Hello, again! Thank you to all those who reviews, followed, and favorited my first three one-shots! I have another one for you. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent or any of the characters I used.
I wipe the sweat off my brow, kind of regretting agreeing to help my best friends, Shauna and Zeke run the booth at our annual Chicago Fair. They recently got married, and now are expecting their first child, and they decided that this was a great way to spend their weekend. Shauna is currently giving instructions to two little boys - brothers, I think - that came to the booth asking to play. Zeke pins up some new balloons up onto the board behind Shauna and hands a needle to each of the boys.
A couple walks up and gets in line behind the two boys. The girl, who looks absolutely stunning in her black sweater and leggings, tan scarf, and knee high leather boots, holds the guys hand. He has brown hair and striking green eyes that flash up to us briefly before they go back down to his phone. He seems absolutely disinterested, but her silvery eyes shine with excitement.
I hear a pop, and look towards the two boys who are playing, startled out of my daze. I'm actually kind of impressed. So far, the people who have visited our booth have been pretty bad at the game.
"Pick a prize," Zeke tells them sweeping his hand across the various stuffed animals on the make-shift shelf we set up.
"Well take that one." One boy says, pointing to the tiger.
"No, I want that one." The other one demands, pointing to the shark.
"I'm older, so I get to decide." The first one says bossily. The smaller one looks close to tears.
"Why don't we settle this with rock paper scissors?" Shauna suggests sweetly. She's a lot gentler, now that she's pregnant. She and Zeke are thrilled at the thought of raising a baby together.
"Fine," the older one says rolling his eyes. "You big baby."
"Yay!" The younger one exclaims. Behind, them, the girl smiles. "All right. Ready? Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. I win!" He says excitedly, waving his little fists. Zeke smiles at both of them, and hands them the shark.
"Hey," he stops the older one, as the little one runs back to their parents. "Don't let your little bro ruin your evening. I'm positive you're going to win some other awesome games, and take home other cool prizes. Younger brothers suck sometimes, believe me I know." The boy sighs, and nods.
"I guess you're right. Thanks!" He waves, and follows his brother to his parents, who also wave to us in thanks. Shauna waves back, then turns to Zeke as the couple steps up to the booth.
"What are you doing, telling that kid his brother sucks?" She asks him.
"What? I'm just teaching him an important lesson: don't let little brothers ruin your day. He'll need it later in life."
Shauna rolls her eyes, and beckons the couple who were waiting closer.
The girl turns to her boyfriend. "Peter?" The guy remains focused on his phone. "Peter." She says again. He doesn't respond. "Who the hell have you been texting all night?" She yells angrily, her face turning red. She snatches the phone out of his hands, and her eyes widen when she sees what's on the screen.
"Who's Molly?" She asks.
"Look- I'm sorry okay?" He starts. "You were always so busy with life, and you just weren't ready to go as far I was in this relationship."
"Is that what a good relationship means to you?" She says, her eyebrows rising in disbelief. "Sex?"
"Well…"
"Save the shit, and listen to me," The girl snaps. "So when I told you no, you went to some other girl? You know what, don't answer that. Just get the hell out of here. I hope I never come across your sorry ass again."
"Are you seriously saying that we're over?" He asks.
"Are you seriously asking me that question?" She replies stoutly.
The guy simply turns around and leaves after staring at her unabashedly for a few moments longer, his green eyes shining with disbelief. She sighs, and runs a hand through her blonde hair, in annoyance, I presume. I can't imagine ever being in a relationship with someone as difficult as that guy. The people that had stopped to watch the dramatic scene trickle away slowly.
"Do you want to play?" Zeke asks her, ignoring Shauna's really? look.
She gives Zeke a long look, then shrugs. "Why not?"
She walks up to the counter. And feels around in her purse. "Shoot sorry. I didn't bring any change. Maybe next time. Thanks anyway." She says, smiling a little sadly at Zeke and Shauna.
"Wait." I call after her, before thinking. "It's on the house."
She turns around, surprised. "What, really?" She asks. I nod, pretending not to see the incredulous look Zeke shoots me. "You sure?" She asks again.
"Yup," I tell her.
"Thanks!" She says, her blue-grey eyes lighting up again and her full pink lips stretching into the most beautiful smile I have ever seen.
Shauna hands her three needles, and Zeke replaces the balloon the boys had popped earlier.
She takes the needles, turns slightly, squints, and then throws the needle so quickly I almost miss it despite watching her intently. A loud pop sounds. Zeke and Shauna look at her, impressed, which is rare considering their own sharp aim, and job with the FBI, along with me.
She turns, follows the same technique, and throws the second one at the next balloon over. It too, deflates with a resounding "pop." Double wow. The third balloon follows quickly. Triple wow. The two families in line behind her begin to clap slowly, and she blushes bright red.
"Damn, girl," Zeke lets out a low whistle. "Where did you learn to throw like that?"
"My mom worked for the police force. She excelled at her gun and knife course, and she taught me, too."
"That's pretty cool. Pick any prize from the top row." Shauna offers her.
"Nah, I'm good. Thanks. And thank you for the kind free game," she looks straight at me.
"You're very welcome." The words tumble out of my mouth before I think about what I'm about to say. What has gotten into me? I always think twice before I speak! What the hell is this girl doing to me? I need to keep myself in check. I see Zeke smirking at me in the corner of my eye. "I'm sorry." I blurt. She raises her eyebrows. "You know, about your breakup."
"Oh," she sighs. "It's all right. It was a long time coming. He and I… we weren't working for a while before this."
"How would you feel if I took you around instead?" I ask, and then mentally kill myself. This time, both Zeke and Shauna are smirking at me. I can can feel heat rising to my cheeks, ears, and neck. I awkwardly scratch the back of my neck. Her eyes are on my for the longest time. Then, her face slowly breaks into a smile.
