by Piper Bee
Lena scrunches her face, then takes a drink from her glittery water bottle.
Cale reaches an open hand across the hood of Lena’s car.
“Hey, I’m Cale Thomas. Boyfriend extraordinaire.”
I sputter a laugh.
Jin receives Cale’s hand. “Jin Park. I… uh… can legally ride a motorcycle in all fifty states.”
“Oh, I see,” Cale says, his face serious. He pulls his hand back. “A one-upper.”
“Let’s get this over with,” Lena says, but when she looks at me, there’s a side smile on her glossy pink lips.
♫
Cheap wristbands always stick to the little hairs on my arm, but the benefit of all-access to the fair activities is worth the few plucked hairs it costs me. It smells like dirt and fried fair food. Funnel cake, popcorn, french fries. The first layer of suntan sets in as people buzz around like bees, chomping shaved ice and corndogs. The Vegas plinking sounds from fair games and the creaking of rickety portable rides transport me to when I was tiny. Well, tinier.
I wore pigtails, not braids. Overall shorts and Carson’s old t-shirt with the hole in the side. I lived in that outfit until the seams left indentations because I’d gotten so big.
But here I am, feeling like I’m in it all over again. I wish nostalgia wasn’t so faintly soured by the reality of growing up.
“What should we do first? Games? Rides?” Cale asks, buzzing with excitement. “PETTING ZOO?!”
“Not before we eat, please,” Lena says, her golden arms retreating close to her body.
Cale points at her. “Fair point, Ms. Garcia. More sanitary to eat first.”
The crowd swerves around us. My feet are antsy to flow with them, but I don’t know where I should end up. I spot an empty patch of dirt out of the stream and dash through fairgoers for it.
I expect the other three to follow, but I lost them. Scanning the crowd helps nothing.
Jin startles me by leaning in, his shirt brushing my shoulder. His scent is floral, but not feminine. Clean. Maybe peppery. I know this flower, but I can’t name it.
“I should probably tell you I’m a State Fair virgin too,” he says. His expression fakes embarrassment.
“Seriously? I have to teach you my ways too?” I say.
Jin shrugs with a grin on his face. I scratch my neck even though I don’t itch. That smile was a lot like the first one he gave me. My nerves are jittery.
We’re joined by Lena and Cale within a few seconds. I’m half-relieved that I’m no longer alone with Jin.
Why only half, I wonder?
What could a couple of State Fair pledges be compelled to do for initiation? My short stature makes my search difficult, but then I see the faded slate gray paint, rickety mechanisms, and depressing broken sign.
It’s. Perfect.
“First, before we do anything else…” My sinister grin and pointed finger guide the helpless newbies. “Initiation.”
♫
It’s still early, so the line to get into the Haunted House is short. Cale waggles his eyebrows and rubs his hands together to set the mood. Those who exit the attraction leave with expressions that clearly say “one-star review,” but I don’t care. If they hate it, it will have done its job.
“No open-toed shoes,” the mid-teens polo-clad staff member tells Lena. She points to the sign and raises her brow. The famous Garcia look of irritation settles on Lena’s face. The teenager says, “I don’t make the rules.” And then waves her away.
This isn’t good. I don’t want to lose so early in the day, but I have no idea how to get Cale and Lena in this broken-down attraction.
“I’ve got sneakers in my car, it’s fine. Can you guys wait, like, ten minutes?” Lena says.
Jin nods and Cale nods and I nod because I could use the extra time to craft a better plan. I’m thinking: air shotgun range. Cale could show Lena how to point the gun. It’s cute. But it’d be awkward if Jin and I are also there.
Lena heads back to the parking lot and the rest of us stand near the Haunted House attraction. And then, genius hits me.
“You’re telling me, in your twenty years of life, you’ve never been to a fair?!” Cale says to Jin.
“I went to Carnival in Brazil a few years—”
I interrupt by ushering Cale the other direction. “Go! Cale, now, go go go! Take Lena to the air shotgun thing.”
