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I grit my teeth. “Right, I can help.”
With doubt swirling in my mind, I allow her to move us further away from our original point of contact. Any hope of getting back in time to meet Johan has vanished.
This had better be the right choice.
As we pass the various colored strobe lights and ease our way toward the larger rides, I notice a slight sheen of sweat on the girl’s forehead. Tiny bits of her hair stick to her skin, forming something of a delicate, lacy frame around her face.
Her cheeks are flushed, likely from the panic of losing her direction, but I can only describe her look as angelic.
I notice that she straightens her back deliberately every few minutes as if she’s used to making herself smaller for other people. She wants to appear more imposing for me, or at least more present.
But why?
Now that I’ve noticed her organic, home-grown beauty, I struggle to look away from her at all. I steal a few glances toward her face, noting a constellation of freckles scattered across her nose. From what I can see, her eyes are a deep green, complimenting the auburn tint in the loose waves of her hair.
At this point, I strongly suspect I’m with the wrong person. This mistake has the potential to ruin me if I don’t recover quickly enough, but I can’t leave this poor girl stranded.
I might as well persevere onward, at least until I know she’s safe. With someone like Johan slinking around these fairgrounds, I’d be hesitant to leave anyone alone here.
Not to mention, she doesn’t appear to be particularly enthusiastic to find the friends she mentioned. She’s kept her eyes straight ahead, glancing up at me here and there to gauge my expression.
She’s nervous about something.
Is she one of Johan’s contacts after all? Does she know that he has something planned?
I’m blowing this all out of proportion. Even if Johan were just blowing me off, I doubt very much that this poor college student would have anything to do with it.
A cacophony of screams echoes throughout the grounds once more as we draw near to the bigger rides. I figure we’re almost where we need to be, but something inside me wants to stay close to this girl for just a bit longer.
4
Vera
“So, who’s Johan? Did he go to West High School? I went there for two years, but I left when I got a scholarship to the prep school,” I say, hoping that some grand misunderstanding will reveal itself and I’ll be released from this situation.
The man I’ve been walking with for the past twenty minutes glances over his shoulder, then at me.
“No, I doubt it,” he says, his expression just as confused and lost as I feel.
If this guy isn’t fairground staff, who the hell is he? And why is he wearing a suit?
As details begin to come together, I realize that I’ve been allowing a random overdressed man to follow me around a huge fair with no phone. No wonder my mother cried the day I left for college. She knows I have no common sense whatsoever.
“Wait, you don’t work here, do you?” I ask, almost too scared to hear the answer.
He pauses awkwardly before shaking his head.
“Dammit, this sucks,” I say, grabbing the roots of my hair in frustration. “I’m sorry I dragged you away from whatever you were doing. I thought you could help me.”
He shrugs his broad shoulders, his puzzled expression melting into a mildly empathetic look. “Hey, we might be close enough to the ride that I can just take you the rest of the way,” he suggests, doing the best he can to sound like he doesn’t want to kidnap me.
He’s mostly succeeding, and the idea of walking around the fair with someone so attractive and imposing fills me with a sense of excitement that I haven’t felt organically in months.
I regulate my rapid breaths before responding, desperate not to appear over-eager. “Um, okay, I guess we can do that.”
He shrugs, offering me his hand.
“I don’t understand,” I say, studying the hand as if it has eyes.
