Chapter 14: Test Drive

 Thankfully I didn't spend all day wondering what Eli had planned for us. Instead I spent my day agonizing over coming up with creative date ideas for tomorrow. I suppose it didn't have to be creative, but I wanted it to be unique. I'm just never any good at coming up with ideas. This is probably why I failed my art project, besides the fact that I can't even draw a stick figure for my life. I suspected that the date he had planned for today was going to outshine my lousy one by a hundred time, whatever it may be. And that was just for Monday's date! I still had no idea what he had in store for me for the rest of the week. Time was running out and I didn't think that any brilliant ideas would ever come to me. I probably wouldn't come up with anything during date, but I was hopeful.

            Before I knew it, it was almost time for Eli to pick me up. I hurried around the house grabbing all the little things I would need and my shoes. As I rushed to put on my ballet flats, Dakota was leaning against the wall—completely relaxed—looking amused. "Are you two an item? Like, official?"

            I slipped on a thin jacket and shrugged. "I don't know? Why?"

            He smirked with a knowing expression, "Well you've been out with him a lot lately."

            "What do you expect? I'm not going to loaf around the apartment with you and Cayden as my only company."

             "Just be careful and use protection."

            "We're not having sex! And we're not going to have sex," I added.

            He rolled his eyes. "Sure you aren't. I know what I did when I was his age."

            "Dakota, just trust me. No sexual intercourse is going to take place."

            "There are condoms underneath the bathroom sink."

            "The bathroom sink?"

            "And in the bottom drawer of my bedside table."

            "And in the—"

             "Okay, enough!" I yelled out squashing my hand against his face so he couldn't speak. I then continued in a calmer voice, "I didn't need to know that you have condoms literally everywhere, but I'll keep that in mind." Dakota just winked at me and suddenly I felt something wet against my hand.

            My eyes widened a fraction, "Eww, did you just lick me?"

            I jumped back and started frantically trying to wipe it off. While I was doing this my idiot of a brother just couldn't seem to stop laughing.

            "You should've seen your face," he managed out between his gasping laughs.

            "You're so annoying. I mean now I have cooties! Eli and I aren't even going to do anything either, so now my poor hand has been contaminated for no reason!"

            "Want me to lick it to make it better?" he asked in a taunting voice.

            I was about to reply when I heard someone come up to the door and knock. Eli. Automatically my heart started beating faster, and my breath caught in my throat. He's here. I felt Dakota start moving to open the door and I yanked onto his t-shirt to stop him.

            "No! Now go before Eli sees you." I shooed him up the stairs, which was moderately difficult because he was stronger and heavier than me.

            Once I made sure Dakota was out of sight and would stay hidden, I opened the door. There he was. A smile came onto my face automatically and my eyes scanned him completely. Eli was in a pair of jeans and a fitted white t-shirt. His hair was messy, but it suited him. How boys managed to look hot with such little effort amazed me. I envied them, but I wouldn't switch my womanly body parts for that of a man's. That would be weird and I've lived with Cayden and Dakota for long enough to know about the bad parts about being a guy. Unfortunately. I watched as Eli took a step closer and smiled while thrusting the golden sunflower he was holding into my hands.

            I smiled and plucked it kindly from his fingertips. "Did you already send Dakota the roses?" I asked teasingly.

            Eli kept a straight face. "I sent him a dozen last time. He should be good."

            "I'm not sure if he actually got them."

            "I'll have to file a complaint with the company. Or maybe I just got the address wrong. It's a shame, too. They were quite lovely, but I'm not sending them again. They were expensive. Hopefully whoever got them enjoyed being spoiled by me."

            I laughed, shaking my head as I went to put the sunflower in the vase with the others. Eli was so sweet that it made me bubble with happiness. Besides Liam, no guy had really made me feel this girly. And I came to a conclusion that if I were to have any more summer romances, Eli would be the one I compared them all to.

            "Since this date has something involving driving, can I drive?" I asked hopefully, climbing into the driver's seat.

            "Nope, you don't know where I'm taking you. I'll let you drive tomorrow since it's your date day. Deal?"

