Alex's (POV)
I'm currently sitting in the back seat of the truck, on our way towards the fair grounds.
We'd left after lunch around twelve thirty, just like Don had said.
I sigh, leaning my head against the window with heavy eyes.
I - as usual, didn't get much sleep last night. My mind deciding to replay the same nightmare from the other day.....The nightmare where Tom dies.
I feel a shudder run through me.
Don't think about it.
Trying to distract myself, I look out the window. We're in town now, making our way over to where we saw the fireworks that....not-so-good day.
Fireworks.
Hopefully they aren't going to have any today.....because we all know that will not end well.
Though Lucy did reassure me before we left that they were not having any. Or-else we would leave before dark.
Lucy.
My heart jumps.
Apparently she and Don are just dropping me and Mack off. Apparently having some unknown business to attend to.
And I hate to say this.
But I'd rather they didn't leave us alone.
For some-reason I've had this feeling ever since I woke up this morning that something's going to go wrong.
But then again, isn't that the story of my life.
I suddenly notice we're in the large parking lot, the gravel area about halfway filled up with cars. People rush around, excitement etched across their faces.
Don parks.
Lucy turns in her seat, facing me and Mack.
"Alright, here's some money." She hands Mack a couple bills. "Stay together, and have fun." She instructs with a smile.
She looks directly at me. "Alex, will you be okay?" She questions.
I look around outside. Crowds of people, a couple dogs....though they are on leashes.
Oh yeah, I'll be just dandy.
I look back over at her. "Yes." I straight out lie.
But I'm determined to do this. I'll never get any better if I just isolate myself from everyone and everything.....Not that I think I'll ever fully be better.
It's worth a shot I suppose.
"We'll be back by five. Then we'll go get some supper." She explains, looking between both me and Mack.
We both nod.
"See ya." Mack gives them a wave while opening his door, getting his crutches situated.
I take a deep breath, trying to relax the sudden tightness in my lungs.
Opening my door, I walk around to the other side to meet Mack. He looks over at me, a smile lighting up his face.
"Let's go." Mack say, already working on heading up towards where everything's setup.
As we enter the crowds, I stay close to Mack. My eyes repeatedly scanning the busy path.
Mack breaks me from my staring trance when he suddenly lays a hand on my arm. I look over at him. "Relax, Alex." He says while still walking.
I hadn't even realized I'd been so tense.
Relaxing my shoulders, I give him a small smile.
I really don't know what came over me yesterday. Telling Mack I have PTSD of all things. But like I said, I felt like I owed him an explanation after everything odd he's seen me do.
Even if it doesn't even scratch the surface.
I'm glad I told him though. I feel like we're closer in a way...almost like I can trust him.
"Come on, we're supposed to meet Polly over at the Farris Wheel." Mack's voice brings me back to the present. I follow him as he heads down another crowded row of stalls.
Oh yes, this mysterious Polly I keep hearing so much about.
Following behind a rather....slow Mack, we head towards the Farris Wheel which you can see in the distance.
I look up at it.
My gaze snaps back down to Mack as he almost falls down, someone unbalancing him when they bumped into him. "Hey, watch where your going!" Mack shouts at the retreating back of the person who hit him.
He straightens himself. "Stinking crowds." He grumbles.
He looks back at me. "Come on. I know a....less crowded way." He smirks.
I follow him as he heads around a corner, him seeming to be going in the direction of the outskirts of the fair.
After going through yet another row of stalls, we end up on the other side.
The good thing; it's completely deserted of people.
The bad thing; it's right beside the river that runs next to the town.
About thirty feet away, is the start of a little sandy beach that leads into a large river.
A big. Dark. Full of water. River.
My chest tightens, my lungs squeezing until it feels like I can't breath.
Relax. Breath. It's like forty feet away, and we're not actually going over there.
I manage to control myself.
Still following Mack, I completely ignore the big body of water that's next to me. I busy myself with listening to Mack.
"I discovered this little secret road probably around three years ago." Mack explains. "Makes it a lot easier to get around."
