Chapter Twenty-Four

Selena

Never Fall at a Festival

Every night for the rest of the week, my vision plagued me. I barely caught a wink of sleep. Sometimes it felt like my head just hit the pillow, and seconds later, Grams was already calling down for breakfast. I’d never had images persist this way, and it worried me. Made me jumpy. By the weekend, I was ready for some fun at the Fall Festival. No matter how exhausted I felt leaning against the window of my grandfather’s truck.

For two years, the Fall Festival had been a shared experience. It was always me, Penny, and Kyle. Then when I started dating Bowen, we became a foursome. I shouldn’t have said yes to going with him. But I did say I’d give the “friends” thing a try. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

The Ferris wheel towered over everything when we pulled up to the fairgrounds—the most popular ride, allowing some alone time for couples. The Hi-Miler, the Skyride, the Zipper, the Water Log, and other scream-inducing attractions surrounded the monolith. The shorter than you-must-be-this-tall crowd had the Merry-go-round, Spinning Teacups, and the Flying Dumbos alongside colorful food stands and game booths.

Gramps pulled into the make-shift parking lot, setting off a dust storm from the dried dirt field. Once the dust settled, I slid out of the truck. Hacking up a lung wasn’t a pretty picture. Bowen stood by the fair’s entrance in his letterman jacket over a white T-shirt and jeans, looking all-American and handsome. Go Tiger Sharks!

Grams barely hid the frown on her face when we reached him. She had always been a huge Bowen fan, in and out of the pool. But after his cheating hit the airwaves, she’d lost all love for him. If Grams kept a top ten kill list, he would be in it. Gramps, having no idea about the cheating incident, stayed protective of his ladies. He eyed Bowen suspiciously and straightened to his full height to look extra intimidating. I was pretty sure if he’d known, his fist would be meeting my ex’s chin right about now.

“Young man,” he said. Although, from the way he squinted, I could have sworn he knew a thing or two about what happened.

Unfazed by my grandfather’s scrutiny, Bowen reached out for a handshake. “Good to see you again, Mr. Fallon.”

Gramps grinned and took Bowen’s offered hand while patting him hard on the shoulder. “How’s that truck of yours?”

The “love pats” sounded harder than they were. Bowen had the grace not to cough. A lesser man would have bent forward. I guess that was one of the reasons why I liked him when we started dating. He stood up against Gramps without being impolite. Maybe that was why Gramps grudgingly liked him, too, and why he would murder Bowen if he ever found out about the truth.

“Tuned and sounding better than ever,” Bowen replied.

Both men smiled that secret smile only guys who loved cars had for each other.

“That’s m’boy!” Gramps patted his shoulder again.

Then the ex turned to Grams. “Looking more beautiful than ever, Mrs. Fallon.” He treated her to a big hug. I shook my head then rolled my eyes.

Grams bristled, but her good manners didn’t allow her to be rude, so she tapped his chest when he finally put her down. “Bowen, it’s good to see you.”

Gramps grunted. “What do you say we leave these two alone? You have a pie contest to judge.” He pulled his frowning wife away before she could say anything else. To Bowen, he said with a pointed stare, “Take care of my girl.”

“Yes, sir.” He waved at their retreating backs before he asked me, “Grams is finally a judge?”

“This year’s organizers realized the benefits of having her on the panel.”

“Is it just me or was Grams about to punch me in the face?”

“Bowen,” I sighed out. “You honestly didn’t think what you did would only hurt me, did you? You’re lucky Gramps still doesn’t know.” I turned away from him. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”

His hand went to my shoulder, and I stopped. “I’m sorry.” I heard the sincerity in his words, but I still doubted him. “I’ll apologize as many times as you want me to. Please, give me a chance to make it up to you today. If you still think you can’t forgive me, then I’ll leave you alone.”

“You’ll leave me alone?”

“So long as you give this afternoon a chance.”

I considered it while he bought tickets at the booth by the entrance. The festival was one of my favorite events of the year. I didn’t promise him anything when he matched his pace with my lazy stroll.

“Where’s Penny and Kyle?” I asked, searching the crowd for them.

