TWENTY-ONE

♥Lucille♥

Kiara, in the passenger seat, is humming. It's a little annoying—not because there's anything wrong with her, or the content of what she is humming, rather, it is very overstimulating.

Trying to navigate city traffic is hard on a regular day, but especially on Saturdays. This is something I've learned very quickly in my two months living here. It's almost been exactly two months, actually, being October 25th. Almost Halloween too.

We're driving to this "Fall Fair" that is being set up a couple towns outside of Brookline. Technically, it's called Fall Fest, but Kiara is refusing to call it by name. It's a reference I don't understand apparently. And I really don't.

"Stop humming." I sound less of a bitch in my head, but unfortunately it doesn't come out that way. "Sorry."

Kiara stops. "Nah, I get it. I can't even drive with music."

"You don't drive with music?!" Wow. How has this girl been living...

"You do?" She counters. "Then my humming shouldn't be an issue." Fair...

"I see your point but driving in a small beach town is very different from driving in a traffic-heavy city." I explain.

"At least it's not Boston. Or New York, for that matter. Couldn't drive anywhere."

"You're from Buffalo, right?"

"Mhm..." She says unenthusiastically. "Never visit, it's not special. Same for New York City."

"Wow, what do you have against the city? I've been a couple times. I always thought it was fascinating."

"Well you said it yourself. Small beach town versus skyscrapers..." She trails off.

"You're acting like I was sheltered on a foreign island." I roll my eyes. "You know, we went to NYC a couple years ago and saw a show on Broadway." I share, knowing she's a nerd when it comes to theatre. Maybe that's what the reference was...

"Really?" She seems to perk up at that. Dork. "I haven't even been to any. Too expensive. Plus I've only been once for an actual vacation. What show?"

"Hamilton—"

"Lucky bitch—sorry." She cuts me, and herself, off. "Did you like it?"

"Yeah, it was pretty cool." In all honesty, I was uninterested. History has always been my worst subject in school. Just the concept annoys me. But my dad is the opposite, which is why he pushed us to go see it. Said that if I'm not learning anything in American History class, I might as well learn through the art of theatre.

Kiara would get along with him. She'd get along really well with both my parents. Though, as long as everything works out, she's supposed to visit for Thanksgiving. That'll be nice.

"Was it the full original cast?" She asks.

"I think so? At least the majority of it. I really just enjoyed the story," Lie. "Didn't pay much attention to the actors or anything." True, actually.

"I'm jealous. Listen, Hamilton may not be my absolute favorite, but it's literally iconic."

"Well, I'll have to make sure you get to see it sometime. Or anything Broadway." Maybe I can get tickets nearby... I know there are a couple theaters in Boston that do performances with original casts. I'll look into it later...

"Literal dream date for me." She admits. Now I just have to get tickets of some kind. I may not be the biggest fan of theatre and musicals, but I do tend to be a fan of Kiara's happiness.

♥♥♥

We all decided to meet at a Dunkin' Donuts near the fair for lunch. I just got a coffee because—thanks to my father—I am now a caffeine—specifically coffee—addict. I didn't order any food. I intend on getting a giant bag of kettle corn from the fair. That will be my meal for the day.

Kiara ordered something sweet for her drink. I don't know what exactly it is, it was a lot of words I didn't understand. I really never go to any cafes or anything like that. Kiara clearly has some experience though. She ordered a bagel with cream cheese as well.

Deven also ordered a bagel as well as green tea. Lucas ordered a bacon, egg and cheese, though it's also on a bagel. He got coffee too.

"Deven, why do we never go to the cafe you work at?" Kiara asks them. "We always go to that other one that's like another ten minutes away."

"Because my coworkers are annoying heteros who make their love of the opposite sex their whole personality. It's also simply my job, and thus has negative connotation." They explain.

"Please expand on your hetero coworkers." Kiara says, laughing.

"Okay, so there's two chicks who work the counter with me, and they love men. It's literally all they talk about. They also talk about how many boyfriends they have at one time like it's a flex. And they don't even let me see! They show each other photos of these alleged hotties, and I don't get to see because they say I won't understand because I like women. And telling them that I do not, in fact, like women, does not feel safe considering the way they made fun of this lovely queer couple that had stopped by for some tea." They rant. "I'm going to quit."

"You said that last week" Lucas laughs softly. He has a cute smile. Dimples.

"Yeah, but my boss is never in the building and he blocked my number." Deven explains.

"He blocked your number..?" I ask.

"Yeah. I tried to call out sick one day, but apparently he didn't have my number saved so he thought I was a scam caller. Anyway, I'm done talking about this—I can't." They put their hands up. Their annoyance when it comes to this subject is evident. Damn.

Everyone else finishes their food and drinks. I finish my coffee too, but I order another just before we leave.

Then we head to the Fall Festival/ Fall Fair. Lucas got the reference apparently, but he and Kiara teamed up to gatekeep it from Deven and I.

♥♥♥

We're in a surprisingly large line to enter the festival. On top of the entry fee, we need to buy tickets in order to actually go on any of the rides. It's all a scam, really.

When we eventually get to the front, I pay for me and Kiara's entry and 4 tickets for each of us. We looked up online that there's only five rides that have been set up. One, of which, is the typical Teacups ride. We are not going on the Teacups. No discussion.

We also pay to go on the Haunted Hayride for later.

We start to walk around, finding our way through the terrible layout.

"You know a couple friends of mine invited me to this party that's going to be thrown next week on Halloween," Deven mentions, "I was told to invite friends so..."

