VI- Sweets and rides

Day 6

JOHN

On the other end of the line, I said, "You said we'd go together." I'm riding in my rental car and speaking to Evan right now. He seemed to be laughing at me as I even heard him giggle.

He explained, "I didn't bother to wake you up earlier because you slept too soundly." I inhaled deeply as I acknowledged that I couldn't hold him responsible for leaving me behind.

Last night, I was a little too preoccupied with writing for me not to notice the passing of time. Evan was sleeping comfortably the night before when I decided to turn in for the night.

I said, "Why are you so early?" to him.

"I just have something left to do, Princess, and I didn't want it to get in the way of us, so I'm sorry." He replied.

I covered the phone mic with my hand and muttered to the driver, "Excuse me, Francesco, are we there yet?"

Francesco responded with a cheerful "Yes sir!" in an Italian accent, and I simply nodded as I told Evan.

"Evan, we're almost there," I said.

I'm being driven to the railway station by Francesco. Evan suggested that we ride the train so that I could experience our tour.

"OK, then I'll just wait here until you arrive, and then I'll hang up."

"All right, see you." I didn't finish what I was about to say since he abruptly cut the line. He may have dropped the phone or something. I simply put the phone in my pocket. It only took me a few minutes to notice the train station. Francesco had stopped the car though, so I got out right away. I bowed slightly to look at Francesco through the car window.

I said, "Thank you, Francesco." I thanked him while giving him a wave.

"You're welcome, sir. Be careful on your tour." He replied and waved back before finally leaving back to the hotel.

I immediately entered the train station and went to the staffed ticket sale office to buy tickets, and I went to the passenger platform. I looked for Evan, but it took me a couple of minutes before I finally found him. The place is a bit crowded because there are a lot of passengers waiting for the train.

When I located Evan, he was standing in the middle of the crowd, talking to a man a little shorter than him, who was grasping his arm.

The guy he was speaking with abruptly left, and I immediately called him. Before reaching me, he turned and grinned at me. He approached me and messed up my hair.

"What took you so long?" he jokingly said, smiling. I'm not sure, but I feel different. His smile seemed to have a peculiar quality to it. I was ready to ask him about the man he was speaking with when I realized, who am I to ask him about him? Maybe they just know each other, or maybe that man is asking for directions.

I was astonished when he hugged me out of the blue. Immediately after that, my heart began to race as if it were trying to escape from my chest, and I found myself giving him a hug in return.

I quietly apologized to him for waking up so late. Why are we acting in such a way? putting on public shows of affection to act like a couple. I grinned as I released the hug after realizing that. He took the same action, and the train came on schedule. When some passengers exited the train, he abruptly grabbed my hand. Once everyone had exited, we boarded and started looking for seats.

He still held on to me as he looked for the ideal seat, which scared me a little. I'm concerned since he's acting so strangely right now. He motioned for me to take a seat before he joined me, saying, "Over here." This time, he let go of my hand.

When I finally sat down, I questioned Evan, "Are you okay?," but all he offered me was a joking smile. He asked in a strange tone, jokingly, "Are you worried about me, princess?" I smirked and gave him a fumbling shoulder blow.

I asked jokingly, "Just wondering; if I say I'm concerned, will you answer my question? Huh?" He just chuckled and looked me directly in the eyes.

He ruffled my hair again for the second time, and I pushed his hand away, "I'm fine; there's nothing to worry about," he replied.

I told him, "You keep messing with my hair; it's like a habit of yours," and he grinned.

I don't know, but I was scared and inquisitive about that, and we simply talked the whole way, but I couldn't ask him who he was talking to before.

I instantly came to my senses when he inquired, "Is something bothering you? I was staring at him blankly when I blurted out a question that I definitely shouldn't have asked.

He was stunned by my question, and it took him a time to think before he laughed and replied, "I mean, are you in a relationship."

He responded, "I'm not, and I have no intention of going into such things.

All I could manage to say was "Ahhh," and he grinned.