"That would be lovely." She looks happy once again, and although I can't quite tell what she's thinking, her eyes sparkle with excitement. "... As long as you're friends here don't mind running the booth without you." I smile at her selflessness. I already know Zeke and Shauna won't mind, considering how much they bug me about going on dates, but I look to them anyway, my eyebrows raised in a silent question.
"Of course we don't mind," Shauna reassures her, seemingly already liking her, which is good, because I somehow don't think all this girl will be is a one-night stand. She's looks like she could stick around for quite a while.
~oOo~
"So what were you thinking of doing when you first came here?" I ask her, after we've sat on the bench, gotten to know each other a little better, and finished her cotton candy.
"The ferris wheel!" She says in an excited, but still soft tone of voice. She looks positively charged (positively meaning completely) at the idea. I, however, am not. I hesitate at the thought, because of my fear of heights and confinement, both of which I am entailed to in a ferris wheel ride. I reluctantly decide to suck it up for this girl that I am already hooked with, despite not knowing her very well.
"Okay," I say, trying my best to conceal my fear.
"You don't sound very excited." She observes, but the way she says it warms my heart; not in an accusatory way, like most girls would, but a questioning way, like she genuinely wants to know what's wrong. "We don't have to if you don't want to."
"I do want to," I lie. "And, yes, we do. Because you're my date."
"Well, I don't know about you, but most individuals in the general population attend rides for their own enjoyment." She says, seriously, like a parent giving a life lesson to their stubborn child.
"Whatever." I insist. "Let's go on that ferris wheel. The lines getting longer!" And then I walk off, towards the huge wheel, gulping.
She looks at me doubtfully, but follows anyway.
After a relatively long wait, the guy beckons us into a cart. I open the door for her, and make a sweeping gesture with my hands. She giggles and walks in, thanking me. I walk in after her. We both pull down the safety rod, and the guy bids us a "nice ride" in a very bored voice.
"Oh you bet we will!" She says, smiling warmly at him.
The ferris wheel begins to move up slowly, and I clutch the rod so hard my knuckles whiten and my hand becomes sore. I have a feeling I'm going to have blisters after the ride.
"Relax, Four," she advises. "Just look at me. We're safe, okay?" I nod, but don't believe her.
As we near the top, we stop abruptly, probably for more people to get on or off. I start to shake. She grabs my face, forcing me to look at her as I hyperventilate. She looks straight into my eyes, and I get the weirdest feeling that this girl knows all my secrets: she knows that Marcus, who was, unfortunately, my father, beat me as a kid. She knows.
Then, all of a sudden, her lips are on mine, and I can't think about anything but how smooth they are. I kiss back immediately, and although we're not using or tongues, it feels more intimate than any kiss I've had before. The wheel keeps moving, but neither of us care. We keep our lips on each others, kissing passionately. She parts her lips, and now our each of our tongues dance around the other. We are almost at the bottom when we separate, and a thrill goes through my body as I look at her again. She is looking back at me, her intense gaze meeting mine.
The wheel stops again, this time at the bottom. I open the door for her, and she steps out, followed by me. The fair is about to close; that ferris wheel took longer than I thought it would.
"Hope you had a nice night." The same guy as earlier says in that same bored voice.
"Oh we definitely did. Can't say the same for you, though. You need to smile more." He forces an obviously fake smile at her, while I, and several others look on in amusement. But his smile disappears a couple seconds later.
"Smile," she reminds him. He does.
"Good bye." He tells her firmly, his smile dropping again.
"Smile." She instructs. He does, but it vanishes as he turns away. We begin walking towards the fair exit.
"Smile," She calls after him, yet again. He scowls at her, but when we turn back, he's smiling. I look at her, admiring her way of spreading positivity.
"My mom used to remind me that there was always a reason to smile." She informs me. I wonder briefly what it would have been like to grow up with a mother like that.
"And what would your reason be right now?" I ask her, curious as to why, exactly she continues to smile.
"Being with you." She says simply. "I don't have a great history of relationships, so it makes me so happy to have found someone like you.
I am speechless for a moment, because no one has ever said those words to me before. For the majority of my life, I have been regarded as worthless, cast away. But now this beautiful woman comes into my life and tells me she's happy to have met someone like me, and it just turns everything upside down.
"Uh, thank you." I stumble over my words. "I can't believe you said that, because I was just thinking that about you, too."
"Well, great minds think alike," she smiles warmly. "Let's exchange numbers and we can make plans… assuming, of course, that you actually want me to stick around."
"Of course," I assure her quickly. "You're the first person that has changed the way I think about things in just a couple of hours. Thank you for that. I should get back to Zeke and Shauna. I'm their ride home tonight."
"Thank you for such a lovely night, Four."
"Someday soon, I'll tell you my real name," I promise her.
"Someday soon. I like the sound of that." She decides, then waves as we turn to go our separate ways.
~oOo~
"How was it?" Zeke asks me as we walk to the car, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
I roll my eyes at him, "Where would we have sex at a fair, Zeke? We just talked." Shauna smiles.
"She seems like a nice girl, Four. You going to let her stay?" She asks me.
"Yeah, she's… definitely special." I tell her. She nods.
"You're hooked, man," Zeke complains. "You're turning into a sap! Did you hear what you, the mighty Four Eaton, just said? 'She's definitely special?' Really?"
I punch his shoulder to tell him to shut up, and luckily he does. But I can't help but think about how this girl changed me in just two hours.
I am hooked.
Thanks for reading! Please please please leave a review. If you're reading this you either liked it or you didn't, so tell me! Please. It makes my day. If I don't get a good amount of reviews, then I will not post another story. Also, please make sure to give me any and all ideas that pop up into your head. Thanks for reading!
~Anna