Who Needs Sanity

Chapter 1 | The Circus

Kay and I walked around the circus eating our popcorn. She was flirting with her crush Daryl while I hid from the clowns.

We all sat down at a small table. They were laughing about some inside joke that I didn't get.

I'm the third wheel and it's a bit awkward, but she didn't want to go with him alone. So here I am, staring into space.

"Isn't that funny Quinn?" Kay nudged me. I was completely zoned out. "Yeah. Hilarious" I smiled but I wasn't very convincing.

She rolled her eyes and continued with her flirting. I was going back to my stare into space when someone caught my eye.

He was leaning against a trailer. His bright red hair reminded me of fire. My eyes were glued to him.

He noticed me. His eyes were blue, a beautiful blue. I wanted to look away, try and pretend I wasn't looking at him.

I couldn't. There was something about him, I just couldn't take my eyes off him.

He smiled, showing his perfect teeth. He has the best smile I've ever seen in my life. I couldn't help but grin a little.

"Quinn" Kay broke me from my daze. "Yeah, what?" She was standing now. "We are getting some more popcorn, save our seat."

I just nodded and they walked away. I immediately went to look at the guy again. He was gone. I looked around and he was nowhere to be found.

"Back to staring into nothingness" I mumbled to myself and fiddled with my shirt. "Hi" I heard an unfamiliar voice say.

I looked up and saw the bright red hair. My jaw dropped when he sat in the chair next to me. "Hi" my voice cracked.

"I'm Jerome" he smiled. I love his smile. I grinned and replied "I'm Quinn."

"Where did your friends go?" he questioned. "Oh, they just wanted more popcorn. They'll be back." He sat back and brought his hand to his chin, like he was thinking.

"Want to go on a walk with me?" Jerome stood up in front of me. I gazed up at him. Take a walk with a complete stranger, alone. Why not?

"Sure" I smiled and stood up next to him. "Follow me." he started walking towards the trailers. We walked through the crowd of people and made it to the trailer he was leaning against earlier.

He opened the door and glanced over his shoulder at me. "Ladies first" He motioned for me to go inside.

Alone with a random stranger in a sketchy trailer, what could go wrong? My mind screamed for me to leave but my legs didn't agree. I walked inside, he followed and shut the door.

"This is your trailer right?" I asked as I observed my surroundings. "No" he made it sound like it was so obvious. "What?!" I panicked.

I reached for the door but he stopped me. He started laughing "I was just kidding!" I sighed in relief and laughed with him.

"You're a really trusting person, aren't you?" he sat on a little bed in the corner. 

"I guess. Is there a reason I shouldn't trust you?" I stayed by the door, just in case.

"Probably a million reasons." He grinned. I smiled a little and leaned against a table.

"Well, are you a murderer?" I wandered a little closer to him. "If you are, no judgement, just warn me if you're about to kill me."

He seemed surprised by what I was saying. Then he just chuckled.

"If I was going to kill someone, I wouldn't kill you." He was smiling at me, making my smile grow. "Good!" For some reason, I trust him.

"You can sit." He motioned for me to join him. I moved slowly towards him and sat so that there was plenty of space between us.

It was quiet, I hate quiet. "So, who would you kill" the words spilled out of my mouth, there was no stopping them.

"What?" He looked confused. I was regretting my question, I'm never this outgoing. "You said you wouldn't kill me, so who would you kill?"

"Hmm" he laid back on the bed and smiled "My mother." I didn't know what to say next.

"What about you, Quinn. Who would you kill" He sounded sincerely interested. "Umm" I bit my lip as I thought.

"Dylan. He's in my english class and he annoys the crap out of me." He laughed loudly and I joined him.

"Remind me not to annoy you" he stared at the ceiling with a smile plastered on his face. I laid back, making the space between us a little smaller.

"It's not just that. He's stupid and mean to everyone. Everybody loves him, but all he does is make fun of them."

I was starting to rant so I stopped talking and stared at the ceiling. I blushed, embarrassed that I was getting so worked up over some stupid guy.

"Has he ever made fun of you" I peered at Jerome, his smile was gone and he seemed concerned.

"Probably. Wouldn't surprise me." I admired his eyes as I spoke. Its was intriguing how his hair was like fire and his eyes were like water.

It was quiet again. "Why would you pick your mom?" I was whispering, not sure why.

He explained everything about his life. His mother nagging him. His life on the road. The circus. Everything.

I listened to every word, not wanting to miss any details. After he finished spilling his guts about his life, he asked about mine.

Since he told me so much, I decided not to hold back. I told him about my parents. My brothers and sister. Every detail I could think of.

Much to my surprise he listened, even asked me questions. We laughed and talked and laughed some more.

I know I just met him, but I feel like I've known him forever. It's like we've been friends our whole lives. That's when I remembered that I completely ditched Kay.

"I have to go" I sat up quickly and grabbed my coat. "Why" Jerome sat up too, looking to me for answers.

"My friend Kay is probably looking for me. I kind of disappeared on her." I rushed towards the door.

I glanced back at him, he was frowning. I didn't want to leave, I wanted to keep talking. "You want to come with me?"