7th June 2019

"Where the moonlight touched the sand,

And the sea hugged the land."

I swung on the railing next to Jaxon and watched the carnival lights twinkling against the night sky.

People lined the boardwalk, crammed together in queues. But then that wasn't surprising. The carnival at Redondo Pier was the highlight of the year. A time when small, brightly coloured huts covered Veterans Park, and entranced everyone to step up and test their skills. The lure of rewards that made any six-year-old (or twenty-year-old) giddy with excitement was too tempting to resist.

Hazel and Tori walked towards us, empty-handed, both having failed to win at the bottle toss.

"I swear you can't win at those games," grumbled Tori, pointing at the hut behind him.

"Everyone knows they're rigged, but it doesn't stop people spending." Jaxon shrugged.

"Or enjoying them," Hazel added with a giggle.

"Hmmm." Tori wasn't impressed, but he also knew how much his girlfriend loved the carnival. He only put up with it for her sake.

I scratched behind Teddy's ears as he watched the gnats flying in clumps above the water.

"So is Alexa not joining us tonight?" Jaxon asked, batting his eyelashes innocently.

My lips pressed into a line, but it was all for show. "She said she doesn't want to be around you until you apologize." Not that I really minded. She liked to make snide comments about the other three when we all hung out together. And I just didn't need the added stress.

Jaxon snorted, dropping the innocent look. "Righttt. I'll apologize when she stops being a slob."

"I'm pretty sure hell will freeze over first," Tori chimed in.

"She'd never go home then, she hates the cold." Jaxon and Tori smiled wolfishly at each other.

"Har har guys, let's try not to call my girlfriend the spawn of Satan." I deadpan whilst the other three dissolved into laughter.

Sometimes I wondered whether I should have been defending Alexa more. But it was hard.

Jaxon was right; she was a slob. Not even I could deny that.

She wasn't like that when I'd started dating her four months ago. But lately she was irritable, clingy, and seemed to want to spark an argument whenever she could.

I hadn't told anyone, but I was thinking of breaking up with her. The only problem was I didn't think I was in the right mind to do it. I was worried that my sudden annoyance towards her was because of my anger at Hunter and my inability to focus on anything but.

I was terrified of making the wrong decision.

Teddy brought my thoughts to an abrupt halt as he pulled the lead out of my grasp.

I fumbled trying to catch it but it was no good; he was already disappearing into the crowd.

"What the..."

But I didn't wait to hear the rest of Jaxon's sentence.

I sped after Teddy, listening for the sound of his exciting yipping to direct me. It was impossible to see him through the crowd, but still I called out.

I could hear the others struggling through the crowd somewhere behind me, but I didn't pause. The idea of losing Teddy was unthinkable, and yet I couldn't stop thinking about it.

What would I do if I couldn't find him? It wasn't like him to just take off. Usually, he was always by my side.

"Teddy? Now where did you come from?"

I stopped and tried to pinpoint the familiar voice. It wasn't easy with all the noise, but I was a musician. Picking out the correct notes was something I was exceptionally good at.

I barged through the crowd, much too frantic to be as gentle as I should have been. People called me a few choice swear words, but I ignored them. They weren't important when Teddy was off and wandering free from me.

Down on the beach I thought I could just see a small shape bounding around - it had to be Teddy - and next to him another figure.

I flew down the steps and headed in their direction. But the closer I got, the more relaxed I became as I realised who Teddy must have chased after, even though I hadn't seen her at the carnival.

"Evie?" I asked as she bent down and gave Teddy's stomach a rub.

"Hey Sam, seems like you may have lost something."

Teddy, sensing that he may be that very thing, ran up to me and rubbed his head against my leg.

He looked up at me with his big puppy dog eyes. He was a few years passed being a puppy and yet I couldn't resist them. It was impossible to stay angry at him.

I scratched his ears and his tongue lolled out happily.

"He sort of just took off without me."

As if in demonstration, Teddy ran straight back to where Evie knelt in the sand. She giggled at my narrowed eyes and flattened Teddy's fur.

"Sam?"

The others ran up beside me, looking between me, Evie, and a thrilled Teddy.

"Looks like you had help in finding Teddy," Jaxon said. His entire face lit up with curiosity.

"Umm yeah." I don't know why, but it felt odd to see Evie again. And even stranger to have her meet my friends.

