The Finches lived in a brick house just blocks away from downtown Sugar Falls. Penny could see the top of the Ferris Wheel from where she propped her bike against the Finches' front porch. She could already feel her excitement building for their last carnival of High School.

Mrs. Finch answered the door. She had on a pair of Lululemon leggings and a slouchy sweater that read "Squad Goals" in black, block printed letters. She had a mega-sized bowl of popcorn under her arm. "Penny!" she said, chipper as ever.

"Hi, Mrs. Finch. Did I interrupt movie night?"

"No, it's clear out the DVR night. Come in."

The front door opened right into the living room. Mr. Finch sat cross-legged on the couch, with a huge glass of red wine in his hand. "Hi Penny," he said. "Anna is upstairs but you can watch Scandal with us if you want." He wore a gray sweater that matched Mrs. Finch's except his read "Keep Calm It's Handled."

"No thanks," Penny said. "I'm all caught up. I wouldn't want to spoil anything for you."

"Hashtag no spoilers!" Mrs. Finch said before plopping onto the couch beside her husband.

Penny stifled a laugh. "I'll see you guys later," she as she dashed for the stairs.

Upstairs she found Anna on the floor of her bedroom surrounded by camera accessories and enough MAC cosmetics to stock a Sephora.

Penny dropped to the rug beside Anna. "Holy crap your parents are weird."

Anna looked up from the two enormous camera lenses in her hands. "I know. They have totally turned into Hashtag Basics since they discovered Pinterest."

"Did you see their shirts?"

Anna tipped her head back and cackled. "Yes! It's mortifying. They went out to dinner looking like that!"

Penny picked up one of the lenses. "Are we bringing Candace with us to the carnival."

Candace was Anna's prized possession: a big fancy digital camera with a bunch of technical specs Penny could never remember.

Anna lifted up a smaller camera—a film camera that had been her mother's. "I was feeling more like Naomi. I just got a new 35-millimeter lens for her."

"Whatever you think. I'm not really good with these things."

"The guy at the camera shop said it has some light leaks which could be really interesting with all the carnival lights."

Penny nodded and picked up a tube of lipstick. She crossed the mirror on Anna's dresser and tried on the bright purple shade. "Mrs. Bateson would not approve of this color."

"No! She would not! Nor does she approve of people ditching her tea parties!"

"I'm so sorry for flouncing."

"Who was that?"

Penny's stomach went all peculiar and funny. Why did she feel like she was about to give a class presentation? "That was Leander. He just started working for my grandma today. He needed some help navigating around town."

"Is he new?"

"Sort of. Apparently, he hung around here a lot as a kid and now he's back." That was all she offered and Anna seemed satisfied with that scenario.

Penny was glad she didn't have a million questions, but she didn't want to leave Anna the opportunity to form more. Tonight was all about them and possibly their last Brambleberry carnival. "Can you believe this is our last carnival?"

Anna looked up from where she screwed a short, fat lens into Naomi. "What do you mean our last? We'll be back next summer, won't we?"

"Think about it, who knows where we'll end up next summer. You'll be making connections at NYU and you might just get a job as a stringer for a fashion magazine. I might be chasing tornadoes in Kansas for the summer if I can scrounge up money for my van."

"Are you kidding? I told you I was going to come storm chasing with you. Someone needs to teach you how to use a camera so you can capture all the storms you see. Plus I've never been west of Dayton and that is just tragic if you ask me."

Penny smiled as she felt suddenly overwhelmed with the feeling that August was crashing towards with all too much speed. Anna and she had been best friends since eighth grade when they'd shared the same bully. Penny got teased for her unnatural height, Anna for the gap in her front teeth. They reinvented themselves freshman year when they both went out for the soccer team. For four years they were friends and teammates; Anna was the Sweeper to Penny's position as Keeper and she didn't like the idea of being separated.

"Don't get gushy on me now, Halestorm," she said, using Penny's nickname and Instagram handle.

"I'm not. I'm saving it for August."

"Good. Tonight is about us and funnel cakes and questionably safe carnival rides."

"Good. Three of my favorite things."

As Penny and Anna approached the park entrance along Main Street, they were met with massive crowds along the sidewalks and on every street corner. Strands of twinkle lights through the trees marked the entrance to the Brambleberry Carnival. Between the two spangled ticket booths stretched a red ribbon, tying up the carnival like a present to Sugar Falls. Through the mass of people, Penny could see the twinkling lights of the midway.

The weather had cleared, though a few clouds lingered in the dusky sky. The rain had made the air heavy with humidity, but that didn't seem to deter the crowds.

