章 22: The perfect date, what could possibly go wrong?
It was surprising how much energy Isabelle had, going from one attraction to the other without rest; Allen could not believe it at first. He could not believe how he was able to keep up with her, either. He was never that outgoing, in fact, he was the first one to go home whenever he and Kyle went out to meet with somebody else.
Allen always preferred to be in a quiet places, places where he did not have to be the center of attention. He hated putting an act, just like every time his father had a business-related event that involved him and his family. He preferred his expressionless self far more than that.
Or so he thought. He was having so much fun, he actually wanted to go here and there and try every game possible. His face lightened more times than he could realize, forgetting his emotionless features more than a dozen times. He laughed, his voice rose in excitement, his eyes brightened up at the sight of something new.
He was not aware, but Isabelle was always setting her eyes on him; her heart warming every time she saw him happy. Genuinely happy.
They both discovered an unknown passion for deadly fast roller coasters, as they rode the most intimidating one a couple of times. Allen realized playing shooter video games is definitely different from the real life, since he sucked at target shooting; Isabelle was a natural, though.
The scary mansions are certainly not as scary as they seemed on the TV, which left Allen specifically disappointed; he planned on scaring Isabelle for fun, but they ended up laughing at the ridiculous costumes.
In the end, they decided to go to the Ferris wheel before going to lunch. Isabelle thought it would be romantic, since in every movie it's the perfect place to be alone and "secluded" for a while. The line took them about twenty minute, entering the metal capsule and having a seat one in front of the other.
Soon after, the wheel started to go up. It was a swift move, almost too slow to notice it was actually on motion. When reaching the top, the wheel stopped.
At that height, the landscape was breathtaking. To the right you could see a huge forest, an all-shades-of-green sea with little colored dots here and there, disappearing in the skyline. And to the left, the crystal blue waters waving away endlessly.
"Look, Iry." Allen said, his deep voice turned a little higher than normal as he was excited. "This view is beautiful."
Isabelle did not look the way his eyes were looking at, though. She froze for a second, butterflies revolving in her stomach. Warmth spread once more through her chest, her eyes crystallizing a little. She thought that maybe she was overreacting, but still could not control it.
Allen turned back to look at her when he noticed she was not saying anything, finding her watery eyes looking straight at him.
"W—What's wrong?" He stuttered. He wanted to move closer to her, but his body was rooted to the seat.
Isabelle shook her head, and smiled. "It's just… This is the first time you've called me that." Allen looked at her with confusion, making her smile grow wider. "Iry."
Allen's light blue eyes opened a little, his jaw dropping as he realized he did just call her that way. He swallowed and averted his gaze to one side, trying to hide his embarrassment with the hair over his face. He breathed in, and leaned back, putting back a straight face.
"Everyone calls you that. Even Kyle does." He spit his friend's name with resentment.
Isabelle chuckled. "He's funny, but maybe a little… overly friendly?"
"Only with women he wants, or in this case can, date." Allen snorted. "He started calling you that way just to piss me off."
She tilted her head to one side. "Why would it piss you off?"
The question made him regret saying anything in the first place. He set his eyes on hers, faking he didn't care about saying what he was about to say. "He knew it would make me jealous. Specially since I was pretending I wasn't interested in you back then."
Isabelle nodded, but her minds was still a little absent, precessing what he just said. "So you were pretending, huh?" She said.
Allen shifted in his seat nervously. "Yeah…" His voice came out almost like a whisper.
"Did it work?"
"Of course not." His ears turned red while he spoke. "I ended up finding any excuse to talk to you."
Now, it was Isabelle whose face became all red. Even though she felt self-conscious, the whole unintentional confession came as funny to her. "I meant… If Kyle's joke to piss you off worked…" Her eyes moved from her hands to his face constantly, trying not to laugh.
The red heat over Allen's ears reached his entire face. He pursed his lips softly and let his lower lip slip slightly outwards, his eyebrows knitted, followed by his light orbs squinting; he pouted. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Yeah. It worked."
Afterward, he averted his gaze out the window.
Isabelle was shocked to see his pout at first, but not more than a couple of seconds passed when she stood up and sat next to him. She undid his arms, and snuggled on his side with a hug. Allen took his arm over her back and tugged her closer, still looking out the window.
They fell silent for a while, until his hoarse voice broke it. "I wanted to call you that ever since."
"I'd love that."
Allen's mind came to a rest now. As embarrassing as it was that she knew the truth, even if it was by mistake, he somehow felt like a weight had just lifted from his shoulders.
Isabelle's eyes finally landed on the world outside the capsule. "You're right. The view is beautiful."
As hours went by, the blazing sun of a few hours back started to disappear. They had stopped to have something to eat, when the now dull day caught his attention. He felt his stomach clench at the thought that it was already late, and that time had flown away. He checked the hour on his clock, noticing only three hours have passed. It was almost three in the afternoon. Allen looked up to the sky, realizing it was cloudy.
Isabelle noticed, looking up too. "Oh, no!" She pouted. "I'm having so much fun!"
"Yeah. Me too." He sighed. "Maybe it will clear out. Let's eat and try the bumper cars next."
Isabelle nodded. "Alright. I'll finish this fast, then!" Allen laughed, patting her on the head.
"Relax, take your time, or it might make you feel sick." Isabelle's cheeks were puffy, filled with food she could barely keep in her mouth. Allen pinched the bulged on each side of her face, smiling. "Cute."
As they planned, they tried a couple more attractions before the first drop of water hit the floor.
It was a light rain in the beginning, the sky was of a light shade of gray with a little to none wind. It was about half an hour later that the rain started to hit harder. Apparently, and according to the news, a huge storm had formed out of nowhere, and insisted on people to take shelter at home if possible.
They decide to go back home before the storms kicks in at its fullest. A dark grey mantle was above them as they drove back to Isabelle's place, winds becoming wilder and stronger and the rain hitting hard on the windshield.
"It was not raining this intense ten minutes ago." Allen said, squeezing the wheel with both his hands, fighting to see further on the almost not visible road.
"Yeah, I thought we were going to have time to go back…" Isabelle's voice was low, worried, making Allen nervous.
"I'm sorry. Maybe we should've stayed in the restaurant."
Isabelle shook her head. "I wanted to go back, too. It's ok."
Allen nodded, still not so sure about her words. He was starting to blame his decision and putting her in danger.
He fixed his eyes even harder on the road, the rain curtain thicker by the second. Rain drops were hitting the top of the car the noise as becoming unsettling. Isabelle reached out to turn the stereo on, when a loud honk made her jump on her seat.
Her eyes darted up, only to be blinded by a strong light coming right to them.
The rain muffled the screeching sound of the wheels slipping in the wet pavement as Allen was hitting the break all the way.
It was no use. The road was too soaked, and the other car was moving too fast. Allen reached an arm instinctively towards Isabelle to hold her in her place, feeling how she hold him tight immediately after.
His eyes stayed fixed on the growing lights, and even though it started to hurt he didn't look away. He tensed his body and tightened his grip on the wheel, bracing for impact.
クリエイターの想い 
XanaTrygg
XanaTrygg I hope you're enjoying this story! If so, please let me know in the comments or throught your review! If not, critics are always welcome, too. Thank you for your support!
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