Rebuilding Zerrie

Amusement Park

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Credits to my Asian homegirl, xxtuffmuffinxx. You're da craic, mate.

KLOE'S P.O.V.

We reached the amusement park right on time. I walked side by side with Niall while the others rushed to fall in line for the rides. "You know," I told him, "I've never had one of those awkward teenager dates to amusement parks. Being homeschooled and an introvert kept me from that."

Niall smirked at the corner of his mouth and held out his arm. "Well then, Kloe," he said, "Will you go out with me tonight?"

Blushing, I clung onto his arm. "I would be honored." It was nice having a friend I can open up to other than my family. "Oh, I almost forgot!" I tugged on Niall's sleeve. "It's your turn."

His gaze turned from me to he vendor behind him. "To be frank," he reached into his pocket for some cash. "I love buying cotton candy." He handed the bill to the vendor and got two sticks of cotton candy. "For both girls and myself," he added. "So far so awkward?"

I scrunched up my nose. It wasn't easy for this "date" thing to be awkward if I were already so comfortable with the guy I was with. Suppose if I were with Liam, I would've been so uneasy, but Niall was my bro. Apologetic, I shook my head. "Not really."

He didn't look disappointed. He was happy, even. I liked that he was secure with me as well. Niall, with spirits high, tugged on my arm again. "Let's head to the carousel!" We ran as he dragged me excitedly to the biggest carousel I've ever seen in my life. I let the cotton candy melt in my mouth as I basked at the glorious three-story ride that did nothing but spin, make horses go up and down a pole and play an annoying jingle.

"Seems spine-tingling!" Niall said before grabbing my hand and pulling me to one of the horses. He bowed as he boosted me up the creepy plastic thing. "Miss Bennett," he made his voice low to match Mr. Darcy's and faked an olden-day British accent as I pulled him up on the horse behind me.

Once all the horses were full, Niall gripped on tight to my waist as the ride started. His gesture was not at all needed because the carousel was apparently slower than Harry's talking. But we just laughed it off and went on with the booths.

We were on our way to the ring toss booth when I saw it. It was hanging on the top shelf, majestic and all. A stuffed toy of my favorite animal of all time. A unicorn. "Niall," I almost drooled while staring at it, "I burn, I pine, I perish."

He looked at where I was pointing. "Who are we talking about again?"

"Finnegan Fuzzy-Pants," I looked at him, dead serious. "He's a fan of Hannah Montana, likes African swimsuit models and eats bacon mushroom melt for breakfast even if other unicorns say it's wrong. He understands me."

His eyes squinted to see if I were delusional or something. "So, he's a unicorn?"

"Yes, he's a unicorn!" I almost shouted in the middle of an amusement park. "And we need to win him!" I shoved my hand in my pocket to get fifty dollars and immediately give it to the guy manufacturing the booth. He seemed quite contented with the easy cash but I didn't have time to worry about what lied behind his smile.

I needed that unicorn.

"The rules are simple," the vendor in the Rolling Stones shirt explained. "Shoot water in the target from the water gun. There's a balloon on top of it and will fill up the more you shoot the target. You have thirty seconds to make the balloon pop or your try is over. Five dollars a try." He handed both me and Niall a fun each and set the timer for thirty seconds.

After all our tries were wasted into failure, I sighed, disappointed. But Niall, refusing to lose hope, handed the happy Rolling Stones vendor another five dollars, but once he checked his log record for customers, his smile vanished. He cursed loudly. Niall and I exchanged looks of stifled laughs. "Congratulations," he said, sounding the exact opposite of congratulatory. "You are the 1 millionth try for the Water Balloon Booth."