Fairgrounds always had a haunted house ride. That seemed to be the ultimate undying rule of the universe; that where there was overly wispy cotton candy and rickety looking rollercoasters there was always a haunted house nestled amongst the cheap fibreglass and rusty metal framework of the fair. This was John's seventh visit to the place, since it started up ages ago. It was the closest his town ever got to Disneyworld and it was becoming a sort of tradition to visit it, even if the candy apples were too sour and the whole place generally smelt.
His dad wasn't taking him this time. He was fourteen years old, he was a man. And, he was taking a girl. An actual girl had agreed to come out with him. Was it a date? She was bringing along a friend or two so he didn't think so. He hadn't really had much in the way of romantic adventures, but they sounded pretty sweet from what his uncle had told him. Still, he made sure his hair was presentable, and the light blue hoodie he wore was dirt-free. His dad was in the kitchen engrossed in his baking books, but John still yelled a goodbye out of courtesy. His dad did feed him after all.
John agreed to meet the girl at the entrance to the grounds of the fair. It wasn't really a busy night, she should be easy to spot, he thought. Neither she nor her party were anywhere in sight. He craned his head around the dusty spot trying to find her, which wasn't easy since he wasn't the tallest person in the world. He strained until his toes couldn't take it anymore, crushed against his Walmart own brand trainers. He checked his phone. Seven thirty. She said she'd be here fifteen minutes ago. He felt his heart sink a bit. She might already be inside? No, he would've noticed her go in. He'd check around and if she wasn't there he'd just pack it in and go home. Maybe pick up one of those candy apples on the way back. They weren't the best in the world, he just felt like they were a necessity.
The lights blared out from all angles. All he could really hear was the loud voices of men operating the rides and bad dubstep remixes of nineties pop songs that they seemed to think would appeal to the crowd of high schoolers crammed around the more faster rides. He looked around. Still no sign of the elusive girl. He did a once-round around the whole circuit of the grounds, passing colourful signs and stalls as he went. He passed a darker area of the park, where the irritating techno bubblegum pop soundtrack faded away into what was unmistakably Monster Mash. There was a large dark grey house with bad lighting illuminating a black door with a sign above it that read "Haunted House, $2" in peeling red paint. There was quite a queue outside it. "John! Where the fuck have you been?" came a familiar voice. John looked into the queue to see the very person he came here to meet, at last.
Vriska was stood in the line with two people stood together behind her, bickering. She had a scowl on her face which seemed to say that they had been arguing for a long time. John bounded over to her, mouthing the word sorry over and over. She raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow, sighed, and pulled John into the queue next to her. "Ten minutes they've been doing this! Where were you?" she hissed. John had to think of an excuse better than "couldn't find you." That would sound completely stupid. "I got lost." Wow. She frowned at him, jutting her blue glittery lip out to the side, nodding sarcasticly. "No, shit. Uh, that's not what I meant. I waited for like ten minutes and you guys weren't there so I wandered in and then I found you." he managed to get his brain to form some kind of response. "I texted you to say we were inside in the line! Did you even see it?" She held out her phone, showing a series of increasingly frustrated texts, all sent to the same number. John narrowed his eyes at the blaring screen. She'd given her the wrong number. In his utter amazement that she had asked for it in the first place, he'd completely fucked up. "Ah, no, see. My number has two sevens at the end. Some poor dude is probably incredibly confused right now, haha." She looked back at her phone and laughed, pressing it against her forehead. "Alright big guy, don't laugh so much at your own joke. You might pass out from all the comedy. Give me the correct one later." she chuckled, giving John a light punch on the shoulder.
