Valerie Chance finds herself in a whirlwind of emotions her senior year. The boy she has been crushing on for years-Gabe-finally notices her, but when he starts seeing another girl, Valerie panics. In order to make Gabe jealous, she blackmails her l...
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"Hey, don't let this girl get to you. You've got this." Mitch gestures towards the carnival entrance.
I gave him a small smile and could feel some courage sweep into my heart. I was so grateful that I had caught Mitch in the act of a crime and that I forced him to help me cope with my hectic situation. I linked my arm in his and we headed into the hustle and bustle of the Autumn Carnival.
As we walked, a fear crept into my mind. How was I going to face Bea?
But as we approached the bathrooms and I saw her long black hair, all of my fear vanished and was replaced with pure pettiness. I was going to make this torture for her.
She turned around and I made sure I had the most artificial smile plastered onto my face.
Her expression was like priceless gold.
"V-Valerie?" Her blue eyes grew wide and her fair skin seemed to sink in color.
I let go of Mitch's arm and wrapped Bea in my arms. "Oh Beatrice it's so good to see you!" I gave her arm a little squeeze after ending the hug and mustered up the most energetic voice that I possibly could. "This is going to be so much fun." I returned to Mitch and pretended that I didn't notice Bea's complete shock and Gabe's longing stare. I turned to Mitch and he gave me a little wink as I tried to prevent myself from laughing at how awkward this situation was.
"So what do you want to do first?" asked Mitch. I turned and observed the carnival. When Alex was young, I used to take him here and we'd play all of the carnival games. One year, he wanted so badly to win one of the stuffed animal panda's at the "Shoot 2 Hoop" stand, so I spent all of my tokens attempting to get him the panda. I still remember how his eyes sparkled when I presented it to him.
"Let's go play some carnival games. I'm pretty good at the ring toss," Gabe smiled and gestured over to the game tent. He led the way and we followed him. I could feel Beatrice looking at me, but I chose to ignore her stare. We entered the tent and I pulled Mitch over to the ring toss station. Gabe and Bea joined us. Mitch went first and completely failed. I made sure to throw in some flirty and teasing comments and he fake-pouted.
"Why don't you try then?" He held the rings out to me.
"Watch and learn," I said, as I accepted the challenge. I passed by Gabe and made sure to give him an extra-long glance as my shoulder brushed his. I could see him tense out of the corner of my eye. Anyone in the room could basically smell the jealousy floating off of him. He was bathing in it.
On my second try I got a ring on a bottle and turned to gloat to Mitch.
"Okay, your Highness," he took a step back and dramatically bowed. This brought up a giggle that I tried to swallow and ended up snorting a little bit. It wasn't even a fake giggle. That was real. Mitch smiled at me, and I felt myself start to blush a little bit, but I quickly turned away and tried to hide it. That was really weird.
