Charlie: Hey, you still alive?! Haven't heard from you much this week. Wanted to make sure you are surviving the new school ok.
Lila: Sorry I've been MIA! This week has been a lot busier than I expected.
Charlie: Busy good or busy bad?
Lila: Good 😊....... So I did something kind of crazy.
Charlie: I love crazy, what?!
Lila: Joined Romeo's Varsity Cheer team 😬 That's actually why I've been so busy. I've had practice everyday after school and then Payton's been giving me some extra help. Our first football game was last night and I'm happy to report I don't think I made a complete fool of myself.
Charlie: Seriously?! My sister is a CHEERLEADER?? 😳😳 Never thought I'd see the day. What happened to my little tomboy sidekick?! I'm not sure how I feel about this. 🤔
Lila: Hey now, I'm a refined tomboy. I grew out of that stuff years ago.
Charlie: But it had to be cheerleading of all the things you could pick?! 😆
Lila: Excuse me Mr. Judgey! 😠 The team is actually really good I'll have you know. They go to States every year and needed someone who can tumble. Romeo doesn't have a gymnastics team so this seemed like the next best thing. So don't make fun of me. You're the one that told me to open up and try new things!
Charlie: Settle down. I'm just teasing you. I AM proud of you Lies.
Lila: Thanks. Wish you could come to a game to watch. Then you'd see how great my teammates are and understand. They can do all these stunts and pyramids, it's pretty amazing to see! I doubt I'll ever be as good as them at that stuff.
Charlie: I wish I lived closer and wasn't so swamped so I could come up. I'll have to get mom to send me a video or something. I'm still not 100% sure you're not just pranking me 😂
Lila: Whatever 🙄 Make fun of me all you want but I'm happy. Plus getting to watch the game from the sidelines is pretty awesome. 😏 I'm close enough I can practically feel the ground shake when they tackle each other lol.
Charlie: That's my girl! I knew you still had the tomboy part of you deep down 🙌🏻😂
Lila: 🙄 Alright well, I actually need to get going. I have plans with my friends tonight to check out the town carnival. You'll have to harass someone else. Later Loser
Charlie: Love you Lies
Lila: 💗
*******
I drive over to Payton's house to meet up with the girls. She lives only a few blocks from where the carnival is set up in downtown so we're all walking over together from there. By the time I pull up to her driveway their are several more cars than just my girlfriends. I guess all the guys had the same idea to park at Tyler's and head over too. At this point I've been over to Payton's house many times this week but for some reason tonight I feel small butterflies swirling in my stomach as I walk up the steps. I'm standing nervously on the Johnson's front porch waiting for someone to answer the doorbell when it swings open.
"I got it!" I hear Tyler call out. "Well look who it is. Hey Bruiser." He gives me a playful smirk making his dimples pop out.
"Uhh..." I stand in the doorway lost for words at the gorgeous football star. He's shirtless with a towel around his neck, hair still damp from the shower. His chiseled chest and abs are a golden shade of tan from the summer sun. Tyler begins to laugh.
"Come on in. Payton's upstairs." He says, pulling me inside from my dazed gawking on the porch.
"Uhh thanks." I muster out. Rushing past him I head for the staircase, my cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Why must I be so awkward?
"Oh good, you made it!" Kelly finds me at the top of the stairs. "We could use your help. Payton's having a minor panic attack about seeing Jake tonight. You should use your Jedi mind tricks like you did on TJ and talk her off the ledge."
"I can hear you, you know?" Payton calls from her room as we walk inside. "I'm not having a panic attack either. Give me a little more credit then that. I'm just kinda nervous. Which is a totally normal response given the circumstances I'd say. Jake and I haven't had any chance to talk about us at all since last night when TJ had his completely unnatural-for-him, mature moment deciding that me dating his friend was suddenly no big deal. I mean I'm not pretending tonight is an official first date between Jake and I or anything, obviously we are all going so that would be weird, but I don't know how to act. Should I hold his hand while we walk around tonight, is that too soon? Is it even weirder because TJ is going too? That's why I'm freaking out."
All four of my friends turn to look at me as if I have the answers. I don't think they realize I have zero dating experience. How did I somehow become the relationship expert out of all of us?
"Why don't you try getting out of your head and just have fun tonight? Don't put so much pressure on yourself to plan out how you need to act or what should or shouldn't happen. Just be yourself. The rest will fall into place." I smile at my friends who are all sitting on Payton's bed listening to me. The advice I'm giving sounds oddly familiar. It's basically exactly what my mom and Charlie told me before my first day at RHS. "The good news is if stuff gets weird, we'll all be there to bail you out. We can be your buffer between Tyler and Jake if need be. Don't worry, we've got your back." I wink at my friend who's had my back countless times this past week.
