FAME│s.m

eight

The next morning I woke up, slowly sitting up in my bed. When did I get here? I thought immediately.

I'm answered as I glance at my bay window, Simon sat on the padding, his eyes shifting amongst the white, fluffy clouds as they passed, the sun slowly lifting on his face.

He heard me shuffle out of bed, removing his eyes from the beautiful morning sky and onto me instead.

"It really is beautiful," he mutters, going back to staring at the sky. I smile, joining him. I sat on his lap as he took up the whole of the seat, his arms slinging around my waist. I place my hands over his arms, feeling the warmth from the sun transfer from his body to mine.

We watched together for some time, sat in the same position the whole time, before I broke away from him to get ready for the day.

My dad had already gone off to the diner to greet our daily customers with their usual breakfast requests.

"I'm gonna drop by the motel and clean up," Simon says as he enters the bathroom I was readying in.

"Okay," I smile. "Wait," I blurt, his body reappearing at the doorway. "Where did you even sleep?"

"On the floor. Don't worry, I folded the blankets so you wouldn't have to," he grins, striding out of my vision. I giggle as I softly shake my head, continuing with my makeup.

Once I'm done, I jog to my room to get dressed, noticing Simon had left his phone at the window. Must've fell out of his pocket, I mumble to myself.

I pick it up, a ring tone immediately going off.

"Hello?" I question after looking at the Caller ID.

"Who's this?" the boy interrogates. "I swear to God if he's found a girl-"

"Let me talk, it's my phone!" I heard the owner of the device shout, then the rest was muffled as the phone was being passed. "Hello?"

"Hi, is this Josh?" I ask.

"Yes, yes it is. Who are you?" he asks. He's so polite, and I wanted to thank him for it.

"I'm Amari, a new friend of Simon's."

"Oh, well it's nice to meet you, Amari," he chuckles. "Are you near Simon, by chance?"

"No, I'm not. He left his phone at mine."

"Hmm," he hums, letting silence hang for a bit. "Look, we have a match in two days time, do you think you could help us out and inform us of your whereabouts so we could have our teammate back in time for practice?"

I bite my lip, torn between helping his team or helping him. Soccer caused him so much stress, but I can't keep him with me forever.

After a large debate with myself, I end up blurting out, "I can't." I hung up immediately, ashamed of my choice.

••couple hours later••

"There's a fair here?" Simon questions, staring at the huge sign.

"Yeah! This is our busiest time of the year," I reply.

"So, do you work tonight?" he asks.

"No, I asked to have tonight off so I could take you to said fair," I smirk. He laughs.

"But the diner could be overflowing with customers and they'll end up drowning without you," he responds.

"It sounds like someone doesn't want my company," I reply with a teasing tone.

"No, no no no," he stammers. He places his hands firmly on my shoulders, our eyes stuck on each other's. "Amari Hall, I'd love to have your company anywhere I go."

My cheeks burn as they redden, and I'm unable to suppress my smile.

"But seriously, your dad just let you off to go to the fair?" he questions.

"Yeah," I giggle. I lick my lips before answering his nonverbal 'why?'. "He actually likes you, ya now," I explain. "You worry too much."

He sighs in relief, pressing a hand to his chest as he wheezes, bent over his knees. I laugh at him as he stands back up, joining me.

"What's to do at the fair?" he questions as he looks at the grounds. He answers his own question as his eyes fall on all of the attractions and carnival games.

"Just wait until all of the cars begin to pull in," I grin, looking out at the road. Little did I know, it would be for a completely different reason than to come enjoy our annual fairgrounds.

••time for the fair••

"Ouch," Simon chuckles as he attempts to loosen the grip of the wristband.

"Don't rip that, I paid for it," I tease.

"You did not!" he denies in a playful tone.

"Um, yes- I did," I retort.

"Oh, and your money just so happens to be stored away in my wallet, in my pocket?" he quizzes.

"If we were married, it technically would be," I state.

"I believe that the only disadvantage to marrying you would be you cleaning out my cash," he jokes, leaving his wristband be.

"Nothing else?" I question.

"Nope, everything else is an advantage."

"Even this face?" I quiz as I look at him, my tongue stuck out of the side of my mouth, my eyes crossed, my nose scrunched.

"Okay, maybe not," he jokes, chuckling. I gasp, giving him a shove. He playfully shoves me back, but quickly hooks his arm with mine so I bounced right back into him.

We both relaxed, the setting of our previous conversation mellowing to a serious one as his arm dropped, along with mine, and our fingers intertwining beside us instead.

Glancing at each other, we both admire the smile on the other's face. I turn away, first looking at the soil floor, then up at the Ferris Wheel.

"That's last," Simon mumbles into my ear.

"Oh, really now?" I giggle as I peer up at him. "You just plan out our whole night?"

"Nah, just that part," he replies. "I also plan on getting you a giant stuffed animal by the end of the night," he adds, pointing to the game that required you to kick a soccer ball into both top and bottom corners in order to win the grandest prize. It was surprisingly rare to beat, as you had to call out where you were kicking to and succeed.

"Oh for goodness sake," I laugh.