Chapter 29: Loser (Emma's POV)

"Emmy." 

I crawled out of my closet and stuck my head out. "Hi," I grinned at my mother. 

"You're cleaning this up, I'm not helping," she said, looking at the mess I've made while looking for my teddy bear jacket. 

"Okay," I smiled. 

"Nathan's been waiting in the living room for 30 minutes, sweetheart, what on earth are you doing?" she chuckled. 

"Looking for my teddy bear jacket," I said, crawling back under the clothes and looking for them. 

"Dear God," she mumbled before I heard the door close. 

I dug around for a few more minutes until I finally found it. I crawled out, running my fingers through my hair. "Fucking finally," I said to myself while pulling the jacket on. I grabbed my phone and put it in my back pocket and put some money in there too. I had my hair tie between my teeth as I flipped my head over and gathered my hair. I threw it in a high ponytail while running down the stairs. I tied off my hair as I made it over to Nathan. "Sorry, sorry, sorry, I'm so sorry," I said, pulling my shoes on properly. 

"It's okay, I didn't mind," he chuckled, watching me hop around on one foot while pulling the other shoe on. 

"You've had the boy waiting for ages," my mom said from the kitchen. 

"Really? I had no idea," I said sarcastically, pulling the other shoe on. I kneeled down to tie up the laces and then stood back up. "We can go," I huffed. 

The drive was kind of long. 45 minutes at least. Let me take this time to explain where this fair is. When I was still here as a kid, there was this huge empty field, which had one giant Ferris Wheel, abandoned, just chilling in the very back. From what I remember, kids went there all the time to hang out and play around because nobody else would ever go there. 

But I take it now they utilize that spot for this fair and somehow fixed the ancient Ferris Wheel. 

"When you say the Ferris Wheel works, are you sure it really does? I mean, that's been there since our parents were our age," I said as we climbed out of the car and headed to the counter to get tickets. 

"I don't come to the fair, normally. But Brandon does and he's been on it every time. He says it works," he shrugged. I took out the money to pay for my ticket but he was already holding my ticket out for me. 

"Wristbands." We both put our wrists forward and the guy slapped the bands on. It's like a full-blown amusement park now. Wow. 

"Who sets this up?" I asked as we walked in. 

"Some students from our school do, actually. We get help from the Sheriff's department and a lot of parents like to join in." I nodded in understanding as both of us stopped. "What's first?" he asked. 

I looked between the first two stalls. There's either shooting water with a water gun into clown dolls' mouths and then there's shooting a balloon wall with guns. "That one," I said, pointing to the second one. 

"Guns over water guns noted," he chuckled. "All right, what do we win?" he asked the guy at the counter while paying. 

"Any toy you want," the guy replied. 

"And what have we got to shoot?" I asked. 

"The three balloons you aim for," he answered. 

"Ladies first," I nodded at Nathan. 

He rolled his eyes while smiling and took the gun. "You wanna tell me where to aim?" 

I looked at the board. "Top right, the blue one." He shot it. "Bottom left, the orange one." He shot that one too. "And dead center the green one." 

He looked at me. "Are you kidding?" That's a hard one. I shrugged. He closed his right eye and aimed, hitting the bullseye. I grinned, as he handed me the gun. 

"Which one would you like?" the guy asked. 

"The... cheetah," I said. He handed it to Nathan while I handed the guy more money for my turn. "Tell me where to aim, strawberry," I laughed. 

"Bottom right, red." Got it. "Top left yellow." Got it. "Dead center, purple." 

"I hate you," I laughed. 

"Just take your aim," he said, standing behind me, resting his chin on my shoulder. 

"Cheater," I mumbled, aiming for it. I fired and what do you know, he decides it's good timing to put his arms around my waist, and what do you know, I lose.

"Loser," he chuckled, pulling away. 

"Cheater," I smacked his arm, taking the stuffed toy from his hands. 

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2 hours. It took us 2 hours to check out the whole thing and it's nearly midnight now. Yes, we came here at 10 PM. It's a night fair, that's like the whole point. 

