Page 40 of Lovers Fate

I’m not sure about anything. It’s like my feet are moving while my mind is trying to keep up. It doesn’t make sense how I know which turn to take at the right time.

Rose questions, “How did you know which way to go and make it to the end?” when we reach the end.

“Lucky guess.”

“Yeah,” she says unconvincingly. “Lucky.”

As we walk deeper into the park, the crowd grows thicker. High school and college kids are everywhere. Some students are arranged in groups. Some in pairs of two and three. If you’re a teenager, this is the spot to be on a Friday night. As far as I know, the town doesn’t have much to offer besides house parties, the carnival, the motel, and the strip club.

There is a sign with arrows pointing in different directions. The rides, food, games, Circle of Freaks circus, and haunted houses. BenThe sign directly beneath the haunted house reads, “NOT INTENDED FOR CHILDREN UNDER THIRTEEN.”

Haunted house?” Rose asks.

I shrug. “Yeah, why not?”

I keep scanning the area looking for... him. Draco.

I agreed to the haunted houses because behind them are three large black-and-white circus tents. Maybe he works in there as a performer. Or maybe he scares the shit out of people in the houses. Draco doesn’t look the type to operate the rides or sell food. Not the way he looks in his costume.

We come up to another sign that reads, SPECIAL EVENT ONLY, leading to the circus tent area with showtimes beginning tomorrow night.

“Have you been to the circus?” Rose asks.

I shake my head, staring at the entrance to the first tent.I’ve heard about the horror circus. Googled the Circus of Freaks. It says they added a gothic theme a few years back and are expanding.

“I haven’t either. I heard no one knows what goes on inside. I hear it’s a tradition they’ve kept for decades. People aren’t allowed to talk about what they see. You have to sign a legal document and scan your fingerprint before you’re allowed inside.”

“How do they get away with it?” I ask.

“Probably money and lawyers,” she adds. “It’s a private event, and there is a disclaimer.”

“How much?” I ask, feeling stupid for not checking it out first. RemI recall Rachel telling me it was expensive.

I overheard the girls in class say that you have to be eighteen, and the tickets run like fifteen hundred a pop.”

I whirl around to face her. “Fifteen hundred bucks.”

Rose nods, getting in line to the first house. “Yep. Tell me about it.”

“That’s insane. I don’t get fifteen hundred unless I spread my legs. It would take me three days to make that kind of cash dancing.”

She snorts. “And... I’d have to work every night at the bar for two weeks straight to make that much dough.”

“Guess we’ll never see the show,” I mutter darkly.

The line moves forward, and there is a group of guys up front. One laughs obnoxiously loud, causing people to turn their heads.

Blue eyes land on me in recognition. “Hey, I didn’t know you went on dates,” he teases caustically, glancing between me and Rose. His friend laughs along with three girls next to them.

“Hey, Zack,” I say, with a fake smile like we’re old friends. “She beats the competition. You know you couldn’t do it for me the way she does.”

Rose slides her arm through mine, playing along. “Who’s this, Babe?”

“Oh, I run into Zack from time to time at the motel when he visits Simon on his break.” Not a total lie.

One of the girl’s mouths drops agape, looking between Zack and me to see if it’s true. I bet they didn’t know about Zack’s visits to the motel. The girl with the short black hair closest to him glares at me.

“I’ll deal with you later,” Zack says to me in a threatening tone, his jaw tight. I’m not surprised his molars don’t fall out.

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