Gypsy Girl and Horse Lovin' Boys (2 page)

Friday

The first day of the fair felt like the first day of school. However, it had been years since I had been to public school. Butterflies flittered in my stomach in anticipation of the first show. Once that one was out of the way, I would ease into the routine of several shows during the day and use up all the free time I had checking out the vendors, the food, and the kiddie rides in the evenings with my boring little sister.

The fair didn’t open until noon and the first show would start at one. I dressed in my show clothes that would be my wardrobe until the last show at seven was over. After I adjusted my peasant top with the embroidery around the neckline, I tied the coin belt around the waist of my tiered skirt. Mom said that the noise was the best way to intrigue people when I handed out fliers on the first day. The gypsy clothes did a fine job of attracting plenty of attention as it was. Nevertheless, I did what I was told since what money we made would also determine how much fun I could have at the end of each day. I already looked forward to spending my evenings hanging out like every other teen at the fair.

The one freedom I had with my gypsy costume was being able to choose what I wore on my feet. Out of my great collection of shoes, I picked my well-worn combat boots with colorful socks scrunched down at the top. I would wear them on days I felt like I wanted to rebel a little even if it was stifling hot all day long. I knew Mom preferred the sandals. Her favorites were the ones with any sort of ornamentation. She hated the boots. The awesome part about the deal we made was she wouldn’t say a word even when I could tell she hated my shoe choice. Our agreement gave me far too much satisfaction sometimes.

I undid the braids I slept in. My hair waved and the streaks of rainbow color strands I had chalked the night before trailed down my shoulders. I left a few small skinny braids around my temples and pinned several of them on the back of my head. I tied feathers to the ends of the ones I left dangling. After I put on heavy eye makeup to finish off my look, I stacked bangles on both wrists and placed several rings on my fingers. I was not a fan of looking like my mom.

Turning side to side in the mirror, my skirt flared out. I hated my full name Seraphina so much, but it sure fit the outfit. I went to help my little sister do her hair. Mom had chalked the bottom of Cessie’s blonde hair ombre green and blue. I braided a waterfall braid around each side of her head and joined them together in the back.

“Do you remember how well we did here last time?” I asked.

“I think we did great until a big storm blew in that one day.” Cessie waved my hand away when I pulled the ponytail holder too tight.

“Sometimes I like when that happens and we get out of a show.”

“Mom sure gets stressed.” Cessie pulled on the bottom of her shirt. “I think this one shrunk.”

“I think you’re getting taller.” I shoved her off the stool to make her stand. “Yep. I’m going to have to start whacking you so you don’t get as tall as me.” I gently hit the top of her head.

She batted my hand away and jumped forward. Her movement excited Peppy and Millie in their cages and they shrieked horribly, drowning out the clanging of coins on my waist. I grabbed the fliers and headed out the door before Mom made me take care of them. Cessie followed and jingled behind me. She loved to wear the elastic bands with bells on her ankles.

“I swear, we jingle like Christmas. Ugh.” I rolled my eyes as we walked down paths where vendors prepared to open for the fair. They were the people too busy to come see the show. However, they all smiled at Cessie and me as we clinked and jangled as we passed by. I plastered my show smile on my face and waved. Cessie watched her ankles, skipping sometimes so she could make the noise sound like something other than a repetitive step, step, step. I guess it was actually jingle, jingle, jingle. She looked ridiculous. The people watching her ate it up laughing at her and eventually asked me about our show. I handed out the fliers to anyone with a hand and even gave them two so I treated each hand fairly. Mom told us not to come back until we passed out the stack or if it was twenty minutes before a show. I had to get rid of a lot.

“Let’s go see those animals. There are lots of kids there that would want to see Peppy and Millie,” Cessie said.

I hesitated. What if Noah was there? I really liked the tall, extremely good-looking boy with the horse and I would prefer to see him when the shows were over for the day, not while I was dressed like a gypsy. I had lost a few potential friends that way when they decided my costume, my mom, and home must have meant I was weird. Cessie grabbed my arm and pulled me into the small animal building. Surely, we wouldn’t run into him there.

I followed her down the aisles of rabbits and guinea pigs. Cessie, the social butterfly, took fliers from my hand and passed them out to all the kids that were busy tending their animals. The cages of chickens and other small birds lined the other half of the room. The jingling echoed off the walls, even louder than the roosters that crowed competitively back and forth. I pressed my palms against the metal pieces jingling on my hips. Cessie didn’t care and kept dancing to make her bells sing. Singing was what she called the racket she was making.

