That night, excitement took over and I barely slept.

I found myself waking up more often than I slept, rolling over to look out the window in hopes the sun had started to rise and I could get out of bed and go for my run. By the time the first slither of sunlight appeared over the horizon, I had been awake for about half an hour. Just seeing the sky start to change colour, the slight tint of purple and pink through the trees, left me restless. Although that day was supposed to be about Jo and her concert, all I could think about was Katie.

With the sun just starting to peek through the trees, I kicked the blankets off my legs and left them in a pile at the end of the bed to sort out later. All our bedclothes were supposed to be changed later on, so I didn't see the point in making the bed just yet. I gathered up my running clothes and had to resist the temptation to skip to the bathroom to change. Somehow, I doubted a run would be able to contain my energy. I would be spending the whole day away from the school with just Katie and I couldn't be more excited.

My run went on for longer than usual. I zigzagged through the trees that lined the grounds and across the gravel. Even without the teachers around to supervise, I knew that running between two trees wasn't going to be enough to contain my restless energy. Whether I got into trouble or not didn't matter as long as I could fight to keep a normal energy level whilst out in the village. The last thing I wanted was for Katie to think I was weird.

By the time I had finished the run, I had sweat dripping from my forehead and running down my back, but my energy felt balanced. I still had that small bubble of excitement in the pit of my stomach, but I swallowed to stop it rising to the surface. The run had done its job, even if it meant my skin was the same colour as a tomato and I could have wrung the sweat out of my blouse given the opportunity.

After returning to my dormitory, I jumped in the shower to clean the sweat off my body. I changed into the purple and white dress I had bought with my birthday money and ran a comb through my hair. The other girls were still sound asleep with soft snores filling the room and the occasional mutter from Victoria. Without knowing her plans for the day, I stuffed my project notes under my mattress so she wouldn't be able to find them. I didn't want to come from a nice day in the village to find that my project notes had been destroyed by Victoria as part of her vendetta against me.

I swung my bag onto my shoulder and left the room, jumping down the steps and turning into the dining hall. There were very few people around except the teachers. Those in the choir and Katie who sat beside Jo at the table at the far side of the room. I dropped down on the seat beside Katie, pouring a bowl of cereal and diving into it before either of them spoke.

"Good morning," Katie said. She smiled at me and took a bite of her toast.

"You ready for today?" I asked Jo.

"A little." Her face was pale, and I noticed a slight shake in her hands when she took a sip from her juice. She didn't seem to be eating much and only took small sips from her juice.

"You've got this, it'll be fine."

"Do you think so?"

"Of course. You've been practising for weeks now. You know those songs backwards and forwards. It'll be fine."

"We need to keep you around, you're a great a little motivator," Katie said. My stomach did several backflips.

"Those of you in the choir, come with me!" Mrs Lemmon said, her voice echoing across the room. "We'll be riding the mini-bus into the village and need to get there early."

"Good luck, Jo," I said.

"We'll be there for moral support," Katie added.

Jo smiled slightly, the corners of her mouth turning up a little but not going beyond that. She stood up, leaving a slightly nibbled piece of toast and abandoned half-glass of juice. I knew how she felt, I got the same feeling right before having to do a presentation and I had a sneaking feeling I would be behaving the same way right before the projects.

She left Katie and me as the only students in the dining hall with a few teachers dotted about here and there. We were planning on walking down to the village not long after the minibus left since the concert itself wasn't supposed to start for a little while and we wanted to walk around the fair before it started. I finished my cereal and pushed the bowl away from me. The teachers talked amongst themselves as Katie and I sat there, neither of us speaking.

I started to drum my nails on the table, quickly catching myself and starting to twist the bracelet around my wrist to try and calm down. The run I had taken had started to wear off a little too fast and I just wanted it to be the two of us walking through the village on the way to the concert. My body was itching to start the walk down, embracing the moment of it just being the two of us on our own. Even though we had been alone together countless times in the past, a walk down the village together just felt different.

"Shall we go? We can walk down slowly, it's nice enough for it," Katie said.

"Yes, I suppose." I tried to contain my glee.

"Do you have everything?"

"I think so. I cleared my bag out earlier and stuffed my project notes under my mattress."

"Good plan."

"I thought so."

Katie shook her head, but I saw the slight trace of a smile on her lips. Together, we stood up and I swung my bag onto my shoulder. We stepped over the bench and walked through the dining hall and to the main entrance to sign out for our little excursion. The receptionist looked somewhat startled upon seeing us that early in the morning, but she refrained from comment and we signed out, starting the journey down to the village.

We set across the grounds, manoeuvring through the trees and out through the side gate that started the hill climb. The air smelled sweet and the sun beat down on us, drying my hair a lot quicker than I thought it would. By the time we reached the top of the hill, my back of my neck was sweaty again, but the view was worth it.

With the sun shining down on us and a cool breeze in the air, the surrounding area looked like something out of a storybook. The fields were starting to turn a lush shade of green with the changing season. Across the hills, the trees were also turning green with the branches and leaves rustling together whenever the wind blew. Everything about it was peaceful and calming. If I didn't have Victoria bugging me, I could get used to staying.

