They Ignored Me on My Birthday, So I Cancelled Them novel · Chapter 1 of 24
Chapter 1: The Front Row
On his birthday Miles is left alone in row two of the log flume while the others shield themselves from the splash; he cancels the group's park passes at the gate, and the woman who rode behind him offers a dry sweatshirt and a ride.
On my twenty-eighth birthday, my girlfriend Brynn took the five of us to the amusement park.
It was her idea.
She told me so twice in the car, in case I forgot who to thank.
I drove, because it was my car.
Her two best friends sat in the back with Trent between them.
Trent was Brynn's oldest friend, and he had never once offered to drive anywhere.
At the gate every wristband beeped green.
That was my pass plan.
I had added four guests to it in March so Brynn's friends could come along whenever they wanted.
They wanted to come every other weekend.
The line for the log flume was an hour long.
Nobody asked me what I wanted to ride on my birthday.
"Just this one, then the coaster," Brynn said. "You're being so easygoing today, babe."
When our turn came, the attendant waved us up the ramp to the wooden boat.
It had three benches, and the front bench was wide enough for four.
Brynn and the other three walked straight past me and took all of it.
I stood on the platform with my hand on the rail.
Brynn didn't look back.
Trent laid his arm along the top of the bench, and the girls squeezed in against him.
I froze for a moment.
Then I said nothing and climbed onto the second bench by myself.
Someone settled in behind me on the third bench, also alone.
It was a woman in a gray canvas jacket with an auburn braid over one shoulder.
"Ma'am, phones away for the ride," the attendant told her.
"It's a video for my niece," she said. "She loves this one. I'll hold it tight."
He shrugged and sent us off.
The boat climbed the long chain in the dark.
Over the clank of the gears I heard the girls laughing, and I looked at the back of Brynn's blonde head.
At the top, the boat tipped over the edge and we dropped.
"Trent!" all three girls screamed, and threw themselves into his arms.
They were laughing and squealing, and Brynn had her face in his neck.
I was still gripping the safety bar when the three of them pulled pink, red and yellow umbrellas out of Brynn's bag.
They snapped them open over their heads.
I had watched her pack those umbrellas that morning.
Nobody had offered me one.
The wave came over the front of the boat and hit the second bench.
It filled my jacket, my shoes and my mouth.
Cold water ran down the back of my neck, and it was fifty degrees outside.
The front bench stayed dry.
Trent sat in the middle with an arm around each girl, tucked in under the umbrellas.
When the boat slid into the dock, I turned around.
The woman on the third bench was soaked too.
She was holding her phone in both hands, and its camera was pointed at the front bench the whole way in.
She lowered it when she saw me look.
She didn't smile.
On the platform, Brynn shook out her umbrella.
"Oh my God, Miles, you're drenched," she said. "There wasn't room for you, babe. You don't mind."
"He doesn't mind," her friend Daphne said. "He's the chill one."
"Somebody get the birthday boy a towel," Trent said.
Then he steered all three girls toward the churro stand with his hand low on Brynn's back.
Nobody got me a towel.
Nobody said happy birthday.
My keys were in Brynn's bag, because she had asked to carry them that morning.
I stood on the wet boards with water dripping off my chin.
Five wristbands were on one account, and the account was mine.
So I took out my phone.
My hands shook from the cold, but it only took a minute.
I opened the pass account and chose the four guests, and the app asked if I was sure.
I was sure.
Four guests removed. All access ends immediately.
Then I opened the booking for the steakhouse that night, the table for six I had paid a deposit on to make Brynn happy.
I cancelled it, and the deposit went back to my card.
I put the phone away and walked toward the exit with my shoes squelching.
I was halfway across the plaza when it buzzed.
Brynn: where are you?? the coaster gate won't scan us. fix it now
Then another one, from her friend Lindy's number: this is NOT funny
I kept walking.
Quick, light footsteps came up behind me.
"You'll freeze in that," a woman said.
It was the one from the third bench, with her braid wrung out over one shoulder and a dry gray sweatshirt balled up in her hand.
"I don't know you," I said.
"No, you don't. I'm Hallie." She held the sweatshirt out. "My car is right there, my heater works, and I've got a dry seat. Want a ride?"
My keys were in a bag on the other side of the park.
I took the sweatshirt.
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend