So. Many. People.
“We can take it easy, stick to the perimeter and get a feel for the place first. You don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for.”
I nodded, worrying my bottom lip as I studied the sight before me.
I only had one memory of the fair. I was about eight and my mom brought me. I’d begged her for days and days to let me ride the Ferris Wheel. We rode the bus to the nearest stop and walked the rest of the way. I was so excited I couldn’t stop talking about it. But the second she’d spotted the beer stand, I knew I’d lost her attention. She gave me five dollars and told me not to spend it all at once while she spent the night chatting up guys in hopes they would keep her glass topped up and her ego full.
Determined to ride on the Ferris Wheel, I’d bought myself a ticket and stood in the line for twenty minutes. When I’d finally got to the front, the attendant said I was too short to ride alone and no one in the line took pity on me.
I’d never been to the fair since.
Until this moment.
I’d always imagined if I ever did return, it would be with Nix. That I’d let him help me replace that traumatic memory with new ones. Nice ones.
But maybe that was my problem. Maybe I was always waiting for someone to make things better for me. When really, the only person I needed was myself.