I headed for the door. Gripping the door handle as if it was patience I desperately needed to cling to, I waited for my ridiculous sister. An older woman was asking her questions about the show. Because she was doing her job, I had to be patient with her. Nope, I wasn’t getting any more patience from the handle. I tapped my foot. That just made more noise.

The door handle pulled out of my hand. It startled me and I stepped back. When I looked up, it was Noah.

I drew in a deep breath and held it. He glanced at me and then looked again. A big smile spread across his face when he pointed at me and then at Cessie.

I flushed as I attempted to smile back.

“Seer-a, right?” he asked.

I nodded and took another step back. Everything jangled on my waist.

“Is she Cessie or Cesspool today?” He motioned his head at my sister.

“Umm … Cessie. But she’s being obnoxious with the bells on her ankles. I might change my mind in a little bit.” I wanted to stuff my hands in some pockets. Unfortunately, there weren’t any. Stupid skirt. Folding my arms across my chest, the bangles clanged until I made them stop. I did my best to hide my embarrassment. “This room has great acoustics.” I knew the smile I gave him was cheesy. Came with the outfit.

Cessie was finally by my side. I desperately wanted to take our jingling outdoors. I also didn’t want to end our conversation so soon.

“Noah!” Cessie bounced on her toes and her ankles played jingle bells. “How is your horse?”

He laughed. “My horse is as good as she was yesterday. Were you leaving?”

“I was just trying to take our noise outside,” I said. “I’m not in a hurry or anything.”

Noah stared at my shoulders. When I glanced down, I realized he was looking at my colored hair and feathers. He held the door open for the two of us. I thought he was just going to let us out. What the heck! He followed. I made sure I didn’t get too weak in the knees. The clothes were embarrassing enough.

“You both look very different from yesterday.” He still smiled broadly at us. That was a good sign.

“We’re dressed for the show. You want to come?” Cessie asked.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek. If he showed up, I would probably mess up my part. It didn’t help that the more I looked at Noah in bright daylight, the more attractive he was with the unbuttoned plaid shirt her wore over his t-shirt fit that fit his broad muscled shoulders really well. Why did sleeves rolled up to the elbows look so hot? He still had on his 49ers cap. Dark hair curled around the edges of his hat, calling me to reach out and touch it. But I didn’t.

“I don’t know if I can today. I have to find out what the schedule is for my competitions and help the younger kids get their animals settled and ready for judging. I don’t know when I’m helping with some of the other events when I’m not doing that.” He patted Cessie on the shoulder as he apologetically looked at me.

Relief and disappointment washed over me at the same time.

“I will come though if I can.” His eyes locked on mine as his face softened into the kindest smile.

Hmmm. He was very nice. I might have gone into a trance again.

“Can we come watch your horse?”

Why did little sisters have to ruin everything? “Cessie, you should ask if we can come watch him
with
his horse. The horse doesn’t perform on its own.” I corrected her and then my heart raced when I realized I might have just committed myself to be in a situation where we would be surrounded by horses. I pressed my sweaty palms against my skirt and everything clanged and jangled. I clenched my jaw, forcing a smile on my face.

“Well, I will let you know. I’m sure I don’t compete today. However, I’ll tell you when I do. When do you two get done with your shows?”

“The last one is at seven and then we can roam the fair,” I said as a rush of excitement filled my chest.

“I look forward to catching up with you later. I’m here for the week too.” He looked at his watch. “I have to go check in.” He waved goodbye as he jogged off.

I watched him until he turned the corner and finally exhaled.

“What’s wrong with you?” Cessie frowned  as she studied my face. “Are you getting sick? Your face is red.”

“Shut-up Cesspool.” I slapped the rest of the fliers against her chest for her to take them and headed for the bathroom.

“Mom says you can’t leave me alone,” she yelled.

“Then you’d better follow.”

Thankfully, Noah wasn’t at the first show and I was able to get my nerves under control. The three and five o’clock shows were fine. At the last show of the day when I stepped out onto the stage with Peppy the Capuchin monkey on my shoulder, Noah was front and center with several girls and a boy all about the same age sitting around him. I smiled when our eyes met and I was also suddenly hyper-aware of his presence as I played the part of gypsy girl.

I waited for the next cue with Peppy. Perched on my shoulder, the monkey groomed my hair. Usually I didn’t mind him picking through it, but I didn’t want them to think there was anything living on my head. Waving Peppy’s hands away, I nervously kept an eye on Noah and his crew. His friends watched my mom’s performance. Noah kept glancing at me and every time he did, my heart would flutter. The girl sitting beside him looked at him and then at me. Her arm slid across his lap to hold his hand. He moved her hand away and said something in her ear. Completely miffed, the girl stopped and gave me the evil eye after that.

