Chapter Thirty-Five

The next day, all I could think about was going to the carnival with Logan. It seemed as if the minutes wouldn't go by fast enough, like they were just sitting around, with no care in the world. The closer it got to four o'clock, the less it felt like time was actually passing by.

With my leg bouncing up and down and my fingers drumming on the desk, I impatiently waited for the clock to hit the 4:05 mark. While the teacher rambled on about the essay that was due Monday, I kept my eyes glued to the clock.

4:03.

Come on.

4:04.

Come on.

4:05.

I jumped out of my seat just as the bell rang and rushed to be the first to leave the classroom. Pushing through all the students, I quickly made my way to my locker and swung it open to shove my books in. I grabbed my bag and pushed the strap onto my shoulder and turning around to walk down the hallway, but before I could make it out, someone walked by and shoved my shoulder out of the way, knocking my bag down to the floor.

I looked up in time to see Kacey strut off, not even bothering to muster up an I'm sorry or excuse me. Instead, she simply turned around to give me a cold stare and then continued to walk away.

Walking past her was Logan, who had seen what happened. He frowned and his eyes followed her for a second before looking back to me and walking over to help.

"Are you alright?" He asked, his eyes softening.

I gave him a grateful smile and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

We both bent down to pick up the few things that had fallen out. Logan fixed them back into my bag and stood and handed it to me, looking down at me with a small smile on his lips.

"Thanks," I said, ignoring the blush on my cheeks and taking my bag from his hand. We walked through the doors and down the steps, making our way onto the sidewalk.

"We're still on for the carnival?" He asked, his arm brushing against mine.

I looked at him. I haven't stopped thinking about it. "Yeah," I replied and swallowed my nerves.

He grinned, and I laughed a little, looking down at the ground and tucking a lock of golden brown hair behind my ear.

"Lauren!"

We looked up and saw Faith and Tyler a few feet in front of us, leaning against the surface of Faith's car. Her arms were locked around his neck, and he was hugging her waist loosely. I smiled at the sight. As we walked over to them, Faith gave Tyler one more kiss before breaking away to start the car. I walked around to the passengers side and hopped in, strapping the seatbelt around my torso.

"Lauren!" Logan called just as we were leaving. I looked up at him and he flashed me a grin. "Pick you up at seven?"

I beamed at him and nodded before Faith started the car and drove out of the parking lot and onto the road.

"If you guys don't get together today, I don't know what I'm going to do with myself." Faith said, shaking her head. I looked over at her and laughed at her seriousness.

"You think I'm being funny." She stated. "I'm serious."

I turned to look out the window. "I know." I said. I bit my lip and leaned my head on the glass. "I know."

❧

"What are you supposed to wear to a carnival?" I asked Faith from the inside of my closet. I stood in the center, my hands on my hips.

"I don't know," she replied. "Something definitely cute. And comfortable, too."

"Cute and comfortable." I chanted while flipping through clothes. "Cute and comfortable."

"Hey, what about that white shirt you bought at the mall? You haven't worn it yet, and it's cute for the carnival." Faith said as she stood up from the bed and strolled into the closet. She walked over and pulled out the shirt she was talking about.

"This one!" She beamed. "And you can wear it with.." She turned to the jackets and sweaters, and pulled out a light-colored jean jacket. She also grabbed a pair of black jeans and put it all together. "This."

She shoved the clothes into my hands once she saw my approving smile and pushed me out of the closet. "Go try it on!"

I locked myself in the bathroom and changed into the outfit. I examined myself in the mirror before opening the door and walking out, giving Faith a little twirl.

"You're great at this stuff," I told her, walking over to the full-length mirror that hung on the wall.

"You're my best friend," she said. "I have to be good at this stuff."

"You have a point." I noted, looking at her reflection on the mirror. I walked over to my desk where my bag was and rummaged though it, searching for my makeup bag. Feeling it on the tips of my fingers, I pulled it out and opened it up, pondering how I would do my makeup.

"Hey, where's Emmie?" Faith asked as I opened up the bottle of eyeliner.

"I think she's stuck at work." I answered, running the black eyeliner over my lash line. Deciding to add a small wing at the end of my eyelid, I leaned back and examined my reflection, smiling at the way it had turned out.

Faith had been watching me the whole time, smiling in amusement at my reflection. "You think you'll get anywhere with Logan?"

My hand stopped, and I looked over at Faith. She was sitting up in my bed and looking at me with an expectant look on her face, like she was hopeful I'd say something like yes or maybe.

I open my mouth to say no, but stopped because things were clearly different and it'd be just the two of us..

Something definitely could happen.

"Maybe," I finally answered softly, giving her a slight shrug. I sat there for a moment, biting back a grin. I went back to my makeup, glancing over at Faith who'd been quiet.

"Maybe?" Faith asked.

"Yeah," I said, shrugging and nodding. "Maybe."

Taking focus off my newly lip-glossed lips, my eyes trailed over to Faith, who was grinning from ear to ear. I watched her grab a pillow and shove it into her face, muffling her excited cheers.

I laughed and turned to my makeup bag as I threw the eyeliner in and zipped it up.