Behind him, verbal punches were being thrown. Vriska had seen fit to bring the most malaligned pair in their entire class along. It was a surprise that they even gave each other the time of day. John turned around to face them. The taller of the two looked almost red with rage, dark eyebrows pulled far down his forehead and mouth spilling out obscentities at the smaller, sandy haired girl who just laughed at him. John couldn't help but snigger along. The boy turned to face him, scowling. "Oh wow, look who finally decided to grace us with his mighty fucking presence! I would offer you something to eat but someone decided to eat absolutely everything I fucking bought in this goddamn shitty excuse for an amusement park-" "Oh come on! You didn't even like that sugar wafer that much!" came the girl. "I was saving it for my mom, I forgot her birthday last week! You only nabbed it because you could smell that awful sugary shit that was supposedly cherry filling!" yelled Karkat, followed by an almost howl of laughter from the smaller girl, and a snort from Vriska and John. Karkat flipped them all off, turning away to scowl at the flashing lights of the fair.
The line started to move along, and John and his party were almost there. "Psssssssst" came Vriska's voice in his ear. "Can you pay for me?" John frowned at her. "Can't you pay for yourself? Isn't your family loaded or something?" he muttered back. "I forgot my money." she pouted. "Come on John, can't you find it in your heart to give a pretty girl a break?" She batted her eyelashes from underneath her thin-rimmed glasses, and John sighed deeply, reaching into his pocket to fish out two one dollar bills, and stuff them into her waiting hand. She winked and smiled at John, clutching the money tight in her fist.
The pay booth grew ever closer, and the haunted house was easier to look at now. The walls were definitely wooden, and the paint was chipping away with the slightest brush. There was a single bed-sheet-over-a-basketball-ghost hung from a wire sticking out of the side of the pay booth. It flapped pathetically in the slight breeze. This house was scary enough, if you were scared of eighties cult classic songs being played in the background and shoddy construction work. John presented his money to the booth worker, and hung back for the rest to pay. They lined through the door leading into the house, hands on each other's shoulders. John could already hear Karkat complaining about how shitty the place was, until there was a loud bang from down the corridor. Karkat let out a loud yelp, and Terezi's wicked little giggles filled the air. The corridor they were in was thin and narrow. A few fake cobwebs hung from the ceiling, a gesture John was sure Vriska would appreciate.
They reached the end of the corridor and passed through an empty doorframe into a large square room. The only light was coming from a static filled screen of a TV. There was a single chair in front of it, and papers with grotesque crayon drawings of monsters were scattered on the floor. Karkat gulped audibly. Suddenly, the light from the TV stopped with a crackle, and a plastic skeleton fell down from the ceiling, suspended from a noose. There was a frantic scramble to get out of that room, led mostly by Karkat pushing on Terezi's back frantically, ignoring her roaring laughter.
The next passage was a flight of red-carpeted stairs with red patterned wallpaper. Karkat was mumbling about how he wasn't scared, snapping at Terezi when she snorted with laughter. John turned around to face Vriska and rolled his eyes. She snickered back at him, shaking her head. Vriska wasn't scared of this. John had never felt her sharp nails dig into his shoulders in fright. He kind of admired that about her.
The next room was completely pitch black. They had no choice but to plow onward blindly, John groping his way forward, hands swatting at nothing. He suddenly felt his fingers brush across something furry, exactly the type used on that shitty werewolf mask his dad had tried to scare him with when John was seven. He stopped in his tracks, causing all three people behind him to knock into him, pushing John over. At that moment, the lights flickered on, illuminating the fake wolf's face. Karkat freaked, and ran out, treading on John's fingers whilst dragging Terezi with him. Vriska brushed the dust away from her front before offering her hand to John, gripping his sore fingers tight as she pulled him up, making him wince. They managed to catch up with the wayward pair after following them through several smaller rooms.
Karkat and Terezi were stood arguing again at the top of a small flight of stairs, the same size as the one they climbed up earlier. Vriska scowled and muttered curses at them as they began to descend down the stairs, the smaller pair still bickering. The final room was a poorly lit rectangle shape. They proceeded through rather quietly, until one of those creepy puppet things burst down from the roof, and the flash of a camera was seen and heard. All four of them ran out through the exit rather quickly.
