CHAPTER 17
Carnival Tricks and Grand Prizes

Who the fuck had the audacity to ring my doorbell while I'm studying?

I marched downstairs, wearing a huge scowl on my face. If this is Blake, all my security guards are going to get fired because I gave them clear instructions to keep him out of my house. 

Determined to give Blake an earful, I opened the door only to be greeted by someone else. 

"Cole?" 

"Hey!" He chirped but I refused to return the enthusiasm.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"I want your help." He answered.

I furrowed my eyebrows, "Do I really give you a helpful vibe?"

"No, but I thought you would make an exception for me." He said hesitantly. 

"Cole, don't think. You're not very good at it." 

"Addy, please. I just need one favor. You're not going to regret it." He begged and I huffed.

"What do I get out of this?" I asked. 

"You get Blake." He replied. 

"Sure, Blake's a prize you could win at a carnival game." I commented sarcastically and he gave me a sly smile. 

"Why are you smiling at me like that?" I asked.

"Tonight, Blake is a prize you could win at a carnival game." 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

"You brought me to a fucking carnival?!" I shouted, "I thought you used carnival as a metaphor." 

"What's wrong with carnivals? Aren't they fun?" He asked.

"No, they're not fun. They're very crowded, meaning; there are going to be a lot of gross, sweaty people carrying a lot of germs. The food there is something insects stamp over and do I even have to get started on how unhygienic the seats are going to be there?"

"You sound like my mom." He complained. 

"Well, your mom is a wise woman." I claimed, "At least she's wise enough to hate Terra. Same can't be said about you." 

"Terra's not that bad." He said. 

"She ruined any sort of peace and happiness in my life." I said, making him sigh. 

"If you do as I say, you could get your peace and happiness back." He said

"Okay fine." I grumbled, "Why did you bring me here?" 

"Blake's here." 

"I don't want to see him." I told Cole. 

"Then what were you expecting when you came here with me?" Cole asked. 

"I was just expecting to see Terra. I thought you would want me to talk her out of liking Blake." 

"Do you really think that I would want you to talk to Terra?" He asked and I nodded. 

"Addy, you don't talk to her. You bully her and I'm not going to let you do that." 

"Whatever", I mumbled, "Why am I here again?" 

"Blake's here with Terra obviously. I want you to distract him and when Terra realizes that he would easily ditch her for another girl, she would want nothing to do with him." 

A smirk appeared on my lip, "I like the way you think, Cole. That's a very evil plan." 

"That's not evil." 

"Yes, it is. You'll be breaking poor Terra's heart. It's very evil." I said. 

"I won't be breaking her heart. I'm just giving her a warning before her feelings for Blake get deep enough to leave her heartbroken." 

"Fine, whatever floats your boat." 

"So, do you agree with the plan?" He asked. 

"I do. Just one problem." I said, "I will not be distracting Blake. I don't want to talk to him. I don't even want to see him. So, find another girl to distract him and let me know how this goes." 

"No, Addy. What other girl would I find?" He asked, "Besides, I don't think Blake's going to ditch Terra for just any girl." 

"But I'm not on speaking terms with him right now." 

"And that makes it even better. He'll be desperate for your attention." 

"I'm still not agreeing to this." 

"Okay fine." He sighed, "Don't talk to him. Just stand next to me. That would be enough to keep him out of his head." 

"Alright." I agreed.

"I would have to take a long bath after entering a place like this." I grimaced as I looked at all the clammy people this place is packed with. 

"It's not worse than a high school party." Cole said. 

"Well, at a party, I can get drunk and all of this wouldn't matter. Can I do that now?" I asked. 

"Let's go find them." He said, ignoring me. 

I followed behind him as he entered. As soon as I got in, I was hit with the tasty aroma of food mixed with the revolting smell of puke and sweat. I saw two little kids with chocolate syrup leaking from their mouth, which just increased the nauseating feeling in the bottom of my throat. 

"So, we're telling them that we decided to hang out at the carnival and that we accidentally bumped into them. Alright?" Cole asked. 

"Not alright. What kind of bull crap is that?" I asked, "No one would anyone believe it." 

