It was a warm June night, and the Sun was just a glimpse above the horizon, a slight breeze brushing against my skin. My dark brown hair was flowing with the wind as spun in circles. I closed my eyes and listened to the voices of people talking and laughing. Even with my eyes closed, I could still see the joyful faces of children, their eyes wide with excitement, and their parents watching them carefully. I smiled as I captured the moment in my head. I made sure to memorize all the details in my head so I could retell it to my parents.
It’d been nearly a week since I last saw them, and it would be another month or two until I would see them again. Although before leaving, they made me promise to call them whenever I had time, or at least once a week. My parents twentieth anniversary was last week, so as my gift to them, I decided to go stay with my aunt in California for the summer. As soon as I got off the plane, no one was there to pick me up, so I headed to the carnival to wait for my aunt.
I walked towards the carnival, seeing all the rides I wanted to ride. So as I went round and round in circles on the carousel, my mind drifted to my home back in New Jersey.
I felt the carousel slowly come to a stop and gently opened my eyes, letting out a happy sigh. I struggled to get off my carousel horse. Feeling dizzy, I went to find a place to sit, catching my breath.
I started towards a nearby hotdog stand, checking the time knowing I was supposed to call my aunt. I looked down in my bag and began searching for my phone. Suddenly, I bumped into someone. “Sorry—”
I looked up into the striking blue eyes of a drop dead gorgeous stranger. He seemed about my age, if not a year or so older, and was an inch taller than me. No words could even begin to describe him.
My heart pounding, I tried to catch my breath. Just when I thought he couldn’t get any hotter, Gorgeous Stranger smiled, making his eyes twinkle and my conclusion rip into shreds. I tried to speak. “Sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going. I—my…sorry.” I stuttered.
He laughed, and then smiled again. “Don’t be.” Even the sound of his voice made my heart explode. He held out his hand. “I’m Florian, by the way.”
I held out my tingling hand, meeting his. “Sophia,” I returned, matching his smile. “Do you live around here? I don’t think I’ve seen you around town before.”
Deep breaths, deep breaths, I thought to myself. “N-No, I’m just visiting my Aunt for the summer. I live in New Jersey. What about you?” I asked.
“Moved here about five years ago from Portland.” His eyes seemed to sink into mine; making it seem as though each thing I said really mattered. As if I really mattered.
My heart fluttered as though it were a butterfly trying to escape. The odd, yet amazing thing was that even though it was breath taking, I loved the feeling of excitement. I wanted to jump up and scream, as though a bubbly volcano was erupting inside. I could feel it building as his eyes continued to stare into mine. “I’m here f-for the summer,” I mumbled. He probably thought I had a speaking disorder. And did I repeat myself?
He smirked. “Cool. Maybe we can hang out sometime. I could show you around town, if you’d like,” he said.
Oh yes. Sophia would like. Sophia would like Very Much. “Sure, that sounds like fun. When would y—” I started to ask, but suddenly I was cut off by a squeaky voice.
“Florian! I’ve been looking all over for you Pookie Poo!” I turned to see a gorgeous blonde walking toward us with two equally gorgeous girls, one taller, and the other average height. The one who was taller was also blonde, but the average one was a brunette. Judging by the way the stunning blonde was walking just slightly ahead of them, I could tell she was the leader of their group. And by the look she was giving me, I could tell she wasn’t too fond of me.
Great. I already had someone who hated my guts. I sighed. They all seemed to walk in unison, and as if they owned the place, better than everyone else. Their eyes weren’t exactly friendly. As they got closer, I could see two guys with them, who seemed to trail the other two like puppies, obviously their boyfriends. I realized in disappointment that the leader didn’t seem to have one, but apparently wanted one by the seducing look she was giving Florian.
My stomach turned. “Hey. What’s up?” Florian said, giving me an apologetic look. He introduced the: the leader was Tara, the two behind her were Steph and Tammie, and the guys were John and Caleb.
As they reached where we were standing, Tara went and stood by Florian—very close, I might add—while the others circled around. Tara wrapped her arms around Florian. “Where have you been? We looked all over for you!” she exclaimed. She gave me a dirty look.
