For our's school's Homecoming, we planned to have a carnival to celebrate after the football game. We thought it would be fun for alumni and current students. We set everything outside the football stadium and a few things around campus. There was a Ferris wheel, bumper cars, Merry-go-round, a giant slide, and a hurricane. I hoped that was enough to keep everyone occupied and having fun. Braden wanted to have some sort of mini roller coaster. I had to convince him that we didn't have space and the school wasn't going to authorize it due to safety reasons. It was already hard enough to convince the school to allow us to have a Ferris wheel and a hurricane.
"This looks awesome Zara," Devin said as he looked around the carnival. Various booths were spread out all over campus. "It reminds me of Pacific Park but without the ocean view."
"That place is kind of tacky though," Madison stated. "So touristy."
"But still fun," Devin said.
"It's our last year at Westwood. I want the class of 2013 to have the best time." This was my last Homecoming and I felt a little nostalgic.
"Hey Zara," Braden called out from a foot away.
I turned toward him and I wished I didn't. He had on a tight Ralph Lauren polo and his arm was around Alyson who wore a simple white tee and a pleated navy skirt. They looked like a couple out of a Ralph Lauren catalog.
"We did a good job." Braden gave me a thumbs up and a wink before walking away with Alyson.
"He has a face that you want to punch," Kenzie muttered. It was the first thing she said all day to us. She was in one of her moods where she didn't want to speak or acknowledge anyone around her.
"Agreed." Stupid smirky boy. "So what do you guys want to do?"
"Braden is so hot though," Madison stated. "Alyson is so lucky."
I tried my best to contain the frown that wanted to form on my lips. I could see Devin glancing at me.
"Want to shoot hoops?" Devin pointed to a booth with basketball hoops. "Or ride the bumper cars?"
"I don't need to experience whiplash," Madison complained. "Let's ride on the Ferris wheel." She grabbed ahold of Devin's hand and dragged him away.
"Um...see you there," Devin called out.
"Want to go?" I turned to Kenzie who shrugged back at me.
"Zara! Kenzie!" Monique's voice rang out. She ran toward us with a giant stick of pink cotton candy.
Kenzie rolled her eyes and walked away as Monique reached us. Byron followed behind her with Logan in tow.
Monique's eyes followed Kenzie as she left. She fell to a stop beside me.
"Are you enjoying yourself." I hugged Monique as she placed her arm around my waist.
"Uh...yeah! It was amazing!" Monique had her hair in a ponytail and it swished from side to side as she moved. She was dressed in her black and green cheerleader outfit.
"You were great out there," I said.
Monique grinned and hugged me tightly.
"You too, Logan," I added. Unlike Monique who was petite at 5 foot two, Logan was a couple of inches taller than. She had doll-like brown eyes and alabaster skin that could not be tanned, even in the California sun. It would straight up be burnt if she tried.
"Thanks, Zara," Logan replied with a smile. She removed the ponytail she had on earlier and her pale blonde hair fell over her shoulders.
"Hey Byron," I said. Tall, dark, and handsome, Byron was the quintessential star athlete in the typical high school films. He had it all and the hot cheerleader girlfriend was the icing on top.
"What's up Zara" He nodded toward me. He had his hands in the pockets of his letterman jacket. He towered over the cheerleaders but he was only a few inches taller than me.
"What are you all up to?" I removed my arm from Monique as she took her place beside to her boyfriend. "Have you tried the basketball game?"
"Not yet," Byron answered.
"Babe, they have a giant dolphin." Monique pointed toward the stuffed animals that were hanging over the booths. "I love dolphins."
"I'll win that for you," Byron answered confidently.
"We'll see you later." Monique pulled Byron away in a hurry while Logan followed behind them like a third wheel.
I waved goodbye to them as I continued my trek to the Ferris wheel that Madison and Devin were probably on already. Like magic, Kenzie appeared beside me.
"Where did you come from?" I stared at her in confusion.
"Lemonade stand," Kenize answer as she took a sip of her drink.
"Why did you leave me?" I sidestepped my way through some people who stood in a massive line to get fried Oreos
"I couldn't stand being around Barbie and company," Kenzie answered.
"I don't know why you don't like Monique. She's so nice and positive," I said.
Kenzie rolled her eyes at me as she took another sip of lemonade. I expected another round of silent treatment from her. If Madison didn't steal Devin away, we could have been on the bumper cars. I only had a couple of months left to spend with my best friend before he left. I need to get him away from Madison. As we walked in silence someone knocked into me when they took a step back. My eyes couldn't help but widen when I realized who it was.
Amelia Janokoski stood in front of me. She was two grades ahead of me at Westwood. She was unofficially ranked as the prettiest girl in school during her time at Westwood. All the boys lusted after her and almost every girl hated her. She was known for her looks and her revolving door of boyfriends. She was dressed in an off the shoulder white crop tops that showed off her toned body and distressed jean shorts. The last I heard about her was that she dropped out of UCLA and moved to Las Vegas. She was dating some magician.
"Sorry," Amelia said. Her pouty lips turned into a smile when her dark eyes focused on me. "Zara Wexler, is that you?"
