Forks Fair Fun
Edward and Bella passed through the roped entrance of Forks' yearly carnival. The best friends were flanked by Alice and Rosalie. Leading their little pack was Jasper and Emmett who were taking in the bright neon lights that, except for the time of year, were absent from the little town.
Carlisle and Esme had moved toward the entertainment stage as soon as all the adolescents had confirmed the possession of their cell phones. Bella's father Charlie, had volunteered to run security for the fair, as he had every year, and was currently paroling the grounds in his unmistakeable uniform.
The pack of six made their way to the ticket booth and after forking over large sums of saved lunch money, were armed with their drink tickets and ride passes for the night. Once equipped with their passes, Emmett and Jasper made their way to the food booths while Rosalie and Alice snuck off towards Vendor Row in order to examine the handmade jewelry. This left Bella and Edward to their own devices.
"So what do you want to do first?" Bella asked, turning to her best friend. "Are you hungry? We can get something to eat."
Edward shook his head. "No, I think we should head over to the rides first. It's really the thing that you wanted to do right?"
Bella nodded her head enthusiastically as she grabbed onto Edward's wrist and began to pull him towards the carnival rides.
Edward chuckled as he felt her vibrating with excitement and was awed with her ability to stay upright at the speed she was traveling.
Bella had always been a little short, never once being able to claim a higher post than any of the boys. Unfortunately, many of the attractions at the carnival had a height restriction, one that always put a damper on her parade. She tried not to show her disappointment at her shortcomings, always plastering a smile whilst walking past the forbidden fun. Edward always noticed and made a silence promise to himself that he would not partake of these rides until Bella was able.
But this past year Bella had shot up a full three inches, landing her eleven year old self at a solid 5 feet and 1/2 inches. From the moment she read the tape measure 6 months ago, all she could focus on was finally being able to ride the Octopus.
The Octopus was a large purple monstrosity with eight gargantuan arms each ending in a bumper car shaped seat that could comfortably sit two people. The positioning of the arms was always off kilter, designed to move up and down as the entire machine rotated. In addition to those revolutions, the carts were designed to spin a full 360 degrees intensifying the experience.
This was where Edward found himself after being so carelessly dragged through the fair grounds. Since they had purchased the more expensive ride passes as opposed to the individual tickets, the pair were ushered to the front of the line, awaiting the current group's completion.
"Gee Ducky, you really are excited about this." Edward commented as he tucked his baseball cap into his back pocket.
"You bet I am, I've been waiting for this since the day Emmett and Jasper were allowed to ride," Bella responded whilst tucking her belongings safely into the depths of her pockets.
"Well looks like you're done waiting," Edward pointed towards the safety gate as it opened. "We're up."
The two hopped into the nearest low cart and brought the handle bar to their laps, ready to enjoy the ride.
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Five minutes later, Edward was dragging a jelly kneed Bella toward a nearby bench. Edward's hair was in extreme disarray, the wind only mussing his already uncooperative bronze hair more so than usual. His green eyes were bright and he was wearing an amused look since the moment he took in Bella's expression.
Bella sat on the bench, relieving her knees of their duty to keep her upright. She had a huge splitting grin plastered to her features as she pulled the elastic from her hair and shook it out. She took deep breathes as she was breathless from the thrill that the Octopus had delivered.
"That was so much fun!" Edward exclaimed.
Bella turned and took his face in her hands. She drew him close, causing Edward to gasp quietly, and brought their forehead's together.
After a moment of eye contact, Bella spoke, "I do not want to do that again."
Edward furrowed his brow in response before breaking out into contagious laughter.
~*~*~*~*~
A while later the duo found themselves in front of the Milk bottle booth.
Bella was standing to the side, munching on the blue cotton candy that Edward had purchased in exchange for her patience.
Edward on the other hand, was gearing up to take his last shot at the booth. He had spent the last ten minutes and $30 dollars trying to beat the dreaded carnival game.
For the past two years, Edward had been second string pitcher on his little league team. He was always in the starting line-up alongside Em and Jazz, but always as short stop and never on the pitching mound. The season started up in two weeks and he was determined to gain the coveted position. Edward was convinced that if he had enough speed, power and accuracy to beat the milk bottle game and win the large prize that he would finally be skilled enough to get it.
He had even worn the last season's uniform shirt and his practice cap to get him in the right state of mind.
Edward focused on his target before winding up and delivering a pitch. Had it been during a game, it surely would have counted as a strike. Unfortunately, his target was a stack of bottles and not a glove, and the throw landed too far to the left to claim victory.
Defeated, Edward hung his head low and walked toward Bella.
"Looks like I'm done. Maybe next year," he mumbled sadly.
Bella didn't like the resignation in his voice and instantly knew what to do. She turned him around and marched him back to the counter. She pulled out two dollars and slapped them down before turning to Edward.
"One more time."
"It's no use Ducky, I'm just not cut out for it this year."
"That's just because you forgot one thing," she responded gently.
"What?" He asked, curious.
"Your hat," she stated simply before swiping his team's practice cap off his head and plopping it down on hers.
Edward knew how silly she was being, but couldn't help but smile. It was his superstition. When he was younger he had discovered that all the baseball greats had pre-game rituals and when he had started little league he decided to make up one of his own. So after much deliberation it was decided that during every game he played, Bella would wear his practice cap. Even on days she couldn't make it to the field, no matter where she was that hat would be on her head. He called her his good luck charm, she was just happy to help.
Edward nodded, "Okay, just one more time."
He picked up the softball and stood just to the right of center. But instead of focusing on the target, all he could think about was the silly girl with blue stained lips standing behind him. At that moment, something shifted in Edward, but he was too naive to know what.
Without even trying, Edward pitched the ball at the tower of bottles. As fate would have it, all 6 bottles came tumbling down and rolled off, and leaving the platform bare.
A massive grin broke out on Edward's face as he heard Bella squeal.
"I told you you could do it," she exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around his.
"Yeah, at it was all because of you," Edward responded while tapping the bill of his cap.
Bella furrowed her brow and shook her head. "Uh, uh. That was all you Edward."
Edward blushed slightly and turned to collect his prize. The man over the counter handed him a gigantic plush yellow duck that was easily half Bella's size. He smiled as he accepted his winnings.
"Here Ducky, I want you to have it. To remind you that you're my baseball lucky charm."
Bella's cheeks reddened alarmingly as her lips began to smile.
The two enjoyed the rest of the carnival, knowing that they had accomplished what they set out to do.
A/N: It's short but I hope you liked it...I'm thinking another chapter about when they first meet and maybe one where Bella's feelings shift. It's funny, but I seem to get bouts of inspiration when I sit down to try and study for IChem. No wonder it's so hard to focus.
So true story, the first time I rode The Octopus, I was in 8th grade and I waited that long not because I'm a slow grower (though I am fairly short), but instead because I'm a big ole scaredy-cat. Anyway, two friends and I squished in and the second we were in the air and the car made a full revolution, I starting shouting Hail Marys. And I continued the whole two minutes of the ride. Yes I was that freaked out and Yes I'm a huge dork, but I can say that I did manage to get back on the next year and its been one of my favs ever since.
Review if you can. You all are awesome for the past reviews/alerts/favoriting. Thanks tons for the support!
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight...I doubt Stephenie Meyer would write fanfics about her own stories.