Yeah, If you don't mind water.
After walking a couple minutes, Mack turns left so we're going back inside the rows of stalls, the crowds returning.
After another minute, we're walking up to the Farris Wheel
Guess that shortcut really does work.
With a puzzled expression on his face, Mack looks around. "She should be here by now." He mumbles, turning in circles.
I shake my head, my eyes suddenly landing on someone who's walking purposely towards us.
She looks our age. Jean shorts, and a multi-colored T-shirt make up her outfit. Long blond hair hanging down her back in a ponytail.
I frown. She looks familiar.
Mack spots her, his lips immediately turning up in a smile. "Polly!" He shouts, waving her over.
So this must be Polly.
As she gets closer, I make out that she's a couple inches shorter than Mack. Petite build, purple rimmed glasses over bright green eyes. Darker skin, obviously tanned from being outside in the sun.
As she comes to a stop in front of us, she gives us a big smile.
"There you are! We've been waiting here for like hours." Mack whines, a playful glint in his eyes. "What took ya?"
She places a hand on her hip. "Mack, I know for a fact you haven't been waiting for hours." She pauses for affect. "You'd be sitting down if you had." She smirks.
Mack suddenly looks annoyed.
"And as for the reason I'm late, I had a couple extra chores to get done today." She explains.
She looks over his crutches. "And just look at what happens when I'm gone for only a couple weeks." She chides, crossing her arms.
She looks at me, eyes examining.
"So you must be Alex." She reaches out her hand.
A little surprised, I take a second to return the gesture.
"And since crutches here." She glances over at Mack who gives her a frown in return. "Can't introduce anyone to save his life. I'm Polly Quinn." She smiles once more.
Of course.
"And yes, Doctor Quinn is my mother." She jabs Mack in the ribs. "Ow!" Mack shouts. "And from the expression on your face I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess he didn't tell you that either, huh?" She finishes.
I shake my head.
"Typical." She mutters, glaring over at Mack.
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry." Mack holds up his hands in surrender.
She looks at him from the corner of her eye. "You better be." She suddenly smiles again. "But I forgive you. We have been BFF's since kindergarten for a reason now." She winks.
So they're best friends.
Makes sense.
"So are we ready to actually do something, or are we just going stand around all day?" Mack tiredly asks.
"Oh quit your whining, Mack." Polly roles her eyes.
She looks over at me. "So your in the same grade as us?" She questions.
I give her a nod.
Polly stares at me. "You know, your not much of a talker." She points out.
"Thank you, Einstein, for that little deduction there." Mack stabs the ground with his crutch. "Can we go now?"
She shoots him an irritated glance.
Then her eyes light up. "I just thought of something. We could totally be like the Three Musketeers!!" She excitedly says.
Mack snorts. "Right. And I'll go grab my cape and feathered hat." He deadpans, already walking. "Come on guys." He shouts.
Polly shrugs, leaning closer to me. "It was worth a try." And with that, she follows Mack.
I run a hand through my hair. Is everyone around here so.....perky? Maybe it's something in the water.
I jog to catch up to them, following along behind.
~*~
After we've ridden a few rides - which I have to admit were pretty fun, we sit down at a empty picnic table.
Mack insisting that he has to sit down because his leg is bothering him.
"I'm gonna go grab some peanuts. Be right back." Polly says before getting up and heading for a stall.
Mack looks over at me, a sly smirk on his face.
"So, what do you think of Polly?" He asks.
None of us have really talked since we met up with her. Everyone too busy figuring out what ride to go on next.
"She's....interesting." I finally decide on.
He places an elbow on the table, setting his chin down on his fist. "Hmm, is that all?" He raises an eyebrow.
Knowing what he's trying to imply, I ignore him, looking out towards the crowds. "Yup." I say in answer as my eyes scan the area.
I freeze. There in the crowd.
My heart skips a beat.
Tom.
Not again! I try tearing my gaze away, but I can't. He just stands there, stone still as he stares at me. People obliviously walking around him as they continue on with their day.
