*

The bus ride to the carnival was filled with excited chatter. The twins practically climbed over chairs to talk to Estelle and Ava behind them. Bonnie sat in the front rocking out to music in her oversized headphones, and even Mia was running up and down the aisles, ignoring our protest when she nearly tumbled over when the bus slowed down at a red light.

Robyn sat across from Ava, despite sitting on her own she was all smiles, watching the glee from one face to the next. Alexis sat beside me, resting her head on my shoulder.

The Traveller Carnival was, believe it or not, a carnival known for travelling. They travelled to all states and occasionally went overseas to where they were welcomed. They set up wild rides and amazing store games, selling all types of fast foods and toys ranging from stuffed animals to goldfish that die on the car ride home.

When the bus started to pull into the parking lot for the carnival, it was full to the brim with cars and vans dropping off families and children and couples galore. "Are you going to be okay here?" I asked, tightening my hold on Alexis' hand.

She considered my question for a moment and nodded, "Yeah. I should be fine. Might be nauseating, but while everyone else goes on some of the more… terrifying rides, I'll happily just sit on the benches with Mia." At the mention of her name, Mia stopped her running, tugging on Alexis' sleeve to know what she was saying. Alexis smiled, "What do you reckon, shorty? You gonna try all the cotton candy flavours with me?"

Mia's face scrunched into a scowl as she stuck her tongue out before continuing down to her sister.

The air was thick with the smell of plastic popcorn and squeaky shoes. After waiting in a line that almost seemed longer than the parking lot, we paid the entrance fee and walked into the chaos of the carnival. It was a world of colour and noise, men on stilts dressed in candy stripes juggled large b.a.l.l.s as they pa.s.sed people, occasionally dropping one and having a child toss it back up to them. A girl dressed in a purple dress with bright pink sparkles and no shoes strolled past us hula hooping. When we managed to make it across the first path, we were almost run over by a line-up of parading bra.s.s players; trumpets, tubas, trombones to spare, blasted past us with saxophone players and clarinets.

Alexis and I stumbled against a wooden storefront, the moment our hands touched wood an overly happy gentleman bellowed, "Step right up, you two! First, throw if free to couples!" When I turned to face him, he placed a navy-blue ball in my hand, telling me to hit the ducks 'swimming' across the table. "If you hit the special duck, you get a prize for the lovely lady!"

I pegged the ball at a duck, managing to knock it over, of course, it was the wrong duck, and I only succeeded in winning a teddy bear keychain. Alexis ran her fingers over each little detail with a smile, "I love it."

The carnival ground was huge. No matter where we walked, I heard the squeals and screeches from roller coaster riders, the incessant giggling of children who were on teacup rides or talking to the wandering clowns. Occasionally I heard the chime of some of the games, watching as one came to life with flas.h.i.+ng orange and red lights.

Every staff member we ran into was a character of some kind. There were goofy clowns dressed in incredible colours, pretend zombies, witches and ghouls that staggered around the haunted mansion in search of souls to drag in with them to the haunted rides section. The ones in charge of food stands or game stands were dressed in red polo s.h.i.+rts and neat hair. My favourite was a man and a woman, virtual mirror images of one another side from gender, dressed in red ringleader uniform. They tipped their hats to pa.s.sers-by as they advertised their circus show time slots.

Estelle liked consulting the 'princesses' walking around, once challenging one to a walk-off. Smartly, the princess declined but did give Estelle a plastic tiara for her confidence and princess-like knowledge. "I don't need this," she said later, "I have a collection of real ones."

"Can I wear it then?" Amada asked.

Estelle held it to her chest, "No. Mine!" She fitted it on her head.

We all shared a laugh. Slowly, we all parted ways in groups of two or three, deciding to meet for the circus performance for 2:00pm. The twins and Estelle wanted to go through the Sp.o.o.py-Boo Scary Haunting Ride, set up as an early Halloween treat.

