The day was so hot you could almost smell the sizzling of your own skin, could feel the waves of sweat as they moved down your back like a coating of saliva in a hungry child's mouth. The merciless sun beat down from the near cloudless sky, the baby blue shade shockingly sinister, promising a sunburn or perhaps even melanoma, if you were reckless enough. The townspeople of Arcadia Bay moved around sluggishly, lethargically, physically weighed down and slowed by the heat. There was not a single window left unopened, not a single fan switched off, not a single sweatshirt in sight. Max had seen glimpses of the beach as she walked and was unsurprised to note they were jam packed, crowded with as many angry pink bodies as would fit. Like raw gelatinous sardines. In some ways she envied them, being there in the waves cooling off. But she also knew the cooling was temporary, uncomfortable, timed. If you were going to be hot again anyway, why not do something interesting?

There was only one other place the Arcadia Bay residents were going, if not to the beach.

"Babe, you excited yet? I'm so hella ready," Chloe barked beside her, walking in a lope like an excited puppy. Her excitement apparently transcended the heat, a permanent shit eating grin stuck to her face even though her singlet - which was white, Max had tried to talk her out of that but of course Chloe hadn't listened - stuck to her back. There were a lot of things that attracted Max to Chloe; her short blue hair like a punk rockstar, the way cigarette smoke clung to her and gave her that rasping sexy tone late at night, the swirling ribbons and roses themed tattoo that snaked its way up one of her slender arms… but it was when Chloe acted like this, was filled with this childlike enthusiasm, that Max felt most attracted to her.

"Sure, I'm excited," Max smiled up at her, almost reaching for her hand before she remembered it was too hot for such things. "Just don't get too excited and run off when we get there, promise?"

Max was always the introvert to Chloe's extrovert, the shy to Chloe's brash. They'd known each other since they were kids, running around pretending to be pirates, best friends but somehow so much more. Max didn't remember her first encounter with Chloe, but she remembered the first time Chloe had visited her house. They turned the couch into a pirate ship, complete with sheets from the cupboard to use as their sails and cutlery from the kitchen to use as weapons. Max's parents had just laughed and laughed and taken a picture. Her and Chloe were more or less inseparable from that day onward. When Chloe's dad had died a few years later, crushed in a car accident, Max was there for her. When Max's mother had miscarried at seven months, Chloe was there for the both of them. And when the two of them snuck out that night when Chloe was 14 and Max was 13, and Chloe had her mother's wine on her breath which turned to mist as she breathed into the cold night air, and she'd said "Hey, why don't you kiss me right now?" so Max did… well, the rest was history. And the present, and the future, which gave Max a warm feeling to think about.

"I'm not gonna run off," Chloe scoffed, oblivious to Max's sudden wave of affection. When Max didn't say anything, just looked into her eyes and smiled, Chloe stuck her tongue out. "You're a dork."

"Yeah, but I'm your dork."

Chloe pulled a face, touched the back of Max's sweaty arm, then laughed. "God. We're really 'That Couple', aren't we?"

"Looks like we are. Though, it turns out I don't mind when I'm in the couple." Max said this warmly, her smile visible in her tone, blushing slightly. Chloe just laughed. They walked a little while longer, shoes scuffing on the burning pavement, the summer colours around them vibrant and full to the extent of being surreal, before they reached their destination.

"Max. Max, holy shit, Max," Chloe yammered as soon as she saw the sign, shaking Max's arm and making her laugh. "We're fucking here, babe, holy shit."

The sign was old; slanted wood supported by sandbags and bright cursive lettering. It said:

CARRINGTON FLOATING CARNIVAL

EST. 1989

NO DOGS ALLOWED

Beyond the sign were lines of colourful tents advertising things like fortune tellings and face paintings, and beyond even those Max could see a few rides - the tip of the ferris wheel, the spinning roof of the merry-go-round, the entrance to the bumper carts. The place wasn't exactly what you'd call crowded - aside from the beaches, Max had yet to see a place in Arcadia Bay that would classify as crowded - but it was as close to it as Arcadia Bay got. Max could hear the distant braying of carnival music, the backing track of people talking, could smell the fried food and cotton candy and grease. The last time she'd seen this carnival had been when she was seven years old, and Chloe had been by her side just as she was now. The thought made her smile.

"-ets, now?" Chloe asked, and Max realised she'd been zoned out.

"What?"

