Stupid - John Shelby (ON HOLD)

3. The Fair •

1912

15 year old Winifred and Ada were happily strutting along, arms linked through the fair. They didn't have any money, and therefore couldn't do much, but they still enjoyed watching all the people having their fun. Winifred's parents were at home, working, but they had no trouble letting Winifred and her brother Jamie to go with Polly Gray and her nephews and niece. Once they arrived at the fair, everyone sort of scattered, and knowing it from previous years Polly wasn't worried. Winifred's brother Jamie were currently with the oldest two Shelby brothers, Arthur and Tommy, probably off somewhere trying to make a bit of money of bets and dares and such. Polly and now four year old Finn were going about themself as Finn stopped every chance he got, to ogle at all the fun going on at the fair. John were off with his girlfriend Martha, probably kissing behind some tent. And that of course left Winifred and her favorite person in the world, Ada Shelby.

The two young girls sat down at a bench to rest their legs for a while. A few feet away from them were a couple of boys, seeming to be their age. The boys were pushing each other around having a laugh. Winifred looked them over, thinking to herself that the they were gypsy-boys.

"It looks like you've got yourself an admirer Vinnie" Ada joked and nudged her side. Winifred followed her friends gaze and saw one of the gypsy-boys, about her age, with mischievous, sparkling brown eyes, staring at her. The boy was quite handsome with brown unruly hair and seemingly tall for his age. She started to blush as their eyes met, and she saw how a smile crept over the boys face.

"Stop staring Ada!" Winifred whispered loudly. Ada laughed out loud at her friends embarrassment.

"Don't act like such a prude Vin! I thought you were over Billy after you made out with him last year, but don't think I haven't noticed you two still sneaking off every now and then. Do you still fancy him?" Ada asked curiously.

"No I don't fancy Billy Ada" Winifred chuckled "but you know, he nice to look at, he is a good kisser and when I'm feeling a bit drunk or sad it's nice to have him there you know" Winifred answered with an amused smirk.

"I never understood what happened to you and Billy. You were head over heels in love with him for 2 years, you still were last year on your birthday and a while after that, and then after you FINALLY gave your first kiss to him and you guys made out you all of sudden lost all interest?" Ada asked, thinking hard at what was going on inside her best friends head.

Winifred swallowed, ice in her stomach. She hadn't told Ada that she actually gave her first kiss to Ada's older brother on her fourteenth birthday. And she hadn't told her that the kiss she received from John had possibly ruined her feelings for Billy. When she and Billy finally got their first kiss, she couldn't help but to compare it to the one she shared with John, and she realized immediately that she didn't feel the same butterflies in her stomach, and that her heart didn't skip a beat as theirs lips met. She had tried to force it after that, taking things further with him and they had started to make out, but still the feeling she looked for didn't come. Billy on the other hand seemed to enjoy their kissing quite a bit, because after that moment his goal always seemed to be to capture Winifred's lips. From time to time, as Winifred explained to Ada, when she was drunk or sad and in need of some boosted confidence, she gave in and she and Billy shared some kissing or sometimes more, but Winifred's feelings weren't the same as Billys, even though she really enjoyed his company.

"It just wasn't what I'd imagined I guess" Winifred answered her friend, and something in her eyes, something sad, made Ada stop prying for more information. She was a bit hurt that her friend felt like she couldn't confide with her, but since she had her own secrets, she thought it best to leave it alone for now.

Winifred's thoughts were now on the kiss she and John had shared more than a year ago. Not long after that, a few months maybe, John and Martha became a couple. It would be incorrect to say that Winifred were heartbroken, she wasn't, because she wasn't in love with John, but she did feel a bit bitter. Some feelings where definitely there, but Winifred just thought it where leftover feelings from her childhood crush. Winifred really liked Martha too, and she thought they would probably get married, and have children soon. They were 17 after all. She was just 15, and as John said, a stupid little girl.