A Proscriptive Relationship

:A Proscriptive Relationship: 49

“What should we do now?”

Lance and I shrugged simultaneously. The sky was finally beginning to darken, and the lights from all the rides were on, creating an amazing sight. Casey, Lance, and I had walked around the whole festival twice already. We had hit a few of the rides as well. Now we were taking a break and eating— well, at least I was.

The hot baked potato in my hands warmed them, which was a nice break from the chilly air that had been nipping at them. It was time to start wearing gloves at night. Lance and Casey were sitting across from me, watching me eat. Or at least Lance was. Casey’s eyes were everywhere, wide and excited.

“I want to go on that,” Casey stated, pointing her finger at a ride that looked like the zipper of a jacket.

“Me too,” Lance commented, looking up at it with a grin. “How about you Holly?”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Are you kidding me? I don’t want to die.”

Lance and Casey laughed, making my face heat up.

“Holly, you’re scared to go on every ride that leaves the ground,” Lance commented, rolling his eyes. “Live a little.”

“I am,” I told him, “by not going on that ride.”

Casey chuckled. “Come on, it won’t be that bad.”

I shook my head. “No.”

“You’re no fun,” Lance commented.

“Look, it’s a ride for two. Why don’t you and Casey go on while I finish my baked potato,” I suggested, holing up my half eaten potato. “I don’t mind waiting here.”

Casey frowned at me. “Holly, I don’t want to ditch you.”

“It’s fine,” I assured her. “This way I don’t have to wait around by myself like a loser when you guys finally decide you want to go on.”

Lance nodded, nudging Casey in the side. “Let’s go, Case.”

“Are you sure?” Casey asked, looking hesitant.

“It’s one ride,” I responded. “It’s not that big of a deal. I can handle being alone for a few minutes.”

Lance pointed behind me, towards the ride. “It might be a little longer than a few minutes. There’s a line.”

“Then you better hurry up before it gets longer,” I advised. “I’ll wait here. When I’m done eating and if you guys aren’t back, I’ll meet you by the exit of the ride.”

After a few more moments of persuading Casey, she and Lance finally set off for the ride. A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I dug into my potato again. Rides that left the ground really weren’t my things. Just looking at them made me feel sick. Except the Ferris wheel, but that was a different story.

I watched the crowds of people that walked by the picnic table I was seated on as I ate my baked potato. Oddly enough, I hadn’t run into anyone from school yet. It was Friday night. There were supposed to be gaggles of students here, and yet there seemed to be only Casey, Lance, and myself from our school. It felt weird.

   Something to my right suddenly moved and I snapped my head around so fast to look, I cricked it. Wincing, I rubbed my neck, and then proceeded to glare at a small, black crow loitering on a trashcan. My heart began to slow when I realized that it was just the crow… and not Shawn.

If there was one thing I hated, it was being paranoid.

Luckily for me, Shawn hadn’t tried texting me again. And I didn’t jinx it by looking at my phone. It wasn’t like I was waiting for him to text me. Though not receiving anything from him was throwing me off guard. Was he not texting me anymore because I ignored his first few messages? Was that really all I had to do to get him to leave me alone? It seemed too easy. Too simple.