"Yeah Pay, Lila is right. Let's just have fun together like always. Be the girl that Jake fell for in the first place. Don't try to force anything or be someone you aren't." Claire reassures Payton.
"Couldn't have said it better myself. We've all got you, Pay." Rachel nudges Payton with her shoulder.
"What they said!" Kelly adds with a giggle.
"You're all right. Tonight is going to be fine. I'm just overthinking it. Thanks guys." Payton squares her shoulders and stands up to face the mirror. "I can do this, it's going to be fun."
"So since that's settled, can we go now? I'm starving and really want all my favorite carnival foods before it's too late!" Kelly pleads.
"Yeah let's go." Payton says and we all follow.
We head downstairs to find Mason, Jake, Chase, Brady and Tyler playing video games in the family room waiting for us. Tyler is fully clothed now, wearing a gray v neck, dark wash jeans and hunter green jacket. He looks effortlessly handsome like always. I can't focus on him though, I catch a glimpse of Jake eyeing Payton from across the room. He looks a little bit nervous just like she does, but the goofy grin he's sporting also tells me how smitten he is. They are going to be totally fine I think.
"Let's go fellas, we're hungry!" Kelly directs the boys to end their game.
As we step outside I notice how beautiful the sky looks, all painted shades of orange and pink. Walking down the street I can see the leaves on the trees are just beginning to turn their autumn colors. The air feels full of the crispness that only comes during my favorite season of the year. It makes me excited to pull out my flannel shirts and ankle booties. Tonight however I'm regretting not bringing along a sweater with me. It was seventy-five degrees earlier when I left my house but with the sun going down it's quickly feeling a lot chillier. I'm only wearing a pair of black skinny jeans and a cream, cap sleeved, crop top with a strapey sandal.
"I say we head to the food trucks first. Get a bite to eat. Then we can play a few games before ending the night with rides."
Rachel says to anyone who is listening around us. Mason and Tyler are a ways up in front of us talking out of ear shot. Chase, Brady, Claire, Rachel and myself are a cluster in the middle and Payton and Jake are bringing up the rear. When I sneak a peek behind me I see Jake grab Payton's hand which makes her light up. I'm really happy for them, they seem to be perfect for one another.
"I'm cool with anything just as long as nobody makes me go in the Haunted House again this year. That mirror room with clowns freaks me out." Kelly says.
"I'll go in with you Kel. I'll protect you." Chase looks at her with a cheesy grin. I don't miss the way she grabs his bicep with a smile. Looks like Chase won't be needing any help from me after all, he's doing just fine on his own.
Five minutes later we are entering the carnival. For being such a small town, Romeo does know how to throw a big party. This is a much more elaborate event than I was expecting. Tons of rides are scattered throughout the fairgrounds glowing in streaks of neon lights. There's a stage off to the left that has a live band performing, dozens of food trucks full of deliciously greasy carnival foods are to the right and directly in front of us is a long row of game booths lined with prizes.
"Come on, I'll show you which trucks have the best food." Rachel links her arms to mine and Claires.
After debating between all my options I finally settle on getting a giant slice of cheese pizza and and elephant ear to split with Rachel and Claire. They were right, they do know the best spots for food here. The giant fried cinnamon sugar dough practically melted in my mouth it was so good.
"We about ready for games?" Payton asks everyone as we finish up.
"Sounds good to me. Bet none of you jokers can beat me at the free throw shoot out." Mason's ego inflates in his lovable, goofy kind of way.
"You're on!" Chase yells.
Chase, Brady, Mason and Tyler head off to face each other. The rest of us stroll around the game booths leisurely, sometimes stopping to play some. I'm mostly just taking in my surroundings. I've always been a bit of a wallflower and people watcher in public places like this, I'm happy to blend in with the crowd. I watch as Payton plays the milk bottle ring toss game with Jake. She beats him and I don't think it was because he was going easy on her either which makes it all the better. I watch as Mason proudly presents Rachel with a giant monkey stuffed animal he won. I guess he really was the best out of the guys at free throws. Rachel tries her best to pretend like she doesn't like the gift which only makes Mason that much more determined to win her over. I have to hand it to him, he really is persistent. Claire and I keep walking when I notice a small crowd standing a little further down the row by a dunk tank. Getting closer I can see it's sponsored by the school's Booster Club. All the money this booth earns will go into the athletic department funds. I'm about to turn around to head back towards where we came when I hear a familiar obnoxious voice that catches my attention.