“Who are you? Girl! Someone call Bitch (You might as well just say it and not star it. Curses aren’t starred in novels.) 911.” I smiled at my little snide comment, and was tempted to laugh when I saw that my little grin seemed to annoy Tara. Florian, however, seemed to look amused. With a deep breath, I told myself that I would remain neutral if anything should happen. At least for now. “I’m Sophia. I’m visiting here from New Jersey for the summer.” Nice. I smiled to myself. I hoped I could stay calm for the rest of the night.
Tammie seemed to manage to give me a forced smile, but I could tell from the look on her face what she was really thinking: She’s staying for the whole summer?! Yeah, like I would make it my goal to ruin her summer. “So how do you know Florian?” She asked me. I could feel her eyes sweeping me up and down.
“Actually, we just met. I sort of accidently ran into him” I could feel my cheeks getting warm as I looked down at the ground. When I looked up, my eyes met Florian’s, and the butterflies came back in action.
“Oh, so do you always talk to strangers?” she inquired.
Just the Hot ones.
I knew it was meant to be a dig, but I decided that it was probably best to act naïve. I smiled at Tammie, trying to make it look a little real. “I guess I just like meet new people.” I smiled purposefully at Florian, knowing it would make Tammie furious. I could already see the fire in her eyes, but it didn’t matter nearly as much as it did to see that Florian was impressed. I guess he was used to Tammie’s rudeness. At least now I knew it wasn’t personal…I think.
All of the sudden, I felt closed in and panicky. I needed to get away somewhere—anywhere other than with Tammie giving me the evil eye, her friends doing the same, while the guys talked about whatever. I looked at Florian out of the corner of my eye to see if he felt the way I did. He seemed to be listening to John tell some story about football, but didn’t seem too into to it. When his eyes met mine, they seemed to hold a question. A question that I smiled back to in reply. He knew exactly what I wanted. “So, anyone want to ride the Ferris wheel?” he asked, looking right at me. His eyes seemed to light up, as if we were sharing a joke that only me and him shared.
“That sounds like fun,” I answered, not able to hold back my smile.
A few minutes before, watching a turtle race would have been fun, but sitting in a Ferris wheel alone with Florian, sounded amazing.
“I was actually about to get a hotdog,” John said. He looked at Caleb, who seemed to nod his head in agreement. I laughed inwardly and shook my head. Guys. They can be so…..simple. But if they were so simple, wouldn’t I be able to tell if Florian thought I was cute, or if he was just showing the new girl around to be nice?
I guessed I was going to have to find out.
“Well, I want to go ride the Ferris wheel,” Tammie declared, smiling sweetly at Florian. Then to my disappointment, he smiled back. Though I felt as if my heart had been crushed, I did my best to keep a smile on my face.
Suddenly I just wanted to go home. Florian must have noticed the look on my face when he smiled back at Tara. He looked at me with soft eyes and smiled—a smile I couldn’t help but share. Even if he didn’t like me the way I wanted him to, just being around him was good enough for me.
“Better start walking over there before the line gets longer. We’ll meet you guys at the hotdog stand after, okay?” Florian said, looking at Caleb and John. They nodded and started heading in the other direction along with Steph.
“I’m not hungry, so I’ll just go with you guys,” Tara said. As we started walking toward the Ferris wheel, I felt Florian sort of drift back so he was walking right beside me. His jacket brushed against my arm, heat radiating off it. It made all the rest of my body feel warm inside. I had a feeling my cheeks were the color of cherries right now. It seemed like the walk to the Ferris wheel was taking forever. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tammie slowly drift back to Florian’s other side. My blood boiled. At just that moment, we passed a crowd of people, making it impossible for all three of us to walk side by side at the same time. I took a deep breath, told myself to let it go, and walked a few steps up to where Tara was standing. When she saw me, she gave me a disgusted look and quickly looked the other way as if I weren’t there. Or so she wished.
How did my life get so filled with drama so fast? I asked myself. I felt like someone had just let the air out of my balloon. Still, I walked with my head high and shoulders broad.
