My Heart be Damned (12 page)

Chapter Eleven

Theme Park World

I
woke to my phone vibrating across my bedside table. Without looking, I reached over and flipped it open, pressing it to my ear.

“’
ello
,” I grumbled.

“Finally! Gosh, I’ve been ringing you for half an hour.” Mercy’s shrill voice cleared away some of the sleep fog in my brain.

With a groan, I sat up, turning to look at the time. It was a little after eight in the morning. “You do
realize
we don’t have school, right? That equals me having a lie in. This better be good.”

“How fast can you be ready? Chuck got hold of some half-price tickets to Thorpe Park! But I wanna get there before lunch to avoid the queues. Sam’s driving and we’re meeting at the train station by me...”

I groaned again and flopped back. “Okay, okay. I’m up. I’m getting ready. I’ll be there in about an hour and a half.”

“I know what you’re like. I’ll give you two hours. See you then, bye!”

I shut the phone and stared up at the ceiling, waiting for my body to wake up. Was going to a theme park honestly what I needed to do right now? I needed to find answers; I needed to find Marshall.

With a dramatic sigh, I slid out of bed, and then headed into the bathroom for a shower.

Forty minutes later and I was bounding out the door, slipping a rucksack onto my back. I bypassed the elevators, which never worked anyway, and jogged down the concrete stairs.

And skidded to a halt.

Leaning against a black Porsche parked right outside, was Marshall. He grinned when he saw me and straightened, arms folded across a broad chest. I took a few steps towards him, and then when I noticed his black eye and split lip, I changed my mind and walked away from Marshall.

“Aw, come on!” he called after me. “Are you not happy to see me, baby?”

I ignored him, mentally chastising myself for concerning myself about his wounds. He flaked on me. He purposely didn’t show up to The Hut yesterday because he knew I wanted answers. No, I was not letting him have all of the control. I could find out what I needed on my own. Screw Marshall, and his charming smile, and amazingly gorgeous looks.

“Okay, I’m sorry for not turning up yesterday.” His feet pounded against the pavement as he ran to catch up with me. “Don’t be mad. Even though you’re sexy as hell when you are.” He grabbed my arm, pulling me to a stop.

“Don’t touch me,” I shouted. “Just leave me alone. Wherever I go, there you are being creepy and
pervy
. I’m sick of this, Marshall. And, you know what? I don’t give a shit about your secrets. Keep them. I hope they make you feel all warm and snugly at night.”

He smirked at me as if he thought my rant was cute. Anger bubbled up inside me, and before I could control myself, I swung forward and punched him. He staggered back, his hand flying up to his cheek.

“What was that for?” he shouted.

I shrugged. “Go away. I don’t want to see you again.” I started walking again, forcing myself not to look back.

“
Amerie
. I’m sorry I didn’t turn up, but you need my help. Don’t walk away from me, no matter how much I enjoy seeing your behind.”

“Get used to it because all you’ll see from now is my behind.”

He didn’t follow me after that.

It took a little over an hour to drive up to Thorpe Park. On the way, I tried my best to forget about Marshall, about The Damned, and about the mysterious ‘Seal’. I threw myself into playing car games and joining in discussions on which rides we were planning to go on first. By the time we parked, I didn’t have to pretend to enjoy myself anymore. The anticipation and the atmosphere was addictive.

We paid using the discount voucher Chuck had gotten for us, and then headed into the gigantic dome full of arcade games and attractions. Thorpe Park wasn’t new to any of us, but it didn’t stop us from staring around like a group of tourists at the towering roller coasters and carnival booths. It wasn’t busy either, though I did see quite a few groups of kids our age who had obviously ditched school for the day.

With a vow to come back into the dome later, we walked straight through and outside to the main theme park. Screams echoed through the air, mingled with shrills of laughter and squeals of joy. Mercy led the way, grabbing Chuck’s arm and pointing out everything and anything to him. This left Sam, and I, trailing behind the others. . Like we were on a date.

“So,” Sam said, coughing slightly, “how’s the job going?”

“It’s going well, thanks.” I stared down at my black Vans. “How’re you finding Maxwell? Missing your old school yet?” A group of younger girls skipped past, and I didn’t miss the appreciative glances they shot at Sam. I stared up at him, thoroughly assessing him. I had thought he was attractive on his first day. Now, something had changed.

Marshall, my brain whispered. Dammit. I couldn’t see anyone but him.

“...you know?”

“Huh?”

His eyes narrowed in confusion. “I was answering your question. Weren’t you listening?”

My cheeks warmed. “I’m sorry. Drifted into my own little
Amerie
world there. Say it again?”

He turned away from me, staring forward as if concentrating hard on where he was walking. “Forget it,” he muttered.

“No, Sam, don’t be mad...”

“I’m not mad.”

“You seem mad.”

He stopped, turning on me. “I’m not mad! It’s just...don’t worry.”

“No, tell me.”

“Forget it. Forget I said anything. Let’s just enjoy ourselves. Okay?” He didn’t wait for me to answer; instead, he turned away from me and strolled to catch up with Chuck and Mercy.

“
Ew
, look at the queue,” Mercy said when I caught up to her.

I turned to where she pointed. The queue for Colossus was huge. It
spiraled
and twisted underneath the whole rollercoaster and through little makeshift bridges and tunnels. I groaned and reluctantly joined the end. The estimated time above us said fifty minutes. It was going to be a long fifty minutes standing with Sam who was now trying to avoid me.

“I’m hungry,” Mercy whined.

I stared down at my watch for what had to be the fifth time in the space of ten minutes. “We’ve only been queuing half an hour, Mercy. You’re gonna have to wait a bit longer.”

“Thanks Mum,” she snapped. Her moods were forever
dependent
on food.

“This ride better be worth it,” Sam muttered.

“Chuck,” Mercy said. “Chuck...”

Either Chuck was ignoring Mercy, or he couldn’t hear her. Though he stood right in front of me, he was craning his neck to look at something behind me. I turned around, immediately seeing what held Chuck’s attention.

A beautiful blonde was tying up her shoe against a rock formation. She was one of two girls in a group. The other girl was dark and equally beautiful. I raised my eyebrows, amused by how easily a girl could capture Chuck's attention, when I sensed something.

I spun around, searching through the crowd for Marshall. It had to be him. A head of dark hair moved near the two beautiful girls and disappeared behind the fountain. I leaned to the side, trying to follow him and prove Marshall had followed me here, when I tripped over Mercy’s foot and l
anded butt first on the ground.

“Oh, shit,” I groaned, my cheeks warming to the point where they’d gone red. Not that my tanned skin often blushed. A hand appeared in front of my face, and I took it, allowing them to pull me up. It was Sam.

“You okay there?” He was smirking, but at least he wasn’t pissed off anymore.

“Yeah, thanks,” I said, dusting off my jeans. I glanced back to the fountain, but the man and both girls were gone.

Mercy stumbled forward and laughed, obnoxiously in my face, her curls bouncing and tickling my skin. “What the hell were you looking at? Must have been something good!”

I shrugged and shoved her forward to move with the queue. “Thought I
recognized
someone.”

“Was it them?” Chuck asked.

“No, no I don’t think so.”

We didn’t queue for much longer, thank God. When we got to the front, it was two to a row, so I grabbed Mercy’s arm and tugged her back. She wasn’t leaving me with Sam the whole day.

“What’re you doing?” she hissed.

I pushed her towards an empty row, not allowing her time to switch with Sam. “Just sit down, Mercy. I wanna ride this with my best friend. Is that so much to ask?”