A Little Bit of Everything and Everyone

Views - (Keaton Stromberg pt. 1)

"We're going to the carnival! We're going to the carnival!" my cousin Esperanza sings. I laugh at her excitement. She can act like a little kid sometimes but other times she is the most mature 16-year-old I know.

We get to the carnival on the pier in Galveston, Texas and after getting wristbands, and heading to the bathroom, Esperanza and I take off in direction of the swings. When we get there there's a giant line. Esperanza and I stand there for what seems like forever. Just as we are nearing the front, three very familiar looking guys walk up to us.

"Hey mind if we join you two?" one of them asks. I'm too awestruck to say anything but Esperanza clearly has no clue who these gorgeous guys are and steps in to save me from embarrassing myself.

"Sure!" she says. The one with a hat on smiles at her. The green-eyed boy looks at me sweetly and in return I stare down at my red Converse sneakers. I'm shy okay?

The boys get on ahead of us and Esperanza grabs my arm.

"Did you see him looking at me Raelynn! He's gorgeous!" she squeals. I laugh and then tell her who these boys are.

"That's Wesley Stromberg chica. From Emblem3. And the one that was looking at me? Yeah that's Keaton. Wes' brother. And the tall, older looking one is Drew."

"Why didn't you say something!! I knew they looked familiar!" Esperanza yelled. Wesley looks back and she smiles and waves at him. He grins back. Keaton looks to me and this time I don't look away. I smile back at him.

"Ooh Raelynn he's totally into you! Like seriously you should make a move! Or I will!" I don't doubt for a second that Esperanza won't try and hook me and Keaton up. I laugh and we get on the ride. I'm already having a blast and we've only been here for a half an hour.

The ride is super fun. The swings go super high and over the ocean. It's scary but fun. I can hear Esperanza screaming behind me which makes me laugh. Keaton is in front of me and at one point he turns around to give my cousin a strange look. He looks at me and I laugh.

Once we get off of the ride. Drew is hanging onto a girl who we met in line for the restroom. She has introduced herself as Breana and is super sweet. Drew and Breana take off to go play some games. Esperanza looks from me to Keaton and finally to Wes.

"Hey Wesley I need to go to the giftshop to get my little sister something. Raelynn we'll meet you guys at the Ferris Wheel." I shoot Esperanza this I'm-going-to-kill-you look and she smiles at me and then pulls Wes in the direction of the giftshop. I look at Keaton who is looking at me.

"Well, this isn't awkward at all," I say. Keaton laughs. I like the sound of it. Then, catching me by surprise, Keaton grabs my hand and we walk in the direction of the Ferris Wheel. We get there and the line isn't long, but Esperanza and Wes are nowhere to be found.

"Should we wait for them?" I ask Keaton. The guy running the ride then barks at us to either get on or get out of line. After taking one last look around for my cousin, I follow Keaton into the cart. I sit next to him and look out over the water as we move toward the sky. Just then there is a creaking noise and the ride stops. It's stuck!

"Great. I guess it's a good thing I'm not afraid of heights...are you?" Keaton asks me. I shake my head. It's actually really cool up here. We can see out over the entire island and over the ocean. I look at Keaton.

"Nah, it's actually kind of pretty up here."

"Yeah it is. Mesmerizing," Keaton says. But he isn't looking at the water like I am. He's looking at me.