"Hi, yeah. Amelia." My mind was an utter mess as I tried to find ways to form coherent words. There was something about the way Amelia's dark eyes could leave you in a trance. when they landed on you. "How have you been?"
"I've been doing great. I moved back to L.A. from Vegas a few months back," Amelia said as she ran her fingers through her long and luscious brown hair.
"Is it because you lost all your money, you slut machine," Kenzie stated bluntly. Her eyes narrowed as she stared Amelia down.
"Kenzie!" I couldn't help but look at her in shock and disappointment. I quickly turned my attention back to Amelia. "She didn't mean that."
"I always say what I mean," Kenzie emphasized.
A laugh erupted from Amelia's lips. "Still as pleasant as ever. Aren't you Mackenzie?"
Kenzie growled in response. Never call Kenzie by the name Mackenzie. She did not like it. She thought the name Mackenzie sounded like a dumb Valley girl who got low-fat frappes at Starbucks.
Okay, I have about five seconds to de-escalate the situation before Kenzie ended up attacking Amelia. Think of something fast Zara.
"Kenzie, can you help me with my camera?" Aslan ran over to us. He skid to a stop when he saw Amelia and I swore the poor boy blushed when he made eye contact with her. "Wow!"
Kenzie dragged Aslan away from us before he could say anything else.
"Sorry about Kenzie. She's not...the friendly type ." I couldn't really think of anything else to say about that. "She's like that with everyone."
"It's fine. I've been called much worst," Amelia said with a wave of her hand.
"Oh...umm..well it's good to see you." I wouldn't say we were close. We had one class together during my freshman year. We were lab partners during chemistry and she set a piece of paper on fire and proceeded to stare at it without moving. It was like she froze. Luckily there was a sink near us and I flung it in there. We didn't run in the same circles. I was always surprised when she remembered my name.
"We should catch up." She reached out and stroked my arm.
What kind of hetero explanation was this? What was she doing? "Sure. When are you free?"
"How about now?" The moment Amelia's pretty pink lips curved into a smirk.
------
There wasn't really a place to sit since most of the benches and tables were taken. We ended up walking around the track.
"So what brought you back sweet ole Cali?" I took a sip of my ice tea.
"I've been focusing on getting back to acting," Amelia answered. "I was so discouraged before because all I got was the typical roles of the girlfriend or the mistress."
"Typecasting, don't you just love it," I said sarcastically.
"I've heard you were heading to Yale," Amelia said.
"Well I haven't been accepted yet," I said. "So right now it's just a hope."
"You're super smart. I know you will," Amelia stated.
"Thanks." I bit the side of my cheek in order to contain the smile that wanted to form. It was strange I don't think I had ever had this long of a conversation with her before.
"Do you want to know a secret?" Amelia stopped in her tracks as she slowly played with the straw in her drink.
"What?" I looked at her in confusion.
"I had a crush on you," Amelia admitted.
"What? No way!" I shook my head. I was hearing things. Of all our interactions in the past, I don't think she ever showed any kind of interest toward me. I've never even had the slightest of impressions that she could be into girls.
"I totally did." She let out a giggle.
"I would have never noticed. I thought you didn't know I existed." And since she always had a boyfriend.
"If I didn't, I wouldn't have asked you to be my lab partner." Amelia nudged my arm with her elbow.
"You did have other options, but really?" This didn't make sense to me. We rarely talked outside of class. We would just say hi to each other and go our separate ways.
"I didn't realize it was a crush back then," Amelia explained. "You're so pretty and nice. While everyone always called me names behind my back and hated on me because of the stupid rumors, you were always genuine."
"Well it's stupid to listen to rumors," I said. "Especially from jealous girls."
"It's hard to make actual friends when people already have this image of who you are," Amelia said. "Like if you're confident in your sexuality especially as a woman, they call you a slut."
"That's true. Unfortunately." I had to talk to Kenzie about her choice of words. "I'm sorry you felt that way. People can be cruel." I gently placed my hand on her shoulder.
"That's why I like you, Zara." Amelia turned her body so that we were now facing each other. "You're different."
"I...I don't know about that. " I took my hand off her shoulder and unconsciously started to play with my ponytail, twisting it around my fingers.
Amelia's eyes followed my fingers. "Has your hair always been this light?"
I slowly took my fingers off my hair. "It's like a light brown. I think in the sunlight it looks bronze."
"It's beautiful." Amelia reached out and ran her fingers through my ponytail.
This is flirting, right? She's flirting. This isn't a straight girl being nice? She said she had a crush on me. Why is this so confusing? "Uh, thank you." I took a step back from her.
From across the track, I could see Alyson sending us a death glare. What was her problem? Amelia followed my gaze.
"Sweet Alyson," Amelia stated.
"Weren't you two close?" I'm pretty sure they used to hang out with the same people back then.
"We used to be," Amelia answered. She waved back at Alyson who looked even madder afterward. "Now she hates me like every other girl."
"She's a confusing person," I said.
"Are you close?" Amelia turned her attention to me.
"No, not at all." I secretly wished, but it wasn't going to happen. How can you become friends with anyone when the other person didn't want to.