Ethereal

11

Luca

My face heated up when I looked at myself in the hand mirror at the face paint booth. 

"You look so cute!" the old lady doing the face paints said, "Don't you agree Miss?".

I looked over at Hira, who seemed to struggling to not laugh as she took a picture of me on her phone. 

"Um yeah super cute" she replied. 

"You two are such a cute couple. Remind me of my son and his wife, they are as mischievous as the two of you!" the old lady said, smiling warmly at us.

"Oh we aren't dating" I said, awkwardly.

Right, just because we are on a date doesn't mean we are dating. 

"Well why not? Seems to me you have chemistry" the old lady said, looking at us quizzically. 

Hira and I didn't reply. I peeked over at her and the traces of laughter was gone from her face and instead her face had turned slightly pink.

I didn't know she was capable of blushing. She is adorable.

"Ah no answer! Teenagers today so complicated. Back in my day, a guy bought me ice cream at the small ice cream parlour on our street and confessed that he liked me the day after we met for the first time. And now guess what? The same guy is now my husband" Old Lady said, smiling warmly.

"Um how much do we owe?" Hira said, fishing out her wallet.

"Oh dear no! Put that away, this is on the house! You two have a wonderful date" Old Lady said.

"Thanks" I said. 

She winked at me and leaned in. "I say ask her out as your girlfriend tonight, you two seem lovely together!" she whispered excitedly in my ear. 

I looked over at Hira who seemed distracted by her phone. "I'll see" I whispered back.

I got up from the stool and smiled at the old lady. "Thank you so much Ma'am" I said.

"No worries!".

Hira and I walked away, waving goodbye to the old lady.

"This is so embarrassing" I mumbled to myself, my face burning, as I felt some people peek over at me as we passed them.

"It suits you though, you look cute" Hira said, "don't be embarrassed! Own the look".

"You say that but you seem to be struggling not to laugh" I said, my ears burning. 

She bit her lip, smiling. "Sorry it is funny seeing you dressed like this".

"Remind me to never make bets with you again" I said, smiling. 

Our hands brushed against each other as we walked side by side. I softly took her hand in mine, half expecting her to pull away.

But she didn't, instead she squeezed my hand softly.

"Want to go on the Ferris wheel now?" I asked. 

"Sure".

~~

We sat beside each other in the Ferris wheel cart. Hira was quietly looking out the cart. 

We weren't saying anything but our hands were still interlocked. 

The sun had set already and the carnival seemed like something out of a movie as the lights twinkled and the sound of laughter and screaming filled the air. 

"I used to come here with my mom a lot when she was alive" Hira said, breaking the silence. 

I looked over at her, she was still gazing out the cart.