A Fair to Remember #13

by Melissa J Morgan

  “Jenna!” Alyssa said, pausing with her corn on the cob halfway to her mouth. “Your brother would never do something like that to Alex.”

  “I was just kidding. Sheesh,” Jenna said, rolling her eyes.

  “Hey! There she is!” Grace announced, gesturing with her plastic fork.

  Sure enough, Alex was bounding through the crowd, her dark hair flying, a huge smile on her face. Adam and David both brought up the rear, looking every bit as excited as Alex did.

  “Hey, you guys!” Alex said, dropping down at the end of their table, the farthest seat from Jenna. “Guess what? Adam and I just signed up for the olde-tyme competition!”

  Jenna’s heart dropped. “You did?”

  “Yep,” Adam said, grabbing a potato chip off Jenna’s plate. “And we’re totally going to win, too.”

  Jenna dropped her hot dog and slumped on the picnic bench. She couldn’t believe that both Alex and Adam were going to get to compete and she wasn’t. Not that she wanted to spend the entire weekend with her twin, but shouldn’t he have asked her to be his partner before asking Alex? Wasn’t that what family was for?

  “Hey, Jenna. Alex said you really wanted to sign up, too,” David said. “Want to be my partner?”

  Instantly the entire group fell silent. Everyone turned to stare at Jenna. She was just as surprised as they were.

  “Huh?” she said.

  “Yeah. There’s still time,” David said with a shrug. “The first event doesn’t start for a couple of hours.”

  Jenna looked around at her friends, her heart fluttering nervously. David wanted to be her partner? Sarah’s boyfriend? Her former crush? The very idea was making her palms clammy.

  “Uh . . . what about Sarah?” Jenna asked, swallowing hard.

  David raised his eyebrows. “What about Sarah?”

  “Well, she is your girlfriend,” Tori pointed out.

  “So?” David said. “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Don’t you think Sarah might mind?” Alyssa said. “You know, you partnering with another girl?”

  Jenna couldn’t have been more grateful for her friends just then. They were saying all the things she wanted to say, but couldn’t seem to get out past the lump in her throat.

  “You guys are kidding, right?” David said, looking around the table. “It’s just a fun competition. And Sarah’s not here. I bet if you called her right now she would tell us we should have signed up already. She wouldn’t want us to miss out.”

  Jenna looked at Natalie across the table. Natalie was more experienced than anyone else at the table when it came to boy-girl matters. She and Simon had started being boyfriend and girlfriend way before Jenna even thought about having a crush. Natalie had even been through a breakup already. She was totally sophisticated.

  “What do you think?” Jenna asked.

  “I think he’s right,” Natalie said with a shrug. “Sarah would want you guys to have fun. It’s really not a big deal.”

  This made Jenna feel slightly better, but her stomach still squirmed at the idea of spending so much of her weekend with David. Aside from her old crush on him, she had come here to hang out with her girls, not to hang out with a guy.

  “I think you’re just chicken,” Adam said, stealing another chip. “You don’t want to sign up because you know me and Alex are gonna whip you guys.”

  “You know it!” Alex said with a grin.

  Instantly Jenna’s competitive juices started flowing. She narrowed her eyes at Alex.

  “You going to let them disrespect us like that?” David joked.

  Jenna swung her legs over the end of the bench and stood up. “No way,” she said, determined. “Come on, David. Let’s go sign up.”

  “Wow. This is serious,” Grace said as Jenna walked around the table. “You’re really going to leave all that food behind?”

  “That’s what happens when someone challenges me,” Jenna said with a grin. Then she looked at her brother, who was already eyeing her corn on the cob. “Just keep him away from it,” she told her friends. “I’ll be back.”

  Jenna’s friends laughed as she and David headed off for the sign-up table. It looked like Jenna was going to get to compete after all. Thanks to a boy. It was strange the way things worked out.

  chapter FIVE

  Jenna stood near the starting line for the three-legged competition, staring at the spectators to keep from staring at the top of David’s head. He was down on the grass, tying his ankle to hers with the nylon rope he’d gotten from one of the olde-tyme committee members. For some reason, being so close to him was making her feel all twitchy. Like one loud noise would make her jump out of her skin. She finally spotted her friends in the crowd, right near the center of the makeshift course, and waved. They all waved back excitedly.

