#county fair

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“you don’t even seem excited,” Claire said, holding two lemonade cups and walking backwards in front of him.

Leon looked around at the livestock barns, fried food stands, and teenagers operating rides with visible nicotine addictions. “Claire. One of those Ferris wheel bolts is hanging on spiritually.”

“That’s part of the charm.”

“I watched a child win a live goldfish with a dart.”

“You hate whimsy...”

“I hate liability.”

Claire grabbed his sleeve and pointed. “Push-up contest.”

Leon immediately shook his head. “No.”

“Oh my god, are you scared?”

“I work in bioterrorism.”

“Then surely thirty push-ups won’t kill you, city boy.”

Five minutes later, Leon was onstage in a fitted black t-shirt while some guy in a cowboy hat shouted into a microphone about “THE MYSTERY MAN FROM LOS ANGELES.”

Claire crossed her arms, smug for exactly twelve seconds.

Then Leon started doing push-ups.

Girls started screaming almost immediately.

Not polite cheering. Screaming.

One woman yelled “TAKE YOUR SHIRT OFF” with her whole chest.

Claire’s smile slowly faded.

Leon kept going with the dead-eyed focus of a man trying to end a mission quickly.

Thirty.

Forty.

Fifty.

Claire stared at Leon while another girl asked for his Instagram.

“I made a mistake,” Claire said quietly.

Leon finished at seventy-three push-ups, stood up barely winded, and took the cheap plastic trophy from the announcer.

Then he walked straight back over to Claire while women were still clapping.

“You look upset,” he said.

Missing those summer nights 🌌

The Big E, Springfield MA | October 2023