Not a Night for Clowning Around

𝔽𝕆𝕌ℝ𝕋𝔼𝔼ℕ

"TIME FOR SOME fun!" Shawn exclaimed as he stumbled towards us.

Jake patted his back. "Did you puke out the booze, bud?"

Aaliyah wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I'm gonna kill him when he's sober."

"Maybe we should call it a night," I offered. "Shawn should go rest, and I don't think those chilli cheese fries are sitting well in my stomach."

"Stop being a baby, Carter." Aaliyah rolled her eyes. "I didn't deal with the rotting stench of Shawn's vomit just to go home."

"She's right," Kellen piped in. "We paid extra for the funhouse tickets, so we might as well go there too."

"You mean I paid extra."

Kellen waved off Aaliyah. "Minor details."

"Are you up for it?" Jake asked me.

I heaved a sigh. "Do I even have a choice?"

"Yay!" Aaliyah squealed. "Let's go!"

We started walking toward the funhouse, which was on the other side of the carnival in a more secluded location. We were only a couple feet away when someone tapped my shoulder. It was a little girl. She had a lollipop in one hand and a paper airplane in the other.

"Excuse me, are you Carter?" she asked politely.

I eyed her weirdly. "Yeah, why?"

"A man told me to give this to you." She handed me the paper airplane. The little girl then scampered away, leaving me with nothing but a paper airplane and the feeling of dread.

"Maybe you should just throw it out," Aaliyah said in a low voice.

With shaky hands I unfolded the airplane, bracing myself for the worst.

Carter, my love,

We are closer than you'd know,

I'll find you even if you go.

But don't get into a huff,

You'll see me soon enough.

I felt bile rise up my throat. He was here. He knew where I was. He was close.

"Oh my God." My voice came out shaky as I felt the world close in on me.

"You guys go get in line," Jake spoke up. "I'll stay with Carter."

"I can stay too," Kellen offered.

"I don't want to take from your night. Go wait in line with the others." The rest of them followed Jake's orders and left, leaving us alone.

"I want to go home," I said as I crumpled up the note.

Jake wrapped his arms around me, holding me close. "I don't think it's a good idea for you to go home. The stalker probably thinks you're going to go home."

I pulled away from his grasp, my eyes stinging. "You think I should just suck it up and wait for him to find me?"

"I think you should stay with us and near as many witnesses as possible instead of being alone at home."

I hated that his argument made sense. I would basically be feeding into the stalker's trap by going home where I would be alone and vulnerable.

"I'll stay with you the entire time," Jake said. "I promise."

I wasn't sure what came over me. Perhaps it was the fear of potentially dying tonight, or my emotions being a wreck, but I leaned forward and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Jake looked taken aback, but he didn't say anything about the kiss. "We should go back to the rest."

"Yeah." My cheeks began to heat up. Why did I do that? And why didn't he acknowledge the kiss?

I trailed behind Jake, feeling a wave of disappointment wash over me. I was stupid to do that, and I probably ruined whatever we had going on. Hell, he probably didn't even like me. The more I thought about it the more mortified I felt.

"I'm going home after the funhouse," I announced to the rest of the group.

"Buzzkill," Shawn muttered under his breath, earning a smack from his girlfriend.

"We'll take you home right after," Aaliyah promised. "Are you feeling better?"

I stuffed my hands in my coat's pockets. "I'd rather not talk about it."

Kellen smiled at me. "You're gonna have a lot of fun."

"Let's hope so."