  “Okay. That should do it,” David said, standing. “You ready to run for your life?”

  Jenna nodded. She looked down the straight, flat course, marked off at four corners by orange ribbons on stakes. A huge banner that read FINISH hung a couple hundred yards away. It looked like a really long way to run. Especially with one of her ankles tied to a boy’s.

  Next to them, Adam and Alex were already tied together and their heads were bent toward each other, talking strategy. Behind them, dozens of other pairs practiced walking around or pointed down the course, checking things out. The excitement in the air was making Jenna’s heart pound. She really wanted to win this thing. Maybe she should concentrate on that instead of on the fact that David’s leg was pressed right into hers.

  “So . . . should we step with our tied feet first, or with our free feet?” she asked David.

  “You pick,” David told her, shoving his bangs back. “I’m putting you in charge.”

  “Me? Why?” Jenna asked.

  “Because if I come up with a strategy and we lose, then you have seven friends to sic on me,” he joked. “I’ve only got Adam, and don’t tell him I said this, but I think you can take him.”

  Jenna laughed and instantly everything inside of her relaxed. “Oh, you’re right about that,” she said.

  She had almost forgotten how cool and funny David could be. Maybe he was only an irritating boy when he was around Adam. It wouldn’t surprise her. Adam was so annoying sometimes, she was sure he could infect anyone.

  “Okay, let’s start with our tied feet,” Jenna said.

  “Sounds like a plan,” David said, rubbing his hands together. “Oh! Looks like we’re about to start.”

  Sure enough, a chubby man in a red, white, and blue striped shirt was approaching a microphone on the platform near the finish line. He wore a white straw hat with a red, white, and blue striped ribbon around it.

  “Attention all three-legged competitors!” he said into the mic, his voice booming over the fairgrounds. “Please take your positions at the starting line!”

  Nervous butterflies danced in Jenna’s stomach. She and David made their way awkwardly to the white starting line painted on the grass. Jenna looked over at Adam, and he nodded at her with a serious expression. Jenna knew that look her brother was giving her. It was a “you’re toast” kind of look.

  “Oh, it’s so on,” Jenna said under her breath.

  “Wow. You really do like to compete,” David said.

  “And win,” Jenna told him.

  “I’ll have to remember that,” David said.

  “All right, everyone!” the man at the microphone called out. He lifted a starter pistol into the air. “On your mark! Get set! Go!”

  The pistol went off and immediately Jenna started to run. Unfortunately, she took off with her free foot instead of her tied foot. Both of her legs went out from under her as David jerked her forward. Her stomach swooped and she started to go down. This was going to hurt.

  “Watch it!” David shouted, grabbing her arm and hauling her back up. “I thought you said start with our tied feet!”

  “Sorry!” Jenna cried. “Let’s go!”

&
nbsp; Everyone else already seemed to be ten yards ahead of them. Jenna and David stepped forward with their tied feet and started to move. Jenna focused with all her might on matching David’s stride. Up ahead, a pair went down, falling head over heels. Then another hit the ground facefirst.

  “We’re gaining on them!” David cried.

  “Faster!” Jenna shouted.

  Alex and Adam were in the lead and she could not let them win. She and David got into a rhythm and were suddenly flying down the course. The crowd on either side of the course screamed and shouted and jumped up and down.

  “Go, Jenna!” she heard Grace shout. “Go! Go! Go!”

  All of a sudden, Alex and Adam tripped and hit the ground on their knees. The moment they did, Jenna and David blew right by them. The finish line was only ten feet away. Eight! Six! They were going to do it! “We have our winners!” the man cried into the microphone as David and Jenna stepped over the finish line ahead of everyone else.

  “We did it!” Jenna cried.

  “Woohoo!” David cheered. He grabbed her in a triumphant hug and Jenna threw her arms around him, laughing like crazy.

