So. Many. Rides.

"Ferris wheel. Roller coasters!" I whisper excitedly to myself.

"There it is." Garroth says in wonder. "Starlight Adventure Park!"

"There it is! Starlight Adventure Park." Guy's voice says over the intercom. "I hope you ladies and gents are all excited because the park has a tooooonnnn of thrills! From the crazy twists and turns of the Shooting Star roller coaster, to the bumpity-bump rise of the bumper cars, you can bet this park has all your thrill-seeking needs in one!"

"It looks so cool!" Aphmau says.

"Yeah, but I bet the lines are long." Zane grumbles.

"Now, you must be thinking---"I bet the lines are long"---well, don't worry your weird little mask about that."

"Huh?" Zane demands, feeling his mask.

"At this time of year, most Starlight guests have already visited this island park and have moved on down the next parks down the island. So right now is the perfect time to visit, as lines tend to be five to ten minutes long at most!"

"Five to ten minutes?" I repeat squeakily. That's almost a dream!

"That's pretty much nothing!" Lucinda agrees. "That's awesome."

"Yeah, but---where do we go if we wanna relax or something?" Garroth asks.

"Need to relax? Well, you're all in luck! Nate and I are going to be your personal guides throughout Starlight!" I notice Garroth tapping the floor like he thinks Guy is under us. "So this boat will act as your home base. I'll talk to you more about that later once we confirm a few things with Mr. Wolfwere!"

"Wolfwere?" I mutter.

"That's the Lycan's cover last name." Lucinda reminds me.

"Ohhh, yeaaaaah."

"Dad?" Aaron asks, confused.

"Yep!" Melissa says. "Dad set this up. He pretty much hired personal guides for us. But since he's not here, I don't think he finalized plans."

"Good to know." Aaron replies. "For a second there, I was worried we wouldn't have a place to stay."

"Don't worry about that kind of stuff, Aaron." Melissa assures him. "Haha! We got it all figured out."

"Yeah, but---I don't think there are any pancakes on this boat." He says sadly. We all laugh.

"It's so beautiful..." Aphmau says dreamily, inching to the edge of the boat.

"Aph, be careful." I warn worriedly.

"You're getting too close to the edge there." Zane says.

"She'll be fine." Aaron says, completely calm. "She's not---"

Splash.

"AAH! HELP!"

"Aph!" Aaron jumps off the boat down into the water with her.

"Aaron! Aphmau!" I yelp, running for the edge, kind of losing my head until Zane and Garroth catch me and pull me back. "Oops. Right."

We watch as Aaron swims to her and holds her up, dealing with her splutters. "Hey hey hey, calm down!" He says. "You're all right."

"WE'RE GONNA GET CRUSHED UNDER THE BOAT!" She says.

"The boat isn't moving." Aaron points out. "So as long as you keep kicking your legs, we'll be fine."

Aphmau whimpers.

"Besides," Aaron says encouragingly. "You're doing it! You're keeping yourself afloat!"

"I-I am?"

"You are!"

I hear another splash and Nate joins them. We all cheer and clap. "I'm here." Nate says lazily. "Here ya go, bros. Take this." he holds out a giant floatie. "You bros okay?"

"We're fine, someone just got a little excited." Aaron says, grinning at Aphmau. She gives a nervous laugh.

"I'll lower a rope, just hang tight!" Guy calls. I run over to help him unravel it and we finally pull Aphmau and Aaron (and Nate) up, soaking wet. Guy turns to us. "You guys pick your rooms, while I get them dry and figure things out."

"Question." I raise my hand. "Uh, why can't you POOF places anymore?"

Guy grins. "Ahahahahaha! Very astute girl! Well, I prefer to travel the normal way now."

I pout. "Aw maaan."

"But, just this once, I can POOF you to the best room before anyone else!" He says, flashing a movie-worthy smile.

I beam. "REALLY? YES, PLEASE!"

POOF.

"Awwwwwwwwwwwesooooooooooommmmmmme." I say, gazing around my wave- patterned room. Guy grins and POOFS away.

I unpack a bit, loading my stuff into my room's drawers and closet, and then walk out and bump into Melissa.

"Oh! Hi!" I say, smiling. "So my room is near yours?"

"Apparently!" She laughs. "My room's just down the hall. I think your brothers are in that one." She points. "And Lucinda and Kim are sharing as well, in that one."

"Aw. I didn't know everyone else would be sharing."

"Well, yours and my rooms are conjoined, if that helps." Melissa offers.

I beam and hug her. "It totally helps."

She gives a very puppy-ish laugh. "Great! Let's go up, then, I wanna ride me some rides!"

"And maybe ship Aarmau along the way?" I ask mischievously.

"I don't hide it!" Melissa whoops, running up the stairs and out onto the deck where everyone else is already waiting, staring at the entrance gate.

"Aaron..." Aphmau says breathlessly.

"I know, I know. Just breathe." he says.

"Tell me its---"

"It's not a dream." He assures her.

"But, I---"

"Yes, I know. You colored a page of this exact entrance a moment ago." he laughs as she holds out a coloring book with this gate on it. I barely hold back giggles with Melissa.

"EEEEE, I'm going to diiie!" Aphmau squeals.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Garroth asks. "Let's go!"

"EEEE!" Aphmau says, then stops. "W--huh? Where's Zane?"

I look around and make eye contact with Garroth who nods then turns to Aphmau. "He's gonna catch up with us later. He, uhhh, got sick from the cupcakes."