I swallow, my mouth suddenly going dry.
Something hits the table.
I jerk my gaze away from Tom, looking back at the table.
Polly's sitting down, grumbling to herself, Mack smirking at her.
Looks like no one even noticed me zoning out.
On the table sits a large bag of peanuts. Which must've been the noise I heard.
"That guy tried charging me double for this pack of peanuts!" She throws her hands up in exaggeration. "He must've thought I was an idiot or something, cause it clearly said on the sign: Four dollars, and fifty cents!" She places her forehead on the table, still grumbling under her breath.
I feel a smile grow on my lips.
Yup, she's definitely interesting.
"Whatever. I'm just hungry." Mack states, taking the bag and opening it up.
"Geez, your welcome." Polly sits up, rolling her eyes.
I look down at my watch.
1:45 P.M.
"So Alex, how do you like the Browns so far?" Polly asks, shelling her peanut.
I swing my gaze over towards her, only to see she's staring intently at me.
Suddenly feeling shy, I look back down. "I like them." I simply say.
"Yeah, they're great. I've known them since I was like five, and they've never let me down." She smiles, grabbing another peanut.
"You can have some if you want, Alex." She offers, gesturing towards the bag.
I give a small shake of my head. "No thanks." I'm not really in the mood for food, my eyes already back to scanning the crowd.
"How come you don't have an accent?" She suddenly questions, curiosity coating her voice. "Yeah, I've wondered that too." Mack joins in.
Great. This question again.
I sigh. "Because I don't want one." I mumble out.
They both look confused. "How can you just get rid of it like it's just a simple piece of paper?" She continues.
Because I've been taught how, and I don't want any reminders about my past...Any whatsoever.
So I don't allow myself to have one.
I just shrug, hiding a wince as it upsets my still swollen shoulder.
They continue to stare at me for a second longer, then Polly shrugs her shoulders. "Whatever floats your boat." She says, dismissing the conversation.
Her eyes suddenly light up underneath her glasses. "Ooh, I just thought of something guys!" She practically squeals.
Now me and Mack stare at her, waiting for a reason as to why she just sounded like it was her birthday and she just got exactly what she's been wanting for the past two years. But she just continues to sit there, practically jumping in her seat.
"What?" Mack finally asks, his tone flat.
She rolls her eyes. "It's about time you asked, dimwit." She huffs, looking mildly upset.
Quickly, she reverts back to her excited self. "I remember this really awesome spot that's....." She stands up, turning in circles.
Me and Mack stand up also, awkwardly standing there as we watch her turn in circles, a thoughtful expression on her face.
Mack leans into me, bringing his hand up to the side of his face, he twirls it in a circler motion. The motion for crazy.
"Ah, it's that way!" Polly suddenly says, her elbow finding purchase on Mack's stomach.
Mack doubles over holding his stomach, his crutches falling to the ground. "Ow!" He shouts.
Ignoring Mack, Polly starts walking in her chosen direction. "Come on!!" She yells.
Mack straightens back up, rubbing his stomach. "Crazy woman." He says, stooping down to grab his discarded crutches.
"Heard that!" She yells back at us, turning around a corner.
Mack winces. "Whoops." He mumbles to himself.
"Hey, get your butts moving you snails!" She yells back at us, peaking her head around the corner.
"We're coming!" Mack yells back. "Hold your horses."
Well.
This is very.....interesting.
Mack looks over at me. "Well, we better get our butts moving." He mimics with a smirk.
We head over to where she disappeared around the corner, only to see her talking to one of the stall sellers as we complete the turn.
Her eyes find us, and she says one last thing to the unknown person before heading back over to us.
Together, we walk down a long row of stalls, the crowds only getting thicker.
After Polly gets bumped on the shoulder again, she finally turns to face us. "Ugh, this is impossible." She growls, placing a finger to her chin. "Let's try this way." She leads us in between two stalls.
As we head out into a less crowded spot, she takes a left turn, disappearing around another corner.
Mack takes the turn, then me.
