"What a jerk! Who does he think he is?!" mumbled Sin, she angrily slammed a wooden mallet onto the blinking test your strength target. The little yellow pill on the meter went two-thirds of the way up the vertical rating scale to a 'stronger than average' range before dropping back down to the bottom of the scale.
"Oh, you were so close, little lady. Do you want to try again? Free of charge~" said the guy in charge of the game. She sadly shook her head giving the giant stuffed animals one last longing look before accepting a small pink turtle as a consolation prize from him. Aimlessly wandering off with the flow of the crowd she paused at the railing separating the Boardwalk from the dark water, looking down at the inky dark water she played with the turtle's soft little paws.
The kiss with Paul still pissed her off even though it wasn't her first kiss, she was still mad at herself for letting him do that to her. Determined to not let one incident ruin her night, she wandered down the Boardwalk looking at everything it had to offer. Everyone looked so alive and colorful in a less family friendly way compared to the day time. Random vendors were selling everything from jackets, sparkling jewelry, ear piercing, and spray painted on the spot Santa Carla T-shirts. She paused for a while to watch the spray paint artists make a masterpiece from a blank white shirt, before continuing onto her main objective, the spinning roulette ride.
Handing the girl in charge of the ride a few of her tickets, she quickly climbed the steps onto the ride and found an empty space in between two older girls. The ride operator walked around doing one last safety check before walking out and closing the ride, her stomach was filled with butterflies when the ride slowly started to rotate clockwise before picking up speed.
The girl on her left was laughing and Sin couldn't help but join in, together they shouted for the operator to go faster! Meanwhile, the other girl had her eyes shut holding onto the safety bars at their sides with a death grip, her long brown hair kept whipping her in the face, but she never once opened her eyes.
Sin couldn't keep the smile off her face when the ride was over, and she stumbled a bit as the ground tilted with each step. The brown-haired girl that didn't enjoy the ride pushed pass her to lean over the railing and barf her lunch out into the inky black water. Her friend patted her on the back before waving bye to Sin.
Which ride should we go on next?
She looked at the long lines for each ride before settling on the shortest line. The soft lights on the carousel made everything seem so romantic and old fashioned. Settling down on a white horse, she enjoyed the way everyone standing on the sidelines swirled by in a blur for a few seconds when she didn't focus on anything. They spun around three times before the ride started to slow down.
Shouldn't we head back now? We left your bodyguard at the gas station about five hours ago.
Stop exaggerating! It's only been about… Sin looked around the building until she spotted a clock above the door leading out to the Boardwalk. Three hours.
"I guess it's time to call it a night." sighed Sin, she jumped off the carousel before it could come to a complete stop and walked alongside it until she reached the gate marked EXIT. Weaving her way through the crowd of bystanders she made her way out of the building into the slightly cooled summer night air. Unknown to her a pair of cold blue calculating eyes followed her every move out the door.
Disappointed with the realization of the time, she slowly turned towards the parking lot and dragged her feet against the rough boards to delay leaving the lights and fun for a few more seconds. From the corner of her eyes, she noticed something shiny to her right. Looking up she jumped a little at the sight of a familiar leather clad back, Dwayne.
"If he's there then that means someone even more annoying is close by." mumbled Sin. She turned on her heel to head towards the stairs leading down to the beach but paused when a girl half Dwayne's size launched herself at him and stuck to his chest in a bear hug. He smiled down at the smaller girl ruffling her hair in a brotherly affection way which only made the girl smile even more until a certain annoying blonde appeared.
The girl gave him the cold shoulder refusing to acknowledge Paul's greeting. He continued to taunt her until she finally stomped on his foot and walked off to sit behind Dwayne on his bike. He watched the pair argue a little bit longer with an amused smirk on his face before waving bye to Paul and taking off.
"…but Jamie, why can't I go on the merry-go-round again?" whined a little girl standing behind her. Sin turned around to see two younger kids staring at the carousel while arguing with each other.
The girl stomped her foot and pulled on her companion's oversized navy jacket pointing at the ride, he shook his head 'no'.
"Jacky, we only have one ticket left. You need three to go on that ride. Come on let's start heading back home." The boy tried to pull the younger girl with him, but she dug her little heels into the wooden boards refusing to leave. Sin pulled the remaining bundle of tickets out of her pocket and held it out to the little girl.
"Here, you can have mine. I don't need them anymore." The girl's face lit up with excitement, she took the tickets and ran off into the building with the carousel. Her companion paused for a moment to thank her before running off after his friend. Satisfied with her evening, Sin turned back around to walk back to the gas station.
That was sweet of you, Sin. commented BunBun.
I don't need the tickets anymore. It's time to find the house and Desmond. She stopped in her tracks looking at a giant map of the city posted on the wall alongside posters displaying a brief history of the Boardwalk. Rolling up her sleeve she looked at the address written on her arm and started running her finger across every street until she located Southern Avenue.
"So, I just need to go… left at the third street, then ten streets down turn right up this wavy line to about the second road?" mumbled Sin, she pulled a napkin out of her bag and drew a rough sketch of her route.
Sweetie, that's the worst map I've ever seen.
Yeah, yeah but it's better than wandering around in circles trying to find the street. Besides… I used up all the money Desmond gave me earlier on dinner and the tickets. Sin stuffed the crudely drawn map into her jacket pocket before readjusting the strap to her bag. She walked under the brightly lit Boardwalk sign slowing down to admire it only to walk straight into a rock-hard wall of flesh that caused her to land flat on her ass in surprise. The left side of her face throbbed slightly from the unexpected impact, brushing the back of her sleeve against it she quickly apologized to the stranger.
"Tonight, must be my night because that's twice you've fallen for me, Sin."
"Ugh… Don't you have anywhere else to be instead of knocking people over in the middle of the entrance?" Sin groaned in frustration when she looked at Paul's smiling face, he leaned down to offer her his hand, but she slapped it away. Dusting the back of her pants off she turned her back to the blonde and continued walking towards the parking lot.
Halfway across the parking lot she hears the rumble of a motorcycle and an annoyed sigh leaves her lips as she ignores it and continues walking only to jump back slightly when Paul stops in front of her. He holds out his hand to her silently asking if she wants a ride, but she walks around him again. He drifts alongside her not saying a word until the two reach the end of the parking lot.
Sin restlessly walks back and forth on the sidewalk waiting for an opportunity to run across the road only glancing in Paul's direction from the corner of her eyes to make sure he didn't do anything crazy. Despite them running into each other several times in the past few hours, he was still a stranger and pervert. Out of habit she pulled Bun Bun out of her bag and sat down on a concrete divider separating the parking lot from the sidewalk.
For all you know he could be a cold-blooded killer.
Pfft. Him a killer? she smiled at Bun Bun's suggestion kissing his nose before settling him back on her lap, so she could play with his ears, the soft faded white fur slipped through her fingers in a rhythmic motion calming her nerves. A slight jingling noise alerted her to Paul's presence as he sat down close to her while facing the opposite way.
"So… What's the deal with the toy?" inquired Paul, he watched her play with the little white rabbit in silence waiting for her response. When he was about to give up and ask her again she turned to him with a genuinely sad smile and responded.
"He's the only gift my birth mother gave me… before she left." Sin whispered the last part so faintly that a normal person wouldn't have heard her. Questions swirled in Paul's baby blue eyes and just when he opened his mouth to give them a voice he was interrupted by a car honking. Both turned their attention back to the road where a flustered man half leaned out of a car waving at Sin.
"Looks like my ride is here. Bye, Paul~"
Damn... it took me two years to get back to finishing this chapter. TT TT;;