Just then the doorbell rang, and both of us looked at each other with wide eyes. I stood up and ran around my room, frantically trying to find my shoes. Looking under the bed, I spotted the white fabric and pulled them out swiftly. Tugging my converse on one foot at a time, I hopped over to the desk and grabbed my bag. Stopping abruptly, I took a deep breath and turned to face Faith.

She stood and grabbed my wrist, pulling me out of my room in one swift motion. "Come on, he's waiting!"

We sped down the stairs and scurried to the door, where Logan was waiting on the other side. Faith looked me over and pulled me in for a quick hug before pushing me forward to open the door. I reached out to grab it and looked back a her nervously. She waved her hands for me to go on, and I turned back around.

Twisting the doorknob, I opened the door and found myself standing before a very handsome Logan. He looked up and when his blue eyes met mine, a million butterflies erupted in my stomach. His lips turned up in a small smile, and he removed his hand from behind him, revealing a single rose.

"For you." He said.

I took it, looking down at it for second before I grinned at him. "You picked it from the bush, didn't you?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't notice." He admitted with a laugh, lifting a hand to rub the back of his neck as he turned to look at the rose bush in guilt.

I laughed, appreciative of the sweet gesture anyway. "Thanks."

He looked back at me and nodded, dropped his hand from his neck. He outstretched his arm out for me to take -- which I gladly did -- and then led me to his truck parked in the driveway. I looked back to check if Faith was still there, and giggled when I saw her looking at us through the window.

He held the door open for me while I climbed in and strapped the seatbelt over myself, and then he shut the door and walked around to the other side to hop in. He started the engine and eased out of the driveway carefully, before driving off to the carnival.

As he drove, he leaned over and grabbed a yellow wrist band from the cup holder and handed it to me. "Here, this is so they know you've purchased a ticket."

Taking it, I peeled the small piece of paper off the sticky part and wrapped the band around my wrist. "So, is the carnival far?"

"No, it's close by; we're almost there -- maybe ten minutes away." He replied, glancing over at me every now and then. He reached over and grabbed his wrist band, handing it to me. "Could you put it on for me?"

"Yeah," I nodded in reply and went over the same process.

"I can't believe you've never been to a carnival before." He said, looking over at me. "Did you're parents never take you to one over there in Florida?"

"No," I answered with a laugh. "We did have planned to go to one over the summer once, but we just never got around to it."

"Oh, because they started going on business trips?" He asked sorrowfully.

"Yeah," I said, nodding. "Because they started going on business trips."

There was a part of me that scolded me for lying to him -- I knew he deserved to know the truth. But the other part remained firm. He wouldn't understand; and he'd run away.

"Well, today is you're lucky day." He said cheerily. We pulled into a large parking lot, and beyond all the cars I could see a huge Farris wheel and the tips of many roller coasters. I unbuckled my seatbelt and hopped out of the car. The loud music echoed over to where we were, and excitement coursed through my veins as I felt the beat boom inside body.

We weaved through all the cars in the parking lot and made it at the entrance in less than ten minutes. Showing the lady at the ticket booth our wrist bands, she nodded her head in approval and allowed us to enter. My eyes were wide with excitement as I looked around at all the people and games and food stands.

"This is so exciting!" I squealed as we walked around. The joy of others was rubbing off on me, just watching as everyone had fun and enjoyed themselves.

"So what do you want to do first? What haven't you done before?" Logan asked, looking around at all rides.

"Well, I've never been on a roller coaster before--" I began, my eyes trailing up to the peak of the ride before Logan interrupted me.

"You've never what?" He said in disbelief, gaping at me like I had committed a heinous crime.

"I've never been on a roller coaster?" I said reluctantly, giving him a sheepish shrug.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" He asked. "That's what we're doing first!"

He grabbed my hand and took off, pulling me with him. We raced up to the entrance of one of the rides, and made it just in time to hop in the last cart available. We climbed in and lowered the safety bar, which locked in place right above our waists.

"What's so special about roller coasters, anyway?" I asked while we waited for the park worker to start the ride.

"It's exhilarating when you're going 100 miles an hour and the wind is hitting your face, and the twists and turns -- those are great." He explained. "Oh, and the drops? The best part."

"D-Drop?" I muttered, suddenly feeling a little queasy.

Just as I was beginning to have second thoughts, the cart started moving forward and I instantly knew I was doomed. And instead of driving straight ahead, the carts slowly began hitching up a peak -- a very steep peak.

"Um.. Hey, Logan?" I stuttered in a squeaky voice. "I'm not so sure about this.." I leaned over the edge to see how far up we were, and my mouth dropped open.

"Don't worry, you're supposed to feel like that." He said, grabbing onto the rail in front of us in preparation for the drop we were about to experience.

"Yeah, no, I can't do this." I said in panic, shaking my head aggressively. "I can't do this!"

"Yes, you can!" He shouted over the noise of the roller coaster tracks.

The cart suddenly stopped and sat right on the tip of the hill. My heart pounded when I saw the other side -- the side we were going to zip down at high speeds of over 100.

