《Selena Arabella Calos》

The dinner with the Castello's went better than expected. I received no cynical remarks from my parents about my appearance or my "overeating", so I guess better than expected is an understatement.

It also helped that the Castellos are such friendly people. I could go as far as to say that I had fun at dinner today because of them.

Francis hasn't changed much- in appearance or personality. He is the sort of person that can make anyone around him smile just because he's smiling. Francis's twin brother and little sister couldn't make it to dinner, but I have a feeling that they're just as charismatic and easy-going as him.

According to what I gathered from our short time together, Mr and Mrs Castello seemed to be the opposite of my parents. They don't seem to enforce their children's decisions, and they seem to love their children, which are the two things my parents could never understand- maybe for Jax, but never for me.

Anyways, like I said before, dinner went well, and it also gave me some blackmail material on Jax, courtesy of Francis, which I will definitely be using soon.

I look at the time and sigh. It's midnight, and Nat isn't picking up her phone, which worries me. She is never this careless.

I pick up my phone and try to call her again.

"Nat! Why the hell haven't you been picking up? I have called you four times already. Are you okay?" I say as soon as she picks up.

"Um, hello, this is Elliot. Natalie is asleep right now. I'll ask her to call you as soon as she's up," the person who calls himself Elliot replies.

I open my mouth but close it again, unsure how to reply. Who is this guy? I have never heard of him before, and I cannot be sure that Nat is safe with him.

"I am sorry, but who are you, and how do you know Nat?" I ask, trying to hide my panic. What is if he kidnapped her? Oh my lord, what if he is a murderer.... wait, he can't be. If he was, he would never have picked up the phone...

Right?

"I'm Nat's boyfriend," he says, pausing as if he expects me to know something, but I do not. Either he's lying, or Nat didn't tell me she was with someone. Knowing Nat, the latter is more likely. She knows I will start worrying about Alessandro whenever Nat sees someone new. "We've been dating for three months, but Nat doesn't seem to have told anyone about us, but that's fine. I know you, Selena; you're her best friend."

"I- why should I believe you?" The question comes out of my mouth before I can stop it.

"You can confirm everything I've said from Blake," Elliot replies patiently. He seems amused.

My cheeks warm up. "I'm sorry for questioning you so much. I just wanted to confirm that Nat was safe."

"It's okay, Selena, I understand. I'm glad Nat has friends who worry about her so much. Alessandro called earlier today too," Elliot says, and I freeze. Alessandro loves Nat. Learning that Nat is in a serious relationship with someone else would have hurt him, especially considering that she didn't tell us. And when Alessandro is hurt, he doesn't exactly make the best decisions- at times, he has ended up in the hospital because of those decisions.

"Um, thank you. Please ask Nat to call me when she has time. It was nice to talk to you. Good night," I say in a rush and hang up before he has a chance to reply, which in hindsight is very rude, but checking up on my other best friend is more important to me right now than my lack of manners.

Me: A, you up?

Sandy: You just found out about 'Elliot' too, right?

Me: We don't know if he's telling the truth.

Sandy: He is; I called Blake and asked him.

Me: Do you want to talk to someone about it?

Sandy: Not right now. I'm going to try and sleep. Let's talk tomorrow, okay?

Me: Whatever you want. Good night x

Sandy: Good night, Lena xxx

I throw my phone aside and sigh. This is why I never want to fall in love with someone- I know it will only result in heartbreak. And I have gotten enough of that from my parents to last me a lifetime.

This is why I can't ever love Alex romantically, at least. That will only end in mutual heartbreak because we will not only break up but also lose our friendship, which is much too precious for me.

I shake my head to get rid of all these thoughts and try to read a book, but I cannot- my brain is not working right now. I'm not feeling sleepy either which annoys me to no ends. What am I supposed to do now?

I grab my phone again, but this time it's to text Alex to see if he is awake.

Me: Hey, Lexi, you up?

Lexi: Not if you continue to call me that.

I roll my eyes and smile.

Me: You should know by now that that will never happen. Anyways, I'm bored. Entertain me.

Lexi: I didn't realise I was your entertainment on demand.

Me: Alexxx

Lexi: Give me a second. I'm calling you.

"Hey," I say as I answer his call.

"Are you mad at me?" He asks me, and I blink in surprise. Where did that come from?

"Why would I be mad at you?" I ask him, genuinely confused. What gave him the indication that I was mad at him?

