The fair was $2 each to get in, $3 if we wanted to go on rides, which we did. We had $8 left after we paid, and gave $5 to Ponyboy and Bonnie, leaving Soda and I with only $3. I hoped that was enough to at least buy some fried dough, and that Pony and Bonnie would consider going off on their own so Soda and I could ride things alone. 

I thought it was weird they had raised the prices so much, a few years ago it was only 50¢ to get in, and $1 if you wanted a ride bracelet. When I said this to Soda, he responded, "Times are changing, Nina. And I hear there are some new rides this year too."

"Let's go on those soon," I decided. Of course, we had to go on the Determinator first, which was the biggest, fastest roller coaster there, with 6 loops. It was my personal favorite, and I always made Soda go on it first, even if he wasn't the biggest roller coaster fan. He did it for me.

"Are they fast?" Bonnie asked quietly, about the new rides. I wasn't sure, I hadn't heard of any of them before now. But then I realized why she was asking. My little sister got carsick most of the time, so I couldn't figure out why she wanted to come to the fair. She wouldn't do well on the rides.

Pony and Soda must've remembered it at the same time, because Soda suggested that the two of them go play some games with the money he gave them, and Ponyboy agreed real quick.

"Have fun, BonBon, okay? We'll meet by the Ferris Wheel at midnight." I hugged my little sister, and watched them go off.

"Glad they're out of the way," Soda said after a second. I nodded.

"Can you imagine going to the Determinator with Bonnie?" He cringed, and I almost did too. The first time the two of us went on it, he had gotten sick. Granted, we had just bought ten dollars worth of fried dough, eaten it all, and had slushies, but that wasn't the point. We were 11 back then, just a little younger than Bonnie, and I had been messed up for the rest of the day. But it was so much fun that if we got it over with first, it wasn't too bad. I usually left the fair with a migraine, but Bonnie wouldn't do well with one of those and her weak stomach. I was glad she was off playing games.

We held on a little conversation as we walked to the rides, filled with how are you's and what's been going on, and have I missed anything interesting? It was all the same old stuff, but we were happy to be in each other's company.

The line for our ride was a lot shorter than it usually is, probably because we were here a lot earlier than usual. We got on within five minutes, and sat down next to each other in the front row.

"Are you ready?" Soda asked. It took off before I could answer, fast as it always is. Everything around us looked blurry. I took Soda's hand in mine, and held it. Every time we put our hands up, it was together. When the ride ended, we were still hand in hand.

"That was awesome, Soda!" I yelled. He smiled, nodding.

"Wanna do it again?" I looked around at all of the other rides and shook my head. We only had a few hours, and we had to ride everything, even the new ones. Suddenly, as I was trying to decide which ride to do next, a girl tapped my shoulder. I looked back.

"You two make a really cute couple," she complimented. I almost laughed. "Like really cute. You were lucky to find each other." Soda smiled at her.

"Thank you," he said. As soon as she walked away, we looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"Us?" I asked, laughing half to death. "Us as a couple?" His laughter subsided before mine, and we walked together to the next ride. We saw Ponyboy and Bonnie, a few times, with mountains of stuffed animals in their arms. Each game was raised from 10¢ to 25¢ this year, but with five dollars, they had a lot. By 11:30 that night, when we saw them again, they were out of money. Soda and I had gone on almost every ride, and Bonnie was holding a giant teddy bear, bigger than her.

"I won it for her," Pony said. I smiled. Bonnie was falling asleep o his shoulder.

"Wanna go on the Ferris wheel with us?" I asked. I figured they'd be okay on that, at least. Bonnie nodded, blinking repeatedly.

"Okay. We'll get you home after that too." That's when it occurred to me that we had walked here, a little over two miles. I wasn't sure how thrilled she would be with that, or if she'd even make it, but I decided to put it out of my mind for a little while. The Ferris wheel line was long, and we waited for a half hour, with a falling asleep Bonnie on me. Ponyboy held her hand the entire time, making sure she didn't fall over, as I was pretty preoccupied catching up with Soda.

Apparently, he had seen Sandy when he visited Ponyboy's camp last summer and she wanted nothing to do with him.

"And for some reason her cousin was so upset that she tried to break Ponyboy and his little girlfriend up." I gasped at that.

"Ponyboy, you had a girlfriend?!" I exclaimed. Bonnie jumped up, snatching her hand away from him. I almost laughed. Bonnie never knew how to not be obvious about her crush, even Ponyboy probably knew.

"What?" She exclaimed. Ponyboy shrugged.

"Her name was Olivia Sparks. We were together for a few weeks before we got kicked out together for sneaking out," he admitted. I couldn't believe it. Ponyboy Curtis with a girlfriend.

"What was this about another girl trying to break you up too?" I asked. He rolled is eyes.

"Amelia. Don't want to talk about it," he said. I shrugged, and looked ahead. We would be the next ones on the ride.

Bonnie was up now, walking on her own, and she wouldn't go near Ponyboy. It was pretty cute. She sat next to me on the ride though, and that wasn't very cute. I begged her to move so I could sit with Soda, and finally she did. She was terrified to move though, since the cart swayed, but Soda helped her to the other side. Then, he sat down, putting his arm around me. I smiled, leaning into him.

"I'm glad you're back, Nina," he whispered in my ear. I laughed. So was I, I realized, looking at the infinite sky around us.