What You Caused

12.

Chapter 12 | The funfair

Isabella:

"This would be the perfect date spot," Grace sighs as we enter the carnival that early October evening. The orange and gold coloured leaves crunch beneath our feet as we walk through the funfair grounds. "Sammy should bring you here," she adds turning to Mia who wraps her coat around her tightly to rejuvenate warmth.

"Yeah, we're planning to come again later in the month." Mia tucks a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. "It's so pretty here, especially in the night."

I nod in agreement, swiveling my head around to take in the view of the fair. It's Friday evening and Mia, Grace and our three mothers have ventured on a night out to the carnival that opens in our town every fall. It's packed to the brim with teenagers, little children and even elderly couples and the sounds of loud laughter mixed with the booming sound of fair music shoots a wave of nostalgia through me. The bright lights of each ride and stall are almost blinding to look at and I squint to stop my eyes from hurting.

"Where do you want to go to first?" Linh asks just as my mom and Eve reply simultaneously with "The teacups!"

Grace shoots them both a look. "You guys are lame."

I nod my head just as Mia says, "Yeah we wanna go on the vortex."

Our mothers look at each other for a beat and it's like they're telepathically communicating. They must have some sixth sense because without uttering a single word the three come to a decision.

"Fine," Eve sighs after a moment, "But keep your phones off silent so we can call you when it's time to leave."

I smile and bounce around on the spot. "Alright see you guys later!"

"Okay bye girls, remember to stay away from creepy men!"

"Yeah we don't want you to get kidnapped!"

Mia perks up beside me. "What if the kidnapper is a hot Italian mafia mob boss?"

Linh merely sends her a pointed look and Mia pouts just as Grace sighs and links arms with us both.

"You've been playing too much episode Mi."

She pouts in reply. "It's fun."

"Okay call us when it's time to leave!"

We bid goodbye, parting different ways and Mia, Grace and I saunter off into the direction of the scary rides whilst our mothers go off into the more quieter side of the fair.

We navigate our way through the bustling crowds until we spot the humongous ride, loud pop music blaring from the speakers and people screaming for dear life and Mia jumps up excitedly. I on the other hand wince watching the ride whizz high into the air and butterflies invade my tummy.

Don't get me wrong, I do like scary rides...but I also don't at the same time. The burst of adrelinine and that moment when your stomach drops as the ride throws you into the air is an amazing feeling, but I always seem to be filled with jitters before getting on.

The line for this line is fairly short and in the queue all I seem to spot are kids our age, a handful of people from our school at that. We find ourselves standing behind a group of teenage boys and Grace squeezes my arm eagerly. "Look they're cute," she whispers in my ear and I turn to the side so I slyly eye them. There are about five boys and one guy catches my attention the most. He's East Asian, around average height with dark curly hair and a sleeve of tattoos, he has stud in his ear and a gorgeous smile.