Chloe rolled her eyes, took Max's face in her hands and kissed her almost aggressively. Her breath tasted like cigarette smoke, a taste Max had grown to love. "You're such a dreamer," she snorted when she pulled back. "I said, do you want to buy the tickets now?"

Transfixed by those sky-blue eyes that matched the girl's sky-blue hair, Max could only smile and nod.

The day was one of the happiest Max had had in a long time, and that was saying something. They rode on the ferris wheel, doing the customary kiss at the top. They got their fortunes told (Max was going to be rich, the old lady said, and Chloe was going to have a wonderful husband with a huge family. Max felt bad for how loud Chloe had laughed at this, though to be fair she'd snickered a little herself). They rode on the bumper carts, Chloe hitting kids and the elderly alike mercilessly, leaning over at one point to whisper not-to-subtly in Max's ear: "This is the only legal way I can smash you in public," and Max had laughed until she cried.

They'd stopped in the middle and got icecream, Chloe chocolate and Max vanilla, just watching the happy people walking around them and talking about nothing in particular. There were a few people Max knew there, and a lot of people Chloe knew there, so they spent a long time talking with them. Max scored $10 from Chloe's friend Justin after he bet she wouldn't go on a ride called the Rocketship, which straps you up and whips you all around and upside down. Max had screamed the whole time and absolutely hated it, but like Chloe said, $10 was $10.

As the day wound down and eventually ground to a halt, the two found there were fewer and fewer rides they hadn't been on, and things were starting to shut down. Most people had either gone home or were on their way. It was nowhere close to being night time in that magical summer timeframe, but it was made painstakingly clear to Max that it was go-time. Chloe, however, would not rest until she'd spent all her tickets.

"No, come on, these tickets were fucking expensive. There's gotta be something we haven't done," she insisted, looking around like there'd be something she missed.

"The only place we didn't visit was the face painting place, and we didn't go because you're allergic," Max reminded her patiently. "We've done everything." She was watching one of the game stalls being shut down, the one where you knock down pins and win prizes. Neither she nor Chloe had won anything there, which Max hadn't minded since the prizes looked lame anyway. The man who was packing up whistled along to the music as he did so, which was still playing faintly through the speakers around the park.

"What about that house? I haven't seen that before," Chloe suddenly piped up, pointing, and Max looked over.

The house was old and dilapidated, standing at the edge of the tents as though it had been banished in shame. The once-white paint was peeled and cracked, the windows smashed in, cobwebs sprouting around the panes. Max knew they weren't real cobwebs; they were too thick for that, but it made for a nice effect. Even though she knew it was just a stupid generic haunted house, the place chilled her in a way she couldn't describe. Funny, she'd been here all day and hadn't even noticed it. "Um," Max said, trying to think of something to say. "It's a haunted house."

"Yeah, no shit, babe. Wanna go in? Come on," Chloe grabbed her hand, not waiting for answer. The two walked across the trash-speckled field, past the lines of tents. Max was looking ahead but she could physically feel Chloe's enormous grin. The girl loved haunted houses. They walked until they were standing under the building's shadow, staring at the plastic sign hammered into the ground just in front of the stairs:

SPOOKY SCARY HOUSE!

ONLY THE BRAVE MAY ENTER! BUT BEWARE… YOU MAY NEVER COME OUT!

MUST BE AGED 10+ TO ENTER

5 TICKETS P/P

"Chloe, this has 'B-Grade Horror Movie' written all over it," Max complained, suddenly cold. "We'll probably get chopped up and fed to a cat if go in. Can we just… not?"

"They feed you to pigs, haven't you seen that movie?" Chloe retorted distractedly, still grinning. "We have to go in. Come on, it's perfect. Five tickets. Hey." She took Max's face with her hands and kissed it again, like they had outside the sign. "Please. For me."

"You know I can't resist those damn eyes of yours," Max groaned, covering her girlfriend's laughing face with her hands. Chloe kept kissing Max's palms until she took her hands down, then looked at her some more afterwards.

"Babe. Please. Come with me."

Max paused, her mind telling her no but her body telling her yes. Then she sighed, deeply, long-sufferingly, and Chloe cheered, knowing what that sigh meant. "Okay, okay. But if I get murdered I'm coming back and haunting your ass."

"Butt stuff, sounds kinky," Chloe winked. "And hey, thanks."

"Don't mention it. Okay, let's do this."

The two of them walked up the creaking, rotting wooden steps of the house and into the darkness inside.