Chapter 11 #2
Amelia caught her around the waist at the last second as her feet nearly went out from under her, leaving her leant back and looking up into Amelia’s eyes. The shock of her nearly falling was quickly replaced by the shock of the intensity of each other’s gaze.
Keira’s eyes darkened. Someone — probably Lucy, wolf-whistled from nearby, and Amelia righted Keira so quickly she nearly sent her flying in the other direction. Keira cleared her throat.
“Thanks,” she muttered before giving Amelia a shy smile. Amelia would have winked if she didn’t think it risked sending Keira flying again.
Keira
The basketball team stumbled out of the ice rink, laughing and chatting as they returned their skates, passing the ever-growing queue of people waiting to get in.
Keira’s legs were a little disorientated now she was back on solid ground.
Her brain felt a little disorientated, too; she felt like the entire ice rink had been watching her flail, even though that clearly wasn’t the case.
She didn’t know which felt worse — needing help, or accepting it.
Amelia had been gracious about it, of course, but it still left Keira feeling off balance.
She looked over at Amelia, chatting happily with Evie.
It wasn’t just the ice that had left her off-kilter.
“Doughnuts!” Lucy shouted. Then she disappeared into the crowd, heading toward the food stalls.
Amelia glanced at her and smiled while shrugging her shoulders. She followed Lucy into the throng of people moving in every direction, including children darting in and out from one side of the wide pathway to the other, nearly colliding with each other.
Keira marvelled as she followed. Everyone was in a sugar-fuelled haze.
A large funhouse towered over the path. Brightly lit in a variety of colours, lots of screams and giggles emanated from within.
Opposite was a large wooden structure. The beer taps and the scent of mulled wine wafting out told Keira it was a more grown-up establishment.
Lucy’s blonde head was easily spotted above the crowd of people. Keira made a beeline for it.
“Every time I come to Winter Wonderland, I have to get doughnuts. It’s a tradition.
” Lucy explained to Keira as she came up on Lucy’s other side.
She nodded and turned to read the beautifully hand-lettered menu painted onto the shutters at the side of the stall.
It all sounded delicious, but she wasn’t sure she could handle that much sugar.
“Wanna split some?” Keira asked.
“Share my doughnuts? No way!” Lucy laughed as they slowly moved towards the front of the queue. “I always get twelve for myself.”
Keira laughed as Lucy took another step forward and placed her order for a dozen doughnuts with two different dipping sauces.
“I’ll share, if you’re still willing?” Amelia said. She moved beside Keira in the queue.
“Sure, how many?” Keira asked.
“I think Lucy would disown us if we get any less than twelve,” Amelia said, sounding serious.
“Too right,” Lucy replied, stepping out of the queue with her giant bag of doughnuts.
She was already dipping one into both the caramel and chocolate sauce.
Then she stuffed the whole thing in her mouth.
“Ungh, that’s almost better than sex. Almost,” Lucy spoke, voice muffled by the dough in her mouth.
Keira placed an order for twelve doughnuts before standing off to the side with Amelia.
They needed to wait while the stall cooked a fresh batch.
A little further down the path she could see a structure that almost glowed with blue light, as its iced interior refracted the light around it.
In front was a large ice statue of a dragon, with many people taking selfies with it.
“Look there,” Amelia said, pointing. Keira found Asha and Sienna standing by the coconut shy stall. “I pity the coconuts,” Amelia said. “We both know how hard they can throw.”
“Twelve doughnuts with chocolate sauce!” one of the stall workers yelled.
“That’s us.” Keira stepped forward and collected their bounty. Amelia rubbed her hands together.
“Shall we walk while we eat?” Amelia suggested, and she led them back into the crowd. “Have you been to Winter Wonderland before?” she asked as she carefully selected a doughnut out of the bag.
“Not since I was little,” Keira replied.
She opened the chocolate sauce tub and offered it to Amelia to dip her doughnut.
“There’s something really magical about it.
It’s like Christmas only really starts once the Ferris wheel starts turning, you know?
” Keira gestured towards that large Ferris wheel with her doughnut.
It dominated the skyline in front of City Hall. Amelia paled.
“Have you ever been on it?”
“No,” Amelia said shyly.
