The Caterpillar Ride
The weekend of the fair had just arrived. Everyone was in a rush to get through the gates to shop, eat, ride and play the games. Children of all ages waited patiently until the fair opened and the mob flowed through the gates.
There was another buzz, slightly louder than the one about the fair, about a concert that night. There were four girls that stood out from the crowd, or we'd like to assume they did. Three of the girls were giddy with excitement and the other one was just happy to be at the fair. Though there are four girls, only one of them is the center of attention in this story.
Her name, Ashly. Nothing really out of the ordinary except for the spelling. Everyone spelled it wrong anyways so there wasn't really a need to bring that up. She's 15 years old. Not old enough to drink or drive but still too old to watch g-rated movies and not get heckled. Her appearance was average and basically nothing special. Short brown curly hair, dark brown eyes, 5'6" and a positive attitude. That's how she liked it, simple. Her friends were all different but me explaining what they looked like would hardly be relevant.
As the four girls separated themselves from the crowd they headed toward the rides. Ashly had been anticipating her favorite, the Caterpillar, all day. She began freaking out at the sight of it and her friends were less than thrilled.
"We can go on it twice," her friend Katie told her trying to calm her. "That's it."
"No!" Ashly pouted. "Last year I had to go on all the scary rides! I just wanna ride the Caterpillar a lot! Is that too much to ask?"
"Yes." Katie and her other friend Aaryn said in unison. Ashly continued to pout, but focused it on Dorigen, her other friend.
"Not a chance." She smiled. Ashly intensified her puppy dog eyes and she could swore Dorigen almost faltered. "No."
"Fine." Ashly brought her pouting to an all new level. "I'll just go on it by myself!" The three girls watched as she stormed away to get inline. The three other girls ran off and convinced Dorigen to ride one of the more terrifying rides. Ashly stood inline watching the previous group of people going around really fast in caterpillar painted seats. When the ride came to a stop she got excited all over again. The teenager working the ride ushered her over to a seat. Because she was alone she would have to share one with a complete stranger. She didn't really mind though because this was the most awesome ride in the world. She was put next to a guy wearing a hat and sunglasses. What she could actually see of his face made her think that she knew him from somewhere. "Hi!" She said cheerily. The guy smiled at her and took off his sunglasses and slipped them into his pocket.
"Hello." He responded. "I'm Kevin." He extended his hand to her.
"Ashly," She smiled shaking it. The teenager came back to secure the safety bar in front of them. "This is my favorite ride."
"I've never been on it before." Kevin told her, his hands gripping the safety bar. "So it basically just goes really fast in a circle?"
"Yeah! It also goes up and down like a wave." Ashly nodded fast making him chuckle lightly. "So are you like here alone?"
"No," He laughed. "I'm here with my brothers, and my band." Ashly just smiled and nodded. A second later the ride jerked to a start. It was slow at first and it finally hit her, she was on a ride with freaking Kevin Jonas. Her head snapped in his direction. He seemed to realize she noticed.
"You're Kevin Jonas." She said still shocked. He laughed and nodded as the ride picked up a bit of speed. He started slipping slightly towards her. "Cool." She said calming down as the ride started to go full speed. His body pressed against her as the result. She squealed excitedly as the seat when down and up again in the circle. She thought about how jealous her friends were going to be when she told them. Then they would have wanted to ride with her. Or at least Katie and Aaryn would have.
"That," Kevin started at the ride slowed to a stop. "Was," He continued as they waited for the teenager to come around and set them free. "AWESOME!" He concluded scaring the boy as he undid the latch.
"I know." Ashly squeal jumping out of the seat. Kevin followed close behind slightly dizzy from the ride. He nearly tripped but caught himself on the outer railing. "You okay there partner?"
"Partner?" He asked co.cking an eyebrow at her still smiling.
"Yes, you are officially my partner in caterpillar-y crime." He seemed to contemplate this for a second before seeming satisfied.
"Me likes." He wagged his eyebrows causing her to giggle. "We should go again." Ashly's ears perked up and they both dove into the same seat they were in before, before anyone could take it. The teenager came back looking annoyed but locked them in anyways.
"I want popcorn." Ashly stated simply as the pair stepped off the ride after riding it four more times.
"Ooo…popcorn." He smiled noticing a vender selling the wonderful snack. "There!" He shouted. They both ran toward the vender nearly tripping over each other as they came to an abrupt halt.
"POPCORN!" They both yelled at him in unison. "Please." They smiled sweetly. The man gave them a strange look but dished out two boxes of popcorn.
"Three dollars." He said with a strange accent. Both Ashly and Kevin reached for their wallets.
"No let me." Kevin insisted.
"No, I insist." Ashly smiled.
"I must." He grinned Ashly shook her head.
"Someone please pay." The man said irritated. Kevin took the popcorn from the man and shoved it towards Ashly and quickly paid before she even realized she had it in her hand.
"Oh…" She glared. "Now you aint gettin' your popcorn." She scoffed walking away.
"Come on!" He pleaded catching up with her. He gave her his best puppy dog face and she tried her hardest to ignore it.
"Fine!" She gave it thrusting the carton into his hand.
"Thank you." He smiled.
"No, thank you." She sighed as they sat down at a picnic table. "You know, for the popcorn."
"No problem." He grinned. "I'll always buy popcorn for a pretty girl." Ashly felt a blush creep across her cheeks. "Are you here alone?"
"No," She sighed. "My friends are here but they didn’t want to go on the Caterpillar with me."
"Losers." Kevin smiled.
"I know right?" Ashly giggled. "They wanted to go on the big scary rides."
"How dare them."
"Mhm." She popped a piece of her beloved snack into her mouth and chewed on it slowly.
"When our tasty treat is gone would you like to go on it again?" Kevin smirked. Ashly looked at him like he was crazy.
"Of course!" She shouted. They downed the rest of their popcorn quickly and ran to get back in line. The same guy was still working it when they ran up the stairs. He rolled his eyes and showed them to a seat. "I can't believe you haven't been mobbed by fan girls." He let out a throaty laugh.
"You'd be surprised about how not often that actually happens." He confided but didn't look disappointed. "I don't mind it. I prefer it actually."
"Cools." Ashly smiled.
"Are you going to the concert tonight?" He asked putting his arm around the back of the seat. She almost had a heart attack.
"Yes! Second row!" She chirped.
"Good, I can see you when we're performing." He smirked making her blush again. She let out a small squeak and looked away. The ride jerked and began to move. Slowly, like before only this time they had changed positions and Kevin was on the outside, Ashly started slipping toward Kevin. As her side hit his she looked up at him. In almost a split second their lips met and pulled apart. They looked away blushing, but slowly turned back toward each other.
"Wow." She blushed at her lack of better words. He chuckled awkwardly. "So…do you kiss most of the girls you buy popcorn for?"
"Well," He laughed sincerely. "I've only ever bought popcorn for one girl. So I guess." They both shared a laugh. As the ride stopped they decided not to ride it again. When they stepped onto the grass Kevin turned toward Ashly with a smile. "Can I buy you some popcorn?" Ashly's face lit up with a new streak of confidence.
"How about we just skip to the kissing?" She suggested. His smile widened.
"That's an even better idea." Their lips met again and this time neither had the intention of pulling away.