After standing on top of the hill for a few minutes, we set about down the hill and towards the village. Even though the weather had changed, the hill was still steep and difficult to walk down. The only upside of good weather happened to be the distinct lack of mud which limited the chance of slipping. It did not, however, limit the chance of slipping on a loose rock and falling down the hill.

That almost happened. Several times.

"When you said you were unsteady on your feet, in fact, all the times you've said you were unsteady on your feet, I thought you were joking. Almost tricking on the smallest of stones says otherwise," Katie said as I tried to recover from a near-death experience.

"I can trip on anything. Even thin air."

"Wait, really?"

"Yes. Several years of scraped knees and a scar on my ankle backs me up."

"Well, the last thing we want is you going down this hill. I don't think Jo would be too happy if we couldn't go to the concert because you were carted off to the hospital." She laughed. "Come on, I'll help you."

Katie offered over her hand and my stomach tied itself in knots, untied itself and then did several rather dramatic backflips. I knew she was only doing it to stop me from falling down the hill, but it felt like something more than that. We were walking along the road together with no one else around and she wanted to hold my hand. The only other people I had ever seen hold hands in public had been couples.

I accepted her hand, trying to ignore the tingling sensation that covered my entire body and the fact that my heart sped up to the point it almost exploded out of my chest. She laced her fingers with mine and continued down the hill towards the village. The only thing going through my head was whether my hands were sweaty and if they were, had Katie noticed?

We continued down the hill and along the side of the river that flowed close to the village. Even though the hill was behind us and the road had flattened out, Katie continued to hold onto my hand, and I hoped she wouldn't let go even as we walked through the village itself. Part of me wanted to spend the day walking along the side of the river and not venture into the village itself where there would be people crowding the square. I just wanted it to be time for us without anyone getting in the way.

Unfortunately, we had promised Jo we would attend the concert and I didn't want to be a bad friend.

"We have about an hour or so before the concert, so I propose we look around the fair. They have the fair in April if the weather's good because it's easier for the students to attend. It's too busy in June and none of us are around in July and August. It makes sense. Unless it rains," Katie shrugged.

"Or they could just have it in the two weeks before the end of term when no one is busy," I said.

"Don't try and put logic in it. It's funny. Anyway, they have a coconut shy and I love the idea of walking back to school with a coconut."

"Why?"

"Just because."

"Has anyone ever told you you're really strange?"

"Yes."

She squeezed my hand and dragged me away from the river and into the main square of the village. All the shop doors were propped open and there were people milling around the wooden stalls that had been constructed in the main square. It did seem off that they would have a fair in April, but we had a street party in December once so I could hardly be one to judge. I sort of liked the idea of doing something a little out of the ordinary. Everything at Maddox was structured to the last second and nothing strange ever happened. This qualified as strange.

Katie immediately zeroed in on the coconut stand in the centre of the square, her eyes lighting up when she saw the five coconuts on the poll and the man standing behind a counter with a couple of balls. She looked at and smiled, immediately making a dash to the stall with me lagging behind. I never understood the appeal of a coconut shut, especially as coconuts weren't exactly a great food choice, but I wasn't about to ruin her run. She looked like a child in a sweet shop.

"Do you reckon I can get one on the first throw?"

"I've seen you throw a Lacrosse ball. You could hit an apple on top of someone's head if you want to."

"Good point."

I watched her hand over a coin to the man running the stall who passed her the three balls. She took a step back, tilting her head and sticking her tongue out slightly to examine the distance between her and the coconut. Personally, I felt bad for the coconut. After several seconds of lining up her shot, she pulled her arm back and threw the ball as hard as she could.

The ball flew through the air and smacked into the coconut, sending it crashing to the ground with a slight thump. Katie raised an eyebrow at me and accepted the coconut from the stall owner. He looked rather stunned; no doubt not used to people being able to knock a coconut down on the first try. Had she tried, I'm pretty sure Katie would have managed to knock down two other coconuts, but she decided against her other two go's and simply took the one coconut.

We walked away from the coconut shy with Katie laughing somewhat manically as she looked at the coconut. It was a little creepy. With another forty minutes or so before the concert was due to start, we moved through the stalls with Katie once again stocking up on sweets. She bought me a small box of chocolate that could be eaten in one go, just in case Mrs Maddox decided to search my things again.

There were several other game options, including one with stacked bottles, another ball and the chance of winning a teddy bear.

"I want to win you something," Katie said.

"You don't have to."

"It'll be fun. Besides, with your sports skills, you can hardly win it yourself."

"Fine."

I rolled my eyes but deep down I was more than excited that she had chosen to try and win something for me. Oddly enough, Mum had once said that the moment she fell in love with Dad had been at a summer fair when he had won her a prize. Despite that coincidence. I pushed the thought from my mind so I didn't get caught up in something that could never happen.

Still, the thought made me smile.

~~~

First Published - August 2nd, 2020