Kiss My Sass [Books 1 & 2]

[book 2] chapter six: nothing rarer than a blissful dani

I shot him a smile before resting my head against the window and looking outside. Even the far corner of the horizon was as dark of a blue as the rest of the sky, the sun now gone and replaced with the moon and stars. It was the end of the summer solstice. I tried to be positive, but I couldn't stop myself from feeling a little upset that we didn't fulfill our tradition this year. I was scared since we broke it this year what would happen next year as our lives got busier?

"Got something on your mind?" the boy beside me asked, breaking me out of my trance.

"I don't know, I just wish we could've done the whole carnival thing." I paused, observing his reaction. "I know it's stupid, and I'm so happy you're here, but I wish we didn't have to compromise."

James retracted his hand, putting both on the steering wheel as he turned. "Who said we have to compromise?"

When I noticed the hint of a smirk on his face, I looked out my window, an audible gasp escaping my lips. "You did not!"

The car slowed down and he put it in park. "Surprise."

We were at the carnival. Even from the car, I could see the twinkly lights, the ferris wheel, the games, the cotton candy stand, all of it. The only thing missing from the carnival was the people.

When we stepped out of the car I got on my tiptoes and pressed my lips against his cheek. "How did you make all of this happen?" I asked. The carnival closed at ten o'clock exactly, and it was well past midnight now.

"I may or may not have bribed the owner," he admitted sheepishly.

I took his hand in mine and squeezed it. "Thank you for making today perfect."

"You say that like the night's already over," he scoffed. "Race you to the whack-a-mole?"

"You're on!"

~*~

After hours of playing all of the games, stealing the biggest, fluffiest pink stuffed gorilla we could find, and eating way too many hot dogs and cotton candy, I was ready to call it a night. My companion, on the other hand, had a different idea.

"Let's go home," I urged. "I can barely keep my eyes open."

He feigned a gasp. "And risk breaking tradition? You know we can't leave without going on the ferris wheel." 

He was right. Every year we've gone to the carnival we'd wait until the last call for the ferris wheel and hop on before the carnival closed. James grabbed my hand and ran to the ferris wheel, leaving me with no choice but to follow in tow. The giant machine was slowly rotating when we got there, and I warily took a step toward it, unsure how we were supposed to get on. If we stopped the ferris wheel from moving to sit inside, then it wouldn't start moving until one of us stepped out to press the button to turn it on.

"Do you trust me?"

I ripped my hand out of James' hold. "Don't tell me you're thinking what I think you're thinking."

"Do you see that seat?" He pointed at the jade green passenger car slowly descending towards us. "On my count, we're going to make a run for it and jump inside."

"Are you crazy? There's no way."

"One..." he started.

I smacked his arm. "I'm not snapping my neck for your entertainment."

"Two..."

"I'm not going, and that's fin—"

"Three!" He grabbed my arm and the two of us ran to the passenger car. James hopped in before pulling me inside. I sat on the seat beside him, breathing rapidly as my mind processed what we had just done. I looked around me as we ascended higher and higher up, everything below us turning so small. I could see past the carnival and the forests that surrounded it, the houses, and the nearby towns.