I woke up early, my body buzzing with excitement. The fair was supposed to open today. We needed to leave as soon as we could to make the most of the day, especially since the location was a few hours away from where we were. 

I had to wait until Collin was awake, though, since he was sleeping in the driver's seat. I took this as an opportunity to quietly slip into the back of the car to change into a new pair of clothes. I grabbed an outfit I hadn't worn yet and topped it with one of the beanies. I couldn't help but notice that Collin hadn't worn the clothes that I picked out for him yet. I decided to swallow down my disappointment and not to point it out, though. The clothes were his, so he could do whatever he wanted with them.

I finished getting ready and sat back in the passenger seat. By then, Collin was awake. He got out, taking Boh with him so that he could get fed. I could hear the back of the car opening. I sank into my chair and opened my phone, scrolling through my contacts until I found the name "Mom." 

It didn't take long for her to respond. "Hi, sweetie! I was just thinking about you."

I couldn't help but smile. I was sure she had been.

"How have you been? How's Dad?" I asked. 

"Oh, we're fine! It gets a little boring just me and him, but we're managing. What are your plans for today?"

"Going to a fair," I told her. Elation twisted in my stomach. Initially, I thought that I was looking forward to scratching something else off of my list. Thinking about it, though, I had already completed six things and hadn't felt like this. Maybe it was the anticipation of never attending a fair before. 

We talked for a little longer. I promised to call her again as soon as I could. "Good," she said. "It's my only entertainment these days." 

She laughed, but I didn't. Her words were meant to be lighthearted, but they just made me realize how I had left them just because I wanted an adventure. 

Collin hopped into the car. He was wearing a solid T-shirt and his baggy jeans again. I bit the inside of my lip. Why do you care so much? It's not a big deal. 

He started the car. It was a two-hour drive, though it didn't feel like it. My guilt and overly thought-out worries dissipated as I started talking about what might be at the fair. 

"Have you heard about fair food?" I asked excitedly. "They have like deep-fried Oreos and funnel cakes and huge corn dogs."

Collin chuckled. "Is that why you wanted to go? For the food?" 

"Well..." When I originally made the list, I was expecting to go to an amusement park like Disneyland, so I didn't have a specific thing I was looking forward to. "Have you tried deep-fried Oreos?"

He raised a brow and shrugged. "I guess not." 

We chatted a little longer, found three new license plates (Virginia, North Dakota, and Iowa), and listened to music. We decided instead of debating on whose music was better to find new songs on Pandora. Though not all of them were good, it was a fun waste of time. 

We arrived at the fairgrounds. A guy in his early twenties with the name "GARY" on his name tag was standing behind a booth. Collin stopped next to the booth, already sliding down to grab the loose change from his pocket. 

"Thanks," Gary said as Collin handed him a couple of bills. He handed Collin half of his money back along with two white wristbands. "We're having a ten-days-before-we-all-die deal. Put those wristbands on to get on rides. Park on the grass area to the right, okay? Have fun, guys."

Collin, slightly surprised, placed his change back into his pocket. He then sat back up and followed the directions Gary had provided. 

We clipped our wristbands on and headed towards the fair. From outside I could see a large sky lift reaching across the area and the "Zero Gravity" ride. Loud pop music was blasting and the smell of greasy food intruded my nose. It was everything that I had imagined and more. 

We agreed to leave the windows cracked and for one of us to check on Boh every few hours since dogs weren't allowed inside. I gave him a kiss on his head before closing the door. 

The inside of the fair looked larger than the outside. Long lines were filed around the rides and games and others were just walking. Some had an unreasonably amount of food balanced in their hands and some were dragging crying children away from ridiculously-priced merchandise. It felt like I had just walked into an entirely different world. 

We started by just walking around. After a few minutes, I realized that it wasn't as big as originally perceived. All of the rides were cluttered on the right while the games were positioned on the left. In the back was a large grassy area with tables to sit. Various food booths were all lined up in the back. It was an easily navigated layout, which was good because I wanted to spend less time and exploring and more time to go on rides. 

Collin must have been stalling, for he was walking unreasonably slow. After admiring the basketball game for five minutes, I groaned and said, "Do you want to play this one?" 

He raised his brows and looked at me. Then he looked back at the basketball game as if he'd never seen it before. "Yeah, sure." 

The man behind the booth scanned our wristbands then started the game. Turns out, Collin was really good at shooting hoops. He had already made five when I was still struggling with my second one. That was mainly because Collin would spend time in between his shoots trying to hit his ball against mine. Once, right when my ball hit the room, his shot mine away. I let out a frustrated sigh while he laughed. 

