Freakshow

2 - Understudy

Chal woke up with two things on their mind: their deal with Sicky, and a large headache.

The former had been bugging them all night-of course, they did ask of their own will, and all the responsibility was solely on them. But what would Charlotte think? She had no knowledge of their little deal, and Chal had practically forgotten to tell her. If they did, would she be more lenient, or would she get overprotective like usual?

Surely, though she'd realize Chal would be fine in Sicky's care; Chal had already prefaced Charlotte with the fact that they already knew all the staff at Starlight Carnival well enough to consider them family.

It'll be okay, Chal thought to themself as they lifted their head up from the seat of the car. You don't need to overthink this. She'll be fine, she'll let you go.

Chal had forgotten to bring some sort of time-telling device, but from the murky colors of the sky, they were surely awake hours before they needed to be. They hoped and prayed that Sicky wouldn't mind them being just a bit early...

Chal simply sat back in the backseat of the car, staring up at the sky. It was as dark outside as it could possibly be, and Chal could barely see in front of themself. The air felt humid around them; almost like a thin blanket of mist that they could feel, but not see. It made them all the more drowsy, but they tried their best to keep their eyes open.

They then decided to go ahead and get ready for the day. Really, they could just waste all the time they wanted, as they had plenty to do so, but they thought it'd be better to get things done already then put them off later. Charlotte always told Chal it's better to be early then on time, anyway. Maybe she'd appreciate them taking after her sayings.

Reaching for the suitcase laying in the car's floorboards, Chal looked for something fresh to wear. They'd packed a lot of clothes, as they knew they'd be staying at Starlight Carnival for a week, perhaps more. After a few minutes of looking through the suitcase (and a lot of redeciding) they settled on a simple shirt-shorts pair, and quickly slipped on a cap and a pair of sneakers. They couldn't quite tell its color, but they tried to pick something more similar in values. It'd be hotter outside eventually, they thought, so less would be more.

On their way to the gate, Chal took a passing peek at Charlotte, who was still asleep in the passenger seat. She looked almost nicer asleep: all the scowling expression wiped from her face like she was a blank slate, thoughts racing only in her unconscious mind. Her arm was resting on the door of the car, and it almost looked like something was in her hand. Curious as they were, Chal carefully tried to unfurl her fingers from the object-it was easier than they expected, and they lifted up the object to take a look at it. There it was: the star-shaped key Charlotte had obtained the day before... wait, Charlotte hadn't returned Roy's key! Roy specifically asked her to return the key as soon as possible; what would happen if they realized she hadn't done so?

Chal was almost about to go try to return the key, when they realized something: This key unlocked the Starlight Concessions building. Sicky already needed Chal to go there today. That meant it couldn't possibly be a hassle to keep the key until they didn't need it anymore. With that realization, Chal swiftly shoved the key into the pockets of their shorts and headed on their way, slipping inside Starlight Carnival's front gates as quietly and quickly as possible.

They looked around to see if anyone was present; no one in sight, besides Roy at their prize counter doing some kind of busywork. Chal didn't want to bother them about anything, so they snuck by without a trace.

Chal had already decided to take the regular route they usually went to the Starlight Concessions building: straight to their left when they entered through the gates, and up the steps. Of course, though, this meant that they'd have to pass by the Flosser's humble little abode; not that he was that big of an issue, but he did detest Chal for their friendship with Sicky, believing he was a bad influence. Chal never really saw the issue in it, though, and they still didn't know what the Flosser was even on about. Not like he made sense most of the time anyway...