Chasing Possibility

E I G H T ~ Lana Clarke

 I murmured as we crossed through the lawn, "I'm kind of worried today will be awkward."

 Olette slipped me an encouraging smile. "Don't worry, we're going to a fair. I'm sure we'll have fun, Lana."

 Giving her a smile back, we soon reached Eli and them. Just like Olette and me, the hot weather seemed to affect their choice of clothing — the three resorted to wearing monochrome v-necks and shorts instead of the usual jeans and trendy jackets.

 Preston removed his sunglasses which revealed his bright green eyes. "Hey girls, ready to have some fun? What's up, Olette?"

 Olette smiled as they exchanged a small hug. During high school, Olette was the more sociable one. Her cousin, Tyler Benson, was also co-captain of the football team. Their social standing, in general, fell into place.

 My eyes drifted towards Eli and I caught him gazing at me. His deep brown eyes sheepishly glanced away for a moment before he gave me a warm smile.

 "I never got to introduce myself to you. I'm Preston Daniels."

 Realizing that Preston was talking to me, I saw his hand out and a genuine grin on his face.

 Taking his hand, I smiled in response. "Nice to meet you, I'm Lana Clarke."

 "And I'm Julian Cooper." Another voice came from beside me.

 Looking over to my left, Julian also had his hand out with a friendly smile occupying his face. Shaking his hand, I ended up introducing myself again. Never did I think I would associate with the "kings" of my old high school. I guess the past was in the past.

 After all the introductions and greetings, Preston cheered, "Who's ready for some deep fried madness!"

 Eli chuckled as he politely opened the car door for Olette and me. "Preston, don't scare them with your weird cravings."

 His friend guffawed before he mocked him back. Everyone laughed together soon after. Hopefully it would stay like this.

                                                     ☽        ☽        ☽

 The fair was, if I had two words to describe it, incredibly huge. I couldn't even take in everything because of the way it stretched in every direction. All sorts of rides, concessions stands, and tons of people were crowding the area. You could only imagine all the heat everyone was adding to this usually hot weather. Various smells from the food made at the fair wafted towards my nose. Cotton candy, kettle popcorn, grilled meats, you name it! It all smelled so good causing my stomach to rumble with curiosity. In amazement, the five of us walked to the entrance gates.

 Sneaking a short glance at everyone, Preston was stretching his arms before placing his sunglasses back on. Standing beside me, Olette waved her hands in front of her face. Looked like her hat wasn't helping much. To my left, Eli was talking to Julian and before he turned his head towards my direction, I looked straight ahead like nothing happened.

 "You'll like the fair, there's a lot to do."

 "And a lot to eat!" Preston added in, sounding like a kid in a candy store.

 Shaking his head, Julian joked, "You'll be hearing a lot of food remarks about Preston. He's like a dumpster always eating all kinds of trash."

 We began laughing again at Julian's comment. It was relieving because Eli and his friends has been very kind to Olette and me. Preston's cheeks started turning a light shade of red and that couldn't possibly be from the heat.