She opened her soft eyes and whisked the auburn hair from her face so she could actually see clearly. The wind had never been on Ocean’s side, even in her early years. Her current thoughts consisted of: ‘Ugh, was the sun always this bright?’ ‘What was going on?’ ‘What had just happened?’ etc.
She turned to her left to see that she was in line for the bumper cars. Ocean loved the bumper cars. Especially when she was little. Was there any better way to let out a little bit of past aggression than to bump random people’s little cars with your own, little car?
Especially, when they were 12, when Noel had hopped into the blue car and Ocean into the red one, hitting the back of the boy’s car whenever she got the chance. Besides, the annoyed look on Noel’s face never got old to watch.
Also, what time was it? Now that was a question she could answer, it was….7:48pm, she looked at her black and gold watch which Noel had gotten her. There was no way she could afford one and there was definitely no way her parents would get one for her either.
Oh yeah, the parents. Her parents. She hated to even call them that, of course she loved them but they were…different. They barely raised the poor girl, she basically raised herself. They wouldn’t get her a car on her birthday and they didn’t even have a toilet because they thought that it was “a device made by the devil”, which was entirely stupid.
Ocean was just stuck using the disgusting school bathrooms that had barely any toilet paper and half broken locks. Not to mention how gross the toilet seats were. She’s never sit on them things if you had offered her anything she could ever hope to imagine.
As much as he hated Noel with every cell in her body, she appreciated that he’d get her a watch. Even if it was a really cheep one that has paint chipping off of it. It was still useable, that’s what really mattered.
She also appreciated that he would let her use his toilet, too. Unlike the school ones, his had a lock and fifteen extra toilet paper rolls because “You never know when you’re gonna run out!”.
‘Honestly Noel, save some for the rest of us.’ She thought before biting the inside of her mouth sourly. Not like she could use them anyway, unless she brought one to school in her bag and took her bag to the toilets whenever she needed a piss.
Speaking of her parents and the time, she was meant to be home at 7:30, latest. To be honest, she didn’t think they’d even realise she’s been gone. Every time the young Ocean O’Connell Rosenberg had tried to speak to her parents, they were either busy meditating or trying to manifest good luck to pay attention to her basic human needs. They probably hadn’t noticed she wasn’t home. They probably weren’t home either, to be fair.
She left the line for the bumper cars, regardless of it being her favourite ride. She didn’t think she’s ever go on a fair-ride again. And rightfully so. She felt sick just looking at it, the flashy sign and neon lights made her feel lightheaded.
As she wandered physically through crowds of people, (Why were people even out so late anyway??? It was like what, almost 8???) her mind wandered too.
The choir, the competition, the cyclone…the accident.
She stopped in her tracks and went to sit down on a bench. She felt lightheaded once again. Just as she felt her vision getting blurry, she saw a slightly fuzzy-looking yet familiar face running up to her. Ricky! Thank god for that. As Ricky sat down and began to sign to the auburn haired girl, her head hit his lap where his crutches used to be (she ended up accidentally pushing them over when she fell) and he began to attempt to shake her awake. To no avail.