candy lovers | aspir | ✓

26 | bounty

For the magical ones,

"And above all watch with glittering eyes, the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic, will never find it."

- Roald Dahl.

___________

CH 26

"Okay, now I regret telling you to be productive," Layla says, with her hands on her hips.

"What's your problem, now Layla?" I ask, as I rub the sleep from my eyes. I've been working non-stop on the latest sketches, because, honestly it's the only way to get my mind off of everything at hand.

"Your health, Fae. You're not getting any sleep."

"Because sleeping is unproductive," I point out.

She sighs before rolling her eyes. "Look, what I meant to say, is that you have to keep yourself busy. Do something but just don't wallow in self pity. That's not going to help you." She walks over to her closet, and opens the door. "It will do you some good to come to the fair," she says as she pulls out a few outfits. "You can't stay cooped here forever."

I turn back to look at my sketch book. We're now designing a few Fall clothes. The fair has been decked up and made extra special for the Fall season, and maybe I can gain inspiration there, right?

I sigh before standing up. "Alright then," I say as I walk over to the closet to change out of my pyjamas.

XxX XxX XxX XxX

The moment I step into the fairgrounds, the memories rush back. The warm smell of sugar, the glowing carousel; they all bring back memories that are extremely painful.

This is where Chase opened up to me. This place holds the memories of when everything was happy and light .

"Come on, I heard Pumpkin Patch has an amazing array of lattes," Leanna says as she pulls on my hand. She brings me to the small, cozy cafe called Pumpkin Patch. Brian follows behind, laughing at Leanna's enthusiasm for the lattes.

Layla is busy reciting her order to the woman at the counter, while Phoebe is holding two cotton candies. Yellow and blue.

"Where's Ian?" I ask her as she takes a big bite out of the blue cotton candy.

"With Chase," she replies. "He bought me this as a compensation for not being around."

"How...thoughtful," I muse. Ian knows exactly what to do, to make her happy.

She nods, while looking around the cafe. I spot a lot of my school-mates, including Alyssa, who gives me a cordial nod. I'm surprised to see Lennox seated next to her, his hand dangerously placed on her thigh.

I raise my eyebrow at his behaviour, but he just gives me a wicked grin, his eyes gleaming in the process.

I turn back towards the rest of them. "To the carousel!" Phoebe yells as she points in the direction of the carousel. Everyone happily picks up their drinks, and heads off.

I'm too scared that I might start crying if I were to go on the carousel. I don't want to dampen anyone's mood, so I tap on Layla's shoulder. "Look, I'm going to go use the restroom, alright?"

"Cool," she says unsuspectingly. "Meet us at the carousel?"

"Sure," I tell her with a weak smile.

I walk away from the cheery group, towards the restrooms, placed at the very back of the fairgrounds. My eyes scan the entire fair. I don't know what I'm searching for, until my eyes land on him. His eyes are currently scanning the entrance to Pumpkin Patch, where the rest of my friends are fast moving towards the carousel.