Roller Coaster Ride | Teen Ink

Roller Coaster Ride MAG

By Anonymous

     We are lectured about peer pressure in mandatory health education class. We are told never to give in to it. “Just because everyone else is doing something does not make it a good idea,” they say. Yes, I know that I shouldn’t smoke. No, I won’t do drugs even if all my friends are doing them. But what about those other things? For me, peer pressure has always turned out okay.

***

I had never been on a real roller coaster. Fear of speed, fear of heights: They just weren’t for me. The closest I had ever gotten was a kiddie-coaster when I was six. It was probably six feet tall, but I made them stop the ride before we even got up the first slope. Another time, I went with my family to Legoland, an amusement park definitely not known for terribly frightening and life-threatening rides. I had gotten to the first slope when the car stopped. Thank God for “technical difficulties.”

So, today I was tagging along with my dare devil, 53 mph roller-coaster-riding friends. As they stepped off the ride, they all tried to persuade me into following them onto the next one.

“Come on, Lisi!” Jennifer coaxed, “You’re so boring! Just come with us on the stupid roller coaster!”

This wasn’t the first time I had heard this plea. It had happened at the pool’s diving well, the Japanese restaurant, and even when I got my first bike. In every situation, my friends had been right there to tell me what a wuss I was, and convince me to try something new. Now, of course, I love diving, order sushi every time we go to a Japanese restaurant, and ride my bike to school every morning. But no, this was different. A roller coaster was just too much. Still, my friends worked to convince me.

“It’s not that scary,” added Jackie. “I’ll sit next to you.”

“Look: This is the slowest ride in the park!” Christina pointed out. “If it went any slower, it would just be a train on bumpy tracks.”

Finally, I gave in and agreed to get on the roller coaster, although I still wasn’t sure. Of course everyone had come out alive so far, but you never know what will happen.

They’ll see, I thought. They’ll be sorry when I fly out of the seat, catch on fire and land in a forest. They’ll be sorry.

As we stood in line, I got more scared. “I don’t know, guys,” I worried out loud. “It looks really big from down here.” Finally, we reached the front of the line. I sat in a seat with Jackie and vowed that I would not let go of her hand until we were safely off the ride.

I was getting more scared by the second. I squeezed Jackie’s hand so hard I was sure I heard her yelp. As soon as we started moving, I began to scream. Every single person on the ride looked at me as if to say, “What is her problem?” We started to climb the slope toward the highest point of the ride.

Ka-klink-ka-klink-ka-klink-ka-klink.

I squeezed her hand even harder. I squeezed it so hard that I can’t believe she still has a hand. I knew I couldn’t make them stop the ride now. I was done for.

WHOOOOSH!

It felt as if something in the tracks had snapped. We started falling - falling fast. The wind blew so hard it seemed like my face would blow off. I screamed so loud I couldn’t hear myself anymore. Oh my gosh, we weren’t going to stop! We would crash through the thin wooden paneling. I knew it. This had been a terrible idea. I closed my eyes and held on for dear life, never ceasing my high-pitched scream.

CLUNK!

The ride came abruptly to a stop. I opened my eyes. We were back where we started! I hadn’t died!

I stepped off the ride, stumbling slightly, weary and disoriented. My friends looked at me, searching for my reaction.

“Can we do that again?” I croaked.



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This article has 13 comments.


Great said...
on Jun. 3 2018 at 11:42 am
Same it’s amazing

i love this so much!

on Aug. 31 2017 at 7:34 pm
Realjay41 DIAMOND, Culpeper , Virginia
81 articles 1 photo 91 comments
I love roller coasters! I want to go on the Everest ride at Disney world. I'm ready to ride it.

lala123 said...
on Apr. 29 2013 at 9:33 am
love it because it tought me a lesson  

on Apr. 18 2012 at 3:13 am
IAmWhoIWantToBe PLATINUM, Manila, Other
41 articles 0 photos 650 comments

Favorite Quote:
‎"I’m learning how to drown out the constant noise that is such an inseparable part of my life. I don’t have to prove anything to anyone. I only have to follow my heart and concentrate on what I want to say to the world: I run my world." - Beyoncé

I don't know but this article is kinda funny :))

on Dec. 30 2011 at 4:27 pm
VandalSpirit DIAMOND, Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin
51 articles 9 photos 185 comments

Favorite Quote:
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of Gods great love, we are not consumed. His compassion never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

When I went on my first roller coaster (I was almost 13) it was my crush that convinced me (big surprise, huh?) I actually bruised his arm and after having my moment of embarrassment when I started screaming before we dropped I ended up loving it. Just brought back memories....

