Chapter 15: Dumbo

When we left the fair yesterday night, an idea struck me. Well, it was more of a lucky shot, if anything. I saw an advertisement on a big billboard. I remembered the name of the place and found their website. Thankfully, tickets were available at the door. I hoped that Eli would at least not hate it.

                Eli continued to badger me while I was driving to our location. I suppose it was payback for the past two days. Like the evil person I was, I made him suffer and took the long route. We still had time before the show begun, and this way was only ten minutes or so longer than the shorter one. I wasn’t particularly worried about it being sold out. The billboard looked a little shady.

                There weren’t many cars, thirty at most. The line to gets tickets wasn’t long, so we entered the big tent sooner than I had anticipated. Eli hadn’t said a word since he had figured out that the “big surprise” turned out to be a circus. I found it strange because he was usually a little chatterbox.

                We had our choice of seating, so I dragged him to the front row. I took another look at him and frowned. “Are you okay?” I asked, taking his hand.

                He nodded and mumbled, “Yeah.”

                I sighed and did my best not to pry. That lasted a total of three-and-a-half minutes. I wasn’t good at being not nosy. “Eli, what’s wrong?”

                “It’s nothing.”

                “Don’t lie to me! I can see that’s something’s bothering you.”

                He smiled reassuringly, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “It’s nothing. Really.”

                “Eli,” I whined. “You’re being such a downer.”

                “Sorry.”

                “Is it me? Do you just not want my company? Do you not like me anymore? I won’t be too offended if you want to break up—”

                “I don’t want to break up with you,” he interrupted.

                “Then what is it?” I gasped.

                “I’m afraid of clowns!”

                I stared at him, shell-shocked. I didn’t care if he was afraid of clowns, I mean, I did, but I was just shocked that Eli was actually afraid of something. He usually acted all tough, but I guess that everyone has to be scared of something. I just didn’t expect his weaknesses to be the dark or clowns.

                He let out a sigh. “Go on. Make fun of me.”

                I smiled weakly and shook my head. I thought it was really sweet that he had openly admitted those things to me. I softly kissed his cheek. “You’re cute.”

                He tilted his head in confusion. I watched as his eyebrows furrow together. “How so?”

                I laughed. “You’re just so…”

                “So?”

                “Eli,” I said, finding the appropriate word—or name.

                “I’m sorry. I didn’t know that you were afraid of clowns. If I did, I wouldn’t have even thought about coming here. I mean, I would have, but I wouldn’t have brought you. It wouldn’t have been on my list, you know what I mean? We can leave if you want.”

                He shook his head. “It’s okay. We already bought the tickets and I’m sure the clowns won’t bother us too much. It’s a stupid fear. I’ll just get over it.”

                “You make it sound so easy. And it’s not a stupid fear. Lots of people are scared of them. We’re just the brave ones. See how everyone else is just huddled in the back?”  

                He looked behind and nodded, putting on a brave grin. “I suppose.”

                The bright lights overtop dimmed and loud voices turned into hushed whispers. And then it was silent. A single spotlight appeared. The show was starting.

                It was entertaining and I think Eli was enjoying it. That is, until they called for volunteers from the audience. And since there wasn’t much of a selection, it was probable that one of us was going to be the butt of a prank. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Eli shrink back. If I hadn’t been paying attention, I probably wouldn’t have noticed. I squeezed his hand gently. I saw his shoulders relax, but then he immediately stiffened. A clown was sauntering over to us.  The stark white makeup on his face was peeling off and the brilliant red around his lips were creepier up close. His glassy dark eyes were gleaming as he…checked me out. I was expecting him to ask if we wanted to come up with him, not this. Eli clenched his fists. He was smart and didn’t act on it, and the clown evidently took advantage of that.

                “Hey, hot stuff. Meet me after the show and I’ll give you a tour of the place. If you know what I mean,” he flirted, winking.

