9 'Stone of Courage'
"Summer!" Whifler raised his right brow at her. Summer gave him a confused look.
"Why do I always need to remind you about your mask?" he said in annoyance.
"Woah. Look at our four-years-ahead older brother nagging at me, Trish," she teased while grinning at Tristan.
"Tsk! Just wear it. You're not an ordinary, abnormal person, you know. You might have caught attention."
Summer glared at Whifler. "Just what did you say?!"
"Bye! Call me if you're done, okay?" Whifler teasingly smiled, then left. Summer just stuck her tongue out at his leaving car.
"He really still pissed me off!"
Summer paused when she saw Tristan's anxious face.
"Trish?" she confusedly looked closely at Tristan. Her brows knitted as she saw Tristan's body trembled. His sweat was no joke.
Tristan flinched when Summer grabbed both of his hands.
"Is this your first time going to a place like this, Trish? Or perhaps you're afraid of any kinds of rides?" Summer asked worriedly.
Tristan didn't answer, instead, he bowed his head. He didn't know how to respond to Summer's question.
Summer became more worried as Tristan gripped her hands. Tristan felt like he was going to explode. His heart beats so rapidly.
"Should we go somewhere else?" Tristan quickly lifted his head at what Summer asked.
"N-No. You l-like it here, right? I'm fine."
"But—"
"Summer. I'm Alright. Really. L-Let's just enjoy."
Tristan was startled when Summer hugged him tightly. He felt her pat on his back.
"Calmed down, Trish. Calm down first. Okay?"
Tristan felt calm after a moment.
Summer then loosened her embrace and looked at him, then she intertwined her hand into his.
"I'll just hold your hand until you feel relieved, Okay?" she sweetly smiled then looked at the Amusement Park in front of them.
"Let's go there first!!" she enthusiastically said, then pulled Tristan with her towards the octopus ride.
Tristan's eyes widened while waiting for their turn to ride. He felt doomed looking at the octopus ride, spinning like it's separating the souls of the riders away from their bodies.
He looked at Summer, who was enjoying herself watching the rides. You could literally see the excitement on her face.
'Oh ghad. I should've agreed on going somewhere else', he thought.
"It's our turn!!" Summer cheerfully said, then ran to find their seat a moment after the ride stopped spinning.
Tristan sat tensely at Summer's chosen seat on the octopus ride while she was smiling ear to ear beside him and was itching for the ride to start.
He felt their chair slowly turning and gradually lifted them. Then, a sudden swoosh startled him, and the next thing he knew he spun like a tornado and he screamed like a slaughtered goat.
"WAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! MOMMYYY!!!!"
Tristan's feeling was unexplainable and mixed up. His face was pulled backward so was his hair. His chest tightened in every spin of the ride.
Summer on the other hand was just joyously shouting while her hands raised to the air.
"I WANT TO GO HOOOOMMEEEEE!!!" Tristan loudly implored, fighting for his life.
.
.
.
Despite throwing up at every end of their rides, Tristan indeed enjoyed it. Instead of being antsy, he felt so carefree and delighted afterward. He laughed and giggled with Summer.
They did all the stupid things they would and just let people around them feel weird about their silliness.
"Hoo!! That's extremely fun!" Summer cheerfully shouted while slightly jumping.
"I'm glad we had this mask on, but... Ugh! I'm still annoyed with this! I can't breathe properly!" Summer complained while irritatedly stretching her mask away from her face. Tristan just chuckled at her.
"Aren't you hungry? Should we eat something?" he asked.
"Yah! Yah! Mhmm. I think I saw som—Ah! There!" She chirped and then ran towards the mini food stall inside the Amusement Park.
"You really like running, didn't you?" Tristan said then followed her.
They settled on a Japanese food stall at the left corner of the Amusement Park. They were sitting at the right side sixth table, near a mini tree.
After their order was served, Tristan was puzzled while staring at the food on the table.
"So.. How are we supposed to eat with this thing on our face?" Tristan asked, referring to the mask covering their mouth—at a public place like this, they shouldn't remove their mask.