"No!" I shouted, gripping onto the rail in fright as we tipped over. "No, I ca-AHHH!"

The cart was suddenly hurled forward as we began falling. Beside me, Logan was hollering excitedly and laughing loudly. I turned to look at him while we zoomed down the hill and while I continued to scream, and watched as he laughed with a grin from ear to ear. His eyes twinkled brightly and his hair flew around every angle possible. Then I turned back to look down at the drop and my screams went from terror to joy.

"Woo!" I screamed, laughing as the wind tossed and tussled my hair around.

Logan had been right; this was exhilarating. It was the most fun I had ever experienced, and I wanted to keep experiencing it with Logan right beside me, in the same cart.

I threw my hands up in the air and kept them up the whole ride, through all the twists and turns, and loops and double loops. I felt like a little kid being thrown up in the air by their father, squealing with so much happiness and glee. I was lost in my own world.

But what I didn't know, however, was that Logan was looking over at me constantly, smiling at me in adoration while I was having the time of my life.

It was when the ride was over that I put my hands down and just sat there, panting and laughing and searching for oxygen to enter my lungs again.

The safety bars were lifted up automatically and everyone climbed out of their seats. I hopped out and laughed when I felt the ground swoosh and sway below me. I looked over to Logan, who's hair was sticking up at funny angles.

"You were right," I started. "I loved it!"

He smiled down at me. "I knew you would."

"Well come on, we have to go on more!" I exclaimed animatedly, taking his hand in mine and pulling him along to another ride.

We spend the rest of the night getting on rides that I never even knew existed, loving the feeling of exhilaration that coursed through me like Logan said it would. We tried so many different foods, like fried foods, stuffed food, foreign food -- you name it. I played rip-off carnival games that I knew were rigged for the first time in my life. Logan played for me and won a small plush teddy bear for me, and I played for him and won little toys for him. We competed against each other and also rooted for each other, and even rooted for people we didn't even know. We went into the many photo booths that were scattered all around the carnival and took funny pictures together, and fought over who kept which pictures.

To say it had been the best night of my entire life would've been the understatement of the year, and coming with Logan made the whole experience so much more better. There wasn't a single person I would rather have come with.

After we had ridden every ride and played every carnival game, we walked around for a bit until eventually walked away from the whole thing and had found ourselves strolling through the park.

Somewhere along the way, either while we were going on the rides or playing one of the cheap games, our hands ended up intertwined together and never separated. That was why we were walking through the brightly lit trails of the park hand in hand, and talking about things we remembered about the carnival.

"Oh my god, remember the look on that girls face when she saw how many fries you could stuff in your mouth in that French-fry eating contest?" I asked, doubling over in laughter as I reimagined her face and the horror written all over it.

"Oh god, yes." He recalled, laughing in embarrassment. "And remember the look on everyone's faces when you actually beat the rigged basketball game? Oh, that was priceless."

"That was definitely the funniest night of my entire life." I admitted, shaking my head at all the memories I would have to tell later on in life.

"Definitely a night to remember." He said in agreement.

"Definitely." I said, looking up to find that we were standing at the top of the hill only Logan and I knew about.

We fell into a comfortable silence as we looked up at the sky, gazing up at all the stars that twinkled and shone radiantly. There seemed to be more stars out than usual, and it definitely added a better feel to the atmosphere.

I was still holding Logan's hand, and I knew right there in that moment that I loved this. That I loved going to carnivals with Logan, and standing underneath the stars and holding hands with him. I knew that this was what I wanted most in life. I wanted to be able to hold his hand whenever I wanted just because I wanted to.

I loved this.

"Beautiful," Logan whispered suddenly, breaking me away from the thoughts that invaded my mind.

I nodded, staring up at the breathtaking sky sprinkled with luminous stars. "Yeah," I said, nodding my head. "It's gorgeous, huh?"

A moment of silence passed before Logan spoke again, but what he said next took my breath away.

"Lauren," he said softly. "I wasn't talking about the stars."

Realization seeped in, and I slowly dropped my gaze from the stars and turned to look at him. He was staring at me intently, with a gentle smile that played across his lips.

I stared up at him with wide, curious eyes. My heart pounded in my chest. I couldn't think straight when he started leaning in. He let go of my hand and both of his hands trailed up to cup my face in a gentle hold.

Many thoughts were running wild through my head and I couldn't make any sense out of anything, but the one thing I was able to do was allow my eyes to flutter close. I leaned my head up and felt my heart pound away.

Before I could even register all the things that were happening in this one moment, Logan's lips were finally pressed to mine and all the things that everyone had always said about a first kiss with someone suddenly came true.

The million sparks, the wobbly legs -- I felt them all. And when I finally reacted and kissed him back..

I could say with 100 percent confidence -- I was on cloud nine.

❧

Authors Note: THEY DID IT THEY DID IT THEY KISSEDDDD. I HAVE SERIOUSLY WAITED FOR THIS MOMENT FOR SUCH A LONG TIME AND IM SO HAPPY TO BE ABLE TO FINALLY SHARE IT WITH YOU GUYS. AHH.