Alex got a job at the carnival and she meets someone…

Alex/Sonny

It was the most degrading job that Alex ever had to do: work the soft pretzel stand at the carnival. Barely anyone came to get a pretzel, and when they did, they arrived in herds. At least this visor makes me look hot. Alex thought to herself half sarcastically and half serious, if that was even possible. Then again, it is Alex Russo.

She began to bite at her nails, since there was no work to be done or a single customer in sight. "I hate this job." She huffed. "But twisting pretzels pays a lot more than working at my parent's sandwich shop." She'd rather the $8.00 an hour than to the twenty bucks a week. This job got her a lot closer to those concert tickets.

Quickly, she ducked behind the stand when she realized who was walking towards her. "Hey, Russo." Crap!

"H-hey, Dean." Alex answered nervously as she rose to her feet. "What're you doing here?"

"Me and my buddies here wanted to ride the rides and play the games." He said as he obnoxiously chewed his gum. Alex used to think it was cute, but now, it's just annoying. "So, what about you, Russo?"

Alex's eyes narrowed, unsure if he was really that dense. "Working." She pointed at her visor.

"Work?" he laughed. "I never thought I'd see the day that Alex does work." His friends chuckled with him. "You want a shot to make your shift a bit more tolerable?" he asked as he pulled a small bottle of Jack Daniels out of his book bag.

Quickly Alex looked around to see if the coast was clear. "Fine, but just one." She quickly took a swig of the bottle and handed it back to Dean. Her face scrunched from the awful taste of whiskey and the burn that traveled down her throat. "Ugh, that was terrible!"

"You're a trooper, Russo." Dean smiled. "Well, I'll catch you later. Me and the felllas are goin' to go on some rides." Alex nodded as the boys walked off.

Alex sighed in relief. It was two whole months since they have been broken up and they still remained friends but there was still some lingering feelings between them. Sometimes it just seems like Alex showed it more than he did. She was lucky to run into him though. Just having that one shot will have her set for her five hour shift.

"Another fucking night… one more week to go."

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"Oh, hey Sonny." Sal greeted her. "You ready for your first shift by yourself?" he hopped over the booth and hit the bill of her hat so it covered her eyes.

Sonny giggled and readjusted her Ted's Carnival hat. "Yeah." She replied with a wide smile. "I'm a bit nervous though." She bit her lip.

"You'll do fine." He reassured her as he helped her into the booth. "Just remember, 3 darts for 1 dollar. 10 darts for five, and 20 darts for 10 dollars." She nodded nervously as she reread his instructions on a giant poster board. "So, what are you doing after your shift?"

"Nothing really." She bit her lip again, fully aware what he meant. "Just going to catch up on some reading."

"Well, why don't you catch up on some reading another time and come with me for dinner or something?" he asked hopefully

"I'd love to hang out, but I have to go home right after my shift." She lied. She wasn't the type to hurt anyone's feelings. . It's not like he was unattractive or anything. In fact, a lot of the girls at the carnival liked him, both workers and customers. Some girls even wasted $ 40 on the dart game just to speak with him.

"Oh, well that's fine." He answered disappointed at the rare no. "Another night then?" Sonny shrugged as he walked off.

Sonny sighed as she played with balloons that weren't inflated yet. It sucked to turn people down. Honestly, it did.

A group of boys soon approached the booth. "Hey, fellas!" he announced to his group. "I bet you I can win that picture of that guitar right there!" He turned his attention to Sonny. "Hey," he squinted his eyes to read the name tag on her apron. "Sonny? Hey, that's my Uncles name." His friends chuckled. "Can I get 3 darts?" He put down $1.

"Here you go." She smiled as she handed him his three darts. "Good luck." She smiled at him and leaned against the wall, far away from the darts.

"I don't need luck, when I gots skills." Sonny cringed at his grammar. One dart, he hit a pink balloon, then the second one hit a blue one, and the final one hit the wall. "Aw, shit." He cussed, earning another cringe from Sonny. "How many darts do I need to get that?" he pointed at the painting.

"That's fifteen balloons that you need to pop in order to get that painting of that Stratocaster." She replied, discretely correcting him. "So, you already scored two. Thirteen more to go."

"Iight, iight." He nodded as his friends encouraged him. "Here's ten." He put down his money and she gave him twenty darts. "Shit!" he said after every miss. Out of twenty darts, he hit eleven. Dean was obviously annoyed but he quickly calmed down and turned on his charm. "Can't you just make an acceptation, for me?" he smiled from ear to ear, exposing his bright white teeth.

"Sorry." Sonny shrugged. "Rules are rules. Only two more to go." Dean slammed his fist onto the booth and put down a five dollar bill.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, finally reaching his goal.

Sonny smiled at his victory and reached for the painting. "Congratulations!" she said and handed him the painting.

"Awesome!" he exclaimed with the painting in his hands. "Why don't you fellas go ahead? I'll catch up." His crew walked on without him and continued their night at the carnival, intoxicated. "So, when did you start working here?"

"Today's actually my first day." She replied as she grabbed the pump. "You're actually my first customer." She smiled as she filled up new balloons to attach to the wall.

"So that makes me kinda special." He spoke. Sonny stepped back when she had a strong whiff of alcohol.

Sonny laughed politely. "I suppose."

Dean smiled stayed plastered on his face. "Do you wanna know how special I really am?" he swayed.

"I'm sorry." Sonny bit her lip. "I'm taken." She shrugged, and tried to believe her own lie. It was odd how she was barely able to even lie to strangers.

"Well, we could be friends, ya know." Dean said slyly. "And, hey, when you break up with what's his name, you can always find me." Sonny gave him another polite nod. "Lemme get your number." He asked and pulled out his phone.

"I'm sorry. I don't give my number out to strangers." She crossed her fingers in hopes that her last statement would drive him away.

"I ain't a stranger. I'm your best customer."

"You are my first customer." She replied. "Well, I'll be here all week, same time. After I get to know you better, I'll see if I will give you my number."

"Cool. Cool." Dean nodded. "I'll be making my rounds so I'll see you later tonight, and tomorrow."

Sonny smiled nervously. Great. I have a stalker.

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A/N: New type of story that I'm writing… any feedback is appreciated.