Chapter Text
With a loud screech, Sock Sowachowski’s alarm clock blared to life. He dragged the pillow over his face, letting out a deep groan of displeasure as he pressed it down over his ears. Why isn't it illegal to wake up this early? Sock thought to himself. He finally removed the pillow, reaching over to shut off his alarm. He blinked as his eyes adjusted to the light. Sock squinted at his alarm clock, hoping that it would read something, anything, that would let him go back to sleep for a while. But ever persistent, 6:01 AM glared back at him in an angry red he could even make out through the blur in his eyes. Sock slid on his glasses with one hand, grabbing his phone with the other. He glanced down, and his heart leapt. For once in his life, he had a text!
Jojo: hey nerd, u up?
Jojo: wake up dude, we gotta get there early
Early? Out of all Sock’s friends, Joane was not the type of person to get out of bed on time at all, much less early. Though honestly, he reasoned, Jojo was his only friend -- but she still wouldn't get up early, even if the devil himself had asked her. So why now?
Sock: Why tho? I want sleep. May just skip altogether.
Jojo: b/c were goin on some RIDES dude, gotta go early to beat the lines
The realization hit Sock like a train. Of course. The first and only senior class field trip for the year was that day. To Sock, class field trips usually meant the eightieth visit to the historical farm twenty minutes away, or getting “lost” in another corn maze put on by the local farmers. It did not mean the closest amusement park to his high school, a good travel distance away. But his class had earned it last year with their fundraising -- and only seniors could go on it.
Sock practically jumped out of bed. The only thing he liked more than staying in bed was wasting a school day somewhere else. He barely noticed the feeling of his cold hardwood floor as he raced across his room.
Sock flung open the dresser doors. He cringed a little when they hit the wall with a sharp crack.
~*~
Being back at Rockey Road Amusement Park was just as Sock remembered. His shirt stuck to his back after the first water ride they had gone on, and his shoes clung to the pavement from the thin layer of gum that now sticky from the humidity. He wiped the beads of water from his face, and went to pull down the ears of his hat. Sock flinched a bit when he felt hands collide with his arm from behind. A voice, practically shrieking, soon followed.
“Let’s go dude, we have to get in line for the Great Grizzly!”
Sock turned slightly. Behind him was a girl, blonde pigtails sopping wet, who was currently gripping his arm like a vice. He smiled at her.
“Jojo!” Sock yelled as she started pulling him toward the roller coasters. He started breaking into a jog to try and avoid being drug on the pavement by the girl. “Jojo, we have all day!”
“Yeah, right, Sock. You know it’s gonna take hours for this line!” Jojo was still pulling him slightly, practically running toward where the entrance was.
“Probably not!” Sock protested back. They entered the enclosure where the line formed, and blinked to adjust to the sudden darkness of the man-made tunnel. When they came to a screeching halt, Sock allowed himself to smile a bit. The Great Grizzly was Jojo’s favorite ride when they were kids, and it was no shock that it still was her favorite today. She loved the intensity of the rollercoaster, the different flips and turns. And, of course, they always bought the photo at the end. Always.
Their time in the line passed with relative ease, the line of their fellow senior classmates surrounding them. Most people already knew about the different decorations that were there to entertain children while waiting -- the growling grizzly bear animatronics only served to make Jojo roll her eyes at Sock every few minutes. But finally, they made their way out of the enclosure once again and stood at the loading dock. Sock stared at the cars as they were packed. Two across. Four per car. That was perfect.
“Come on! I want to get the back seats!” Jojo yelled, starting to pull Sock toward where the lines split off. Rolling his eyes, he followed, lest he get pulled off his feet again.
“Jo, come on, you can’t just yank me everywhere,” Sock laughed, shaking his head at her. When their cart finally rolled up, Jojo was practically over the gate, bouncing excitedly. It was the first time in a long time Sock had seen her so interested in anything. It was refreshing.
The hard, cracked leather seat underneath Sock was not the most comfortable thing he had ever sat on, and the bored ride attendant didn’t help his comfort level much as he pushed the safety bars tightly against his stomach. Sock eyed the attendant nervously. He seemed to be much older than the kids, almost middle aged. He didn’t look like he wanted to be there, securing kids in rides all day. The attendant pushed down on the shoulder bars as well, and Sock squirmed. To take his mind off it, he focused on the people in front of them. Jojo had obviously noticed as well.
“Lil!” Jojo screamed into the ear of the teenager in front of her. The girl -- Lil -- turned as well as she could in the seat.
“Jojo! I didn’t even see you!” Lil said, holding on to the seat. The ride attendant’s finger hovered over the button. “This is gonna be so-” The cart went off with a loud whoosh! The screams of the four teenagers in the cart practically drowned out the sounds of the wheels rolling along the tracks, and the peppy music in the background. Turns and loops made them scream louder, so loud that they didn’t even hear the sound of the wheels dragging. However, it was impossible to not hear the screech as they came to a halt. Of course, they were on top of one of the highest points of the ride. Right in the sun.