StarWorks said...
on Jun. 15 2011 at 10:38 am
StarWorks, A, Other
0 articles 0 photos 22 comments
That's so true.

on Dec. 21 2010 at 10:24 am
CatherineK SILVER, Omaha, Nebraska
7 articles 4 photos 19 comments

Favorite Quote:
“In all things it is better to hope than to despair”

My friends always try to get me to go on rides that go upside down. Next time I go to a park, I will go on an upside down roller coaster. :D Great job!

on Nov. 29 2010 at 6:38 am
xAllegria BRONZE, Singapore, Other
1 article 2 photos 112 comments

Favorite Quote:
Ça fait tellement du bien d’aimer les gens qu’on aime, que ça finit par faire mal. Je sais pas comment on survit a ça. Non franchement, je sais pas. LOL (laughing out loud) ®, Lola.

Haha. Great story, proves that there's a thin line between peer pressure and risk taking. Great descriptions too.

on Aug. 11 2010 at 10:08 pm
bluesky0728 SILVER, Phoenix, Arizona
8 articles 0 photos 107 comments
:) smile :)

on Jul. 20 2010 at 9:05 pm
madmadie22 BRONZE, Wichita, Kansas
2 articles 0 photos 28 comments

Favorite Quote:
"It is quite unnerving to be proven wrong, particularly when you are really right and the person proving you wrong is proving himself wrongly right. Right?" Lemony Snicket, The Reptile Room

Ahhh!  This is written so well, I could almost feel like I was on that roller coaster! :)  This is exactly how I felt on my first roller coaster.  I was bawling at the end and then I wanted to go again again!  :D Nice job!

on May. 8 2010 at 3:32 pm
Sketched97 PLATINUM, Silver Spring, Maryland
31 articles 4 photos 167 comments
I love this article. Its such a simple concept, but its so well written it makes it really interesting. 5 stars!!

on Apr. 23 2010 at 11:38 am
meganleigh122 GOLD, Greeneville, Tennessee
13 articles 0 photos 81 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass... It's about learning to dance in the rain."

This is really good!! and that's how i felt my first roller coaster. I wouldn't ride them for a long time, but now I love them. You should definetly keep writing :) and can you check out some of my stuff please?

on Feb. 15 2010 at 9:39 am
.:Echo:. BRONZE, Austell, Georgia
3 articles 0 photos 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Im smiling, that alone should scare you.&quot; <br /> &quot;I&#039;m not evil..I&#039;m good with a twist.&quot; <br /> &quot;Sometimes you just have to stop and smell the crayons.&quot; <br /> &quot;Good friends don&#039;t let you do stupid things..alone.&quot; <br /> &quot;I dream of a better world where chickens can cross roads without having their motives questioned.&quot; <br /> &quot;It&#039;s all fun and games till someone gets hurt.. Then it&#039;s hilarious.&quot; <br /> &quot;Team Jacob. I like my guys with a pulse thank you.&quot;<br /> &quot;I never got my letter from Hogwarts so I&#039;m packing up and moving to Forks to live with the Cullen&#039;s.&quot; <br /> &quot;No camera could catch the look in her eyes and the feeling in her heart when she looks at him.&quot; <br /> &quot;I love how you make me laugh when I don&#039;t even want to smile.&quot; <br /> &quot;If I had to chose between you and breathing, I would chose you and then I would use my last breath to tell you &quot;I love you.&quot; <br /> &quot;And he asked &ldquo;Is everything okay?&rdquo; and she blinked away the tears and said, &ldquo;Yeah, I&rsquo;m totally happy for you.&rdquo; <br /> &quot;In Kindergarten we learned about cooties, in middle school we learned about relationships, and in high school we learned the definition of heartbreak.&quot;<br /> &quot;Sometimes when I say &ldquo;oh I&rsquo;m fine&rdquo; I just want you to look me in the eyes and say &ldquo;tell the truth.&rdquo;<br /> &ldquo;He looked at me and said &ldquo;do you ever feel like you&rsquo;re working for something you&rsquo;re never going to get? A shoot + miss kind of deal. Like no matter what, you just can&rsquo;t have it, but that makes you fight for it just a little bit more?&rdquo; I looked at him, stared at him for just a second and said &ldquo;everyday.&rdquo;<br /> &quot;Never say I love you if you don&rsquo;t really care. Never talk about feelings if they aren&rsquo;t really there. Never touch a life if you mean to break a heart. Never say you&rsquo;re going to if you&rsquo;re not planning to start. Never look me in the eye when all you do is lie. Never say hello is all you mean is good-bye.&quot;<br /> &quot;We don&rsquo;t talk anymore and I don&rsquo;t understand why. It&rsquo;s like you gave me wings and told me it was illegal to fly.&quot;<br /> &quot;My friends and I are the kind when a house burns down; we&rsquo;re roasting marshmallows and crushing on the firemen.&quot;

Wonderful! I love it, your not the only one out there being afraid of roller coasters. I just don't like high heights and fast speeds, but once I ride it, I ride it over and over. I believe it's just fear of the unknown, which seems to happen a lot in my life anyways, but once I do it, I feel fine and survived afterwards. I must say, this was a VERY good job! Keep writing!