“What?” He gives minimal resistance to my shoving, and then it suddenly hits him that I’m trying to help him out. You’re welcome.
“Just tell her it’s her punishment for being an unprepared pledge,” I say. “Go!”
“Okay, okay! I got it!” Cale puts his hands up in defense and then walks the same direction as Lena. But my mission is only partially accomplished.
I glance at Jin and gesture back toward the line to the Haunted House. “Let’s go! Hurry!”
“Um, okay,” he says, like a compliant little kid with a hint of wariness.
My toothy smile makes the staff member eye-roll as she waves us forward in line. I feel like I discovered mom’s chocolate stash and got away with taking one for myself. It may only be a few minutes, but Lena and Cale are stuck together. I’m not completely useless after all.
“It’s not too scary, right?” Jin says to me. I nearly forgot about him in the thrill of my victory.
I know he’s joking. “If you can handle your own reflection, you should survive.”
He furrows his brow. “Uh-oh. There are mirrors? That’s not good.”
I eye him. “Why not?”
He whispers to me, “I’m a vampire.”
“Too bad I never got into the vampire hype,” I say, but now I’m thinking he might think I’m into him, or not into him, and I don’t know how I feel about either of those. I probably should’ve chosen giggle over quip.
He’s a gracious laugher, which helps curb the overthinking.
If I had to get stuck with one of Lena’s crushes, at least it isn’t one who’s drooling over her. He seems excited about this mediocre attraction, which might actually make it fun.
The sweat inside my shoes builds as we step forward in line.
“What was that about, pushing Cale to take Lena shooting?” Jin asks.
I whip my body to face him, my eyes wide. “Uh… well…” Shoot! I’m not sure what I should say. Despite my false relationship status, I’m bad at lying.
I guess I could try the truth.
“I’ll tell you inside,” I say and I can’t help but grin. I might have discovered another way to help Cale.
We approach the archway coated in peeling paint, which doesn’t seem like an intentional part of the decoration. A bad speaker at the front blares a scream repeatedly as a strobe light flashes. We lift our wristbands and the guy at the front waves us into the darkness. I can make out faint images of green and purple skeletons, but that’s it.
This first part is cringe-central because we have to feel around to get through it. It’s gross thinking about all the unwashed hands that have grazed these walls, but I feel around to get my bearings. My fingers bump into some cotton fabric with flesh underneath.
Jin.
I jump. “Sorry!”
“No worries,” he says, but I can only barely make out the outline of his figure. My right hand hits the wall, thank goodness.
And my left runs into his body again.
“Ah, sorry!”
“It’s fine, Joy,” he says with a small laugh. “Here.”
His hand wraps around my left wrist and he pulls me along. Lena sure missed her chance, opting for open-toed wedges. She could’ve been unapologetically hand-in-hand with Jin in this chamber of low-grade scares. But, now it’s Jin’s hand holding my… wrist.
Who am I hoping ends up with Lena anyway? Jin or Cale?
Ah! A cackling plastic witch head jolts at me. I flinch and squeal, my heartbeat pounding in my limbs.
Jin squeezes my wrist a little tighter. I try to shake all of my nerves off.
/> We round the corner and dark blue light flows in. The opening to the hall of mirrors boasts poor quality thunder sounds and rain effects. The neon light distorts everything but the perfect curves and angles of Jin’s face. He drops my wrist, but his touch lingers, and he gestures for me to go ahead.
I head into the maze and it’s easy to navigate at first, but after a couple turns I’m stopped by glass panes. Jin follows shortly behind.
I tap on a transparent frame that’s between us. “So you’re not a vampire after all!” I yell through the panes. He shrugs. Adorably.
Next is the shifting floor beside gruesome cartoon jailbirds that do anything but frighten. Fake arms reach through prison bars as Jin and I find balance on the track.
I’m wobbly as a pirate ship in a monsoon.
I look back. Jin’s black Converse hit the moving track confidently. Tall people find their balance so much easier. I’m relieved when I’ve gotten past this obstacle.
