Love Letters

Chapter 2 - The Carnival

After dinner, it was getting late, so the Sanchez family waved goodbye. Ronnie, however, did not want to leave and boy did she make that clear.

"AHHHHHH!" She screamed., tears rolling down her cheeks. Mr. and Mrs. Sanchez as well as Hunter and his brothers tried to calm her down by telling her they'd come back tomorrow, but she wasn't having it. "NOOOO!" I want to stay with Saffy!" I was surprised that she wanted to stay with me, as was everyone else, so I decided it was my turn to comfort her. "Hey Ronnie." I knelt down to her eye level, as my brothers stared at me with their jaws dropped to the floor, unbelieving to the scene in front of them; Saffron? Comforting a child? They would have laughed if they weren't so shocked. "There's gonna be a carnival tomorrow. If your parents wanna come, we can see each other then, alright?" My voice was unusually soothing. "Can we go, mommy? Pwease?" She asked her mom hopefully. "Of course we can, sweetheart." Mrs. Sanchez said with a smile. Thank you, She mouthed at me. I just smiled back.

Everyone said their goodbyes, but Hunter pulled me to the side. "Hey, um, can I get your phone number?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, genuine hope in his grey-blue eyes and his perfect smile. I was surprised he even asked me that! Never would I have thought..

"Sure." I replied. We swapped phones and exchanged numbers. 'See ya, princesa." He winked and rushed out to meet the rest of his family. I rolled my eyes, but I could feel my cheeks heating up. I turned around to see my family staring at me, matching smirks on each of their faces. Then, Sterling spoke up. "Saffron's got a boyfriend!" He laughed and my parents joined in. "Oh, you're so gonna get it." I muttered and ran after my screaming little brother.

...

The following day, we met up with the Sanchez family in front of the carnival opening. "Ok, you guys," my mom addressed all the children. "You get 20 tickets each, but these are to last the entire day. So please don't use them all at once; you're not getting any more." We all nodded impatiently and rushed off in different directions.

I ran to the bumper cars with Cameron, and Hunter ran to the Big Dipper.

The day went by, and after a few hours, we stopped for lunch at a cafe in the grounds. I was seated at the end of the table with Hunter sitting next to me, and my father sitting in front of me. The boys chattered mindlessly and the parents were in deep conversation, but I read a book instead; if I wanted to waste my oxygen, it would have to be on something worth it, not about Star Wars or business talk.

Hunter pulled out a book and something else too, I saw it from the corner of my eye. Now, I wanted to be polite and pretend I didn't see anything, but my curiosity got the better of me. "Hunter?" I asked quietly.

"Hmm?" He hummed in response.

"What's that other thing you're holding?"

He looked up from his book; To Kill a Mockingbird, I noticed. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that "Curiosity killed the cat" ?" He asked, amused.

"Oh, um, sorry." I fumbled with my words, looking back down to my book blushing with embarrassment. Why did I do that? Stupid, stupid, stupid! I thought.

"Haha, no worries," He replied, seeming to enjoy my flustered state. "They're my glasses. I only use them to read." I was surprised that he answered me, but even more surprised by his answer! "You wear glasses- wait, wait. You READ?" I asked, astonished by what he said. "Of course, princesa. How else am I the smartest in our grade?" He raised his eyebrows at me smugly, as my jaw dropped to the concrete floor and my eyes bulged out of my head. SMARTEST IN OUR GRADE? HIM?!