I had shared things with her, worries and thoughts. She was my unbiased stranger.

I wasn't supposed to meet her again. Much less with the very people I had poured my heart out about.

Possibly sensing my discomfort, Evie stood and smiled at me in reassurance.

"I'm Evie." She waved at my bemused friends.

"I'm Jaxon, this is my sister Hazel and her boyfriend Kotori."

"But people call me Tori."

Everyone but Evie looked at him in astonishment. Tori let no one but family and friends shorten his name.

"So you don't sound like you're from around here?" Tori ignored our reactions, despite Jaxon's mouth still hanging open like some type of exotic fish.

"Nope." Evie popped her 'p' with dramatic style. "I'm from the UK."

"Oh, you're English?" Hazel slapped her forehead. "Of course you are, with that accent."

Evie scrunched up her face. "Well, I'm actually Cornish."

I frowned. "Isn't Cornwall in England?"

She laughed as if I'd said something funny, though I wasn't sure what.

"Let's just say it depends on who you ask." Her eyes twinkled behind her glasses.

"And how do you two know each other?"

I could tell Tori found her intriguing.

"We just sort of ran into each other at the beach this morning."

There was nothing in her expression that made it sound like we'd done anything else. She was keeping our conversation a secret, and I was so grateful to her for it.

"So you enjoying the carnival?" Hazel piped up, breaking the awkward silence.

Tori and Jaxon were staring between me and Evie, sensing something wasn't quite what it appeared - or maybe that was just my guilty conscious - but Hazel seemed oblivious.

Evie shrugged, looking at the lights. "Haven't seen much of it yet. But it'll be interesting to see some of the American sweets you have."

Jaxon's head whipped round to her. "Then you've definitely come to the right place." He held out his elbow to her. "Let me educate you on the wide varieties available at these fine establishments."

I watched them go off in utter confusion. When did she become part of our little group?

"You coming, Sam?" Hazel looked back with a frown and I realised they'd all started heading back towards the carnival again.

"Sure." I jogged back towards them, Teddy happily trotting beside me.

We pigged out on sweets, as Jaxon practically forced Evie to try all his favourites. And like the good sport that she was, she rejected nothing that he handed her. Even when he handed her a plate of ice cream, dipped in sprinkles, covered in chocolate, surrounded by cotton candy. The bright blue fluff ball made even my American sweet tooth balk at the sight of it. But being a braver person than me, Evie managed a few bites before handing it back to Jaxon to finish.

"It was definitely sweet," she said, eyeing the disappearing treat with mild apprehension.

"It's so good," Jaxon said between bites, as he demolished the last few pieces.

"Hey Evie, did you want to go on the Ferris wheel?" Hazel asked.

Evie pulled her eyes away from the ride, looking a little embarrassed.

"No, I'm okay. It's sort of a ride for little kids, isn't it?" She gave a small laugh, but her eyes strayed back to the giant wheel and nobody could miss the longing in her eyes.

"Nah, you should definitely go. Sam, why don't you take her?" Tori's eyes landed on me, and he smirked.

"Ahh." I scramble to think of an excuse not to go. "Jaxon always likes the rides."

But as we all looked at him, the colour drained from his face and he put a hand over his mouth.

"I don't feel so good," Jaxon mumbled, before dashing off through the crowd.

"He does this every time." Hazel shook her head. "Here, give me Teddy, we'll check on Jaxon and you can take Evie on the Ferris wheel."

There was no time for me to argue before Hazel snatched Teddy's lead from my hand and they walked away, leaving just Evie looking up at me.

"You really don't have to take me." Her eyes connected with mine, but then she looked away quickly.

I sighed, feeling like a jerk. "No, it's alright, let's go."

"Really?" Her head snapped up, and she did a little happy dance before moving through the crowd.

We chatted about nothing important whilst we waited in line. I could tell she was getting more and more excited, her body almost vibrating with happiness. But the happier she was, the more I dreaded it.

"There you go." A sleepy teenager pushed the bar in place over us. "Please don't try to leave the ride and keep the bar over you at all times," he droned out, barely paying any attention to us.

The ride lurched a little, our bench seat swinging as it climbed higher.

I gripped the bar so tightly that my knuckles turned white. My eyes were trained on the metal floor below us. Though it did little to help, I still felt sick.

"This is amazing. You can look right out over the sea."

