Free On the Fringe by Courtney King Walker Page A

thousands of miniature lights. I turned to a smiling Drew, who was proudly waiting for my reaction, like he had dreamt up the entire place, himself.
    Okay, not a bad touch . Maybe it wouldn’t kill me to at least hold his hand.
    Together we walked inside the blue and white painted archway onto the platform, and checked out the vending machines stocked with postcards, toys, giant lollipops and mounds of cotton candy. The whole place smelled like buttery popcorn, sweets and peanuts, as if we’d stepped back in time and were visiting some traveling carnival. Everything looked and smelled somewhat familiar—and then I vaguely remembered having come here once when I was little.
    After paying the cashier, Drew immediately attacked a mass of neon blue cotton candy, while I fumbled to unwrap a rainbow-spiraled lollipop the size of my hand. He seemed oblivious to me, his face still buried in the fluff. As I tried to find some acceptable way of licking my giant-sized sucker without getting sticky all over my cheeks, my heart sped up for no reason.
    Sugar rush?
    The air felt heavy, pressing me into the ground, reminding me of the night I saw Daniel under the tree. I was pretty sure my sucker had nothing to do with it.
    Could it be? Again?
    I looked around, scanning the crowds for a familiar face in a sea of strangers. Drew eyed me curiously, now, his eyes popping out over the cotton candy. He looked like a cartoon—a cute one, no less, and I quickly took another lick while hiding behind my monster lollipop, struggling to act normal while my mind seemed to be playing tricks on me.
    Smiling faintly at Drew, I did my best to ignore the strange sensation, to convince myself that it was nothing. But no matter what, I couldn’t shake it, which made me even more annoyed at myself for dwelling so long on thoughts of Daniel. I’d already spent enough time obsessing over him, and the fact that I was out on a date was proof of my resolve. Or, so I thought .
    I finally gave up on the sticky monstrosity and tossed it in the trash, then hopped on the carousel with Drew, mounting an ivory horse with an angry face, nostrils flaring and golden streamers trailing down its mane. It was mid-gallop, and without question in the midst of a particularly intense race. It fit my mood perfectly.
    A few kids and teenagers joined us. Drew straddled a pink pot-bellied pig and made a goofy face while swinging his arms up and down, like he was racing. I smiled, but the show was mostly for the little kids, who were laughing hysterically at Drew’s every move. He seemed to eat up the attention.
    Music blared as we jerked forward, the lights blinding us. As it picked up speed, I let my head fall backward, trying to allow the lights, music and movement take hold of me like I was floating along a mesmerizing current, the wind softly blowing my hair.
    After a few turns, I glanced over at Drew, who was now wearing a cheesy grin with a bit of cotton candy stuck to his chin. That was when I knew for certain there was nothing romantic there. Sure, he was cute, and even gentlemanly—but it just wasn’t going to happen.
    The carousel began to slow, and I swayed as it pulled me along, the blurred scenery coming full circle again and again and again. About the fourth time around, a familiar face caught my attention, and my heart sped up when I realized it was Daniel.
    I watched him each time we spun by, but tried not to be obvious, mostly for Drew’s sake, but also for fear Daniel might bolt again if he knew I’d spotted him. But it was nearly impossible to look the other way. How could I not look? He was off in the far corner away from the bright lights, leaning against an out-of-order popcorn machine. This time he wore a pair of tan shorts and a different t-shirt with some sort of graphic pattern across the front, but the colors were muted and grey, making it difficult to pick out much detail. He seemed to blend into the wooden-planked wall behind him, like a