            I made a pouty face before crawling over into the passenger seat. His engine revved the second my seatbelt was fastened. He turned on the radio to the station where they were playing today's top hits and I sat back and I enjoyed the ride.

***

            "Can I know now?"  I whined again for the thousandth time. I was practically bouncing in my seat. The anticipation was beginning to kill me.

            Eli glanced over at me, flashing a cheeky grin, "Calm your panties. We have almost arrived at our awesome destination."

            I slumped down into the seat and rested my chin on the window, looking at the palm trees that flashed by. A road sign that read Jangles Fair Grounds caught my eye. "Is there a fair in town?" I asked, narrowing down the possibilities of our date location.

            "Maybe," he said, attempting to be elusive, but it wasn't working out so well for him.

            I let out a shriek of delight and clapped my hands excitedly. "I haven't been to a fair in such a long time!" I gushed. "I love fairs."

            "Really?" He seemed shocked. "Well then happy birthday!"

            "Speaking of birthdays, when's yours?"

            "October twenty-first. When's yours?"

            "August eighteenth."

            He pulled into the dusty parking lot designated for fairgoers. There were tons of people; ranging from little children with their families, teenagers, and even a few elderly couples. The lights on the Ferris wheel shined dimly as it rotated slowly around. It was still too late for it to really dazzle. I heard the faint sounds of the merry-go-round music and screams coming from the questionable rides. It smelled of cooking grease and calories, but I enjoyed it. It was both nostalgic and new.

            As we were walking towards the ticket both, Eli's hand intertwined with mine. Maybe it was just a hormonal-in-the-moment-thing, but I couldn't help but think that our hands fit perfectly together. Did that seem too cliché?

            The lady that was running the booth looked to be around her late thirties, early forties. She seemed to be bored out of her mind, wishing that she could be anywhere but here. "Aren't you two a spoonful of sugar?" she spat bitterly as she handed us wristbands for unlimited rides.

            My eyes widened in shock at her rude tone. "Someone's forever alone," I muttered to Eli as soon as we were out of her earshot.

            "Do you blame her? She's sitting there alone while everyone else comes with a friend."

            I shrugged. "It's her own fault. We should've given her some relationship advice."

            He scoffed and in a sarcastic tone he said, "Yeah, because we're the best people for that; a guy who can't even get the love of his life to speak to him and a girl whose ex is begging for her back even though he dated one of her best friends."

            His blunt words stung, but I brushed them away with a dramatic hair flip. I wasn't going to dwell on that one sentence and have it ruin my entire night. I would do that after the date was over. "Yeah, we really are experts. So what ride do you want to go on?"

            "The bumper cars. Remember the hint? You drive me crazy."

            I laughed. "That's clever."

            He walked and I skipped over to the bumper cars. The line was surprisingly short, but there were no complaints from me. "Do you want to ride together or go in separate ones?" Eli asked.

            "I get a change to run you over legally and not pay any damage fees." I took a moment to think before shouting, "Separate!"

            "Okay." He brushed his shoulder. "I'm a pretty skilled driver, so watch out."  

            I sent him a smug smile. "Just like you are in sandcastle—"

            "Okay, I lied about that. Can we just forget about the fact that we both suck at making sandcastles?"

            "I don't suck. You do."

            "C'mon, it was a truce, remember?"

            I rolled my eyes. "That's because I didn't know you and I didn't want to hurt your feelings. I'm okay with doing that now."

            "Ouch, Cutie. That hurts."

            I half-smile. "Reality hurts, babe."

            He laughed and we both sauntered off to pick a car. I got into a shiny, red one and buckled the thin, black strap securely around my waist. I watched as Eli struggled to fit his long legs in a blue one with a single silver stripe running across the side. The man running the ride honked a horn. I stepped on the acceleration pedal, making the metal car jerk forward. It took me thirty seconds or so to get used to driving the contraption. I crashed into random cars, earning me dirty looks from the drivers. I wanted to remind them that it was called bumper cars for a reason, but I held my tongue.

            I rammed into the back of Eli's car, causing it to lurch forward and hit a wall. He twisted around and glared at me. I grinned evilly, as I had trapped him in a corner. He had no way out. "It's on!" he declared.