                Now, usually I don’t like to assume that that people were flirting with me, in fear that I’d be wrong. But this was extremely obvious. “I’m here with my boyfriend,” I informed him.

                He shrugged as if I had just told him that my car was yellow. “Ditch him.”

                “I’m not going to ditch him. Especially not for someone like you,” I spat.

                “What’s that supposed to mean?” he demanded, frowning and feeling slightly offended.

                “It means go away. Learn to take a hint, buddy.”

                He smiled wryly. “We’re buddies now?”

                “Not a chance.”

                “Don’t you have a job to do or something?”

                “I’m doing it right now, sweetheart. Besides, they’re used to it.”

                Rude and poor work ethic? I was surprised that he still had a job, but I suppose not many people would want to be a clown. I certainly wouldn’t want to. “Leave,” I gritted through my teeth. “Please?” I added sweetly. It was too sweet; sweet enough to be bitter.

                “No,” the clown retorted, with added confidence. Whatever game he seemed to be playing, he was enjoying it.

                “The lady said leave,” Eli piped to my dismay. He stood up and looked the clown straight in the eye. Needless to say, I was impressed.

                The clown didn’t look the least bit scared. “Whatcha gonna do about it, kid?” The clown looked amused.

                Eli swung his arm and hit the clown’s jaw. He winced and quickly returned the “favor.” Eli, being the manly man he is, didn’t flinch. More attacks were made, but I tried not to pay too close of attention. It turned into a full-fledged brawl. No one else around us seemed to notice, and if they did, they didn’t care, so I attempted to stop them. I forgot the rule where you should never get in between people fighting. I pushed the two apart and was immediately punched on both sides of my face. I felt a sharp, stabbing pain on my left cheek. The right one was slightly dulled because the clown was wearing a glove that somewhat “cushioned” it, but not by much.

                As soon as they both realized that they had punched me and not one another, they stopped and gawked at me in all my bruised glory. The clown smiled sincerely at me and skittered away with a mumbled, “Sorry,” leaving Eli apologizing profusely to me.

                “I’m so sorry, Ash! That wasn’t supposed to happen. You just got in the way and—do you want a band-aid or an ice pack or something?” He thought a band-aid was going to make my bruise all better? Wait. He thought that I would even allow a band-aid on my face? How cute. “I know I shouldn’t have punched him. I was just getting a bit jealous and he was hitting on you and that’s the first thing that I thought of. It just happened—”

              "You were jealous?”

              A tinge of pink rose to Eli’s cheeks. “Well…I…it was just that…I just….no…”

              I pinched his cheek, making that part turn pinker. “Eli was jealous of an itty bitty clown,” I sang in a baby voice.

              “Shut up!” he muttered.

              I thought for a moment. “No, but I’m quite impressed that you actually punched. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

              “You are?”

              “Don’t let your ego inflate, because that would be a disaster, but you did tell me that they scared you. You faced your fear, Eli.”

                “You mean…I got over it?”

                I laughed. “I guess so. I don’t know if you actually did, but in my book it counts. And by the way, that clown had nothing on you.”

                 "Thanks, Ashlyn.”

                  “No problem…Elijah.”

                 “I haven’t heard you call me that in a while.”

                  “I like Eli better. It has a nice ring to it.

              He grinned and I found myself mirroring it back. We weren’t banned, per se, but we were smart enough to know not to stick around. I was sure that the clown wouldn’t bother us again, but I wasn’t willing to take that chance. I wouldn’t be going to a circus for a long time.

              “Thanks for helping me,” Eli said, parking in my driveway.

             Eli wouldn’t let me drive home. He said that I was “in no condition to operate a motor vehicle.” I’m pretty sure he got that out of some safety handbook. It sounded oddly familiar and reminded me of my Driver’s Education days.

              “Do what?”

              “You helped me get over my fear of clowns. I mean, I punched one in the face.”

              I laughed dryly. “At least something good came out of this night.”

             “I had fun.”