"I don't know. I thought maybe you're still mad that I sort of destroyed that guy's number."

"I forgot about him already, so I wasn't mad."

"Then why aren't you picking up my calls?" He asks me madly.

"I just checked my phone, and then I assumed you were asleep. I'm sorry," I reply.

In all honesty, I was worried about Nat and didn't call him before because I didn't want to miss her call in case she called me back.

"It's okay. I- never mind, " Alex starts, and I wait, excepting him to continue, but he doesn't.

"What?"

"Are you dating someone?" He asks me, and I blink in surprise once more. What is up with him today and surprising me?

"Not that I am aware of."

"What about that guy from the café today?" He asks, and I roll my eyes. I'm going to kill someone- only two people know about that guy, Nat or Alessandro. I doubt Alessandro told Alex, so it's Nat that I have to kill. A girl talks to a guy, and suddenly the world thinks she's dating him. Ugh! I hate this world.

"How do you know about him?"

"I just know. So, how do you know him?"

I roll my eyes. "I don't know him. I just accidentally bumped into him." I don't mention that I bumped into him twice and the feeling I have met him before because I know it will make Alex believe me less. "I didn't mean this when I said entertaining."

"I'm aware of that, sorry. So, how would you like me to entertain you?"

"By talking about something and not arguing with me."

"I can do that," Alex replies, and I can tell he's smiling. "Since we are talking, there's one thing that I've been meaning to ask you for a while now."

I almost groan. I don't want him to ask me out again. "Oh, sounds interesting and mysterious. Are we going skydiving?"

Alex pauses. "No, and speaking of, why would you ever want to go skydiving? It's like you're begging for death."

I roll my eyes. Maybe Alessandro was right. Alex is too safe all the time- which is normal- but I can never live like that. "It's not that. It's the thrill, the adrenaline. Imagine falling through the sky, being free; it sounds so wonderful."

"It sounds like an accident waiting to happen. But no, that was not what I was about to ask you. I wanted to ask if you have a date for your parents' charity gala next week?" He asks nervously.

"No, I do not have a date. I don't think I need one." I add the last part purely for his benefit, but he chooses to ignore it.

"Would you like to go with me then?"

"No," I reply a little too quickly and cringe. That was rude. Alex starts to protest, but I continue, "You know how it's going to end."

"Not every relationship ends with mutually assured destruction, darling. And it's not a date date. It's a date to your parents' party, which is completely different."

"Alex," I start, but he interrupts, knowing what I'm about to say.

"And yes, maybe even that will lead to something. But first of all, we're not doomed to fail, and second of all, even if our relationship does end, I promise you it won't affect our friendship."

I purse my lips. I want to say no, but at the same time, I do not. I am completely lost here.

"I'm taking your silence as a yes," Alex says, and I laugh.

"Wow, presumptuous much?"

"No, I know you too well."

"It's interesting how you asked me today, considering I was about to agree to go with someone else."

"I knew that, and that is why I asked," he pauses before continuing. "I don't want to see you with anyone else."

"Why, are you jealous?" I ask him, smirking.

"You know I am."

My heart stops for a second. There's a big difference between suspecting his jealousy and admitting it. It makes me what to remove that doubt from him- to tell him that I would choose him in a heartbeat if only I wasn't so afraid.

Maybe I do like him.

"I will go with you," I relent.

"I wasn't presumptuous, was I?" He says, and I roll my eyes.

"Shut up, Lexi."

He laughs. "As you wish, darling."

"Aren't you sleepy? I heard you had an early morning?"

"I am, but I would rather talk to you than sleep. But we have an early morning tomorrow too, so you should sleep."

"Why do I have to wake up early tomorrow?" I ask, almost whining. I don't like waking up early when I don't have to.

"We made the plan yesterday," he says. Oh, they probably planned something while I was distracted. "For insisting that you don't want to be in a relationship, you seem to let me affect you too much," Alex says, and I know he's smirking.

"You do not affect me in any way. I just have a tendency to get easily distracted," I say.

"Sure," he replies sarcastically.

"Shut up and tell me the plan."

"How does one shut up and say something at the same time?"

I run my forehead. I'm going to kill Alex one day. "Alex, you know what I meant, so tell me."

"We're going to this fair tomorrow, and before that, we're having breakfast together."

"That seems... nice," I say, but I don't know if it would be nice, considering I have never been to one.

