“And there was a girl I liked once but she’s not around anymore, so yeah, nothing there either.”
“Okay, cool,” I say.
She laughs. “Don’t sound so excited that you have all my attention.”
I smile. “I definitely am.”
She smiles back. Our eyes linger on each other’s for a beat, and I feel butterflies swirling in my stomach.
When we finally reach the bottom, the attendant comesaround and pulls up our bar. We take a moment to get our legs settled on solid ground again.
“Have you ever had fried Oreos?” Deanna says, pointing to a huge sign across the field.
“No, but that sounds just crazy enough to be delicious,” I say.
“They are.” Deanna grabs my hand as we wind our way through the carnival. We pass by a big group waiting for one of the water gun games and I see a flash of light brown curls.
Then I hear a familiar laugh. I do a double take, and there’s an immediate pit in my stomach. It’s Amari. I stop in my tracks. I don’t know what to do. She’s only a few feet behind us and I’m not sure if she saw me.
“Earth to Jasmine?” Deanna snaps her fingers in my face.
“Sorry, I have to pee,” I say. “Meet you at the Oreo stand?”
Deanna nods. “Okay, sure,” she says.
I wait until she’s out of sight before turning to see where Amari went. The big group is at the same booth and there’s Amari—staring right at me. I walk quickly away from the game, shooting a glance over my shoulder so she gets the signal to follow. I move into a gap between two stalls, and a few seconds later, she rounds the corner.
My heart races. She looks so different from how she did in the center. She’s wearing a plain white hoodie and green cargo pants, and her dark hair looks freshly cut just above her shoulders. She’s even cuter in the real world, and I hope that means she’s happier, too.
“Amari, what are you doing here?” I ask.
“You didn’t respond to my message,” she says, shrugging.
“So, you what? Followed me here?”
Amari laughs. “I don’t live that far away, Jasmine. A lot of people from my town come to this and I knew it was a big deal in Tinsley.”
“But you’re here to see me?”
“Partially,” Amari says, smirking. “And partially for the fried Oreos.”
I feel my phone buzz and glance at it.
Deanna:
Hurry up or I’m going to eat all of these myself!
“Someone waiting for you?”
I look up at Amari. I can tell she’s trying to pretend she doesn’t care, but the disappointment in her eyes is giving her away. I shift my weight from one foot to the other as I try to figure out how to respond. This is all so weird.
“I mean, I came with some friends, yeah. New friends,” I say finally.
“You don’t seem happy to see me.”
“I am,” I say, unsure if that’s true. “It’s just, now isn’t a great time to catch up. Let’s meet up another time. Soon.”
“Pinky promise?” Amari says, holding out her little finger.