Summer looked around, then looked back at Tristan.
"The people here were busy on their own business. I think they won't notice. We should finish quickly," Summer said, then removed her mask.
She excitedly dug into her food and giggled after tasting it.
"It's so delicious!" she exulted with her eyes sparkling in delight.
Tristan removed his mask and started to eat as well.
.
.
He stopped when he noticed Summer intensely staring at him while chomping. He looked at her confusedly.
"Am I messy?" he asked
Summer shook her head.
"I'm just wondering how gorgeous you are to excel among those heavy-breasted models. Maybe flat-chested girls are more attractive, you think?"
Tristan coughed when he suddenly choked himself with his food, staggered at Summer's remark.
"But, I am an average-sized. And still, people find me charismatic." Summer said while calculating something dork in her mind.
"Can we just eat quietly?" Tristan said, then stuffed his mouth with food.
'Summer had weird and awkward thoughts', he thought.
The time flew quickly. They were both exhausted but gleeful while waiting for Whifler and Summer's driver. They were chitchatting about nonsense, funny things and giggled at it.
"You know. This is the funniest bond we had. Uh. I didn't mean our past bondings were less fun, but this day was indeed the happiest," Summer smiled.
Tristan flinched, he felt flattered and surprised at the same time.
"Oh," he mumbled then lowered his gaze. He didn't know what reaction he should show her or what expression to make.
"Anyway!" Summer took Tristan's left hand and put a thin maroon braided-fabric bracelet that has a bloodstone attached at the center.
"I was afraid of heights when I was a kid." Summer told after putting the bracelet on his hand.
"Back then, when I'm still in the middle school, our school had camped. I really argued with mom because I refused to attend after knowing it includes hiking activities. But, it will affect my grades if I won't go, so I participated with those bloodshot eyes," she chuckled while reminiscing.
"Before I left, mom put that bracelet in my hand and told me to hold on to it if I felt scared during the activity. And yes, it worked. Since then I'm always wearing that thing, not realizing it was actually a stone of courage. If it wasn't for Melissa's intrigue, I would never know," she laughed, then seriously looked at Tristan.
"But, I already overcame my fear, Trish. So I would gladly pass it to you. Whenever you feel scared, just hold on to it and think I was holding your hand like this," Summer smiled while gently holding Tristan's both hands.
"T-Thank you," Tristan replied. He felt a strange yet pleasurable feeling within him. He was speechless and flattered.
They both looked as they heard the car's engines coming. There were two black and silver-grey cars stopped in front of them. Black 2020 Alfa Romeo Stelvio for Summer and the Silver-Grey Bentley Bentayga Speed for Tristan.
Whifler rolled down the car's window of the passenger's seat because Tristan and Summer were standing at the opposite side, then looked at Tristan. While Summer's driver got out of the car and opened the backseat's door for her.
"Thank you for today, Trish!! I enjoyed it a lot! See you!" she smiled, then got into the car.
Tristan just nodded and dumbfoundedly got into the car.
Whifler stared at him confusedly. "How was it?"
"Fine," he responded then dazed.
Whifler started to drive while his brows furrowed. He was bewildered at Tristan's weirdness.
Tristan was completely spaced out that he didn't even notice they were heading to the opposite way of his home, the Fuentavilla's Mansion.
His eyes widened and surprisedly looked at Whifler as they stopped in front of a different big and elegant house. Whifler got out of the car and opened the door where Tristan was sitting. He confusedly looked up at Whifler.
"Where are we?"
"Trish's house. You will be staying here since you'll officially publicize as her tomorrow. Some of your stuff had already been transferred here. I'm sorry if it was so sudden."
Tristan became calm, then stepped out of the car. "No, It's fine. Is she here too?"
"Yes, Trish is in her room right now," Whifler answered.
"Ah," Tristan said, then walked towards the gate and entered the house.
Whifler took a deep sigh before following him.
'All izz well', he thought, comforting his nervous and bothered self with his favorite line from his favorite movie.