            I wasn't one to shy away from a challenge, and I wasn't going to start now. "Bring it."

            For the entire session, we played cat and mouse games with each other. We switched roles occasionally, but for the most part, I was the cat. Skilled driver? Yeah, right. The man honked his horn again, causing our cars to come to a slow and steady halt.

            "That was fun," I said to Eli as we excited. "I hope I drove you crazy." I winked.

            "I can't believe you made me hit that little girl," he muttered.

            I shrugged. "It's not my fault you can't drive."

            "Why I ought to—"

            "I want cotton candy," I interrupted, causing his non-threatening threat to cease. I dragged him over to the vender and pointed to the pink cloud of fluff. The tiny candy crystals gave off a tiny sparkle in the sunlight. It looked freshly spun.

            "Why not get the blue one?" Eli questioned.

            "Pink tastes better."

            "One pink cotton candy, please," he ordered, handing the guy a crinkled five dollar bill.

            I took the stick gratefully and took a bite. It was sweet. "I wonder if clouds taste like this."

            "I doubt it. Clouds are made of—"

            I slapped my freehand over his mouth and sang, "Lalalala. I don't want to hear it."

            "You're so childish," he said in mock disgust. He plucked a piece off and popped it into his mouth. "I think blue tastes better."

            "You have no taste for the finer things in life."

            He ignored my comment. "Where to next?"

            "Can we just walk around until I finish my cotton candy?"

            He nodded. "That's a smart idea."

            "I'm a smart cookie. I think that deserves a cookie."

            "How are you not fat!?"

            I grinned and tugged him around the fairgrounds, even though I had no idea where anything was. I pointed out the rides that I wanted to go on later. The sky was darkening as each minute passed. I tossed the sticky rod into the nearest garbage bin and went to stand in line for the merry-go-round. It was longer than the bumper cars, but nothing too bad.

            "I take we're not riding on the carriages?" Eli sighed.

            I shook my head. "You're absolutely right. I want to sit on the unicorn, but you can sit next to me if you'd like."

            "But I don't want to sit on the pink one," he whined.

            I gave him my best puppy-dog face. It wasn't long before he gave in. He mumbled something about weaknesses, but I was too hyped up on sugar to comprehend his words. Eli lifted me up onto the purple unicorn before getting onto his own, lamer, pony.

            "I'm going to name him Jack," I declared, stroking the side of my plastic, imaginary creature. I felt the carousel jerk forward before it smoothly turned. I held onto the golden pole with one hand, the other one intertwined with Eli's. Eli, being the suave guy he was, was riding hands free without the safety belt. "You're living on the edge there, Eli."

            He shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a daredevil."

            I rolled my eyes and began whispering endearments to Jack to encourage him to go faster. I looked up to see Eli staring at me as if I had grown another head. I just smiled sheepishly and continued what I was doing. Eli let this go on for about two more minutes until he squeezed my hand tightly. "You're done, Cutie."

            I sighed and reluctantly agreed. I looked outwards towards the business of the fair, wishing I could just ride on the artificial animal forever. Life was just so much simpler enclosed in the cheap metal fences that separated us from everything else. For the most part, the merry-go-round was steady and consistent. It was calming. Sadly, it came to a halt. And when it did, I hopped off. Well, I was about to, anyway. Eli stopped me and offered his hand to help me down. It was an unnecessarily sweet gesture. We exited the gate together.

            "Elijah!" a foreign voice rang out. A pretty brunette stormed over to us, her thin eyebrows furrowed with anger. She reminded me of a fawn; she was petite. She yanked Eli to her side possessively. I let go of his hand in astonishment and momentary confusion. She took a quick look at me, something all females did to see if they had competition or not, and decided I was. "What are you doing with my boyfriend?" she demanded.

            Eli wretched out of her strong, iron grip. "I'm not your boyfriend, Claire. We never had a thing, nor will we ever have a thing. Ever."

            "But...but remember what happened in the closet at Aaron's party? I had you whimpering for sex." She sounded so sure of herself and so desperate for him to believe her. Was it a sin that I found it somewhat entertaining?

