I had woken up early that day. It had been the long approaching day and I walked downstairs to see my mom and sister sitting on the couch watching P.j mask on the YouTube

"P.j mask, P.J mask" my sister sang

"Cause nighttime" mom sang joining in

"Is the right time" Amanda sang

"To fight crime"

"I can't think of a rhyme" Amanda ended

"Haha again. Mommy play it again!" Amanda said clapping jovially. That brat could be really cute at least when she wasn't insulting me

"Okay Darling," Mom said before replaying the song

"Good morning guys," I said making them aware of my presence

"Alex dear what are you doing up so early?" Mom asked surprised

"You do know it's Saturday right bro?" Amanda said

"Wait wait let me guess. You forgot the day and jumped up thinking you had school today" Amanda laughed

"No for your information I have a date. Not that it's any of your business" I said

"Wait what?" Mom said

"I'm going on a..."

"Alex I know Wendy um..." Mom said

"Shot you like a bird during hunting season," Amanda said bluntly

"But do you really think it is a good idea to go out with someone so soon," Mom asked

"Mom. It's not really a date. I'm just going to hang out with a friend. Who just happens to be a girl" I said

"That sounds like a date to me," Amanda said

"Mom, can you turn that annoying thing off?" I asked

"Amanda turn down the T.V.," Mom said

"Fine" Amanda sighed as turned down the video

"Too bad she doesn't come with an off switch too," I said

"That's what Mom said about your receipt" Amanda responded

"Stop it both of you"

"Fine," I said

"Hmph he started it," she said

"Alex" mom said

"Mom it's not a date. In fact, she's just bringing me out to cheer me up about my rejection" I lied

"Oh, a good samaritan feeling sorry for a wounded animal. God bless her soul" Amanda said

"What did you call me?"

"I believe him, Mommy. I think it'd be hard to find someone to go on a date with him. Willing at least" Amanda said

"That's it. Get over here you little brat" I said running towards her but she only jumped across the table.

"Haha" she laughed as I tripped and landed face-first on the couch

"Haha loser" she laughed

"Amanda can you go get something from your room," Mom said mentally exhausted

"What mommy?"

"I don't know. Just get something" I said before Amanda went up to her room

"Alex"

"I know. It's really not a date mom" I said 

"Fine. Just be careful okay" Mom said

"Okay mom I promise I will," I said

"Okay," mom said

"So can I go now?" I asked

"Sure Darling. Have a wonderful time" mom said sending me off. After that, I went to the train station.

'Couldn't this girl have chosen somewhere in town to force me to go?' I thought to myself. That train ride wasn't cheap but at that time I was too busy worrying about Ben finding out to think about costs

"I can't believe I'm doing this" I sighed

"I hope Ben doesn't find out"

"Hope I don't find out what?" He asked from behind me. His sudden appearance surprised and frightened me to my core. I quickly started shivering and sweating with nervousness

"Ben! What are you doing here!" I yelled

"I'm heading outta town for the weekend. You okay man you look like you're gonna have a heart attack"

"Heart attack? Who me? Are you kidding?" I laughed nervously

"Are you sure man? You look like you're about to faint"

"I'm fine. Finer than fine. I'm the finest person on earth. In fact, if you look up the definition of fine my picture would be there that's how fine I am" I said. You probably guessed by now but I'm not a very good liar so Ben immediately caught on to the lie

"Okay, what are you hiding?" He asked

"Hiding? Me? I'm not hiding anything. Nothing at all" I said dipping into my jacket pocket and clutching the tickets

"So where are you going?" I asked deflecting the question

"Redirecting the conversation. You're definitely hiding something" he said walking towards me

"I'm not doing that," I said backing away until I was directly above the tracks

"So gonna tell me what you're hiding in that jacket or do I have to search ya" he threatened with a smile

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said

"Guess I'll have to search ya," he said rushing towards me

"Wait, Ben, I'm on the edge," I said as he grabbed me and throw me to the ground. Ben was very strong despite his lazy nature so I was basically defenseless as he held me in place while he searched my jacket ultimately finding the tickets

"A carnival ticket?" he asked confused

"Look I can explain," I said hurriedly

"So she invited you too huh"  Ben let out a disappointed sigh

"Wait you know about that?" I asked confused

"Did she tell you?" I asked starting to get angry

"She promised she wouldn't tell you!" I yelled

"Dude chill. Why wouldn't Wendy want me to know" Ben said

"Wait...Wendy?" I asked

"Yeah she was the one that invited me," Ben said. 