Not looking in front of me, I bump into Mack as he suddenly stops. Looking ahead, I'm surprised when I see a ring of teenagers.
A ring of teenagers that are now surrounding us.
My heart speeds up.
I have a bad feeling about this.
Glancing over at Mack, I see he's gone pale. His eyes stuck on one individual who's standing over at one of the game stalls.
Looking around, I notice they must all be buddies who were probably playing one of these games before we stumbled upon them.
The one who must be the leader of this little...shebang, takes a step towards us.
He's probably around six foot, black mid length hair. Most likely a year older then us, a cruel smirk plastered across his perfect face.
Ah, so this must be the 'Bully.'
He looks over at Mack, then back to Polly who's a couple feet closer to him.
"Long time no see, Mack." He spits out Macks' name like he just ate something unpleasant.
He looks back over at Polly, flashing her a smile that lights up his face. "And Polly, my dear." His smile reverses into a frown. "I see your still hanging around this loser." He motions to Mack who's behind Polly.
Polly gives him a charming smile. "Noah, honey. I don't know why your motioning behind me." She says in a sickly sweet voice, her smile turning into a smirk of her own. "Because the only loser I see...is in front of me." She finishes off.
There's a chorus of disbelief from the circle of teenagers.
Noah immediately gives everyone a hard look. Silencing them.
Then, his eyes light up once more as they land on me.
My chest tightens.
He walks closer. "And. Who. Might. This. Be?" He arrogantly questions.
Mack blocks Noah's pathway towards me. "Leave him alone, Noah." Mack quietly demands, looking down at the ground.
Noah steps back, his eyebrows knitting together. "Oh yeah, and what are you gonna do about?" He shoves Mack on both his shoulders.
Everyone laughs. "Huh?" He questions with another shove.
I feel anger boil to the surface.
But before I can do anything, Polly beats me to it.
Grabbing Noah's arm, she yanks him back a little. "Leave it." She crosses her arms, trying to make her small frame look more intimidating.
Noah frowns down at her, then looks back at Mack. "Got your girlfriend protecting you again?....How pathetic." He mocks.
"Just let us leave." Polly continues, letting go of his arm like she just touched a rotten banana. "And I'm not his girlfriend." She mumbles to herself.
Noah pretends to look thoughtful for a second. "Hmm, how about no." He states.
Polly opens her mouth, but Noah interrupts her. "No, first we need a friendly little...competition." He smiles to all his minions. "Right guys?" He asks them, already knowing what their response will be.
They all cheer, agreeing with him.
"Fine." Mack says, some of his usual spunk coming back. "What do you want me to do?" He asks.
"Oh, it's not you I want to compete against, Mack." Noah corrects, a big smirk lightning up his face.
His eyes land back on me.
Great.
"It's him." He motions his head over towards me.
My mouth goes sandpaper dry.
Mack opens his mouth, eyes widening. "Uh, well you see....he, uh." Mack stumbles out, trying to cover for me.
I straighten up.
I might not like attention much.
But I hate bullies more.
Completely surprising Mack, I slowly walk forward until I'm in front of Noah. Looking up into his face, I meet his hazel eyes with my brown.
"What?" I ask, assuming he'll know what I'm talking about.
Noah, after looking at me for almost a full minute, finally looks away. Suddenly not seeming so sure in himself as he had been.
He walks over to one of the stalls. The late teen who's running the stall, staring at us with wide eyes - obviously wishing he was anywhere but here at the moment.
"This one." He says, referring to what game.
I walk up so I'm standing next to him.
Looking it over, I see it's pretty much like darts. Except you only want to get the little red dots in the middle of each target, which is the highest score for this game.
The scrawny, acne covered guy who's running it, walks up to us from inside. "S-so the only rule I-Is you get one dart p-per target." He stumbles out, looking quite flustered.
Noah picks up ten darts.
Ten darts for ten targets.
Taking aim from fifteen feet away, he throws the first one.
Getting it right in the middle.
I carefully examine everything, taking in every single detail.
He continues throwing them for a full minute, taking extra care to aim before he throws. When he's all out, I count his score.
