Gypsy Girl and Horse Lovin' Boys (10 page)

We held hands and quietly walked down the paths that were emptying of people. We intentionally avoided the Caravan. As we were heading closer to the side of the carnival where the one carnie worked, I stopped.

“What is it?”

“I don’t want to go by the games. The carnies are too pushy over there.”

Josh looked in that direction and then at me. He rested his hand against the small of my back. I inhaled. When he touched me there, I wanted to melt. He guided me towards the large animal barn where the cows and alpacas were kept.

“I don’t like most big animals, you know.” I grabbed his arm.

“We aren’t going there. There’s a trail you can’t see very easily from here.”

“Where does it go?” I slowed even more.

“There’s a paved path along the river that leads to the RV Park. We can go that way without running into everyone we know.”

He led me to an unlit dirt trail that met an asphalt-covered path with yellow marks down the center like a road. “This is a bike path that goes on for miles along the river. In the daytime it gets a lot of traffic.” Josh took a step back and pulled me with him as a couple of people on bikes with front flashing lights sped past us in the dark. “It still gets traffic at night too.” His fingers linked in mine.

“So what do you do when you’re not performing the show?” Josh asked as we walked slowly along the path near the river.

“We have a couple more places to go before we go back to Arizona to my uncle’s home. Unless he’s moved again. He’s real paranoid about the government knowing too much about him. We’ll park there and live in the house with him while he works on the Caravan and mom will get all our school lined out. She has me doing online classes now that I’m in high school and I think she’s about to start Cessie too. It makes it easier for her to make up new stories for the next summer’s shows and she can schedule them too. She likes to make sure we visit new places and she’ll also look into booking the ones that we want to return to.”

“Do you think she’ll come back here next year?”

“It depends on how well we do. I’ll try to talk her into it. She lets us give her some input sometimes.”

“Good because I hate the thought of never seeing you again.” He sat against a giant boulder next to the path, picked up a rock, and tossed it in the river.

We heard the splash when the rock hit the water before the river shushed us as it rushed by. The carnival rides in the distance lit up the sky just above the trees that lined the path.

I shivered from the chill of being near the river, stuck my hands in my pockets, and kicked at a twig on the ground in front of me. When I looked up at Josh, his eyes were glassy, and he sniffed. A heavy weight settled into my chest as I turned to stand in front of him. I took his hat off and placed it on my head backwards. I held his face.

“Why are you so worried about me not coming back? I’m not the only girl that will ever discover you’re lovable. Who knows what will happen over this next year. We’re only sixteen. You can have loads of good luck with girls this year. Here’s some advice, don’t try so hard to show off. When you’re like this and the way you were when we were having dinner, you win my heart. When you are making a spectacle of yourself, you
are
a lot of fun. But I like the quiet thoughtful you much more.”

A tear escaped the corner of his eye. He tried to turn away but I wouldn’t let him. I wiped it away with my thumb. He pushed my hand away.

“You’ll probably run with my fantastic advice and next year you’ll have had all these girlfriends. When I show up, I’ll take away the time that you could be spending with girls you could date longer than a week. Or you could wind up not interested in me because you finally have a steady girlfriend. Then what’ll happen is I’ll be back to having no friends except Cessie. That’s how it usually is anyway.”

“I’d never let that happen.”

“Guys always say stuff and make promises like that when they’re feeling all the things. When those feels go away after I’m gone, you won’t remember those promises when something better comes along. There are lots of girls better than me.” I rubbed my chest, hoping to make the giant ache go away.

Josh’s hands fell to my hips. He pulled me closer and hugged me around my waist. “What makes you think I wouldn’t keep that kind of promise?”

“Because men always make promises they intend to keep but don’t.” Now I wanted to pull away. “My dad always said he loved me and misses me. Now he only meets his financial obligations. Every promise he made to come see me because he missed me so much, he broke. If he really loved me, he wouldn’t do that every single time.”

“I understand those promises and why they are so important to keep. My parents have done the same. I won’t break my promise.” He rested his forehead against mine. “But your heart isn’t mine to make that kind of promise to, is it?” His mouth turned up a little to the side, but there was no humor in it.

“No,” I answered. I tugged on the collar of his shirt before I ran my hands down his chest. My mind was all muddled with confusing thoughts. I pressed my hand against his heart. It pounded so hard and fast. Mine started to race too. I bit my upper lip. I really liked Noah more even though I still hadn’t heard anything from him. His silence created a nagging pain that had been building all night. Josh was so sincere about how much he liked me. He also had no one to compare me to, unlike Noah. In that way I was more like Josh and recalled all too well how much I wanted Noah to like me so much that he would kiss me. Josh and I were still sort of pretending but if things started differently, perhaps I might have picked him.

He stopped holding me so tight.

