I Can Ride

The Carnival

When we get to the ticket booth, Danny stops and takes his wallet out. I stand beside him and look around. There are so many ride and little concession stands. It's already a little dark out so the lights on the rides are on and it looks really beautiful. When it's a little darker the lights will look even more gorgeous. I look back over at Danny and he's smiling at the girl in the booth who's twirling her hair and has a flirty smile on her face. "Excuse me." I say and Danny looks at me. "I would like to get this date started so I can leave sooner." His face drops and i smirk. He grabs the purple wrist bands and we walk past the gates. "Which ride do you wanna go on first?" he asks. "How about the Yo Yo." "Ok" I lead the way and he follows. We stand in line until we make it to front of the line. We show the guy our wrist bands and we get in our seats. The seat are kind of like swings. They hang from a metal chain connected to the top of the ride. A few minutes later, the ride starts and we start going around in circles. Slowly, we start getting higher in the air until finally, i can see the whole carnival. I smile as i see all the little kids holding their mom and dad's hands. They don't even know how lucky they have it. Soon the ride stops and we get off. I look around and immediately know what ride i want to go on next. The Ring of Fire.

I walk over to the ride and wait in the line and Danny is right behind me. I watch as the carts do upside down and froward and upside down and backwards as we wait in line. After a few minutes we get to the front of the line. We show the guy our bands and he lets us through. We sit in a cart together and strap ourselves in. Once everyone is safely belted in, the ride starts. We go upside down and forward once and then we start to go backwards. Everyone starts to scream, including me. When the ride stops, we hop off and i start laughing. "What's so funny?" Danny asks. "I don't know. I just, felt like i had to laugh." He smiles at me and shakes his head. "Ok. My turn to pick and ride and then your turn and we keep taking turns." "Alright." And we make our way to the next ride.

45 minutes and about 8 rides later we decide to take a break. "Hey, do you wanna share a funnel cake?" I ask. "Sure." "Ok, I'll go get it." He grabs my arm and stops me. "I asked you on a date,I pay for the snacks." I smile and nod my head and he walks over to one of the concession stands. I walk over to one of the benches near it and wait. I take out my phone and see that i have 2 text messages. I click on the icon on my phone and see that they're both from dad. I hit 'reply' and text him back. A few minutes later Danny comes over to the bench with a white plate that contains our funnel cake. He sits down beside me and places the funnel cake in between us. I immediately take a piece and pop it into my mouth. The powdered sugar melts in my mouth and i moan at the taste. I finish chewing and go back to tear off another piece when i catch Danny just staring at me. "What? Do i have something on my face?" I ask, whipping my face with my palms. Knowing me I probably did. "No." "Then why are you staring at me like that?" He shakes his head like he's coming out of a daze. "Um, no reason." I shrug and pop another piece of the cake into my mouth. "So, tell me more about yourself." "What do you wanna know?" "Well, why don't we start with why you drive a motorcycle." "I thought the obvious reason would be because I like it." "Fair enough. But, why not a car instead?" "Because I like to feel the wind when I ride my bike. With a car, sure you can roll don't the window and feel the wind but that's it. With my bike, I feel free. When I'm on it, I feel like it's a part of me and that no one can get in my way." He doesn't say anything for a few minutes and I turn my head to look at him and he's staring at me again. "Dude you gotta quite starring at me like that, it's kinda creepy." "Sorry it's just,I like you. You aren't like all the other girls." "All the other girls?" "You know. The ones that throw themselves at every hot guy they see. The ones that try too hard to impress people. The ones that care too much about what other people think." "Well what about you?" "What about me?" "Do you care about what other people think? Do you try to impress people?" He smiles and looks off into the distance for a moment and then back at me. "No. No I don't care about what other people think, only what you think." This shocks me but I don't show that it does. "Why? Why me? You haven't even known me for a whole week." "I don't know. I just feel like, if you think I'm ok then, that's all that matters." "Do you use that line on all your dates?" "No." I smile at him and eat another piece of the funnel cake.

When wer're finished with the funnel cake, we throw it in the trash and start to go on more rides. Before we leave, Danny stops at one of the little game stations. He pays the guy a few bucks and picks up a ball and starts throwing balls at milk bottles. He knocks all of them down and the guy lets him pick a prize. He picks an over sized purple tie that says, "TAKEN" on it. He places it over my head and it lays on my neck. I laugh at it and he just smiles. "You wish." I say and he chuckles. As we walk to the entrance I see the ferrous wheel. I tug on Danny's arm and he stops. "What?" he asks. "We forgot to go on the ferrous wheel." I start walking over to it and he follows me. The guy lets us on and attaches the metal rod to the other side of the cart and then starts the ride. "Thanks for taking me out Danny. I had a lot of fun." "Yeah? Me too. I've never taken a girl to the carnival before and I wasn't sure how it would turn out or if you would like it." I laugh and so does he. "Well I had a lot of fun." "Good."

We go around about 5 times and then the ride stops and we get off. We walk to the car and Danny opens the door for me and I step in and say thank you. He gets in on his side and starts the car. He pulls out of the parking lot and drives us to my house. When we get there, he helps me out of the car and walks me to my door. "Thanks again Danny. It was great." "Yes it was." As I go to open my door, he grabs my arm gently and I turn back to look at him. "Since you had a good time tonight, maybe you'll let me take you out again Sunday." I giggle and nod my head. "I'll consider it." I say. He chuckles and  shakes his head. "I'll call you Sunday and let you know what time I'm picking you up." I smile at him and nod my head. He bends down and kisses my cheek. "Goodnight Candy." "Goodnight." He walks back to his car and I open the door and walk inside with a smile plastered on my face. As I start to make my way up the stairs I get startled by my dad's voice. "You're late." I turn around and my smile drops. "By 15 minutes dad. It's no big deal." "You should have called. You know I get worried about you, ever since your mother." "I know dad but, your not always gonna be able to protect me dad." He sighs and nods his head. "I know honey. I just can't help but worry all the time." "I know dad." "Now, on a lighter subject, how was your date?" A smile makes its way onto my face and he smiles too. "It was good. I had a lot of fun. The most fun I've had in a while." "I'm glad to see you happy. Do you think you'll go back out with him again?" "Definitely."

I walk up to my room and  lay on my bed. I can't believe I actually had fun with Danny tonight. And I can't believe I might actually like Danny. But that just makes me like all the other girls that fawn all over him. "But you don't throw yourself at him like all the other girls." a voice in my head said. "And you say what you feel like saying in front of him." That's true. "And he even said he likes you because you aren't like the other girls." That's true too. Huh, i guess I'm not so much like them after all. I smile to myself as i close my eyes and think about the amazing date I had tonight with Danny.