Eight out of ten red dots.
Not bad.
But I can do better.
Stepping up to the wood divider, I pick up a dart, taking a deep breath.
Maybe I shouldn't do this?
After all, it'll just make things worse. That I'm sure of. But I can't just let him get away with how he treats Mack.....how he treats everyone.
No, I have to do this.
Besides, I like a little competition every now and then.
Taking aim, I calculated my shot.
Pulling my right arm back, I bring it forward, letting go of the dart. It flies straight through the air, landing with a solid thump.
Right into the middle of the first target.
I keep my face straight. Although, I can't help but feel a bit of satisfaction.
Picking up the last nine darts, I hold them in my left hand
I shouldn't do this.
But I can't help it.
I look over each of the nine targets individually, branding their positions in my brain.
Then in quick succession, I throw the last nine darts. Completely ignoring the pain in my shoulder.
I hear nine thumps, and within fifteen seconds, they're all perfectly stuck in the middle of each targets red dot.
I lower my right hand back to my side, a small smile making its way on my face.
That felt good.
I look over at the guy in the stall. He's just standing there, staring wide eyed at the targets.
With a sudden sinking feeling, I turn back towards everyone else.
Noah's minions are all staring at me, then looking back at the board. Whispering among each other, they start pointing.
I see one guy's looking at his watch, a bewildered expression on his face. He shakes his wrist, bringing it up to his ear.
I glance over at Mack. He's smiling, an almost proud air about him. Though his eyes show concern.
Polly's staring at me, eyes wide.
But not with astonishment.
I feel my breath catch.
With fear.
I mentally kick myself. I shouldn't of done that. That wasn't in any means....normal.
I tear my gaze away from Polly, over towards Noah. He's looking out at his pack of people. Watching as they downsize their leader.
With his face turning red, he turns to face me.
He opens his mouth, nothing coming out.
Feeling myself get riled up, I stop him. "Now that we're done with your so-called friendly competition. Well be leaving, mate." I say, cursing myself as I accidentally let some of my accent slip out.
That's what happens when you talk about it.
Coincidence, I think not.
I turn around, making eye contact with both Mack and Polly.
Passing them, I walk over towards the ring of people. Them silently opening up a spot to let us pass through. Their eyes following my each step.
I hear Mack and Polly following behind.
I lead us off towards a deserted spot, a good distance away from all of them. Stopping, I lean against a wood light post.
Taking a deep breath, I try relaxing my tight lungs. I look down, only to notice my hands are trembling.
Crossing them in front of my chest, I look back up.
Polly's uncharacteristically quiet. Mack's eyes full of dread, and excitement.
After a second, Mack can't hold his thoughts in anymore.
He bursts. "That. Was. AWESOME!!" His eyes widen again. "How do you..how...." He stops, looking speechless.
I wince, already knowing what he's going to imply.
His face suddenly turns grim. "Although now-" Polly interrupts him, her eyes meeting mine.
"Now Noah's going to do anything." She swallows. "Anything to get you back." Her eyes widen, fear swelling inside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N
Hey y'all. *Waves shyly*
I'm really sorry for the late update, had Christmas shopping and stuff. So yeah I'm sorry!!! *runs and hides in hole* please forgive me!!!!*gets on knees begging*
Yeah, Anyways.
Questions:
1. What do y'all think of Polly??
2. Do you think it was a good idea for Alex to go all Ninja Skills on them??
3. What about Noah. (I don't like him....he's poop.)
4. What do you think Noah's going to do to get back at Alex for embarrass/Humiliate him in front of his minions/friends??
So I hope you liked this one. (Sorry for the CLIFFHANGER. And yes it will resume in that same spot.)
Thank again everyone!!!!
Next update: Thursday. (Hopefully:) COMMENT!!!!!
P.S. If there are any horrible mistakes throughout this, I'm sorry. (I'm doing this at 11:30 p.m at night)
Don't forget........VOTE!!!....see you almost forgot.👍🏻😆
Maggy
Edited: 6/14/17