Andrew's POV
"Uh, where are we going?" Ashly finally looked up from scrolling through her Facebook feed, Twitter page, Instagram posts and Snaps, taking in the unfamiliar sight of grass fields on both sides of the empty gravel road. "Better turn on the GPS."
"Trust me." I pasted on a mysterious smile, tapping a finger against the wheel.
"You're not up to something, are you," Ashly raised an eyebrow.
"For me to know & you to find out." I said cryptically, looking at the rearview mirror to make sure Keith's car was still on our tail and hasn't switched to another route— one which would take them to the villa.
The plain grass fields gave way to a spacious clearing, and I wound down the car windows. Beside me, Ashly inhaled sharply and almost dropped her phone.
The scent of sweet popcorn and corn-dogs lingered in the summer air, and the atmosphere was vibrant with peals of laughter and hundreds of different voices and accents overlapping one another. Fairy lights hung from tent to tent and throngs of people of various ages hung around together in loosely formed groups.
"Ohmygod, Andrew," Ashly's eyes were as wide as a startled chipmunk. "This is amazing."
"Who said I'm not spontaneous?" I grinned. Behind us, car doors slammed and the rest bounded up, their expressions equally shocked.
"Dammit, man! I wasn't prepared for this! I brought my new swimsuit," Keith pretended to look miffed.
"I think Andrew has indeed proven to us that he's not as much of an organised nut as we think." Ashly smiled, trying to give me some credit.
"Can't wait to go on the coaster and throw up all the nachos I'll be wolfing down," Gabby said cheerily in her usual sarcastic/ironic tone.
I smiled to myself as they bickered over what to do first. To be honest, I wouldn't have known a carnival was taking place if not for my habit of sifting out junk mail from my inbox. Guess being an "organised nut" pays off.
We finally agreed to split up and meet at the Ferris Wheel two hours later. Ashly grabbed my hand excitedly. "1st stop- Mdm Tarot's Predictions," Ashly pointed to a slightly out of place tent which had a curtain of dark purple crystal beads hanging at the entrance.
I groaned.
"It'll be fun," Ashly ducked her head as she disappeared inside.
The inside transcended my stereotypical perceptions of fortune tellers- I expected a middle-aged woman with ebony hair fixed up in a turban and multiple rings adorning her eerily long fingers and a crystal ball which looked suspiciously store-bought to greet me, but boy was I wrong.
The flickering flames of scented wax candles drove out any shadows lurking in the corners. The lady at the glass table was — honestly, the word "stunning" did no justice to her. Red locks tumbling down her tanned shoulders, delicate features, and startlingly striking emerald irises which met mine when I looked up at her shyly.
"Welcome." her voice was gentle, soothing.
"Hi." Ashly looked equally astounded to be in her presence.
"Please make yourselves comfortable," she said, standing up and vanishing around an invisible corner.
Ashly and I exchanged weirded-out looks.
"Sorry about that." a tall, sinewy man with dark hair and piercing blue eyes strolled out from the same corner. If the lady was gorgeous, he was the definition of every girl's dream. Ashly's grip on my hand loosened as she self-consciously adjusted her pleated skirt (Ella teaches me stuff about ladies' fashion, ok?) "I was getting ready. So, what do you want to know? And don't worry, I'm not going to say things like 'the stars are not in your favor' or 'a blond someone is out to get you," he rolled his eyes slightly. "I'm the real deal. So I don't need to resort to vague predictions and generalised answers." he held out his arms expectantly. "Well? Or should I start with the most common ones, love life and fortune?"
"Sure. Yeah." Ashly cleared her throat nervously.
"Ok. Both of you hold hands and close your eyes." he instructed. "Now, clear your mind and think of what makes your relationship tick. How it has been so far."
My face grew red as anything, I was sure. From the first encounter up til now, both of us had made major progression in our initially hesitant and shaky relationship.
"Ok. Open." he had a solemn expression on his face. "Before I begin, I just want to make sure I have the basic facts down. Both of you are pretty well known, right?"
I nodded. "Kind of."
"Both of you didn't have it great before you were a couple."
"Right." Ashly confirmed. I noticed the question marks had become mere statements.
"And your mom doesn't exactly approve." he fixed his gaze on me.
"Uh,' I mumbled incoherently.
"It's ok, I'm aware." Ashly nodded.
"And I got all these just by looking at your memories." he said, then paused.
"What is it?" Ashly said anxiously. "You know something else."
"You wouldn't believe me, but I have to tell you." he looked at Ashly.
"What," Ashly said breathlessly.
"You don't know?" he had a coy smile on his face which I suddenly found repulsive. "You really have no idea... Ashly?"
Ashly's jaw dropped, straight through the ground if it was possible.
"Jackson."
A/N: Dun Dun Dun!! Sorry for the relatively short chapter, was all I could come up with at the moment. Stay tuned (; Also, I may not have tagged you for the 10 things that make you happy challenge, but go ahead and do it because I'm tagging YOU now!! (just too lazy to type all of your names xP) I would love to read them (:
