Welp I have to be the worst author when it comes to updating lol. SO SORRY.
Rough being an author with borderline ADHD and probably a mild concussion from banging my head on the table at how EFFING OBLIVIOUS MY CHARACTERS ARE.
The amount of you that have the best questions and ideas that I had planned to add to the story later on IS CRAZY! I was literally reading one review and was like damn its like they read ahead…then ANOTHER ONE! You guys are crazy attentive to the little details, it makes me SO HAPPY!
Without further ado…
Albeit being here with Brandon, Liam and Olivia seemed like something manifested right out of my nightmares, the carnival was something I didn't think I missed so much! The smell of sweet popcorn and candy floss filled the air as the sounds of rides hurling by and flashing lights from the game stalls overwhelmed my senses.
I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I gazed up at the Ferris wheel that soared over our heads, lighting up the night sky like a massive beacon of bliss and job. "You're a little excited," Liam teased giving me a grin, and I smiled giddily. We walked side by side from the entrance in with Brandon and Olivia following a step behind.
"I haven't been in years," I replied with a broad smile plastered across my face as I continued to stare at the colours around me before casting my eyes up at Liam's face. As soon as my vision locked with his, he beamed fondly before leaning down towards me.
"Let's try everything then!" He told me playfully and I gasped for the extra childishness, and he laughed. Despite feeling somewhat comfortable coming here with Liam, I couldn't help the looming dread in the back of my mind at the fact that Olivia and Brandon were seemingly together right behind us.
I had overheard their conversation a couple of times – well mostly just Olivia chipping away with minimal responses from Brandon – but that's just how he was. I tried to ignore it best I could but whenever Brandon's deep gruff voice responded to anything she said, I could feel my heart constrict.
We were ignoring each other, while my heart ached for him.
"We should play some shooting games! Like we did last time!" I heard Olivia suggest before Brandon hummed back absentmindedly. Her words sank my heart, and I couldn't get the images out of my mind of her and Brandon playing carnival games together and him winning her prizes like a loving boyfriend.
Like last time?
Ugh, why why WHY did I agree to this?!
Clenching my eyes shut, I attempted to turn around and butt into their conversation. My body reacted before my brain could even process my own words. I was so worried they might leave on their own and Olivia could work her way into a date with Brandon that I was going to suggest group activities in an effort to keep us together.
What is WRONG with me!? I agreed to help her out, why I was being the biggest clam jammer ever!?
My whole game plan was to push Brandon in her direction so that I could finally get over him, yet when it came down to it, I was too selfish to let him go yet.
But before I could blurt the words out, Liam's arm wrapped around my shoulder and pulled me closer to him. A group of people had walked by and I stared in shock considering I had almost clamoured right into them from my own lack of self-awareness.
"Woah, careful Stell," Liam breathed, holding both my hands as my back was pressed against his chest. My head snapped up to his face as he stared back at me with a look of relief, "Are you alright?"
Before I could thank him and marvel at how cool that gesture was, my eyes caught of possibly the most stupefying sight I could see all night. The look on Brandon's face looked like it could kill a whole army. His striking oak eyes had creased into a sharp glare as he stared between Liam and I.
More specifically Liam's hands were holding mine.
"Y-Yeah, thank you," I whispered, bounding out of his grip quickly before Brandon's glare could burn through my skin. What the hell is his problem?
I quickly gathered myself up to face them much to Olivia's quizzical expression, "Uh- what do you guys wanna do first?" I blurted out before I could clamp my teeth together to stop myself.
Olivia's eyebrows knitted together for a moment as she tilted her head trying to silently ask me what I was trying to do, before she beamed, "Wanna try shooting games with us?" She asked happily, pointing at the plethora of various games that stretched for miles beyond us.
Brandon's glaring eyes studied my faltering grin for a moment as he stood beside Olivia with his hands stuffed into his shorts pockets.
"Sure!" I said, a little more ecstatic than I should before looking up at Liam. He chuckled, giving me a brief nod in agreement. Brandon continued to stare at us bitterly and I felt slightly guilty for dragging him into his situation. Aside from Olivia, he was hanging out with two people he seemed like he'd rather not be anywhere near at the moment.
If he ever found out it was because I agreed to help Olivia win him back, I'd be the balloon hung to wall to shoot.
"Let's try that one!" Olivia clapped her hands in celebration before she pointed out a stall with toy pistols filled with air bullets. "I wanna see which one of these two is the better aim," She bit her lower lip playfully, splitting her index and middle finger between Brandon and Liam.
"Please, I'm horrible at this stuff," Liam rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, waving his hand modestly while Brandon didn't reply. I could see the way he was looking at me with blank eyes, he'd rather be anywhere but here right now.
I've gotten pretty good at Brandon's expressionless face. When he wants to withdraw from his surroundings, he puts on his bad boy mask and reserves from showing emotion, but if you look carefully, you could see the hidden feelings in his eyes.
Right now, he was masking annoyance.
I couldn't help but feel it may be directed at me…
"I'll do it too with you! But I'm a terrible shot," I piped in, trying to avoid Brandon's burning gaze. Liam's grin was directed towards me and he laughed, shoulders shaking.
"Shouldn't we be the ones to win you guys something?" Liam nudged me playfully and I furtively shook my head with an awkward laugh. I was trying so hard to ignore Brandon that I was grasping at straws to pay attention to anyone else but his stupefying glare.
"As if either of you can shoot," Brandon scoffed mockingly, his cold gaze flickering away from us after dishing an insult like that. My jaw dropped a little at his harshness and I was about to bite something back before Olivia cut me off.
"Let's have a contest to see who can shoot the most!" She declared and I felt myself go a bit pale. There was no need for competition, I already knew Brandon would beat me with his eyes closed and hands tied behind his back.
When we went against each other at the arcade, shooting games were his forte. Granted it was an electronic machine gun attached to a plastic stand and a game of zombies, he still dominated. I can only imagine how badly I'd lose with an actual toy gun where I have to focus my aim.
"Loser buys drinks,"
Brandon scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest, "Lets get this over with,"
The four of us walked towards the nearest game with toy guns in the stall and Brandon and Olivia took the first round since it was 2 guns per round. Liam and I hung back a few feet away, giving them space as I stood there with my throat closing up with how close they were.
"Brandon's good at these games," Liam leaned over to me, his arms crossed over his chest as he grinned.
"Tell me about it," I huffed back, knowing all too well that I lost to him in every game that needed remotely any skill in aiming, "Being a delinquent really gives him the upper hand,"
Liam laughed and I noticed he sidestepped a little closer to me. A moment of silence swept between us for a brief moment as I watched the owner of the stall explain the rules of the game. You had to hit the moving targets with the air guns, the more targets hit, the higher the prize value you can pick from.
"Hey Stell," Liam began, leaning down again so that his lips almost brushed my ear, "This is a really stupid thing to ask…but are you and Brandon still together?"
My head snapped up the moment the words rolled off his tongue and I choked out an awkward laugh, "What- didn't you hear the rumour, we broke up," I forced out with every fibre of my being. He was so close to me but the topic of conversation had my mind elsewhere to even realise.
He hummed back in response, a small smile playing on his lips, "Right." He nodded, and another moment of silence befell us, "I figured since neither of you diffused the rumours, it might be true, but then the way Brandon-"
Before Liam could finish his sentence, Brandon's irritated voice cut us off, "Which one of you is next?" He gestured to the free airgun beside him as Olivia pouted beside him. One out of six targets on Olivia's side was knocked down while there remained not a single target standing on Brandon's side,
My jaw dropped to the ground, it had been 2 minutes and he's already beaten her!
"I'll go!" Determined to avenge my last shooting game with him, I quickly rushed to the free gun and readied it in my hands. Brandon's cold oak eyes continued to stay trained on me as I stood beside him, trying my best to keep my eyes focused on the front.
I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of hurting my feelings.
"Ready to start?" The owner called out again and I nodded. He was ready to pull the level to restart the game but Brandon's voice cut us both off,
"Hey," He sighed, placing his gun down and his heavy footsteps advanced towards me. My body froze, rooted to its spot as Brandon stood dangerously close to me. His hands gently slipped under mine and lifted my left hand up under the toy airgun and I continued to freeze up, watching him adjust my grip. "Back of the gun against your shoulder," He told me.