           I raised an eyebrow at his lie. The date was a total disaster. I knew that. He knew that. And there was no sense in pretending it wasn’t.

             “Really,” he insisted.

             “You don’t have to say that, Eli. I know it was horrible.”

             “It doesn’t have to end that way, you know.”

            I bit my lip. “What did you have in mind?”

                                He leaned in closer and closer, his eyelashes flickering. I felt his warm breath mixing with mine. He averted his lips away from mine onto my forehead. I heard a soft smack. I laughed, expecting a kiss on the lips.

                               As I laid in my bed, tossing and turning, I thought. That’s all I did. Think. I thought about my tangled web that I called my emotions. I definitely had feelings for Eli, but whether or not they were more than I thought they were, I was unsure of. I was terrified of possibly being vulnerable to a guy that I would never see after the summer was over. Was it too soon to be falling for him? Because I think that’s exactly what I was doing. I was falling to a place where there was no way up.

  ***                         

                “Eli, I don’t understand why I have to wear a blindfold.”

                He sighed. “Haven’t you learned by now that it’s always a surprise?”

                “I was hoping that you wanted to mix it up a little bit?” I asked hopefully, clutching onto his arm so I didn’t trip.

                “Your hopes have been crushed like a bug, Cutie.”

                “You’re mean.”

                I could practically see him grinning through my blindfold as he answered. “I know.”

                “How much longer do I have to walk? Heels aren’t exactly meant for soggy wet terrain, especially ones as cute as these.”

                “Is that an invitation to carry you?”

                I didn’t want to walk and Eli’s arms did sound rather nice…

                I stretched my arms out. “Carry me!”

                “You know what I just realized? I’ve carried you a lot since I met you.”

                I smiled sheepishly and shrugged. “It’s not my fault you’re strong,” I said wistfully, adding a small giggle at the end. I immediately regretted it. I sounded drunk and somewhat desperate.

                “Thanks, babe.”

                “Babe?” I echoed. “Since when have you called me ‘babe’?”

                “Remember when you hated being called ‘Cutie’?”

                “Yeah,” I said, remembering the early days of our friendship. “It’s grown on me.”

                “Like moss.”

                “Yeah. Like moss.”

                I felt myself being scooped up in his muscular arms. They weren’t large, but they weren’t exactly noodly either. They weren’t hard and bulgy enough to be uncomfortable, but weren’t shaky enough to make me feel insecure. They were, not to go all Goldilocks on anyone, but just right.

                I rested my head on his shoulder and subtly breathed in his scent. It reminded me of iced tea—cool and sweet, like Eli. I didn’t want to ever forget it. Was it cliché? Most likely. Was it true? Without a doubt.

                 “Just make yourself at home,” Eli laughed.

                I patted his head lovingly. “Don’t worry. I did.”

                He carried me for a good twenty minutes. His pace was steady, save for a few unnecessary jumps he made. They freaked me out and I nearly choked him. He learned his lesson, as he didn’t do it again. I felt the soft, warm breeze tickle my skin and make me dress billow lightly.

                He set me down and it took me a coupe of seconds to catch my balance. I was used to not walking for myself, I guess. He placed his arms on mine and steadied me. I murmured a ‘thank you’ before whining, “Now can I take my blindfold off?”

                He chuckled. “Yes, you can take it off now.”

                “That’s what she said,” I giggled, untying the bandana that was impairing my vision.

                Once the scene was revealed, I couldn’t help but suck in a breath. We were surrounded by perfectly trimmed bushes, like the one’s you see in the movies and at wealthy estates. There were twinkling fairy lights strung along the bushes and in the branches in the trees; it gave off a romantic vibe. There were several cobblestone paths that probably led to more wonders. And in the white gazebo was a table with two chairs and a glowing white candle. There was a silver platter, the fancy ones with the lid. It was a fairytale that must’ve taken extensive planning.

                I must’ve been unresponsive for longer than I thought because his face had some uncertainty in it. “You don’t like it.”

