"Nova, why are we at the fair?" I say. Nova pulls me further into the amusement park full of people and carnival rides. The air smells like funnel cake and it makes my stomach grumble. I haven't been eating as much as I usually do. I didn't know that junior year of college was going to be just as hard as junior year of high school.

"We're here because you've been more moody than usual and you need a fun night out!" She stops walking and stands in front of me. I shove my hands in the pockets of my windbreaker and look around. I look back at her. "You could've taken me to a bar, you know? That's my kind of fun." I say dryly. She rolls her eyes. "Do you trust me?" She says. I look into her brown eyes for a moment to see if she's being serious. "Sure?" It comes out more like a question, but she smiles.

She pulls my hand out of my pocket and tugs me toward the ticket booth. Her eyes linger over the price options. "Uhh, $75 please!" She smiles at the middle-aged woman inside the box. She reaches for her purse as the lady begins to gather our tickets. I pull out a $100 bill from my back pocket a lot quicker than her and place it on the counter.

She frowns, looking back at me. "I invited you out, I should pay." She says and I shake my head, grabbing the tickets and change from the woman. "Thank you," I say to her "don't worry about it," I say to Nova. I pocket the extra bills in my pockets and hand her the tickets. She accepts them and we start walking into the actual fair. "Do you want a beer?" She asks, already walking toward a stand. I nod and she approaches the stand. She orders a beer for me and lemonade for herself.

She hands me the bottle a couple of seconds later and then sips on her straw. "Which ride do you want to get on first? Or do you want to play those games first so we can finish our drinks?" I almost choke on my beer but luckily, I swallow it fast enough. "You want to get on rides?" I ask. She rolls her eyes, "no, Christian. I came to the fair to just walk and stare at other people. Yes, I want to get on the rides!" She hits my arm lightly. This isn't good. I take a swig of my beer.

"Uhm, okay. We'll get on rides then." I say, giving in. Her face lights up and she starts walking towards a ride. It's..huge. I walk slowly and she turns around and mouths hurry up. I hurry my pace and we get in the line which isn't that long. She bounces on her toes impatiently with a smile on her face. "Excited?" I say. She nods, sipping from her straw. I wish I could say the same.

I may or may not have a fear of heights.

The ride is shaped like an anchor and the bottom part carries people. The ride swings up to the left and then goes back down to the right. My stomach drops. How do people find that fun?! It has to go at least 1,000 feet in the air...or am I crazy? I swallow and then look back at Nova. "Are you sure you're not scared?" I say after we just heard the shrieks of multiple people.

She shakes her head. "No, I've been on this ride so many times. It's so fun!" She smiles. Her lemonade is mostly gone by now. My beer is still sort of full. "I don't think I'm gonna finish my beer, so I'll catch the next ride," I tell her, hoping she'll agree. Of course, she doesn't. "Nooo. I'll buy you another beer, you have to come on this one!" She pouts like a little girl and her big, brown eyes do it for me.

I roll my eyes. "Okay fine," I say. Since the line is short, I finish my beer in one swig. I need the liquid courage anyway. I wipe my mouth with my hand and then throw the bottle away in the nearby trash. Nova does the same thing with her cup. Once the ride finishes and people start climbing off, the worker opens up the chain and the line starts moving.

My palms become even more clammy as Novalee becomes more excited. She runs toward the ride and jumps in the seat, pulling the bar down against her chest. "Hurry!" She tells me as I'm barely making my way onto the seat. I sit on the seat easily and pull down the bar. I push it close to my chest about five times to make sure it's secure. I can't believe I'm fucking doing this. A worker comes by all of us to make sure the bars holding us are secure.

Nova sways her feet, waiting for the ride to start. She turns to me, "I don't know why I'm getting nervous." She laughs. I chuckle nervously. "Same." I lie. I'm fucking terrified. One of the workers explains what not to do on the ride, but I can't even pay attention. My heart begins to race even faster knowing the ride is going to start soon.

Then it does.

I grip onto the bars as the ride starts going up to the right slowly. Everyone's quiet which makes me even more anxious. I try not to look down, but that's pretty much all I can see right now. I close my eyes and hold my breath. My ass rides off the seat which makes me hold onto the handles even harder. The ride stops. I open my eyes and we're at the very top. I almost pass the fuck out, but I turn to look at Nova who smiling. "Having fun?" She asks excitedly.