Robyn linked arms with Ava and signed, eventually pointing to a store game. Exchanging a smile, the pair walked over to the game.

"Nice to see them getting along," I stated.

Alexis rubbed her eyes. "What?"

"Ava and Robyn," I informed. I looked at Alexis, "Having fun?"

"My eyes are sore," she confessed, "But I love the ambience."

"Looks like not everyone is," I remarked. I looked over to Bonnie, who had followed her sister over to a bench. Mia's eyes darted around, her head jerking from one side to the other to react to a ride noise or a side-show band that played or a child who screamed because they wanted ice-cream. Everything overwhelmed her.

I approached the pair as Bonnie handed Mia a water bottle. "She okay?" I asked as I squatted before her.

"Bit of a sensory overload," Bonnie informed as she rummaged through her bag, "She'll be fine." Bonnie held out some oversized headphones. I recognised them from the black insignia on the side to be noise cancelling. She fitted them on Mia, who continued drinking from her water bottle in silence.

"I thought she was excited to come to the carnival," Alexis said, sitting next to Mia and putting a friendly arm around her.

"She is," Bonnie a.s.sured while she zipped up her backpack, "But it turns out a lot of shady stuff happens at the carnival then we originally thought."

I raised a brow, "What do you mean?"

"Mia noticed a lot of the games are rigged," Bonnie informed, "And then from there she noticed when people were having tantrums, then freaked out when she heard something creaking, and she saw one of the performers break character. Just a bunch of stuff." Bonnie waved a dismissive hand. "Once she notices one thing wrong, she kinda s...o...b..a.l.l.s. She'll be fine once she calms down."

Mia crossed her legs, slightly calmer but she scanned the grounds with wide eyes. "Does that happen often?" I asked.

Bonnie nodded, "Yeah. She notices a lot of stuff. It just doesn't usually overwhelm her so much."

Alexis distracted Mia with the keychain I won for her. Mia pulled at its limbs and poked at its b.u.t.ton eyes. "Are you able to go on any rides, Bonnie?" I asked.

Bonnie shook her head, "Nothing that takes me off the ground. Health and safety issues," Bonnie rolled her eyes, "And if my parents ever found out, I'd be locked in a hospital for the rest of my life."

I chuckled as I rose. "So, what're you going to do then?"

"There's a lot of shows and stuff. And," she turned rummaged through her pockets and showed off her Basic Bucket List, "I'm gonna try and tick some of these off. I need to win a prize at the hammer smas.h.i.+ng thingy, without any help, and sit in the first row of a circus performance." She slapped the paper triumphantly, "For once, this wheelchair will not be such an inconvenience for my bucket list. Ha! Vamonos, Mia!"

Despite the headphone, Mia reacted like she had heard it, and hopped off the bench. She jogged by her sister as they made their way towards the non-ride related fun.

I sat beside Alexis, who was playing with the clip on the bear. "Any rides you're not allowed on?" I asked.

As I spoke a group of girls, I recognised from our school wandered past. At the sight of me, they gave me some cutesy waves, one brave enough to greet me by name on their way past. I made the mistake of awkwardly responding. Alexis gave me a playful leer.

"What?"

"'Oh, hi Landon,'" she cooed like the girls that went past, "'Oh Landon, you're so handsome and sweet and such a catch!'" She linked arms with me and continued to tease those girls' high pitch voices. "How on earth do girls not just take you right here on this benchtop?"

I pushed her by the face away from me, trying not to laugh. "You know they didn't mean anything by it."

"If you say so, stud," Alexis countered.

Her tone wasn't as playful as it could be. I nudged her gently, "Hey, don't get salty."

"I'm not," she muttered crossing her arms.

"Alexis," I took her hand in mine and interlocked our fingers, "I'm yours until you graduate, remember?"

Alexis cracked a smile. "You make yourself sound like a rent-boy."

"What? Do you want me to flirt with other girls?" I chuckled.

"No way, I own your a.s.s," Alexis joked as she elbowed me.

