Meanwhile...
With Tim...
Just like what he had agreed on yesterday, he too was at the carnival so that he can go out on his first actual date with Pinky. So far, things were going pretty well. The both of them arrived here at the exact same time, and the only thing that they had done here so far was watch one of the employees here juggle some bowling pins. Now they were walking around, trying to find another thing for them to do together.
During their walk, both of them tried to come to a compromise about which ride to go on first. Neither of them were keen on wanting to do the roller-coaster, they weren't interested in the Ferris Wheel just yet, and neither of them liked the bumper-cars whatsoever. Tim always saw the bumper-cars as something Chaz would be more interested doing anyway. So far, luck didn't really seem to be on their side when it comes to trying to find a ride around here, but they kept on persisting, and eventually found a ride that was on both of their minds.
In other words, they ended up at the 'Tunnel of Love'...
The ride itself was something that was on both of their minds when they first got here. Both of them felt like it would be a good enough ride for them to solidify their new relationship, although both of them were hoping that they'd save it until the end of their date. But considering that they couldn't agree on any of the other rides around here, and neither of them were all too interested in doing any of the games yet, both mutually decided that the 'Tunnel-of-Love' is what they'll be doing first here. They held each other's hand, then made their way over to the back of the line so that they can wait for their turn. There were only about five couples in front of them, so hopefully, it doesn't end up taking too long for them to get onto the ride.
While the two waited, Tim couldn't help but try to start up a conversation with his new girlfriend. "So...um...I take it that this is your first time on a ride like this one, huh?" He asked while rubbing the back of his neck, nervously. "I-I only asked, because...ha, this is actually my first time on the 'Tunnel-of-Love', you know?"
"Hey, no need to feel a bit nervous, Tim. This is actually my first time too." Pinky reassured him. She then blushes, before confessing something that to her feels a little awkward to mention. "Well...actually, the first time I'm actually going on this ride with an actual boyfriend, I mean..."
"You went on this ride by yourself?"
"Yeah...let's just say that me and a few of my friends decided to come here one time during Valentines Day, and...of course, BeeBee thought it was a good idea for all of us to go on this ride, despite knowing I didn't have a boyfriend..." Pinky then rolled her eyes, having to even remember that day. She then smiled, before grabbing a hold of her boyfriend's hand. "But, hey...at least I'm going on this ride again, but this time, not alone."
Tim blushes at his girlfriend's words, then faces forward at the line in front of them. "So...um...I guess I now must ask...what will I be expecting when I get on this ride?"
"All I can really say is that it's like riding a boat down a river through a garden full of hearts, flowers, and an occasional dove or two...or in other words, a romantic garden." Pinky then crossed her arms, before shrugging one of her shoulders. "I guess it really depends if you find something like that romantic or not. I know for a fact that BeeBee did the last time we came here before."
All that her boyfriend could do at that moment was shrug his shoulders. "It sounds pretty romantic to me..."
"Tim? Is that you?" A familiar female voice said from right behind them.
The moment he heard that voice, Tim went from happy to horrified within seconds. He knew that voice, and he couldn't believe that of all people who could be here at the carnival right now, he couldn't believe that it was her. Even worse for him is that he couldn't believe that she was here during his first date with Pinky. He never thought that he'd be facing her again after everything that had happened earlier last weekend.
Tim and Pinky turned around, seeing that the person behind them was...none other than Summer. She wasn't alone here, as Luke was just walking up to her from behind her. To Tim, this was just horrible...having to face his best friend's ex-girlfriend and her new lover while he was on his first date. It was like fate decided to turn on him out of complete nowhere by having those two approach him right now. He didn't even know if he should even give those two any of his attention, but considering that Pinky seemed rather confused by who the blonde girl even was, it didn't seem like he has any choice in the matter.
"Summer? What are you doing here?" Tim asked his former friend, glaring at her for approaching him.