"Wow, that seemed so sincere I almost believe it. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. Just come to my house and wake me up, okay? I don't want to jinx a weekend by setting the alarm on it," I tell him.

"Sure, now go to sleep, or you'll snap at everyone tomorrow."

"Ha-ha," I reply sarcastically, unimpressed by his honesty. "Good night, Lexi, love you."

"Good night, darling. I love you too."

-

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey," I hear Alex say in a sing-song voice as he shakes me.

"If you value your life, go away," I tell him. I hate when somebody disturbs me when I'm doing my favourite activity. Yes, by that, I do mean sleeping.

"I told you to sleep early last night, but did you listen? Hmm, let me guess- no, you did not. So now..."

Alex pulls my pillow from under my head. And that is a mistake. I sit up, take the other pillow from beside me and hit him in the face.

I glare at him. "Never, and I repeat, never take away my pillow or else..."

He raises his eyebrow. "You'll hit me with another pillow? I'm fucking terrified."

"I hate you so much," I say as I get out of bed. Alex smirks at me, and I feel like hitting him. First, he wakes me up and then has the audacity to smirk at me.

"You shouldn't lie, Selena," Alex says, and I punch his arm. He winces.

"Don't even start with that right now," I threaten him.

"You look cute," he says, ruffling my hair, and I swat his hand away and then kick him in the stomach. I don't like people touching my hair.

"What time is it, anyway?" I ask him as I yawn.

"Eleven."

My eyes snap to his, and I glare at him again.

"Why would you punish me by waking me up this early on the weekend?"

"Because, darling, this is when normal people wake up and have breakfast. Actually, normal people wake up a lot earlier than this."

"In case you didn't notice, I am not normal, nor do I care about what normal people do." He raises his eyebrow, and I know he's about to say something annoying, so I continue, "Get out of my room. I have to change."

"You can change in front of me. I don't mind," he says, smirking, and I repeatedly hit his face with my pillow. "Ouch. Okay, okay, I'm going out. Stop attacking my beautiful face."

I scoff. "Your face doesn't look beautiful right now. It looks evil."

He smiles. "Whosoever said evil people can't be beautiful?"

I roll my eyes. "Out."

Alex rolls his eyes but leaves my room. I look at my bed and debate whether I should go back to sleep. I really want to, but I know what Alex will do if I go back to sleep. He'll wake me up again. And this time, it'll probably involve him dumping a litre of freezing cold water on me.

-

"They're not even here yet!" I say, glaring at Alex.

"They'll be here in 10 minutes," Alex says patiently as if speaking to a child.

I narrow my eyes at him. "That means I could have slept for an extra 10 minutes."

"Is sleeping better than spending time with me?" Alex asks me, smiling, and I look at him blankly. Of course, it is.

"Do you really have to ask me that?"

Alex smiles at me and shakes his head in amusement. "I guess not. You love sleeping way too much."

"Yes, I do. Why aren't we going inside?" I ask him.

"It's sunny," he says simply.

I scoff. "Is that your version of an explanation?"

"Sure," he replies, and I glare at him. He notices my glare, and he throws his arm around my shoulder. "And this is why I told you to sleep early."

"I did sleep early."

He raises his eyebrow. "And how early was early?"

"Five," I reply, and he flicks my shoulder. Ouch.

"How on earth is that early?"

"It's early morning, isn't it?" I reply, and he laughs.

"No one can win against you, can they?" He says more than asks.

"Not unless I let them."

He raises his eyebrow. "And will you ever let me win?"

"No," I reply simply.

"Rude."

I smile at him. "Honest, not rude."

"I'm not even going to bother arguing with you again," he says. I rest my head on his shoulder. I'm so tired. I just want to go to sleep.

"Oh my god! That's so fucking cute!" I hear Blake say.

Alex curses as he and I move away from each other and look at our friends. I look around and notice Nat isn't here.

"Shut the fuck up," Alex tells Blake. Blake ignores Alex and looks at Alessandro.

"Did you get a picture?" He asks Alessandro, and he nods.

"I'm sending it to you," Alessandro says, and Alex marches up to him and snatches his phone from him. "I've already sent the picture to Blake and Jax. So even if you delete it from my phone, I can get it from Jax."

Alex hands Alessandro's phone back to him and sighs.

"Fuck you," Alex says, glaring at him.

"I know you'd like to," Alessandro replies, winking at Alex.

I look at Blake. "Where's Nat?"

He pouts. "No, "Hi, Blake, how are you"?"