  Wait a minute! What am I doing? Jenna thought, suddenly finding herself with her chin on David’s shoulder. She instantly sprang back, but her ankle was still tied to David’s. Her arms flailed for balance, but it was too late. This time, Jenna was going down.

  David tried to grab her, but Jenna hit the ground on her butt—hard. She overheated with embarrassment as her friends all rushed toward her.

  “Are you okay?” Alyssa cried, crouching next to her.

  Grace dropped down to untie the rope around Jenna and David’s ankles.

  “I’m . . . I’m fine,” Jenna said, shaking her head. She tried really hard not to think about how ridiculous that fall must have looked. “We won!”

  “Yeah, you did!” Valerie cheered, hugging her on the ground.

  “Nice work,” Adam said grudgingly, joining them.

  Alex reached out her hands to Jenna and hauled her up off the grass. “You guys were great,” she said with a smile.

  “Thanks,” Jenna said, blushing. She reached back to dust the dirt and grass off the butt of her denim shorts.

  Suddenly the MC was breaking into their little group. “Here you go, kids! First-place ribbons!” he said, handing one blue ribbon to Jenna and one to David. “That’s fifty points in the olde-tyme competition.”

  Everyone cheered. Then the MC turned to Alex and Adam. “And for you, third-place ribbons!” he said, producing yellow ribbons for them. “That’s thirty-five points. You’re all still in it! Congratulations!”

  Alex and Adam took their ribbons and everyone cheered again. Then the MC moved off to award the second-place ribbons to another pair.

  “We could actually win this thing!” David said, hanging his ribbon off one of the buttons on his polo shirt.

  “Yeah,” Jenna said, beaming as she admired her ribbon. Maybe competing with a boy wasn’t so bad after all. “Yeah, we actually could.”

  “First and third place?” Jenna’s father said that night as he and David set up a folding table at the end of the long dining room table. “My kids are very talented.”

  Alex glanced proudly at Adam as she sat down with a stack of napkins to fold, but he didn’t look up from the chair he was placing.

  “Yeah, we are,” Jenna cheered. “But I’m more talented. I have the blue ribbon to prove it.”

  Adam scoffed. “Just wait till tomorrow. We’re coming back.”

  “Definitely,” Alex said, grinning at him over the table.

  Adam glanced at her, but didn’t smile and quickly looked away. Alex’s heart dropped slightly. What was that about? They had had such a good day together, playing volleyball, walking by the lake, competing in the race. Had she done something wrong in there that she couldn’t remember?

  “I’d better go check on the sauce,” Jenna’s father said.

  He was putting together a huge spaghetti dinner for all of them and had spent half the afternoon in the kitchen. All that separated the dining area from the kitchen was a long prepping counter, so Alex could see the big pot steaming away and could hear the sauce bubbling. According to Jenna, this whole cooking thing was pretty new for her recently divorced dad, so it took him an extra long time to make something basic. She had also requested that even if the food was totally gross, they all tell Mr. Bloom how much they loved it. “He needs positive feedback,” Jenna had said.

  “Why don’t you kids set the table?” Mr. Bloom suggested.

  “We’re already on it!” Grace told him, walking out of the kitchen with a stack of plates.

  “Hey, Adam?” Alex said hopefully. “Wanna help me fold the napkins?”

  “Um, maybe when I’m done getting more chairs,” Adam said quickly.

  Then he turned around and practically ran out of the room. Alex felt Natalie watching her and looked down at the stack of napkins, pretending to concentrate on her folding. It was bad enough that Adam was acting so strangely toward her, but did he have to do it in front of all her friends?

  Boys are weird, Alex reminded herself. Just remember . . . boys . . . are . . . weird.

  For some reason it didn’t make her feel any better.

  A little while later, everyone was taking their seats at the table for dinner. Alex sat near the end, but made sure the seat next to hers was open. Brynn started to sit down in it, but Alex stopped her.

  “I’m saving that one,” Alex whispered.

