Taiven Parmiga

Chapter 33: Round and Round

We decide to head to the fair Monday morning, hoping it'll be less crowded because many have work and school. I stayed over at Ev's place the night before and as we drive down the long (and extremely boring) highway, I can't stop dozing off as the sun keeps going in and out of clouds. The radio is on, but softly for background noise and I can hear Evan lightly humming along, which makes me smile. I rest my head on the window and eventually fall asleep.

Soon, I'm being violently shaken awake while I hear Evan shouting,

"Taissa! There it is! We made it! We're here!" 

I have to rub my eyes and straighten my messed up hair. I squint around through the window and see the giant Ferris Wheel hovering above many little rides and booths and stands. I grow excited and nervous at the same time, hoping today goes as well as Evan promised it would. 

"Did you sleep well?" He asks, a little calmer. 

"I did." I say softly, my eyes still adjusting to the bright sunlight. 

"You missed my incredible rendition of Don't Stop Believing." He smirks and my smile grows even wider.

"Did I? Oh darn! Wake me up next time and I'll show you how to REALLY sing." I joke. 

"Babe, you're not even close to my level." He pretends to be stuck up and I can't stop smiling because he called me "babe". I feel stupid for smiling at something like this. But it makes my heart happy for explainable reasons. 

We eventually pull into the parking area and start walking toward the entrance. Evan swiftly swings his arm behind mine to make out hands meet as our fingers interlock. I pull down my shades and give him an excited smile. 

"You know, if this turns out to be awful, you're the only one to blame." I tease, partially serious.

"Yeah, but I'm so confident that this date will be so epic, you'll never forget it. In a good way." He states proudly. 

We get to the entrance and Evan pays for our entrance fees and for 10 tickets each to spend on rides. 

"What do you want to do first?" He asks as we look around at all the rides and booths. 

We were smart to come on a Monday, because it isn't too crowded. The sun shines down, but not too hot, with a gentle breeze blowing regularly. The air smells like sugary cotton candy, greasy burger,  and salty popcorn all at once. There's the sound of laughter and excited squeals from all directions. You occasionally hear the loud dings of the small game booths as someone wins a prize. There's everything from giant teddy bears to plastic bubble machines and even things as small as a slap-bracelet. 

And the food! I see people walking around with ice cream, corn dogs, and burgers bigger than my entire head. Everything is fried, grilled, powdered, or covered in chocolate. I suddenly spot the water gun game where you have to shoot enough targets in one minute to win a prize. I point to it and Evan nods as we head over. 

"You made a big mistake. I'm pretty good at this game." Evan boasts, sliding his sunglasses to rest on his head. I roll my eyes and we each give the man at the booth 1 ticket. I find a gun I like and Evan sits at the one to the right of me. The starting bell rings out and we begin shooting every target that pops up. We're both too invested in winning and laughing constantly to pay attention to the score.

When it ends, we look up at the screen. Evan hit 12 and I hit 9. I roll by eyes and laugh as Evan starts to tease me. Without even thinking about it, I turn my gun towards him and squirt him right in the face before losing it and laughing loud enough for everyone around to hear. Evan only smiles and starts to spray me with him until we're in a full-on water war. Soon, we're interrupted by a few kids waiting in line to go next. We apologize, while still trying to control our laughter, and walk on to the next booth. 

A couple hours go by and the sun is starting to set and the crowd has started to grow. We play game after game and ride some of the slower rides. We try tons of food and have to take a break before moving on to the next thing so we don't get sick.

We stop to rest at a picnic table in an eating area. The sky is a combination of dark purples and blues fading into black with a few stars starting to unveil themselves. It seems like the air has grown more energetic as the sun set. The crowd becomes more alive with all the lights and noises around us.

"Ready for the finale?" Evan asks before taking a sip of his soda.

"What finale." I ask him.

"He points toward the giant ferris wheel in the near distance and makes a short click with his tongue before turning towards me.

I instantly start to feel nervous. But when I look at him, when I look in his eyes, they seems so happy and alive. I don't want to take that away because of a dumb childhood fear. This is something he really enjoys. I want it to be something we do together. Even if I have to conquer one of my biggest fears to do that.

I nod trying to look exciting. We stand and throw away our drinks and start to walk over towards the line. We have just enough tickets for a ride.

As we wait, Evan intertwines his fingers with mine and looks at me with pure joy. I try to return the happiness, but I can tell I'm failing when he starts to look worried.

"Hey, Tai, if you don't want to, we don't have to. It's okay. I'm fine either way." He's facing me now, his protective hands on my shoulders and concern in his eyes.

But I shake my head and breath out before responding confidently,
"No. We're gonna do this. I'll be fine. It'll be great."

A few minutes after that, we get to the front and climb into our cart before the ride instructor shuts the door with us inside. It's cozier than I imagined and I already feel calmer than expected. The music from the games and a band playing nearby are soothing. Evan puts his arm around me as we start to move towards the top. We stop a couple times before it runs steadily.

We get to the very top and it stops again. Before I have a chance to freak out, I look out towards the entrance, seeing all the flashing lights below us. Further away you can see the city and even further, very faintly, there are small mountains. I smile wider than I have in a long, long time.

I turn towards Evan and his expression is the same as mine. He starts to lean in and I meet him in the middle, our lips locking in the most perfect way possible, making the night even better than is was 10 seconds ago.

We sit there together with the lights and sounds surrounding us, the sun completely gone. Being that high up, it felt like we were all alone in the black abyss of the nighttime sky.

And I couldn't be any happier than I am in this very moment with the one other person I care about more than anything else...

And never expecting things to change so quickly from good to bad, then from bad...to worse.

AN:
Wow it's been like 4 years. So sorry for going MIA. Things have been pretty crazy lately. I'm on break from classes. So hoping to wrap this book up soon. Be ready for it!
Thanks for reading, and as always, tap that star and drop and comments below.
-Aly