C Stands for Carnivals, Crushes, and Childishness

Part Three

  We didn't win any other games, but we were having so much fun that I didn't mind.

The sun had just set, and with the darkness over the carnival came a chill. After the final game, we were at the far side of the carnival, by the playground. It was only used by the underclassmen, so we hadn't been there in a while. Even now there was a bunch of sixth graders on the swings. I asked him if he wanted to go on the monkey bars and to my surprise he said yes. As we headed over I glimpsed Jasmine at the ring toss booth. She was looking at us, her eyes wide, shuffling her feet as if she was about to head over to us. When our eyes met she shook her head and made a motion with her hands for me to stop. I shivered, but I wasn't sure if it was from the now cold air.

"Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?" Riley asked. I stopped in my tracks. How could he know if there was something I wanted to tell him? The warnings my friends had given me wouldn't get out of my mind. Did he assume I liked him just because he was popular? Was he planning on taunting me, whether I liked him or not? Worst of all, we had an audience of eleven-year-olds.

"Um, no there wasn't- there wasn't anything I wanted....uh," I scanned the crowds of the carnival, frantically looking for a way to leave. I spotted Kristen at the lemonade stand. I stammered an excuse and walked away. After I had gone a few yards, I turned to look back at him. He was no longer at the playground.

By the time I approached her she was talking with Parker at the side of the stand. I didn't want to interrupt, so I decided to buy something first. Neither of them realized I was ordering lemonade just a few feet away; they were so deep in their conversation. Kristen's face was red, and it only got red when she was angry. I wondered what they could be talking about.

"Hey," I said and they both jumped. "What's going on?" I asked her.

"This jerk," she bit out, pointing an accusatory finger at Parker, "has been lying to me, and everyone else. What I almost told you about Riley? He made it all up!" Her voice went an octave higher.

"Don't listen to her, she's crazy-" he tried to interrupt.

"He wants to ruin his reputation, all because he's jealous that more girls like Riley than him!"

"You're an ass" I hissed in Parker's direction and ran off to re-find Riley. I had the perfect opportunity to confess and ask him out, but I let gossip stop me from using it. I ran through some of the aisles, accidentally running into some people, and stumbling over kids. I had even spilled some of my drink on me, which made the chill I had gotten from the cold night air worse.

I went back to the football field to see if anyone was still under the bleachers. Maybe one of them knew where he was at. As I neared them, I could just make out two shapes, holding onto each other in the darkness. One was a girl; I could see the wind blowing her hair around. Her voice echoed and I heard her say, "So, does that mean we're dating now?"

Riley's voice sounded tentative, but he responded, "Yes."

A sharp pain went through my chest. My cup slipped from my hand and the rest of the drink spilled onto the grass. It must have made a noise, or maybe I did because they looked over to my direction. I hoped there wasn't any light shining my way. I took off running back to the carnival. I didn't stop till I got to the center by the bouncy house. I felt like I was standing on something. I looked down and saw my foot was inside a diaper with a cupcake smushed inside and I almost vomited. Could this night get any worse?

"Eva," a voice said beside me. I almost jumped out of my skin. I turned and Parker was standing only a few feet away.

"Go away," I grumbled, and leaned against the bouncy house which wasn't comfortable, "I have nothing to say to you." I stared off in the distance, watching everyone else have fun at the games I had just played.

He ignored me. "I wasn't telling full lies, just half truths. Riley did trip a seventh grader the other day because he thought it would be funny. He just didn't break any noses. He has stolen from his older brother, but it was just a five-dollar Target gift card. It was everyone else who added all the extra stuff."

"Don't try to act like a good person," I stood upright and I noticed that we were almost the same height. "You only released these 'half-truths' for your own self-interest, not anyone else's." A shriek sounded from the inside of the bouncy house and a bunch of yelling ensued. High schoolers had arrived. I watched as they tackled each other, body slamming their friends into the rubber matting underneath. They acted like children even though they were probably seniors. I realized that teenagers were still childish, acting out and spreading petty rumors about their own friends. It was probably for the best that I didn't ask Riley out, or that we didn't start dating. The only hope I had that things were going to work out for us came from my belief that high school was going to somehow be different than junior high. Everything that had happened that day proved me wrong.