A Good Day for a Fair

Charlie had seen this girl once or twice, greeting her as a new addition to his high school class. That sort of thing was unusual. Lucasville High’s junior class was small, future graduating class of thirty small. What people knew about her could be counted on three fingers: Her name was Oren, she was probably Mexican, and she was very quiet. It had only been a few months, so she didn’t have any friends. She barely had any people to talk to at all, if you excluded Lucy. That was weird. Lucy tended to avoid people nowadays. For a reason he couldn’t wrap his head around, she was colder than she used to be. She pushed people away, she was scarier. That’s why he found it such a shock when she said she’d been talking to the new girl. Lucy said Oren had been eyeing him and that he should ask her to come with him to the fair for his birthday. It was a weird thing for her to tell him to do, something about it reminded him of the pranks she used to drag him into. He was relieved when she turned him down.

Oren caught up to Charlie. School had just let out; he was unlocking his bike.

“I. I thought about what you said. I’d. Like to go to the fair with you. Tomorrow. If you’d let me.”

She spoke with a practiced wavering, a tactic to make her seem less assured. She’d pretend she hadn’t rehearsed this over the weekend. Oren was still hung up on everything that had happened. Being close to people was scary and everyone had a motive to examine. Charlie’s sister, Lucinda, was a prime example. She was so overeager to get in close with Oren. She obviously had an ulterior motive, even if it wasn’t clear what that was. That’s why Oren had rejected Charlie automatically the first time. Why would he be interested in her?

His question weighed on her. It sat with her all weekend. She got the sense that he didn’t really want her to say yes. Maybe it wasn’t about her and he was just covering for something. Maybe his normalcy was practiced, like hers. Maybe that would make him a good person to involve herself with. Besides, getting to know him might give some insight into his sister.

A white truck pulled into the fair’s lot. It ran much cleaner than it looked, Lucinda taking good care of it under her dad’s eye. The truck’s bed rattled with tools and heavy-duty plastic buckets. After tucking into a spot towards the back of the lot, Charlie stepped out of the truck’s driver-side door. It was the day of the fair, October 20th, and his seventeenth birthday all in one. Lucinda’s, too! It was amazing how that worked out.

Charlie spotted Oren motioning to open the passenger-side door and slid across the hood to open it for her from the outside before she could, as a gentleman should. She scoffed at the gesture, door already open. The momentarily bewildered look he made before reaching out a hand to help her out of her seat charmed her. It was cute, unintentionally disarming. Like watching a dog try to carry a branch through a doorway, only for either side of the branch to get caught on the doorframe. Before he could get up to any more theatrics, she stopped him.

“The car’s still running. And you left your door open.”

Charlie flushed red and walked back around the front of the truck. He swore up and down he knew how to drive, but he still slipped up constantly. Lucinda got out of the backseat. It was chilly out, but she still dressed in flowy summer clothes. She hoped the fair would end quickly, almost as much as she hoped these lovebirds left her alone until it did. She was going to be spending the day alone and surrounded by bad fried food and annoying little kids. Some birthday.

"-I'm just saying I don't think I would crash." Charlie said.

"Yeah, you didn’t think even a little. You almost flew out the windshield when that deer was on the road.” Oren replied.

"That wildlife crossing sign was new, how was I supposed to know?"

“Yeah, why’d they decide the deer got to cross on that bend.”

“Right?”

The snorting noise Oren made laughing at her own lame joke made Lucinda want to break something. Especially because Charlie obviously didn't get it. She was torn between thinking Oren was too good for him and thinking she was too weird for anyone. What Art wanted getting these two together, she had no clue.

“Can we get a move on?” Lucinda punctuated her sentence by slamming her door shut. She told herself the truck was tough, that it could take some manhandling. The rationalization didn’t make her feel any less guilty about taking her frustration out on it.

“Here I thought you weren’t looking forward to the fair.” Oren remarked, squinting at Lucinda. Charlie said everyone called her Lucy, but she thought the nickname is too girlish to apply. She was too moody, too pale, too untrustworthy. Their conversation continued until the three got to the gate to the fair, Charlie looked back to make sure Lucinda was following three separate times. Once there, Charlie paid for all three of their tickets. Lucinda trudged off into the fair, Charlie half-shouting after her.

“Stay out of trouble!”

He turned to Oren, sheepish. “My dad told me to keep an eye on her, but. Y’know. We’re all adults here.” He laughed nervously. At least there wasn’t anyone third wheeling their date anymore.

They walked through the fairgrounds, not committing to any one attraction. Oren motioned to hold Charlie’s hand several times before he took the hint. She could tell he was eyeing the petting zoo, but he wasn’t going to say anything about it. She gave him an in, suggesting they check out the animals. She’s never actually seen a horse in person before. Charlie reacted with excitement and surprise before ushering the two towards the attraction.

“Just wait till you see- “

The two were presented with a horse. Its well-groomed white coat standing out against the drab fall surroundings and painted pumpkin standees. Charlie was stopped in his tracks by the animal. Childlike awe almost overwhelmed him. It was so much prettier than the workhorses some of his school friends handled. He had to work to rest his gaze from it, keeping his demeanor calm and mature. Offer that she go first, Charlie.

“You want to feed it?” He said to Oren.

Oren just smiled at him. She'll play along if he wanted to pretend to be in charge. She received a little handful of animal feed from the crank-operated dispenser nearby and walked up to the fence. Once the horse began its approach, she took a practiced step back. She turned again to Charlie, gave him the opportunity.

"I’m. A bit intimidated. Could you do it for me?”

Charlie had a hard time restraining his excitement as Oren gingerly poured the pile of grain into his cupped hands. He turned away, hiding the grin appearing on his face. He took a step towards the horse and whispered to it in a tiny voice.

“Hey beautiful, wanna say hi?”

It responded with a gentle, quiet huff. When he held the handful of feed out and it started to graze, he almost cried. Charlie was cute like this, Oren thought. He was completely in the moment, so gentle and hopeful. She saw two simple creatures. She saw a sweet young boy wearing maturity like a suit. She saw the way he held himself completely change when he got permission to be himself. She could get used to this.

October 20th, 1981. The first day of Charlie and Oren's life together.

Hell 3

Spawn 3

A Good Day for a Fair