I wonder how Cale and Lena are doing. Jin and I have hit the halfway mark and I’m guessing there hasn’t been much headway.
“So, you gonna let me in on why you made your boyfriend go after Lena?” Jin asks when he joins me on solid ground.
“Yes, but you have to keep it a secret,” I tell him.
His endearing wariness resurfaces. “Okay…”
I bounce up the split stairs that alternate up-and-down. This ride is desperate to make a show of my clumsiness, I swear. “I’m trying to pin Cale and Lena together as much as possible.”
Solid platform. We have to cross a footbridge made of chains. I turn around and face Jin. The chains rattle and shake as I walk backward.
My eyes catch his for a brief moment. “Cale is really into Lena.”
Jin looks at me with a furrowed brow. “And you’re encouraging it?”
My foot finds the landing. “Well, that part’s the secret.”
We climb down the spiral staircase to the ground level, me before him. “Cale and I are faking it. He’s actually trying to spend time with her, so I’m just playing along until… I don’t know, she sees him in a different light.”
We ignore the pitiful jump-scares as we talk.
His angular eyes narrow at me. “That’s kinda weird.”
“Yeah, but Cale thought a ridiculous ploy might get her attention. Nothing else does.”
Jin laughs. “True. But, why are you letting me in on this?”
“Because I could use your help.”
Jin thinks about it, his eyes wandering to nowhere in particular. I bite my lip in anticipation.
“Okay,” he says. “Sure, I can play accomplice.”
There’s a sigh in me that I didn’t know was there. “Thank you!”
We make for the exit. My face probably says “two-and-a-half stars,” at least.
Jin leaves ahead of me, and I completely miss the slight step down.
I crash into his back and grip onto his shirt. Before I realize it, Jin’s turned around and steadying me.
By grabbing my hand.
“You okay?” he asks.
I nod and pull myself together so I’m upright. Guess that haunted house made a fool of me after all. I pull my hand from his and dust myself off.
Now, Cale’s chances may be better than I thought.
And maybe it’s a tiny, itty bitty relief that I have one other person I don’t have to pretend with.
♫
Fair food is in a league of its own.
Our corn dogs don’t last long. They’re perfectly brown and crunchy on the outside, with a snap of salty pork flesh, lathered in corn-syrupy ketchup. Lena’s prior disgust was clearly a facade. She inhales that thing.
After lunch, we head to the rodeo show and I finally get to ask Cale how it went at the shooting range.
He winks and says, “I let her win.”
“I slaughtered him,” she says as she leans over from Cale’s other side. The show starts and Cale’s focus becomes completely enraptured in rowdy cheering. One by one, the cowboys get flung into the dirt. Cale’s ridiculous shrieking makes all of us laugh, but I think he’s still nervous around Lena because he keeps asking me “did you see that?” or “wasn’t that insane?”
I stealthily urge him the other direction. He hesitates but manages to get her attention a few times over the course of the show. His nerves are adorable.
Even though the fair food hits our stomachs like bricks, we ride a few rides before going to the petting zoo. Cale literally squeals at baby bunnies! Lena holds off, though. She’s periodically staring at one flashing food cart, longing for the sugary sustenance of the Promised Land.
Funnel. Cake.
Oh, we sanitize! Lured by pictures of stacked pancake noodles topped with syrupy fruit and whipped cream, we buy ourselves some fried glory.
Funnel cake is always a bad idea. And I never regret it.
The sun is dipping low and the air finally feels bearable. Not bad weather for braving another grease-bomb. I dig in, but I’m already feeling my limits.
Jin gets his funnel cake and sniffs it.
He coughs, sending white powder out into the atmosphere like a dry firework. It peppers his arm and I have to turn from my plate as I laugh so I don’t suffer the same fate.
Lena is in hysterics. Her cake slides off her floppy paper plate, jam-side down in the dirt.
Cale gasps. “The humanity!”
Jin wipes his face with a paper napkin and then offers his funnel cake to Lena. She lights up and accepts. He beams at her delight and I have two thoughts: a) either Jin enjoys being chivalrous more than eating funnel cake, or b) he likes making Lena happy.
