retrograde.

;seven

chapter seven: so are you what you want to be?

        Five minutes later, I'm dizzy and unable to walk.

"So I take it you didn't like the teacups?" Ansley asks, not hiding the fact she was laughing at my misfortune.

My head was spinning and I felt nauseous. It got so bad that Ansley had to make me sit down on a nearby bench and went to get me a bottle of water. She comes back and gives it to me, and sits next to me. I drink most of it and lean back against the bench, and close my eyes. I shouldn't have underestimated those teacups.

"Don't take a nap now." She says. "We have four hours until this place closes."

When I finally get myself together, she grabs my hand and pulls me after her to the next ride. The further into the carnival we go into, the more rides I see. I wonder how even though the town is small, it still manages to make room for this place. She settles on a large swing set that seats two people in one seat. The ride is just now letting off. Some people are removing the safety latches and others are staying on for another ride. We find an empty pink one and get on it. She pulls the latch down and lets out a sigh as she waits for the ride to begin.

"Do you think you can handle this?" She says with a smirk. "I saw how badly those teacups messed you up."

"I can handle a swing, Ansley." I say firmly.

Ansley holds her hands up in submission, not wanting a fight. "Alright, but I'm just saying, you looked like you were about to turn green. And I didn't know that was humanly possible."

"It was going too fast for me." I say in my defense. "Since when were teacups that fast? And did you really have to spin the thingy that much? We were the fastest ones."

My misery only makes her laugh more, and the ride begins. The swing set lifts us up, so now our legs are dangling. I look away from her as she composes herself. The swings start to turn slowly, eventually picking up enough wind to make us go fast enough and high enough. Occasionally it might tilt over to add to the experience.

"Enjoying the view?" She muses, turning to face me.

"The view of the parking lot?" I ask sarcastically. "Most definitely. It's a beautiful sight."

She rolls her eyes and shoves me lightly. I only laugh at her.

"We should play a game after this." She suggests, leaning her head against my shoulder.

"Is this your way of saying you want me to win you something?" I ask, knowing this is how girls usually suggest things when the want something.

She lifts her head up to give me a joking glare. "I can win myself something, Casper Clark. I don't need a boy to do it for me."

"Never said you couldn't." I say with a laugh. "I'm sure you're very well capable of getting yourself something."

She smiles at me, and she has one to the prettiest smiles I've ever seen. I realize I've been staring too long when she sheepishly buries her face in my shoulder and asks; "Do I have something on my face?"

I need to think of a witty comeback that will make her swoon. Something that will prove that I'm not completely terrible at talking to girls. But I'm not witty, and I can't talk to girls. I don't know how it works. Because every time I try to think of something that will make a girl blush, my brain literally ends up going "DOES NOT COMPUTE" so it's not worth trying. So I just say the cheesiest shit known to man that makes me look like the biggest idiot in the world.

"If you were a vegetable, you'd be a cute-cumber."

When I say that, I literally sigh in disappointment that I can say something that embarrassing. And I've said a lot of embarrassing things in my lifetime. I shake my head and quickly apologize.