“Hey, isn’t that Darien Burton over there?”
Heart hammering, Summer swung around to look where Sam was pointing, her long blonde braid nearly whipping him in the face. About ten people behind them in line stood Summer’s high school crush, Darien Burton. He was tall, dark-haired, and had a killer smile. He was the Crooks High star quarterback and had taken the team to the state championship this year. Not only was he athletic and looked drool-worthy in his tight football pants, he was also an honor student.
Summer had been crushing on him for her whole freshman year. But she’d never gotten up the nerve to talk to him. She had tons of reasons; his family had money, hers barely got by, he was gorgeous, she was barely cute. But the number-one reason was standing right next to him in a pair of short shorts and a halter top, her long, tanned and skinny arm clinging to his buff one—Nicole Pratt, a fellow freshman and the bane of Summer’s existence.
Nicole met her gaze and lifted her pink cupid-bow lips up into an ugly sneer. Summer swung back around and grabbed Sam’s pointing finger. “Don’t point at people. It’s not nice.”
“It’s him, isn’t it?”
“Shh. You don’t have to speak so loud.” She looked around to see if anyone was eavesdropping on their conversation. “Yeah, it’s him.”
“He’s awesome. Did you see his last throw at the Barnaby game?” Sam backed up and raised his arm like he was going to rifle a football one hundred yards. Sam was crazy about football. He’d even begged their mom to buy him a football-shaped bed. The best he got though was football sheets and a pillowcase.
“Yeah. I was there with you, remember?” She nudged him forward again as the line moved.
“When I’m in high school, I’m going to play ball just like Darien.”
“You have to survive middle school first, doofus.”
“I know that.” He screwed up his face like he couldn’t believe what she’d just said. “I’m just saying. is all.”
Without seeming too obvious, Summer rubbed her chin on her shoulder and peeked over at Darien again. She nearly choked when she realized that he was staring right back.
Ryan glared at everyone from behind his black sunglasses. He didn’t know why he bothered to come to the carnival. He hated the crowds, hated people in general. The food always sucked, loaded with so much MSG and other chemical additives that he imagined everyone glowing like toxic waste by the end of the day. But he came anyway, because of the rides.
He reveled in the sensation of soaring free through the air on the big swings, the flipping sensation in his gut when he went upside down on the rollercoaster, and the rush of going fast. He got high on the exhilaration of it. Not that he’d share that fact with anyone. Even if he had someone to share it with.
The line to the ride shuffled forward and he shuffled with it, still glaring at the meandering crowd. Like cattle, he thought. That’s what these people reminded him of. Especially people like Darien Burton and Nicole Pratt, who stood ahead of him in the line. A bull and a cow, and the cow was in heat. Not a charitable thing to say and his mother would admonish him for saying it; that was, if she ever took the time to listen to what he had to say. But it was the truth, especially with the way Nicole was rubbing up against Darien’s body.
It was disgusting how she flagrantly flaunted her ample body parts. Her halter top barely contained her boobs and her shorts hardly covered her ass. Despite his disgust with her vulgar display, Ryan had had his fair share of hot dreams about Nicole. It was hard not to think about her in that way when her actions clearly revealed her willingness to have sex. It was no secret that she’d lost her virginity on the fifty yard line of the school’s football field. He’d also heard that someone filmed it with their cell phone. He’d yet to see the video though, although he’d checked YouTube frequently enough.
Carnival World, Episode 1 - Chapter One
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