Fun at the Fair

A Chapter by Pookie Bear

Danny and Melinda's first date

Chapter 2

I wake up the next morning. It’s Saturday. Thank god. I don’t have to deal with Danny and his devilish charm today. That fact makes me relax but at the same time, disappoints me. Oh well. It’s only the weekend. I’ll see him on Monday. I roll over and try to catch some more sleep. I don’t know what time it is, or even care. All I know is I’m still tired and I could always use the rest.

I wake up a few hours later. There’s a faint tap on my bedroom door. I look at my clock and gasp quietly. It’s noon. I’ve never slept this late. I must be going through a growth spurt or something. The faint tapping comes again, but is accompanied by my mother’s voice.

“Honey? Are you awake?”

“Yah, mom. I’m up.”

She opens the door and peers her head in.

“Are you alright?”

“Yah. Why do you ask?”

“It’s just that you slept so late.”

“Yah, I was tired. I didn’t sleep very well last night.”

“Is anything wrong? Do you think you’ve caught something?”

“No. I’m fine. Do you need me to do anything today?”

“Yes. I left a list on the table. I have to go into work for some kind of conference. I’ll be back later, though. I just wanted to make sure you woke up before I left.”

I roll out of bed and grab my sweater.

“I’m fine. You go ahead and go. I’ll take care of the chores. I’m not really doing anything else today.”

“Well, OK. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.”

Once my mother leaves I pick up the list on the table and make a note of which ones I should do first. I’ll be done with this in an hour or two. What else am I going to do for the rest of my Saturday? Obviously, I don’t have plans. Maybe I should watch a couple of movies. There’s bound to be something on that I could watch.

Now that my chores are done, I sink into the couch and turn on the TV. Not even ten minutes pass and my phone rings. I look at the caller ID and feel a wave of anticipation. Danny did say he was going to call me.

“Hello?”

“Melinda? It’s Danny.”

“Umm…Hi!”

“Hey I was…umm…just wondering…”

“Yes?”

There’s a pause on the other end of the phone.

“Yes?” I ask again.

“There’s this fair down the street from my house and I was wondering if you wanted to go…with me.” He says nervously.

I sit there without saying anything. Danny is asking me out on a date. I realize he’s still waiting for my answer.

“Uh…sure!” I say.

“Oh cool. So do you want to go today? I mean, are you free tonight?”

“Yah, tonight would be great!”

“So I’ll pick you up around 6:30.”

“Ok. See you later. Bye!”

“Bye.”

I run into my bedroom and tear apart my closet. I have no idea what I should wear, so I call Lindsay.

“Hey, Mel. What’s up?”

“I need help choosing an outfit.”

“Oooo. What’s the occasion?”

“I have a…date…with Danny.”

“Oh my god! I’ll be over in five minutes!”

“Ok. Thanks.”

“No problem. See ya.”

“Later.”

Exactly five minutes later, Lindsay’s tiny little PT Cruiser pulls into the driveway. She bounds up the step with no hesitation.

“Hey! Thanks for helping me!”

“Like I said, it’s no problem.”

We run into my bedroom and start sorting through my piles of clothes. She says we have to find the perfect ‘first date at the fair’ outfit. About an hour later we put together a pair of faded, jeans with holes in them, a button up, baby blue, plaid shirt, and a pair of tennis shoes. She says it’s the perfect outfit for this occasion. The combination makes me look comfortable in my skin and not obsessed with my appearance. She also thinks that’s the reason Danny likes me. Whatever. It doesn’t matter to me. I’m too excited.

Next, we move onto my hair. Lindsay pulls a straightening iron out of her bag and plugs it in. I give her a look and roll my eyes. She laughs and says, “I came prepared.” She finishes my hair and asks me if I’m planning to wear makeup. I never wear makeup. It makes me break out. So I have no idea if I should or not. She says I should wear lip gloss to make him ‘want my lips’. I hit her on the shoulder and laugh. I don’t think I even have lip gloss. I borrow some of Lindsay’s, which feels like chicken grease, and ask how I look.

“Perfect.”

“Yah, sure I do.” I roll my eyes.

“You do! Trust me. He’s gonna be begging to kiss you by the end of the night.”

