”There’s no going back now.” My friends chirp. I’m trapped like a caged bird with nowhere to go. My brain tells me this was a bad idea with the bitter taste of fear on the tip of my tongue. I feel hot, sticky sweat dampening my face, the salty liquid slowly drips down my neck as we ascend. Oh boy, here we go.

It’s late July and the sun is blazing hot this summer afternoon. My friends and I just got in line for The Diamond Back, one of the biggest rides at Kings Island, after their heavy convincing. “The Banshee’s scarier.” they repeated. I’d been on The Banshee a million times, I tried to convince myself that this would be nothing, but the seats on The Banshee were different. They were more secure. They were safe. I saw these ones, they’re unusual, dangerous, nothing to protect me but a lousy waist strap and a restraint that you pull down onto your lap. This is what horrified me.

We’re lucky, the line is shorter than usual. We walk in a zigzag around the maze of emptiness before stopping behind the end of the people in line. “Let’s play star.” someone suggests. Everyone agrees to play the fun, movie guessing game. “Okay, T.L.M.” my friend announces. I try to think of a movie with those initials, and this occupies my mind for a while and puts me at ease.

Then we reach the stairs. Panic begins to set in as my mind goes astray. My nerves make me start to shiver with fear. I'm one staircase away from possible death. Focus on the game. I start to creep up the stairs, one foot at a time. I can’t think straight as I take another step, there are no more. We’ve reached the top.

There are 4 groups ahead of us and we stop playing star. People are chatting about how excited they are. Excited? That emotion was draining from me every moment, replaced by the feeling of regret. I didn’t realize we had been moving, and to my terror, we’re at the front of the line. 

I’m getting more uneasy by the second, but now it’s time to board. I take my friends' bags to put in the bins. They’re already strapped in, I sit and do the same. The worker comes and checks my restraint, “Have a good ride” he chimes. My legs begin to shake, I can feel my stomach leap into my throat. Everything’s in slow motion and I hear a voice, it’s an Employee speaking over the loudspeaker “3…” Oh no. “2…” I want to scream, but my mouth won’t make a noise. “1…” I squeeze my eyes shut. “GO!” 

We start off relatively slow so I open my eyes again as we escalate the first hill of the roller coaster. My friends point at different things in the park saying “You can see everything from up here.” I don’t want to look. I keep my eyes forward, focusing on the cloudless blue sky up ahead. I try to keep my mind off the small chance that this seat belt is faulty and I could fall out as soon as we drop. At the moment, it seemed to be a likely possibility. I take in the smell of Auntie Anne’s cinnamon soft pretzels wafting from down below as we escalate, nearing the top.

We arrive at the maximum height of the hill. Uh-Oh. Slowly, we curve downward. I feel the foam handles as I grip onto them with all my might, squeezing them tightly as my body leans forward. Then BAM! We’re moving full speed down the steep coaster and I can feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins. I hear screams of joy, and the noise is coming from my mouth! I’m okay, I relax in my seat because now I can trust it. I feel the sensation of butterflies in my stomach, I'm really enjoying this! We get to the bottom of the hill and onto another one. This is extraordinarily fun! 

The coaster passes the camera and I pose for the photo as we fly by, a huge grin on my face. We soon near the end, and the coaster screeches to a stop. “That was awesome!” We get off and grab the bags before walking down the ramp to exit. I glance at the picture, and it looks like I was having a blast! After coming out of the photo building, I decide to ask a question “Can we go again?”

As we walk back to the line, I start to think about how The Diamond Back is arguably one of the scariest rides at Kings Island, and looking up at it now, probably one of the tallest coasters I’ve ever been on. I realize that I learned to conquer my fears today by going on the ride even though I didn’t trust the seats. I didn’t know what to expect, so I automatically thought the worst. Though I was terrified of the restraints not working, I still decided to go through with riding and I’m so glad I did because I love The Diamond Back and know to be more trusting in the future!