The event is already a success.
I turn in a circle, throwing powder at whoever is in front of me. Luckily, everyone takes the hits in good spirits and returns a throw to me.
I’m looking for Gavin when I feel a balloon pop on the back of my right shoulder. This water is freezing!
Shoulders hunched and slightly shivering, I turn and see a smirking Gavin, water gun pointed right at me.
Ha. Wait until he finds out that his water gun isn’t filled with water.
I take a handful of bright yellow powder but don’t throw it right away. And I’m glad I don’t, so I get to see the look of confusion in Gavin’s eyes as he furiously pumps his toy gun, but every time he pulls on the plastic trigger nothing happens.
“Problem, Gavin?” I ask in a voice so sugary it belongs in a candy shop.
“Riya...what did you do?” he growls. He’s trying so hard to be stern, but it’s a hard image to solidify in my mind since he’s covered in colored powder and holding an obnoxiously bright plastic weapon.
A weapon I jammed, and enlisted Sarah’s help in making sure Gavin got the right one.
In lieu of answering, I throw the powder at his face. Still trying to get the gun working, he doesn’t have time to block the throw, so the powder hits him directly. He does close his eyes, at least.
Gavin isn’t shocked for long, and he drops the gun, abandoning it to grab a bag of bright green powder. By the look in his eyes, I’m going to be covered in that pretty soon.
Good thing it’s my favorite color.
I’m not retreating, I’m just advancing in another direction, I comfort myself, channeling General Oliver P. Smith, as I turn tail and run away from Gavin. I jerk my head backward and forward, making sure I’m not going to crash into anything in front of me and then back to see where Gavin is and throw another handful of powder at him.
We keep going, circling the large lawn a few times.
I’m laughing as I run, making me a lot more winded a lot faster than normal. Which is fast, because who has time for the gym?
Honestly, I’m going to look into that membership tomorrow.
I make it to a nearby stone fountain with green moss charmingly crawling up a merman spitting water through a shell, and use it as cover to get away from Gavin. I use the momentary gap in pursuit to clutch my side and try to catch my breath.
“Are you okay, Riya?” Gavin asks, concerned.
Hmm. So I’m officially back to Riya again, am I?
“I’m fine,” I say, presenting the opposite image as I take a seat on the fountain and put my head between my knees. Is that supposed to help? Or is that for panic? Or nausea, maybe?
I’ll look it up when my lungs aren’t burning quite so angrily.
“You don’t look fine.” He takes a seat next to me. I feel gentle but firm hands on my shoulder. “It’ll help your lungs more if you sit up tall.”
“This is a perfectly natural reaction to the inhalation of powder,” I force out. I may be hacking up a lung but I will always use my last breath to contradict Gavin Carlyle.
Gavin takes a look around at all the other people who aren’t heaving in gulps of air. “Is it though?”
Oh, and now we’re back to teasing? Not all the way back, if the semi-cold tone is anything to go by, but closer to normal.
My breathing calms a little at the thought that he’s less mad at me. And the rest I’ve had probably isn’t hurting anything. “I ran a lot more than they did.”
Their laughter floats over from the center of the lawn. They’re also beginning to slow down, standing in place and throwing powder to anyone they can reach without too much effort.
Some of the crowd is already back at the baskets, refilling their bags.
“The event’s a success,” Gavin says, drawing my attention back to him.
“Thank you. I’m sure yours will be as well.” I try the gracious route. It’s a bit overgrown from lack of use with this particular man, but I like the view.