That thought makes me nervous. I’ve only kissed one guy in my life. Big mistake. It was in my freshman year and I was at a party. But that was a long time ago. Now I can have a real relationship, the way they’re supposed to be. Lindsay decides to wait with me until Danny arrives. We sit and talk about the past boyfriends she’s had for about an hour. After that, I know what kind of guys I’m not going to be dating anytime soon.

“Do you really think he likes me?”

“If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have asked you out.”

“True.”

“So when’s he supposed to be getting here?”

“Umm…” I look at the clock. “Any second.”

“Nervous?” She smiles.

“L’il bit.” I laugh.

“Well, don’t be. Everything will be fine.”

“I hope so.”

We sit there for another few minutes before I hear Danny’s Dodge Pickup pull into the driveway. I look at Lindsay with a knot in my stomach.

“It’s OK! Everything will be fine! Now get out there and enjoy your date.”

I jump when I hear a knock at the door. Lindsay laughs and walks over to it. I walk into the other room, out of sight of Danny and grab my coat. I overhear Lindsay tell Danny that I’ll be outside in a minute. Then she tells him that I was so nervous I had to have Lindsay calm me down. My mouth falls open and I put my hands across my forehead. How could she say something like that? She’s definitely gonna get hit when I get back. Ignoring the comment that’s still hanging in mind, I walk to the door.

“Ready to go?”

“Yep. Lets roll.”

He turns around and walks down the porch. I take advantage of the moment and smack Lindsay on the shoulder. She winces and rolls her eyes.

“You better call me when you get back. I want all the details.”

I turn around and walk out the door. Danny shuts his door as I open mine. I buckle my seat belt and we take off. My first date. On the inside in screaming with joy but on the outside I’m quiet and motionless.

When we arrive at the fair, there’s barely anybody around.

“Is the fair even open yet?”

“Nope.”

“Then why are we here so early?”

“ ‘Cause we’re gonna sneak in.”

“What?”

“Oh, come on. It’s more exciting this way.”

“Ok. So where are we sneaking in?”

“Right over there. Behind the port-a-potties.”

For some reason the sound of him saying port-a-potties makes me giggle. He doesn’t notice, but grabs my hand as I get out and leads me over to the fence. When we’re sure there’s no one around, we hop it and head to the food tent. There’s nobody in here and none of the food is out yet.

“Now all we have to do is make sure we don’t get caught until the fair opens.”

“Sounds easy enough.” I tease.

“Well I don’t think anybody will be coming in here for a while, so we can hide out here until it opens.”

I can actually feel my stomach do a giant flip as I ask, “What are we gonna do in the meantime?”

“Well, we can talk.”

“Umm…ok.”

We talk for at least a half hour, then we’re able to hear all of the rides being turned on.

“Sounds like it’s time to open the park.”

“It also sounds like someone is coming into this tent.”

We duck under the nearest table and wait until we can’t hear anything else. We peek out from under the table and the coast is clear. We make our way out of the tent and attempt blend in with the oncoming crowd.

We ride every ride at the fair in a matter of a few hours. By the end of the night, my stomach is sore from laughing and I’m dizzy from all the rides on the tilt-a-whirl. We’ve both had a really great time and it’s almost time to go home. Danny goes to a concession stand and buys us a drink to share.

“Thanks.” I take a sip and hand it back to him.

“Eh…you can pay me back.” He jokes.

“Right. Like I’m gonna pay you pack.”

We both laugh and start walking toward his truck.

“I had fun tonight.” I say with a smile.

“It doesn’t have to end.”

I look into his eyes, trying to figure out what he means.

“I’ve got a blanket in the back seat. We could look at the stars. Unless you want to go home.”

“No. That sounds like a good idea.”

We climb into the truck and drive to the old baseball field a couple of blocks away. He parks the truck, turns to grab the blanket, and jumps down out onto the soft wet grass. I crawl out of the passenger side and walk to the back of the cab. He opens up the trunk and takes one giant step into the bed. He sprawls out the blanket to make sure it’s unfolded all the way, then he turns towards me.

“Need a hand?”

He reaches down and grabs me by the waist. In one quick move he picks me up and sets me down next to him. God, he’s strong. We both lie down on the blanket and stare up at the night sky.

“God, it’s beautiful.” I say.

