucked up with you. Real cute."
She quickly got up and ran to her closet.
"Mel, now you know I'm bigger than you. There's no way I'm fitting your clothes."
"Says yooou."
She sang out as she threw a few items of clothing on her bed and across the tan carpeted floor.
"If we can't find anything for you here, we're going to Hailey's closet."
~

I sat in the driver's seat of my Tahoe, picking at my tights that I had worn under my skirt.
"I know you wanted Hailey to come, but she wasn't feeling good."
Melanie sat next to me and picked at her ripped jeans, our actions mirrored one another's.
"It's totally cool. I know if she was coming, she'd probably start drooling over Tony. At least with you, I know that wont happen. You're not boy crazy like your sister and I really like that. Also, We've never hung out before, so this should be nice."
I gave her a reassuring smile before pressing play on my phone which was plugged into my radio, sending 'The worst of them' by Issues through my speakers.
Of course, as soon as the first note left Tyler's mouth, both of us were dancing and singing along.
~*Melanie's POV*~

He was awkward but cute about it. It's not that he was acting as if he was awkward because of the fact he was uncomfortable around me, but the fact that he was nervous about being around me, as if he was scared of me judging his every move. I don't know what it is about him, I don't get crushes. Guys try so hard to get me, but I blow them off. Why is he any different? His smile makes my stomach go crazy, as if little pterodactyls were flying around and poking my insides
He'd look up from his guitar and we'd accidentally make eye contact, I can't take it. I look down and immediately feel my cheeks burning. So of course, with burning cheeks I'd pick at my jeans. A few small laughs would leave him, as if he noticed me blushing.
He stared down at his fingers strummed on his guitar, his left hand fingers landing on the wrong frets, making the whole song sound off. Just like I had been doing, I saw his cheeks go flush.
"What's up with you, man? I've never seen you mess up so much before. Even when you're drunk you play better than you're doing now."
Tony sat cross legged on the floor and rolled his guitar pick inbetween his fingers, the way you would with a quarter or a half dollar.
"I-I dunno. Can we go somewhere? Instead of spending the day in my garage?!"
Tony shrugged and started to put his acoustic back into his case.
"Where do you want to go?"
I laid back on the loveseat and threw my legs over Lydia's, who didn't mind the sudden contact. She just stayed staring at Tony. Her glare was more of daggers though, which I think is why he's been avoiding eye contact.
It was weird, on the ride over, the way she described him made me imagine someone else. I felt like he was gonna be cocky and ignorant. I mean, she had said he was sweet, but the more she told me about him, the less sweet he had become in my eyes.
But he wasn't. He greeted Lydia and myself with a huge hug, that Lydia tried to squirm out of.
Of course, she made it up to him by giving him another hug. He looked so accomplished with himself. He's tried to have conversations, which in the end, it was him and I talking with Vic chiming in with stutters and nervousness.
Vic carefully placed his guitar on the stand and stood up, stretching.
A smile grew on Tony's face, as if he just came up with some master plan in his head.
"So, I got an Idea where to go, It's just gonna be a surprise."
Everyone agreed with Tony to go, except for Lydia, who I felt like was arguing with her self whether or not this was a bad idea. I stood up and started adjusting my clothes as Tony walked over to her and held out his hand.
"You know, it's gonna be loads of fun."
He smiled and her stare lightened up as he helped her up. I mentally thanked her for making that alittle bit easier on Vic and I.
~*Lydia's POV*~

"Oh no. You've got to be fucking kidding me."
My heart had started beating fast and I was trying real hard not to lose my temper.
Tony has it coming later.
"What's wrong?"
Mel's eyebrows had furrowed as she tried to figure out why I was starting to get angry.
"This asshole. Out of all the places in San Diego, you pick here? An amusement park?"
Tony just nodded as Mel was left standing confused.
"Our first date and first kiss were at this stupid place."
She nodded and made an 'O' shape with her mouth, realizing why I had suddenly gotten an attitude.
"Told you. Loads of fun."
He quickly wrapped his arm around my shoulder and walked towards the front gate, or course with me trying to unwrap his arm from me.
Vic had pulled out a twenty and smiled at Mel.
"I'll pay for you, yeah?"
"Oh, no. You don't need to do tha--"
"Nope. I insist. What kind of man would I be to make a lady pay?"
I looked back at her to see her face bright red.
"Awwwe! Look at Meeel."
She laughed and ran towards me, shoving me playfully.
~

Mel and Vic had ran off, yelling something about going on a ride until they get sick. The whole time at the park, I could hear them quietly whispering behind us. Of course, Tony and I would turn around making kissy faces at them. After that they'd get quiet and both of them would blush and laugh quietly to themselves. We've been walking around for a few hours, playing small games and going on small ride. Tony staying lear of any bigger ones.