“Just that one? Or…any Ferris wheel?“ Keira asked, then took another bite of her doughnut. Something about the way Amelia shrank a little more made her suspect the latter.
“Never any,” Amelia said stubbornly. “My job when the team rides the Ferris wheel is to take pictures. From the ground.”
Keira tilted her head and cocked her eyebrow. “Are you scared of heights?”
“A little,” Amelia said, but the way she shifted suggested to Keira it was more than just ‘a little’.
The pair carried on walking around the Winter Wonderland. Fairy lights in the trees twinkled like stars, and the smell of bratwurst greeted them when they turned a corner. A large food truck was sizzling up various sauces and burgers and the air was heavy with the smell of meat and smoke.
They passed a large sweet cart next. The sweets were beautifully organised in large glass jars, like at a traditional sweetshop, as well as clear plastic tubs under the counter.
Keira considered buying some, but after seeing the price list, she thought better of it.
Amelia did, however, insist they take a selfie in front of it, the vibrant background of sweets complimenting their cold-red faces.
Next they came to a cart selling coffee. The scent of the roasted beans replaced the sickliness of the sweets and meatiness of the sausages and burgers. Keira turned to Amelia.
“Do you want one?” She gestured towards the coffee cart. Amelia didn’t respond, instead stifling a laugh.
“What?”
“It’s nothing,” she said, finally laughing.
“What is it?” Keira demanded, and Amelia laughed harder.
“It’s nothing, it’s just — here.” Amelia pulled her sleeve down over the end of her hand and gently held Keira’s cheek, using her sleeve to brush at Keira’s nose.
Cross-eyed trying to see what Amelia was doing, Keira’s cheeks flamed with embarrassment.
Amelia met her gaze and smiled. A searing heat passed between them as Amelia continued to caress her cheek.
Someone knocked into Amelia as they passed, and she dropped her arm.
Keira finally noticed the white smear of doughnut sugar on Amelia’s arm.
Oh, god.
Warmth filled her chest, while she simultaneously bristled at being cared for like that. It made her feel like a child.
“What time are we planning on going on the Ferris wheel?” Keira asked to quickly change the subject and try to recover some balance. It returned Amelia to the back foot, and Keira immediately felt guilty.
Amelia took out her phone. Keira couldn’t help but notice the cute way Amelia’s lips scrunched when she was reading. She really couldn’t blame her wobbly legs on the ice skating anymore.
“In half an hour,” Amelia croaked out.
Kiera nodded and slowly began walking again. Amelia quickly fell into step beside her. Their easy, laid-back conversation had disappeared. It was as if they were both scared of making any sudden moves.
“I’m so excited to ride the Ferris wheel, aren’t you?” Sienna asked.
“Amelia likes to keep her feet firmly on the ground,” Sofia said with a laugh.
Keira was relieved when they’d regrouped with the other members of the team to queue for the Ferris wheel.
She and Amelia had been seemingly tiptoeing around each other since Amelia had so delicately wiped sugar from her face.
It was getting harder and harder not to act on her impulses, but every stolen glance and shared smile forced her reservations to further crumble away.
Outside of basketball and under the stars, it seemed like anything was possible.
She doesn’t date teammates. She doesn’t date teammates.
The mantra did little to assuage Keira’s growing affection.
The group moved further up the queue, and Keira watched Amelia crane her neck, looking upwards dubiously at the giant metal structure that towered above them. The closer they got, the more her friends ribbed her for refusing to go up.
“C’mon, no one’s died…yet!” Lucy said jovially.
“The view from the top is amazing!” Sienna added hopefully.
“You never know,” Keira said, leaning in close to whisper in her ear, unable to help herself. She enjoyed the way Amelia’s body shivered in reaction. “It might be fun.”
The queue lurched forward again as another rotation of Ferris wheel riders disembarked and boarded. They were now so close to the front Keira had to lean her head back to see the topmost carriages. She couldn’t wait to see what the city looked like from up there. Amelia looked nauseous.
“Where’d you two disappear off to?” Evie asked quietly, her head popping up behind them, between Amelia and Keira. She put a hand on each of their outer shoulders.
“Nowhere,” Amelia responded quickly. Too quickly for Keira’s liking.