he week passed by quickly, and soon enough, the carnival was today.

"Don't forget to buy tickets!" Nicole was announcing to everyone in the hall before I walked to bio.

I sat down infront of Roan, "So, I'll pick you up at six?"

"I really don't have to go. I didn't even buy a ticket yet." He rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry, I already bought our tickets." I shrugged and the warning bell rang. I turned around quickly and tucked the ticket in his textbook, hoping everything would work out the way I wanted it to.

.•*•.

"There he is. Now laugh like you're having a good time." Stella said and I laughed like she just told me a hilarious joke.

Asher wasn't looking over at us but when he was, I needed to look like I was having fun without him.

"What is wrong with you people?" Roan asked.

"Laugh." I commanded but he still didn't.

"Why?"

"Laugh." My tone must've scared him because he gave me some sort of half-smile. Eh, close enough.

"I'm gonna go hang out with Nic and Tay, you coming?" Stella asked and I shook my head.

"I'm good, I think I'm gonna stay with Roan." But only so he could be my "date".

"Okay, have fun," She sang and skipped off to meet up with the rest of our squad.

"Are you using me?"

My shoulders tensed, "Using you for what?"

"Don't lie, I know when you lie."

I crossed my arms, "Maybe. But for good reasons."

"To make Asher jealous, right? Stella needs to learn how to keep her mouth shut." I was going to kill her. For the tenth time. "I honestly don't see the point in this." He scowled.

"It's going to work, I have to show him I can be a good girlfriend and then he'll-"

"Not that," He shook his head, annoyance etched onto his face, "Asher. He's an asshole."

"No, he's not." But even that sounded unconvincing. "At least, not all the time."

Sure, he rejected me and gave me the brush off without caring that it would hurt my feelings, but I still liked him. What was wrong with me?

"Alright, I have an hour before I have to go. What do you want to do?"

"What really is there to do?"

I looked around, "We can play games, eat food, go on the ferris wheel, walk around-"

"Alright let's go."

We were walking down a path full of games when something caught my eye.

"Hey, a shamu!" I loved shamu, it reminded me of our family vacations when all of my brothers were together.

"Don't tell me you want that, you have a whole bed of stuffed animals."

"You can never have too many." I told him as I walked up to John, who was running the game. It was one of those games where you had to shoot at a target and the first one to the top won. It was an easy game.

"You need two people to play."

"Roan, play with me!" I begged and he let out an exasperated groan.

"How much?"

"Two dollars per person." John made a peace sign with his hand.

I took out four dollars but Roan shoved my money back into my hands and put his own money down. I felt bad about him spending money on me when I was the one who forced him to go.

"I feel bad about beating you." Nevermind.

"Alright, let's go." Both of us sat down, ready to start. I grabbed the water gun anxiously and waited.

"Okay, when I say go. Ready, set. . . go!" As soon as John opened his mouth, my reflexes reacted instantly.

I pulled the trigger, watching as the stream of water hit the target. My lane lit up first, almost a full second ahead of Roan's.

"Nice," John gestured to the stuffed animals hanging from the booth, "Which prize would you like?"

"The shamu, please." I said happily.

"Here you go,"

I hugged the stuffed shamu as soon as I got it.

"This reminds me of my childhood."

"Congrats."

I looked at him more closely, "Did you let me win?"

"Of course not, that would boost your already insanely high ego."

"True that." John coughed and I was about to make a comeback but someone beat me to it.

"John, are you being nice to the customers?" Nicole walked up beside me.

"Yup." Whenever John and Nicole were in close proximity, they'd always fight silently. Mostly because John lost class president to Nicole but because of the new rule this year, the loser of the race becomes vice president. And they hated working together.

"Don't forget to clean the water guns every few minutes-"

"I got it," John dismissed.

"Your shift's in thirty minutes, Lia," Nicole reminded me before walking away and looking over the carnival.

"Ready for round two?"

"Yeah, but I get to pick the game." Roan chose the game where you had to throw a ball at a stack of cans and knock them over.

Long story short, I won and he lost.

"Damn, why are you so good at these games?" He managed to knock down two of the cans but couldn't knock down the last.

"I've been to a lot of amusement parks," Plus, I had them strong werewolf genes, "Wait does that mean you actually didn't let me win?"

Roan was saved by the girl running the game, "Which prize do you want?"

There was a bulbasaur, a squirtle, a charmander, and a pikachu.

"The pikachu, please," I said and turned to Roan, "Happy birthday!" I threw the pikachu at him and he caught it.

"Wait, why are you giving this to me?"

"Because I feel bad," I admitted, "And because you need a cuddle buddy for when I beat your ass a third time."

"Who says I'll lose?"

"Instinct."

In the midst of us arguing, I spotted Asher near the ferris wheel.

He was talking to Laurel, laughing at whatever she said. I froze, my feet planted in that one spot.

I couldn't move.

"Hey. Where else do you want to go?" Roan asked from behind me but once he saw who I was staring at.

"Forget him."

"I knew I should've gone with Stella. Now he's going to think I'm some friendless loser." I thought out loud.

"No, he's not."

And then he grabbed my chin and kissed me.

It only lasted four seconds but it left me shocked.

"Did you just kiss me? What was that for?" I asked calmly but was actually insanely nervous on the inside. Why did he just do that? Doesn't he hate me?

"To make him jealous. Isn't that the point?"

"Yeah."

"Good."

I didn't respond, only looking at Asher from the corner of my eye. Sure enough, he kept looking back at us, but he was still smiling at Laurel.

"I-I'm gonna go to the dunk tank." I cleared my throat.

He looked at his watch, "But you still have twenty minutes left-"

"You can never be too early!"

I spent the next twenty minutes talking to Nicole and distracting myself. I couldn't think about anything right now. Not about Asher and not about Roan.

Later on, Taylor and I manned the dunk tank. Nicole kept checking up on us in case we messed up.

Grace and Yanny stopped by first, each taking a turn. Both managed to dunk Taylor.

"Ugh, how refreshing." She coughed up some water as she came back up for air.

"You signed up for it."

"Actually, that was Nic. No one signed up and I felt bad."

My thoughts kept going back to Roan.

I didn't want to think about the kiss but that's all I that invaded my mind.

His lips were so soft, and they tasted like sweet spearmint. There was something so genuine about the way he kissed me. We didn't really like each other but it felt so real.

"Lia? Lia!"

"Huh, what?" I blinked and the memory was gone.

Her forehead crinkled, "You okay?"

"No, I'm fine."

Just that I couldn't stop thinking about that kiss.