His other arm instinctively came over my shoulder and fixed my right hand over the trigger and my breath got caught in my throat of how close he was.
My heart was beating so fast to the point that I had completely forgotten where we were in a public setting. His breath was just over the tip of my ear as he forced me to look at the front, "They have a bit of recoil, don't hurt yourself,"
With that, he cleared his throat and let go of me. Everyone around us stood in silence as Brandon nonchalantly walked back to his own gun
What the hell?!
I didn't dare look at anyone in fear of the weird look in their eyes. They don't know Brandon West is fricken bipolar like I do.
My heart was beating in 5th gear! I swear my blood pressure was off the charts as I shook my head and tried to bring my focus back to the game. "Breathe Stella," I repeated to myself as the stall owner awkwardly pulled down the lever for the game to begin.
—
I should've cut my losses when I devastatingly lost to Brandon back at the arcade. I just had to be humiliated in front of Liam and Olivia too and how naturally talented Brandon West was at everything.
Despite Brandon adjusting my grip, I didn't manage to hit a single target! Plus the recoil of the air bullets shooting from the toy rifle really hit back on my shoulder. What a devastating loss!
Liam went against Brandon right after and he wasn't as half bad as he claimed himself to be, in fact, he was possibly one target for beating Brandon. But Brandon had perfectly shot all 6 moving targets every single round and even the guy running the game looked flabbergasted.
"Uh- pick your prize," He cleared his throat and pointed at all the various large stuffed animals behind him in the stall as Brandon unloaded the air gun and placed it on its stand.
He stood in thought, his eyes scouring over the various toys, not that Brandon cared for stuffed toys. Realising that Brandon may not be interested, the stall owner's eyes flickered to me and a grin swept across his face.
"Why not let your girlfriend pick?" He suggested boldly and my jaw hit the floor with wide eyes as suddenly all eyes were back on me. GIRLFRIEND?!
The words shot out of my mouth so fast, "I'm not his girlfriend!"
The stall owner looked taken back by my outburst as everyone continued to stare at me in awkward silence. I could see the amusement swirling in Brandon's eyes as his eyes trained on my shrivelled figure before he scoffed, "That, give me that one," He pointed to the small stuffed unicorn that hung on the prize wall.
He wants a stuffed unicorn?!
HAD HE LOST HIS MIND?
This time the confusion shifted to Brandon's uncaring figure as the awkward stall owner handed him the unicorn plushie. He grabbed it by the neck and chuckled at it with an obnoxious grin before his eyes met my horrified ones.
There was a look in them. A look I had seen before.
Tearing my eyes away from him, I quickly looked at Liam. To my surprise, he was already staring back at me. I need to stop looking vacantly at Brandon West like I was some love-stuck loser!
"You're shooting isn't bad you liar," I said the first thing that came to mind to avoid having to pay attention to Brandon.
Liam laughed, "Guess you weren't lying when you said you were a terrible shot," he teased me and I gasped playfully before lightly smacking his arm. He flinched back jokingly and bumped my shoulder in response. For a moment there, it felt like I had successfully pushed Brandon to the back of my mind, until I was sprung right back to harsh reality.
"Stella got the least targets, I guess she's buying drinks!" Olivia's voice interjected as my attention came right back to her and Brandon shooting daggers at me with his eyes. Crap, I forgot I was the worst out of all of them, not a single target I'm useless!
"What do you guys want?" I asked with an awkward laugh, fishing my purse for a $20 bill.
Liam's eyes caught mine as he gave me a soft smile, "You pick Stell," He told me.
"Is everyone okay with sugar cane juice?" I quizzed the three of them. I had seen the stall of freshly squeezed cane juice on the way in and was craving to try some. Liam and Olivia agreed but Brandon kept staring at me blankly, as if he was waiting for me to say something else.
"Liam why don't you go with her?" Olivia piped up coyly, giving me another small nudge.
