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boys and balloons

Tom Welling as Colton Thomas

★★★

Sally had only met Colton in the beginning of their senior year. At first, all she heard about him were rumors, such as being a runaway criminal or a secret FBI agent. Then, they were forced to be chemistry partners. Through frog dissections and explosive experiments, she actually found chemistry with a guy she barely knew. In all the rumors, none of them were true. Colton was a sweet guy who lived with his parents and had a cute little sister. He was not a criminal, a dealer, nor an agent. He did have a job at Faery's Boutique, a hidden detail Sally teases him about. They were planning to hang out today as Sally wanted to give Colton, as she called it, "the full Custerville's Fair magical experience." So far, their experience has been at a score of zero, unless Sally getting dunked in the tank nearly three times in a row counts as a fun experience.

She had planned to finish her shift in an hour as the manager of the fair agreed to let Sally go for the day, as it was the last day of the fair. Not to mention the last day of the fair she may experience before getting swept up in college and adult life. She shuddered at the thought and then, suddenly saw water all around her. She went up and tried to regain her grip on the chair. She slowly got up and tried to find her dunker. Colton smirked at her and gestured to the ball he was holding in his hand. He then hit the target perfectly on the dot, and Sally fell in again. Make that five times in a row.

After her shift was over, she dried herself off in the bathroom and changed into shorts and a tank top. She walked out and started looking for Colton in the bustling crowds. Then, someone bumped into her from the side. She turned to glare at the rude person, only to see a familiar smile. "You don't have to push me, you weirdo. You could have called for me like a normal person." Colton just shrugged and replied,"Normal is overrated, and besides, you wouldn't have noticed me cause I'm a ninja." He made weird gestures with his hands to indicate his "ninja-ness" while Sally just rolled her eyes. Colton then stopped and asked,"So, what are we doing first for the Custerville's Fair experience? The rigged games? Tasting the fatty yet wonderful food? Riding the magnificent Ferris Wheel?" They started walking around the fair, taking in all the sights. Well, Sally was taking in the sights while Colton kept stopping at a food cart every five seconds.

While Colton munched on his fifth hot dog, Sally talked about what she planned they could do for the day. "Well, after you eat your hot dog, we could try the other foods in the fair, like funnel cake, burgers, etc. Then, we can try all the games in the entire fair. Don't try the beanbag toss, though. The beanbags are said to be filled with a mysterious substance that prevents them from going in the basket. Anyway, after that, we can ride all the rides like the merry-go-round, the mini rollercoasters, and the bumper cars. And then maybe, we could...." Colton held his hand up and said,"Sally, come on, it's the last day of the fair. Just relax. We have the whole day ahead of us." She sighed and shrugged. " I know. I just want our day, I mean, the last day of the fair, to be fun and full of memories." "Well, if I'm spending the day with you, I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be a problem."

Sally blushed and then took him along to try all the food carts. They ate as much as they could before feeling pity for their stuffed stomachs. They ended up eating all the different types of food in the fair like cotton candy, hot dogs, funnel cakes, fried chicken, etc. Although Sally worried the rides would cause all the food to come spilling out, Colton dragged her to all the rides. The merry-go-round was smooth and easy. But, the bumper cars were another story. Sally was horrible at bumper cars, and refused to step into the disastrous vehicle. But, protests of the people behind her in line led her to carefully step in and hope for the best. If the best meant being bumped nearly every minute, and getting spun thanks to a certain brown-haired boy, then it was worth it.

Then, they headed onward to the games. Surprisingly, not all the games were rigged. In fact, Sally actually won a huge teddy bear at a darts booth.Whether it was by pure luck, or her hand-eye coordination, she couldn't tell.The best part was probably the mini rollercoasters. Surprisingly, Colton was scared of all rollercoasters, big and small. She decided to let him be and rode it by herself. With her eyes closed, of course. She loved the thrills she felt while riding, but looking down,would be too much for her stomach to handle. When she got off the ride, she headed towards Colton, who seemed to be looking at her ultimate fear, the Ferris Wheel. As she walked up, he turned around and smiled at her.

Just seeing that smile made her feel so happy. She never thought she'd meet a guy she would ever actually like in real life. All the guys she did like were either fictional, famous, gay, or taken. So, when Colton made her stomach feel butterflies, she almost didn't know what to do. But, today was the first day of daredevil Sally, the soon to be 18 year-old who could do anything. She had two objectives for today. One was to ride the Ferris Wheel and the other was to tell Colton her feelings for him were just beyond friendship. She couldn't decide which would be worse.

★★★

dedicated to @puncheddrunk for being a lovely reader!