                “I do! I love it, actually. Where are we? How did you manage to do all of this?”

                Eli beamed. “I know a guy. Shall we eat or did you want to marvel some more?”

                “I could do with some food.”

                I saw a sunflower lying on the table. “Is that for me?” I asked, pointing to it.

                “Don’t be preposterous, Ashlyn. It’s for me.”

                I stuck my tongue out at him and set the flower to the side, but not before lightly stroking the velvety yellow petals with my pointer finger. Eli lifted the lid to reveal two plates with baked potatoes, peas, and two juicy-looking steaks. It all looked delicious and sophisticated. It was something you’d get at a fancy restaurant or a nice home-cooked dinner. If I wasn’t impressed before, I definitely was now. He set the plate in front of me and pulled my chair out.

                “Thank you.”

                It was the beginning of a civilized night. We talked like adults and we ate with perfect manners.

                If only we were that mature. Most of our food was wasted on each other, and not in the romantic sense. No, we didn’t feed each other, unless you counted the lucky shots where the food landed in our mouths. It started out with me “accidentally” tossing a spoonful of potatoes at him. He retaliated by throwing whatever was left on his plate. Needless to say, most of the food was on our outsides, not our insides.

                “Thanks for getting potatoes in my hair,” I said facetiously.

                Eli winked, grinning. “Not a problem. I was just returning the favor. And for future references, green isn’t a good color on you.”

                I slapped him. “Shut up!”

                “I’m just kidding, beautiful!”

                I opened my mouth to say something clever or at least another insult, but came up short. “So did I spoil your only surprise on this date or did you have another one.”

                He scoffed, feeling insulted. “I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve, Cutie.”

                “Well start playing them. I’m feeling stale.”

                He cocked his head to the side. “Stale?”

                “It’s a thing! I think…”

                “Whatever. So, shall we move on?”

                He offered me his arm and I looped mine through his. We skipped around the gazebo and through the clearing. I soon got tired of that and sort of just dropped to the ground like a heavy anchor. And since Eli was connected to me, he fell too.

                “What was that for?!” he complained.

                I laughed, and soon, I had him laughing too.

                “This reminds me of the time we went. Do you remember that? When I fell on you?”

                “It’s hard not to remember such an entrance. But there was no bucket harmed this time, just an extremely handsome male model.”

                I looked around innocently. “I don’t see a male model anywhere.”

                He playfully smacked me upside the head.   “That’s because you’re straddling me.”

                I blushed and quickly scrambled to my feet. He was still lying on the ground, his eyes fluttering shut. I waited for him to get up, but he laid there like he was relaxing on a Tahitian beach.

                “Are you just going to lay there or are you going to continue our date with me?” I asked, placing a hand on my hip expectantly.

                He puckered his lips. “I’m waiting for a kiss from my princess. Then I’ll consider your request.”

                I rolled my eyes and leaned down to peck his lips. He pushed my head down so it was resting on his chest. Our bodies were perpendicular to each other, sort of like a plus sign with a mutated arm. He started to play with my hair, gently raking his fingers through it as I stared at the sky above. The combination of fairy lights and starts glittered against the contrastingly deep navy night. The moon smiled down at us. It was a dream.

                “Why aren’t we getting up, my prince?”

                He didn’t miss a beat as he whispered, “It’s peaceful like this.”

                We laid there for quite a while. Eli announced that he had something else in store for us. “C’mon, let’s get up. I have something else I want to show you.”

                He helped me up. We strolled along the cobblestone paths for about three minutes before I saw rows and rows of tall, green hedges. It hadn’t taken me long to realize that we were surrounded with them.

                “It’s a maze,” he explained. “We’re going to race.”

                “We’re going to run?”

                “You don’t have to run, but whoever gets there first gets to decide if we have a sleepover.”

                “I’m not sleeping with you, Eli.”

                “You’re just going to stay up all night?”

                “You know what I meant.”