"Come on Julie, you can take a few steps closer. We all know you're never going to hit the target anyway." Tanner taunts a girl getting ready to make her final throw, hoping to dunk him. She unfortunately misses and that only feeds his ego.
"Better luck next time sweetheart." Tanner waves from his seat above the water as the girl leaves.
What an egotistical jerk.
"I think I want to play that game." I point to the dunk tank, telling Claire.
"Well look who it is. If you wanted to see me without a shirt on baby, all you had to do was ask."
Tanner flexes his muscles in my direction while I pay the man working the booth my money. Tanner isn't a bad looking guy, definitely athletic and fit with nice abs and toned biceps. It's his need to overcompensate his insecurities with crude innuendos and toxic masculinity that grinds my nerves. I know I'm not his favorite person either. Pretty sure he's still salty about losing the wall sit competition in weight training. Poor baby.
"Whenever you're ready honey, I've got all night. Nobody has gotten me in yet and by the looks of things I don't think that will be changing anytime soon." Tanner looks me up and down, trying to size me up.
I line up behind the chalk line and get ready. It's been awhile since I've thrown a baseball but I'm too determined to dunk his sorry butt to be nervous. I sure hope the water is cold.
First throw whizzes just barely to the right of the target. Dang it.
"Oooh so close, yet so far away, pumpkin."
Tanner has a stupid grin on his face. His big mouth is drawing more of a crowd to watch around us. Tyler, Chase and Brady finish the game they were playing and join the spectators. Tyler has a serious look on his face I can't quite tell what it means exactly. It's the same look he had back on the first day of weight training when Tanner was making me uncomfortable.
"Any day now princess." Tanner's taunt pulls my attention back to him.
I regain my focus on the target. My second throw misses just by an inch under the bullseye. The crowd audibly gasps. Tanner laughs it off but I can tell that one was closer than he was comfortable with.
"Last try sweetie. Don't choke." Tanner's eyes look mean.
"You've got this Lila, shut him up." Payton calls out in encouragement from behind me. The rest of our friend group is all here now watching me.
I take a deep breath and center my mind. I turn and lock eyes with Tanner just before I let go of the ball.
"Bye cupcake." I sarcastically say to Tanner with a very fake smile.
I release the ball and it hits the center of the bullseye with a loud bang. Tanner goes crashing down into the water in a big splash. A smug smile forms on my face as every around me cheers.
*******
We walked around the carnival for a while longer. Our group stayed mostly together, the girls never deserting me for the guys like they promised. The night had grown dark and gotten even colder then when we first arrived. I was trying to tough it out since we were all having such a fun time together but I definitely should have brought along something warmer to put on. I didn't think we would be staying for much longer so I decided to not say anything.
"Alright, last ride of the night is the Ferris Wheel?" Payton questions the group to which everyone happily agrees.
Immediately I watch my friends pair off on the walk over with the respective guy they like. Even shy Claire looks cozy walking next to Brady. Up until this point in the night I hadn't felt like a third wheel or I guess ninth wheel in this scenario, but now I'm quickly starting to panic. If all the girls pair up with a guy then that only leaves one person in our group left to ride with.
Oh crap.
"Looks like it's just me and you again Bruiser."
"What have I told you about calling me that...." I scoff. Tyler tries to hold in his laughter at me. He totally called me Bruiser on purpose because he knows I hate the name.
"Oh you're right, I'm sorry. How could I forget? So sorry, guess it's just me and you, Lila."
"Much better." I give an arrogant grin.
"But for real, will you ride with me? I'm trying to be a good wingman. Mason wants to ride with Rachel so bad and I'd say everyone else looks pretty happy with who they are with as well." Tyler eyes the pairs of our friends standing in front of us in line.
Right. He doesn't actually want to ride with me, he's being a polite friend and good wingman. I knew the girls were reading the wrong signals when they thought Tyler might have a thing for me. I try not to show the disappointment at my realization in my face.
"Yeah, why not." I shrug.
We stand in line silently next to one another. A few minutes later it's our turn to board the Ferris Wheel. Tyler lets me on first so I try to squeeze to the far side of the bench to give Tyler as much room as possible which is tough since he's a massive human. The worker locks the lap bar over us when we are both seated but there's a big gap between my lap and the bar since Tyler is so much bigger than I am. I try my best not to let it show that I'm a little panicked. Did I forget to mention my fear of heights? The Ferris Wheel fires up and raises us a little as it's letting more riders on. This keeps happening with us climbing higher each time. We're almost to the top of the wheel when it stops again. Each time the ride stops the seat will sway and creak loudly. My hands are white knuckling the lap bar for dear life. How much longer do I have to stay on this death machine?!
