Flintstone, my ancient, red Honda, goes over a hard bump, and I pray the new tire is more resilient than the last. The carnival is in town, which is our favorite bestie date. Icy weather disappeared overnight, leaving behind a beautiful evening to be enjoyed without the risk of frostbite.
Ten minutes later, we pull into the parking lot. Shay flings her door open dangerously close to a BMW and drops to the ground, searching for her phone that slipped under the seat during “Can’t Touch This.”
“Uh oh,” Shay whispers when she stands back up.
“Turn your brightness down. You’re going to ruin your eyesight.” I close my door and walk around the car to nuzzle my chin into her neck. “What’s wrong?”
“Cade texted me like five times.”
“And? He’s a chronic multi-texter. What did he say?”
She glances around the lot. “He’s here. I told him we were coming, and I guess he didn’t realize it wasn’t an open invitation. I’ll tell him—”
“Don’t! Maybe we can try to convince him to ride the roller coasters with us.”
Shay lets out a tiny sigh of relief, her eyes darting past me. That’s when the soft curve of her mouth contorts slightly. I turn around and my stomach drops.
Kenneth is standing beside Cade’s red minivan.
“Did Cade sayhewas coming?” I spit.
“Nope. He managed to leave that part out.” She scowls as Cade jogs toward us, leaving Kenneth behind with his phone to his ear.
The look of dejection on his face sends panic whizzing through my body. Everything about this situation is wrong. Kenneth is easy-going, without a single care in the world. Not this.
Red strands are the victim of his frustration as he yanks them. “No—” he blurts, cut off by the person on the other side. “Okay,” he says after a long silence. It’s a simple response, but by the slump of his shoulders, the situation seems to be anything but simple.
Hanging up, he makes our triangle into an awkward square.
“You good?” Cade asks, carefully eyeing his best friend.
Kenneth nods, and the smile on his face is as fake as a three-dollar bill. “I knew guys night was too good to be true. I could’ve been at home finishing my puzzle.”
“Don’t say that, Grandpa. Now it’s a party!” Cade slaps his back and ushers us to the entrance.
The comforting mix of colorful lights and the decadent smell of fried sweets and powdered sugar hit me as I scan the short roller coaster lines. I turn to grab Shay but end up watching her braided ponytail disappear into the crowd with Cade beside her, leaving me alone with a sea of strangers.
While part of me knew this would happen, I didn’t expect it so soon. I pull my phone out and mash the question mark key ten times before pressing send.
At leasthe went with th—
Kenneth clears his throat. I whirl around quickly, taking in his dark blue flannel and slouched shoulders. He looks as disappointed as I feel, and I can’t tell if it’s from his phone call or from being left alone with me.
“You can follow them, Gray.” I turn away from him. “I don’t care.”
He laughs, but there’s no humor in the hollow sound. “I know you don’t care. You’ve made that abundantly clear.”
What the hell does that mean?
I shrug off the sentences that feel like a burn and make my way to a game. These poor moles don’t deserve the beating they’re about to get.
How dare they (whack!)leave me with him (whack!)and not even warn me (whack!)that they were going to ditch me (whack!).
Kenneth snatches the mallet from my hand and holds it hostage in the air. “Relax. The moles don’t deserve that kind of beating.”
“Relax?” I glare at him. “You’re the one who’s pissed off, so tell me whatever the person on the phone did so I can be even worse. That way you can go back to smiling like normal, because I like this version of you even less than your regular self.”
He freezes, and when his hardened features relax slightly, I realize I’ve said too much. It almost sounds like Iwanthim to smile, and I don’t. I swear. But my slip up is enough to zap life back into his eyes, no longer empty. Dark green glimmers under the colorful lights.
