"Just the two of us?" Zayne asked, slightly surprised.
He had assumed Ms. Barron would bring a few friends along, but honestly, this was even better.
"Yes. Let's go!" she said cheerfully, grabbing his wrist and leading him straight into the amusement park.
The moment they stepped inside, Ms. Barron dragged him toward the roller coaster.
"You're not scared of it malfunctioning?" Zayne asked, raising an eyebrow. He hadn't expected her to be this bold.
She shook her head confidently. "No. A roller coaster's basic components are the train, the track, the circuit system, the motor, and the control console.
This one's a circulating gravity-inertia type. The structural redundancy and braking systems are extremely reliable."
She continued calmly, "The probability of a fatal accident is roughly one in 1.5 billion or even lower. Statistically speaking, you're far more likely to get into a car accident on the way here."
Before Zayne could respond, the ride began moving.
Sitting beside her, he stared straight ahead, expression blank.
Who am I? Where am I? Why did I sign up for a physics lecture?
After the ride ended, Ms. Barron threw her hands up excitedly. "That was amazing! What do you think, Zayne?"
"Not bad." He casually smoothed down his hair, still mentally replaying her mechanical breakdown of the roller coaster.
"It's not dinner time yet. Let's play a bit more." She checked her watch.
"Sure."
They wandered through the park until a shooting booth caught their attention.
"Hey, beautiful! Bring your boyfriend over and try your luck! The prizes are great!" the stall owner called out with a grin.
Ms. Barron didn't care about the prizes—she cared about the experience.
"Zayne, want to try?" she asked.
"I—"
"Come on, strong boy! Win your girlfriend a surprise!" the stall owner teased.
"Alright." Zayne agreed. If nothing else, he could win something for her.
"Five dollars for ten shots," the stall owner said, extending his hand.
Before Zayne could react, Ms. Barron handed over five dollars. "Here."
Zayne blinked. He had planned to give her a gift, yet she paid.
"It's fine. Help me win that big bear." She pointed at the massive teddy bear placed farthest away.
"Don't worry."
Zayne picked up the toy gun and loaded it, aiming at the number beneath the giant bear—number 9.
He steadied his breathing and squeezed the trigger.
Bang!
"Just missed. Try again!" she encouraged.
The shot had hit number 8 beside it. Still a prize, but not the one he wanted.
The stall owner leaned back comfortably. "Keep it up, kid."
Bang! Bang! Bang!
He narrowly missed several times before finally hitting number 9 on the eighth shot. The last two rounds were fired casually.
"Congratulations," the stall owner said, handing over the prizes—especially the enormous teddy bear sealed in clear plastic.
It was nearly 1.7 meters tall.
Ms. Barron hugged it excitedly. "Haha! It's mine now!"
"But carrying that around while playing seems inconvenient," Zayne pointed out.
"I know." She pulled out her phone. "Come to my location."
Moments later, two burly men in plain clothes approached.
"Put these in the car," she instructed, handing over the prizes.
They complied instantly and walked off.
Zayne stared. "They were here the whole time?"
"They were waiting outside. I asked them to help carry things today."
So she brought bodyguards to an amusement park date.
He really shouldn't be surprised anymore.
"It's getting late. Let's grab dinner," she said.
"Good idea. I'm starving." He hadn't even eaten breakfast.
"I know a great seafood place."
Soon, they arrived at the restaurant and ordered a large seafood platter with juice.
As they waited, she asked, "Do you like machines?"
"I do. I just don't think I'm talented enough to build them."
"You've tried?"
"I built a small mechanical arm once. Followed a blueprint for six months. It didn't move—just wobbled."
"Your power transmission system probably had instability. If the torque output and joint synchronization weren't calibrated properly, it would fail," she analyzed immediately.
Zayne twitched slightly. Back then, he had simply assembled parts without understanding half the theory.
"That… might be it."
The food arrived, and they continued chatting while eating. Afterward, Ms. Barron paid and walked out with him.
Evening—
"Today was fun. Let's go out again next time," she said as they reached her car.
"Sure. Goodbye."
"Goodbye."
She got in, and the car drove off.
Zayne exhaled deeply. "Finally over. I'm exhausted."
Not physically—mentally.
Talking about mechanical engineering all day was harder than fighting.
Home—
"You're back?" Aunt May called as the door opened.
"How was your day?" Ben Parker asked, lowering his newspaper.
"It was fun. Just… tiring."
"It's good to go out more. Peter was looking for you earlier," Ben added.
"For me?"
"There's pizza left. Want me to heat it?" Aunt May asked warmly.
"No need. I'm full. Thanks, Aunt May. I'll head upstairs."
Upstairs—
"Peter, you were looking for me?"
Peter spun around excitedly. "You're finally back! You wouldn't believe how many amazing photos I took with the camera!"
"That's great. Congratulations."
"Thanks! Where did you go?"
"The amusement park."
"The amusement park?! I should've asked you to take me!" Peter groaned.
For someone his age, even a tech exhibition couldn't beat pure fun.
"Oh please." Zayne rolled his eyes. He had no interest in bringing a glowing third wheel next time.
Now, all he needed to do was wait for the upcoming tech exhibition.
The real turning point was coming.