Chapter 45 #2
Dylan Donovan: Quit complaining, Seb. Our shared wall is not that thin.
Sebastian Hayes: Trust me, it is.
Eli Westbrook: Just take my room.
Kian Ishida: No way! Don’t you fucking dare touch it. Take that back, Eli!
Sebastian Hayes: Sentimental dick.
Kian Ishida:
Aiden Crawford: Hello? Summer’s carnival. Don’t fucking miss it.
Kian Ishida: Aye aye, Captain.
Dylan Donovan: We know. She already threatened us with bodily harm if we forgot.
“You’ve seriously never been on a date before?” Sierra asks.
I help her out of the car. “Never.”
“Me neither,” she says, and I give her a look. “I mean, one of the classic dates. A carnival is the perfect one. I’ll even win you one of the stuffed animals.”
“I think I’m supposed to win it for you,” I say.
“Not if I beat you.” Then Sierra points to the Ferris wheel. “We have to go on that.”
“I support that,” Summer says, walking over to us. “The Ferris wheel is good luck.”
Kian slings arm over Summer’s shoulders. “Man, I love these carnivals. Last semester’s kissing booth was great,” he says.
“We didn’t have a kissing booth last year. We’ve never had one,” Summer points out.
“Really?” He scratches his head. “Huh.”
When we walk in, the first thing we see is Tyler Sampson sitting in the dunk tank. I bark out a laugh. “How’d you manage that?” I ask Summer. It’s mid-November, so no one volunteers for the tank.
“He deserved it, but oddly enough, he volunteered.” I’m guessing she found out about Amara and Sampson. He seems to be repenting for getting with her best friend.
His gaze is so intently fixed somewhere far away, he’s barely even fazed by the cold. Then Amara shows up with a dozen baseballs in a pail, and it all makes sense.
She strikes out. Eight times. “This shit is rigged!” she shouts.
Summer laughs and takes her turn but misses too. Amara groans in frustration.
“Looks like you’ll have to see me wet another time, sweetheart,” Sampson taunts.
“You’re not following through, Amara,” I offer. “Lift your elbow and engage your core.”
Sampson gives me the finger. And just as I give it back, Amara hits the target dead center, and he’s dunked. She cheers, and when a soaked Sampson pulls himself out of the water, he’s simmering. Amara gasps before running off. Sampson chases her with the widest smile I’ve ever seen him give anyone.
“I think they’re going to kill each other,” Sierra says.
“That’s what makes it worth it,” I say, peering down at her as she holds on to my arm.
We walk to a game of hoop shot. We play three rounds, and we tie every single time.
At another booth we play duck hunt, where we use air rifles to shoot the moving duck target.
We get so competitive, the freshman working the booth begs us to just take a stuffed animal and leave so the long line of people can have a shot.
Sierra giggles all the way to the Ferris wheel, sharing her churro with me. Then when we’re in the car, and we ascend to the top, she plays with the strings of her scarf, avoiding eye contact.
“Don’t tell me you’re scared of carnival rides.”
She laughs, her pretty green eyes glittering. “No. Well, technically, I was scared of heights until you came along.”
“Then what’s got you so quiet? You know I like hearing your voice.”
She holds on to my arm tight, taking the deepest, most contented sigh. “I’m just happy. I don’t ever want this to end.”
I smooth a palm across her face. “I can make that happen. I’ll tip the ride operator, and we can stay here as long as you want, babe.”
Sierra shakes her head with an amused smile. “I mean with you.”
“I’m keeping you forever, Sierra. You don’t need to worry about that.” I intertwine our fingers and kiss her knuckles. Then her eyes water. “Don’t cry, baby.”
She sniffles “Sorr—I mean, I’ve just never felt this. It’s like my chest is going to burst.”
“That sounds like a medical emergency, Romanova,” I note.
Sierra smacks my arm, hard. “I’m trying to say that I love you, you idiot.”
I don’t know what I thought would happen when I heard those words, but it’s definitely not losing my motor functions. I can’t speak, can’t move, can barely remember to blink.
She loves me.
I swallow the thickness in my throat. “Yeah?”
“So much that I’m kind of annoyed at you for making me an emotional sap.
All I have to do is think of you and how much effort you put into people without expecting anything in return.
You made me love myself because you make it look so easy.
I want to love you just as much. I want you to know that it doesn’t have to be complicated and messy or what your parents made you think it is.
It can be this, just you and me, showing up for each other every day. No matter what.”
My throat feels tight when I finally speak. “I know I don’t have many firsts to give you, but I want you to be my last. No matter what. I love you too, Sierra.” She turns to kiss me then, and I sink deep into the kiss.
I kiss her the entire time, long enough that the operator doesn’t say a word about us staying on.
I don’t know how many rounds we take, but when we get off, Sierra stops suddenly.
I almost knock her over. She answers her phone, and with one okay, she hangs up and stares at it.
It’s a whole three minutes before her hands shake, and she tucks the stuffed chameleon under her arm.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, trying to see who called her.
“It was Lidia.” She turns to me slowly. “Justin and Julia are disqualified,” she says. “We just secured a wild card entry to the ISU Grand Prix.”
Maybe Summer is right, the Ferris wheel is good luck.