  Brynn paused and smiled. “I bet I know who for!” she sang. Alex blushed, but then Brynn quickly moved to a seat on the other side of the table.

  Alex watched as Adam walked in with a basket of bread and placed it on the table. He glanced around for a seat and his eyes fell on the one next to Alex. Her heart skipped a beat.

  “See? Everything’s fine,” Natalie whispered to Alex, leaning in from her seat on Alex’s right. “He’s totally gonna come over here.”

  Alex smiled. Natalie was right. Everything was fine. She was just imagining things before.

  But then Adam grabbed the chair that was directly in front of him and pulled it out. He sat down and grabbed a piece of bread without even looking in Alex’s direction. Alex sunk down in her chair a bit and Natalie looked at her sympathetically.

  “It’s okay, Alex,” Brynn whispered. “Maybe he just wanted to sit by his dad.”

  “Please. He couldn’t have sat any farther away from me without sitting in the bathroom,” Alex lamented. “Something’s wrong.”

  Tori walked out of the bathroom after washing her hands and dropped down in the formerly “saved” seat. She looked around at the serious faces and her eyes widened.

  “Uh-oh. What did I miss?” she asked.

  “Adam didn’t sit next to Alex,” Brynn stated simply.

  “Oh. Not good,” Tori said, sucking some air through her teeth. This reaction did not make Alex feel better.

  “What should I do, you guys?” she asked.

  “Talk to him and find out what’s up,” Natalie suggested. “After dinner, of course.”

  “And say what?” Alex asked, the very idea making her stomach turn.

  Natalie, Tori, and Brynn looked at one another blankly. “We’re going to have to think about that one,” Tori said.

  Meanwhile, at the other end of the table, Jenna and David were going over their three-legged race, laughing about Jenna’s near fall at the beginning and her real fall after the win.

  “I totally saved you!” David said, taking a bite of his spaghetti. “If I hadn’t caught your arm, you would have taken us both down.”

  “Would not!” Jenna said, blushing.

  “I think I should start calling you Jenna the Klutz,” David suggested.

  Jenna whacked David’s arm with the back of her hand and laughed. “You should not!” she cried.

  Alex stared at Brynn across the table. “Is it just me or are those two flirting?” Brynn whispered.

&
nbsp; “I was just thinking the same thing,” Alex told her.

  At the center of the table, Grace, Alyssa, and Valerie were engaged in a huge debate about American Idol, making enough noise that the other girls were able to talk without being heard.

  “She just hit his arm,” Tori pointed out. “That’s a total crush signal.”

  She grabbed a roll and started to slap some butter onto it. Alex had no idea how she could do something that normal when there was a potential disaster happening before their eyes. Jenna was flirting with Sarah’s boyfriend. Didn’t Tori see how serious this was?

  “Come on, you guys,” Natalie said. “Jenna would never do that to Sarah.”

  “Well, she did have a crush on him once before,” Alex pointed out. “Remember? Right before last year’s social? Jenna totally wanted to go with David.”

  “I never knew that!” Tori said, her jaw dropping slightly.

  “She’s right. I remember,” Natalie said, placing her bread back on her plate. “There was major drama.”

  “Yeah, but Jenna backed off,” Brynn said. “Sarah told Jenna she liked David and that David liked her, and Jenna was cool about it.”

  At the other end of the table, Jenna said something funny and David nearly fell off his chair laughing. His eyes sparkled as he looked at Jenna. There was something about that look that made Alex suspicious. It was the way she wished Adam would look at her right now.

  “Yeah, but the question is, does David still like Sarah?” Alex said. “Because he’s sure acting like he likes Jenna.”

  “This could be trouble,” Natalie said.

  “Maybe Jenna shouldn’t have signed up for the competition with him,” Brynn whispered. “This morning she was all ‘boys are gross,’ but now . . .”

  Jenna giggled and smiled at David over the top of her water glass as she took a sip.

  “Now she’s singing a different tune,” Alex finished.

  “We have to talk to her,” Natalie said. “Just to make sure she’s not crushing on him again. If she is, all three of them could get hurt. Jenna, David, and Sarah.”