Something in the Way (Something in the Way 1)

Manning handed the kid our tickets and climbed on the ride. He stood in the center of the carriage, hunched to keep from hitting his head on the roof. “See? It’s no big deal. It’s designed to be able to swing and move.” He nodded for me to get on. “I’ll be by your side the whole time.”

I took a step. Adrenaline jolted through me. He was going through a lot of trouble to make me feel safe. That meant he cared, didn’t it? And if he cared, he wouldn’t want me to get hurt. I repeated his words in my head: I’ll be by your side. With a shaky inhale, I wiped my palms on my shorts and walked toward the pile of metal parts that was supposed to carry me into the sky.

“Wait,” Tiffany cried. I looked back. She waved two colorful spools of cloud-like cotton candy at us. “I’m here. Wait.” She shoved one of the confections at me, pushed me out of the way, and jumped into the car with Manning. “How’s that for timing?”

I looked from her to the cotton candy. “What?” I asked.

She plopped onto the plastic bench. “The line for ice cream was too long.”

Manning looked at me. My hands began to shake with relief, but I couldn’t deny my disappointment. What could he say? What could I say? There wasn’t room for three people, and Tiffany would surely make a scene if she didn’t get her way. Some of the parents waiting for their kids looked over. “What am I supposed to do with this?” I asked.

“Eat it, silly.” Tiffany tried and failed to pull Manning onto the seat with her. “What are you doing?” she asked him. “She won’t get on. She’s afraid of heights. Come on.”

He sat and pulled the metal bar over their laps. As the wheel moved forward, hot tears pierced the backs of my eyes. Something about all of this was beginning to feel cruel and unfair, and that made me feel helpless. Maybe that was what Manning had been talking about earlier—injustice.

“You got a ticket?” the attendant asked me.

“Oh. No.” There was no way in hell I was getting on without Manning, I retreated and ran right into the person behind me. I whirled around, backing away. “Sorry. Go ahead.”

Manning and Tiffany rose into the night sky together. Neither of them looked back at me.

5

Manning

If someone’d asked me a week ago what a typical Saturday night looked like for me, it wouldn’t’ve involved any of this. A Ferris wheel, pink cotton candy, and a pair of girls, one of which was only sixteen.

The wheel churned forward and stopped a few times. Tiffany tore off some cotton candy and put it in her mouth. I didn’t know what I should expect during twenty minutes alone with her, but she’d become shyer without an audience.

“I don’t know what my sister told you, but I’m not stupid,” she said gently. “I can get a job, but nothing’s really interested me so far.”

“She didn’t say that.”

“She’s annoying. Sometimes she doesn’t even do anything and she still annoys me.”

It wasn’t a word I’d use to describe Lake, who was relatively quiet compared to Tiffany. “How come?”

“It’s like she thinks she’s better than me. Just the way she talks or the things she does.”

“Yeah but what?” I asked. “What does she do?”

“She just, like, gets straight A’s and it’s all my parents can talk about for a month. It’s lame. If I’d really wanted to be a nerd, I could’ve been, you know? I’d rather enjoy my life.”

I looked Tiffany over. That might’ve been true to some degree, but I didn’t buy all of it. “You don’t think your sister enjoys life?”

“Everything she does has a purpose. She only takes piano lessons to be ‘well-rounded.’ And so she doesn’t disappoint my dad like I have.”

Up until this moment, I’d only really seen Lake as smart, driven, and curious. Maybe because I’d only really seen Lake. I hadn’t stopped to wonder how many dinners Tiffany must’ve sat through hearing about Lake’s accomplishments. “I’m sure that’s not true.”

“It is.” She shuffled her feet on the floor of the car. “Whatever.”

The wheel jerked into motion, sending us higher. “I think Lake looks up to you,” I said.

“Why would she?”

“You’re her older sister.” If I’d been better at expressing myself, I would’ve told her how much it bothered me to see siblings not getting along. But that wasn’t something you thought about until you’d lost one, and then it was too late for that kind of lesson. “Cut her some slack. She probably just wants you to be nice to her.”

Tiffany scowled. “Nice?”

“Yeah. Like inviting her to come here. That was nice.”

Her expression eased as she twisted her lips. “I see. Okay. Maybe.”

A girl in the car above us laughed loudly at something the man with her said. She launched forward to kiss him. Tiffany noticed and smiled.