I swallowed hard. “I don’t want to end tonight with any regrets.” I looked Josh in the eye. “I don’t want to go home right now and then leave on Monday wishing things were different or that I had given you more of a shot.” My hands started to tremble a little. I steadied them on his shoulders. “This has to stay between you and me.” I waited for him to nod. He gave me a confused look instead. “A secret between friends. I might even be a little crazy right now.” My heart was about to pound out of my chest. “Will you keep a secret? One you can’t even tell Noah? That’s most important.” I was about to lose my nerve.

When Josh finally caught on, he nodded, and drew in a deep breath.

I had never been the first to initiate a kiss before. I leaned in, turning my head slightly when my lips met his. So soft was his kiss. My hand slid up to his cheek then onto the back of his neck. The short hairs prickled my fingers. I gently kissed him again. His hands were in my hair and he pulled me closer. I melted onto his chest as we kissed some more. I opened my eyes when I pulled away.

Josh kept his eyes closed, pressed his lips together, and was breathing fast. When he finally opened them, he pulled me close tucking his head beside my neck. He inhaled before kissing under my ear and whispered, “Thank you.” He held me tighter and it felt like he never wanted to let me go. I was all right with that. He also smelled really good.

We were quiet for some time with only the river shushing everything around us as if it was helping keep our secret. I clenched my fists when my hands wouldn’t stop shaking. I didn’t want to have regrets over never kissing Josh. However, not telling Noah might be something I’d struggle with. My phone vibrated in my pocket and it made me jump.

Noah: Sorry for not texting. Missed u. Family is gone. Did u and J have fun at Weird Al?

It took everything I had to not burst into tears and ruin the time I had spent with Josh. More like being sneaky. I didn’t know what to say. Josh looked at the screen.

“He has incredible timing, doesn’t he?” He rubbed my arm.

I looked at him speechless.

He took the phone from me and texted. He showed me what it said.

Me: Had a blast. Missed u 2.

He waited for me to nod before he sent it.

“Do you regret kissing me now?” Josh handed the phone back to me.

“No, of course not. That was unexpected, though.”

“If you run into him when we walk back, will you fall apart?” He pulled me close to him again.

“You didn’t make me kiss you.”

“Did you do it because you felt sorry for me?” He let me go when that revelation struck him.

“No. I really like you. I’m just confused now.” I paced the path and made some hasty decisions about my feelings. I pushed Josh back onto the rock. “All right. I like you and I like Noah a lot. If neither one of you had tried so hard to flirt with me and wound up just being my friends, I’d be fine with that too. This whole boyfriend stuff just gets messy.” I grabbed fistfuls of his shirt. “There are only a few days left. I want to make the most of it. Kissing you was just as nice as kissing Noah. Don’t make this complicated and don’t mess up our perfect night. You weren’t the third wheel, you were my one and only tonight and I loved every minute of it.” I kissed him again, pressing my lips hard against his. “Now the clock is about to strike twelve and you’ll just be the side-kick comic-relief friend again. Are you okay with that?
 

“I’m going to have to be, aren’t I?”

“If you want to stay my friend forever after this, yes.” I put my hands on my hips and tapped my foot.

He laughed at me. “I won’t ruin any of this.” He covered his mouth and pushed off the rock. I knew he was remembering our kiss.

My phone vibrated again. It was Mom asking if I was behaving myself.

“What should I tell her?” I giggled. I was full of mischief making all of a sudden.

“Of course you are.” He tugged my hair. “We need to head back, don’t you think? Before Noah gets suspicious.”

I texted Mom that I’d be home soon and nodded to answer Josh.

“Wait. Won’t it look weird if we go this way to the RV park?” I stopped Josh once we started walking.

“Right, we should go back the way we came.”

We were on the path that led back to the Caravan when I told Josh I was close enough and he could head back to the RV Park. He hugged me goodbye. I was still wearing his hat so I took it off and placed it back on his head, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and waved as I walked away. I was halfway home before he jogged off. Hearing a noise nearby, I checked to see if he had changed his mind, returning for one more kiss, but he was gone.

Someone grabbed me from behind, slamming my back against the brick wall of a maintenance building. I thought at first maybe Noah had caught me. I screamed when it was the carnie.

He covered my mouth and yanked my hair. “Shut-up. It’s my turn, gypsy girl.” The carnie slammed me against the wall again, knocking the wind out of me. He grabbed me around my middle, trapping my arms. His other hand covered my mouth, holding my head tight against his shoulder as he carried me back to the river.

There was no one around because it was so late. I gasped for air, not able to scream or fight back from the impact on my back. As soon as he had me on the paved path near the river, I was able to struggle. He wasn’t that much bigger than I was but he was determined.