            "It was the other way around," Eli explained tiredly, eager to escape the conversation.

            "You said I was the best kisser," Claire pouted. A suggestive look crossed her face. "Should I remind you?" She trailed her fingers up his arm, making me twitch. I didn't like the fact that she was touching him. Her lips were inching closer to Eli's. He made no move to push her away.

            So I flicked her arm. "Leave. You're ruining our date."

            She looked beyond irritated as she crossed her arms. She looked pointedly at him as she sadly whined, "You never took me to a carnival."

            He shrugged, grabbed my hand, and left Claire standing there with her jaw dropped open. "Close your mouth, honey. You might catch flies," I called over my shoulder.

            Eli snickered. "Sorry about her."

            "You were going to let her kiss you!"

            "No I wasn't! I was going to stop her."

            Unconvinced, I said, "Sure. I just hope that we don't run into any more of your fan girls. So, do you want to go into the funhouse?"

            "I like funhouses..."

            I laughed. "Of course you do."

            We flashed our bracelets and entered the funhouse. Unless the exit spun, I never found these things fun. All it was were distorted mirrors and things that looked like they were made of scrap metal. But Eli made everything more fun.

            "Stop jumping, Eli!" I scolded. "You're going to break the bridge."

            He rolled his eyes and ignored my suggestion. "I'm not that heavy," he insisted. "Besides, there's a floor beneath this."

            He did an odd-looking dance, his foot tapping non-rhythmically against it. We clacked across the metal bridge—finally—and onto the circular spinning platforms. I sidestepped my way through, dragging a clumsy Eli with me, and then we entered the hall of mirrors. It was filled with twists and turns, a maze that filled me with a tad bit of confusion and frustration. I couldn't tell if a panel was made of clear glass or if it was a mirror. After taking a look around, I decided that it wasn't that difficult. Little children had to navigate their way through, and I would hope that I have more sense than a six year old.

            "Hey, Cutie! Look at me; I'm an Oompa-Loompa." The amusement he was feeling was evident in his voice, and I couldn't help but smile. His good mood was so contagious. He began singing the Oompa-Loompa song and doing the dance that corresponded with it. "Join me!"

            I checked around for incoming people, but saw none. I shrugged, thought, "What the hell?", and joined him. We chorused the Veruca Salt version, breaking out into random dance move, some made up spontaneously. I heard footsteps and we made our way out. I didn't need any more embarrassment. It seemed I had been doing that a lot lately: humiliating myself.

            I let out a squeal of excitement when I saw what the exit was. It was the spinning wheel that I loved oh-so much. I hopped on without another word and started running like I was a hamster on a wheel. "Someone's excited," I heard Eli whistle. He stepped on, running beside me.

            The red paint on the sides were peeling off and it showed signs of rust. The man at the end of the gate, who was slouching in a plastic chair, yelled at us to get off. "There are other prisoners that needed out," he had said. It seemed a bit fishy, so I got off, stumbling a bit as I got onto the platform, and ran to get away from the man. Eli was smoother at making his descent.

            "I'm hungry," I declared. "I want junk food."

            "But you just ate!" he protested.

            "It's been, like, two hours."

            "Okay, what do you want? An elephant ear, a hot dog, a corn dog, funnel cake, a hamburger..."

            They all sounded appealing. I think it was the fact that it was all fried. I was being very unhealthy today. I'd eat a carrot later to balance it out. Maybe two. "How about all of the above?" I said with a hopefully wicked smile.

            He chuckled. "Seriously, though. What do you want?"

            "I told you!"

            "You're not serious."

            I grinned sheepishly.

            "That's a lot of food."

            "We can share?"

            He sighed, giving in. "Let's go, fatso."

            We went to several different stands to get all of our food. We received strange looks from the venders and other fairgoers. We sat at a picnic table in front of a stage that looked like it could be collapsed and neatly packed into a shed. There was a band playing country music. I devoured the elephant ear alone, except for the teeny nibbles that I let Eli take. He was basically sliding the funnel cake down his throat. It reminded me of the jack-in-the-boxes that scared me when I was younger. I sipped the icy lemonade in between bites. I had two corn dogs and Eli ate three hamburgers, which I took half of one, so technically it was two and a half.

