Autumn Anecdotes

Pumpkin Spice (Pt. 2)

 "Welcome to Lonzetti's Pizza, how may I take your order?" I ask into the phone.

A woman's voice comes from the other side, screaming profanities about how she'd received the wrong pizza and wanted a refund. My manager looked to me with sympathy, then briskly went into the backroom.

The yelling went on for five minutes until she realized I'd abandoned the phone to help the other customers and she hung up.

"Next customer!" I call

I look up from the register to see Oriana smiling ear to ear bouncing up and down exitedly.

"Guess what! Guess what! Guess what!" she squealed

I looked around. All the other customers had already been served, so I had a moment to talk.

"What?" I asked leaning on the counter.

"I got two tickets to the Douglas County Fair!"

The Douglas County fair was almost impossible to get tickets to. It has such an incredible reputation that everyone's fighting to get in. 

"What?!" I yelped, "How?"

"I don't know, I waited in line for four hours cause I have nothing else to do and I somehow got some!"

"That's awesome," I mused, "So, are you taking Paul?"

"Actually," she said, twitching with anticipation, "I was thinking we could go."

Needless to say, I was quite taken aback. Paul and her had been an anticipated item for a while, this would be a perfect event to make it official.

"Wait, for real?"

"Yeah! You're off work Saturday, right? I figured it might be fun!"

"Y-yeah!" I stammer out.

She seriously wants to hang out with me instead of that dumb idiot.

"Great!" she shrilled, absolutely elated.

The week came and went and I found myself on sunday, getting ready for the fair. My favorite beanie, my best flannel, comfy jeans, and a simple black eyebrow stud. 

I walk into the bathroom and stare into the mirror over the sink.

"Don't make it weird. She's your friend and she thinks of you as a friend," I say into the mirror, "Crush or not, you have to keep your cool."

The gravel in the driveway outside crushed and crumbled under the weight of Oriana's car pulling into the driveway. I hurry outside.

"Bye mom."

"Be back by midnight," she mumbled, her words slurring together as she lay half asleep on the couch. She works nightshifts at two separate fast food joints. The night shifts always pay more.

 I rush out the door, wallet, jacket, and phone in hand, and jump into Oriana's car.

"Are you ready for the Douglas County Fair!?" she squealed.

I buckle my seatbelt and turn to her with a wide grin.

"Heck yea! Let's go!"

We drove for nearly an hour, poorly singing along to a playlist she'd made, showing her podcasts I liked, and just talking about what we want to do when we graduate. We finally entered the small town and saw the tall ferris wheel in the distance. 

We pulled into the parking lot and she reapplied her pinkish nude lip gloss that matched her yellow off the shoulder dress.

"Aren't you cold in that?" I ask her.

"Phttt," she scoffed, "I'll be fine."

"Alright, just don't expect me to give you my jacket when you get cold."

We got out of the car and headed to the front booth. She reached into her purse and pulled out the two tickets and gave them to the booth person. They let us in, with the knowledge that there's no ticket system, but we had unlimited rides on whatever we wanted. We just had to be out of the fair by eight. Given that it was three in the afternoon, we had time.

I'd say we had a really good time. We got funnel cakes and went through the house of mirrors and I won her a mouse plush in the balloon pop. It was seven at night, and we had one thing that we had yet to do. The ferris wheel. By now, it had lit up and it's neon colors held high against the small town.

Oriana dragged me towards the line for the ferris wheel, holding my hand in her left hand, and clutching her mouse plush with her right.

We waited for a good thirty minutes until we got to the front of the line.

"Please keep your hands and feet inside the carriage at all times, please don't throw anything off, the odds of falling stuff hitting someone is higher than you think, enjoy the ride."

The wobbly carriage lurched forward and hoisted us up. Two seconds later, it stopped so the next person could get on. And again and again and again, until we were at the top.

"Douglas doesn't seem like such a small town from up here," Oriana cooed.

She was right. The town lit up at night and from this angle and the mountains that the lights just stopped at, it almost looked as though it had life. Like it moved and twisted and knew where it had to end.

Then I looked at Oriana. The light danced across her round face and her eyes shined as though she'd never seen a sight more beautiful. As though she'd never looked into a mirror.

"This would've been a great chance to confess to Paul," I say, snapping myself out of the notion that my longing can ever be anything but from afar.

"I wouldn't want to."

"What do you mean?" I ask, "Is it because the ferris wheel confession scene is a cliche or because if he changed his mind you'd be stuck together or-"

"No, you idiot," she laughed, almost as if she were in pain.

"What?"

"I never actually liked Paul."

"Wh-"
"I like you."

The whirring of the gears was the only thing preventing complete silence. Now she was no longer staring at the city. Now she was staring directly at me, and for the first time, she wasn't fearless or confidant or chipper. Her eyes were pleading for an answer, but I couldn't speak.

"I'm in pain every day thinking about how much I like you," she sniffed, her voice cracking through the lump in her throat, "I know you'll never reciprocate these feelings, but I just couldn't put up this front anymore."

I smile and pull her into a hug. Now the tears are flowing down my face.

"You beautiful wonderful dummy," I laugh through the tears, "I feel the exact same way."

The ride continued to turn and out view slowly disappeared behind the other carts.

"Hey Alya?" Oriana asked, looking up from our embrace.

"Yeah?"

"I'm cold."

We drive around the town, her still wearing my jacket as though a badge of honor. Her mouse sat in the cupholder.

"Where do you want to go?" she asks, holding my hand while she drives with the other.

"I don't know," I say, looking at her hand in mine, "Anywhere with you is as good as anything I could ever want."

Make sure to vote if you liked this story, and come back next week for "Thanks," a story of unconditional love.