"What do you think?" Summer asked him sarcastically, before pointing at her boyfriend behind her. "Me and Luke both had the day off today, so both of us decided to come here for a date. We were just walking around for a bit, and then I saw you along with this girl over here." She then turned her head towards the prep next to him. "...Who are you suppose to be anyway?"
"It's Pinky." The girl in blue said. "I'm his girlfriend."
Summer was then surprised by this being said. "Really? You're his girlfriend? I gotta say, I'm impressed."
"Uh...thanks, I guess..."
Summer then turned her head towards her blue-haired friend once again. "I had no idea that you're now finally dating somebody, Tim."
"You're acting like I was planning on telling you about this." The blue-haired man said with resentment clearly present in his voice. "Besides, you already have some nerve approaching me after you decided to cheat on Chaz with your new friend here. Don't you think I want anything to do with you after that?"
Summer could only roll her eyes at the blue-haired man being defensive of his best friend. "Look, stay angry at me for cheating on Chaz all you want...but I have my reasons, alright?"
"What reasons could they be? Chaz was nothing but good to you throughout your entire relationship with him?"
"Hey, he focused on his friends more than he focused on me..."
"That still doesn't mean that you cheat on him!"
"Okay, blue-haired dude, chill out." Luke said, finally entering the conversation so that he can back up his girlfriend.
"How can I chill out if she betrayed my best friend?" Tim then held up his hands, realizing who he's actually asking this question to. Remembering that the surfer also had fault in this situation, he decided to take the time to confront him about this as well. "You know what, what were you thinking when you decided to go out with her? You knew she had a boyfriend when she kissed you, yet you're still allowing yourself to date her? How can you be okay with all of this?!"
"Dude, can you really blame me for not dating somebody like Summer? She's nice, and she's totally hot."
"That's no excuse to..."
It was at this time, Pinky decided to interfere with this argument. She got in between the two boys, holding out her hands to each of them. "Um...I think we should come back to this ride when you guys are not here..." The prep said, before guiding her boyfriend away from the surfer. "Let's go, Tim. Now is probably not a good time to be here."
Tim and Pinky walking off, as Summer just stood there watching them leave. 'Thank God they left...' She said in her thoughts as she glared at the couple walking away. 'Tim was always too overreactive when it comes to situations like these anyway.'
Meanwhile...
Back with Ray and Victoria...
After they had tried the 'Test-your-Strength' machine, the two of them decided to try out some of the rides that were here. Some of them were fun and enjoyable, while some others were...rather unnerving, mainly just to Victoria. They tried the Ferris-Wheel first out of all of the rides here, which was perfectly fine for them. They tried the carousel, which was also completely fine for the both of them. They also tried the bumper-cars together, which, much to Victoria's surprise, was a lot more fun than she was expecting. So far, everything seemed fun.
Then they tried the roller-coaster. After they did the bumper-cars, Victoria felt like going on it, believing that it will be just as fun. Unfortunately for her, going on the roller-coaster only proved to her that avoiding it was probably the better option. Throughout the ride, she wasn't expecting how fast the entire ride was going to be, let alone how many loops that she was going to experience on it. Immediately after the ride, she decided to sit down at one of the picnic tables so that she can take a break from all of the rides.
"My word...I must say, dearest Ray...that was the very first time that I have ever been on a roller-coaster in my entire life." Victoria told him, still feeling a bit dizzy after getting off of the roller-coaster. "I never knew riding one would have been so...incredibly arduous to endure."
"Damn...I'm sorry, Victoria." Ray said, a cringe visible on his face as he apologized to her.
"Oh...no need to apologize, my dear. I wouldst be telling a lie if mine lips utter that I hast not enjoyed the ride. It was quite enjoyable indeed." The British woman then chuckled, before straightening the beret that was on her head. "I certainly am most grateful that I haven't lost my favorite beret, nor the stuffed-animal that thou hast given me earlier this morning."
"I'm glad to hear, Victoria." Ray then turned his head towards a nearby food-stand that was just close by. "Hey, I think I'm going to get us some drinks, okay? Is that okay with you?"
