Do You Want Me Dead? (Jalex) HIATUS

Chapter 3

"Sup." A voice called at me from behind. I stood up immediately, and turned. There was a girl, maybe my age. She was very curvy, with long brown wavy hair. "My name is Annabelle, you can call me 'Anna' or 'Belle', but never both." She spoke quickly, in a roundabout way.

"Hi Belle." I said softly, suddenly uncomfortable around a peer. "My name's Jack. Uh, Mr. ...Olympia... said that there's a place in a trailer for me somewhere?" I asked, hoping I'd gotten the details right. She nodded.

"Grab your shit and follow me." She called out, walking away. She was very straight forward, but I didn't mind. Grabbing my stuff, I hurried after her. We walked past all of the tents being set up, the booths and food stands, and the animal cages, which were all in the process of being put together.

"So, do you work here?" I asked her, trying to be friendly. There was no way I was going to being here without having any friends. I mean, I'd assumed that once I got settled in, this place would be a real home to me.

"Yes." She replied, somewhat curtly. "I am a tightrope walker."

"Wow, that's really cool." I smiled, thinking how excited I already was to begin here. She shrugged.

"I was born here. I've never done anything else." She said.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Almost 18." She said, smiling a bit. I didn't ask anything else, because I didn't want to pry. Belle seemed very nice, and I wanted someone to be friends with here. I mean, this wasn't like high school. There were probably cliques, but no one here really belonged in an average high school setting.

After getting all the way around the grounds, we arrived at a bunch of trailers. A lot of them were painted, with stripes and lots of different colors. Belle brought me to one at the far edge, with green and orange stripes on it. She looked over at me.

"There are 3 bunks in every trailer. They're pretty big, so it won't be too cramped for you. There's a bed, bathroom, and microwave, but you won't be spending a lot of time here." She said, opening the door and leading me in. It was very average on the inside, save for some sparkly outfits strewn about the floor. I assumed that whoever I was rooming with was a performer. A totally ripped guy walked into the front area, with blonde hair and bronzed skin. In my mind, I was seriously wondering why the fuck are all these men so fit? But I didn't get much time to wonder, because he walked right over and stuck out his arm for a handshake. Complying, I went along with it.

"Sweet, finally I get a roommate." He said. "This one looks a little skinny though." I frowned.

"I prefer the term 'lanky'." I retorted. With a hearty laugh, he walked away.

"I like you already, kid." He said, going back to his bunk. Everyone here was so strange, and they didn't care what I thought; I liked it.

"His name is Daniel." Belle said. "He's into strongman contests and stuff." She grabbed the bag from my hand without asking and towed it over to the bunks, setting it in an empty one.

"You can sleep here. Get your shit set up, then come outside and find me. You're gonna help us set up today. Wear something you won't sweat too bad in." She advised, eyeing my skinny jeans. Nodding, I watched her walk out. So this place is my new home. I did feel somewhat out of sorts, but it was a good kind. I knew this wouldn't be any kind of vacation, and had no intentions of acting like that; I was there to work, and didn't have a problem with that.

After putting on shorts and an old shirt in the small bathroom, I exited the trailer and walked around, looking for Belle. All around, people were hammering poles into the ground, and pulling ropes to raise the tents up. I didn't feel too out of place, walking around in old basketball shorts and a Dead Kennedys shirt. Once I'd spotted her, I walked over. She was shoveling something, but I didn't see that it was animal crap until I got up there. All around, there were pits of mud from the rain that had fallen last night. I narrowly avoided all of them, trying to save the last shred of dignity that belonged to my old red Chucks. Of course, it smelled awful, but work wasn't supposed to be fun. It was supposed to be work.