Jerks of Springville High

t w e n t y t h r e e

Chapter 23: Jake Date, Jake Day

"No way!" He gasped, as we came to the entrance. "No freaking way!"

He looked at me, a huge smile spread across his face and he lifted his arms, gesturing towards the building. "Are you seeing this right now? Is this real? Are we really here?"

I looked at the giant sign fifteen feet above the ground reading Aqua Adventure Land in sea blue lettering with dolphins jumping up at both ends. AAL was an amusement park/ Underwater World. Why it was located in the middle of the woods, I do not know, but knowing my great aunt Rosa and uncle Benny, who owned AAL, they probably had an odd yet reasonable explanation.

"It doesn't open until about noon though," Jake said, saddened. "Why are we here so early?"

"Let's just say dating me has many perks," I grinned, hopping on my toes to kiss his cheek. I skipped ahead of him towards the entrance. "Now come on! The fishes await!"

He chuckled following after me.

When we reached the entrance my aunt and uncle were standing by the ticket booth talking to their grandson and my cousin, Gale. Noticing us, they cut their conversation short and smiled brightly.

"Kylie!"

My smile broadened and I rushed over, hugging them quickly. "Thank you for doing this so suddenly."

"Awe," Aunt Rosa cooed, pulling away from the hug and holding my head between her hands."Anything for you sweet heart."

She stared at me, seeming to study my features, then she sighed. "She looks just like Diana."

My body froze as I stared at the woman in front of me, confused. Aunt Rosa and Uncle Benny were from my dad's side of the family. When my dad was still alive he would take me to visit them almost every weekend either at their home or at AAL. My father was pretty close to them and he wanted me to be close to them as well. I never really understood why. When he had died I stopped seeing them and only got rare phone calls. When I had called them a few days before, it shocked them so much aunt Rosa started crying which then made me cry. It felt so good to hear their voices and seeing them brought bad memories, but I was too shocked by what aunt Rosa had just said to think about anything.

Uncle Benny gasped and stared at his wife. "Rosa..."

She puckered her lips, glancing at him with slight worry. "Oh boy..."

It would have been funny seeing their worried expressions because they thought that I probably didn't know about Diana, but again, I was confused as to how they knew Diana.

"You knew Diana?" I asked quietly.

Her eyes widened as relief flushed through her face. "Karen told you about her?" I nodded. "Everything?"

"Yes." I confirmed.

She smiled, "Good, good."

"Aunt Rosa," I asked and she hummed. "How do you know Diana?"

The response she gave was not one I wanted because she simply smiled at me and chuckled. "That's a story for another time. Right now, you have a boyfriend to introduce us to."

I gaped at her as she pushed passed me and towards Jake, bringing him into one of her hugs. I looked at Uncle Benny, confused to which he just shrugged and followed his wife as they questioned Jake.