"Dang. You weren't kidding about the whole 'mini carnival' thing." Jake said in awe as the group of five entered the peer, which, now that the sun had gone down, was filled with lights, light up trinkets, and booths to sell said trinkets.
"I saw images online." Gia told him. "We need to come here very often."
"Not every night though." Troy spoke up. "We should be getting decent sleep, especially for the morning activities your parents have set up." Gia smiled, and took Jake's hand.
"We'll be fine" she assured him. "Most of the activities aren't scheduled until, like, 9:30 or so."
"Well, if that's the case, lets party every night!" Troy said, excitedly, taking Emma's hand, and leading her to an ice-cream stand. Gia laughed at the sight, and Jake smiled.
"They're good together." he said. Gia looked up at him.
"So are we." she said, letting her hand slip into his. She took a moment to reflect upon how far they've come as friends, and recently, as a couple. She loved him. He loved her. Those went without saying. However, there were times where Gia felt she didn't deserve him. It was at those times that she loved him the most. She looked up at him again, and caught him staring at her. "Babe" she said, snapping Jake back to reality.
"Yeah?" Jake asked.
"You're staring again" she smirked. Even though they were dating, Gia would often catch Jake stealing glimpses at her, or just outright staring at her. She enjoyed it, nonetheless.
"I know, but you're just so stunning" Jake said inquisitively. Gia laughed.
"Yes I know." she said.
"No, I mean like, you seriously are…"
"Nothing short of a Goddess on Earth, I know. You've said it several times." Gia smirked. Jake gave her a puppy dog pout and, right there, she pulled him into a deep kiss. It felt very good, and neither of them wanted it to end, but it did when Gia felt something cold on her back. Tensing up, she pulled away from Jake and whipped around to see Emma acting suspicious, and Troy and Noah laughing behind her.
"What happened?" Jake asked, confused.
"Not sure." Gia answered, skeptically, as she felt her back. It was cold, but it was also dry. "Emma?" she glared at her best friend. Emma sighed and held out an ice cold water bottle to Gia, who accepted it.
"I may or may not have pressed it against you back." she said quickly. Gia narrowed her eyes at Emma.
"We didn't want to see you two making out." Noah spoke up from behind Emma, placing his hand on her shoulder. "This was the best way of separating you two we could think of." Gia smiled, and took a sip of the water.
"I'm still dry, so everything is fine." she confirmed. Slipping her hand into Jake's, she led the group down the peer, entering a magical realm of sorts. Most of the peer was occupied by stalls selling everything from snacks and drinks, to souvenirs and ice cream. Lights lined the stalls' roofs, and also hung over them, following the peer out into the water. The end of the peer, by contrast to the rest of it, was pretty darkened, only lit up by a couple of dim lamps, whose lights were overpowered by the lumens coming from the main section of the peer.
"Ooohh! I like this!" Emma said, pulling Troy over to a souvenir stall. The stall was a small jewelry shop of sorts, selling necklaces, bracelets, and earrings made of small, polished stones, or shaped like seashells, starfish, or seahorses. Emma eyed a pink and white polished stone necklace, and awed at its beauty. "The craftsmanship of this is amazing!" she awed in disbelief.
"Thank you." the saleswoman said, smiling. "Everything you see here is hand crafted." Troy's eyes widened.
"How long does it take you?" he asked the saleswoman.
"I'd say anywhere from half an hour to two hours, depending on what it is I'm making." she answered, smiling at Troy. Troy looked over at Emma and smiled.
"How much for this one?" He asked, holding out the necklace Emma was eyeing.
"Twenty five dollars. However, I can cut it down to twenty." the saleswoman said. Nodding, Troy pulled out a twenty dollar bill, as well as a five, and handed it to the saleswoman.
"I'll pay full, it's alright." Troy said. The saleswoman smiled, and bagged the necklace handing it to Emma.
"Have a good night, you two." she said, waving off the young couple.
"Thank you, you too" Troy responded, and Emma planted a kiss on his cheek.
"Thank you babe" she whispered. Troy smiled.
"Of course." he said. He looked around the peer for his friends, but the blue, yellow, and black rangers were nowhere to be seen. "Guess we got to find the others."
"Knowing Gia, they're probably at an ice cream stall." Emma laughed.
"Knowing Jake, they're probably at a gift shop" Troy smirked, and Emma laughed again.
"Either way, we should find them." Troy nodded, and took Emma's hand into his.
--
"Babe, no" Gia said, crossing her arms. Jake stood in front of her, holding up a black T-shirt, with an image of a shark head on the bottom, and blood splatters around the sides. The words 'Fear what Lurks Beneath' were written in blood-style font across the top.
"I think it suits me" Jake countered. He heard a smack, and looked to see that Gia had facepalmed herself. Rolling his eyes, he hung the shirt back up on the rack. "You know, you don't need to be on my back twenty-four-seven. That's what my parents are for. No offense." As soon as he said it, Jake felt guilty. He didn't know if he had hurt Gia in any way by saying that, and her sphynx-esc expression on her face didn't help with that.
"None taken, don't worry." Gia assured, and Jake let out a sigh of relief. "I just don't really want my parents to see you in an article of clothing that will make them rethink me dating you." She stated.
"Well, I mean, they're okay with your leather jacket and boots outfit everyday." Jake countered, and Gia laughed.
"They kinda gave up on getting me to wear anything else." she giggled, sliding her hands down the seams of her leather jacket. Even though she did wear a party-style yellow dress (forcing Jake to wear a collared shirt in the process) she had put on her leather jacket over the dress.
"Fair enough" Jake said, and the two shared a quick kiss.
"Guys, really? Here and now?" The two broke apart and saw Noah staring them down. Gia giggled and Jake rolled his eyes.
"Always interrupted by Noah." Jake joked, receiving a smack on the arm from Noah. "OW!"
"You kinda deserved it." Noah said. Jake rubbed his arm, and looked at Gia for support. Gia only shrugged.
"Don't look at me" she said, and laughed, all while Jake rolled his eyes and sighed.
"All this for a T-shirt." he muttered, slipping his hand into Gia's. In his pocket, he felt his phone vibrate. He took it out and saw a message from Troy.
Troy: Hey man, Emma and I wanted to meet you guys at the Ice Cream shack by the entrance of the peer. Where r u? 7:22
"Who is it?" Gia asked, peeking over his shoulder.
"Troy. He and Emma want to meet us for ice cream." Jake answered.
"I'm down" Gia smiled.
"Ditto" Noah agreed. Smiling, Jake sent a reply to Troy, and the trio went off to meet their friends for a frozen treat.
