Chapter 1
It was a long car ride to one of the world's most popular amusement parks: Aurora Kingdom. Was I excited? Yeah… not really. It wasn’t exactly my first pick for a family vacation, but I had younger cousins, so of course, they chose it. Still, it was my first time here, so I tried to stay open-minded.
As we walked in, buildings surrounded us. The air smelled like cotton candy and candy apples, and the sound of rides filled the air—click, click, click. People were everywhere, laughing, screaming, and having the time of their lives.
We walked around for a while before meeting up at the entrance of the Swim with Dolphins experience. Another group arrived at the same time—it looked like some company event.
The staff member spoke.
“You’ll all need to go together as one large group. There are plenty of other animals you can swim with, so don’t worry.”
Everyone looked excited.
Except me.
Swimming with dolphins wasn’t really my thing.
My mom tried to convince me to join, but I said no and walked toward the gift shop next to the aquarium entrance.
That’s when I noticed him.
Out of the corner of my eye, one of the guys from the other group walked into the same shop. He glanced at me, then smiled like we already knew each other.
“I wasn’t going to wait around to swim with them,” he said. “I’ve done it plenty of times. I’m just letting them have their fun. What about you? Why aren’t you with your family?”
I looked up at him.
“It’s not really my thing,” I said. “I don’t mind waiting.”
He nodded like that made perfect sense.
“Come on,” he said. “I know somewhere we can actually have fun while they’re doing that.”
“I don’t even know you,” I replied.
“That’s fair,” he said with a small laugh. “I’m Atlas.”
“Mila,” I said.
“Well, Mila… you can trust me.”
I hesitated. I didn’t know why, but I agreed.
“Okay.”
He walked straight toward a golf cart.
“Um… I don’t think you can take that,” I said. “That’s a staff cart.”
He climbed in anyway.
“It’s fine. No one cares.”
“Yeah, right,” I said. “You’re literally riding down Main Street in a stolen golf cart.”
He just laughed.
We drove down Main Street until he suddenly turned into a staff-only entrance. He parked behind one of the buildings.
“Come on,” he said, already running up the stairs.
I followed him inside.
What I walked into didn’t make sense.
It looked like a luxury apartment.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“My place,” he said casually. “At least for the park season.”
Then I noticed something on the wall in the living room:
Aurora Kingdom.
That was the park’s name.
And suddenly everything clicked.
Atlas wasn’t just some guy working here.
He was the son of the family that owned the entire park.
One of the richest families in the country.
I turned to him in shock.
He just smiled.
“Surprise.”
He gave me a tour of the apartment, which was way bigger than I expected. Honestly, bigger than my house. Atlas talked nonstop the entire time. I thought I talked a lot, but he was something else—like a hyper golden retriever.
I was more like a black cat.
Eventually, we ended up back in the living room just as the front door opened.
A woman walked in, dressed like she had a million things to do. Probably planning one of Aurora Kingdom’s famous seasonal events.
She stopped when she saw me.
“Who is she?” she asked.
Atlas shrugged.
“A friend.”
“Okay,” she said simply, before walking off.
My phone buzzed. It was flooded with messages from my family.
“I should go,” I said. “They’re probably looking for me.”
Atlas nodded.
“I’ll take you back.”
We drove through the park again on the golf cart until we reached the area where my family was waiting.
“Well… maybe I’ll see you around before we leave in three days,” I said.
“Maybe,” he replied.
When I got back to my mom, she immediately asked where I had been.
I told her I was fine. I just made a friend.
Back home, I didn’t really have many friends. Just Hayden, Levi, my cousin Lucy, and my best friend Frankie.
Frankie and I had been friends forever. We had grown up together—from kindergarten all the way to now, the summer before senior year.
Small town life meant you saw everyone everywhere. You knew everyone’s name, everyone’s business, and somehow still ran into people constantly.
And I worked at the local animal shelter, so I was always around animals. It felt like my calling. I was even planning to take animal science at school.
Life was normal.
Until Aurora Kingdom.
And Atlas.