"Blake."

"She's coming. She was hungover because of last night, so she said she's gonna come a little late."

I look at Alessandro, and he's looking at the ground. Blake notices this too and smiles tightly. Does he know about Alessandro and Nat?

Blake shakes his head. "I'm hungry. Let's go in and have some food."

Blake loves his food as much as I love my sleep.

"Someday, I'm going to kill him, and no one will ever know what happened to him," Alex says, looking at Blake's back.

"Actually, now that you've told us your intentions, we'll know what happened," I say to Alex, smiling, and he throws me a dirty look. "Um, how about you go ahead and kill Blake while Alessandro and I talk?"

Alex looks at Alessandro, then back at me and smiles. "Sure, darling. Just don't run away and leave me with Blake."

"Alessandro," I say as I walk over to him as soon as Alex is out of earshot.

He looks at me and smiles, but I can tell his smile isn't genuine. "Lena."

"Do you want to talk?"

"About what?" He asks, leaning against Alex's car.

I narrow my eyes. "You know about what."

He shakes his head. "No."

"The more you keep your emotions in, the more it will hurt."

"Well, I hope the hurt is enough to kill me," he says, and I glare at him.

"Alessandro Ivano Moretti, don't you dare say that again."

He smiles in amusement. "Oh, evoking the power of the full name now, are we? I'm bloody terrified."

"You can't talk like that, Alessandro. Nat may be dating that gu-"

"It's not just that, Lena," he says quietly. He looks scared, broken even.

I take hold of his hand. "What's wrong?"

He takes a deep breath. "My father... he- he made me do something. As long as Rafael was here, he didn't dare do it, knowing how mad Raf would be. But..." He trails off.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He tightens his hold on my hand. "The real question is if you want to hear about it."

"If it will help you, then I do."

"You know what my family is," Alessandro starts, and I nod. I'm the only one in our friend group who knows that Alessandro's family is part of one of the most prominent crime organisations in the country. That's why our fathers are such good friends. Even though mine is not part of the mafia, he still gets a lot of help from Alessandro's father for many of his problems and vice versa. "Well, as you know, Papà never involved me in any of their... activities. Until yesterday that is."

I stare at him in shock. "I thought Rafael told your father he would never take his place if your father involved you in anything."

Alessandro laughs bitterly. "He did, but Raf isn't in the city these days, so he does not know what's happening here. And it wasn't Papà this time. It was Zio Fabian."

"What did he make you do?" I whisper, squeezing his hand.

Alessandro winces. "I killed a man. A nameless, faceless man who hadn't done anything to me."

I should be panicking, but I am not. I always knew this was his future. I've known it since we saw both of our fathers kill three men when we were 13. I knew this was his future the day I discovered his Papà was a don. "But that's not why you are upset, is it?"

He looks at me and shakes his head. "I should be. I killed a bloody man. I should be drowning in guilt, but I'm not. Maybe it's in my blood to be a murderer."

I stay quiet for a moment, unsure what to say to him. "I don't think that is it," I say, and he looks at me curiously. "It's not in your blood. But at the same time, your mind knows that to survive in our world, you must do what is necessary. And this is necessary. You can't survive in our world being an innocent."

"But I should still feel something. I'm a terrible person for not."

"No, you are not a terrible person. You never were. You never will be. It wasn't your fault, Alessandro; deep inside, you know it. You were dealt a bad hand when you were born into this world. If I were in your position, I would have done the same. You are not to blame."

"But I am! I pulled the trigger. I shot-"

I put a finger on his lip. "There is absolutely nothing you could have done, so please don't blame yourself. That's what he wants, Fabian, to make you think you are a bad person so he can control you more, which is why you can't. Don't let him win, please, Alessandro."

He removes my finger from his lip but doesn't let go of my hand. "This is just the start, Lena. Things are going to get much worse."

"And I'll be with you through it all."

Alessandro smiles at me. "I love you."

I wink at him. "I love me too."

He rolls his eyes. "Do I look upset? I don't want the others to know that something is wrong."

"No, you don't. And even if you do, they'll think it's because of N-

"Am I interrupting something?" The person in question asks from behind me.

I smile at Nat. "Yes, I was having a bonding session with my best friend."

She gasps. "How could you, Selena? I thought I was your best friend. I will never forget this betrayal."

I laugh. "Stop being dramatic, Nat."

She smiles. "I'm not me if I'm not dramatic. Hey, Sandy!"