             "Slow down, Cutie!" Eli exclaimed. "You're going to get food stuck in your throat and end up with the hiccups."

            "I like hiccups?"

            He shook his head slowly in disapproval. "So what's my hint for tomorrow's date?"

            I froze, biting my lip while pondering on what to tell him. I still hadn't came up with an idea and no inspiration came to me. Worst case scenario, I'd take him to see the lions again. "It's a surprise," I offered.

            "That's not fair!"

            "Pun," I laughed. "And what do you mean, 'It's not fair?' You do that to me all the time!"

            He clicked his tongue. "That was lame," he deadpanned.

            "I know..."I trailed, half ashamedly.

            Once we finished eating, we both agreed to play carnival games until the food settled. Vomiting on an amusement park ride wasn't exactly pleasant, and besides, it would be incredibly embarrassing. Eli wanted to prove to me that he had "manly strength", so he got tricked into one of those strength games where you had to hit a hammer onto a target and see if the bell would ring. I think it was known as the "high striker." I told him it wasn't necessary, but he was determined to win me one of the giant stuffed bunnies. I knew he was going to humiliate himself because no one ever won these types of games, and Eli was no exception. Carnival games were rip-offs.

            He kicked the dusty ground in frustration. I pulled him away from it gently. "C'mon. You don't have to prove anything to me."

            He mumbled something incoherent and stormed back to the booth, shoving another handful of dollar bills into the man's hand. The man shook his head, chuckling lightly, and muttered lightly to himself something along the lines of "chump." Eli snatched the hammer and with a determined look on his face, struck the metal, a loud noise echoing for a split second. To my surprise, it went all the way up and the bell rang. Eli let out a chair and I ran over to kiss his cheek. "Congratulations, Mr. Manly Man."

            He flexed his muscles and winked. "The blue bunny, my good man," he said smugly, pointing to the stuffed animal hanging on a clothesline.

            The man retrieved the enormous thing and put it in Eli's arms. He offered to carry it for me because it was heavy. We left the rabbit, which I had promptly named Bonnie, at the entrance of the tilt-a-whirl for the girl running it to watch. I think Eli knew her. Either that or he was being really friendly towards a stranger.

            I grabbed onto the bar for dear life as the ride started up. Soon, we were spinning and I thought I saw someone from the opposite side throw up; gross. When I got accustomed to the speed and my heart lurching each time we span or dipped, I began to enjoy the ride. All while I was screaming, Eli was laughing and making fun of me. "Baby," he coughed jokingly." He earned a glare from me.

            It was dark now, and the lights of the fair outshone the dull glimmer of the moon. I climbed into the rickety seat of the Ferris wheel, temporarily blinded by the colored fairy lights that lined the bottom. I felt the seat tip and grabbed onto Eli's hand. It rocked back and forth. My breathing turned into short, quick breaths.

            "Are you okay?" Eli asked. The concern in his voice and face were unmistakable.

            I nodded.

            He looked reluctant to believe me. "You're still scared of heights, aren't you?"

            "These phobias don't go away in a day," I said timidly.

            He pulled me closer to him. I nested my head in the crook of his neck and inhaled his oh-so sweet and intoxicating scent, making me momentarily forget my fear of heights. He began to play with my hair, running his fingers through it and fiddling with strands. I loved the feeling that came with it. It was oddly comforting.

            "Will you be my girlfriend?"

            I looked up at him, smiling slightly. "What did you just say?" I needed to hear it again, just in case my imagination and ears decided to play a late or early April Fool's Day prank on me.

            "I know it's not like Ryan Gosling in The Notebook or anything, but—" He was babbling.

            He was asking me out on a Ferris wheel, which meant that he remembered from when I forced him to watch The Notebook with me. The small smile grew into a grin that could put the Cheshire Cat's to shame. "Yes, a million times, yes. But weren't we already dating?"

            "I guess, but it wasn't really official before. But now it is."

 Jangles is almost done! Just six more chapters and maybe an epilogue. Thanks for being patient with me ♥