“W-why are we stopped?” Lil stuttered, glancing to the boy next to her. Sock couldn’t get a good look at the face of the teenager in front of him, and only saw a blond head. When he tilted his head a little to the left, Sock saw the sleeve of a gray hoodie. He felt sweaty just looking at him.
The people in the other cars on the roller coaster train began to mutter and mumble. It was like they were frozen in space and time, except below him, Sock could see the other parkgoers buzz around. From his vantage point, they looked so far away.
“I don’t know. Probably something mechanical,” the guy in front of Sock started saying. It was accompanied by a heavy sigh, and Sock’s eyebrows raised slightly.
“But, Jon, don’t you think they’d tell us? Don’t they have a PA system?” Lil whined, her voice starting to gain notes of stress. She glanced nervously at the tracks, trying to find where the speakers were. The music that had been playing from under the tracks began to loop over again. Sock cringed, and the boy he now knew to be named Jon rested his head on one fist.
“I’m sure they’re working on it, Lil. Don’t stress out,” Jojo said, reaching one hand forward to rest on the other girl’s arm. Lil returned the gesture with a small, stressed smile. Her lips pressed against her teeth, and she exhaled sharply through her nose.
“They should be telling us! They really should!” Lil repeated, gripping onto Jojo’s hand with one of hers, and Jon’s hand with the other. Sock trained his gaze on it, feeling his stomach drop a bit.
“So… as long as we’re on here, we might as well talk?” Sock finally said, trying to distract the stressed girl. He leaned forward against the restraints as much as possible, tugging down on his hat.“I’m Sock, um, I’m sure you guys probably know that... “
“I know you,” Jon said, slowly turning as far as he could, “We were in classes together, remember? But if you forgot, I’m Jonathan… or Jon. Also, you know my best friend, Lil.” At that, the purple haired girl grinned and blushed a little. She extended her arm, reaching into Jonathan’s sleeve to squeeze his hand.
“And of course, we all know Jojo!” Lil said, “But Sock, I didn’t know you… though I do recognize you now. How do you know Jojo?”
“She’s my --”
“He’s been my best friend since we were really little! There was this one time that…” Jojo started telling a story, going into a tailspin about the time when they used to chase squirrels when they were little. They hadn’t done that in a long time.
Finally, the music faded as the ride attendant’s voice took over the intercom. Jojo quickly shut her mouth. Sock closed his eyes.
“Everyone, this is Tom, your ride attendant today. Please, remain calm. There was a slight technical difficulty, it should not take long to start you all back up. Until then, please enjoy the view of the park.”
The voice sounded practically monotone. Eyes still closed, Sock could picture the man leaning, bored, into the mic. He had a feeling they were going to be there for a while. When Sock opened them again, Jon looked like he felt the same.
“So, Jojo! What’s new?” Lil finally piped up again. Her voice was casual, but Sock noticed her hands, white knuckled around the bars.
“Well, I have -”
“She has a new boyfriend!” Sock yelled over her. Jojo’s face darkened to a deep shade of red, her blonde hair shining even brighter from the contrast.
“I - I don’t, he’s just a friend, I don’t even think he likes bi girls, and…” Jojo trailed off when she noticed the eyes on her.
“Is there any reason to not like bi girls? I mean, I’ve heard nothing but good things,” Jon said slowly, the words struggling to be on an even level. He sunk slowly down into his seat, now avoiding eye contact. “As a bi guy myself, I mean, I’ve had no problems.”
Sock’s eyes widened. There was a sudden pain in his chest, and he looked at Jojo with eyes the size of saucers.
“Wait, Jonathan, you’re bi?” Sock said, turning to look at him. There was an imperceptible nod back to him, practically buried in the gray fabric of his hoodie, where Sock could barely see. Jojo nodded back to her friend, with a big grin.
“That’s relieving to hear, Jon. I don’t know if he’ll even want me, though, most people tend to have a,” one tap on the guard rail, ”erm,” another, harder tap, coupled with a grimace, “problem with bi people. Since we’re just all whores and all.”
Sock could barely hear her words. Jonathan? Bi? He knew that they had barely met, but he had seen him around before and had never even thought that Jon could be bi. He seemed like just… nothing, always shuffling along in his hoodie, headphones on to obscure the world in whatever he was listening to. They had never talked, but in class, Jonathan had never let on at all! Though, Sock supposed, he hadn’t let on that he was gay either. Everyone just kind of assumed he was either dating Jojo, or he was gay because he liked skirts. His fists tightened by his side at the thought.
“I mean, I don’t think bi girls are whores. I don’t know who would,” Lil said. She was staring down at the ground, eyes trained at the long, snaking line below them. “Do you think we’ll ever get off this ride?”
Sock shook his head, mumbling to himself, “I want to get off Great Grizzly’s Wild Ride.”
“What was that?” Lil said, still staring at the ground.
“I don’t think we’re getting off this any time soon,” Sock said, finally speaking up. His eyes were trained to the back of her head. There were beads of sweat in the hair that was laying flush against her neck. Seeing it, Sock was very, very aware of how hot his hat was, how hot everything was. He was practically baking in the sun. His thighs stuck to the seat, even through his jeans. He eyed Jonathan nervously, wondering how his hoodie wasn’t drenched with sweat.