Alessandro looks at her and sends her a cold smile that makes Nat wince.

"Hello, Natalie," Alessandro says, his tone matching his smile. "I'm going to head inside, Lena. The others must be wondering where we are."

I nod, and he turns around and starts walking away.

Nat watches him leave. "I never meant to hurt him. That is why I didn't tell anyone. I knew that Blake would never let anything happen between Alessandro and me. Selena, I-"

I give her a smile. "I know, Nat. He just needs time. How are you? You know, with everything with your parents."

Nat shrugs. "I'm better today after the initial shock is gone. The drinking helped too."

I smile and shake my head. "Don't let drinking become a coping mechanism. Let's go inside before they come back to drag us in."

"You aren't mad at me, are you?" She asks me.

I shake my head. "Of course, I'm not. I understand why you did what you did."

"And you talked to him to make sure he's alright?"

"Yes, I did. Now, come on."

-

"I'm still sleepy," I say to Alex after we finish breakfast. Considering the time we finished eating, I should call it an early lunch rather than breakfast.

Thankfully, no one noticed how little I ate today, and a part of the reason was Alessandro. Every time someone told me to eat more, he distracted them. It also helps that I am not sitting next to Alex.

Alex rolls his eyes. "You're always sleepy."

"That's true," I reply, resting my chin on the table.

"When will we go to the fair?" Nat asks, glancing at Alessandro, but he ignores her and stares at his empty plate.

"In an hour or so," Blake answers. "Why?"

"I'm sleepy too," she replies, smiling and high-fiving me.

"Did you guys hear that Adam is back?" Alex asks us, and I freeze.

Why is that- Why is he back? I hate him so much.

Alessandro looks at me, his eyes wide. He's the only one who knows what happened between Adam and me.

"Is that so?" Alessandro asks, trying and failing to control the anger in his voice.

I roll my eyes. Very subtle, Alessandro. Well done.

Alex sends him a confused look. "Did something happen between you two?"

"No," Alessandro lies. "Nothing happened. I just don't like him."

Alex raises his eyebrow. "He used to be your best friend once. What happened?"

Alessandro clenches his jaw, and I know he's about to snap at Alex.

"Honestly, Lexi, sometimes you ask more questions than the FBI," I interrupt before the said snapping can happen.

Alex looks at me and raises his eyebrow. "I ask too many questions? Have you met yourself?"

"Hey! I'm a naturally curious person. I literally can't help myself. You, on the other hand, are not naturally curious, so you can help yourself."

I know my point makes no sense and makes me seem like a hypocrite, but anything is better than Alex asking questions about what happened with Adam.

"That's called being a-" Alex starts, but Nat interrupts him.

"I'm thinking about getting a cat," Nat says, looking at me, trying to distract me, so I don't say anything else to Alex.

I sigh and look away from Alex. "Which breed?"

-

By the time we arrive at the fair, it's almost five. Everything looks beautiful, from the bright lights to the loud, unintelligible music to the families and friends laughing and having fun. It is chaotically beautiful.

Alex smiles at my expression.

"I can't believe you've never been to one before." He says, and I shrug.

My parents never had time to spend with Jax or me, and when they did have time, they would rather talk about their work than take us to places like this. Alex's parents have always been quite busy, but they always managed to spend with their children. When I was younger, I used to be jealous of Alex's relationship with his parents. I always used to think about why my parents couldn't have that kind of relationship with me, but then I grew up and stopped caring.

"What are we doing first?" Alessandro asks us.

"Game stands!" Nat replies.

"No, let's go to the haunted house first," Alex argues.

We look at Blake.

"I vote food," he replies, and Alex smacks the back of Blake's head.

"We just had food!" Nat says, and Blake shrugs.

"Hey, you asked for my opinion. I gave it."

Alessandro looks at me.

"Don't look at me. I have no idea what to do in these types of places. I just know I want to go to the Ferris wheel."

"How about this? First, we can go to the game stands, then the haunted house, then the Ferris wheel, and if we're hungry, we'll go and eat something." Alessandro suggests, and everyone mutters in agreement.

-

"Ten games and zero prizes, that has to be some kind of a record," I say glumly as we walk towards the haunted house.

"It's not our fault. They're all fucking rigged," Blake complains with a pout, and I smile.

"Just because we didn't win doesn't mean the games are rigged..." I pause when everyone looks at me weirdly. "... right?

