Like Bees to Honey | gxg

31. New Perspectives

As the day cooled into evening the festival crowds had thickened, and it was slow going as Sabina and Riley made their way through the midway chaos back towards the parking lot. When they passed the place where the chainsaw artist had been working, they saw the statue was complete. The giant wooden bust with a morose face and long, drooping eyebrows reflected Sabina's feelings perfectly. It had only been a couple of hours since she had come the other way with Mel, but it felt like she was walking through a different world now.

Riley played with their shirt buttons. "I can't believe cousin Wyatt came up with that conspiracy theory."

"Right? I had no idea he was so invested in winning. He was only at the market for like, two weeks." Sabina shook her head.

"Oh, no, I meant because accusing Otis of somehow getting a bee to sting Mr. Chibana seems more like a you thing."

Sabina made a face, but she had to admit Riley wasn't exactly wrong. "It wasn't that cringy when me and Otis were feuding, was it?"

"Why would you ask me to lie to you?"

"Riley."

"Bina."

"Okay, fine, you're right. I've been embarrassing. But not nearly as embarrassing as that three-legged race."

"You don't think Wyatt is right, do you?"

"No. Well, maybe. I mean the bee was clearly an accident, and Otis never had a chance to talk to Mr. Chibana, but his parents were there..." Sabina shook the thought away. "But honestly? I don't care. What definitely happened is that my parents ruined the festival for a bunch of six-year-olds, and that is kinda my fault."

She put a hand on her broad-brimmed hat and tilted her head. Their route had taken them near the ferris wheel. Sunset bloomed peach-coloured across the sky, and everyone wanted to be on that ride at sunset; the queue snaked out beyond the stanchions and blocked the entrance to the washrooms. If everything had gone as planned, Sabina would have been waiting in that line with Mel right now.

She pushed out a heavy sigh. "I've been an idiot, haven't I?"

"Define idiot."

"I mean, you were right about the award. Even if I had won, what would've changed? Probably nothing."

"You don't know that. We did just witness the same three-legged race, right?"

"Yeah, but my parents have made up their minds about the university thing. Maybe my plan was never going to work. Maybe I just made the plan to have a plan. You know, to feel like I had some kind of control over my future or something."

"Am I witnessing an epiphany right now?" Riley put their thumb between their teeth to hide their grin, and for a moment, everything seemed normal between them.

But nothing was normal. Before today, the two of them hadn't spoken in two weeks, the longest they'd ever been apart since they met.

Sabina looked down at the dinosaur plushie in her hands. "Listen, at the yard sale- I shouldn't have said that you weren't doing anything with your life. It was mean. And, you know, it's okay if you're still figuring things out. I guess-" She took a deep breath. This shouldn't have been so hard to admit, but she'd always been the girl with the plan. Who was she, if she wasn't that? "I guess I'm still figuring things out, too."

"I appreciate that." Their smile bent crooked. "But I actually do have a plan. Which you would've known if you'd ever asked me what I was doing after my gap year."

"You have plans for after your gap year?"

"Of course I do." Laughing at her look of surprise, they said, "Come on. Ride the ferris wheel with me and I'll tell you all about it."