Chapter 16: Chapter 16: The Sidekick and the Fair (Part 1)

The car ride over was more terrifying than any of the rides at the fair could be. My head was still spinning from the amount of weaving in and out of lanes of traffic Ethan had done. Not to mention how the countless amount of times Ethan had floored it, only to slam on the brake mere seconds later. I thought for sure we were done for when the brightly colored hatchback grew sick of it and began to break check us in retaliation. Ethan only managed to get out of that one by swerving in front of a minivan that blared its horn until we pulled into the parking lot of the fairgrounds. It begged the question though. 

Who the hell decided he was fit to be on the road? 

I tumbled out of the backseat, wanting nothing more than to drop to the ground and give it a big smooch, but I decided against doing so. No doubt the group I was with would manage to attract enough unwanted attention all on their own. I could at least try to delay the inevitable. We made our way out of the parking lot; it wasn’t too crowded yet but that looked to change soon as more and more cars continued to pull in. We merged single-file into the line in front of a booth, waiting to purchase a bracelet or tickets from the booth–depending on which was cheaper. As we neared, the bored college-aged guy manning the booth regarded the patrons before us with an 'I'm working for minimum wage to help pay off my student loans so don't make me work any harder than I need to' look.

"What can I do for you?" His drawl really sold the point home when he addressed our group, having reached the front of the line.  

"We'd like the full-day pass please," Amelia said, looking as pale as I felt. She tried to hide it for Ethan’s sake, but it was obvious she was shaken up. It was a small wonder that none of the others were affected by the trip.

"That'll come to fifty dollars a pass."

Holy crap. It cost that much to enjoy a day at the amusement park? Thankfully, I had shoved some spare cash into my wallet last night. I grabbed out my wallet and pulled out the wadded-up bills. 

"I've already paid online. Here's the receipt." 

The bills fell from my grasp back into my wallet, as she held out her phone. The guy gave it an apathetic once over, then scanned it with a handheld scanner. The machine beeped and the light atop of it flashed green. Satisfied, he handed her six bracelets and waved us through the security fence. The metal bar spun out of my way, and I took my first step into the amusement park. 

Calling it overwhelming would be an understatement. There was an abundance of sights, sounds, and smells, diverting my attention from one thing to the next. Of course, the immediate attraction was the rides. The fair had roller coasters zipping by full of screaming people, while couples–and those less adventurous patrons–queued up for the ferris wheel. While the rides were undoubtedly the main attractions, there was much more than them to occupy the time. Kids begged their parents to take them to the numerous game stalls, while their parents hesitated to splurge on blatant scams. It was amusing how the people leaving the mirror house and the people leaving the haunted house wore such different expressions upon exiting the attraction. Then there was the overpowering smell of everything fried, buttered, and saturated.

Unhealthy, just how I liked it.

"Everyone grab a pass from me," Amelia said, extending a fistful of them toward us. 

We all mobbed around her and grabbed one, everyone except Nora thanking her for buying them. Her voice was too low for me to hear, but whatever she said caused Amelia to glare and stick out her tongue at her. Ethan–ever the mediator between them–placed a gentle hand on her back and guided her a little ahead of our group. Nora pouted in response. I disregarded her and tried to make out their hushed conversation. 

"Amelia, you didn't have to do that. We all brought enough to pay for ourselves."

"I know, but I have more money than I know what to do with. Let me spoil all of you if it makes me happy."

He sighed and let the conversation drop, his hand falling from to his side as he walked alongside her. Nora acted quickly to occupy the space on his right. That left Rika sandwiched in the middle of me and Chloe as we followed them. But seriously, did I misjudge these girls. They'd been so nice and generous, and I still hadn’t even figured out how to pay back Rika. And now it seemed like I'd have to add Amelia to that list.

I pushed it to the back of my mind for now. I could figure something out later. Right now, I should be trying to enjoy myself. After all, I wouldn’t want Amelia’s generosity to go to waste by dragging down the mood. While I veered around a black tarp concealing some thick wires, Rika jabbed me in the side with an elbow and pointed at one of the roller coasters speeding by. "Do you like these types of rides?"

"Yeah. What about you?"

Her eyes darted to the ground. "Nah, actually, I'm not so good with them."

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Really? That was kind of surprising coming from her. I expected her to be the first one to break away from the group and run off to stand in line somewhere. 

“What about you, Chloe?” I asked. “You alright with them?”

“I have no problem with them. I love roller coasters.”

Now that was hard to imagine. I couldn’t see letting loose like that, but then again she didn’t get sick at all from Ethan’s horrible driving. Guess this was why you couldn’t judge a book by its cover.

"Since we got passes for the whole day, what do you guys want to do first?" Ethan asked, flipping around to address the three of us.

"I was hoping to check out the arcade first," Amelia replied.

Since the arcade required tokens, her suggestion kind of felt like it defeated the purpose of the passes. But I wasn’t about to argue with our generous benefactor. I wasn’t that much of an idiot.

Rika hopped in place. "That sounds fun! What do you think, Chloester?"

The girl with the questionable nickname nodded her head and brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Taking that as agreement, Rika snatched Chloe’s hand and meshed the two of them into one large group with the rest. I picked up the pace so I didn’t get left behind.

"What?" Nora crossed her arms. "You guys wanna play at an arcade? We can do that anytime. Let's go on some rides."

My best friend scratched at his cheek. "There'll be plenty of time for that later, Nora."

She sighed, flipping on her heels. We made eye contact, and suddenly I felt like something was going to happen that I wouldn’t appreciate. "What about you? You wanna go on some rides?"

Behind her, I could see Ethan making a slitting motion near his throat. Next to him, Amelia desperately shook her head, her blond hair flying in every direction. Was there a reason why they wanted me to say no so badly? I mean I could care less about whatever activity we decided upon first. I opened my mouth to decline her, trusting their judgment, but Nora cut me off.

"Never mind actually. You won't be able to keep up with me anyway."

Oh, she was approaching me? I doubted she knew who she was messing with. But that was no problem. She’d learn soon enough that I was no slouch when it came to the fair.

I snorted at her proclamation. "We'll see about that. Let's ride the Twister right now."

Ethan and Amelia let out a long sigh, while Chloe and Rika watched on in confusion. Nora, on the other hand, seemed ecstatic. Her eyes lit up, and she scampered over to the line. I went along with her and joined her in the relatively short line, knowing that I had this in the bag.