Evie's voice sounded like it was miles away, as a dull roar filled my ears.

"Hey Sam, you okay? You're not looking so good."

I tried to laugh, but it came out like a strangled whisper.

"I'm fine. Just not great with heights," I choked out, looking at her for only a second before staring back at the floor.

"Oh, I didn't even think." Her hand rested on mine as she tried to sooth me. "Why didn't you say anything? You didn't have to take me, you know."

I just nodded. Speech was impossible. If I opened my mouth now, I was sure I'd end up throwing up all the delicious sweets I'd just eaten.

"It's going to be okay. Just shut your eyes."

As if I was going to attempt anything else.

Evie's voice was soothing as she patted my shoulder.

I just focused on her voice, the sound of rushing blood in my ears slowly reduced.

"We're almost halfway to the bottom. Did you want to take a look?"

Normally I would have told her where to go, but I couldn't lie; I was curious. Even when she was trying to keep me calm, I could hear her excitement. She'd tried to explain the view she found so captivating. It was that view that a part of me - a braver part - really wanted to see.

I counted down from three and opened my eyes, determined that if I didn't like what I saw, I could just go back to looking at the floor.

Evie had been right; we weren't far from the ground. And the view really was stunning.

The carnival lights reflected off the water, making the rest of the sea look black by comparison. Waves rippled and crashed lazily on the beach before starting their dance over again.

Whilst the pier was crowded and lively, the sea was the picture of tranquility.

"Wow," I blurted out.

"I know," Evie whispered, her gaze fixed on the sea, even as we drew level with the ground again.

The same bored teenager let us out with nothing more than a grunt in our direction. I followed Evie as she fought against the tide of people trying to get closer to the Ferris wheel.

Being only a few inches shorter than my 5ft 7in, she was having a little difficulty. The crowd forced us to squeeze between bystanders and skirt to the side when needed.

"Sam! Evie!"

Evie's head popped up, but she was just too short to see where Hazel's voice had come from.

I was more lucky. A gap in the crowd gave me the perfect view of Hazel's concerned face as she tried to flag us down.

I gripped hold of Evie's wrist, feeling electric sparks across my skin. "This way."

She jumped at my touch, but nodded as I led us through the maze of people.

"Good. I never thought we'd find you. It's getting pretty busy here now." Relief clear in Hazel's voice.

"How's Jaxon?" Evie asked.

Hazel swallowed hard, looking a little green herself. "Not good. Tori is with him now but we need to get him home." She looked mainly at me, and I knew why. Tori wouldn't be able to drag Jaxon's sick butt back home without my help.

"Sorry, Evie. We should have shown you around the rest of the carnival." Hazel tried to apologise.

"Just focus on Jaxon. I'll take a look around, anyway." Evie bent down and gave Teddy's head a scratch.

"You sure you'll be okay?" I questioned.

It didn't seem right just leaving her. It was night, and whilst Torrance was a safe space, the carnival always drew in strangers.

Evie straightened and smiled at both of us. "Don't worry, I'm not as defenseless as I look."

I watched a strange look cross her face, but it was gone before I could decipher it.

Hazel's phone rang, and she snatched it up, seeing Tori's name flash on the screen.

"Tori...okay...just stay where you are...no we're coming...okay...bye." She snapped the phone shut and turned to me. "We really need to go."

"Okay, I'm right behind you."

"Evie, it was great to meet you. I'm sorry we've got to rush off." Hazel hugged a surprised Evie.

"You too," Evie mumbled into Hazel's shoulder.

"Thanks for the Ferris wheel. I kind of enjoyed it at the end," I said after Hazel had pulled away, my hand rubbing the back of my neck in embarrassment as Hazel looked between me and Evie.

"Thanks for taking me. You two had better go. I'll see you around, Sam." And then she laughed. She's said the same thing to me that morning and neither of us had expected to run into each other again.

"See you around." I chuckled before hurrying off with Hazel.

"Damn, I meant to get her number to check she got back to her hotel," Hazel cussed, turning to see if Evie was still there, but she'd already melted into the crowd.

"Don't worry, she'll be fine." I willed my words to be true.

The next half hour was taken up with getting a very ill Jaxon home.

It was a night that I wouldn't easily forget, especially after Tori and I had to scrub up Jaxon's neon blue vomit from the hallway tiles. That experience would forever be burnt into my memory.