I remained silent and observed the world outside the train window while pondering why he might not want to engage in that sort of activity—that is, enter a romantic relationship. Is that the reason he accompanied me to the beach—that he doesn't intend to get hitched or find a partner? I'm not sure why, but I simultaneously feel disappointed and depressed.

As soon as the train came to a stop, we jumped out. He again took my hand and dragged me out of the train station, saying, "I can't wait to show you around here." When he did that, I was pleased since it somehow made me feel secure and at ease.

When we got out of the train station while panting, we could see a Ferris wheel from here.

"Is that?" I asked him, and he looked at me.

"Yes, you're right, we're going to the amusement park today," he said as he took a picture of me with his camera. The camera we used on the beach was the same one he used. I kept asking what his occupation was.

"Let's go?" he asked, and I nodded at the same time we started walking.

When we got to the amusement park, we bought cotton candies. We also went to a photo booth. I even told him how ironic it was that he had a camera, but he insisted on going into the photo booth because it looked like a lot of fun. We were donning a pirate cap, clown wigs, crowns, and everything else we had as props while taking photos at the photo booth. We also shot some pictures till we decided to leave because there were so many people in line. We went to a sweets shop and, of course, we got doughnuts and cupcakes.

We were like teenagers who were allowed to wander. I smiled as I thought of the bite of the donut we bought as we walked.

"Wait," he said, so I came to a halt and stared at him. He pointed to the side of his lips, implying that something was on my lips.

"Oh, sorry, I'm being messy," I chuckled as I stroked the side of my lips, but he laughed slightly and rubbed the other side of my lips. I just gazed at him and let him do his thing until I felt my face was growing hot, at which point I turned away from him.

"W-where should we go n-next?" I mumbled to him.He smiled as he pointed to the Game of Skills shop.

One of my favorite fair games is a game of skill. These games put a player's aim to the test by having him use a ball or a weapon to hit a target. The "Cross Bow Shoot," "Milk Bottle," or "Balloon and Dart" are a few examples of this kind of game.

I noticed the hanging stuffed animals and prizes as we drew closer to one of the games. The enormous stuffed teddy bear was the only one that managed to grab my attention.

EVAN

John was fixated on something, so I looked in the same direction he was looking. He was gazing intently at a huge teddy bear, and I could tell he was really astonished by it. In order to get him to let us play, I quickly called the guard and pay. John glanced at me, so I took hold of him by the waist and gently drew him toward where I was standing, where I was facing the weapon that would be used to strike the target.

He just nodded and listened closely as I explained, "In order to be able to win that big teddy bear over there, we have to use up the hitting targets below before moving on to hitting the targets above for the grand prize."I smirked and asked him, "Can you do it?"

He said cockily, "That's so easy for me," and I laughed.

I challenged him in a low murmur, "Go ahead and show me." He smirked and settled down with the weapon; all I could hear him say was "Hmp let me show you."

I snapped a few shots of him with the camera I had brought, but when I noticed that he missed all of the hitting targets, I laughed even harder. He was gazing at me earnestly while I laughed at him.

I stopped laughing and shrugged my shoulders as he stated honestly, "I'm just starting." He gave the man his money and resumed to what he was doing.

He fired several times, but this time he only succeeded in taking out one of four targets. But before moving on to the second round, which has six targets, you must first take out the four targets in the first round. After that comes the last round, which has a target that is extremely difficult to strike.

He paid to try again. He is quite eager to capture the bear.

He fired again, but this time he missed the target entirely because he had already run out of time. He looked at me and said, "I give up," while raising his hand.

Let me show you how it's done, I added as I arched an eyebrow at him. At the same moment, I told the man I had paid him, and I winked at John once more. I even caught him rolling his eyes and grinning. He was furiously irritated!

JOHN

Evan gave me a wink and then began firing at each target. I initially believed he would act in the same manner as I had. But I was shocked when he hit each target one after the other; I was so shocked that I almost dropped my jaw. When it was time for him to hit the last target, he simply did so while grinning at me, and I was like, "Wow."

He amazed everyone around us, and we all joined hands in applause. Evan accepted the sizable bear that the store owner gave him and handed it to me. With a Polaroid camera, the store owner took a photograph of us and gave it to us.

