Sugar Rush || Completed

{ 20 } funnel cake with confectioners sugar

"So does that mean you notice that people fawn over me?" He wiggles his eyebrows as I gape at him.

"Again, you are insufferable. I just can't believe it." He's fully laughing now, eyes crinkling and head thrown back. His laugh matches his voice, deep and smooth. I have to literally pull myself away to avoid staring. I hate to admit it, but it's mesmerizing.

"My original question still stands though. Why don't you head over to the carnival for some deep fried funnel cake?"

"Because I hate carnivals?" I say tentatively, wondering why he cares.

"You hate carnivals? Do you hate world peace? Or anything happy in life?" Now it's my turn to laugh. He looks like he's seen a three headed dragon. He's completely flabbergasted.

"The list of reasons to hate carnivals has many." Luis shakes his head with complete seriousness.

"Now that just won't do."

° ° °

I'm not completely sure how I found myself being lead by Luis into the collection of screaming people on sugar highs that is a carnival but I'm here. After multiple attempts at making a good funnel cake, I decided that I just really wanted some deep fried goodness covered in powdered sugar that only carnivals could provide. Not that the ones that I made weren't good. I convinced myself I still needed to find the one missing something.

"Okay," Luis starts, turning to me after we bought what looked like a million tickets. "For a carnival newbie like yourself, if you're gonna ride the intense rides, you gotta do them first when you're still on your 'I just got here and I want to ride everything' rush."

"You're delusional to think I'm gonna ride anything intense."

Luis pouts, he actually pouts. "Then what's the point?!"

I set my mouth in a thin line and raise my eyebrows. "I already said that."

"Alright, alright. I'm just gonna choose one and you can't say anything."

And he points to a roller coaster I can see from where we stand. It's a typical sized roller coaster with moderate sized ups and downs, not too many high leveled turn abouts, and no loops. I deem it to be not as intense as I think it should be.

Reluctantly, I agree and Luis fist pumps. Man child.

We find the line for the ride and produce the appropriate amount of tickets for it. At the front, we step into a cart and buckle in. My heart is pounding out of its chest and I'm starting to sweat. I can't back out now, especially since I don't need Luis to think I'm worse than I actually am.

The ride starts and we're going up the first incline. At the top, the ride stops for a second which in my opinion is the actual worse part. I let out a squeak and hear just the beginning of Luis's laugh before the sharp decline of the roller coaster. My eyes are squeezed shut as the roller coaster continues to go up and down and around. I don't even open my eyes when the roller coaster halts for a few more seconds. I peek an eye and catch Luis looking at me with an unreadable expression, though he has a smile on his face.

I close my eye again. "Thank goodness it's over."

We step out and walk around the carnival some more. Sensing that going on another roller coaster might be too much for me, Luis takes me to the bumper cars and teacups. He also spends too long at a balloon popping booth trying to win me a blue whale plushie. Granted, the plushie is rock hard as I expected but I'm still happy he won it. I of course don't tell him I'll actually keep it and that the blue whale is actually my favorite animal.

After shoveling down some greasy pizza and some funnel cake finally, we take the slushies we bought around for our last walk around the carnival.

"After every visit to a carnival, one must end with a ferris wheel ride. It's actually very calming and it won't upset your stomach after the trash you've just consumed. Brownie points if you can sneak any drink on."

We sip our slushies with mischievous grins as we get in line for the ferris wheel. The way we get on with the drinks is by "inconspicuously" hiding our drinks under our shirts as we approach the ticket person. He doesn't care, and allows us on the ride.

When we get to the top, Luis turns to me and asks, "On a scale of ten to ten, how great was this experience at a carnival?" He has a grin on his face, making him look younger under the starry night sky with the carnival lights angling his face.

"A scale of ten to ten?" I ask, sipping my drink with my head tilted back to the sky.

"Yeah, it's a foolproof scale. I'm a genius aren't I?"

"Sure." I shake my head and avoid looking at him. My smile would give the answer away. "I got my funnel cake which was the main reason why I came."

"I'm gonna take that as a ten."

I smile even wider around my straw. The thing I'm missing from my funnel cake. It isn't something to do with the taste. It's to do with the whole experience. Having a funnel cake from a store isn't the same as having a funnel cake on a bench before getting on a roller coaster and realizing your mistake. Having a funnel cake from a store isn't the same as having a funnel cake with sugar spreading around everywhere leaving your hands sticky for a night of walking and music. Funnel cake isn't just a cake, it's a deep fried feeling. The amount of unhealthy food is getting to my head if that statement made any sense to me. Coming to the carnival was my spontaneity of the night, no matter how small and seemingly insignificant. That's my epiphany of the night.

"Yeah, I guess it's a ten then."

° ° °