I laughed. "Alright, alright. What do you want to do? Go on the merry-go-round? The Ferris Wheel?"

Alexis paused. "How about the tunnel?" she suggested.

I frowned. "The Tunnel?"

Alexis nodded. "Yeah. The Tunnel. We're in the dark, on a boat, close together. Very intimate." As she spoke, she put an arm around her shoulder and smirked.

I sucked in my lips, trying and failing to hide my smirk. "Alright, let's go."

"Yay!" We stood in unison.

*

I wished I was blind during the Tunnel. While the music was fine, and the place smelt like strawberries and fog machines, the so-called romantic interior was horrifyingly tacky. What little light there was had a dark pink tone, casting a circle of light onto love hearts, pictures of cupid, hanging angels, a c.r.a.p tonne of sparkles. Occasionally there was the uncanny statue of a realistic person, and, even more frighteningly, a real person dressed as a 'G.o.d of Love' to throw rose petals at each boat.

When the ride was coming to an end, there was a thick black curtain covering the exit. When we approached, I felt bubbles popping on my skin and a blinding flash of a camera.

How romantic.

I held the overexposed picture of the two of us outside the Tunnel. Alexis looked fine, while I looked like I had smelt something terrible.

Alexis chuckled at my disappointment. "Don't worry, babe. I think you look great," she a.s.sured when she rested her chin on my shoulder to 'see' our photo.

I managed an awkward sideways kiss to her nose. "Alright, so what next? We can probably fit in two more rides before-"

"Landon!" I heard them before I saw them.

"Was that Amada?" Alexis asked, pulling away from me.

I nodded, "Yeah but I can't see him."

"Me neither," Alexis added.

"Landon!" Estelle snuck up on me and piggybacked me.

I yelped in surprise and braced myself on the ground, managing to catch the princess and stand upright. "I need a little more warning than that, Pastries," I snapped, gripping her legs and readjusting her.

"Play Go-Karts with us," she demanded in my ear.

"Estelle reckons she can beat us," Amada informed. I turned and saw the twins standing side by side.

"But we're totally better Go-Karters then her!" Amia pouted.

"Am not. I am the Queen of Karting!" Estelle punched the air to make her point, lop-siding the both of us.

"Yeah? Well, I'm the King of Mario-Kart!" Amada countered, making some swaggering gestures that made everyone smirk.

"Look at you Mr c.o.c.ky," Estelle smiled sliding off my back. "Let's make it interesting. You win," she poked him in the chest, "I'll give you a real tiara. I win, you give me your Raiders of Dungeons username and pa.s.sword for the whole weekend." She lifted her chin and gave him a smug expression.

While a bizarre and lopsided arrangement from my perspective, Amia tugged on her brother's sleeve like this was serious. "You sure you want to be doing that, Amada?" she asked, "Think of your friends on there, how much of a noob Estelle is."

Estelle seemed to take great pride in being called a noob.

Amada, with a straight face and determination, said, "I want that tiara, Amia."

That caused a round of laughter between us. "You wanna play, Landon?" Amia asked.

I looked to Alexis, who nodded, telling me she'd happily listen from the sidelines.

When we wandered over, I head-locked Amada to get his attention. "Hey buddy," I said, trying to hide my mild concern, "Why do you want a tiara?"

Amada smoothed down his hair and shrugged, "It's not for me if that's what you're worried about," his tone was playful, but it pinged in my chest that he had seen through my façade, "I need a birthday present for Amia. Figured a tiara isn't a terrible present, but Estelle won't let me buy one from her."

I frowned, "I didn't know Amia was into that kind of stuff."

"She's a big softie," Amada admitted, "And even if she doesn't like it, it'll be the greatest gag gift to her wannabe butch exterior." He punched me in the arm before running up to join his sister.

On the way over, we ran into Bonnie and Mia, who were water pistoling a tower of cups for a giant rabbit. Mia offered to trade the pink rabbit for Alexis' keychain.