                “Relax, Cutie. We’re not going to do anything. You have such a filthy mind.”

                I couldn’t come up with a response.

                “Are you ready?” he asked. I nodded and braced myself to run. “On your mark, get set…”

                Before he could say ‘go’, I sprinted off, hoping that I was heading in the right direction. Knowing my luck and past experiences, I probably wasn’t. But I was hoping for the best. Being the oaf I was, I forgot the fact that I was wearing heels. I stumbled over a stone cemented into the path and tumbled downwards. I cursed quietly and picked myself back up. As I got to my feet and steadied myself, a sharp pang stretched across my knee, causing me to yelp in agony.

                I went closer into the reflection of the moonlight, inspecting the damage done. It was minimal, just a small cut. It was no big deal. Taking precaution, I went barefoot the rest of the way, carrying my heels by the strap in my left hand. I tried my best to ignore the pain on my knee and hissed every once in a while. The stones in the path didn’t bother me as much, only ones that were really sticking up jabbed my foot. I was concentrating on beating Eli and getting out of the silly maze. I’m sure if I wasn’t injured or alone, I would’ve enjoyed it more.

                I knew that whatever the outcome of the race was, I was in a lose-lose situation. If I lost, he would run in the fact that I went ahead and I still lost. Then he would proceed to call me: a slowpoke, a turtle, a sloth, or several other names that meant ‘slow.’ If I won, he would say that I cheated. I preferred the latter over the former. At least then I could have the satisfaction of being the champion.

                After what seemed like a hundred zigzags and corners, I made it to the end. The hedges seemed to just spit me out. I looked for Eli. He was leaning casually against the trunk of a tree, arms crossed and a smirk playing on his lips. He sauntered over to me, a smug expression on his face.

                “It took you long enough—like, three billion years. What were you doing in there? Delivering presents to every single kid in the world?”

                “Santa does that in one night, stupid.”

                “Technically, he’s cheating. We have time zones.” He pointed at me. “So you’re the stupid one.”

                I bit my lower lip. Why did he have to be right? Oh, yeah. The universe hates me. “It still doesn’t take him three billion years!”

                “Anyways,” he said, “the point is that we get to spend the night together.”

                I rolled my eyes. “You knew that we were going to do that anyways.”

                “So you want me as much as I want you.”    

                Raising an eyebrow, I whispered, “You want me?”

                “I mean, I want to spend more time with you. I really like you, Ash. Like I really like you. It’s sort of embarrassing.” He laughed nervously.

                “Don’t be embarrassed. I really, really like you.”

                “Well, I really, really, really like you.”

                I chuckled and put my hand up. “Okay. We’re done with that.”

                “Sorry, I thought we had something special going on.”

                I smiled up at him. “We do.”

                “What took you so long? And why are your shoes off?”

                “Well I wasn’t going to run in heels. Not after this.”

                I showed him the scratch and heard him wince as he carefully traced his fingers over it. “Does it hurt?” he asked.

                “Kind of—ouch!”

                 His hand recoiled. He looked at me with pleading, desperate eyes. “I’m so sorry! Forgive me, please!”

                “Eli, calm down. It doesn’t hurt anymore. It just stung a little.”

                “I didn’t know that it was going to hurt you!” he babbled, flustered. “Geez. I’m just abusive lately."

                He was sort of cute when he was nervous. I know that he cared, but I could see the genuineness shining in his eyes. I pinched his cheeks and Eskimo kissed him. “You’re so adorable!” I cooed.

                He made a face. “I’m sexy. Not cute.”

                “Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?”

                “But you are cute.”

                “And so are you.”

                “Alright, it’s official. We’re the cutest couple around.”

                “Uh, Eli? We’re the only couple around.”

                “Fine. We’re the cutest couple in Jangles.”

                “Can we just get married?”

                “Are you the one proposing now?”

                “I guess so. So what do you say?”

                “I say, let’s do it! But let’s have the honeymoon early; my place or yours?