"Do you have a better lie?" He asked. 

"No, I don't. Because it's absurd to find me at a place like this and that too with you. No amount of lies can make that sound normal." 

"Just follow me." He said, "I'll do everything. You just stand there and look pretty for Blake."

I narrowed my eyes at him as he started walking. After around twenty minutes of searching, we finally found them standing by the cotton candy stall. 

Terra stared at the machine with a bright grin similar to that of a five-year-old as she waited for the candy to spin. Beside her, Blake stood with a broad smile etched on his face as he watched her. 

All I wanted to do at that moment was to smack the smile off his face for looking at her like that; in a way that he was supposed to look at me. 

Cole grabbed my hand and pulled me towards them with a fake smile plastered on his face. 

"Terra!" He exclaimed, making Terra and Blake turn their attention to us. 

"Funny seeing you two here." He said as he tried to keep up his faltering smile. 

"Lynne?"  Blake whispered as he saw me but I made sure to keep my eyes away from him. 

"Cole, what are you doing here?" Terra asked. 

"Nothing much. Addy and I decided to spend some time together. It's a total coincidence that we came to the same place as you guys." He said.

"Total coincidence." He repeated, making it so obvious that he's trying to convince them a lie. 

"Really?" Terra asked, "You're saying that it's a coincidence that you showed up to the same carnival that I told you I'm going to right before I left home?"

"Y-Yes, i-it's a c-coin...cidence." Cole stuttered awkwardly followed by a forced laugh. 

"Actually, he dragged me here to hijack your date." I said honestly.

"Addy, what are you doing?" His voice was strained with frustration as he whispered to me. 

"No one's buying your lie, Cole."

"Cole, what are you trying to do?" Terra asked. 

"I'm trying to protect my best friend. He's not a nice guy, Terra. Stay away from him." Cole warned. 

"I'm standing right here." Blake pointed out, with an eye-roll.

"This is for you to hear too." Cole said, "I don't trust you and I don't want you around her." 

"I don't care what you think about me." Blake said.

I rolled my eyes at them, "You two are worse than the five-year olds here." 

"Whatever", Cole said, "Now that we're all here, let's enjoy the carnival." 

"I'm not interested." I told him with a bored tone. 

He took a deep breath, "Could you two give us a moment?" Cole asked Blake and Terra before dragging me away. 

"You already ruined my lie; now can you not ruin the plan?" He asked.

"Your lie ruined itself and I'm not doing anything to ruin the plan." I said. 

"No, but you're not doing anything to make it a success either. Do something. Seduce him maybe." He suggested. 

"Not going to happen." I told him, "You told me that I don't have to talk to him and that I only have to come with you. Here I am." 

"I just said that so you would enter. Now that you're here, do something." 

"Don't order me around, Cole." 

"Fine!" He huffed, "Could you please, please, please do something to distract him." 

I rolled my eyes, "Why don't you take Terra away from here first?" I suggested. 

"I can do that." He said and walked back to Terra and Blake who stood in the same spot but this time, Terra was holding her cotton candy in her hand.

"Terra, let's try the Ferris wheel." Cole proposed. 

"But–"

"No buts. Let's go." He said as he pulled her hand.

"What about Blake?" She asked. 

"I'll stay here." Blake told her and she nodded before walking away with Cole. 

"Lynne", he called softly but instead of replying, I walked away from him. 

"Lynne, wait!" He called as he jogged up to me. 

"Please, talk to me, Lynne. You haven't talked to me in twelve days." 

I ignored him and kept walking until I felt him grab my wrist.

"Lynne, I'm so sorry. Please don't ignore me anymore." He begged. 

I shrugged my hand off his grip, "Blake, have you got no shame? You're here on a date with another girl." 

"I'm not here on a date. Terra asked me if I wanted to hang out with her, I said yes and we both decided that it's going to be as just friends." 

"Just friends?" I asked before giving out a sarcastic laugh, "You like her, she likes you and you're here at a carnival together. This is definitely a date." 

He furrowed his eye brows together, "She likes me?" 

"No!" I replied way too quickly. The last thing I need is him knowing about Terra's feelings for him. 