"No, Mia. Landon gave it to me," Alexis informed.

Mia stomped her foot. "I know," she expressed with sign, "That's why I want it."

To satisfy Mia, I had to win her something too. And after two dollars' worth of turns, where I was throwing ping pong b.a.l.l.s into clown's mouths, I managed to win Mia a mini teddy bear holding a book. "Now we're matching," Alexis said when Mia let her hold the bear.

The Go-Kart ring was a large oval with a dozen different colour carts for everyone to drive around for five minutes a turn. After a few rounds, we got to the front of the line, to which Mia was told she was too short to cart alone, so she got to sit with me much to her delight, and we sat in our carts awaiting them to start.

On the side, Bonnie and Alexis watched on, Bonnie waving at Mia a few times while we waited.

As I scanned the outline of the Go-Kart ring, I saw Ava and Robyn, who had spotted Bonnie and Alexis and was walking over.

I caught glimpses of the conversation as the man supervising sounded the alarm to ready our Go-Karts. The ring was surrounded by a white picket fence which the girls were leaning on as they chatted with one another. Something that caught my eye was so minuscule that I almost missed it.

Ava was talking to Bonnie and Alexis on her left side, Robyn stood on her right, arm linked, hands together in a tight interlocked hold. Ava almost seemed unaware that they were doing that, while Robyn seemed hyperaware, checking every few seconds to see if Ava would notice.

Mia jabbed me in the side when I wouldn't help her get the cart going. We pursued Estelle, determined to help Amada win his tiara.

The highlight of the day was the circus act. This act followed a strange, surreal story that mirrored Alice in Wonderland, in that a little girl, defined by nothing more than a dark blue hat, was watching TV with her neglectful parents behind her. Suddenly, the TV started 'talking' to her, and slowly a the ringleader brought out his hand to take the girl to a more exciting world.

The world was full of purples, blues and reds. As the character navigated the new world, they discovered trapeze artists, fire breathers, ribbon dancers, clowns and amazing dancers. At one point a man commanded a dozen dogs to do tricks and routines, much to Mia's enjoyment. All the while, the girl would interact with each act until the final act; tightrope.

The tightrope was terrifying to witness. The only light available was a pink spotlight on the girl as she took ballet steps across the rope. Everything below and around was shrouded in complete darkness. In the end, the girl fell halfway through, having not made it to the other side, disappearing into the night. All the lights came back on, showing the girl on the ground, having fallen to her death. Initially, I thought that was the end of the circus story; the parents crying for the daughter they ignored. It was dark.

But the parents were dismissed, and the ringleader emerged from the shadows, bringing her back to life and ending the show with an amazingly chaotic array of all the different performances going at once. Amidst the distraction, the girl disappeared amongst them, and they vanished. End of the show.

When we emerged from the tent, it was mid-afternoon, but everyone was ready to go home. While I sorted out the bus, I watched Ava and Robyn approach a popcorn stand. Ava started the pat down routine in search of her wallet, only for Robyn to buy a large bucket of popcorn.

"Robyn, it's too much," Ava said as Robyn accepted the treat.

Robyn shook her head, smiling, "Don't be silly. It's just popcorn," she signed.

Ava stifled a scoff. "You haven't let me pay for anything today," she said as they walked back to the group.

Robyn took a handful of popcorn before pa.s.sing it around to the girls. "Today is just about fun," Robyn a.s.sured between mouthfuls, barely managing to sign with one hand without dropping her treats. "Besides, this is a 'sorry for costing you your job' thing."

Ava sighed, "Is that what this day was about?"

Robyn shrugged, "I don't know. In part."

Ava grinned, clasping both of Robyn's hands and saying slowly, "You owe me nothing, Robyn." She bit down on her lip, her eyes trying to look away, only for Ava to hold her chin and make Robyn look at her. "Nothing," she mouthed with a solemn head shake. Robyn became bashful, prompting Ava to let her go.

The man on the other end answered the phone, startling me as I organised the bus.