Alessandro shakes his head. "For once, I agree with Blake. They rig the games; otherwise, they wouldn't make as much money."

"Does it really even matter if we win or not? I mean, we still had fun trying," Alex adds and all of us shrug.

I guess he's right. I don't think we would have laughed as much as we did if we had won.

"Yeah, but it would've been nice to win Selena something," Blake says, throwing an arm around my shoulder. He discreetly smirks at Alex.

"Aw..." I say, pinching Blake's cheek. "You're so cute."

Blake frowns. "I'm not cute. I'm hot."

Everyone stares at him blankly.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that," Alex tells Blake, earning him a punch. "That fucking hurt."

Blake smiles sarcastically at Alex. "And you think that I fucking care?"

Nat hits Blake on the back of his head. "Blake, don't be fucking rude."

Blake narrows his eyes at Nat. "Okay, Kim."

"Do you want me to hit you again?" She asks him, moving closer to him. He lets out a small scream and runs to hide behind me.

Oh my god, Blake is such a child sometimes.

"Nice to know that I'm your human shield," I tell him sarcastically.

"You're not scared of anything, so I know you can deal with that," he says, pointing at Nat.

"And what if I am scared of something?"

"Then I'll protect you from it," Alessandro tells me as he pushes Blake away. "Do you want me to hold your hand in there so you don't get scared?"

Alessandro throws his arm over my shoulder, making Alex and Nat glare at him. I look at Alessandro's face, and he discreetly winks at me. He's toying with them.

Usually, I would let him because it would just be about teasing Alex and Nat. But not today. Today, Alessandro is doing this because of Nat- because he wants to make her feel what he did last night. I don't want any part in it. I understand Alessandro's reasoning, but I can't hurt my other best friend because of it.

I play it off by laughing. "I won't get scared. Blake might, so you might want to consider holding his hand."

"Hey! I won't get scared!" Blake argues.

"Um, you're scared of me. Do you really think you won't get scared over there?" Nat asks him, raising an eyebrow. Her eyes momentarily flicker again to Alessandro's arm- which is still around me.

"Of course, I won't get scared there- I know that the danger there is fake."

"Or you just don't want to hold my hand," Alessandro says, acting like he's hurt.

"Hey, I didn't say it; you did," Blake says, throwing his hands up. Alessandro tries to hit him, but he moves away. Alex takes Alessandro's distraction as a chance to come between us.

I look at him and raise an eyebrow. "Jealous much?"

"Yes, but this isn't entirely for me. Nat seems like she wants to rip Alessandro's arm off, and I won't stop her. So this is for everyone's good," Alex whispers.

I glance at Nat, who is staring at Alessandro and Blake. "I wish things would go back to normal. I don't know why, but this feels like it will end up splitting all of us apart."

"I get what you mean, but I trust our friendship and know it's strong enough to survive anything."

It takes me a moment to realise that he's not just talking about Alessandro and Nat anymore.

"Alex-"

"We'll talk about that later. We're here," he tells me.

The haunted house doesn't look very impressive from the outside. It's painted black with "Haunted House" written at the top in red with scrawny handwriting.

"This is going to be a waste of time," I say to Alex, and he rolls his eyes.

"That's what makes it fun."

"We have to go inside in groups of twos or threes," Nat tells us. She looks at Alex and me. "You guys can go first. We'll follow."

"Sure," Alex replies, taking hold of my hand. "Let's go, darling."

"I don't need you to hold my hand," I say as darkness surrounds us.

"I know," he says but doesn't let go of my hand. "I-"

He's interrupted by the sound of cackling. I look to my left and see a fake plastic witch.

I look back at Alex to see him smiling.

"What?" I ask him.

"I've never seen anyone so chill on their first visit to a haunted house."

"That's because it's not- Ah!" I scream as something wraps around my ankle. Without thinking, I shake it off and stomp on it.

"Ouch, what the fuck!" I hear someone curse, making Alex laugh.

"I can't believe that scared you," Alex whispers in my ear, still laughing.

I glare at him. "Stop laughing at me. I thought it was a snake or something."

He doesn't stop laughing, not even when clowns jump at us from every side or when the mummies rise from their "graves".

"I hate you," I tell him, trying to walk away from him when we exit the haunted house.

"I'm sorry," he says, pulling me back by my hand. He's still laughing. "I just can't believe that you got scared."

I pout, trying to fight off the smile threatening to form on my face. "I wasn't expecting anything to actually touch me!"