"Wait Wendy invited you?" I asked

"Yeah her boyfriend got some tickets and said to invite her friends. Isn't that why you're going?" Ben asked me

"Um...yeah" I lied

"Honestly I just think it's weird. She told me not to tell you and then she invited you" Ben shrugged 

"She said that," I said not believing it

"Yeah. I guess she didn't have enough tickets. I guess it's good that I turned her down" Ben shrugged 

"Yeah, you're right. That must have been it" I said knowing that definitely wasn't the case

"Anyway, dude. The train should be here soon" Ben said before we moved away from the edge

'Why didn't she invite me? I mean things were a little awkward between us but I thought we were still friends. I guess all those years doesn't mean much to her' 

"Yo Alex!" Ben yelled shocking me out of my trance

"Huh?" 

"The trains here," he said before I noticed the train in front of me before we all walked on to the train

"So if you're not going to the carnival where are you going?" I asked holding unto the rail

"To my grandfather." Ben sighed

"You don't seem excited"

"Yeah, my parents have been nagging me to go all week. And my know it all cousin is even going to be there" Ben complained

"So you're not looking forward to it?" I asked

"Who said that?" Ben asked

"Aside from the weird cooking. My grandpa's pretty cool. I can always scrape a couple of bucks off him. So arcade here I come" Ben said excitedly

"Well good for you," I said

"Anyway, bro my stop's coming up. See you Monday man" he said 

"Yeah see ya," I said before we did another variation of our ever-changing handshake. After that, he got off the training leaving me alone to ponder why the hell Wendy didn't invite me. I kept thinking about it until my stop came and I got off the train

"Whatever. It's not like I care or anything" I said trying to convince myself as I made my way to the carnival

"Wow this place is crowded," I said as I made my way through the packed walkway

"I wonder if Elizabeth's already here," I said after I finally found an open space

"How are we gonna meet up" I sighed as I looked at the crowd

"Alex" I heard a shocked voice before I turned around to see Wendy staring at me surprised

"Wendy," I said flatly

"What are you doing here?"  she asked surprised

"What? Why can't I be here?"

"I'm not saying that," she said 

"What? Does you not inviting me mean I'm not supposed to come" I said venom laced in my words

"How did you know about that?" she gasped looking away from my eyes

"Ben told me. He also told me you told him not to let me know" I said glaring at her

"Look I can explain," she said 

"No need. It's obvious you didn't want me to ruin your date" I said 

"Date?" she said confused

"Don't play dumb" I said through gritted teeth

"Dude, I have no idea what you're talking about," she said. I admit that I was sort of wrong for the way I handle that situation but I was upset and young at the time

"What did you think. I couldn't handle seeing you with your boyfriend" I spat at her. I could see the confusion on her face yet I continued to explode at her

"Did you think I wouldn't be okay with it? Just because I had a crush on you. Do you seriously think we can't be friends because I like you" I said

"What are you talking about?" she said still confused

"What boyfriend?"

"Don't play dumb with me!" I yelled angrily. Yeah looking back this was a total dick move but I, unfortunately, decided to continue running my mouth

"You know what...you're right," I said

"Maybe we can't be friends. Especially if you can't even trust me to be cool with your boyfriend" 

"Look I have no idea what you're talking about," she said. At the time I had thought that she was just playing dumb and it irritated me. Just as I was about to continue digging myself better in the hole Anthony came over thankfully interrupting us

"Yo Wendy. What took you so long?" Anthony said passing through the crowd 

"Anthony" she smiled

"Glad you could make it. Where's Sam?" he asked not even acknowledging me

"She couldn't make it. She was sick" Wendy said. I hated the fact I was practically invisible until Elizabeth came here

"Is that Alexander behind you?" she asked

"Hey," I said in a dry tone

"Why are you so late? How dare you keep yours truly waiting?" she asked

"Stop overreacting Lizzie. We haven't been waiting that long" Anthony said

"Anthony I distinctively remember telling you never to call me that. Are you asking for a beating?" she said in a threatening tone

"Oh calm down Lizzie" Anthony brushed off her threat

"You two seem rather close," I said

"Unfortunately we are. This simpleton is my brother" she said as he smiled and threw his arm around her which she immediately brushed off 

"I know it's shocking. How could a beautiful swan-like myself have a brother such as him is one of life's greatest mysteries" 

"Anyway since you're here. We should go. I'd rather not spend my time with him" she said walking over to me

"Sure. Wouldn't want to interrupt their date" I spat

"Passive-aggressive tone and obvious jealousy aside. I want to get on a ride. Let's go Alexander" she said before she grabbed my hand before forcefully pulling me away

"So where do we go first?" I asked

"Anywhere's fine. I don't really care" she said nonchalantly 

"Okay...how about that plane ride," I said pointing at the first thing I saw

"Whatever. Let's go" she said pulling me towards the ride. 