I sigh dramatically. "That does sound like Zane."

"OH, NO!" Ghost says. "HOLD ON, ZANE!" she tears past me, heading back for the ship.

"Oh---no---Ghost---" Lucinda calls. "Ohhh! Whatever, come on. Let's go inside." She walks for the entrance and I eagerly follow her. We wander around for a while, me almost convincing everyone to get on Bumpi's but a ship-frenzied Melissa trying to get everyone to the Haunted House intervened. When we finally got to the Haunted House, this time it's me that gets everyone to leave, all the while sticking my tongue out at her. She pouts but still laughs, following everyone else to where we finally stop in the center.

"So. What do we do first?" Lucinda asks.

"HAUNTED HOUSE!" Melissa screams.

"BUMPI'S!" I yell.

"Haunted House!" Melissa pleads. "I---"

"That." Aphmau says, pointing to a roller coaster.

"We-we're going on that?" Melissa asks, looking worried.

"Scared?" Aaron asks.

"Me? Scared? HA! I'm not scared of nothin'!" Melissa says confidently.

"Remember when I was scared of roller coasters when we were kids?" Aaron asks, sounding sly.

"Ohh, yeah, I remember that!" Melissa says cheerfully. "I made you get on a lot of them and I---oohhhhh... well, I... This is payback, isn't it?"

"I thought you said you weren't scared." Aaron points out.

"I'm not! It's just, the roller coaster is blue, and I don't like the color scheme!" Melissa insists.

I link my arm through hers. "I'll ride with ya, if you want!"

She beams at me. "Ab-so-lutely, cutie!" She chirps, her nervousness at least a little bit gone.

"LesstalkingmorecoasterWHOOHOOOOOO!" Garroth runs towards it. Melissa and I both whoop and chase after him and we all get into line.

"I can't believe we're doing the second-craziest coaster first." Lucinda says happily.

"ME TOO! HAAA, THIS IS SO EXCITING!" Aphmau says. The coaster pulls in and people pile out, workers checking each seat before turning to us.

"All right, next!"

"HERE WE GO!" I cheer, running out with Melissa. Lucinda and Garroth are in front of us, and then Aphmau and Aaron.

"All right, are you ready for a fun time because TOO LATE HERE WE GO!" The worker presses the go button.

"YEEEEAAAAAAAH!" I scream as we go up and down, around and around. Aaron whoops at the top of his lungs, my brother is giggling, Lucinda is screaming with Melissa, and Aph is making weird squealy noises.

"THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER!" Aphmau yells right before we stop. We all pile out after that and walk dizzily around.

"Melissa, are you all right?" Aaron asks. I turn and see that Melissa, Garroth, and Aphmau are all looking green.

"Oh my Irene..." Melissa groans. "I think I'm gonna be sick. I take back every time you had to deal with me bringing you on coasters as a kid."

"Melissa!" Aaron teases. "You used to love roller coasters! What happened?"

Melissa chokes. "I got old or something! UGGGH!"

"Uhhh... " Aphmau and Garroth inch forward, hugging their stomachs.

"YOU TOO, APH?" Aaron demands.

"Garroth, come on!" I complain. "You should love this stuff!"

"That was so worth iiiiit." Aphmau whispers weakly.

Lucinda giggles. "Maybe we should take you guys back to the---"

"Urgggh..." Garroth belches. "I don't feel good..."

"Eheheh..." Aphmau laughs halfheartedly. "But it was so worth it, right?" her voice goes up a few octaves on the last word.

"Totally!" Garroth says, groaning.

"Garroth!" I scold.

Aaron laughs. "All right guys, let's go back to the boat for a bit, and then we can do the rest of the park."

"Sounds like a good idea." Lucinda says.

"I'll help Garroth back." I pipe up.

"I'll get Melissa." Lucinda says.

"I've got Aph." Aaron says. We each grab our selected friend (or family member) and help them scoot towards the boat, hoping none of them puke on us. Garroth keeps burping, and he looks better after every one, so I just pat him encouragingly and hope for the best. Once on the boat, I hear Zane and Ghost talking in loud voices, Zane making dramatic excuses over his tummy ache, and I smile.

I help Garroth to his room with Zane and push Ghost out. "I'ma help my brothers now, so SHOO!"

"But---but---ZAAAAANE!" Ghost wails.

"Ap-bup-bup!" I scold, closing the door. "Bye!"

"ZAAAAAAAANE!" comes Ghost's voice through the door. I roll my eyes and turn to the huge pink suitcase.

"Hi, Kawaii~Chan." I say.

"Aw, man, I thought we were being sneaky!" Garroth complains.

Zane rolls his eye.

The suitcase opens up and Kawaii~Chan jumps out holding Zane's phone. "Did you see this picture, Violet~Sama? It's so cuuuute!" She shows me a picture of Aphmau and Aaron doing the 'Titanic' pose and I laugh.

"Aph must've made him do that." I say, scrolling through the pictures of Aphmau giggling and Aaron watching her happily.

Zane takes his phone back. "Thanks for getting rid of Ghost."

"No problem! I like Kim, but Ghost can be..." I pause.

"Clingy?" Garroth asks.

"Yeah." I admit. "Clingy."

"Well, at least even she can't avoid the clutches of overprotective baby sister." Zane says brightly. I stare at him but he doesn't notice, scrolling through the 'Titanic' pictures with Kawaii~Chan giggling beside him.

I turn away to hide my grin. Zane~Chan will prevail, if I have anything to say about it.