"Aren't you glad-"

Alex is interrupted when Blake bumps into him as he's running out of the haunted house.

"That was fucking terrifying!" Blake says, his voice hoarse and his eyes wide.

"No, it wasn't. You just get scared easily!" Nat tells him. She looks at me and smirks. "I heard your scream too."

"Someone grabbed my ankle, and I thought it was a snake," I try to explain, making everyone laugh.

Alessandro shakes his head. "I would have paid to see the expression on your face."

I smile and shake my head. Of course, he would have.

"We're going to the Ferris wheel now, right?" Nat says once everyone has calmed down.

I notice as Alex starts to uncharacteristically fidget with his fingers, and I almost hit myself.

Oh my god, I am such an idiot. How could I forget about his fear of heights? No one else knows about it because Alex didn't feel comfortable telling anyone but me. He didn't even tell me. I found out about it last summer when we went mountain climbing together.

"Guys, I think I'm going to sit this one out," I say to everyone, and they send me confused looks, so I continue, "I saw this game stand that we missed, and I really liked it, so I'm going to go there." I look at Alex. "Do you want to come with me?"

"Yeah, sure," Alex replies, as he sends me a grateful look.

Alessandro and Nat look at both of us and smirk.

"We'll go on the Ferris wheel. I want to see the view from above," Alessandro says, stepping on Blake's foot when he tries to protest.

"Have fun!" Nat tells us, then winks at me as she and Alessandro drag Blake away.

"Are you sure you don't want to go? You were so excited about it," Alex asks, and I smile at him.

"Yes, I'm sure," I say as I slide my hand in his and drag him to a random game stand.

"Are you sure that you want us to play this one?" Alex says, looking at me. It is one of those games where they have glass bottles stacked up, and you have to knock down the bottles with a ball.

"Yeah, I mean, how hard can it be?"

"How about we make a bet?" He asks me.

"This feels like bait."

Alex smiles. "It probably is. So what do you say?"

"What does the winner get?"

"The winner gets one wish that the loser has to grant, within reason, of course."

I bite my lip. I know what he's going to ask me, but I am never the one to back down from a challenge.

"You're on, Chevalier," I say after a moment of deliberation.

Ten minutes later, I regret my decision. The game is impossible to win. Both Alex and I have tried five times and lost.

"Let's just go to another one," Alex suggests, and I shake my head.

"No, either I'm going to win this or not play any more games," I say as he and I fail our sixth attempt.

"Sure, maybe the seventh time will be the charm," Alex says sarcastically, under his breath, but I hear him and send him a glare.

"Oh, it will be."

And I am right- the seventh time is the charm.

Alex smiles at me- he doesn't look too disappointed for someone who just lost.

"What is your wish, darling?" He asks me as we walk away from the booth, a light purple stuffed unicorn in my hand. I smile at him, and he sighs. "Why do I feel I'm going to hate it?"

"You aren't," I assure him. "I'm saving my wish for another day."

"Can I get any indication of what it will be?" he asks, and I shake my head. Alex eyes the unicorn in my hand. "Why did you pick that anyway?"

I smile at him. "Don't you remember Lady Bloom?"

Alex hits his forehead with the back of his hand. "Of course, your stuffed unicorn from when you were seven. I should have known this was about more than winning the bet."

"This one looks just like it."

"What happened to it?" He asks me, raising an eyebrow.

I scoff and shake my head. "I didn't listen to Grandmother once, so Mother tore it up and threw it out."

To this day, I wonder why my parents don't realise that they are the reason why I'm messed up in the head.

Alex shakes his head. "Let's go and try another game."

-

A/N

It's so hard for me to write Selena's POV when she's interacting with Alex. He reminds me of someone I used to know (I didn't even realise until I reread the past couple of chapters). And I have felt more for that person that I have for anyone else so to have Selena think of him like that is hard because I could never in real life. I wanted to change Alex's character a bit but I had to remind myself that most of it is fiction and Alex isn't really him but still, it's hard.

I have never been to a fair jbtw. So I don't know how they work. I always wanted to go when I started uni, but covid hit and so those plans got postponed. And now, well, the friends I have in uni aren't the people who I'd like to share that experience with- they're so suffocating and toxic. I want to distance myself from them but its hard. These are the type of people I am expected to associate with and my uni's social hierarchy is so fucked up that I can't bring myself to get away from people who are ruining my mental health.

Thoughts on the chapter?