Free Bittersweet by Kimberly Loth Page A

basket on the skull. I climbed in and he climbed in after me. “A little more exciting than the Ghosts.”
    He sat across from me and spun the wheel in the middle. I wasn’t prepared for it and went flying around the bench and careened right into him.
    “That’s better,” he said and held me close. “Do you wanna spin some more?” I shook my head and tried to steady my breathing. He relaxed against the bench and cleared his throat.
    “Will you answer a question for me? Honestly.”
    I turned to face him. It took quite a bit of effort on my part to get any words out at all.
    “That’s going to depend entirely on the question.”
    “What bad memories do roller coasters hold for you?”
    He stirred up butterflies. I suppose I owed him that one. But I couldn’t look at him and answer. Instead I leaned back against his arm. Dad would’ve never answered that question. He kept everything buried deep inside. I did not want to be like him.
    “My dad and I spent every summer riding roller coasters. Each year we would do at least two or three parks. We always did Cedar Point, that was our favorite, and then we’d travel to another park. It wasn’t about little rides like this, it was about coasters. The bigger the better. He was the only one I ever rode with. He died two years ago and I vowed I’d never get on a roller coaster again. It’s too painful.”
    No need to tell him the whole story. If I went any further, I might start crying. Plus, there were some parts of this story that I would never tell. Dallas looked at me for a long time as the ride bobbed up and down. His face was close to mine, too close, and for a crazy second I thought he was going to kiss me. Instead he spoke, his voice low and full of emotion.
    “I’ve already broken my vow of honesty. Maybe we can figure out a way to get you to break your vow, too.”

I ARRIVED AT THE MORNING MEETING before most of the others. Becca sat alone at her table so I chose to sit with the boys again. The sun was bright and I was already sweating. This would be a long day. Jeff didn’t say much but Paris talked my ear off. He’d gone to a party the night before and thought I needed to be regaled with the dirty details.
    “And this chick whips off her shirt and her melons are bigger than my head.” He paused and took a breath. I took advantage of his momentary silence.
    “Paris. I hate to break it to you, but I don’t care. Plus, I find the whole thing disgusting.”
    He frowned. “What, sex?”
    I sighed. “No, not sex. Just the whole idea of getting drunk and sleeping with whoever appears in front of you. No one remembers the night and it’s just another notch in some guy’s belt.”
    A girl snickered behind me.
    Normally I would’ve just let it go, but, for some reason, I felt the need to pick a fight.
    “Do you have something you want to say, Becca?”
    “Only that I didn’t think a girl stupid enough to shave her head could be such a prude.”
    “I’d rather be a prude than a slut like you.” Oops, I said that out loud. I debated disappearing into the purple flowered bushes on the other side of the picnic area. But I’d started it, so I probably should stick it out.
    After a long minute she spoke.
    “I’m not a slut.”
    “Oh yeah? How many one night stands have you had?” Classic sign of sluttiness, just like Candie. Hopefully, she’d prove me right.
    Paris, oblivious to the tension, piped off with an answer. “Twelve.”
    I turned to him. “Gee, thanks for that Paris, but I was asking Becca.”
    “No not me, I’ve had way more than that.” Of course he had. He winked at me and continued. “That’s how many Becca’s had. She told me one night when we all went out and she got drunk. I would’ve made it thirteen but she passed out before I even got so much as a kiss.”
Angelica and Deanna showed up and Becca turned to her table.
    The rest of the day didn’t go much better. Angelica decided to train me on the other ride the Demon