The City Girl & The Seaside Boy

Fairground Fiasco

Bright, colourful lights contrasted against the black of the sky. The stars reflected against the ocean beneath the pier as they walked along the floorboards. Waves crashed into the pillars holding the pier up, a nice, strangely calming sound. The air was sweet with the smell of candy floss, crepes, and chocolate apples. The twins jumped about excitedly tugging on our arms to hurry us.

"Hurry up, already! I want to be first in line for everything!" Ro grinned.
"That might be a bit difficult!" Tina tried to joke but her eyes were wide.
"It won't be difficult if you walk faster," Denny insisted and I stopped in my tracks. Before they could say anything else I fished a couple five pound notes out of my pocket and handed one each to them. "Go have fun. But stay in the area and don't leave each other's sides. Got that?" I said and they nodded excitedly. They ran off through the crowd and Tina breathed a sigh of relief. "Jeez, I feel bad for you having to take care of them all the time," she said and I shrugged.
"Well, it's not all the time," I admitted, beginning to walk again. "But it is a majority of the time, I suppose," I added and Tina nodded.
"Anyway, what happened with Chester. Has he text you yet?" she asked and I groaned.
"He hasn't stopped texting me," I said and she pulled a face. I turned to face her then, putting my hands on her shoulders. "But let's forget about him. No boys," I grinned and Tina laughed.
"No boys," she repeated with a nod.

Together we went on a few of the rides. The beautiful, vibrant Ferris wheel; the chaotic bumper cars; the classic, shiny merry-go-round. Then we went around a few stalls and played games to win prizes and ate food. The amount of selfies taken was unbelievable. I never thought I would ever take a selfie. We were just walking away from one of the games when an arm went around Tina's shoulder. "Hey, darlin'," the boy said and I stared in surprise at Toby, his blond, windswept hair dyed with vibrant red streaks. Tina snorted, putting a hand over her mouth. "What did you do to your hair?" she gasped and Toby shrugged.
"Decided to experiment. Why? Don't you like it?" he leaned in closer to her with a smug grin. She didn't seem sure and blushed brightly, trying to conceal a smile.
"I...I'm not really sure," she finally said and he leaned back, rolling his eyes.
"It's not permanent. The rest of the group is here tonight and we wanted to make sure people knew we were part of the same group," he explained and I raised my eyebrows.
"Wow...is your ego really that big?" I asked sarcastically. Toby looked up in surprise at that. He seemed to stare at me as if he had only just realised I was there. But then he smirked and lowered a pair of sunglasses over his eyes. "I guess it is. If you don't mind I'll be stealing this girl away for a while. Besides, I believe Chester's lookin' for you," he commented and I blushed as my heart skipped a beat. Tina apologised then let Toby drag her away from me, all the while I stared after them with a supportive smile.

Now what? I decided to walk around by myself for a while until I found something to do. People pushed past me in groups, all of them laughing merrily and sharing smiles. I wished I had more friends out here. However, it wasn't all bad. I had a bit of peace and quiet to myself at least. "Hey city girl!" Ugh...
"Couldn't stay away huh?" I asked without even looking at who was there.
"Do you want me to stay away?" Chester asked. I didn't reply. He quietly laughed at that, slowing his hasty pace to match my casual one. I stole a glance up at him and noticed Chester also had streaks dyed in his hair. They weren't red like Toby's, instead they were a dark blue, not standing out too drastically against his natural hair colour and beautifully matching his eyes. His eyes seemed to dance with all of the lights of the fair and I stared, entranced. Then my shoulder rammed into someone and the cried out, swearing at me. I dodged around them, muttering a quick sorry before catching up with Chester again. He was waiting for me with a strange smile. "Alright there, city girl? You seem a bit distracted."
"What makes you say that?" I grumbled, walking again with my arms crossed.
"You're not talking."
"Neither are you."
Chester laughed, casually sticking his hands in his pockets. "Fair enough. How've you been lately?"
It was my turn to laugh. "That is the most boring topic of conversation ever!"
"What should I talk about then?" he asked, sounding offended.

"I don't know...like, what kind of hobbies do you have?" I suggested.
"Oh. Uh..." Chester stared ahead thoughtfully.
"If you say 'leading a motorbike gang' I will slap you."
"I don't exactly lead the gang-"
"They still look up to you, though. Don't they?"
Chester shrugged but there was a faint look of pride on his face. "Maybe they do. But I never really thought of myself as leading them. They're like my brothers, if anything," he admitted and I realised that there was a soft side to him.
"Aww..." I grinned, almost laughing, and Chester shot me a glare.
"Shut up, city girl," he muttered.

I looked down at my feet as we walked, a wide smile spread over my face. "Anyway, you never answered my question," I said and Chester grunted.
"I like sailing..." he shrugged and I raised an eyebrow.
"Really? Maybe you could take me some time," I laughed. It was meant as a joke but Chester slowed to a stop, staring curiously at me. "Would you want to?" he asked and my eyes widened.
"I...yeah! I wouldn't mind!" I said, silently cursing my stuttering mouth. Then he smiled that heart-stopping smile of his and I felt myself melting. I could tell I was staring but I didn't care anymore. There was something about him that just drew me towards him...

"Aria!" someone yelled and I was snapped out of my trance. Chester blinked a few times as well, staring around wildly. Then he blushed. ACTUALLY BLUSHED. I stared in amazement for a moment before someone tugged on my sleeve. "Aria!" they said and I glanced down at little Ro, her face stained with tears.
"Ro? What's wrong?" I kneeled down to look at her face.
"I'm sorry, Aria! I didn't mean it!" she cried and I felt my stomach drop.
"Mean what, Ro? What's happened?" I asked urgently.
"I can't find Denny. I turned around and he was gone!"