Jax tapped the phone screen. “If we take this flight, we don’t have to decide. We can do both. We’ll do Magic Kingdom tomorrow and Hollywood Studios on Friday.”
It would have been the perfect solution if it wasn’t for Jax’s work schedule. “That won’t work. You have to be at the cafe super early on Saturday.”
Jax scoffed. “That’s no big deal. It won’t be the first time I’ve gone in after getting very little sleep. At least I won’t be hungover.”
“I don’t know. A Disney hangover might honestly be worse than an alcohol hangover.”
“Or it might just be thebestkind of hangover.”
With the way Jax’s eyes were sparkling in the light, there was no way I could say no. If this was really what she wanted, it was what we were going to do. “Fine. Let’s do it.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Jax wrapped her arms tightly around me and pulled me close.
The heat of our bodies made the room temperature seem to shoot up, and it continued to feel that way even after Jax pulled away. That might have had something to do with the fact that even though she wasn’t hugging me anymore, she was still sitting much closer than she had been before. She stayed like this for the rest of the movie, and instead of focusing on what was happening on my computer screen, all I could focus on was each and every spot Jax’s body was pressed up against mine.
I held my breath, desperate for the movie to end, but once it did and Jax moved to go to her own bed, the cool air hit me, and my body longed to be close to hers once again.
Since this trip wassupposedto be all aboutnotoverthinking, I decided to ignore these feelings and go to bed. There was nothing to overthink anyway.Right?
Chapter 8
Because we relaxed the night before, we were both up early and ready to go to the park before it even opened. The long process of getting into Magic Kingdom didn’t seem as long or grueling with Jax by my side. She kept me entertained with her comments about everything that we saw along the way, until we walked in and she saw the castle for the first time.
She stopped in her tracks and stared up at it. “Wow. It’s so much better in person. The pictures really don’t do it justice.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off of Jax as she stared up at the castle with awe and wonder. It was like watching a child experience something for the first time, and I finally understood what my moms meant when they said it meant more to them if I had fun than anything else. I wanted nothing more than for this experience to be absolutely perfect for Jax.
“You know what’s funny?” I said when I could finally find my voice. “My moms always like to tell the story of how different our reactions were the first time we saw Cinderella’s castle, and according to their story, your reaction is the same as mine was.”
“So, you were in complete awe?”
I shrugged. “Apparently. I was only two at the time, so I don’t remember.”
“Your moms brought three two-year-olds to Disney? Damn. Those ladies impress me more and more every day.”
“They are pretty great,” I said in agreement. “Apparently, Ronan jumped up and down and shouted ‘Castle’ loud enough for the whole park to hear, and Olivia just took off running so she could see it up close.”
As Jax shook her head and laughed at my story, I realized something. She hadn’t even asked about Olivia and Ronan. Herfocus was completely on me. Olivia was her best friend, but because she was sharing this moment with me, that’s what she focused on. I wanted to tell her how much this meant to me, but I couldn’t find the words, so I nodded toward the castle instead. “Want to get closer?”
Jax smiled at me and wiggled her eyebrows. “Hell yeah. Let’s do it.”
We saw the castle and then made our way through the rides. After eating a big lunch, we decided to take it easy, so we went on “It’s a Small World.”
Jax laughed as her eyes darted around, taking in all of the singing animatronics. “I bet this ride would be so trippy high.”
I had only ever been high once and absolutely hated it because I was convinced everyone knew (they didn’t) and were judging me (they weren’t), so I couldn’t really imagine how the ride would be if I was high.
“Do you think people actually get high at Disney World?” It was probably a dumb question, but the only thing I had to go by was my family vacations, and that was definitely not happening on those.
“For sure. Think of all of the parents here with young kids. You can’t tell menoneof them do a little something to give them that extra pep in their step.”
“You know what? You might be right.”
Jax and I spent the rest of our time at the park pointing out parents that we thought were either drunk or high. We even made up stories about what circumstances led them to needing said substance, each story getting more ridiculous than the last.
By the end of the night, we were both exhausted, but Jax refused to leave until after we watched the fireworks. I could barely stand, and it was a struggle to keep my eyes open, but watching Jax watch the fireworks made it all worthwhile. Shewore her emotions all over her face, and I was finding that was one of the things I really liked about her. So many people our age were so guarded, including myself, but not Jax. She didn’t hide any part of her away. It was part of what made her so beautiful.
“So beautiful.” I heard myself utter those words before I even realized what I was doing. Thank god the only light in the sky was from the fireworks because I knew my face was bright red.
