Fleeting

County Fair

7th June 2019

"Where the moonlight touched the sand,

And the sea hugged the land."

I swung on the railing next to Jaxon and watched the carnival lights twinkling against the night sky.

People lined the boardwalk, crammed together in queues. But then that wasn't surprising. The carnival at Redondo Pier was the highlight of the year. A time when small, brightly coloured huts covered Veterans Park, and entranced everyone to step up and test their skills. The lure of rewards that made any six-year-old (or twenty-year-old) giddy with excitement was too tempting to resist.

Hazel and Tori walked towards us, empty-handed, both having failed to win at the bottle toss.

"I swear you can't win at those games," grumbled Tori, pointing at the hut behind him.

"Everyone knows they're rigged, but it doesn't stop people spending." Jaxon shrugged.

"Or enjoying them," Hazel added with a giggle.

"Hmmm." Tori wasn't impressed, but he also knew how much his girlfriend loved the carnival. He only put up with it for her sake.

I scratched behind Teddy's ears as he watched the gnats flying in clumps above the water.

"So is Alexa not joining us tonight?" Jaxon asked, batting his eyelashes innocently.

My lips pressed into a line, but it was all for show. "She said she doesn't want to be around you until you apologize." Not that I really minded. She liked to make snide comments about the other three when we all hung out together. And I just didn't need the added stress.

Jaxon snorted, dropping the innocent look. "Righttt. I'll apologize when she stops being a slob."

"I'm pretty sure hell will freeze over first," Tori chimed in.

"She'd never go home then, she hates the cold." Jaxon and Tori smiled wolfishly at each other.

"Har har guys, let's try not to call my girlfriend the spawn of Satan." I deadpan whilst the other three dissolved into laughter.

Sometimes I wondered whether I should have been defending Alexa more. But it was hard.

Jaxon was right; she was a slob. Not even I could deny that.

She wasn't like that when I'd started dating her four months ago. But lately she was irritable, clingy, and seemed to want to spark an argument whenever she could.

I hadn't told anyone, but I was thinking of breaking up with her. The only problem was I didn't think I was in the right mind to do it. I was worried that my sudden annoyance towards her was because of my anger at Hunter and my inability to focus on anything but.

I was terrified of making the wrong decision.

Teddy brought my thoughts to an abrupt halt as he pulled the lead out of my grasp.

I fumbled trying to catch it but it was no good; he was already disappearing into the crowd.

"What the..."

But I didn't wait to hear the rest of Jaxon's sentence.

I sped after Teddy, listening for the sound of his exciting yipping to direct me. It was impossible to see him through the crowd, but still I called out.

I could hear the others struggling through the crowd somewhere behind me, but I didn't pause. The idea of losing Teddy was unthinkable, and yet I couldn't stop thinking about it.