Vriska managed to persuade John to lend her money to buy eight copies of their photo. One, she said, to be professionally framed, the second to be made into a keyring, four to be made into a t-shirt for each of them, one for her screensaver and the last to give to Karkat's mom. Fourteen dollars. He only had five left. Enough for one go on the rollercoaster and maybe a snack. The prices for this place were extortionate. The picture was pretty funny though. John and Vriska were stood quite still, a gentle look of surprise on their faces. Terezi had her mouth set in a perfect circle, body set in a defensive stance, the sleeve of her hoodie being tugged on by Karkat, who looked completely terrified. Vriska was still laughing to herself as they left the booth, eight shiny pictures held in her hands like they were precious gold.
Karkat and Terezi had wandered off somewhere, leaving John and Vriska alone. They were stood near the dodgems. Vriska was carefully placing each picture into her messenger bag, a wicked glint in her eyes. "Right!" she exclaimed, clipping her bag shut and standing up. "I'm going to go on one of those test your strength things. You coming?" John flexed his bad fingers, shaking his head. "I don't think I could hold a hammer right now" he laughed. She tutted overdramatically. "You can just stand there and watch me win then!" she announced, setting off towards a bunch of small stalls.
John did indeed watch her win many of the games. Games which he had to fork out four dollars for. He was being conned out of his hard earned cash by this girl. He only had enough left for perhaps a drink and one of those candy apples. She did put the money to good use however. She bounded up to him holding two stuffed bears, a goldfish and one of those fake plastic guns. She handed him them all to him as "payment". He'd give the bears and the gun to his cousin and the goldfish to his other cousin, he thought. He had no use for them.
Vriska emerged from a seedy looking fortune telling tent with a massive grin on her face, showing a row of bright white teeth. "You will never guess what she just said! Apparently I have a discerning eye and light in my future!" she blathered on about her fortune; how she'd always been interested in that kind of stuff. John found it kind of endearing. "But guess what I saw when she dropped her crystal ball and it rolled out of the back of the tent?" John raised his eyebrows. She grabbed his hand, the one with the sore fingers and pulled him round the side of the tent. "The lady pulled open the flaps to go get it, and I saw a certain couple getting rather friendly amongst some trees." she whispered, pulling her phone out her bag. She tiptoed around the corner, motioning for John to follow.
She was not wrong. This "certain couple" were in fact the same ones who was screaming blue murder at each other not half an hour ago. Karkat had his arms wrapped around Terezi, who was lent against a tree. She had her fingers in his hair. They were kissing. With tongues. The flash and snap of a phone camera caused them to break apart immediately. "Hey lovebirds. Sorry to interrupt but we wondered where you were! I guess you two found each other alright." came Vriska's cackling voice. Karkat stumbled over to her, face growing even more hot with anger. "Delete that picture or I swear to all that is right in the world-"Vriska cut him off with a wiggle of her finger. "Temper, temper! You know, I think I'll send this picture to your mom instead." Karkat lunged for the phone but Vriska ducked, shoving her phone back into her bag. Karkat turned to face John, eyes burning. "Did you tell her to come here, dickweed?" he yelled, trying to seem cool and confident, but it was hard to see him that way when his hair was messier than usual, and there were black lipstick marks all over his scarlet face. John held his hands up. "No way man, she found you, not me. Although this whole thing could've worked out very nicely in a prank or two." he smirked, waggling his eyebrows. Vriska chortled and grabbed John's hand, leading him out from behind the tent.