I sighed as I joined the line

"What are you doing?" she asked me 

"Joining the line"

"Did you hit your head? Yours truly doesn't wait in lines" she said stepping in front of me

"Out of my way Simpleton, yours truly wishes to go on this ride," she said forcing the man who was wearing a really cool subzero shirt. It was the only thing I remember about the man aside from his strong southern accent

"What?" he snarled turning towards her

"Are you deaf or just an idiot? I said get out of my way. I want to go on this ride" she repeated after insulting him of course

"Are you fucking kidding me bitch?" he snapped

"What did you just call me?" she gasped offended

"Bitch" he repeated

"How dare you, ruffian riffraff, refer to a beautiful angelic figure like myself who graced you with my presence as a female dog?" she ranted with a cold glare 

"Elizabeth, maybe we should just go somewhere else," I said not wanting to get into an altercation 

"No, I want to know who gave this blue-faced moron the courage to refer to yours truly as a female dog," Elizabeth said before the ticket collector came over to us

"Something wrong here?" the short Italian guy that looked like he just jumped off a pizza box said 

"Yeah this little bitch wants to cut in line," the subzero guy said

"Sir there's no need for name-calling," the Italian guy said

"Ma'am what is the problem?" he asked her

"I want to go on this ride but this boar refuses to get out of my way," she said pretentiously causing me to facepalm knowing how ridiculous she sounded

"I'm sorry ma'am but you'll have to wait in line like everyone else," he said 

"You can't seriously expect me to stay in a line with these lowlifes," I said 

"Who the f**k you calling a lowlife!" the subzero guy snapped

"Oh my, such vulgar words are coming out of this dog's mouth," I said

"Say that again you f**cking bitch!" he yelled

"Can you two please calm down" the Italian sighed 

"Fine. I'll stop speaking with this pea-brain. Just hurry and let us unto the ride" Elizabeth said not having changed her demand one bit

"Ma'am I already told you, I can't do that. Everyone bought their tickets for this ride and he's been waiting patiently for a while now. It wouldn't be fair for you to just go on a line" he sighed before Elizabeth rolled her eyes pulling out a large wad of cash

"Here this should be enough of a refund for these low-class morons," Elizabeth said upsetting everyone in the line

"Are those all hundreds?" I gasped in awe

"Of course I don't care anything less," she said. She never spoke in a boastful tone but she always spoke like whatever she was saying was a fact. But they always were

"Is this a bribe?" the Italian asked offended

"Are you blind? Of course, it is" she said

"Ma'am I'm gonna have to ask you to leave the line," he said

"What?" 

"Please leave the line" he ordered a bit more sternly

"Is that so" she hummed 

"Please ma'am don't make this difficult," he said 

"Look I didn't want to do this but yours truly is left with no choice" she sighed

"Do you know who I am?" she asked

"I truly don't care" he sighed

"My name is Elizabeth Monroe. As in the daughter of the owner of this stupid Theme Park," she said causing the man to go wide-eyed

"So either you get us on this ride or I'll call my mother and you'll be fired," she said. I could see him contemplating if she was lying or not but Elizabeth and her mother looked quite alike so it didn't take long for him to figure she wasn't lying

"Yes Miss Monroe right this way,"  he said making a way for her to pass

"Hold the f**k up! I've been waiting here for a damn hour and yet this bitch can just walk right past. How f**ked up is that!" the subzero guy yelled furious at the obvious injustice 

"And remove this imbecile from the premises," she said attempting to walk past him

"Wait hold up Little Missy isn't that a bit too far" his elder brother, who was dressed in an awesome Scorpion shirt that was completely ruined by his texas cowboy hat, said. His southern accent was even stronger than his brother's

"And who are you?" Elizabeth asked annoyed

"I'm his big brother," he said 

"Okay, remove this imbecile as well," she said walking away.