I had to admit that we certainly make a cute couple when I glanced at the picture.

We were strolling and I asked him, practically embracing the giant plush animal, "How did you do that?"

He remarked confidently, making me chuckle, "Didn't I tell you I'm a master of those kinds of games?" We later enjoyed riding the bumper cars very much. We also rode the carousel, and while I was having fun on it, he shot numerous pictures of me.

We made the choice to take one last ride before the afternoon to ride the ferris wheel. I could see the entire town, the coast, and the sunset as the ferris wheel gradually raised us above the ground. Looking calmly into the horizon, I turned to face Evan.

"I miss my grandfather," he remarked abruptly. He shook his head and smiled, evidently glad to remember his late grandfather.

"My grandpa taught me how to play those games of skill when I was a kid. We used to play it together every weekend. I still remember how angry my grandmother was the night we came home, just because of that game."

"If he were still living..." I'm just not used to him right now; he's quite emotional today.

"I could've someone to talk to about all my issues in life," he said.

I tried to be cool and say, "Well, since you have me, you can tell me everything," but he just stared at me and made an effort to smile. He replied, "No, it's hard to explain, and you won't comprehend what I'm going to say."

"Okay, I won't force you to tell me right now, but promise you'll tell me everything whenever you are ready," I said extending my hand to him for a handshake,but he smiled and hugged me instead.

"I asked for a handshake, not a hug, but it doesn't matter; this is better though." I said laughing. Later, it will be time for us to exit the Ferris wheel. As soon as we got down, his phone rang, and he picked it up. I waited patiently to the side, holding the teddy bear Evan won while I watched him go a little. His emotions and gestures gave me the impression that he was upset with the person he was speaking to. He immediately became calm and turned to face me.

I waved and grinned at him, but he just turned away as he hung up the phone and approached me. He apologized, saying, "Sorry something came up, but can you go back to the hotel alone? I really need to go n–"

I interrupted him with a false smile and said, "You can stop now; I can handle myself; you should leave." I'm not sure what it feels like, but I experience an unexplainable emotion.

I only nodded as he muttered, "I'm really sorry.

We parted ways, each of us. I turned around to see him when I had gotten a bit further away, but as soon as I spotted him hugging someone, my chest tightened. And the man he was hugging was the one I had earlier seen at the railway station. I'm not sure why, but I felt cheated. It's said that you shouldn't anticipate anything in return when you like someone because doing so would only cause you pain. Wait, what am I thinking?

I quickly turned around and ran to the train station while gripping the bear even more tightly. It's a little dark, and I'll be honest—I got lost. Thank goodness someone pointed out the way to the train station for me. I kept my teddy bear close to me and rode the train calmly. The moment I started to look at it, the earlier scene popped into my head.

I can see the man Evan was hugging was ecstatic as he hugged Evan. He was talking to Evan even earlier at the train station while grinning. I'm overthinking things again, but I kept asking myself, "Are they somehow... together?"

While I was thinking about that, my chest also felt tighter. What is this recognizable sensation? Even though we've only been friends for six days, I hardly even know Evan.

All the events from day one suddenly go back in time. When we both complained to the front desk on the plane where we were sat next to each other, and in particular when I sloppily accepted his offer to share a room. when he realized I was staring at him as he took a dip in the pool. When he drove me to the beach, when we chased each other in the water, and when we sat together to watch the sunset. Additionally, I suffered so many wounds because of the picnic we went on and the foolish things we did that day. In particular, when we first started enjoying the day by riding all the rides, taking pictures in the photo booth, and eating ice cream, cotton candy, donuts, and fries. Of course, we also played the skill game where he won the teddy bear, and the Ferris wheel comes in last. The sun was shining on a portion of his face as I looked at him, and I suddenly realized that I was grinning. His entire face seemed to me to be flawless.

All of that made sense to me when I considered it. I'm content just being with him, but I'm really content when he grinned, grabbed my hand, and gave me a hug. I'm at ease and feel secure. Like before, when Hanz was still in love with me. There's only one thing I'm certain of, I thought as I grinned.

I like Evan.