I shake my head. "No! Fuck this!" I say, not caring anymore. Why are we just stuck here? Holy shit did the ride break?! Nova gasps, "are you scared right now?" Before I can reply, the ride goes down quickly. I don't scream, but I hold my breath and close my eyes. Nova screams, but not because she's scared. The impact has us swaying to the other side. "Chris!" Nova says and I open my eyes to look at her. We're fucking high off the ground again. "I hate you," I grumble. She pulls one hand off her handlebars and my eyes almost shoot out of my head.

She holds it out for me. "I'm not a child, Nov," I say, but I want to grab it so badly. She rolls her eyes and then we go down again. It doesn't take long for my eyes to shut and my hands to have a deadly grip on the handlebars. "I know, just grab my hand! If you fall, I fall!" She says loudly, over the screams of others. I keep my eyes open to look at her and then finally grab onto her hand.

I forgot to tell her my hands are probably sweaty, but she doesn't complain. She smiles at me and I finally forget that we're on one of the scariest rides I've ever been on. I smile back and then up we go again, pausing at the very top. My ass lifts from the seat and I breathe heavily. Nova giggles in the seat next to me. I loosen my grip on her hand when I notice her knuckles whitening. She doesn't complain once about it.

The ride falls back down one more time, ending right there. I finally breathe out, my heart still pumping in my chest. I let go of Nova's hand as the handlebars start pulling up from our bodies. She hops off and I follow shortly after. "See, it wasn't that bad!" She exclaims. It was terrible, I feel dizzy. I shake my head, "we almost died, Novalee." She smacks my arm and we walk off the ride.

Once we're back walking in the park, she turns to me. "Next ride?" She smiles. I groan. This is going to be a long night.

Six rides and one puke (from me) later, Nova drags me toward the Ferris wheel. I groan, putting all my weight on my legs as she struggles to pull me forward. She stops abruptly and frowns. "It's a Ferris wheel, Christian. There's no twists and turns to be scared of." She says, placing both hands on each of my shoulders. I roll my eyes and point up at the ride with my free hand, the other holding our funnel cake. "It's still hundreds of feet above the ground, Nova," I state the obvious. She looks back at the ride.

"You'll be fine! I promise I won't shake the capsule." She smiles mischievously. I don't like it. "I will open the door and throw you out if you do that." I retort. She rolls her eyes playfully and then she's dragging me towards the large wheel. We get into one of the capsules and sit on the opposite sides of each other. The sun has gone down, but the whole fair is lit from the lights on the rides. It looks like something out of a movie.

The Ferris wheel starts moving and I grip onto the bar in the middle with one hand. Nova laughs and shakes her head. "I never knew you were scared of heights." She says. "Well, now you do," I say as we ascend slowly. She looks over the cart, straight down. I swear she's crazy. I push her slightly to try and scare her, but she doesn't even flinch. She looks at me, "yes?" She says. I roll my eyes. "Nothing."

"Give me some of that funnel cake." She says, holding her hands out. I grab the plate from my lap and hand it over to her. She plops one of the strawberries in her mouth and throws her head back dramatically. "So good." She says, picking up another one immediately. "Let me try," I say. She picks a strawberry up and some of the strawberry sauce falls to the ground. She holds it out for me. This is totally not sexual. I lean forward and she puts it in my mouth. She rubs the excess sauce on her fingers all over my mouth and nose.

She laughs and I flinch back. "You're so funny," I say sarcastically. She nods, "I am." I look under the plate and there are no napkins to clean my face. I groan. "Here." She says, leaning forward and wiping the strawberry sauce off my face with her thumb. She licks off her thumb after, staring at me. That was sexual.

She smirks slightly, knowingly. "What?" She says as I haven't moved my eyes from her plump lips. I can't fucking do this. So, I just smile and shake my head. "Nothing," I reply. I've completely forgotten that we're currently hundreds of feet in the air right now. Just like I forgot the same thing when she held my hand on the first ride.

I might just have feelings for this girl. Might.