#yatesevent002

Sipping on a giant lemonade into which she had poured a generous amount of vodka, Cecily swung around a fake pistol, taken from the shooting gallery she had been working at all afternoon. “Feel like holding my gun? We can reenact the Scarface death scene,” she joked, holding it out to someone as she she took another gulp of lemonade. She was starting to get buzzed, her t-shirt that read “MALE FANTASIES” already smelling slightly alcohol from the beer a boy had spilled on her earlier. “Want to go on the ferris wheel with me? We can kiss at the top and everything.”

as much as frankie liked preaker, there were certain things about new york that she often missed. standing on her rooftop and looking out at millions of twinkling lights in the distance was one of them. as she walked around the carnival she was reminded of home, with flashing lights and street food and noise. as much as she was dreading her dare, walking around armed with pink cotton candy and watching people have fun had brought her spirits up. eventually she made her way back to the carousel she had offered to help operate. it was quite simple - little more than the pushing of a button - and most of her time was occupied by watching wooden horses with chipped paint move up and down as they spun around an endless track. it seemed like a metaphor to frankie, but she couldn’t put a finger on what it actually was. remembering she was supposed to make people actually want to go on the ride she opened her arms to showcase the rainbow of lights beside her. “hey!” she called out. “you should ride the carousel, it’s kind of adorable.”

Ducking behind the cotton candy booth, Darby was hiding out from her shift, the kissing booth turning out to be less fun than she thought it would. She grabbed the arm of a nearby person, eyes growing wide as she implored them. “Can you check if there’s a guy standing by the kissing booth? About six feet tall and looks like a weird version of Stanley Tucci?” She asked. “He’s kind of obsessed with me. He sits in my stats class looking at me like he’s gonna yank out my hair to clone me. Or like he’s gonna “Marks Daniels” me.”

The carnival had barely just begun and it was already an eventful time for Anita. She knew she should be happy, enjoying the newfound freedom that being in a fake relationship was affording her, but she somehow felt worse than she had before this all began. She had strayed away from the dunk booth, wanting some space to herself for a while. She hid behind one of the noisier carnival rides, hoping no one would find her. Music was blasting through the carnival grounds, and she swayed gently by herself, alcohol pulsing through her system. "COOOOME ON EILEEN!" It came out in a slur as she raised her eleventh spiked lemonade to her lips, chugging it down quickly. As she did so, a glint of silver caught her attention, Flo's present adorning her wrist. Before she could even digest her own emotions, tears slid down her cheeks, body still swaying clumsily to the music. She would've stayed that way, in a trance of her own, if the image of someone in her peripheral vision hadn't scared her. She jumped back, dropping her drink. "What the fuck? Are you stalking me?"

carmen like every year, worked at the water gun race booth, wearing a white tshirt and tight black leggings. some played the game as directed but most took the opportunity to point their gun at carmen hit her with a blast of water. keeping her white shit soaked was prize enough for them. she sat up on the ledge of her booth sipping lemonade through a long green straw. she locked eyes with one of the guys in the crowd and kept them there until his date pulled him away. “if you can’t control them don’t date them,” she said smugly to the person who had just stepped up to her booth. “two tickets per round.”