Finally, we reached the line to the Ferris wheel, which was surprisingly short. I looked at Tara to see if she could possibly bear to sit with me for five minutes, and was surprised to see that somewhere along the walk, she picked up two people. Talk about spaced out. There was a girl, who gave me a semi-smile, which wasn’t too bad, compared to the look on Tara’s face. The guy beside her looked at me with friendly eyes—something I hadn’t seen since Florian talked to me. He grinned, brown eyes sparkling. I smiled back warmly, glad to have someone actually welcome me. “Micah,” he introduced himself with a surprisingly gentle voice. “And you are?”
“New,” I murmured with a simper.
“So I noticed,” he answered jokingly. “I mean what’s your name?”
I started to answer, but was cut off by Tammie who was having a hushed argument with Florian. They stopped when we turned to stare, but I had a feeling they were talking about me. I strained my ears, trying to hear what Tammie was now whispering to Florian. “…nice to her, if you sit with me...” I heard her say in a persuading tone.
I felt ticked off all over again. I didn’t want her to be nice to me; she could hate me for all I cared. I just wanted Florian.
I must have had a look on my face, because Micah gave me a weird look. “Sorry,” I mumbled.
He looked alarmed. “Did I say something? Because you don’t have to tell me your name if it’s against your Jersey rules or something,” he said, retreating.
I laughed, surprising myself. It felt good though, like a weight being lifted. “No, it’s fine. My name’s Sophia. I would tell you I’m from New Jersey, but it looks like you already knew that,” I said with a curious look on my face.
He chuckled. “I heard Miss Stick Up Her Butt telling Jenna about you.” He gestured to Tara. “Here for the whole summer, huh?”
I shrugged and smiled. “Looks like it.”
“You don’t sound too thrilled,” he said, giving me a playful, sad puppy face.
I rolled my eyes. “No, I’m glad, it’s just…” I glanced at Florian talking to Tammie. “…I don’t know.”
“Ah, I see what you mean. You’ve got the Florian syndrome. A very common virus here in California.” He nodded knowingly. I smiled for what seemed like the billionth time while talking to Micah.
“Oh, really?” I acted surprised, even though we both knew it was obvious that Florian was practically irresistible.
“Oh yes, I’ve seen it many times before. In fact, you could call me an expert on it,” he droned.
I put my hand on my head in despair, sighing loudly. “Oh, dear, I hope it’s not deadly! Is there, by any chance, a cure?” I took a flirtatious step towards him.
“Well, I have seen one antidote that seems to work.” He smiled, a devilish gleam in his face.
I opened my eyes wide and gasped. “And what would that be?” He slowly put his arm around me.”
“I’m really not supposed to tell, but—” He leaned in and whispered in my ear. “It’s a type of medicine called ‘Micah-dote.’ I hear it works like a charm.”
I laughed. Suddenly, I realized how quiet it seemed. Oh crap. I took a step away from Micah and turned to see Tara, Jenna, Florian, and Tammie staring at us.
“Well, you sure work fast don’t you?” Tammie said with a sneer. I rolled my eyes. I was sick of her crap. I glanced at Florian, but he was just staring blankly at the bench beside us.
“Don’t be jealous, Tammie. We all know you’re just mad at Sophia because she actually has a shot with Florian while you don’t,” Micah said.
I looked at him, surprised, and then smiled. He gave me a reassuring look. “Don’t you agree Florian?” he asked jokingly.
Tammie obviously couldn’t take it anymore. She turned and stormed off, Tara doing the same. Florian finally laughed. He looked at Micah, shaking his head. “Man, you’re going to get your head bitten off.”
Micah pretended to brush it off. “Nah, she won’t eat me. Too many calories.” He smiled. “So are we going to ride this wheel thingy or what?” His arm roped through Jenna’s. “See you guys,” he said winking. I watched him and Jenna get on. We were next.
I glanced at Florian. “So, I guess it’s just you and me.”
The corners of his mouth lifted. “Yeah.” He gently took my hand and led me to the gate.
“Next!” the ticket guy shouted.
“That’d be us, thanks” Florian said smiling. I stifled a scream; he said ‘us’
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