Faking Confidence

Chapter 4- "A giant purple panda"

*If you didn't read the extensions to the last two chapters (it's mostly just the end of the last chapter) I highly recommend going back and re-reading them or else you won't understand what's going on in this chapter. Sorry for the confusion!*

I started rethinking my decision to go on this date the minute we slipped past the librarian to leave out the side door. I like the librarian, she's nice, recommends great books, and lets me eat in the library. Which by the way your not technically supposed to do. But over the course of my high school years thus far, I've grown a sort of bond with Ms. Ramos and she's never so much as blinked an eye when I eat my lunch behind the shelves. But by sneaking out like this, I somehow feel like I'm betraying her.

"Oliver maybe we shouldn't be doing this..." We duck past a camera and begin running across the parking lot. "Sure we should! It'll be fun, you'll see." He says slightly out of breathe  as we reach his red Ford truck. He fumbles for his keys while I lean against the door, trying to catch my own breathe.

"But I'll be missing math, and I'm not really good at it. I mean who will give me the notes and the homework? Oh my God the homework. I'm in Calculus Oliver!"

He finally finds his keys and presses the button to unlock all the doors. "Amelia just get in please." I sigh and get into the passenger side seat. He follows suit getting behind the wheel.

"I'm just saying Oliver, math is no joke and-" he puts one finger on my lips silencing me. I glance down at his finger quickly then look back into his eyes. "Amelia it'll be fine. Missing one day isn't going to hurt." He removes his finger and turns the car on.

"And besides where we're going is way more exciting then sitting in a class for an hour doing math problems." He puts the car in gear and drives out of the parking lot. "But where are we going? You haven't told me."

He glances over at me and grins. "Well that my friend is a surprise."

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Half an hour later we arrive at some type of fair grounds. Just from the parking lot, or the grass area people have deemed the parking lot, I can see the flashing lights on the Ferris wheel and hear the laughter and noise of the people inside the fairgrounds.

"You brought me to the fair?" I ask as he turns off the engine and unbuckles his seatbelt. "Yep." He hops out of the car and rushes over to my door to open it for me. "Thanks." I say as I take the hand he holds out to help me down. I blush like crazy but quickly play it off. Luckily he appears not to have noticed. "So how does it feel?"

"How does what feel?" I ask while staring at the peak of the Ferris Wheel. It's turning slowly and I can just make out the profiles of the people sitting in the carts. Suddenly for some reason I start thinking of the Notebook. You know that one scene where Allies's with her date and then suddenly here comes Noah from out of no where hanging upside down from one of the carts? That's the one.

"Skipping class? Earning a little bit of freedom?" I frown and think about it. How does this feel? I mean it feels great getting to spend a little bit of time with Oliver, but missing school?

"I don't know. " I answer truthfully. " Ask me a little bit later." He nods and together we start walking to the ticket booth. The ticket booth. My hand flies to my purse and I start fumbling for my wallet. "Where is it, where is it..." I feel all around my purse trying to find it, but cannot find it for the life of me.

"What are you looking for?" Oliver asks.  I frown and zip up my purse. "I was looking for my wallet to pay for my ticket, but I guess I left it at home." He frowns, imitating me. "Why would you need to pay for your ticket?"

The question catches me off guard. "Why wouldn't I?" He grins and pulls out a ten dollar bill. "It wouldn't be a first date if I didn't pay now would it?" A first date, oh my God this is our first date. "Ol-"I'm cut off once I notice we've made it to the booth.

"How many?" A guy with a scruffy voice asks from behind the glass off the booth. "Two please." The guy rings up something on the register before pulling out two arm bands. "Ten dollars." Oliver hands  him the ten and in exchange gets two bright green bracelets. "Thank you." The man doesn't say anything back already calling out "Next!".

"Here you go." He says while handing me one of the bracelets. I thank him and attempt to put it on myself. Unfortunately though we all know how this goes. I stand there beside the booth trying to get that stinking bracelet on for forever. Oliver eventually notices my struggle and comes to help.

"Here let me get that." He takes the bracelet from me and easily gets it on. "Thanks." I mumble as we begin walking through the fairgrounds. "No problem." He replies back with a small smile.

We start walking past booth after booth of games. One game in particular catches my eye and I can't help but drift over to it. It's one of those games where you have to toss a ring around a glass bottle and as a prize you get a giant teddy bear. Or in this case a giant purple panda.

"Oh, we have to play!" Oliver smiles and takes out two dollars. "What you want the panda?" I smile and nod.

"Then the panda you shall get." He hands the guy running the booth the two dollars and gets handed three rings to toss. "Get all three and win a prize!" He says while moving out of Oliver's way.

I smile and whisper. "No pressure or anything but if you don't win the panda I will be terribly upset." He knows I'm just picking, or at least I hope he does, but either way he gets the first ring around the bottle. "One down two to go!"

He winks and picks up the next ring. He aims for a bottle in the front of the rows and gets it. "Two! That means you get a small prize!" The guy running the booth sets a small crab stuffed animal on the counter. "Or..." he says. "You can try for the third one and get....a giant purple panda!!!"

I glance at the purple panda hanging from the top of the booth then look at Oliver. He gives me a single nod before answering the man. "I think I'll test my luck and try for the giant purple panda."

The guy nods looking pleased and takes away the crab stuffed animal. In it's place he sets down the panda. "Are you ready to test your luck?" Oliver nods and picks up the last and final ring. I watch as he holds it out, judging the distance between it and a bottle in the back.

I hold my breath as he brings back his arm and tosses it. It lands with a 'CLINK' around the bottle he was aiming for. "Congratulations!" The guy holds out the panda to Oliver who thanks him and hands it to me.

"Oh my gosh thank you!" In the heat of the moment I surprise myself by giving him a hug. I'm about to pull back when he wraps his arms around holding me close. And strangely enough that little gesture was all it took for me to want to stay that way.

When we eventually pull away I notice I'm not the only one who's flushed. "So," he says smiling "what's next?" I grin as I once again catch sight of the Ferris wheel. The line has finally gone down to where there shouldn't be too much of a wait.

"How about the Ferris Wheel?"

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And ta-da! Amelia and Oliver finally went on a proper date. What do you think of it so far? Keep in mind it's not over yet, the next chapter will be a carry on of this chapter. But I hope you like it so far. And thanks to everyone who's reading this, it means the world to me ^-^

Random fact about this chapter: I was trying to think of a good date setting for this chapter and I accidentally winded up writing my ideal dream date. Oh wellssss