Unlovable

19. The Festival

I swing Ezra's hand back and forth as we walk along the shaded paths of Prospect Park. I look around to see many people chattering and laughing as they walk along side us. No one even looks over at us, which is a nice change, considering how our last date went. There are only a few vendors out, like balloons or popcorn. Usually, there are a few more, but I guess they might be elsewhere due to the lantern festival. I hear barking and glance over to see a dog prancing at a young girl's feet, yipping at the cotton candy in her hand. The man above her tugs the leash, quieting the dog for the time being. I smile to myself as the girl gives the small animal a pinch of her candy fluff when the man turns the other way.

"So." I look back at Ezra who is staring at me intently. "What should we do?" I snort.

"Are you serious? Hello, the festival?" Ezra gives me a frustrated look, as if I'm supposed to know something.

"Silly, that's not until later, when it gets dark. That way, the lanterns will be pretty against the night sky." I nod in understanding and we dodge around a group of people flocking to two pigeons fighting over a dropped piece of popcorn. I wrinkle my nose at them; honestly, anyone who isn't a tourist has seen many pigeon fights.

"Okay, well, what do we do in the mean time?" I glance around, as if the answer is suddenly going to materialize in front of my very eyes. Which, it does. I spot a flyer pinned up and point at it. "We could go to that. It's a farmer's market near Lullwater Bridge- which is perfect, because the bridge would be a great place to release the lanterns." Ezra's eyes widen before she grins and nods.

"You're right! Good eye, Peaches." She gives my hand an affectionate squeeze and my stomach tingles. No matter how often she touches me, I get butterflies every single time.

"Speaking of, you know where we can get these lanterns?" Ezra rolls her eyes.

"Of course. I did research for our date." She proclaim proudly, giving me a smug look. I laugh and bump her shoulder with my own. "There's several small vendors that will start to sell them around seven. Then, you write a wish on an itty-bitty piece of paper and tuck it in your lantern. Then, you ignite the wick and release it up into the air." She waves her free hand in the air as she speaks.

"That sounds awesome. What happens to the lanterns?"

"Well, you know, they come down eventually. But typically, they fall in Prospect, so the groundskeepers can just pick them up." I furrow my brow.

"But- the wishes. Isn't that personal? Wouldn't they be tempted to read them?" Ezra gives me a knowing smile.

"See, the thing is, the note is tucked in close to the flame. So, eventually, by the time the lantern reaches the ground, the paper has burned up and floated away. The legend is, the wish-granters gather the burned bits or ash and repair the note so they can read it, then they grant the wish." I give her a weird look.

"That's an awful lot of research, Ezzy. How much did you search up?" She shrugs.

"I just wanted this to be perfect, babe." Ezra gives me a tender look, and I grin. I lean forward to place a soft, gentle kiss to her lips.

"Well, thank you." I caress her cheek gently with my thumb. "I'm sure it will be." Ezra suddenly moves forward, tugging me along by the hand after her.

"What are we waiting for?" I giggle as she leads me down the path, weaving in and out of the people. I trip a few times over fallen branches but don't stop. Occasionally I mutter a 'sorry' to someone I've bumped into, or an 'excuse me!' when Ezra pulls me in between people. Once, I even rolled my eyes towards someone and muttered, 'sorry, she's nuts.' Eventually, Ezra looses steam near the boathouse. "Well.." She starts, panting. "We made good ground." I laugh even harder as she leans over, panting. "How did you not even break a sweat?" I shrug. "God. You'd think I'd have tons of stamina, considering I dance and prance around four days a week."