Penny straightened her Honey Court sash as she and Anna took their place with the other girls. They had ordered vintage style dresses for this night, ones that belted in the middle and had large, twirly skirts. Anna wrapped her arm through Penny's. The mayor of Sugar Falls soon stepped up to give his welcome address. Normally Harold Hale joined him in the cutting of the ribbon, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen. Now that Penny thought of it, her step-mom hadn't mentioned anything about the ribbon cutting ceremony when she had left to go to Anna's. Penny searched the crowd for her Dad, but she soon realized she looked for another face as well.

Leander hadn't really committed to coming to the carnival. He'd seemed so excited at the idea of it. Now that Penny was there, she wondered if he would really show. A part of her hoped he would; that part of her was apparently her stomach. It was doing a lot of interesting things today—not any a sensation she was comfortable with.

The analytical nature of her brain wanted to pick apart at the tangle of feelings she had for Leander, to figure out just why she wanted to see him striding through the crowd. Her first thought was that the more she saw him someplace real and public where he could be seen and interact with people, maybe she could believe he was real. When he was around he felt real. When he wasn't, he felt like the invention of a dream.

If there were other reasons for her desire to see him she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

While she was lost in her thoughts, the mayor finished his welcome and suddenly the ribbon was cut. The crowd surged forward and took Penny with it.

"Come on," Anna said, as she pulled Penny towards the midway. "We get all-access bracelets since we're on the Honey Court. It's not the Brambleberry Carnival if we don't get stuck upside down on the Super Loop."

Penny wasn't a fan of the Super Loop. It was Peter's favorite to criticize for its rudimentary safety features, but she liked the thrill nonetheless. "Okay," she said as they passed a trailer that wafted the air with the unmistakable scent of funnel cakes and elephant ears, "but we have to do the fun house first."

"Come on," Anna whined. "That's for the little kids."

"Maybe," Penny shrugged, "but it's my favorite."

"Fine. As long we don't dawdle."

They found the fun house behind a series of tents filled with the wares of local vendors, pausing only briefly so Penny could dissuade Anna from adopting a bunny from the humane society. The line was short as most people were still in line at the ticket booths. Penny tried to take it all in from their place in the line to enter through the gaping mouth of a clown. There were almost too many smells in the air to make them all out. The sharp scent of straw mixed with the smell of fresh popped popcorn and the sickly sweetness of candy apples. There were flashing lights everywhere and music pumped through each of the rides.

Penny rushed up the gangplank into the fun house when it was their turn. Anna followed behind with the camera, snapping pictures as they went.

They moved through the topsy-turvy hallways in fits of giggles. When they reached the room of mirrors Anna lost it at the sight of herself with a massive head. Penny moved on, but suddenly found herself lost in the maze of mirrors.

"Anna?" she called out over the sound of the carnival pipe organ. All she saw were hundreds of mirror images of herself until she saw a flash of bright pink.

"Hello? Anna?" she asked again.

"Hello, Miss Hale."

Penny didn't know where to look first. There were suddenly hundreds of Mrs. Bateson all around her and she had no idea which was the real one. None of them looked pleased to see her.

"What are you doing in the fun house, Mrs. Bateson? Did you follow me here?" Seeing Mrs. Bateson still dressed in neon Lilly was a strange sight for the context. The strange discomfort of fear teased up her neck.

"Miss Hale, I did not appreciate your premature exit from the luncheon today. It was not a behavior in line with the Honey Queen."

Penny's mouth fell open in shock. She was always a good kid. She'd only gotten in trouble when it was deserved and she knew it. This wasn't deserved. "My grandmother's business needed my help," she objected.

"Don't think I won't know funny business when I see it," Mrs. Bateson warned. "I will be watching and next time I won't be so lenient. One more slip up and you can kiss your chance at the crown goodbye."

Penny was speechless. Mrs. Bateson looked like she wanted a reply but Penny was too stunned. She'd just been threatened by the head of the PTO and she wasn't sure what she'd done to deserve it. Leaving a party a little prematurely was not just cause for such a reprimand.

With a final purse of her lips and a displeased shrug, Mrs. Bateson finally turned and disappeared into the maze.

Penny couldn't move, not until Anna stumbled into her view. Her hands were stretched in front of her so she wouldn't run into the mirrors. Her smile fell as she caught sight of Penny. "Are you okay? You look scared."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Penny replied. "Just getting a little claustrophobic or something."

"Oh." Anna didn't seem quite so assured.

She helped lead the way to the exit, but as they hit the fresh air, Penny's mind was still reeling. Why did Mrs. Bateson think she needed extra supervision? It couldn't have been for the pink hair and flamingos. What was funny business anyways? Leander probably fell into that category, but Mrs. Bateson couldn't know what he was.

Could she?

When Penny stumbled through the door into the kitchen it was nearing midnight. She hadn't seen her parents at the fair and it was the Finches that picked them up and drove her and her bicycle home. Her parents were still up and judging by the smell of the house they were baking—shortbread, her dad's favorite. Penny ran up to her dad where he stood at the stove and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I haven't seen you all day!" she groaned with her face buried in the back of his sweatshirt. "You haven't been in the office all this time, have you?"