“
And
Peppy came to rescue poor Millie … ,” Mom said, giving me the evil eye as well.

Oh man, I missed my cue. Shaking my head to pay attention, I tugged Peppy’s leash. He crawled down my arm and monkey waddled to Millie with the little wagon. Once the bird was on the stand, he pulled the wagon away. I paid closer attention to Mom after that.

When the show was over, I sold stuffed Peppy and Millie toys and books written by my mom while she visited with members of the audience and let them meet the monkey and the macaw.

Noah lingered with his friends. The flirty girl attempted to hang on him while he continued to dismiss her. When the crowd finally cleared and Mom was putting Millie away, Noah finally approached with his friends.

“Your mom is really fun to watch. She even looks like a real life gypsy. That was a really cool show.” He beamed at me and many of his friends agreed.

“Thank you.” I felt a little overwhelmed with the group of kids my age standing around me. However, the dark haired girl glaring at me was getting under my skin.

“We’re all going to the carnival rides. Can you come?” Noah asked.

“I need to help my mom put things away and change first. I could meet up with you shortly.”

“Do you have a phone?” Noah asked.

I nodded and hopped onto the stage to run inside to my turret bedroom that I shared with Cessie. I hadn’t needed my phone all day. Hopefully it had enough battery. When I finally found it buried in a drawer, I messed with my contacts so I could add his number as I rejoined Noah and his friends. Some of them had left and he was patiently listening to Cessie while she talked his ear off.

“Sera! He says we can meet his horse before the fair opens tomorrow,” Cessie squealed.

I forced a smile on my face. “That’s great.” It took great effort to force enthusiasm in my voice. I probably failed even though I tried.

I had just enough battery to add Noah’s number. Of course he had a fancy Smartphone. Everyone usually did except for me. My phone was a basic slider. There were times that I felt as if we were real life gypsies. Always a bit behind everyone else. I sighed.

“So text me when you’re ready to find us.”

I nodded and Noah left with the other boy.

I ran back in to plug in my phone before rushing through the clean up list and I still had to take care of Peppy.

“You were really good today, especially during the last show.” I gave him a piece of banana. “Thanks for not making a fool out of me. At least not yet, because I know you’ll do it.” I handed him some pieces of apple before changing into my real clothes. I smoothed out the Hello Kitty T-shirt relishing the feel of the soft stretchy material. I pulled on a pair of basketball shorts over my boots. The boots would take too much time to change. After grabbing my carnival wristband that was good all week, I unplugged my phone and ran for my life, jumping off the stage. I was almost free.

“I’m going on rides with some new friends,” I yelled, jogging to the walkway, not giving Mom a chance to answer. I texted Noah as I was swallowed by the crowd. He said I could find them waiting in line at the mini-coaster. I wound a ponytail holder around my hair and froze before I reached the line. Crap, I forgot to check my face and I was still wearing my show make-up. It was too late. Noah waved and I waved back, trying hard to forget all the things I might have checked if I wasn’t so excited to go to the carnival with someone other than Cessie.

Noah casually leaned against the rails. Dark-haired-girl shifted her stance so it looked like he had his arm around her.

“So your mom introduced you as Seraphina. Is that your name or just for the show?” the Dark One asked.

“My full name is Seraphina but I prefer friends call me Sera.” I shoved my hands into my pockets. At least I had some today. I had never met someone before that could make me squirm just by the glares they gave me.

“You look totally different. I didn’t recognize you, did you guys?” the other boy asked the group.

Everyone shook their heads except for Noah.

“I met her last night in regular clothes so I almost didn’t recognize her in costume this morning. This is Josh.” Noah pointed to the boy. He pointed to The Dark One. “This is Kelly.”

The smile on her face was full of contempt.

Noah pointed at the other two girls. “Bree, and Rachel.”

They smiled at me briefly before whispering to each other.

All three girls were pretty. Kelly had perfect dark hair and rich dark skin. She was very fit and knew how to flaunt it with her pink western shirt and short jean shorts. Bree’s blonde hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and suited her tiny frame and extra large eyes. Rachel was the closest to looking like me with lighter brown hair. Unlike my average height and build, Rachel was tall and thin. I wasn’t sure why I was comparing them to myself except maybe I was wondering if I even had a shot with Noah. He was as nice and polite to the three girls as he was to me. Josh wasn’t bad looking either. He wore glasses and had short, sandy brown hair that was mostly hidden under his backwards baseball cap. Josh wore an unbuttoned plaid shirt over a T-shirt like Noah. The difference was Josh had on long khaki shorts with big pockets instead of jeans.