"So, are you really mad that I brought you here?"
I nodded and kicked a small rock as we walked through the dirt and gravel.
"Only because I know what you're trying to do."
"Oh, do you now?"
His voice came out bumptious, followed by a cocky laugh as he linked his fingers behind his head.
"You're not as smart as you get think, you know. You brought me here so I can think about our date. Like... how when we went on that ride."
I pointed over the purple roller coaster that from where we were standing looked like a big knot of metal poles.
"I started crying as soon as we sat down on the ride. I was having a panic attack and couldn't get myself to calm down. You convinced the guy who checks all the seatbelts, making them secure, to let us off then hugged me until you got me to calm down. Which is also how you found out about my fear of heights. You smiled and just told me how it was cute."
"Well it is cute how you have a fear of heights."
"Not anymore."
I quickly grabbed his hand and led him over to the sky coaster.
"This is higher than that ride. You get put in a harness, lifted up 250 feet in the air, then you pull your own rip cord to let go when the countdown is over. It drops you, you swing, get up high enough, then drops again. you're actually falling with only a wire to stop you six feet above the ground."
"And you want to do... that?"
I could see the doubt on Tony's face as he watched a couple on it, both of them screaming as the guy pulled the cord, sending them into a free fall for a few seconds.
"Lydia's scared of heights and wants to do this? Fine. Let's go."
He started walking faster to get infront of me, leading us to the small glass window for us to pay a small fee for it. Our unlimited pass gave us a small discount, having us pay only seven dollars each instead of the original ten.
A man in early thirties smiled at us and told us to follow him to prepare ourselves for the ride.
I could feel Tony's hand shaking in mine, which for some odd reason he has yet to pull away. I was terrified to do this, but I couldn't let him know that. Hell, It was my idea to do it. I had something to prove to him.
I just smiled at him and got back a nervous smile in return.
We had put all our belongings in a small basket as the guy said it would be best so they don't fly out of our pockets, then right after that he handed us two blue harnesses that came passed my knees when I wore it. When he made sure it was secure, he had us follow him again into the field that in the middle had a small landing strip and a set of metal steps.
"Stand behind the metal pole and hold it tight. When we get the flight cords hooked and secure, the bar will drop, hold on and fall forward with it."
I listened and held on tight to the bar. Tony's shaking hand quickly clamped on to mine.
"Are you sure you want to go through with this? You have nothing to prove to me."
"Of course I want to do this. It seems like fun."
He rolled his eyes and breathed in deep, his breath coming out uneven as he tried to calm himself down.
It's weird to think I'm not as nervous as Tony. I always saw Tony as someone who was fearless and here he is, shaking uncontrollably over a free fall ride.
The instructor told us how the ride is going to work, I tried to listen but all I could concentrate on was Tony's grip killing my hand as the bar slowly fell down, leaving us in a laying down position.
My heart started beating faster, the realization of what we're doing actually getting to me.
What the fuck am I doing? I'm scared of heights and falling. Here I am, trying to prove something to him, which at this point, I'm not even sure what that point is. All he said was my fear is cute.
Next thing I know, Tony and I were slowly being lifted up, earning us a view of the entire park.
"Please tell me you're freaking out too. Lydia. We could die."
I chuckled and linked my arm with his.
"You'll be fine. Weren't you listening? Zero deaths and zero injuries. We're fine."
Tony nodded and watched as the men working the ride rolled the metal stairs out of our swinging path.
Soon enough we hit the top and were left dangling there until the countdown started.
I breathed in deep with my hand tightly on the cord.
The voice of the man who helped us get our harnesses on had came on over an intercom.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. We have a flight of two. They are now at the top, which is 250 feet high, waiting for our countdown. When we hit one, this young lady is going to pull their rip cord and send them into a free fall with speeds up to and over 70 miles per hour. "

I smiled as Tony started to shake even more when everyone screamed the number 'three', starting the countdown.
As soon as I heard the number one, I pulled the cord and with one swift movement, I felt like my stomach was in my throat as we fell. All I could do was laugh as Tony's grip around my arm cut off my circulation. He was screaming loudly as our hair whipped and whirled around us. Looking down at the small crowd of people who had stopped to watched two stupid teens fall.
When I looked over at him, he had his eyes clamped shut, still screaming. I found the sight funny.
"Come on, Tony! Hold out your arms like you're flying!"
When I tried to unlink my arm, he scream out 'no' and held on tighter. We made it to the top again and earned the stomach throat feeling again as we started falling for the second time. This time, I allowed myself to scream out of excitement.
As our momentum came to an end, Tony finally released my arm and took in our surroundings. We swung calmly back and forth as he held out his arms.
"See! It wasn't that bad!"
He nervously laughed and nodded as the ride stopped.
~

"Holy shit dude! Was that you?"
Vic and Mel and jogged over to us laughing.
"Was what me?"
Tony furrowed his eyebrows and stared at Vic, clearly not understanding his question.
"Screaming. We were pretty much on the other side of the park and we heard you scream. What the hell was going on?"
I quickly covered my mouth to keep myself from laughing out loud. Were his screams really that loud? I was right next to him and they didn't seem to be.
He put his head down and shame then pointed at the tall metal poles we had just made out way from.
"Nuh uh! You fuckin' serious? How was it?"
"He was shaking and scared like a little baby!"
I dropped my hands from my mouth and started laughing, my sides starting to hurt from it.
"IT WAS NOT FUNNY! YOU TRY FALLING OVER AND OVER AGAIN FROM STORIES UP IN THE AIR!"
His eyes went wide when he realized he said that to me. Of course, my erupting laughter only got louder.
"I DID! AND I'M THE ONE SCARED OF HEIGHTS!"
Tony face quickly lit up and my jaw dropped.
"Nuh uh. Tony Perry. Blushing? That's something I thought I'd never see."
I nudged his side and walked over to Mel, linking my arm with hers before walking away.

