No Place for Bad Girls

Carnival Days

POV~Megan

I'm once again struggling to find an outfit to wear. I've already gotten my makeup and hair done, now all I need is an outfit. Something chic and summer, but me. Dang, I didn't know choosing outfits could be this hard. Usually it's just "which sweat shirt is clean today?"

But, things have changed. First of all I think I'm developing a crush for literally the first time ever. And maybe...well maybe he likes me back. Maybe. I don't know, I've never had so much eye contact with anyone in my life.

I sigh and grab my black crop top and ripped jean-shorts. When I put them on, I realize something is missing. I grab a red and black checkered shirt and tie it around my waist. When I look in the mirror, I gasp. This is the first time I've ever felt...pretty. Truly pretty.

Smiling to myself, I click off the light and jog down the stairs. My dad sits on his desk facing the other way, and I freeze. Did he hear me?

"Hello Megan," he says without turning around. Question answered.

I gulp. "H-hi dad."

He slowly turns around, smirking a little when he faces me. Sweat trickles down my back.

"Where do you think you're going?"

My heart sinks. "No where. J-just the carnival that's all."

He suddenly get's up and stomps over to me. He's so close I can smell the alcohol on his breath.

"I don't think you are."

"Uh, I mean, if you don't..." I take a deep breath and close my eyes. "Yes I am."

Anger grows in him. "I control you! You aren't going ANYWHERE!"

I open my eyes, rage boiling inside of me. "You don't CONTROL ME! Or own me! I'm going whether you like it or not!"

He retracts back, surprise filling his face. Then, he steps forward again and razes his hand. I scream as he brings his sharp hand across my face. I'm knocked to the floor, cradling my cheek with tears pouring down my face.

He towers over me. "Tell me you're sorry! Tell me...tell me I'm powerful!" He booms.

"You're powerful," I squeak out.

He snaps his head towards me. "AND?!"

I snap my head towards him. "But I do NOT apologize for what I said."

He yells in anger again, but before he can bruise me again, I slip away from him and out the door. Since I already put my black Converse on, I run as fast as I can away from him and down the road. I run faster than I've ever ran before, even in PE I never ran this fast. I glance behind me to see him get in his car. I shake my head and force my legs to sprint faster. Making a quick left turn, I dive into one of the neighbors bushes. I hear my dad's engine roar past the house, and I let out a breath. I'm safe.

POV~Henry

As my parents pull up to the carnival, I thank them and hop out. My mom and dad wave to me as they drive away, and I smile at them back. I jog over to the place Megan and I arranged to meet; the ferris wheel.

About 10 minutes go by, and I see a red-faced Megan run up to me. She comes over and smiles when she sees me.

"Megan! What happened!?" I ask, stroking her insanely red cheek. It looks like it's about bruise.

I look into her eyes, which are tearing up at the second.

"I don't...I can't...I won't..."

I grab her hand so we can sit down on a bench.

"Megan, you can tell me anything. I promise, you're always safe with me."

She takes a deep, shaky breath. "It's...my dad. It's my dad. He...slapped me." She flinches.

My jaw drops, and I pull her into me. She stiffens, and then cries into my chest. I stroke her hair until she's done crying.

"He think he controls me, Henry!" She sobs.

I rock her back and forth, and then bring her so she's facing me.

"We should call the police, Megan."

Her eyes widen and she shakes her head violently. "Please, please no. They won't believe us...please. Please promise me you won't. Please."

I look into her begging eyes, and shake my head.

"We have to, Megan!"

Her lower lip quivers, and I instantly bring her into me and rock her back and forth.

"Please," she muffles into my shirt.

I sigh and nod. "Alright Megalicious."

She laughs a little and brings her body out so we're facing each other again.

"Now let's go play games!" She yells.

I laugh and follow her close behind. She grabs my hand and leads me to a basketball hoop game. I shoot her a smirk and shake my head.

"Oh, Megan. You know I played basketball, right?" I ask.

She rolls her eyes. "Whatever man, let's just play and see."

I smile and pull out my wallet to give the guy money.

"Oh, I can pay for my own!" She exclaims, taking out her purse.

I place my hand on top of her purse and push down.

"Nope. I've got it, Megan. You don't have to worry about anything."

She smiles as the bar shoots up and basketballs come rolling down. I grab one and so does she, and we begin shooting. We have until the 30 second buzzer rings out to make 5 shots, and we win a prize. So far, I haven't made any and there's...15 seconds left?!

Megan ends up making 6 SHOTS and getting a giant banana.

"Wow Megan, I didn't know you could shoot hoops that well."

She grins. "And I didn't know you could sing."

I shrug. "Touche, but I also didn't know you could sing."

"Well, after that I think you owe me a root beer float."

I laugh and we head over to the ice cream stand. I buy us a couple of root beer floats, and we sit down next to the concert area.

It seems that the night goes by in a flash. We ride almost ALL of the rides, (except the roller coaster, because I insisted on not going on any rides) and played a ton of games. I won her a huge gorilla, and then she won a bunch of little prizes. We ate corn dogs and funnel cake, and we even shared a churro. By the end of the night, we were exhausted.

We stumble over to a bench and close our eyes. "That was amazing," she whispers.

I nod. "Yeah."

Suddenly, she gasps next to me. I open my eyes to see her hop up and run towards the Ferris Wheel.

"What're you doing?!" I shout, running after her.

"It's almost midnight, the best time of might to ride it!"

I laugh and quickly catch up to her. We give the guy our last tickets and hop on.

She turns and smiles at me. "Once we get to the top, we can feel the cool wind on our faces and look out at the carnival. We'll be able to see everything lit up; it'll be so beautiful."

I smile softly as the ride sputters, and we begin to move. Next to me, Megan gasps and points out to everything.

"Look how magical," she murmurs.

Suddenly, I feel something on my shoulder. I look over to see her head laying on it, her eyes closed and her mouth turned upwards. I smile a little, turn, and lightly plant a kiss on her head. She's so tired, she doesn't even notice.

Not a bad day.