I screamed as loud as I could. With the trees and the river drowning me out, I knew it was pointless to wait for rescue. He smelled of alcohol and some other horrible stink came from his mouth. Maybe it was rotted teeth. A few of them were black. I arched my back forcing him to take a few backward steps and then curled forward making him lose his balance. He loosened his grip. I grabbed his arm, swung him away from me, and ran. He caught up to me fast on the path. I darted through the trees, running down to the riverbed, and slid in the mud with each step I took. Splashing deeper into the water, I ran along the river’s edge, spraying water everywhere. I screamed for help but it only slowed me down and he was keeping pace with me in the tree line. I tried running across the river to the other side. The water deepened rapidly and the current was strong. I didn’t want to be swept away. It was too hard to run in deep water and I wasn’t faring well. I changed direction and ran along the water’s edge. He was in the water chasing after me. I turned to the side as he lunged for me. He missed, but I lost my balance and struggled to stay on my feet. The carnie stumbled into deeper water, nearly falling in. I screamed again once I was out of the water, running through the trees. He tackled me and I landed hard in the dirt.

Kicking and struggling flat on my stomach, I wasn’t able to fight him off. What good was an Avengers shirt if you couldn’t act like one? I slid my knee underneath me, pushed up and was able to elbow him in the sternum. He backed off as he gasped. Finally someone finally yanked him off me the rest of the way.

I rolled over, pulling my shirt down, and gasped for air. It took me a minute to focus on Josh as he punched the carnie. He ran after the guy once he took off. I struggled to my feet and wavered where I stood, suddenly all alone in the dark.

When Josh returned, I almost tackled him, burying my face in his neck as I sobbed.

He stroked my hair and kissed my face. “I’m so, so very sorry I didn’t walk you all the way home. There was no one around when I left, though. I’m so sorry.”

“What happened?” Noah stood only a few feet away.

“Here, take her while I go find the guy that did this to her.” Josh’s voice was shaky as he handed me to Noah. I clung to him and cried even harder. My tears weren’t only for what had almost happened to me, it was so much more.

Noah ran his hand through my hair. “Oh my gosh. You’re soaking wet.”

“My back really hurts,” I said through my sobs.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” He held me out in front of him to look me over. “Your face is bleeding some.” Noah took off his button down shirt and used it to dab my face. He dried my tears with it too.

Frick, he looked really hot in just a T-shirt. That made me weepy all over again.

“How did you find me?” I asked.

Noah hugged my shoulder against his as he walked me out of the woods, back onto the path. He brushed off the dirt and leaves that covered my shirt.

“Bree found me and told me someone was attacking you.” He looked me over again in the light. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

My stomach stung and so did my legs. I lifted my shirt. I had a few scratches and my legs were bleeding a little. “How bad is my face?”

“It looked worse with the blood. It’s not that bad. Just a couple of scratches. Probably from a tree.”

I nodded. “I don’t want my mom to know.”

“Why not?”

“It’ll cause a lot of trouble. We just need to tell his supervisor. He’ll make sure to call the police. They’re really good at taking care of those things when they need too.” I was making stuff up. However, there would be a big investigation if I called. It would show up on a report when Mom applied to other gigs. Also if Mom knew, she wouldn’t let me out of her sight for the rest of the week. “You guys got to me in time. I’m fine.”

“I don’t want that guy around trying to hurt you again.” Noah held out his shirt for me to put on.

I shivered as I slipped my arms through the sleeves. I actually wasn’t cold. Holding his shirt tightly closed, I hugged it to my chest. I didn’t need to press the fabric against my nose to know it smelled like him.

“Are you telling the truth that he didn’t do anything to you?” Noah asked, pulling me close.

“You guys got here in time. If it were a few minutes later it might have been a different story.”

“Josh got here in time. I didn’t do anything.” Noah reached for his hat but it wasn’t there. He ruffled up his hair in frustration.

“Josh was able to go after him once you got here. He bloodied that guy’s nose before he took off too.”

“That’s good. Josh is a good fighter. I probably wouldn’t have impressed you as much as he did.” Noah shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged.

I pulled on his arm and draped it around my shoulders again. “I don’t need you to impress me. I just need you to be where you are right now.” I leaned against him as he walked me to the RV Park.

Rachel and Bree waited at the end of the path.

“Have you seen Josh?” Noah asked.

“We thought he was still with you guys,” Rachel answered.

“He went after the carnie. Maybe I should go see if I can help him. Will you get something so Sera can clean up before we take her home? She doesn’t want her mom to know.”

“Sure,” Rachel said.

If I wasn’t already exhausted from the scare, I would have taken off. The last thing I wanted was to be left with those two.

They were nothing but nice to me as they brought me a towel and a washrag. Bree handed me a hairbrush.

