I wouldn’t say it out loud but we were definitely on a date. Raegan would probably tear my hair out if I said this to her, so I didn’t.
Still a date though.
I managed to find a spot near the back of the parking lot. It was surprisingly busy here for a Monday night which was kind of annoying ‘cos the queues at carnivals were bad enough even on an average day. I still couldn’t believe that Raegan had never been to one before. That was really weird. We used to go all the time as kids, even now I looked forward to the Richmond summer carnival whenever it came around.
‘Wow, it’s big,’ Raegan said when we got out of the car. She caught sight of my smirk before I could hide it and gave me a playful punch on the arm. ‘Idiot,’ she muttered under her breath.
She had the hint of a smile though at the unsaid innuendo. Lucky she didn’t say something like that around George or Liam – they wouldn’t have been as forgiving as me.
‘Yeah, it is,’ I agreed, winding my way through the parking lot and towards the entrance. ‘It’s technically a theme park,’ I added as we joined the back of the queue.
Dad actually knew the guy who ran this place – he apparently used to be a real estate agent, won the lottery and ended up quitting and getting into the whole carnival circus business. It was better when dad told the story, kind of a wild ride – no pun intended. Anyway, I think the guy actually sold us our old house years back so that's how he knew him.
I gave Raegan the short version seeing as I couldn’t remember half the details. Honestly, it was hard to keep up with all the people dad knew. He used to tell us the weirdest stories about some people around town.
‘The guy who owns it also has a travelling circus thing so he doesn’t open this place all year round. It’s a ghost town half the time.’
‘That’s pretty sad. Why doesn’t he just hire someone else to manage the place?’ Raegan replied with a frown.
‘You looking for a job?’ I smiled, poking her in the side annoyingly. ‘I doubt they hire delinquents. Maybe try applying for the circus instead.’
‘Shut up,’ she said, turning a glare onto me and shoving me away.
‘See you’ve already won the crowd,’ I couldn’t help but laugh as she drew the attention of several people around us. ‘The circus life would be perfect for you, Raegan.’
It kind of would. Didn’t people supposedly run away to join the circus all the time?
‘It’d be more interesting than most jobs, that’s for sure,’ she grudgingly admitted.
‘I suppose,’ I agreed. ‘I don’t get people who eat ice cream at night – or on cold days,’ I said, dodging around an abandoned cone on the floor. ‘I always see people eating them at the beach in winter, what’s up with that?’
It was like those people who drank hot drinks all the time in summer ‘cos it apparently kept them cooler. Nope. If I was hot I’d be in the pool and if I was cold I wouldn’t be eating frozen desserts. It was not logical.
‘Hey, I’d eat ice cream no matter how cold it was,’ Raegan predictably disagreed. We disagreed on a lot of trivial things, just to annoy one another. ‘And why would you be at the beach in winter anyway?’
‘Shark hunting,’ I smirked. She rolled her eyes in response. Her hatred towards sharks amused me. It was a very specific and passionate hate. ‘Liam makes me go with him sometimes. The waves are mild during summer, better in the winter – or so he says. He surfs,’ I added at her blank expression.