My head snapped up immediately at her words and the first pair I locked with were Brandon's darkened oak eyes. Feeling my breath catch in my throat I tore my sight away toward Liam, who was looking between Brandon and I. "Uh sure," He agreed with a small moment of hesitance, before a smile tugged at his lips, "Let's go Stell?"
"S-Sure yeah okay," I pushed out another smile like I wasn't feeling a slight pang in my heart about leaving Olivia alone with Brandon. As much as it kind of hurts, I'm trying to get rid of my feelings for him.
There was a few seconds of silence as I stared at Liam for a moment before tilting my head to tell him to lead the way but was cut off immediately.
"I'll go with her," Brandon interjected suddenly, his body wedged between Liam and me so that my sight of him was blocked off. I could see Olivia's shocked expression at how swiftly he had inserted his presence in between.
Brandon West usually gets what he wants whether he uses forcible means to do it. Without another word, he grabbed my wrist and yanked me in the direction of the food and drinks stalls. I could see Liam and Olivia glance at each other questioningly before they were buried away in the crowd as Brandon dragged me along like a rag doll.
His grip tightened on my wrist and I was sure he was cutting off circulation as I struggled to keep up with him from the way he was weaving the throng of carnival goers with ease.
"Brandon-" I called out to him desperately before I could be slammed into another person. His annoyed chocolate brown eyes zeroed in on me when he realised I was struggling to follow his tow.
He suddenly forced us to a stop by the side of a stall, away from the crowd and spun around so that he was towering over me now instead, "Can you not do that?" He hissed, getting close to my face as I gawked back at him in shock and confusion.
"Do what?" I asked incredulously at his sudden change in tone. Brandon was significantly taller than me and the way he towered right above my head made my stomach churn.
"Flirt with him!" He snapped harshly to my face, "In front of me?"
My jaw dropped like an anvil. Flirting?! With Liam?! When the hell was I flirting with Liam?! I was so flabbergasted that I didn't even have anything to say before he interjected into his own plethora of accusations.
"Or at least stop being so painfully fucking obvious that you like him!" He added venomously and my heart pounded in my chest. What is this? Why is he being such a dickhead?!
My words choked in my own throat, "I don't-"
Brandon's arm slammed on the wall by the side of my head as he leaned closer to me, "Don't fucking lie to me Stella," I flinched at the way he used my name like it was poison on his tongue. He wasn't shouting, he wasn't raising his voice one bit but the way his low tone spoke made it seem like a punch in the guts.
"I don't like Liam dammit!" I yelled, feeling my temper reach its peak at the way he was accusing me of something I wasn't doing.
"Then tell me why you're trying to set me up with Olivia,"
I opened my mouth but nothing came out. He knew. He knew I was doing all of this to push him towards Olivia. Brandon's eyebrows raised challengingly at his question as if taunting my silence.
But it didn't seem like he knew the reason why I was pushing him toward Olivia.
He didn't know my feelings for him were painfully obvious.
"So tell me again, that you don't Liam when that's all you've been wanting while we dated," He hissed, his face probably an inch from mine. I could smell his pineapple scent, the way his minty breath always smelt like a hint of chocolate.
His lips were so close to mine, as he searched my eyes for an answer and all I could do was stare back at him. I swallowed the lump in my throat and leaned closer to him, every flaregun in my head firing away.
There was no denying that every fiber of my being wanted Brandon West.
I wanted to kiss him. I wanted him to kiss me.
But it never happened. "I told you not to meddle in my life Stella," He breathed, pulling away from my face with an exasperated sigh. "Do whatever you want with him, this fake relationship is over anyway,"
That was all he said, not even bothering to meet me in the eyes before turning on his heels and walking away. He left without another word, leaving me standing between the stalls, with tears brimming my waterline and blurring my vision.
Here I was at a carnival, with Liam Sanders, the boy I had been crushing on for months, with my heart broken over Brandon West, a boy I had loved for years without knowing it.
*Bang* *Head* *On* *Table*
Why is he so oblivious?! IS HE STUPID? IS MY BRANDON WEST EFFIN STUPID?! Probably...
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Donuts, -ClicheBella42
P.S. I have tried gulab jamun!
P.P.S. "tried" is an understatement, I had a period where that's all I got from Indian restaurants...I was heavily addicted.