“You kind of look like you had a roll in the hay.” Bree giggled and then stopped. “Sorry that might not have been as funny as I thought it was.” She picked out a few pieces of dried grass from my hair. “By the way, I’ve been meaning to tell you that I just love all your shoes.”

“Thanks. These were my favorite and they’ll never be the same. How did you know I needed help?” I tugged on the soggy brown shoelaces.

They were both quiet. Rachel nudged Bree’s arm.

Bree started to fidget. “We really weren’t planning on getting you in trouble. We had been tailing Kelly. She’s up to something but we’d lost her when we saw you walking from the concert with Josh, heading for the river. We didn’t follow you for long because we heard Kelly talking to someone nearby. We never saw who it was. We didn’t want to get caught. Then we had to hide from you guys again when you were heading home, we saw you kiss Josh. The next thing we knew, that carnie attacked you, and we both ran to get help.”

“Why did it take Josh so long to get to me? He shouldn’t have been that far.”

“Kelly was talking to him. We had to be careful and didn’t want her to know we had been watching you and Josh. She would have told Noah right away. We’ve had enough of Kelly’s games. So I lured Josh away from Kelly and Rachel found Noah.”

“Is Kelly around now?” I asked, afraid she might be eavesdropping.

“No.” Rachel smiled. “When we stopped doing what she wanted, she didn’t want to have anything to do with us. I don’t know where she went but she’s not here.”

“She probably found one of the boys from the other club to feel sorry for her,” Bree said.

“Probably.” Rachel nodded.

I didn’t want to wear my squishy shoes. I also didn’t want to borrow any from the girls. Wringing out my socks was all I did before putting them back on. I rubbed I eyes. My poor shoes were totally beyond salvaging all coated in mud. How would I explain that mess to my mom?

Josh and Noah walked down the path together as Josh threw punches at the air and carried on about his heroics.

“We found him and we told his supervisor all about what happened. He’s going to call the police. They may need to talk to you still. Especially because he harassed you more than once. But when we told him we weren’t sure you wanted to do that, he said he had some dirt on the guy that could at least get him put away in the meantime,” Josh said.

“He said for you to be prepared though. Just in case.” Noah squeezed my shoulder.

I nodded. He pulled me up on my feet and hugged me. “It’s going to be all right.”

I buried my face in Noah’s shoulder when I saw Josh’s face fall.

“Let’s get you home.” Noah guided me away from the campsite. I glanced back to the girls to wave. Josh stuffed his hands in his pockets and turned away.

I wiped my eyes again.

“Are you sure you’re going to be all right?” Noah rubbed my back as we walked.

“I’m fine, I guess. You hurt my feelings when you didn’t text me about not being able to see me.”

Noah hung his head.

“And you should have told me what a problem your mom was. That is unless Josh was lying to me to cover for you.”

“No, she really is that bad. It’s just mortifying to have a mom that meddles in everyone’s business so much. I wasn’t thinking things through. Not at all. I’m sorry I worried you.”

“It doesn’t take away that I imagined the worst. That you were embarrassed by me.” I swallowed the new lump in my throat and folded my arms. I was still wearing his shirt and I clenched it in my fists, telling myself not to blow it with him.

“I’m not.” He rubbed his head, messing up his hair. “Never. She’s just nuts. How was I supposed to tell you I swore off girls because my mom scares them all away?”

We were at the Caravan way too soon.

He looked at my shoulders as he rested his hands on them. “This shirt looks really nice on you.” He smiled his most adorable smile. “If it helps anything, I couldn’t stop thinking about you all night.”

I leaned against his chest and gazed up at him. Because he didn’t have his hat on for once or hat hair, his lose dark curls and wayward hairs were illuminated around his head by the light on the telephone pole. It looked as if he had a halo. I hoped I hadn’t grown horns. I tucked my arms against my chest as he held me, keeping me warm. He leaned in for kiss. I closed my eyes not letting any tears seep out again. When his lips met mine, my heart raced while a heavy brick landed in the pit of my stomach. I didn’t want him to stop kissing me. However, I wanted to stop the little comparisons I was making about the boys’ kisses that decided to lurk on the edges of my mind.

“See you tomorrow, Gypsy Girl,” he whispered, kissing my forehead.

“See you tomorrow, Cowboy.” I waited by the door as he walked away. After I went in once I couldn’t see him anymore, I held his shirt up against my nose, inhaling deeply with my eyes closed as I leaned against the wall. It was as if he’d never left.

Noah texted me after I cleaned up and climbed into bed.

Noah: U ok?

Me: Will be eventually

Noah: Meet at 8 with Cessie?

Me: Sure

Cessie still hadn’t ridden in a saddle on a horse yet. Noah was going to make good on his promises to her. I couldn’t look at his text anymore. He was too good for me.