2. Carnival

La, la la la-la, wait 'til I get my money right. 

The music bumped throughout the house, leaking under the bedroom door and into its bathroom, where Tobi stood at the sink, staring at his pupils in the sink mirror.

I had a dream I could buy my way to heaven. When I awoke, I spent it on a necklace. I told God I'd be back in a second. Man, it's hard not to act restless. 

The house party was a raucous riot. 

A girl Tobi barely knew was sitting on the bed in the other room. He had her in a few of his classes, but never really talked to her until tonight. He stared at himself for a while longer before opening the bathroom door. 

Tobi, now a sophomore in high school, sat across the study hall table from his best friend, Bryce. 

A message delivered to Tobi's phone made an ugly clattering sound as it buzzed on the table. 

"Londeen?" Bryce asked. 

"Mhm," Tobi nodded after looking at the screen, and a long sigh escaped his lips. 

"So, you aren't with her anymore, I gather?" 

"No, definitely not. It is what it is," Tobi shrugged.

"No homo or anything, but Tobi, you're a good-looking guy; you're also like the top-ranked football player in the state. You don't need that hoe. That bitch. You could honestly just Ghengis Khan this whole school. We both could!"

"Well, I'm not going to do that," Tobi said, trying not to laugh, "But look-"

"Yo, are you gonna go to that carnival Saturday night? There's also gonna be some after-party at this one girl's house afterwards, too. Everyone's gonna go and get fucked up."

"Ehhhh," Tobi said. "Maybe. I don't really want to, but odds are, you're gonna drag me there." 

Bryce grinned, switching topics, he said, "Y'know. If you and Londeen aren't a thing, what're you gonna do about the homecoming dance? You gonna make up with her so you can go? Or are you just gonna get som' from these halls?" 

Tobi put his head in his hands and groaned, exacerbated, "Dude, I don't give a fuck about homecoming." 

"You're only saying that cause you got dumped."

"I did not! I'll probably go to the after-party, tho. I don't care about the whole dance thing."

"Okay, well," Bryce looked at the clock on the wall. "Five minutes 'till practice." 

Since the homecoming game was in a few days, they'd been let out of school early every day for the past two weeks for more practice time. 

During the football practice, Tobi felt right at home. He could never describe the feeling correctly to anyone else, but whenever he was doing anything athletic, it was almost meditative. He would close his eyes and take a deep breath, feeling a high-frequency vibration tickle his skin as if he had some kind of light, invisible electromagnetic aura around him. 

Tobi was faster. Tobi was stronger. Tobi was just better. 

Everyone on the team knew that, and so did his coaches. 

In the locker room after practice, Tobi walked over to Bryce. "I forgot to tell you earlier, but dude, I made like a couple thousand just over the weekend." 

Bryce raised his eyebrows, "Really? Legally?" 

"Yeah, of course."

"How?" 

"You busy right now? I've got all the stuff back in my room. I could show you. I'm just saying, if we both get in on this, we both eat."

Walking from the locker rooms, the cheerleaders had just finished their practice and were sitting on the bleachers. 

Bryce glanced over, seeing Londeen sitting with a wide posture at the top. Her white face paint sticking out on her deep, tanned skin. She looked past Bryce and watched Tobi, who didn't even feign a look in her direction. 

A few days later, and it was already homecoming. 

The game was a close 16-22 in the opponent's favor.

With just a few minutes left, the coach put Tobi back on the field after a long rest, as he had played almost the entire game. Tobi begged incessantly to be put back in, and the coach eventually relented. 

Now, in a tied game, all Tobi's team had to do was score once more, and there wouldn't be enough time for their opponents to score again. 

Twenty seconds on the clock, and Tobi, the quarter-back, saw the perfect opening. He fired the ball down the field toward number 44, Bryce, who caught it, running it into the end zone. 

His high spirits rang until he came face-to-face with Londeen at the afterparty after exiting the bathroom. Looking up from his phone, he saw their faces were just about an inch apart. 

The bitchy sneer across her face told him everything he needed to know about the incoming interaction. Without saying anything, he attempted to walk past her, but she blocked his path. 

"Really?" He said, looking at her. 

"Yeah, really."

Bryce looked over from the hallway, watching them talk before Tobi retreated back into the bathroom, closing the door behind them. 

About ten minutes later, Tobi found Bryce and sat next to him. Bryce looked at him slowly, with low red eyes and a large, goofy grin across his face. "Yooooo!" he screamed. "My guy!"

"What?" Tobi gave him a confused look. 

"I saw you, bro. You and Londeen just now in the bathroom." 

"Nah, we weren't doing anything like that. But, uh, things are cool between us, now." 

Bryce nodded lazily, "Yeah, that's what's up." 

"Are you good?" 

"I'm always good."

It was Saturday night, a few minutes before dark, and Tobi set off for the Carnival. Since it was only a few miles, he decided he could just bike there. He grabbed the one his father had given him many years ago—a long trick bike with pegs on the side. 

Locking it out front, he walked through the entrance. He heard the screams and squeals of kids, and overhead, the metal clanking of fast rollercoasters. 

He weaved through families, attempting to get to the place Bryce said to meet him. 

Out of the corner of his eye, through a gap between people, he saw a flash of someone familiar, just for an instant. He squinted, trying to see who it was. He was quite tall, so he could easily look over the heads of most people around him, but he couldn't make anything out. 

On the opposite side of the carnival, Londeen and her friends were ushered behind a food stand, seeing a sketchy-looking group of people looking at them expectantly. 

"What do you need?" One asked. 

A nervous grin crossed Londeen's face. "Do you know where Molly is?"

Grinning, "Oh yeah, she's over here," he gestured for them to follow him a little deeper. When they got far enough away, "Alright, for the four of you cuties, it's gonna be sixty." 

"Bet. That's a steal! You have CashApp?"

Tobi scanned the crowd, looking for Bryce, mumbling to himself, "Bro, why are you gonna beg me to come, and then just not even-" he was cut off, his eyes fixating on someone several yards away. 'Where do I know her from?' He didn't have time to think about it, as the crowd swallowed her up and she disappeared. 

After receiving the ziplock bag from the man, and indulging in its contents, Londeen was feeling pretty great. Evident by the smile plastered onto her face. Turning to one of her friends, she asked, "Hey, you think Tobi is here?"

Shrugging, "Where else would he be?" 

"Imma text him," she sent a text, and then a few minutes later, a voice message. 

The loud gongs of bells and the rings when prizes were won filled the air. So much so that Tobi didn't hear or feel his phone buzz in his pocket. 

Since her friends went before her, Londeen sat alone in the rattlecage. The ride was like a Ferris wheel, but one gets strapped into a cage where they can flip themselves upside down and spin. 

Right before the ride started, someone opened the door, and slid beside her. "Oh hey," A boy from one of her classes grinned at her.