The Literary Misadventures of Juniper Rosewood

24- The Turbulent Dance of Teacups

"I was so excited when you started playing Don't You," Circe said, "I could have started screaming right there." All seven of us were wandering around the fairground, which had been set up in the old airfield just around the corner from the town square. There was a warehouse on the far side of the airfield full of all sorts of old planes, but the fair had been set up on the runway.

They had a jumble of rides and stalls, and despite the cold, it was fun just to gad about perusing the stands and having a laugh. Preston and Circe were doing some ridiculous bit about a muscular monkey and a flustered veterinary nurse, at which Etta was doubled over with laughter, presumably because Preston had adopted a high-pitched scouse accent to play the nurse, and Circe sounded like Darth Vader as she played the monkey.

"I came for my antihistamines," Said the monkey, flexing her muscles, "I'm allergic to bananas." Etta and Ingrid both shrieked with laughter, and Rashid rolled his eyes.

"You guys are insane," He said. I laughed, and Circe nodded her head.

"How did you not know this about us by now, Rashid?" She asked.

Ingrid dragged Rashid over to the hook-a-duck stand, and we followed them both blindly.

"Do you want me to win you a prize," Rashid asked, smiling widely and looking down at her with eyes full of love. I could hear Circe pretending to vomit behind me. Ingrid nodded.

"Come on, guys," I said, pulling everybody over to the side so that Rashid and Ingrid could have a little time alone without us hovering over their shoulders.

"How long have they been together?" Etta asked. I looked at Preston with expectant eyes, since he was the one who remembered things.

"About six months," He said.

"But they dragged it out for a disgustingly long time beforehand," Circe said, "It took Ingrid way too long to realise that Rashid liked her back. All of our sleepovers basically consisted of her complaining about him and how pretty he was."

"Until you got fed up and straight-up told her," Emma laughed.

"I still remember her face," I said.

"She looked like she was about to cry and laugh at the same time," Circe said.

"I wish I had been there," said Preston.

"I wish you had been there, too," Circe said.

Etta smiled sadly at me, and I understood what she meant immediately. She had never had a group of friends like ours, and she was sad to have missed out on so much of it now that she was friends with us. Even Circe was friends with her now that she realized I wasn't replacing her as my best friend. She wasn't used to this sort of camaraderie. I put my arm around her shoulder, which was hard because she was about five inches taller than me.

"What shall we do now?" I asked.

"Well, we absolutely have to ride on the teacups," Emma said.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Preston cried, and he grabbed her hand just as Rashid and Ingrid were coming back from the hook-a-duck stand with a giant pink teddy bear.

"Apparently we're going on the teacups," I said, as I grabbed Ingrid's hand and was pulled along by Circe, who was being pulled along by Etta who was being pulled along by Emma who was being pulled along by Preston. Ingrid grabbed onto Rashid and pulled him along too as Preston excitedly pulled us towards the teacups.

"Slow down, Preston!" Emma cried, but Preston loved the teacups, and nothing was going to stop the little five-year-old boy in his head that had finally been set free from his academic constraints.