"Certainly, dearest Ray. I will just take a water, please."
"Alright." Ray then stood up from the picnic table. "I will be right back then." After that was said, the goth made his way over to the stand to collect him and his friend some drinks.
As Victoria sat there waiting for Ray to return, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the stuffed-animal bear that Ray had got from the 'Test-your-Strength' machine. She couldn't help but smile at this gift that the goth decided to give her. It was so cute to her, with its small button eyes and it's cute smile, it was even pink, her favorite color. This was probably the first actual gift that Ray had ever given her, and she just absolutely adored it. It was a shame that, to Ray, this gift to her was nothing more but a friendly gift and that's it. This would've been very nice to be a gift to solidify a relationship together. To her, it was such a shame that it wasn't.
"Oh, look...if it isn't the bitch from my school's drama club!" A pouty male voice said from nearby. "I wasn't expecting to see your ugly face here at this carnival too!"
Victoria glared upward, seeing the person who was standing next to the picnic table she was resting at. Unsurprisingly, the person who was standing nearby was none other than, of course, Derek. Like most of the people in Simport, Victoria downright hates him. If it weren't for James, she'd probably say that the bully was the worst person that she had ever encountered in her entire life. She always hated his extremely rude and petty attitude a lot more than she hated her step-brother's usually pessimistic and lazy behavior. It honestly drives her crazy whenever she had to face him.
"Dost thou hath anywhere else better to be, rather than stand a few feet away and pester me?" Victoria asked in an irritated, yet stern, tone of voice.
"Well, my aunt told me to go to something other than hang out around Main Street all day, so I decided to come here to have some fun, and maybe stir up some trouble too." The bully told her, still keeping that smug expression he always has on his face.
Victoria rolled her eyes at everything that the bully had told her about. Instead of listening to anything else that he had to say, she decided to ignore him and look back down at the stuffed-animal that Ray had given her. It might've not done much to help, but she just hopes that if she doesn't give him any sort of attention, then Derek would just walk off and finally leave her be. Unfortunately, doing this only angered the bully, even to the point where he decided to take the stuffed-animal away from her when he noticed it.
"What the hell?!" Victoria shouts as she stood up from the picnic table, seeing her gift now in the hands of that bully. "Derek, hand that back over to me this instant! Ray gave that to me earlier this morning!"
"Ray?!" Derek asked with a scoff. "You're telling me that you're friends with that loser goth dude who's friends with your loser of a step-brother?"
"Yes, I am friends with him."
Derek scoffs once again, not believing the British girl in the slightest. "Yeah right, you're just lying!"
"She's not lying to you, Derek." Ray's voice said, chiming into the conversation.
Derek was startled the moment he heard the goth's voice. Even worse for him is that he was hearing Ray's voice coming from right behind him. The bully turned completely around, seeing the taller goth glaring directly at him with his hands on his hips. The goths hands were also balled into fists, as if to frighten the bully by saying that he was prepared to fight him if he does anything else...not that Derek was really worried about that though.
"You really gave this bear to that girl?" Derek asked, raising an eyebrow at the goth behind him. Ray nodded his head, before the bully decided to ask something else. "Dude, you must be insane. She's not your girlfriend..."
"Yeah, but she's one of my closest friends, and that bear that you stole from her is my gift to her to show her how much my friendship meant to me." Ray said interrupting the bully in his words. He then steps forward towards the Derek, keeping his glare focused on him as he took one step closer to him. "Now give her back that bear."
Derek rolled his eyes, still not feeling threatened by the goth at all. "Ha! Okay...and if I don't?"
"Then I'll kick your fucking ass if you don't, what do you think I'm gonna do?"
"Oh, well, if THAT'S the case..." Without waiting another second and without any warning, Derek swiftly punches Ray in his face knocking him straight to the ground.
