Lifetime

Fair

As cliche as it sounded, a chapter of my life closed the evening of graduation. Between my final kiss with Jimin, the turn of our tassels, and the last gathering of our class that night, I felt resolved. The only things I planned to take into the next were lessons learned and Hobi.

When it was all over I met Hobi outside of my window, sitting down to talk about the summer after he insisted we make our last summer in our hometown one dedicated to all the things we loved.

He started with the suggestion that we have ice cream every day. I initially protested, sure that while he would stay lean, it would stick right to my waistline.

"Then I will teach you to dance to cancel it out. I want to work on partnered dancing and you might need to know how to waltz one day." He countered.

"And you think the waltz will cancel out daily ice cream consumption?" I laughed, rolling my eyes at him.

He stood, his feet and hips moving in a rhythm I recognized. "No, but once we learn bachata and if I can get you to try out swing, we'll burn it off easily." He replied.

I laughed as he danced a little more. "We can't forget the county fair." I clicked my pen, scribbling in the notebook that sat in my lap, adding to the little bucket list we were putting together.

"We'll have to dance extra after that because I'm going to stuff you with fried food." He did a spin before sitting back down.

"I actually can't wait for that, as long as you ride the Ferris wheel with me." I responded.

His eyes immediately widened, my laugh at his continued fear of heights echoing into the night. "I don't think I can." He gulped.

"Hobi, we go to the fair together every year and I've never had the chance to ride the Ferris wheel because you're too scared." I thought of a proposition. "If you ride with me then I'll learn to swing dance with you."

He seemed to be thinking for a moment before agreeing, and we spent the rest of the night mapping out a movie schedule that included a couple of new releases and some of our old time favorites.

By the beginning of July when the fair rolled around I'd made a final decision to attend Columbia University after getting off the waitlist and Hobi was set to attend NYU. We sported t-shirts with our university names on them to the fair, with a sheet of tickets and map with circled food vendors in tow.

We stopped first for corn dogs and street corn, our stomachs feeling like they would burst after the turkey leg we shared and devouring some concoction that was an egg roll stuffed with the meat and sides to complete a full meal. We played a few games together, Hobi's face red with embarrassment as the attendant handed over the small stuffed duck he won for me after his assurance that he would win the giant one hanging from the top of the booth. I beat him at water shooting five times before he finally won, the victory dance he put on enough to convince me to let him win one more time.

I stopped by the bathroom after guzzling a giant cup of strawberry lemonade, hearing a familiar voice just as I was about to step out of the stall.

"So are they together now?" I didn't recognize the first voice, putting together that it was a friend of Gabby's once hers chimed in.

"He says they're not, but I'm sure the slut's working on it. She always wanted Hobi when we were together, even when she was with Jimin." She answered. I peeked through a crack in the door to see them approaching the mirrors, picking through their hair and reapplying their makeup. "I just hope he's not desperate enough after I dumped him to get with her. I'm sure she'll just jump to the next one once she's at Columbia."