Ch. 27: Mania

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN:
Mitchell’s mom cleared me. No concussion. But she did give me some Tylenol and ordered me to give her a call tomorrow if I didn’t feel any better, giving me her card. Some adult had called my mom and she came over insisting I go home for the evening. She dropped me off with Ally (Ally was given the option to stay there but she didn’t feel right doing that), then leaving me in Ally’s care, she headed back out to check on Meg who was under the charge of Macy and Elaine’s mom.
I felt guilty ending the evening early for Ally but she continued to insist that it was not my fault, and said that she agreed with my mom about staying in for the evening. We spent the night watching old Disney classics and singing along to the songs. Ally made popcorn and we analyzed Jake’s actions from tonight over and over, until I geared back to Sean. But there was nothing to analyze there. The guy was very clear with his intentions and feelings, and I decided I really liked that.
The next morning Ally and I got up early. We only had one bathroom and now there were four girls/women in here all needing to get ready before the parade. Ally and I took showers and changed before having some cereal. My sister changed into her Girl Scout uniform. My mom was in the bathroom getting ready. Meg was in the parade so we really did have to get out the door soon. My mom was going to drive us all there. Mostly because she had a ton of supplies for her friend’s booth and she needed extra hands unloading the car.
We got to the park a little after 7:30am and helped my mom unload things at the park before she moved her car. Meg started walking up the hill to the meeting spot for her troop, and we followed. Macy and her family were already up there and they waved when they saw us. Meg rushed across the closed-off street to her troop leader and we stayed where we were, just moving to the staircase in front of the library. Best seat in the house.
“Nervous for today?” I asked her.
She shivered a bit, it was the very first day of October and the air was definitely a nippy fall day, even for California.
“I mean of course. But I’m starting to get more excited. We texted a ton last night, even after you passed out. I feel like I’m starting to really get to know him. I’m trying to not get too ahead of myself, but… that’s hard!” Ally confessed.
We talked more about today’s plan. Sean was going to come too and we would all walk around together for a bit before Ally and Joey went off to the tennis court. I got up to get a map for today to get a head start at deciding which vendors to check out. We each had a few dollars and looked at the list of rides and games, picking out one or two we could do. We had seen the set up on that side of the park while we were helping my mom unload her car. There looked like there would be more to do that last year which was exciting. I couldn’t believe I had totally forgotten about Mania.
After some time more and more people joined in setting up for the parade or getting good vista spots like Ally and I. I saw several people I recognized including Angela, June, and Melanie - including Melanie’s new boyfriend. Other people from our former class or around Meg’s age. In a town like ours it was hard to find someone you didn’t know. And chances were that if you didn’t recognize them, they were probably just related to someone you did know. The parade kicked off and as per tradition, we followed the Scouts at the tail end of the parade as they entered the park. The Scouts went straight to their booth, they were selling cotton candy and snow cones this time around. As they set things up Ally and I started walking to some of our usual booths. First the cafe booth that provided us with some toasty hot cocoa and mini marshmallows.
We were seated at a bench when Ally got a message from Joey that he had arrived at the park. She wrote out some general directions to something easy to see - the huge jumper obstacle course - and we walked over there to meet him. A live band started to take over the stage under the gazebo and between the voices, sounds,and music the whole place came alive.
“Hey Ally!” A slender guy shouted as he approached the jumper. He had shoulder-length, straight dark hair tied back, and dark almond eyes
She smiled brightly, “Hey Joey,” she motioned over at me, “This is Rachel.”
“Hi Rachel, what’s up?” He asked me in greeting.
“Good to meet you too,” I said back, analyzing him - like any good friend would.
My phone buzzed with a call - it was Sean - and I signaled to Ally that I was going to step aside.
“Hey there, are you almost here?” I asked him.
“I’m sorry Rach, something at home came up. I’m still planning on going but it’s going to be at least an hour before I can finish up here,” he replied apologetically.
I was a little disappointed, but it wasn’t anything he was choosing to do.
“Oh, that’s okay. I understand. I hope everything’s okay,” I told him, “Just let me know when you get here? I’ll walk around with Ally and Joey in the meantime, no worries.”
“Okay, I hope to wrap things up soon and I’ll be there as soon as I can,” he insisted.
“It’s okay, Sean, really. Do what you need to do and drive safely okay? I’ll see you later,” I replied, assuring him as best as I can in a happy tone.
“Okay, alright, I’ll see you later. Have fun okay? Go scope out the best snacks and when I get there we’ll piece together another picnic,” he lightened his tone putting me more at ease.
I laughed, “Yes, sure. Sounds like a plan.”
I walked back over to Ally and Joey and let them know Sean was going to be late so we should just get started.
We decided to head over to the ticket booth to get a few tickets for the obstacle course, the giant hamster balls, and a few other things. Joey paid for all of us and it was super gracious of him. Brownie points for that. We stood in line and Joey started talking about his childhood and a fair he had been to in his hometown years ago that was similar to ours.
He was originally from Korea and had come to the US when he was six. His family had lived in a suburb outside of Chicago for almost ten years before moving to Belmar. The suburb sounded really charming and he did have good memories although he did note that his family were the only people of color around for miles. He really admired the diversity he saw at Pacific. It was something I didn’t think about that much growing up where I did. I was mixed Latina/white, Ally was mixed black.and white, Lana was originally from Hong Kong, and so forth. I couldn’t imagine growing up like Joey had. I really valued the rich cultures, foods, religions and celebrations I had grown up exposed to more than ever before.
I was deep in thought about this after we had run through the obstacle course. I was still warm from running and climbing, and I followed Ally and Joey like a good third-wheel into the short line for the giant hamster balls. I was so preoccupied with trying to measure out the right amount of space to leave them that I didn’t realize more people had shown up behind us in line until Ally greeted them.
“Hey guys!” Ally said happily, still smiling at something Joey had said.
I turned to see Jake, Evan and Nick. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Should’ve guessed this would happen, really.
We all greeted each other and Joey introduced himself. He was really just incredibly friendly. I was running out of reasons to be suspicious.
The line moved up and the girl running this activity said they had space for four new people. Ally, Joey, me, and one more. Jake took less than a second to volunteer. The girl running things let the other group out and then motioned for us to get inside the bubbles. They were these huge thick plastic bubbles, and when I stepped in mine and helped the girl close up the entrance, I was surprised at how insulated the sounds became. She motioned for us to follow her to this green rope on the grass as she reset the giant ‘bowling’ pins we were going to knock over. I glanced over to see Ally and Joey yell-speaking to each other, teasing each other about who was going to get more down. Jake kept looking over at me and we made eye contact a few times.
We went in pairs. Ally and Joey charged. It was hilarious! Evan and Nick were cheering for them from the line and I was laughing heartily watching Joey ram right into Ally as they were halfway there, offsetting her run by a bit. He was cheating! I looked back at Jake in disbelief and he was actually laughing for once. It was magnetic, I loved it. I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen him genuinely laugh and it made me warm inside. I swear my heart fluttered at it. He noticed me looking and this time for some reason I didn’t look away. We just stood there enjoying the funny scene of Ally trying to be upset and missing her footing while going after Joey. They hit the pins around the same time and rolled into the stacks of hay. I sat on the floor of my bubble and watched them happily, looking back and forth between them and Jake and waving my hands, and he was doing the same. We were both silently communicating something like ‘Are you seeing this?’
They ran back to the start in their bubbles still laughing and the girl reset the cones again, this time for Jake and I.
He got really serious and yelled, “Do you really think you can take me?” He smiled largely like he had already won.