"So, what did you and Vic do?"
She smiled and linked her arm with mine as we walked ahead of the two boys.
"Turns out, he's kinda scared of roller coasters. We played a few games, of course losing all of them against kids. Then when one a few smaller roller coasters then we went on the bumper boats. Some little kid kept bumping into my boat so he went after him. It was cute actually. The only shitty part of this, when I tried to get out of the boat, I almost fell into the water."
She motioned down to her soaking wet red Tom.
"If it makes you feel better, I think Tony almost peed himself."
I smiled back at him as Mel started laughing. He just stuck out his tongue and gave me the finger.

We made our way to the food court and sat down at the table, arguing about what we're going to eat. Of course, Vic and Mel decided on something Tony and I both hated so they decided to go off and order their food while we try to figure out what we want.
Finally, we settled on fries and pizza.

"I've actually had fun today. I was hoping you'd be in a good mood and not try to rip my head off."
Tony sat across the table from me as he stirred one of his french fries in his dipping sauce.
"You're lucky. I almost canceled on you. Mel was the one that made me come here today."
"Well, Remind me to thank her later."
He smiled and scooted the fries closer to me so I could have one. Which I did. Fried dipped in honey BBQ sauce was something I enjoyed alittle bit too much.
"You have something here."
I looked up at Tony to see him motioning to the corner of his mouth, of course I mimicked his actions and wiped it. Only for him to shake his head.
"Don't worry. I'll get it." I saw a sly smile as he leaned towards me.
His lips were quickly on mine and for some reason, I didn't push him away until after I kissed back for a moment.
My stomach churned as I realized what I was doing.
"Dammit! Can we seriously not just have a good time without you fucking it up!?"
I quickly got up from the table and stormed off, Tony's foot steps close behind.
"How did I fuck it up?"
"Maybe because you're saying you want to be my friend. Last time I checked, friends don't find a stupid way to kiss eachother. I knew that this was a stupid idea. You're a mistake I made in the past and you need to stay there."
Tony continued to say something, but like so many time, I ignored him and kept walking. Mel and Vic had been sitting at a table, eating and laughing, until Mel saw me storm pass them. She quickly nudged Vic's arms and got up, jogging after me.
When she caught up, her pace dropped to mine.
~

"It's so stupid. All it was, was a fucking kiss. What in me needed to overreact like that? As soon as his lips touched mine, everything I ever felt for the kid just hit me. I hated that feeling."
I gripped my steering wheel and stared at Mel as we sat at a red light.
"And.. I'm sorry I ruined your time with Vic. You guys seemed... you seemed nice together."
I smiled, knowing she had a good time with him.
"He is nice. And it's totally fine. I told you I'd come along so you weren't alone with Tony all day long. And that's what I did. Meeting Vic was just a plus of the day. Which, sorry we kept going other places."
"So how is he? Did he open up more and stop blushing? Did he make a moooove?"
I lightly pushed her and earned a laugh in return.
"No! I wish! I mean, if he embarrassed himself infront of me, yeah, there was blushing. Which, he kept tripping over his own feet. And, he talked more, which was a plus. Apparently him and his brother are in a band that Tony and one of his friends just joined. Once they get the songs down right, they're gonna play a show together and see how everything plays out. You know how when people talk about what they love, their eyes light up?! The whole time he was talking about music, his eyes were lit up and he was so excited. I think that was my favorite part about talking to him."
She smiled and started picking at her jeans, like she was doing on our way to Vic's house.
"Are you gonna talk to him some mo--"
"SHIT! I FORGOT TO GET HIS NUMBER!"
She groaned loudly and slammed her head against the head-rest.
"Don't worry! I'll have Mike give it to Vic."
"Well thanks! Which, this brings me to my next question. Where does Mike come in?"
"Oh god. I met him right before Tony tried to walk back into my life and we kinda hooked up. He's taken me out a few times since then. I think Tony wouldn't be as interested in me if I wasn't with one of his friends. Which, Mike doesn't know about Tony and I."
"Do you like Mike?"
I shrugged as we pulled infront of her house.
"I'd have to get back to you on that one, 'cause I'm not sure. Anyways. Thank you for coming with me. I'll probably be over tomorrow, if you wanna hang out again. And when I get home, I'll tell Mike to have Vic text you or call you."
She nodded and as she slid out of the truck, said a 'thanks'.
"Let me know what Vic says!"
Her smile grew and she nodded before she shut my car door, walking towards her front door.

Notes

Title credit;;
Safety Word Orange - Halfway in Love by the Time we Sat Down