“You know, if you needed to take that off, I could help you,” Sock said, reaching out to tap Jonathan on the shoulder. “I don’t know how you can sit in that hoodie. I’m sweating to death.”
“N-no, I’m fine,” Jonathan said through closed teeth, before clenching his jaw shut tightly and gripping the hoodie sleeves with both hands. He looked at Sock warily, before finally saying through a tight lipped smile, “It’s fine, really. It’s a bit warm, but I’m always a bit warm.”
“He never takes the hoodie off,” Lil said, finally ending her gaze toward the ground to smile warmly, almost knowingly, at Sock, “He has so many of them, it’s not even funny. It’s just his style.”
“I can understand that,” Sock said, trying to make up for his mistake by smiling back at both of them, almost goofily.
Sock couldn’t believe it, almost, but Jonathan’s smile seemed a little bit warmer after.
“It will just be a few minutes longer, everyone, we have everything under control. It was a slight electrical glitch, however, park maintenance has it under control. Just hang tight,” Tom the ride attendant droned over the intercom again.
“You know, I don’t think it’s under control if they have to say it so many times,” Jojo piped up. Lil made a face, sitting up a little straighter as her entire body tensed.
“I feel like it will just be hard to stand up after sitting like this for so long. I wish we could do some yoga!” Sock joked, trying to take away the tension from everyone else’s faces. Hardly anyone cracked a smile, so he added more somberly, “In all seriousness, though, shouldn’t there be a way to get us down?”
“You know, my boyfriend’s afraid of rollercoasters. After this... I don’t think I blame him,” Jonathan said slowly, looking down at the tracks below.
“Boyfriend?” Sock asked, feeling his heart drop. Of course. Jonathan already had a boyfriend. How did Sock not know that already? Though, he wasn’t surprised. Jon was funny, and nice, not to mention the type of quiet and withdrawn that seemed to play so poorly with Sock’s dynamic, loud personality, but was attractive to him nonetheless.
“Oh, yeah, you probably know him. He was in our history class. Zack Melto, he’s on the football team…” Jonathan trailed off, letting out a small sigh at the end of his description. Sock knew him, of course, and winced a little. Zack had bullied him a bit in middle school for ‘being gay’, though not in those terms. Of course, he would end up being gay as well.
But even still, Sock had to admit that it may be a good match. Despite the pang in his heart he was aware of the fact that Zack had changed a lot. He was a star on the football team, he did his work, his group of friends was large and varied. All eyes were on him in their high school. No wonder Jonathan was dating him.
“Oh, yeah, I know him, definitely,” Sock said lamely, looking straight at Jojo with his signature ‘save me’ look.
“So, how long have you been together?” Jojo said, completely ignoring him. Sock slumped farther down into the seat.
“Oh, we’ve been together for a year and a half,” the blond replied, smiling a little at her. Sock couldn’t see his face, but when he saw Jojo’s even bigger smile, he just kept slumping, pressing against the restraints.
“When will we get off this thing?” Lil finally asked again.
Like clockwork, the voice over the intercom droned.
“Be prepared, everyone, we will be starting up again. Please make sure you are secured into the ride.”
Sock sucked in a breath, and by the time he had gone to exhale, they were already zooming down the tracks again.
“So much for being prepared!” Jojo yelled over the whistle of the wind in their ears. Somehow, they had just enough momentum to make it up the final hill, pushed somewhat by the mechanics of the carts. Sock was somewhat surprised. He focused a bit, though, when they reached the top of the last hill and he noticed - the cameras!
He reached out and gave Jon bunny ears, sticking his tongue out while making full eye contact with the ride cam.
Finally, the ride swooshed to an end. The remaining stragglers in the line cheered for them.
“You’re the first cart back. Others are still on their way from the tracks,” monotoned Tom as he helped everyone out of their restraints.
“Thank god you got it working again!” Lil screeched. She stood and bolted off the ride on the exit side. Jojo swiftly followed, and Jon and Sock were close behind.
The two boys finally made eye contact. Sock’s heart fluttered.
“So, where is Zack, anyway?” Sock said. He wandered up to the kiosk next to the rollercoaster. He was trying to keep his cool.
“Oh, he couldn’t come - there’s a baseball game. He has to be there to support his football teammates, and we get back after the game would have started,” Jon said. He grinned at the screen in front of him. Jon looked tired, Sock was giving bunny ears. Jojo had her hands stretched wide and was making a crazy-looking expression, and Lil had a goofy grin on her face.
Lil put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at the others. Sock bought one while they talked, stuffing it into his pocket.
“Yeah, it’s a shame. It’s just us for today.” she said, looking Sock and Jojo up and down. Sock felt more uncomfortable in the heat of her gaze than the heat of the air. It was almost like she could see Sock’s heart thumping away. “Do you want to see if we can get more rides together? Some of the others are four seaters.”
“That would be awesome!” Jojo chimed in before Sock could even open his mouth. He shot her a look, and she ignored it.
“Oh, yeah. Awesome,” Sock said. Jojo grabbed onto his arm and started pulling. He stumbled a bit, and smiled goofily at Jon and Lil following along, while he got dragged away.