“Are you all showing horses?” I asked.

“Yeah, we are all from Middleton and in the same club.” Josh pulled back and forth on the rails, nearly colliding into the people behind him. He apologized and moved closer, leaning on the rail next to me.

“Where are you from?” Noah asked.

“We live in Arizona in the winter. In the summer we travel all around the country performing.”

“They
are
gypsies, I told you,” Kelly said, smiling triumphantly up at Noah.

“Not really. We just perform the show pretending to be like them. We go to Renaissance Faires, and State and county fairs to do our show. In the winter we homeschool while mom writes her stories and we make the toys for the show.”

“You guys made those? They’re really cute,” Bree said.

“So do you have any friends if you homeschool?” Rachel asked.

“Yes. I have a few friends. Sometimes I meet them at the fair. Like now. I have friends everywhere.” I didn’t mention that most were wannabe-friends not real friends that knew who I really was. They were mainly fans from the show. I hadn’t decided yet if this group was going to fall into that same category. I checked my phone after if vibrated. Mom wasn’t happy with me at all. There was not time to deal with that, it was finally our turn.

Bree and Rachel climbed in the first car. Kelly grabbed Noah’s arm to sit in the next one. I had to ride with Josh and was rather shy until he made goofy scared faces at me before the ride even started. He pretended to be terrified as our car climbed to the top. I couldn’t help it, I joined him by throwing my arms up in the air with every plunge. The girls in front of us screamed like terrified children. Josh intentionally squished me on the corners. I did the same to him and laughed so hard that tears streamed down my cheeks by the time I stumbled off the ride.

I ignored my phone as it vibrated while we went on a few more rides. Josh had to pair up with me every time. I wasn’t about to cause issues with The Dark One so I dealt with it. Besides, Josh was a lot of fun. However, Noah wasn’t smiling as much. Once we exited another ride, he pushed Kelly’s hands off his arm.

“Kelly, you need to back off.” He stormed off from the group. She gave me a dirty look before she ran after Noah. The rest of us were uncomfortably silent.

“I probably have to go. My mom wants me back.” I backed up a few steps.

Everyone said goodbye to me as I waved. When Noah heard, he left Kelly standing where she was. I felt terrible. How did I suddenly become the source of the drama with their group? I waved at him and turned to go.

“Wait.” Noah caught up to me. “That didn’t go at all like I planned. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. I have to go, I really do. My mom keeps texting me and I might be in trouble. Josh is a lot of fun by the way.”

“Oh.” Noah stopped in his tracks.

“I’m sorry that I caused problems with you and Kelly.” I kicked at the ground. “I wouldn’t have come.”

“No,” Noah said in disbelief. “It’s Kelly that’s causing the problems. I invited you and I wanted to be the one to … ” He clamped his jaw shut. His face may have reddened. With his sun-darkened skin, it was hard to tell. “Let me put it this way, when I ran into you yesterday, I was running from
her
. We’ve been part of the same club for forever and all of a sudden she’s all over me. I don’t like her in that way. Being nice about it isn’t getting me anywhere and it complicates everything when we’re all together.” Noah sighed.

My phone buzzed again. “That makes sense. I’m sorry, I still have to go.” I reluctantly took a few steps away. Now he lets me know what he really wanted when my fun times at the fair were about to be over forever. The story of my life. So close and yet so far. So much for pushing it with Mom.

“See you tomorrow morning? I’ll let you ride my horse.”

I froze and my body tensed all over before I slowly turned to face him. “Okay, I have to admit something. I’m really scared of horses.”

“What?” He covered his mouth when he started to laugh. “Oh, that wasn’t nice. I’m sorry. I’m glad you told me. If you still come, I’ll show you that Ezra is the gentlest horse ever. I’ll help you see there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

If it had been anyone else, even Josh, I would have said no. However, Noah was so sincere, and the curls, the blue eyes, and the eyebrows that lifted, wrinkling his forehead kind of cute-like while he waited for my answer. I couldn’t believe it. I actually nodded.

“Good. You bring your sister and I’ll make sure Kelly stays away.”

“Deal.” I ran for the Caravan hoping Mom wasn’t about to ground me for the rest of my life for ignoring her for so long. However, if I kept Cessie out of Mom’s hair the next morning, she might allow us to go.