A sad laugh reached my ears. “Penny fooled him into riding the Ferris wheel.”

My eyes bugged out. Kyle hated heights. I imagined him white knuckling the guardrail and taking deep breaths every two seconds. I laughed, too.

Bowen stopped and stared down at me.

“What?” I sobered. I lifted a hand to my nose and self-consciously rubbed. “Is there something on my face?”

“No.” He nudged my hand away. “It’s just been so long since you laughed like that around me. Nice.”

I ignored the heat in his gaze and headed toward the game booths. “Come on. Let’s see if you can still win me a bear.”

We passed a clown handing a toddler a red balloon and took a right at a mascot of an elk wearing a sign that read: HUNTING SEASON. Fifteen minutes and several dollars later, I happily clutched an enormous, stuffed rabbit while eating cotton candy.

“I forgot how good you are at target shooting.”

“I’m not that good. The booth owner just likes you.” He shook his head and shoved his hands into his jacket pockets.

I offered him a fluffy, pink pinch. “Oh, come on, you held your own out there. I have Mr. Snuffles to prove it.”

He chewed. “You already named the rabbit?”

“Of course I did, isn’t that right, Mr. Snuffles?”

He pointed at Penny dragging a nauseated Kyle to another ride before the pair disappeared. I looked from the rabbit toward the direction of Bowen’s finger. I initially thought I’d need the friend buffer Kyle and Penny would provide, but so far, being with him felt normal. Just what I needed.

“Poor Kyle.” I sighed. “I wonder what Penny has on him.”

“I don’t want to know.”

Before I could turn my attention somewhere else, I spotted a familiar faux-hawk of dark chocolate hair in the crush of people. He stood in line for the Ferris wheel, wearing his usual long-sleeved shirt and jeans, but since the weather had gotten cooler recently, he had a jacket vest on. With a relaxed stance, he casually slipped his fingers into his back pockets, leaving the thumbs out. He laughed. A girl affectionately touched his arm.

I moved forward.

“Going somewhere?” Bowen asked after he handed his payment to the vendor for the supersized soda.

“Sorry. Didn’t notice you were buying something,” I said absentmindedly while anxiously waiting for him to get his change.

“Where next, boss?” He took a sip and offered the giant cup to me.

I waved off his offering. “Can we go on the Ferris wheel?”

His lips pulling up into a slow smile, he willingly led me to the line. Right then I was too irrational to think of the consequences of that smile. If I hadn’t seen Dillan with some girl, I wouldn’t have even thought to ask Bowen to the Ferris wheel. When we reached the tail end of the queue, I finally recognized who he was with. The pair stood about three couples ahead.

“Constance.” My voice had enough venom to poison everyone within a five mile radius. All thoughts of being friends with her went out the window.

“Who?” Bowen looked around.

“I can’t believe Dillan has the nerve to bring Constance to the Fall Festival.” I motioned with my chin toward the front of the line.

“The new guy?”

“Don’t sound so confused. I thought Constance had more sense not to fall for his fake charm.”

“I thought you didn’t like the guy.”

“I don’t.”

For the whole wait to get on the Ferris wheel, I whispered my disappointment at how Constance let herself fall into Dillan’s trap. When Bowen and I finally got on the ride, I told him about how much of a jerk Dillan could be. I bitterly recounted every mean and nasty thing he’d put me through—omitting all the other heart pounding moments, of course. Bowen joked about the situation. His humor earned him another few minutes of how guys always ended up protecting their own. Bros over hoes and all that crap. By the time the ride ended, I’d worked myself up into such a coil that Bowen’s temper snapped.

“I thought you just needed to vent, but now I think you’re actually jealous.” He towered over me.

Anxiety filled my stomach like a fizzy drink, but I stood my ground. “Jealous? Don’t be dense. I just spent the whole ride telling you how much of a jerk Dillan is.”

“My point exactly. You let him get under your skin so much that seeing him with another girl makes you angry for no reason.” He gestured toward the direction Dillan and Constance went after getting off the Ferris wheel.

Our raised voices drew in a crowd.

