Sandcastles

Chapter Fifteen

Mom gives me cash for the fair right before I walk out the door with Alexander. He showed up exactly at the time he said he would. All week I've been looking forward to this day. Since exams are next week, I have barely seen Alexander at school. Everyone has been studying all week. I haven't really talked to anyone, actually. Ben and I usually study together when we get home but that's it. Madeline has been busy studying with Helen and even John Tyler.

I get in the passenger's seat of Alexander's truck and he pulls out of our driveway. Since the radio is broken, the drive is eerily silent. The fair isn't as far away as I thought, though. Whenever I see tons of lights and huge rides up ahead, I know that we're here.

Alexander parks the truck and we both get out. He clasps onto my hand and I smile while we walk up to the ticket booth together. He purchases wristbands for both of us so we can ride as many things as we want, although I'm not much of a fan for these kind of things.

Fair music is the only thing that fills my ears and all sorts of delicious smells come from the food carts. Alexander lets go of my hand unexpectedly to go buy something. I wait for him and he returns with two odd looking ball things wrapped in napkins. Grease and oil from the fried things are soaking through the paper.

"Um, what are these?" I ask him. He grins as he sinks his teeth into the one he has.

"Fried Oreos." He say with a mouthful. "Try it. They're delicious."

Never in a million years would I have thought of frying an Oreo, but I decide to try it anyways. One bite in and I think I'm in heaven. The cream from the Oreos are all melted on the inside and it's just delicious. We sit on a bench to finish them and then stand to check the rest of the fair out.

Alexander's grip on my hand is so tight but I kind of like it. He points out several rides that he likes and we decide to ride one. Well, he decides to ride one. As I've said, I don't really like these kind of things. But he drags me along anyways and we both stand in line for the ride.

It's some big thing that tons of people can get on. When you're all strapped in to the cage-like thing, it starts spinning upside down and stuff. I'm terrified already, but Alexander seems to be anticipating it.

When the line moves forward we are able to get on. I make sure to sit beside Alexander. His hand never lets go of mine even in the awkward position. Whenever everyone gets strapped in, the roar of the ride starting fills my ears. I close my eyes as it starts to swing. Soon we are sent upside down. It does this several more times until it starts to slow into a stop. The whole time Alexander was laughing but I never opened my eyes once.

He still holds my hand as we walk away from the ride. His shoulder is touching mine; that's how close we are when we walk.

"You okay?" he asks me with a laugh.

I look up at him and nod my head. He smiles in return as he pulls me towards the booth where you have to throw the baseball to knock over the milk bottles. These things are nearly impossible to knock over, but he seems confident he can do it. He hands a five dollar bill to the attendant and gets five baseballs. I stand to the side to watch him. His arm rears back, the muscles twitching when he does so. With one swift move, he launches the ball at the bottles. They topple down, not one of them standing up.

Even the attendant seems impressed. Alexander wins this huge stuffed tiger which he can barely hold. He holds it in front of his face and turns to me where all I can see is the tiger and Alexander's legs beneath it. Alexander let's out a childlike giggle and hands the tiger to me.

I have to use one arm to hold the huge tiger and the other one to hold onto Alexander. He leads me in front of the huge Ferris wheel then looks down at me with a smirk. I'm not a big fan of heights and this Ferris wheel is massive.