This Crazy Rich Boy

The thing with this rollercoaster is that it had been Ground Zero to Gabriel Tan's most embarrassing childhood memory.

Years ago, when they first visited this amusement park, there were three of them: Miguel, Gabriel, and their mother, Matilde. They came to celebrate—their mother had built their first small business, and that afternoon she signed a partnership agreement with a major shopping mall. They had quite a big lunch—pizzas and milk shakes and gigantic burgers. For some reason, as soon as Miguel had set foot on the amusement park's grounds, he looked at the elevated tracks of the rollercoaster, and suddenly threw a tantrum: he wanted to ride that thing, that "train in the sky," and he's kicking and screaming on the ground to compel their mother so go directly to the rollercoaster booth.

And so there they were. Gabriel didn't know what to expect, but he played along. It started fine—the coaster rolling out of the platform tunnel and into the sunlight, people good-naturedly screaming, expecting the excitement to go up. But then the coaster climbs up what is called The Olympus, the highest point, and when the coaster descends from the crest, that's when all hell broke loose. Gabriel's vision turned upside-down, while his lunch went up his gullet and out of his mouth, spraying bits and pieces of the pizza and spaghetti and the burger he had for lunch.

The rest was muddled in his memory, and what that episode left in his heart was a general sense of nastiness.

And now he's back in this place, sitting on what's probably the same coaster (although that's highly unlikely). He sits there so stiffly, like he's made of wood, that Claire finally couldn't resist saying, "Are you alright?"

Gabriel tries to smile, but it comes out as a lop-sided grin. "I, uhh, I…Y-yeah, I'm fine."

"You look pale, Gabriel," she says. "If you don't want to continue this, we can abort from this."

"No," he mutters. Then he turns to her. Claire looks frightened, too, but she isn't saying anything about it. It's as if she's trying her hardest to make the best out of this. So if this girl who's taking a rollercoaster ride for the first time in her life could throw all caution to the wind and still want to proceed with the ride, then how could he—the great Gabriel Tan—not go on with it? What is he, a chicken? He had done greater things than riding on some stupid rollercoaster that's probably a gazillion years old and…and could fatally fail. "No, I'm fine," he says, his voice hoarse.

Claire smiles. "Don't worry. Just look at the bright side. I know you're afraid. Maybe you think this rollercoaster might kill us. But to tell you the truth, if we die on this ride tonight, I'm glad I'm with you."

Gabriel gazes at her. Did he hear that correctly? Did she really say that? But even before he could speak, the rollercoaster starts moving forward—slowly at first, but Gabriel knows it's deceptive. He knows it's going to get faster and faster and faster and faster. He closes his eyes. Already the others are starting to scream, but they're screaming in glee. Oh shit, he thinks. His body is going to hurl into space. He's going to…

Claire is screaming, but her screams are screams of delight. In the blur of Gabriel's vision, Claire seems so far away; like he's watching this from somewhere else, that this body is not his body. He tries to scream, too, but the coaster makes a sharp turn, and instantly he feels like his insides are going to burst out of his ċhėst. Oh, this would be embarrassing, if he retches here, what would Claire feel and think?

All these things zig-zag across Gabriel's brain, and with his eyes closed, he just wants the whole thing to end. His arms flail about, he's also screaming, but these are screams of terror. But then suddenly, he feels a hand grabbing him. When he opens his eyes, he sees that Claire has partly freed herself from the straps and is throwing her arms around him in a tight hug. Around them is the white noise of the whole world.

"It's okay," she screams through the din.

He says nothing. He shakes his head, as if telling her that he might not—

But then she hugs him. And as she does, she's not sure, but she's very closely whispering to him to take it easy, it's just a ride. As she speaks, maybe it's the madness of the moment, but Gabriel stares at her lips, as it mouths out words and syllables, then he suddenly kisses her—a kiss that's so deep and desperate that everything else disappears—the rollercoaster reaches the crest, The Olympus, and makes a steep descent, yet Gabriel doesn't notice that. All he has on his mind is Claire's lips, and he seeks it, tastes it, playfully nibbles it, his mouth tasting Claire's entirety. And just as he thinks it could not get better, a miracle: Claire responds. She also nibbles his lips, she uses her tongue, she mȯȧns. He drinks her up, all her scent, her taste, the sensational feeling of her lips locked with his. And all this happening while they hurl through space at a maddening speed.

He's not sure how it lasts. It feels like forever. When finally the rollercoaster hisses to a stop, Claire suddenly detaches herself from him, as though waking up from a dream.

"Are you alright?" Gabriel says.

Claire says nothing. She simply looks down. At one point she touches her lips absent-mindedly, then as if realizing Gabriel is gazing at her, she looks away. The attendant arrives and starts unstrapping them. Gabriel stands up first, then Claire. And as they both stand on the platform waiting for Miguel, Gabriel reaches for Claire's hand. He squeezes it. Claire says nothing, then very slightly, like a buŧŧerfly flapping its wings, Claire squeezes back without looking at him. She only lets go as they see Miguel arrive.

"Hey, guys," Miguel cheerfully says. "Tell me that ride didn't blow your minds away? It was awesome!"

"Yeah," Gabriel mutters, smiling, his face still blushing red. "The most mind-blowing ride of my life."