Chapter TEN

It was getting dark, and the bright, flashing carnival lights came on. The ferris wheel and the merry-go-round lit up, and I smiled, thinking of Andy, and how I'd rode that same merry-go-round a hundred times with him. I was walking with Mel, holding the bag of pink cotton candy we were sharing. Mandee and Gibson were holding hands, a few steps ahead of us.

   I hadn't thought about how much things sucked, or about Kane, or anything at all. Being at the carnival had made me forget about it, somehow. It made me nostalgic, too, thinking about all the years I'd come to the same spot, with the same games and rides and how excited I always felt. Now I was older, but was glad to be able to still enjoy the carnival.

   "Hey," Kyler was beside me, all of a sudden, touching my arm.

   We had sat together on the ferris wheel, and he had shown off by doing the strength game, making the thing go almost to the top. But he hadn't talked to me much all night. And I was okay with that.

   "Hi," I said, now actually looking at him. His face looked mostly better, but there was still a yellowish bruise below his eye.

   "Want one of those?" he asked me, pointing at a huge rack of stuffed unicorns, hanging over some games.

   "Uh, I'm not twelve," I laughed.

   He shrugged. "But do you want one?"

  "Kind of," I smiled.

   He took my hand then, pulling me towards the skee ball game. The sign said GET 100 POINTS TO WIN, and he gave the Carnie a five dollar bill to play.

   "Three balls to get a hundred points?" I said, obviously sounding unsure.

   "Are you doubting my abilities?" Kyler grinned at me. I shook my head.

   On his first shot, he got twenty five points. I clapped. He wound up and threw again, this time getting fifty points.

   "Oh, pressure's on," I teased him.

   "Ha," he laughed, then tossed the third ball. It bounced off the side but ended up in the twenty five points hole.

   "Winner!" the Carnie shouted, and pulled down a pink unicorn from over his head.

   Kyler handed it to me, smirking. "You doubted me," he accused.

   "I did not," I said, but couldn't keep a straight face.

   "Suure," he laughed, then slipped his hand into mine again.

   We started walking, just like that, him smiling at me. It was crowded, and I couldn't see the rest of the group anywhere, but I didn't exactly mind. I felt okay, finally, and I wanted to enjoy the rest of the evening. I knew anyone could see us, anyone from school could tell Kane, but I just made myself push it out of my mind.

   As we walked past another food stand, Kyler asked, "Hungry?"

   "No, I'm fine," I said, shaking my head.

   "Thirsty?"

   "I'm okay, really," I told him.

   "C'mon, let me buy you something," he went on. I held up the stuffed unicorn, muffling a laugh. "Right. Well, this is kind of like a real date," he commented.

   "Kind of," I smiled, nodding.

   We walked around a bit more, but soon he was pulling me around the side of one of the rides. It was the crazy one that flipped upside down, and then back around. I would have never rode it, but we were just hiding behind. It was sort of secluded and dark, but still loud.

   "So," Kyler began, leaning up against the metal frame. "I didn't say anything about Kane punching me, because I didn't want to get him in trouble. But, also, I didn't want to start any more drama for you."

   "Really?" I asked, surprised.

   He nodded. "Yeah. And this past week... I just ignored you to keep things cool. Kane is... he's the ring leader."

   I narrowed my eyes, confused. "Ring leader?"

   "It was selfish, in a way, but everyone would have taken his side, anyway, if the truth came out. I'd be the bad guy for going behind his back with you."

   Why were we even talking about Kane right now?

   "My Dad told him to keep me out of trouble," I admitted.

   "I know," Kyler nodded.

   "So, what are we doing now then?" I wanted to know.

   "Having fun?"

  I smiled at him. I was having fun. And then, he was kissing me, and my mind went fuzzy, just like in the guest room at Gibson's family beach house. This time I was sober, and all I could think about was how he tasted sweet, like cotton candy. After a minute, he pulled away, grinning. I smiled back again, which was permission for him to kiss me again. He pulled me close, putting his hands on my hips. I kissed him back. He felt familiar, safe, and I didn't care anymore, about anything.

   My phone started buzzing in my jeans back pocket. I tried to ignore it, but it continued. Kyler noticed.

  "You need to... get that?" he asked, between kisses.

  "No," I said quickly.

  "Good," he grinned.

   It finally stopped, but just as I started to relax again, I felt his hands moving towards the button on my jeans. For a second, I almost let him do it. But suddenly I could hear Kane's voice in my head.

  I know what he's done.

  I put my hands on Kyler's chest, pushing him back just a bit, without a word. He opened his eyes. I expected him to apologize, or at least take a breath. But he grabbed my arm and pulled me close to him again.

   "Kyler," I said sharply, hoping he would stop. "Not here." He tried to kiss me again, his hands going right back to the waist of my jeans. "Kyler, stop."

   He was stronger than me, by a long shot, and my weak attempts at getting away from him were not successful. There were so many people, so close yet so far. It was loud, dark, and I wanted to scream, but I didn't know what he would do. He had seemed so sweet, just ten minutes prior to this. But now, he was just the opposite. I was so new to this, and so naive. I should have listened to Kane. To my dad.

   "Kyler, please, don't," I tried again, as he shoved his hand down the front of my pants, touching me, holding me there with his other hand. Now, I knew I had to react, get away. I could not let him do this to me.

   "I said no!" I yelled, so loud that he actually froze for a second, and I took the chance to shove him back as hard as I could. His hand pulled out of my pants, but he only moved a couple of inches back. His eyes were on me, and I was scared to move.

   "I thought you were into me," he said calmly. "You wanted this."

   "I - I didn't," I said.

   "You did," he repeated.

  "I'm going to go find -"

  Kyler grabbed my arm again. My heart was racing and my only reaction was to kick him as hard as I could. I hit his shin and he released me, bending down to hold his leg. And then, I ran.