I stood there embarrassed as the men glared at Elizabeth angrily

"Alexander, aren't you coming?" she asked as all the hateful gazes turned to me causing me to sulk as I walk towards her with my head down avoiding the angry gazes of those in the line

After the ride which I admit was really fun she decided to go on another ride

"The Ferris wheel is over there," she said

"Honestly. I'm not in the mood for another ride

"Okay, so what do you want?" she asked

"I don't know I could go for something to eat" I shrugged just remembering that I had skipped breakfast

"I see. There should be a restaurant over there" she said dragging me away

"Wait I have to use the bathroom first. I'll meet you there" I said breaking free of her grip before walking away

As I walked through the crowd I spotted Wendy being harrassed by two familiar faces

"Hi there beautiful," The subzero guy said invading her personal space

"Um...hi" Wendy said stepping back

"You here alone?" he asked getting even closer

"No I'm with friends" she responded looking for a way out of that situation

"Really? They hot?" 

"Why don't you invite her to come to hang out with us?" his brother said licking his lips 

"Look I'm really busy so can you both just get out of my way," she said deciding they weren't worth pleasantries

"Come on Little Missy we ain't bad people," the brother said checking her out

"Hey, Wendy! I've been looking all over for you" I lied as I made my way over to them

"Who the f**K are you?" the subzero guy asked not remembering me

"Alex?" Wendy said

"Sorry guys, I'm her friend. Thank you for finding her" I said once again trying to avoid a conflict

"Let's go, Wendy. Don't want to keep the others waiting" I said grabbing her hand

"Um sure," she said as we started walking away but before we could get too far the subzero shirt guy stepped in front of her

"Something I can help you with," I said nervously 

"Yo Oddie," he said looking closely at me

"What's the deal?" his brother asked

"Ain't this boy look familiar?" 

"Who me? You know I get that a lot" I said awkwardly stepping back

"Now that you mention it. He does look quite familiar" his brother said moving towards me

"I truly have never met you, fine gentlemen, before" I lied sweat running down my back

"Now I remember," he said gritting his teeth angrily

"You're the ginger top that was with that blonde bitch!"

"Yeah now I remember," his brother said finally recognizing me

"Wendy hurry. Run! Go and get help. I'll hold these guys off" I said filled with false bravado as I let go of her hand

"Alex I don't think that's a good idea," she said but I already started rushing towards the duo of fully grown college students who both seemed like giants to me. It was really foolish of me but in my defense, at the time I was only thinking of protecting Wendy. That, unfortunately, resulted me getting a black eye as the subzero guy gave me a solid right hook sending me to the ground hollering in pain

"Wendy run" I cried out to her

"You ain't going nowhere Little Missy,"  the brother said stepping in front of her

"Hmph take this you creep" she scoffed as she kicked him in his family jewels

"AH!" he yelled clutching his area before she grabbed his head, driving it into her knee

"AH! The bitch broke my f**king nose!" he yelled 

"Brother," the subzero guy said running towards her. As he was about to reach her she quickly turned and tried to sucker punch him but he surprisingly caught her fist

"That wasn't very nice sweetheart," he said smugly

"This won't be either," she said wending back for another punch

"I think that's enough of you," he said twisting her hands

"Ah!" she screamed

"Mm, I like that. Let's hear more" he said creepy as he raised his hand to hit her again when suddenly Anthony appeared out of nowhere grabbing his hand tightly

"You have five seconds to tell me what you were going to do with this hand?" He asked heroically as he squeezed his hand tighter

"Who the f**k are you?" he yelled in pain

"Ding! Time's up" Anthony said before twisting it behind the guy's back

"AH!"

"Let the girl go," Anthony said before the man pushed Wendy away

"You okay, Wendy?" he asked

"I'm fine," she said spinning her wrist

"Now why don't you apologize to the girl?" Anthony said 

"F**k you," he said 

"Now, now that's not very nice," Anthony said punching the man in his side

I was in awe at how awesome he was but that's when I noticed the brother sneaking upon him with a piece of board

"Lookout! Behind you!" I yelled before Anthony turned his head to see the brother. In what seemed like one swift motion he pushed the younger brother away and turned to give the elder one solid right hook. That hit must have hurt like hell because it sent a combination of blood, spit, and teeth flying out of his mouth as he fell backward. I couldn't stop myself from imagining it in slow motion and it was even more badass