By the time Karkat's verbal outrage had died down, they had gotten halfway across the grounds. Vriska had kept up a running commentary about how they had done things like this before in situations such as this. Apparently one time on a school trip, they had ran off arguing, only to be found two hours later behind the bus when it was time to go back. John couldn't help but notice that Vriska was wearing glittery blue lipgloss, a few shades darker than the hoodie he was wearing. The glitter was silver and was speckled liberally on her thin lips. She had matching mascara and eye shadow. Even her nails were the same cerulean shade. He didn't really pay attention to her features before, but in the glaring light of the fair, she looked very pretty. She had heavy, thick black hair that fell down to her waist. It gave off the slight scent of blueberries. "Hey John. I'll email you that photo later. Can you get it blown up so I can tape it to a billboard or something?" she inquired, tilting her head slightly. John agreed, but she was paying for it.
"God, I'm hungry." said Vriska, clutching her stomach. She looked at John and curled her blue lips into a smile. "Hey John, how about we share something?" she muttered slyly, batting her eyelashes again. "We can share one of those candy apples. That's all I have enough for." he replied, shrugging his shoulders. Vriska pouted.
"Those sour pieces of shit?" she began. She then paused, mulled the concept over in her head, then huffed and replied "Sure, fine. It's something at least." John smiled at her and she mimicked it sarcastically.
He managed to get the biggest one they had. It was covered in sticky red candy, which smelt like cherry. "God, don't wave it about, she'll catch the scent and come bother us-" John rolled his eyes and took a small lick. He passed it over to Vriska who eyed it gingerly before breaking off a piece and chewing it slowly. She swallowed it, smacked her lips and sighed. "Alright. It wasn't thaaaaaaaat bad." she admitted. John chuckled and took a bite himself. "Hey, don't eat it all!" She snatched the apple out of his hand, pinching his sore fingers. John winced and clutched them.
"Oh shit, sorry about that. Forgot." she said, smirking up at him. "Oh no, I might have to get daddy to kiss them better!" he whined, putting on his best grimace. Vriska blinked. She took his hand and grazed her lips gently across his fingers. John stared at the spot. She had left traces of her sticky lipgloss on his knuckles. "There now. I'm sure daddy won't mind." she giggled. People were staring.
They were walking out of the fair in moderate quiet, taking small bites out of the apple each. They had just left the park when John broke the slightly awkward silence. "Hey Vriska?" he muttered. She grunted back.
"Did you, uh..." John swallowed, as if a piece of the apple was caught in his throat. "Did you like it when you kissed my hand?"Vriska looked up at him, face incredulous. She looked like she was about to say something sarcastic when she paused, chewing on her words.
"It was alright." was all she managed to produce.
"Do you wanna do it again sometime?" said John. Vriska stopped dead in her tracks.
"What, kissing?!" she asked, voice high. John panicked and almost dropped the candy apple.
"No! I meant like, out like this. Like a date or something." Crap. He shouldn't have said date. She rolled the word around her mouth.
"A date..." she whispered. Then she smiled, and looked up at John. "Sounds great. We can go put up that photo of those two all over town!"
They walked to the bus stop together, talking about how much money it would cost to hire one of those small planes and have it fly over a ball game, the photo of Karkat and Terezi kissing flying out behind it. The bus left at eight-thirty, giving them ten minutes just sat under the bus station, passing time through idle chitchat.
John had his arm draped around Vriska's shoulders. She had her arm around his waist. She tipped her head when his eyes fell on hers. He leaned in, and felt her fingers glide across his back.
The bus ride home was short. Vriska got off a few blocks away. When she left she gave John a kiss on the cheek, and promised to talk to him on Pesterchum tomorrow. The bus rolled along down the street and John watched Vriska open the door to her house and walk inside. Bored, he got out his phone and spread out on the seat. There were about six angry messages from Karkat he hadn't read. His put his phone away and twiddled his thumbs.
John hadn't really been the world's biggest fan of the fair in his town. The rides weren't very exciting and it was all too expensive. The candy apples weren't that great either, yet he always bought one every time he went there. His lips tasted too sour for the rest of the night. This time, though, he didn't really mind. The sourness of the candy apple was slightly overpowered by the sweet taste of blueberry lipgloss.