star | matt champion

eleven

Kelsey's POV:
"look at you all dressed up. going anywhere?" my mum asked as i headed downstairs. "i'm going to the carnival with matt" i answered.

"is this a date kelsey?" she asked, fixing up a bit of my hair that was poking out.

"no, we're just going as friends" i laughed. "i'll be back around 11 or maybe even earlier" i said as i hugged her goodbye. i walked outside to see matt waiting inside of his car. "hope you weren't waiting too long" i said, tapping on his window to get his attention.

"only five minutes" he said. "hey about yesterday" matt continued. "don't worry about it" i replied, entering his car.

we arrived at the carnival and headed straight to the ticket booth. "what ride do you want to go on first?" matt asked, taking a step forward as the line became shorter. "let's go to those booth games! you know, the ones where you have to pop the balloons and there's a ticket underneath revealing your prize!" i said in excitement. matt smiled at me and nodded his head.

maybe we'll actually have fun. maybe matt and i will actually get along.

two minutes passed and we finally got our tickets. "it's over here" i said, grabbing matt by the wrist, pulling him in the direction i went. "i'm going to get a better prize than you" i said with confidence, handing the man working at the booth my tickets. "you wish" matt smirked, also handing over his tickets.

we each got 3 darts to throw at the balloons. i decided to aim at the smaller balloons. my logic was that since they're smaller, they must be harder to pop, making a bigger prize be behind those balloons. i threw my first dart, missing the balloon. "this is going to be easy" matt laughed.

"watch this" i said, throwing my second dart. it hit a purple balloon, the smallest balloon on the wall. the man turned the ticket around, revealing number 4. i threw my final dart, hitting a golden balloon. once the ticket for that balloon turned, it showed number 2.

"your totals six" the man said as he pointed towards the prizes i could claim. "glow sticks? that's all i get" i sighed. he handed me my prize and i immediately opened it. i cracked each stick and made it into two bracelets, one for me and the other for matt. i placed it around his wrist and he smiled.

"watch me win the stuffed husky" matt said. he threw his three darts, all hitting a balloon. his first balloon had a score of 3, second had a score of 5 and the last balloon had a score of 3. he received a total of 11 and you needed 10 to win the stuffed husky. "told you so" he smiled as the man handed him the husky.

i was pretty bummed out, i really wanted to win. mainly because i wanted to rub it in matt's face. "you can have it" he said, handing the plushie over to me. "are you sure?" i asked. he nodded his head.

matt and i went on about five rides and two more booth games before going on the ferris wheel. "i'm not good with heights" i said as we entered the carriage.

"and you tell me this now?" matt says as the wheel began to turn.

"oh god" i said, feeling my whole body begin to shake. the view on the ferris wheel was always worth it, especially around this time at night, but the distance off the ground was the worst.

matt stood up on the carriage as we stopped right at the top. "matt!" i yelled as the carriage we were in slightly shook due to him moving around. he took a seat next to me, placing his arm around my shoulders.

"i'll keep you safe" he said, smiling down at me. i smiled back, placing my head on his chest.

"so beautiful" he said softly. i looked up at him, his cheeks began to turn red. "uh the view, it's so beautiful" he said, directing his eyes away from me. i nodded. "it really is" i gazed at him.

he turned his head back towards mine, our eyes met. as the carriage began to move again, going around for its final time, matt leaned in, and before i knew it, our lips had collided. i have no words to explain how magical it felt.

matt pulled away. "im sorry" he immediately said. "for what?" i asked. "you probably didn't want to kiss me" he said, rubbing the back of his head.

"i wouldn't take it back, never in a million years" i smiled.

"time to get off kiddos" the person working at the ferris wheel said as she opened the gate.

as we stepped out of the ferris wheel, matt held onto my hand and our fingers intertwined with one another.

"you're kidding" matt said. i positioned my eyes to where his were, and saw Chris followed by his three friends. "way to ruin my night" he sighed.

"don't worry matt" i said, gently placing my hand on his cheek, directing his eyes to mine. "i'm here".

we both smiled, leaning in to almost have our second kiss until chris approached us.

"kelsey! you were actually being serious when you said you were going with matt?" chris asked.

i nodded. "why wouldn't i?"

"oh cause he only asked you so you'll say no when i did. i'm assuming you already know that though. well, have a good night!" he said, laughing as he walked away with his friends.

i looked at matt. there was silence between us for a solid two minutes. "is that true ?" i asked, my voice began to shake.

"it is but hear me out kelsey" matt begged.

i slowly stepped away from him.

"thanks for messing with my feelings. i actually thought maybe you wanted to spend time together, or that you might like me the way i like you but i guess not. you're worse than those guys" i said, wiping a tear away from my eye.

i threw the stuffed husky at matt and ripped the glow stick off my wrist, also throwing it at him.

i ran out of the park and called jack. "hey can you please pick me up from the carnival right now?" i said, weeping. "i'm on my way, tell me what happened in the car" jack said. i hung up on the call and waited for him to arrive.

———

Matt's POV:
i picked up the husky kelsey threw at me and attached her glow stick on my wrist. i immediately ran to all areas of the carnival, looking for her. i checked the time, 10:20pm.

where could she be ?

"jack!" i said to myself, running towards the exit of the carnival. she probably asked him to pick her up since i was originally her ride for the night.

as i ran outside, i saw her enter his car but i was too late. "Kelsey!" i screamed at the top of my lungs, but she didn't turn back. they drove off and i froze. "i messed up" i said, my voice trembling.

i slowly walked over to my car where i placed the husky in the passengers seat. "i'm naming you kelsey" i sighed as i buckled the husky in and drove off.

"since the real kelsey isn't here with me right now, i guess i'll do the rest of the date with you" i sighed. talking to a stuffed animal, is this really what my life has come to ?

i drove to the top of a hill, specifically one that i'd go to whenever i was upset from the kids that bullied me. after school, i'd ride my bike here and just lay down on the grass for hours, observing the sky.

i grabbed the husky out of the car and we laid on the grass, gazing up into the sky. i began saying what i would've said to kelsey if she was with me.

"i think stars are one of the most beautiful things ever. they're all different yet all so fascinating. even though i've seen millions of stars, i've never had a favourite until a few weeks ago. you kelsey, you're my favourite star. that's why i got you that necklace with a star on it" i sighed.

i laid there for half an hour, looking into the sky with thousands of thoughts in my head. "well it's getting late. we better go husky kels" i said, picking up the plushie from the ground.