“Not really, I’ve seen better.” Out of the corner of my eye, I see him look over at me. I turn towards him and say, “What could possibly be more beautiful than this?”

“Oh, I can think of someone.” My cheeks grow hot. It’s a good thing its dark, otherwise he would see my face. I begin to feel the knot in my stomach again.

We lay in silence for about a half hour, just staring at the sky. He sounds as if he’s fallen asleep. I push myself up on my forearm and whisper, “Danny?”

“Yes?”

“Oh, I thought you fell asleep.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Good point.”

I close my eyes and lay back down. The frogs and grasshoppers are quiet but loud enough that you can hear their peaceful song. It’s like a lullaby. I feel my body relax and my breathing slow. I’m content, I could lay here all night.

I hear Danny shift next to me, and suddenly his warm lips are against my cheek.

He lays back down and I stare after him.

“What? Was that too much? I’m sorry. I thought that was what you were supposed to do on a first date.” He says.

“Umm…No…That was…” I stop speaking. I slowly feel a wave of happiness ripple through my body.

Tonight is a good night.

I wake up the day after to an early morning thunderstorm. I can’t remember when I got home. The ride back to my house is still fuzzy. I only remember saying goodbye and walking into the house.

My stomach begins to growl as I make waffles. The smell is so inviting and sweet, I eat them right out of the toaster. They burn my tongue, but I don’t care.

My mom walks into the kitchen and immediately asks me how my date went. Of course that would be the first thing on her mind. How did she even know about it? Lindsay must have told her. Great. Now I gotta hit her again.

“Come on. I wanna know.” She pleads.

“Well, we went to the fair, rode every single ride, and shared a lemonade.” I say.

“Then, what?” she says with amusement in her eyes.

“He asked if I wanted to do something else, instead of going home right away.”

“Oh my god! You guys ‘did it’, didn’t you?!?” she accuses.

“No! Mom! Stop it!”

“Then what happened?”

“We drove over to the old baseball field-”

“And you ‘did it’, there?!?” she interrupts.

“Mom, let me finish!”

She doesn’t say anything, so I go on.

“We drove over to the old baseball field. There wasn’t anyone out there, so we got a blanket-”

“And then you ‘did it’?!?” She yells.

“No, we didn’t! Now, do you want to know what happened or not?!?” I yell back.

“Ok, fine. Finish your sentence.”

“We got a blanket and laid in the bed of his pickup-NOTHING HAPPENED!-and we looked at the stars. Again, NOTHING HAPPENED!”

She takes in what I said and smiles, “Did he kiss you?”

I blush. My mom sees it and says, “Aww… my baby girl got her first kiss!”

“Mom! It wasn’t that kind of kiss!…Just a little… peck on the cheek.” I say, trying to avoid my mother’s eyes.

“Aww…that’s so romantic.” She smiles.

“Stop it! It’s not a big deal.” I say quickly.

“So, when are you gonna see this boy again?…What did you say his name was?”

“Daniel Anderson. And, I’ll see him tomorrow in school. He’s in all of my classes.”

“Oh, I see.” She giggles.

I roll my eyes and finish the dishes. That’s one annoying trait about my mother, she always makes things too dramatic. But, I still love her.

The rest of the morning goes by too quickly. By two o’clock, I’ve got everything done and my afternoon stretches in front of me. Nothing else needs to be done and I’m bored out of my mind. I hate this feeling. Having so much time on my hands. I like being busy. When I have nothing to do, I feel lazy. I take a shot at rearranging my bedroom. It doesn’t work. I end up wasting a whole twenty minutes, only to put my room back to the way it was. I run a list of things I could do, through my head. Maybe Lindsay is free. I find my cell phone and dial her number.

“I’m coming over there,” She says. “Like, right now.”

“Why?” I ask.

“Because I want every detail of your date.”

“Fine. Get over here.” I breathe.

“Yay! Be there in a sec.” She says eagerly.

“Bye.”

“Bye!”

No more than three minutes pass and she’s hitting our knocker against the door.

I open the door and she runs in.

“Ok. Tell me everything!” She says with excitement.

I give her a recap of the entire night while she bounces in her seat.

“That is so romantic!” She says with a grin. “I wish I’d dated a guy like that.”

“Yah, well. You can’t touch this one.” I say a little too possessively.