Ignoring the people around us, I continued my rant. “I’m not jealous! Maybe you’re the one who’s jealous.”

“Don’t I have the right to be jealous when the girl I’m trying hard to win back is drooling over another guy?”

I paused, unable to speak for a couple seconds, trying to process his words. “You’re trying to win me back?” I parroted.

He heaved a heavy breath. “Yeah.”

“No one told you to do that.”

“Free country.”

“See, that’s your problem.” I poked his chest. “You don’t listen to me.”

“Don’t make this about me!” He ran his fingers through his hair, disheveling the dark, sun-kissed strands. “You’re the one with a problem.”

Like something in me snapped, I calmed down. Ice froze my insides. “Thinking that I have a problem is what got us here in the first place.”

He held up his hands in apology. “I don’t think—”

“Tell me this, Bowen. Did you cheat on me to make me jealous?”

He blinked at me, stunned. “I…I…Selena, you don’t understand.”

“I thought so.” I pushed the rabbit into his arms and marched away without looking back.

…

Snaking my way through the throng into the flea market, it dawned on me that when it came to all things Dillan, I was certifiable and the people around me became collateral damage. Meeting him changed me somehow, and I didn’t know if it was a good thing.

I ran a hand through my wild hair and had to tug several times to free my fingers. Frustration boiled in me. In search of a distraction with some retail therapy, I scanned the stalls.

A jewelry merchant caught my eye. The booth had multi-tiered displays with scarves scattered everywhere as accents. I studied rings modeled by ceramic hands. When nothing jumped out at me, I moved on to a row of small hooks where necklaces with assorted pendants dangled.

A squat man whose beer-belly plumped up his gypsy costume came over. He had an easy smile. “Find anything you want?”

“Not yet.” I returned his smile and noticed a glass case with more necklaces. A thin, silver chain with a perfectly circular pendant called to me. I looked at the gemstone and saw a soft blue light glowing from within the white clouds.

“That’s a moonstone.”

“Oh.” I kept staring, reminded of the pommel on Dillan’s sword. And just like that, I thought of him again.

“It’s not a very popular gem. Most girls go for amethysts or rose quartz.”

“How much for the necklace?”

“I have an aquamarine necklace that would look good with your skin tone and eye color,” he volunteered.

“How much for this one?” I pointed at the moonstone.

The man sputtered a price. I happily made the purchase and left the booth feeling better. Pocketing the small, paper envelope with the necklace in it, I froze. A feeling of unease struck me like an unexpected slap. Memories of the storeroom at the bookstore sent the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. I forced myself to move. This was a public place, surely I’d be safe. A thick blanket of fear wrapped around me as I joined the crowd again. My heart pounded in my chest when the sensation of being watched hit me.

The crowd kept moving like a steady stream. No one seemed to notice anything wrong. A couple held hands and laughed. A little boy asked his mother to buy him a truck. A group of girls noisily tried on hats in front of a stall selling accessories.

The bazaar had no alleys for anyone to hide in. The booths stood too close together.

The anxiety buzzing through my veins turned into an alarm, like an ear-splitting bell. Unexplained panic climbed up my throat, threatening to choke me. My lungs fought for every breath. Cold sweat dotted my forehead. I turned in a tight circle, searching for the source of my fear. In my periphery, a black German Shepherd with red eyes bared its teeth at me. Oh, God. I’m gonna die. Underneath the fear, my heart twisted. I’m gonna die. I didn’t have time to let the idea sink in. I took off as fast as I could. I elbowed my way through the crowd, ignoring the protests of whoever I bumped into. I had to get away.

“Selena?”

I stopped and looked over my shoulder, hand on my chest. “Mr. Ormand?”

“Is something the matter?” He came closer.

The voice in my head said run. Find the Guardian. What did it mean?

The feeling of being watched persisted like a pair of hands slowly closing around my throat. I grabbed at my neck, trying to remove the invisible fingers. The intensity of my fear tasted like metallic bitterness on my tongue.

“I’m sorry,” I choked out. “I really have to go.”

I didn’t wait for Ormand’s reply. This time I wouldn’t ignore the voice in my head. I turned around and bolted.