Page 42

I turn to see Lindy walking up with a cart full of books.

Willow leans over the counter on her forearms. “Nothing I can’t handle. You know how he gets.”

Now, I had so many questions about that situation.

She turns to me. “Now, have you already prepared your outfit for this weekend?”

EIGHT

“Mom, is Neena there yet?” I asked my mom on speaker phone as I lotioned my body.

“She’s about an hour out.”

I put on my robe that Marie bought me and sit on my bed.

“Now, tell me about your plans tonight love.” my moms ask me.

The flyer I snatched from the local food shop sat on my desk like a little warning. The orange of the page is a beautiful picture of burnt ember.

“I’m going to the fair tonight.”

“Ooooo a fair? That sounds fun.” she replies.

“Yes, it’s the one we went to last year.”

“Oh, with Willow?”

“Yes. I didn’t get to stay last year the whole time though.”

She hums. “And why not?”

I set my phone down, and went over to my dresser to pull my undergarments out.

“They have this weird thing where it turns into a haunted carnival or something like that at eight.”

“A what?”

I slip on my underwear as I keep talking. “Yeah, it’s the fair like usual and then they turn the lights off and stuff and make it into a haunted attraction of some sort.”

“Wait.” my mom says.

I stop.

“What?”

“What is the name of this thing?”

I walk over to the paper.

“The Summers End Fair & Circus.”

She stays silent.

I sit the paper back down.

“Mom?”

I check the phone to make sure she was still on.