"F**king bastard!" the younger brother said angered

"That's enough out of you," Wendy said annoyed as she gave him a high kick that left him in a daze before he flopped down unconscious

"F**king losers. Hitting on a freshman" Anthony cursed glaring at their unconscious body

"Couldn't have said it better myself" Elizabeth said walking over to us

"Were you there the whole time Lizzie?" Anthony asked 

"I warned you" Elizabeth sighed

"What?" Anthony said confused before he notices his sister's glare

"OH shit! Run!" he told himself before running away from the furious Elizabeth

"Get back here lowlife" she yelled dashing towards him stepping on the private regions of the two unconscious men

"Um...well that happened," Wendy said 

"Yeah, you okay?" I asked

"My wrist hurts but other than that I'm fine. You?" 

"I'm just glad that you're okay. It's a good thing Anthony came when he did. I can see why you chose him" I said sighing in defeat

"Chose him for what?" she asked

"There's need to pretend. He's a great guy and I'm sure he's a great boyfriend" I said 

"Thanks, man, but I'm not her boyfriend," Anthony said coming from behind me

"Wait what? Tuesday, didn't you say you were waiting for your girlfriend?" I asked

"Yeah I was waiting on Samantha" he clarified

"What about when I saw you two flirting in front of the bathroom on the first day?" I asked

"Flirting? We were waiting on Samantha. She was in the bathroom" Wendy said

"At the party?" I asked

"She went for drinks," Anthony said 

"She came back after you and Ben walked away," Wendy said

"Okay fine but why didn't you want to invite me here?" I asked

"Samantha told me not to" she explained 

"Oh," I said embarrassed and awkwardly

"We're gonna give you two some space," Anthony said ejecting him and his sister from that awkward situation

"I'll go call the police and go get an insubordinate fool fired. Let's go Anthony" she ordered before they left

"Sooo...I might have jumped to conclusions" I admitted

"You think?" she said sarcastically 

"I'm sorry about that. One thing though why would Samantha invite Ben and not me?" 

"Come on Alex. You know why?"

"She thinks it'd be awkward; she doesn't think we can be friends," I said

"And she's right," she said

"What?"

"Who are we fooling, Alex. We can't be friends this changes too much"

"Wait...Wendy"

"You know it too. Aren't you tired of the awkward greetings and forced dialogue"

"It's not like that's gonna last forever," I said

"And what if I actually get a boyfriend?" she asked before I went silent

"Look how you reacted today. Shouting and shit" she said and immediately I felt like the world's biggest jackass

"I might have been a little misguided but I-"

"No buts Alex. This friendship is over. I'm sorry" she said cutting me off. I opened my mouth to reject when suddenly Elizabeth and Anthony came back

"The cops will be here shortly," Elizabeth said

"Until then the security will take care of these scum," Anthony said before the two big scary guards took up the unconscious men as if they were bags of flour

"Alex, Lizzie will get you some ice for your eye" Anthony added

"And Anthony will bring Wendy here to the doctor" Elizabeth sighed before turning to Anthony

"Oh Anthony, tell them to fix your broken nose," she said

"I don't have a broken nos-" he said before Elizabeth gave him one quick jab to the face

"OH shit!" he yelled bending over and clutching his bleeding nose

"Don't ever go ruining my glorious name again. You understand" Elizabeth said sternly

"Alright alright" he gave in

"Let's go, Wendy, before she breaks something else," he said before he and Wendy walked away

"Hmph" she snorted

"Was that really necessary?" I asked

"It's better than what she would have done," Elizabeth said somberly. At that time I had no idea who she was talking about but she had suddenly gotten quiet which was odd for her

"You okay?" I asked

"Let's get you some ice," she said grabbing my hand 

"O..kay" I agreed before she dragged me away. After taking an ice pack she brought me under the shade and put it on my eye

"You must think I'm a wuss," I said

"No, you're not a wuss Alexander. A wuss would have hid when his friend was in trouble. You chose to interfere while being obviously outmatched. That was rather brave of you" she said in a monotone tone

"Thanks for cheering me up" I smiled

"Did I?" she said confused

"Yeah I feel a bit better now" 

"That wasn't my intention but okay. But don't think what I said was out of sympathy. Yours truly doesn't sympathize with anyone" she said

"So what was that?" I asked

"Speaking the truth" she shrugged

"Still thank you," I said before she flashed a beautiful smile at me

"Let's go. I don't think you've eaten anything yet" she said reminding me of my hunger which made my stomach rumble