From then on, I ignored my score and invested the rest of our time trying to sabotage him. At one point I left my side entirely and went to him, trying to take the ball away from him. He just lifted the ball with one hand far above my hand, laughing again. Unlike the light chuckles I was used to, this was a deep, throaty laugh that made my heart twist. I couldn't help but laugh with him, too. 

Unsurprisingly, Collin won. By the end, I didn't think that we were focused on the competition, though. 

A ride caught my eye. I grabbed Collin's hand excitedly. He looked at me, surprised. 

"Come on, we're losing daylight," I said. Collin chuckled and let me pull him towards the Giant Swing. It was a large boat with three rows of seating on each side of it. It seemed like a slow ride to start with. 

Collin and I sat in the back. Next to me was a group of three, one guy and two girls. They were giggling and talking loudly. Collin and looked at each other, smiling slightly. They were going to be a blast to be with during this ride. 

The ride started slow, but the faster it got the higher it swung. Each time my heart beat a little louder in my ears and my smile grew wider. I squeezed my eyes shut every time we swung downward. The girls next to me shrieked with each movement. Collin seemed unfazed besides a small smile that was tugging on his lips. 

The ride lasted less than ten minutes. We left to find another ride. Hopefully, there was one that would involve less screaming since my ear was aching from it. However, when Collin and I were in line for the Zero Gravity ride, I noticed the group of three in line with us. 

In fact, they were practically everywhere that we were. On the roller coaster, at the coin toss, bottle-throwing, everything. While waiting to go on a spinning ride, I turned and smiled at them.

One of the girls, who had short blue hair, smiled back. "Hey! We seem to be going to all the same places, huh?"

"Yep," I replied nervously. Collin now turned, too. He eyed the people as if this was the first time he was noticing them. 

"I'm Jazzy," the blue-haired girl introduced herself. "This is Nina." She pointed at a girl with red hair and large, feather earrings. "And this is Lewis." Lewis had dark curly hair. He smiled, revealing deep dimples. 

I introduced myself and Collin. Nina raised a brow. "Are you guys..."

"Friends," I said quickly. For some reason, the thought of introducing us as siblings didn't settle well in my stomach. I didn't know what changed, but I couldn't picture Collin as being just a brother, so I didn't want others thinking the same way.

Nina and Jazzy were talking so enthusiastically and so quickly that I could hardly process what they were saying. Lewis remained quiet, stealing glances my way every so often. 

All five of us were entered into the ride. It was one where we sat in groups of three and spun around. Collin and I sat together while the three friends sat elsewhere. I couldn't help but feel relieved that we were alone. 

Unlike the Giant Swing, this ride didn't hesitate to whip us around at full speed. I tried to focus on Collin, who was right across from me, in order to not feel sick. Fortunately, I hadn't eaten yet, or else I would have surely vomited. 

When the ride was over, I stumbled out of my seat, nearly falling. Collin chuckled and grabbed my shoulder to stabilize me.

"I'm going to check on Boh, it's been a couple of hours," he told me. My eyes widened. It had been two hours already? "Are you hungry? You can grab something to eat." 

After spinning for so long, I definitely wasn't hungry. I could sit until he came back, though. I nodded. He turned and left. 

I went in the opposite direction towards where the tables were. I sat at a vacant one and rested my chin on my hands. We had only been there for a few hours and yet I was already tired. 

A group of people, who I easily recognized to be Jazzy, Nina, and Lewis, sat down at my table. They each had a paper plate with food. I lifted my head off of my hands and smiled at them. I didn't expect to see them again after the spinning ride. 

"Where's your friend?" Jazzy asked. 

I instinctively looked around, even though I knew where he was. "Oh, he went to the car. He'll be back soon." 

Nina nodded and took a bite from her sandwich. Lewis grinned at me. "How long will he be?"

"Uh, I don't know, maybe ten more minutes?" I didn't know the answer for sure. Hopefully sooner than that. I didn't like being without him. 

"Well, while you wait we can take you through the maze," Lewis offered. 

"Aren't you guys eating?" 

"Jazzy and I are," Nina responded. "But Lewis isn't. He can take you through." 

I looked at Lewis. His brows were raised, signalling that it was my call. I chewed on my lip nervously. What if Collin went looking for me here? I couldn't just text him and tell him where I was going. I didn't want to worry him. 

Also, I didn't know Lewis. It felt weird to just hang out the two of us. 

"I don't know if—"

"Oh, hey." 

Sorry, I felt like I haven't posted in forever! But yay, they're finally at the fair! How do you think they're trip is going so far? Should they befriend Jazzy, Nina, and Lewis? What do you think?

If you like this story, please try voting with some sort of greasy food. Stay brilliant!