Freeks(18)

Roxie apparently grew tired of people watching, so she once again made a fireball in her hand, but instead of a usual ball of fire, it was a small red spark that immediately went out.

“Dammit,” Roxie muttered. “My pyro has been acting weird all day. Sometimes I can’t even make any fire at all.”

“Maybe you’ve been using it too much,” I suggested, even though I’d never heard of Roxie having any issues with her fire before.

“Maybe,” she agreed, sounding unconvinced, but a small fireball formed in her hand, which seemed to relax her.

I stared ahead, trying to get a count on how many people might be here. Gideon had heard from a trusted friend that we would do well here. Since it was such a small town, I’d been dubious, but based on the turnout we were already having, it looked like his friend had been right.

And then I saw him, and my stomach dropped.

I’d actually seen Selena first, her black hair pulled back in a ponytail, as she held hands with her boyfriend, Logan. Another guy walked beside them, his hair slicked back, and wore a pair of shades that matched Logan’s.

That had been enough to startle me, but then Gabe had appeared at her side. They’d stopped right across from where I was hidden in the darkness behind the booth, but they were too far away for me to hear them.

“Oh shit,” I whispered.

“We’re far enough away,” Roxie insisted, shifting her fireball from one hand to the other. “Nobody can see the fire.”

“No, not that. It’s Gabe. He’s here.”

The fireball instantly went out, and Roxie leaned forward. “Which one?”

“That one.” I pointed to where Gabe stood, laughing at what Selena had said to him.

“He is hot. Wow.” Roxie sounded impressed. “You should totally get on that. I mean, if you hung out with him tonight, that would be like two dates, and that would fit your no-sex-on-the-first-date rule.”

I didn’t want to argue with her. Tall and lean, Gabe somehow looked even better than I remembered him. The sleeves of his denim jacket were pushed up to his elbows, and his smile was radiant.

“Last night wasn’t a date, and bumping into him at the carnival hardly counts as a date, either,” I countered Roxie’s logic. “Plus, if I’m like, ‘Hey, how are you? I’m a carnie,’ that will probably shut down any interest he has in me.”

“You say that, and you see how often me and Carrie get hit on,” Roxie said, referring to the other girl who danced with her.

“That’s different. You’re a tiger tamer’s assistant, and you dance sexy,” I said. “I do grunt work and clean up poop. I don’t have the same appeal.”

“Don’t tell him you’re a carnie,” Roxie suggested. “Just pretend you came to the carnival the same as him. Most of the people here don’t actually work here. He won’t think anything of it.”

“I don’t know.” I debated as Gabe went up to the cotton candy stand, momentarily disappearing from my line of vision.

“Mara. Just go. Have fun,” Roxie commanded.

I turned to face her. “How do I look?”

She readjusted my necklace and fixed the thin strap on my dress, then smiled approvingly at me. “You look good. Go.”

“Do you wanna come with me?” I asked.

“I would love to, but I can’t. I should go get ready. It’s close to showtime.”

“Okay.” I smiled uncertainly at her. “Thanks.”

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“So … what?” I laughed. “That means I can do everything?”

“Not everything. I would never go to that guy’s house and admire the architecture. So don’t do that,” Roxie said as I started to walk away. “In fact, try not to look at any buildings at all.”





9. diversions

Since emerging from the shadows behind the booths would probably seem a little creepy, or at the very least raise questions about where I had come from, I decided to run into Gabe in the gap between two booths a little way down.

But then I glanced out and saw that Gabe was holding cotton candy as Selena picked off several pink tufts. He wasn’t looking in my direction at all, so I stepped out in the bright lights of the carnival. I couldn’t just stand there, staring and waiting for him to approach me, so I decided to play whatever game I happened to be closest to.

When I realized what game it was, my smile instantly fell away. It was the milk-bottle toss, where you threw a rubber ball and tried to knock down weighted bottles. I didn’t mind the game so much, but the guy who ran it—Doug Bennett. Gideon was the head of the whole traveling carnival, but Doug was in charge of the midway, and sometimes he could be a jerk about it.

“You gonna try your luck again, Mara?” He had one foot on the corner as he stared down at me, chomping rather loudly on chewing tobacco.

“Pretend you don’t know me,” I said.

Doug’s bloodshot eyes appeared confused. “What?”

“Please. Just pretend you don’t know me,” I begged, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Gabe and his family walking toward me. “For one night.”

Doug held out his grimy hand. “Then pay me if you wanna play.”