A/N : Hi! Thanks for being here, really ♥️ Please vote and comment if you like the chapter, it'd mean a lot to me XD

PLAYLIST : In The Name Of Love - Martin Garrix & Bebe Rexha

     Joe cooled down a little, but not before threatening Derek to shave off his eyebrows. Till now, Derek escaped the predicament.

     "Dude, chill. It was a mistake," Derek said.

     Joe narrowed his eyes at Derek. "It's not called a mistake when you do it intentionally."

     Derek shrugged and went all innocent faced. "I intentionally made a mistake. But it was a mistake nonetheless."

     We rode the ferris wheel and some other rides and were now standing in line to ride the Skyflyer. Derek and Joe continued bickering and I was sure it wouldn't end anytime soon.

     "Excuse us for a second," Tiffany announced to the group and pulled me by the arm. I let her take me some distance away from the others.

     "Now spill," she ordered.

     "What?" I asked confused.

     "What's going on between you and Derek?"

     "Us? Nothing." I looked over my shoulder to make sure we were out of earshot. "We were hanging out after school the other day. Can't really call it a hangout, it was a study session for Calculus. You know, he's really good at that. So that's it. Nothing else. It wasn't just him and me. There were total four of us."

     "Oh my God!" Tiffany said dramatically. "You are so into him."

     "No, I'm not," I denied. My voice came out louder than I intended. "I just told you it was a group study."

     She gave me a sly smile. "I heard you. But I also heard what you didn't say. You're clueless about it now, but I know that you're crushing on him. You always babble when you want to deny something that's true."

     I started protesting, but Tiffany cut me off. "Just don't deny it!"

     I laughed at her almost accurate observation of me. "Okay . . . It's just a little crush. A teeny tiny crush."

     "I knew it!" She hip checked me. "Why do you run away from your feelings? Embrace them."

     "It's just a crush, Tif. Don't make it a big deal." She was obviously going to make it a big deal. "Do you want to miss your ride? Let's go now, before someone cuts in."

     "Oh, yes!" Tiffany said like she suddenly remembered about it.

~~~

     The line grew shorter and then it was our turn. Up close, the Skyflyer looked more scary. We paid for the ride and Derek whispered to Tiffany, "Tiffany, it's the same guy. The one with the wig."

     "Don't even dare to piss him off," she warned with a stern finger pointed at him.

     Derek put his arm around her shoulder. "Don't worry, sweetheart. We're not leaving until we ride this."

     "You better hope he doesn't remember you."

     He waved it off. "Who cares? I'll work my charm on him."

     Tiffany and Derek were extremely excited about the rides. They were just short of jumping up and down.

     It was a three person ride, so Nate, Tiffany and Derek went first. They wore the safety harnesses. I watched then being hooked to the cables and raised up. Derek pulled the cord and they dropped down to a free fall, shouting out in excitement.

     It was breathtaking to look at. But no way in hell was I going to ride it. They swung mid air for about five more minutes and were then lowered. I was mostly noticing Derek. How his face lit up in excitement like a small kid everytime they went higher or had a free fall.

     Shayna and I were standing together watching the rides and Joe was talking to some girl he just met. He was still wearing the hat.

     "Vivian," Shayna said.

     "Yeah?"

     "Listen." Her tone was serious and her face had a solemn expression. "I want to tell you something."

     Oh no! Not again. I wasn't going to listen to how the shade of my lip gloss didn't match my tank top.

     "I wanted to apologize. I'm sorry I ratted you out to Derek. I didn't mean to do something mean. And I didn't know you'd be that offended."

     My eyes grew wide. Saying I was surprised would be an understatement. This wasn't how we usually talked.

     "Er . . . you already said sorry that day."

     "I wanted to say it again. You know, just so there are no hard feelings." She paused. "I didn't know Derek was going to scare you."

     "That's okay. It was just a joke. A weird joke, I know, but that's how he is, right?" I laughed.

     "I know. So we cool? You're not mad anymore?"

     "No. I'm not mad at you. We're good."

     Her face broke into a grin. "Thanks. So how was your prom? I mean I left early to go with Caleb to a party. We never talked about prom. Tiffany said you disappeared with Derek?"

     "Oh, that was all Gina's doing. She got high. And Derek helped me get her home. If Derek would not be there with me, I'd have to call the parents and Gina would be in a hell lot of trouble."

     "Aw, man. It was nice of D to help you out."

     "Yah. He's not as bad as I made him out to be."

     "Ask his girlfriends. They'll tell you how good he is."

     I just shrugged. "Mmhm."

     "You kissed him, right?"

     "How do you know?" I asked surprised.

     "You kissed in a room full of people. Why would that be a secret?"

     "Oh. You're right."

     "How was it? He looks like he'd be a good kisser with all that swag he carries around."

     "It was good."

     This was a first. Shayna and I talking and agreeing. And the apology, that just blew me away. Maybe we can get along if we gave each other a chance. This was the longest conversation we had without bickering. For the first time, Shayna didn't criticize a guy that I liked.

     "Looks like they're done," Shayna said. "It's our turn. Joe, come on now. You have the whole evening to flirt." She pulled Joe with her, and the girl he was talking to was left staring at them.

     "He'll be back," I waved at her and she smiled back.

     Tiffany, Nate and Derek came back. "That was ecstatic. I loved it!" Tiffany gushed. "You guys are not going to puke now, are you?"

     "Not before you," Derek said.

     "In your dreams."

     The employee handed over the harness to Shayna and Joe and brought the third one for me. "I'm not riding that thing," I said.

     "What?" Derek asked. "Go now. I feel like I have to push you for everything, or you won't do it."

     "No, seriously. I just ate. I don't want to puke."

     "Don't chicken out, Viv," Tiffany said.

     "I'll go on the other rides, guys. Just not this one. One of you can go in my place, because you obviously enjoyed it too much to not go again."

     "I won't say no to going again," Derek said.

     "No!" Tiffany stopped him. "Let Nate ride this one."

     "Why?" Derek groaned.

     "You're fun to be around. Stay with me."

     "Do I have something to be worried about?" Nate asked suspiciously. He was still smiling though, so he only meant it as a joke.

     "Shut up, Nate!" Tiffany scolded him. "Now go before Derek beats you to it."

     "Ok." He took the harness. "I better still have a girlfriend when I return, mind you."

     "That we'll see," Derek smirked.

     "I'm watching you." Nate made the hand gesture and ran to join Shayna and Joe who were already waiting for him by the ride.

A/N : Thank you for reading! It's 1 in the night now and I'm sleepy and I don't know how I did with this chapter, but I'm hoping it's okay :p So, if you think it's good, please don't forget to vote and comment. And I'm so happy I updated this chapter on time! Until next time xoxo.

# What's your favorite carnival ride? Mine is the ferris wheel and the skyflyer!

Thank you shazzyjacks123 for reading this book! This chapter's dedicated to you <3
Guys, she has a ton of books on her profile. They're all amazing but my favorite is I Married My Bully. Check them out.