Imagine by Christiane Shoenhair, Liam McEvilly

room” to her; she gives a nod of acknowledgment and carries on scribbling away. The geek. I gladly hand my paper to Mr. Monous and head for the door, grateful for the early finish to my long school day.   
    Once Chelsey joins me in my room we try to decide what look we want to go with clothes-wise for tonight’s date. "I think I am just going to go casual, I mean it’s a carnival. So why would I dress up?" I say to avoid the see-through, lacey blouse that Chelsey is trying to make me wear. She thinks that I need to look seductive tonight. Not happening!
    "What do you think Trish? Should I go cute and flir ty?" she says holding up a short, light blue, slinky dress.
    "Or should I go dressy ?" This time she holds up a short black skirt, black strappy heels and a satin blouse.
    We only have about forty minutes to meet up with the guys.  We decide to both take showers and dress casually, which took a lot of convincing on my part.
    Once we are done we head out the door to meat Eddie and Keagan at Eddie’s car. I am really happy that he offered to drive us, since I really like his car. Once again I find myself sitting next to Keagan in the back seat, our hands intertwined.
     
     
     
     
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
    VII
    imagine fireworks
     
    I have always loved carnivals; I know I will enjoy this one even more though, as I get to share the experience with my friends. Apparently this one is huge around here and to celebrate the first day of the carnival they are putting on a huge firework show. It has been advertised throughout the county for the last few weeks to build excitement. We decided to arrive early which will give us plenty of time to check out all of the attractions, get some food and enjoy the fireworks at ten o’clock. The sun doesn’t set until about nine this time of year, which I Imagine is the reason for the late time for the firework show. It has to be dark to enjoy fireworks.
    We arrive at the carnival, park up and decide to check out some of the games first. Keagan and Eddie get talked into trying a basketball game. Both boys give the guy running the stall five dollars, which buys them five shots, 3 consecutive shots into the hoop wins a small prize or five out of five wins a large prize. The prizes are hanging from the top of the booth, everything from a large banana with a smiley face and sunglasses to cute little teddy bears.
    Eddie makes three in a row while Keagan makes four out of five , missing his third shot, so he didn’t win anything – what a rip off. Eddie tells Chelsey that she can pick a prize, so she picks out a fluffy pink teddy bear and hugs it close to her; she throws her arms around Eddie, causing him to almost loose his balance. The look on his face is priceless; I don’t think that he expected tiny Chelsey to be able to throw him off balance. Keagan and I start laughing at them. Eddie and Chelsey join in.
    I find my favorite game, darts, and tell Keagan that I am going to show him how it’s done. I buy five darts and each one hits its target with a loud ‘pop’. I pick out the ugl iest stuffed animal that I can find, a gray ape with a pink butt and hand it to Keagan. He thanks me by giving me a hug and kiss which he teasingly places on the corner of my mouth, barely missing my lips, giving me butterflies. I look up into his eyes, he leans in again, ever so slowly and I close my eyes in anticipation. I can smell his cologne; he whispers in my ear “Let’s get some food.”
    WHAT! My eyes pop open and he has a mischievous look in his eyes, a huge grin on his face. I punch him in the shoulder and turn my back on him, only to find Chelsey and Eddie watching us with raised eye brows.
    Thinking about it, I really don’t want such a special moment to be shared with anyone, especially not in public. With this in mind I turn back to Keagan.
    “I am ready for some food; let’s check out what they have.” Embarrassed a little, I begin to walk towards the food vans, successfully