"Ooh, do they do fireworks and everything?" I asked, linking my arm with his as we stood in line for the Ferris Wheel. 

"This isn't Disneyland, so, unfortunately, no," he chuckled. 

I rolled my eyes, looking around at all the people. "This line is really long, let's go make cotton candy, the guy looks like he'll close up soon," I said. 

"Lead the way," he bowed his head at me. I pulled him with me and we got there. 

"Hello, are you a couple?" the guy sang, eyeing us. 

"Actually, we're-" I started but Nathan cut me off. 

"Yes, we are." 

"Fantastic, my last couple of the night is a beautiful one. All righty," he said, starting up the machine and adding the powder. "When did you two meet?" 

"Two weeks ago," we said in sync. 

"A little fast, don't ya think?" he asked us. I shrugged. "What is the lady's favorite color?" 

"Black," Nathan answered. 

"And the gentleman's?" 

"Red," I replied. 

"Favorite foods?" 

"Sushi," I said quickly. 

"French fries," he answered smugly. 

"Favorite candy?" 

"Pop rocks." 

"Sour patch kids," I said cheekily. He never told me that. Brandon did though. "Ha," I grinned. 

"Favorite city?" 

We both fell into thought. "Vegas," he answered. How the hell does he know that? It's Vegas because the amusement parks there are the best. 

I looked at him. "Athens, Greece?" I guessed. 

"How do you know that?" he asked. 

"You talk about it sometimes," I shrugged. 

"When was your partner's last relationship?" 

"3 months before you moved here," he answered. 

"2 years ago," I replied. 

"Who said or will say 'I love you' first, if your answers don't match, it's incorrect," he chuckled. We both looked at each other hesitantly. We haven't even kissed yet, we're talking about love? 

"I think me," we both said simultaneously. "It's gonna be me," I said. I just had a feeling. 

"No, it won't. But I'll make the cotton candy for you," he winked. I laughed and watched as the guy instructed Nathan and he followed, looking adorable as he focused on the candy. "Hey, there we go," Nathan sang, handing it to me. 

"Enjoy the night," the guy nodded as we thanked him, paid him, and then left, getting back in line for the Ferris Wheel. 

"How the hell did I make this heart-shaped?" Nathan asked, taking a piece from it. 

"I couldn't tell you," I shrugged, ripping a piece and eating it myself. After waiting in line for about 15 minutes and finishing our cotton candy, there was only one box left and one couple in front of us. That means we're not getting on this round. I groaned, putting my head down on his shoulder. 

"I'm sorry, ma'am, you can't get on there." I straightened up as the couple groaned and then turned around. That couple was a pregnant woman and her husband. "You two, come on," the woman nodded. 

I squealed, jumping inside and sitting down on one side. Nathan paid and then sat down in front of me. She closed up our gate and then we slowly started going up. 

"Oh, my god, it's so windy," I mumbled. "Oh, my god, it's so cold," I laughed, pulling my jacket closer. He scooted over to one side and patted the empty spot beside him. "I'm not standing up, there's no way," I shook my head. 

"Then scoot over." I did and he stood up with ease and moved over, sitting beside me. 

"Aw, look at the lights, they look so pretty," I said as we hit the top and then went down. On our third round, it started creaking. "Nathan?" 

"It's old, but we'll be fine," he chuckled. When we hit the top, the Ferris Wheel started going backward. Everyone started screaming as it started going forward again and then... 

It. Got. Stuck. 

"You were saying something about this being as good as new," I glared at him. 

"I thought it was," he said, peering down. "What's going on?" he asked the people under us. 

"It's stuck! They're calling for help!" the little boy screamed who was sitting with his dad. It started rocking itself back and forth and my grip subconsciously tightened around his arm. 

"Hey, loser," he chuckled. "We'll be fine. Just don't move around." 

"I'm not," I mumbled. Everyone started screaming again. We both looked down, seeing a woman jumping around in panic. "We're gonna die," I scoffed. 

"We're not gonna die," he said. "I think," I heard him mumbled under his breath.

We're gonna die.

I guess it's a good thing that the pregnant woman wasn't let on.

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Chapter 29

next chapter: midnight kiss