"Penny," her dad said between laughs. "I can't hear a word you're saying."

Penny detached herself and repeated her greeting. Mrs. Hale smiled at her from where she sat at the kitchen island, dipping warm shortbread into her coffee.

"I've been at the office since five this morning. I got home after the nine o'clock forecast," Harold Hale said.

He looked tired, but he didn't really seem like it.

"I have to check the readings again at one again so we're baking to stay up. My boss has gone off the deep end. He's asking for hourly updates with the mayor breathing down his neck. I suppose they need to know by Saturday night whether or not they need to cancel the parade."

"Dad," Penny said with a sigh. "You know I'd do anything I could to change the forecast. Right?"

"I'd do anything too. This weather is just so unpredictable."

"What do you mean? Your forecast was spot on today," Mrs. Hale chimed in.

"Yes, but the storms are developing out of thin air. Sugar Falls is quite large." Penny nodded sagely; her trek with Leander around half of it had been more than enough to fill an entire afternoon. "These storm cells just seem to pop up over the farmlands in the west and roll around Sugar Falls like a pinball."

"That's strange," Penny said.

"I know," her dad said as he scooped fresh cookies from the tray and dropped them on a cooling rack.

Penny got the sinking suspicion that this was an effect from the town's broken ward—or whoever broke it.

"How was the carnival?" her step-mom asked.

Penny didn't want to admit it, but she couldn't shake the sickly feeling of disappointment that had followed her since leaving the carnival. Maybe it was her nature, but every year, she seemed to build up the Brambleberry Carnival to be something so magical, so captivating of her imagination. The older she got, the more the reality of the whole event failed to live up to her memory of it. The night had been fun — Anna always made everything more enjoyable, but she'd been regrettably preoccupied. Between looking for Leander, and watching for PTO members over her shoulder, she'd almost forgotten to enjoy herself.

"That bad?" Penny's step mom asked.

She'd taken too long to answer. "No, sorry." Penny shook her head. "It wasn't bad, just not what I was expecting."

"Not what you were expecting," her dad exclaimed. "That carnival has been the same for as long as you've been alive, probably longer."
Penny shrugged. "It just wasn't how I remembered it—it felt different."

A glance passed between her dad and stepmom. "Maybe you're getting too old for carnival rides," Mr. Hale suggested.

Penny sighed. "I hope not." She took a piece of shortbread from the cooling rack and nibbled the corner. The warm cookie melted in her mouth.

Her dad moved around the kitchen island to rub her back. "You probably built it up too much in your head. You do that, you know," he said.

Penny did have to admit the candy apples at the Brambleberry Carnival were never as sweet as she remembered. "I think I'll go up to bed," she said, rather than admit aloud that the festival weekend wasn't turning out how she'd expected. It had only just started and there was still time to redeem it. After all, the wards were down and Leander was probably figuring out how to fix them at that very moment.

"Good night," Mr. Hale said as Penny headed for the creaky, wooden stairs that wound up the middle of the century home.

"Good night," she called down from the first-floor landing.

"Sleep tight," Mrs. Hale called from the kitchen.

"Don't let the bedbugs bite," Penny finished, even though it sounded suddenly childish.

After a quick shower, Penny slipped into some shorts and a powderpuff football t-shirt. As she toweled off her fading pink hair, her gaze snagged on the attic window. Her thoughts traveled to Leander and the fact that he'd made his first appearance here in this room only 24 hours earlier. She wondered if she'd left the window locked—if that's how he'd gotten in. Did it matter if she had? She'd seen him teleport, or rather disappear from one place and appear in another.

Penny crossed to the window and found it locked. She slid the latch open and lifted the sash to leave a sliver for the night air to ease its way in.

"There," she whispered to the empty room.

If Leander wanted to visit her, she'd left him a way in. The thought made Penny's heart race as she wondered if he would. And then she was suddenly nervous. She looked down at the ragged powderpuff shirt with the sleeves cut off for running.

It wouldn't do.

She went to her dresser and pulled out a bra lined tank top and a pair of pink, polka dot sleep shorts that tied at the waist with a big ribbon. Anna had gotten them for her at her sixteenth birthday party, and she'd probably only worn them twice since then. They'd always seemed so silly—the thought of dressing up for bed hadn't ever occurred to her.

Penny wasn't sure why she felt the need to look cute, but if there was a chance her cute-and-no-longer-imaginary best friend might show up in her room, it was probably worth it. She'd also feel more at ease if she made sure to wear a bra to bed.

Thank you for reading chapter 5! I do hope you're enjoying this novel if you've read thus far! I can't wait to hear what you have to say so please share your thoughts in the comments! I do apologize for the lack of Leander in this chapter! He will return in the next part in very adorable fashion!