"I was just guessing." I told him, "I mean, you're hot. So....." I trailed off. 

"I don't think Terra would like me just because I'm hot." He said before giving me a smug smile, "And did you just call me hot?" 

I raised an eyebrow, "Really?" 

"Let me enjoy this moment. It's not every day that I get a compliment from the Addelyn Frederick." He smiled, making me roll my eyes as I started walking again with his steps falling next to mine. 

After a few minutes, he spoke again, "Look, Terra sees me as a friend and yes, I like her. But that's isn't leading to anything." He said.

"Whatever, I don't really care about your relationship with Terra." I shrugged.

"And there is no relationship with Terra." He assured but I ignored him as I kept walking. 

"Lynne!" He called as he stopped in his tracks, "I'm really sorry. I didn't know that leaving you that night would hurt you so much. I did not mean to make you feel bad. You know that I would never hurt you on purpose." 

I stopped walking and turned towards him. From my peripheral view, I could see Terra and Cole get down from the Ferris wheel as Blake moved closer to me. 

"I miss you, Lynne." He whispered, "You not talking to me has been so hard. You are my best friend and I can't even go a day without you." 

"I miss you too." I said, "Promise me that you won't ever leave me like that." 

A happy smile appeared on his lips, "I won't. I promise." He said and stepped closer. I wrapped my arms around his neck as his hands found its way to my waist. 

"You have no idea how much I missed you, Blake." I whispered before leaning in closer and crashing my lips against his. 

He smiled against my lips and tightened his grip around my waist as he kissed me back. A huge jolt of energy rushed up in my body, all the way to my toes as I clutched his hair in my hands. I pulled back from this kiss and grinned at, making him return the gesture as we both let go of each other.

I heard a sniffle from our side and both our heads snapped towards Terra and Cole. 

As soon as Blake's gaze met Terra's, she turned around and speedily walked away from us, pushing through the crowd. Cole looked disappointed as he watched her leave. 

I looked up at Blake who almost took a step forward before I grabbed his arm. He quickly looked down at me, giving me a clear view of all the guilt written on his face. 

Taking a deep breath, I turned towards Cole, "Go get your girl, Cole." I smirked. As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt Blake stiffen beside me. 

Cole looked between Blake and me awkwardly before going towards the direction Terra walked away. Blake watched Cole sadly as he disappeared into the crowd.

I took his hand in mine and intertwined our finger before looking up at him with a smile which made him visibly relax.

"Drive me home?" I asked and he nodded. He placed a kiss on my forehead before leading me towards his car. 

The entire car ride was silent and I sat there debating on my next move. As soon as the car stopped in front of my house, I opened the door with no words. 

I was about to get out when I felt a hand touch mine, making me turn towards Blake.

"Don't touch me." I said in warning and he took a second to process before his face was filled with confusion and hurt. 

"I-I thought we were good." He said. 

"You thought wrong, Blake." I said, "Cole brought me there to distract you and keep you away from Terra, so that he could have her all to himself. That's what I did; distract you. I knew she was watching us and all that I did was just a show to get her running away from you. And as a bonus, I got to ruin her night and hurt her feelings."

"Why are you being like this?" He choked out as he looked at me with glistening eyes. 

The distraught look on his face made me want to crush him with a hug and kiss the life out of him. But the way he looked at her tonight popped up in my head, and all that did was fuel my anger.

"This is the way I am, Blake. I did what I had to do to win. And you were just a pawn in the game." I said with a stone-cold face before getting out the car and slamming the door shut.

But he wasn't just a pawn. He was supposed to be my king to claim and win. But nothing about tonight made me feel like I won.

Author's Note

Ouch! Poor Blake! Do you think he deserved that? Or do you think that it was too harsh?

Btw, I don't hate carnivals with burning passion like Addy does. I don't love them but I don't hate them either.

So, if you liked what you read, vote.

If you want to keep reading, add this to your library so you'll know when I update.

If you have absolutely anything to say, good or bad, feel free to comment and let me know.

And if you made it till the end, thank you for reading and I love you so much!

Okay, have fun, enjoy life.

Signed, 
Me