A Girl From the Fair

1. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙖𝙞𝙧

                                                                     𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘌𝘋 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰n

        The fair reekes of kettle corn, funnel cake, and puke. Three smells I never should have to describe in the same sentence. I had walked in latched by the elbow onto Brittany-- on my left -- and Isabel-- on my right -- so of course everyone was staring. Being a 'popular' cheerlader was working for them, the guys frothing at the mouth over them, the girls all either hating their guts or wanting to prctially kiss them, it all fit their image. It did not fit my image. So far, I'd only come out to Brittany and Isabel-- they hadn't told anyone either --but somehow it was like the whole school knew I wasn't like them. Being thir friend was fun for sure, but having people see us being friends... I almost felt bad for them.

        Isabel had been talking all night about meeting back up with Jeff, them apparently having (somehow) not spent the entire summer attached to each other. Apparently, Isabel had caught him cheating with her sister, but forgave him because he called her hair shiny and promised her he 'wouldn't do it again.' Both me and Brittany knew that wasn't true, and were pretty sure Isabel knew it too, but we stayed quiet. "i'm super excited about Jeff" Brittany said, deadpanning, "but can we stop by the snack booth really quick? I'm riding the Puke and Duke, I wanna pull trig." I rolled my eyes, Brittany knew what I thought about her wanting to 'pull trig'. "Brittany, you're super hot, you don't need to puke to be hotter!" I tried to convince her. "Thanks, but I want a Coke anyway so, even if I don't ill get something to drink." Me and Isabel excanged glances, laughing a bit as our eyes met, Brittany rolled her eyes at us, trying to hide a smile.

        "Hey, can I get... a Coke?" Brittany started talking to the snack guy, some old man none of us had seen before. Isabel talked to them both as they continued talking, Brittany clearly trying to dumb herself down for a free drink. I leaned against the side of the tent, watching kids pass by, rides wirl around, and bright lights flash all around me. Right as I had looked into a light, being temporarily blinded, I heard a loud announcement over the loudspeakers. Something about the football team. "...and everyone get horny for our star player, Jeff!" The big baby of a high schooler popped out from behind the rest of the team, smiling and posing like a movie star. I turned to see Isabel smiling almost as wide.

        As the loud, bright hype died down, Jeff ran over to us, pulling Isabel into a kiss. Even I could admit, for the seconds he was there, it was a sweet moment. But of course, after those few seconds he pulled away, trying to find some girl asking for him to... sign her tits? Isabel looked dissapointed at his sudden disaperance, both me and Brittany acknowledging it. "I got my drink, lets head over to the Puke and Duke Isabel." Brittany said, trying to lighten her mood. She smiled and started following her in response, I followed close beind them both.

        Just as Brittany had started explining the story of some summer hook up in an attempt to cheer Isabel up, she stopped in front of a group of three girls. The first one to start talking was a girl with a high ponytail, a black skirt, and suspenders over a white shirt. An oddly... religious outfit? "Brittany!" The girl cooed. "Pj." Brittany replied, entirely deadpanned. Pj! Thats her name! I know i've seen her around school, i've just never talked to her. As they continued talking, I looked around at the two girls behind Pj. One had a sling over her arm, a green shirt, and was staring at Isabel, somewhat obviously. As I turned to look behind her I saw the last girl. She was looking down, playing around with a roll of tickets and rings in her hands, but I could tell she had a nicely face-framing haircut, a cute, sort of masc outfit, and again, rings. My immidiate thought was wether or not she would like girls. I stared at her, trying to see the details of her face when she suddenly looked up, meeting my gaze. I stayed looking at her for a second, she stayed looking at me. After a few seconds of some sort of starig contest, she waved, smiling an awkward but really cute smile. I could feel butterflies in my stomach when I looked away. I was fully unable to hide my smile.

        The night continued as expected, Brittany somehow ending up with a roll of tickets similar to what the girl was holding from before. I found that throughout the night, I couldn't stop thinking about her. The only distractionn I had was the rides, and that was only because Isabel and Brittany just had to ride every roller coaster they could find. I followed along with them the entire night, not knowing waht else to do, until i'd had enough, one more rolelrcoatser and I would have been puking up my insides. "Hey uh, I think im going to do a more chill ride while you guys go on... this." I looked up at the gargantuan roller coaster they were about to get in line for. Isabel smiled at me, "Ok! Im going home after this ride, so you wont miss much!" I hugged them both and waved goodbye, walking over to the calmest ride I could find, the Ferris Wheel.

        The line was fairly short, only about eleven people ahead of me. A group of three stood right in front of me, they were vaguely memorable but no one I could recognize, not from the back of their heads at least. "We're getting in the cooch this year, Hazel! I swear!" The second I heard the word 'cooch' I knew I shouldn't be listening. The line moved fast, groups of two getting up and into the ride one at a time ahead of me. Soon, only the group of three was ahead of me. "Next!" the ride opperator called. Two of the three girls walked foward, handing their tickets to the opperator and getting on the first bench. Ahead of me was now only the one girl. I din't know her but, right now I wouldn't expect many people from our school to talk to me, so I just assumed it wouldnt matter.

        "Next!" the ride pperator called again. The girl ahead of me stepped up, handing the opperator a ticket. I walked up behind her, reaching for my pocket to grab a ticket. As I felt around my pocket, I quickly realized there were no tickets in my pocket. "Shit, uh I dont have a ticket sorry-" All of a sudden, right as I was about to leave a hand-- with rings on it, i noticed-- reached out and handed the man a ticket. He smiled and pointed me to the ride. Right as I started walking up to my bench I noticed the girl who had given him a ticket, the girl from before.

"Hey! I thought I recognized you and it seemed like you needed some help, so uh, yeah!"

I blinked, rying to formulate something like words.

"Uhm i think i do recognize you, and thanks, a lot, for the ticket."

I sat next to her, smiling awkwardly, trying to peice my thoughts together.

I hope you enjoyed! more parts coming v soon, and it will pick up the pace I promise! Comment suggestions or any notes for the next chapter (chapters will be roughly the same length... sorry...) <3