“Oooo. Mel’s got her eye on some man-candy.” She teases.

“Oh, shut up.” I roll my eyes.

“So when do you think you guys are gonna have your second date?”

“I don’t know. Whenever he calls.” I shrug.

We sit in silence for a few seconds until she stands up.

“The rest of the gang will want to hear about this."

“Woman! You did not tell them, did you?!?”

“They wanted to know! What was I supposed to tell them?”

“Seriously?”

“Yes! So get over it.” She teases.

“Ugh!”

“Jeez, woman! It’s not the end of the world!”

“Yah. Sure. Whatever.”

I look back up at her and see that she’s smiling.

“What?” I ask.

“Let’s go to the mall.”

“What? Like, right now?”

“Yah, we haven’t gone in a while.”

“Umm…Ok…Lemme just grab my jacket.”

We drive to the mall and pretty soon we’re submerged by clothing and accessories. I love shopping with Lindsay. She’s always as content as I am, with just looking around. We rarely buy anything. On the rare occasion that we do, its normally for some serious cheering up or something we like has gone on sale. We’re very frugal that way.

I get back home around six and decide to put away the stuff I bought. We found some graphic T-shirts on sale for only a dollar each, and some much needed headbands. Ok, so I’m not as girly as her, but I wear headbands a lot. Lindsay will vouch for me, she’s the one that’s always telling me to try a different hairstyle. I ignore her. I like my hair the way it is. It’s brown with curls at the bottom. Wearing a headband just complements them.

I put away my T-shirts and lay my headbands down on my vanity. It’s covered by my recently read books. I lay down on my bed and close my eyes. Then I get a whiff of fresh paint. I sit back up and look around the room. My walls are painted baby blue. There’s also a note on my dresser. It’s probably from my mother. I walk over and see if my assumption was correct.

Hey Mel,

Looks like you found the note. I painted your room as a thank you for all the chores you’ve been doing. I know how you’ve been saying that your room is dull. Well, I hope this helps. I’m very proud of you. You’re acting very responsible.

Lots of Love,

Mom

Well, Mom, I would have picked a more exciting color, like green or yellow, I think to myself.

I grab a random book of my vanity and lay down on my bed. I picked my favorite book. It’s about a girl that finds out her boyfriend is a werewolf. It’s not that good, but I like the concept of the story. I think it’d be pretty cool to date a werewolf. But I’ve got Danny for that.

I read for about an hour, and then I hear mom’s car pull into the driveway. I hear her open the door and walk into the kitchen. She drops something and I hear her mumble.

“Mel? Are you here?”

“Yah, mom.”

“Can you help me?”

“Yah.”

I bookmark where I was reading and walk into the kitchen.

“I need to start dinner, can you go get the rest of the groceries?”

“Yah.”

I fetch all the bags from the trunk of the car and haul them inside. Mom’s already started on dinner. It looks like she’s making soup. I hope its potato soup. That stuff is the best. I can never get enough.

“Is that everything?”

“Yep.”

“Whacha makin’?”

“Potato soup.”

“YES! I was hoping that was what you were making.” I smile.

She smiles back and says, “Good. I hope you’re hungry.”

“Not really. But, it’s potato soup. I can’t resist even if I’m not hungry.” I smile again.

“Well, go back to doing whatever it was you were doing. Did you hear anything from that Daniel kid?”

“No, Mom.” I say annoyed.

“Just wondering.” She says with a smile.

“Ugh!” I roll my eyes.

I walk back into my room and start reading my book again. Pretty soon my room smells like the soup and I can’t concentrate. My stomach growls with every breath I take. God, that stuff smells good. I grab the air freshener from the bathroom and dowse my room until it smells like flowers. Great, now I’m gonna get a headache. I sit down with my laptop and connect to a chatroom. Katie is online, so I start talking to her.

Hey! I write.

Hey, when r u & danny goin on a date again? She replies.

Did lindz tell u? I ask.

YepYep! She did. That sounded so romantic:D!!!

Not you too!:(

Come on mel! Hes probably gonna ask u out again, then u guys will become Gf and Bf!

Yah…

You no thats gonna happen!

Yah ok…

After an hour of talking to Katie about my date, I hear my mom holler that dinner is ready and I look back towards the screen.

Gtg dinner time. Ttyl:)

K bye:D