"I haven't ridden one of these in forever. When's the last time—" Tyler stops mid sentence when he sees me clenching the metal bar as tight as I can. "You alright Lila? You look a little pale."
"Ah well.." I'm a little embarrassed to admit this to Tyler but there's no chance I'm hiding it well. "I may have forgotten to mention I'm a little bit scared of heights before we got on." I give him a weak smile.
Tyler reaches for my hands to try and comfort me. "You're cold as ice Lila! Here, want my jacket?" He starts unzipping his hunter green jacket before I can respond. His body movements cause our bench seat to begin swaying again, this time more violently. Instinctually I grab onto whatever is closest for stability. It happens to be him. I cling to his body like a koala to a tree.
"Uh sorry....I didn't mean to grab you...." I stutter.
I let go of Tyler's arm after the rocking stops again. I'm completely mortified with myself right now. The only thing I can think to do is close my eyes so I don't have to see him look at me pathetically. I'm praying the ride will end swiftly before I die of embarrassment. Without saying a word, Tyler starts (very carefully as not to shake our seat again) putting his jacket over my shoulders. It smells like him, sandalwood and citrus and is still warm from him wearing it. Instantly I feel more comfortable, like I'm wrapped up in a warm hug.
"Thanks." I look up at him, slowly sliding my arms through the jacket.
"You're welcome." He smiles back.
Then the ride roars back to life jolting the seat which of course caught me by surprise yet again. I squeeze my eyes shut in fear, clinging to the lap bar. We're picking up speed as my heart beat does the same.
"Come here scaredy cat. I've got you." Tyler says with a laugh that he tries to muffle for my sake. He pulls me into his side in one swift movement. His arms cradling me tightly so I feel safe. Even if I'm embarrassed by this entire situation, I do feel better with him holding me.
"You can open your eyes, Lila. The view is really pretty, I promise. You can see everything from up here." His voice sounds tender, not full of teasing or banter like how we normally speak to each other.
"Um no, that's ok. I'll take your word for it. Do me a favor and talk about something else to distract me until we can get off this thing?"
"Alright, let me think.... Oh I know. Let's talk about how killer you were earlier when you called Tanner a cupcake and then dunked him." I can hear the big smile in his voice.
"That smug little slime ball. I was so mad it took me all three tries to get him in." I grumble out.
"Ah but the look on his face when he came up from the water, totally priceless. I can't wait to remind him of it at practice on Monday. The dudes a jerk."
I look up at Tyler from tucked under his arm. "Oh yeah? Make sure you tell him I say hi." I can't help the mischievous part of my personality from coming out now that I know Tyler doesn't like Tanner very much either.
Tyler looks down at me. "You keep surprising me Lila Daniels. I've never met another girl like you before. You're shy and sweet but then you have this totally different side of you that's cocky and confident, not to mention how much of a fierce competitor you are. Wall sits, rope climbs, gymnastics, dunk tanks. Anything you can't do?"
I've never been very good at taking compliments so I don't know what to say back to him. I decide not to say anything at all and just smile sheepishly.
"You don't give yourself enough credit. The girl I have gotten the chance to see on multiple occasions this last week could give anyone a run for their money. I know you haven't been afraid to put me in my place more than once. You stood up for my sister after only knowing her a few days and proved yourself to be a loyal friend, Lila. You should let more people see those sides of you." Tyler's face looks genuinely at me.
"Thank you, that's very sweet of you to say. I don't know why it is but I have a hard time opening up to people at first. I guess it's another fear of mine... that I won't be accepted for who I am."
Maybe it's only because Tyler is literally holding me together right now, but for whatever reason I don't seem to have any trouble being open and honest around him. It's like he brings it out of me without trying. Something that doesn't normally happen so soon when I first meet people.
"Well don't be afraid to show people who you are. From what I've seen you're incredible, Lila."
The neon lights from the Ferris Wheel make Tyler's eyes sparkle as he's looking at me. His expression softens, for a second I almost thought he was looking at my lips. He clears his throat and looks out in front of us.
"Speaking of fears you can conquer....bet you didn't notice you opened your eyes, did you?" He says with a smirk.
He's right. I totally had forgotten we were riding this rusty death trap while we talked. The conversation was flowing so naturally it must've happened without me thinking about it.
"Take a look around Lila, I'm right here, I won't let you fall."
The way he says it I do trust him, even though we haven't known each other long which is hard for me to understand. He gives my hand a reassuring squeeze so I know he's still there. While still tucked into his side for protection I lean over the side of our cart ever so slightly to take in the view.
"Wow! You're right. You can see the whole town from up here. The view is really beautiful."
Tyler's looking down at me with a hidden smile but I'm too distracted to notice. "Yes it truly is."