Or both.
Cale holds a brief vigil for the poor, lost dessert. Despite how amusing that is, I can’t take my attention off the electric Park-Garcia chemistry. They’re so easy together. Like someone cast the two most beautiful people for this one scene at the fair to be best friends.
The lavender sky tells me sunset is fast approaching. The Ferris Wheel suddenly lights up like a beacon.
“We should go to the Ferris wheel right now,” I tell them, with half my mouth full. “We’ll get the sunset if we’re lucky.”
Lena nods, her pretty mouth dusted with powdered sugar and cheeks full of fried cake. I think we all feel that a few bites was enough, so we abandon our food in the trash. Lena and Jin walk ahead. The silhouette of them against the dotted lights of the wheel is like a movie poster.
Suddenly I feel a smooth palm slip into my hand. Cale’s. I glance at him, but he keeps walking like it’s nothing.
Without taking my hand away, I whisper, “What’s this?”
“Keeping up the image,” he says, his voice hushed.
How is he so natural at this? I hope I’m playing it cool. Holding his hand feels more than friendly, even in our context. I haven’t built up the courage to talk about the limits of this “relationship,” but I don’t see a reason to object.
For a second, it feels real. And kind of sweet. Not the sickly sweet of sugary funnel cake. More like a summer blackberry, perfectly ripe. He squeezes my hand and grins, high on the fair atmosphere alone.
Keeping up the image. This is for show. For Lena. And that’s fine. But it does make me wonder what it would feel like if it were real. I look up at him, and I can see him that way.
For Lena, I remind myself.
Cale and I catch up, approaching the line for the Ferris wheel. There are two side-by-side lines, separated by a rope. Lena is arguing with Jin over which line to get in.
“They take a person from each line,” he insists. “So we have to split if we want to get on together.” Once he sees me, he gives me the barest wink.
“Why would they do that?” Lena retorts in a high pitch.
“He’s right, Lena,” I say, leaving Cale’s handhold. “We should get in each line so we don’t get staggered.”
It’s not technically lying. It’s opportunity-manufacturing. Cale should be the one to ride with her. We’r
e leaving it to chance once we queue up. Jin stands in front of me in one line, Lena in front of Cale in the other. The four of us are next to each other.
Now I just pray they call on my line before Lena’s.
By some heavenly divination, Jin and I end up ahead in line. One person stands in front of Lena when they summon Jin up to a car.
Right according to plan.
“Oh.” He makes a show of false concern. I’m so glad I recruited him. “Sorry, Lena! Guess I was wrong.”
All I manage is a shrug and a silent beg to God that she considers it an honest mistake.
“Joy!” Her shrill reprimand urges me to avoid looking back at all costs.
The metal safety bar falls on our laps and Jin leans over, waving and mouthing “sorry” at Lena before facing the tangerine sunset.
Cale and Lena are practically on the opposite side of the wheel when they board. It’s like the fair gods were smiling on our sneakiness. If we’re lucky, Cale will admit his feelings for her as they gaze on the gradient orange, rose and periwinkle sky.
I know it’s a long shot, but I’m in a hopeful mood.
Breezes like this breathe peace onto me, coupling with the dull sounds of riders on coasters and plinking games in the fading day.
“Thanks for assisting me today,” I say to my ride partner.
“I think it merits a high five,” Jin says. My sunburned cheeks sting when I smirk. I give the man the high five he’s owed. Then I return to soaking in the lavender and tangerine sky. There’s no better vehicle for this meditation than a rickety seat on a Ferris wheel.
“So, tell me about yourself, Joy,” Jin says. The sparkle in his eyes hasn’t faded all day.
“College?” he asks.
“FredU. Finance major.”
His eyebrows go up. “Exciting.”
I laugh.
“So finance is your dream?” he asks more genuinely.
I fiddle with my ride belt. “No. But it’s practical. I figure I’ll have money if I work with money. Bakers aren’t the first ones to go hungry. My mom always says that.”
