Floating in the Abyss ✔️

Chapter 63

"Ash, c'mon wake up." Someone shook me gently.

"What?" I groaned. I was having a good dream.

"We're going to the water park." Austin hissed, still shaking me.

"Really?" I checked, my eyes fluttering open. Once he'd noticed my eyes were open, he ripped the covers off me, letting all the heat escape my body. "That was just mean."

"Oops." He smirked. "Get dressed."

I got up, sleepily changing into my bathers. I'd spent nearly an hour yesterday deciding on my outfit and which bathers I was going to wear. It was still cold, being this early, so I grabbed a hoodie to put over the top of my t-shirt and shorts. I made sure it matched enough so that it didn't ruin my outfit.

After quickly brushing my hair and doing my teeth, I grabbed my shoes and the bag I'd packed and went out to get in the car, yawning the entire time.

Even though most of my brothers didn't emerge from their rooms until lunch time on the weekends, they were surprisingly upbeat and awake.

"Excited?" River asked, carrying a big pile of towels. Nick insisted that we weren't going to make the car wet on the way back, which is why we needed so many towels to use. I mumbled a yes, yawning again. "Wake up, sleepy. We're going to the waterpark!" He nudged me, nearly sending me flying.

I got in the car and waited for everyone else. I messaged Mum and Dad, saying good morning and telling them where I was going.

"Have mum and Dad arrived?" I asked Ryan sleepily as he got in the seat next to me. River had made it very clear that he wanted shotgun, so he was sitting in the front with Nick. Ryan and I got the middle row and Jonah and Austin were sharing the back.

"Maybe. They'll be close if they haven't, but you probably won't hear from them for a while. They'll be really jet lagged."

"Like their bodies don't know what time it is?"

"Yeah." He smiled. I'd learnt that asking questions got easier, the more you did it. Unlike when I'd first came here, I always asked questions now.

"Everyone good?" Nick asked, finally getting in and starting the car. There was a chorus of yes's and then we were on our way.

"You can go back to sleep Ash." Ryan told me, letting me lay down with my head in his lap. He ran his fingers through my hair soothingly as I slowly fell back asleep.

"Ash. Ashlyn. Ashlynnnn." Someone kept poking me.

"Stop." I groaned, pushing their hand away.

"We're nearly here." The person kept poking me. I opened my eyes to find Austin reaching over the seat, poking me in the back.

"You can stop now." I glared, when he didn't stop, even though I was awake. He grinned sillily.

I sat up and looked out the window. We passed so many signs, each counting down the distance until we reached the entrance of the adventure park. From what River had shown me on google, there were all kinds of rides, including but not limited to waterslides. Finally, after at least 15 signs, the huge gate appeared.

Already, the carpark was full, with cars fighting for spaces and honking at each other. Each time someone would honk, I jumped, letting everyone else in the car have a good laugh at me. I just ignored them.

"Nick! Nick! Over there." I exclaimed, jumping up and down in my seat. He sped up the car, in order to secure one of the last parking spaces available.

Finally, we got out of the car, grabbed our bags, and hurried to get a spot in line. Nick had already sent River to go stand there, and then we were able to join him.

Thankfully, the lines, although long, moved quickly, and we were only waiting for tickets for about 20 minutes before we could go inside. We got seats near the café, where we could watch people come down one of the huge waterslides.

"Why don't we go on some of the big rides first, then we can eat, and then go on the waterslides." Nick suggested.

"That's fine with me." Jonah told him, eager to get on the rides.

"Take it in turns to pick a ride. Ash first."

"Um, can I go last?"

"Sure." Nick nodded. "Austin?"

"Wave swinger?" Although I had no idea what it was, I agreed along with everyone else and followed them to the ride. There were heaps of chairs, which we were each strapped in to, before waiting for the ride to start. I grinned at Ryan, who was on my right, as the ride started moving. We went round and round in circles, the speed getting faster and faster every lap we did. Slowly, I realised, the ride wasn't just turning in circles, it had began going upwards.

I let out a little scream as I saw how far from the ground we were, but the ride didn't seem to have a limit as it just kept rising, higher and higher into the sky.

"Ryan!" I screamed.

"You're okay." He tried to reassure me, meanwhile trying to contain his laughter.

Once the ride stopped going up and continued to spin around until I could barely focus my eyes, I started to relax and forget about the height. Not long after that, the slow decline to the ground began, and soon, we were back on the ground.

"Woah." I gasped, as I stood up, almost toppling over. Ryan grabbed me and laughed, guiding me out and then holding me still until my eyes focussed and I regained my balance.

"You got really dizzy, huh?" He laughed.

Next was Jonah, who chose the bumper cars. I went with Austin this time, since I didn't feel confident enough to drive one myself. It was fun and I screamed a lot, continuing to laugh, but sometimes the jolts hurt my neck, so I was ready to get off the ride when it stopped.

"River, what do you pick?" Nick asked.

"The cyclone."