"I'd be down, I'm sure my friends would be too." I say.

"Great. It'd be nice to have people to talk to when Deven's other friends drag them away" Lucas admits sheepishly.

"You know I was about to protest, but you probably have a point... Kiara?" Deven turns to her, as do I. She's been quiet since we got here. I guess it is pretty crowded...

"I mean..." Kiara hesitates. "Parties aren't really my thing, but I'll give it a shot."

"Didn't you go to a party back in August?" I remember running into her there. It was the first day we met.

"Yeah—I guess we never actually addressed this—but I left crying." She admits.

"What? Really? Why did you never mention it?" She never told me this... Deven doesn't seem surprised. She must have told them, but I wish I had known too...

"Because that was back when you hated me, so it didn't feel worth mentioning." She shrugs.

"Well, we don't have to go—"

"No," She cuts me off. "I'll have friends and a girlfriend with me this time. I'll give it a shot."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

♥♥♥

We go on the only actual roller coaster that has been set up. It's nothing crazy, but it's still fun. We also do the other available rides, saving the ferris wheel for last. It's actually perfect timing because the sun is starting to set.

We're waiting in line for a while, but we eventually get on. Deven and Lucas obtain their own cabin, as do me and Kiara. Kiara seems to visibly relax when we're in our own enclosed space. I should've been more mindful about her issues when it comes to crowds. Ugh, I feel bad.

"You were quiet today... You okay?" I'm 99% sure I already know the source of her issues, but it feels right to ask.

"Yeah. Just a lot of people everywhere."

"But not in here..." I smile softly at her.

"Right. Also, I do unfortunately need to kiss you when we reach the top." She smirks.

"You're such a cliche." I snort.

"We are literally a walking cliche... I'm trying to decide whether to call you princess right now, or a weasel."

"Okay, nope, I'm not kissing you." I turn my head away.

"I'm kidding!" She turns my head to face her.

We wait a few seconds until we're at the very top, and then she kisses me gently. She's always so gentle with it. It's sweet.

She keeps her hand on my cheek, and I take her free hand in one of mine.

We break away after a few moments, our lift going back down again.

"You're so pretty..." She mutters, still holding my face.

"You're prettier..."

"I would say you're the prettiest—which is true—but I don't think we need to be even more cliche."

God, I love when she makes me laugh... It's never even anything that funny, it's always just her being a massive dork.

The ferris wheel goes around two more times. We just watch the sunset this time, our pinkies intertwined. I'm not sure when that happened, but no complaints as per usual.

"Okay," Kiara says as we're reapproaching Deven and Lucas, who'd gotten off just before us. "We need to actually get food and snacks now. Especially you." She says to me. Right. I'd managed to forget my lack of breakfast and lunch with all the chaos here. I need kettle corn. ASAP.

It takes us a bit, but eventually we find a vendor who's selling it. Deven and Lucas had gone off elsewhere to find cotton candy. Kiara ends up paying out of the goodness of her heart. And also because it's surprisingly cheap.

Kiara said she doesn't like kettle corn, which would usually be a deal-breaker, but I suppose she can be an exception. Meanwhile, I'm devouring the massive bag. It's amazing in it's typical sweet, sweet glory.

♥♥♥

It's nearly dark outside as we're getting on the Haunted Hayride. I'm really not expecting it to be that scary since it's intended for kids, but it will surely be an experience.

We're sitting in a trailer, hooked up to a truck. The trailer is covered in hay, which we're supposed to sit on. It's so spiky. I hate hay.

There is a family with three kids on the ride with us too. The kids are very obnoxious. The boy, probably the eldest, is trying to convince probably the youngest girl that ghosts are real. The girl looks ready to burst into tears.

The other kid—probably the middle child—has a very uncaring look to her. This clearly isn't a rare occurrence. The parent's seem that way too.

Despite being older, I never harassed Quinn like this. Probably because I'd been the one harassed for the first ten years of my life.

Lucas looks ready to murder the annoying kid. Never thought I'd see him so angry. Either he has a low tolerance to noise, or he's a younger sibling who gets what it's like as well.

The ride is pretty tame throughout. Some dude in a mask runs out of the woods with a yell. It does manage it make me flinch, but, again, not all that scary. However, the annoying kid screamed. Hope he has nightmares.

After a long 15 minutes, we return and get off the trailer.

"Well that was a waste of twenty bucks." Deven says, stretching as our feet at back on the ground.

"That kid was really pissing me off..." Lucas mutters.

"Oh yeah. That kid needs to be given a harder time in terms of everything in life. He is not going places." Deven agrees. I nod.

"You guys are harsh." Kiara says.

We're all walking out to the parking lot now. I'm pretty tired already, Kiara seems to be too. We still have a good 30-45 minute drive back depending on traffic. At least Kiara's driving.

We wave goodbye to Deven and Lucas as they walk off to their ride. I think it's Deven's car.

I hop in the passenger seat as Kiara gets in the driver's side. I can tell she's tired too. Her social battery tends to run out way faster than mine.

"Wake me up when we're home. I need a power nap." I say, my arms crossed over my body as I lean back against the seat.

She sighs quietly. "Alright, nighty night."

"Dork." I snort, shutting my eyes.

"Weasel."

"We are not starting this again."

"Fine..." She agrees, though I think I hear her mutter something under her breath. I'm not sure what exactly, but I won't bother getting upset. Chances are, she just called me a weasel again.