Victoria shouts her crush's name in horror as she ran over to him to help him back up. She kneels down next to the laying goth, only to see that he had now received a black eye from the bully after a punch like that. This horrified Victoria even more. She knew Derek can be rude and petty at times, but seeing something like this was a low that she never expected to see from him. She turned her head towards the bully...only to see what he had ran away seconds after punching the goth.
Ray quickly regained consciousness, noticing Derek running away from them in the distance. He could still see the stuffed-animal in his grip, despite being about twenty feet away from him. He kept his glare on the bully while his friend helped him onto his feet, as his anger grew more and more seeing him run away from them. He turned towards Victoria for a second, seeing tears visibly coming down her eyes after witnessing everything that had unfolded right before her. He usually ignored Derek's childish behavior, but stealing from his friend and making her cry was crossing the line for him. Without a second thought, Ray immediately took off running after the bully in order to get the stuffed-animal back from him.
"Ray?! Where are you going?!" Victoria shouts as her crush just ran after the bully. She didn't hear him say anything back to her. He seemed to be too angry and determined to beat the daylights out of Derek once he catches up to him. "Oh...here I thought today was going to be wonderful..." She muttered before beginning to follow her crush, mostly to hope that he doesn't end up in trouble.
Meanwhile...
Back with Tim and Pinky...
"Well...that happened..." The girl in blue muttered as they just continued to walk around the carnival.
The couple had been silent for the past ten minutes after encountering Summer and Luke. Neither of them said another to one another as they walked, nor did they even held each other's hand. Neither of them could even crack a smile either. Both of them just felt awkward after an encounter like that went down, especially for somebody like Tim.
It wasn't until they found themselves in this section of the carnival that Pinky finally said something, to which, for Tim, felt like she was not enjoying their first date at all. The only ever time that he made an ass of himself in front of his girlfriend was when they confronted Chaz and Katie at Gino's Pizzeria earlier in the week, and they weren't even dating when that happened. The only difference is that what happened there was over a misunderstanding...what happened now was over something that wasn't one whatsoever. He felt like he made an idiot of himself back there with Summer and Luke. Why he was angry was justified, but he still felt like Pinky was upset with him after that argument went down between him and the couple. Taking a deep breath, Tim finally said something to his girlfriend, hoping that there was still a chance to make their first date a good one.
"I'm sorry about...everything that happened back there..." Tim said with a sigh. "That was the first time I've seen Summer after her break-up with Chaz, and..." He sighed, still feeling very defeated by everything that had happened. "...I don't know, I guess apart of me wanted to confront them after everything that they did to Chaz."
"Don't be too down about it, Tim. I understand." Pinky said, before patting him on the back. "Also, it's not even close to the evening yet, so that gives us plenty of time do other things like the other rides or games."
"So...you're not mad?"
"Well, I'm a little disappointed that your former friend and that one surfer guy prevented us from going onto the 'Tunnel-of-Love', but..." She shrugged a shoulder, before they stopped walking for a second. "...I don't think riding it would've been as romantic knowing the fact that Summer and her new boyfriend are there too. Besides, I think we've suffered enough misery after everything that had happened throughout the entirety of yesterday for the both of us anyways."
"I guess you're right." Tim then places his hands on his hips, before deciding to ask another question. "So...what do you want to do until then?"
"Well..."
Before Pinky could even answer that question, Derek came running passed them in an extremely quick manner, laughing as he did such. Both were caught off-guard by this, watching the bully running off to who knows where, unknown why he was running for. But that was until they heard the sound of another person yelling out for him as he was running after him.
"GET BACK HERE, YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!" Ray screams, chasing after the bully.
"Ray! Blimey, would you mind slowing down!" Victoria shout as she was running after them too, running passed the confused couple.
"Jeez...what do you think Derek did this time?" Pinky asked her boyfriend as they just stood there, watching the three of them pass them by.
"I don't know, but whatever he did, it sure got Ray angry." Tim said.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Head off to the snack bar and just ignore whatever's going on between those three?"
"Yeah." With all of that said and done, Tim and Pinky headed off to find the food stand that Ray and Victoria were previously at before.