Wednesday morning, Elena dragged Maya to the campus café. Elena was already on her phone before they sat down. Maya slid into the seat across from her, coffee in hand. "Okay, this is actually cute," Elena said, grinning, and turned the screen towards Maya.
Maya raised an eyebrow. "Good for them."
Elena's face didn't dim. "Maya, it's a charity carnival this weekend. They've got like rides, food trucks... they even got a roller coaster."
Maya shrugged, staring into her coffee. "I hope they raise a lot of money."
Elena's eyes narrowed. "You're not even a little curious?"
Maya's fingers tapped the cup. "I'm genuinely happy for the hospital..."
Elena snorted, pocketing her phone. "Fine. I'm going Saturday with the girls from Stats. You should come."
Maya shook her head. "I'm okay."
"It's for charity," Elena pushed.
"I'll donate online," Maya said, eyes drifting to her phone buzzing on the table.
Elena studied her for a beat. "You're so boring, you know that?"
Maya smirked. "I know."
Elena huffed, gathering her stuff. "You're missing out."
Maya watched her friend leave, then took another sip. She looked away, then scowled and pulled out her phone.
Friday afternoon, Maya was wandering across campus, zoning out to the sound of crunching gravel, when her phone buzzed.
Jake: random question.
She slowed down, reading it.
Jake: are you going to that carnival thing this weekend
She stared at the screen, then glanced around like she was caught doing something wrong.
Maya: was thinking about it...
She hadn't been thinking about it.
Jake: okay so
Jake: do you want to go
Jake: with me
Jake: ❤️
Maya's eyes narrowed.
Maya: what's with the emoji
Jake: what emoji 😂
Maya: Jake
Jake: i genuinely don't know what you're talking about
Maya rolled her eyes, heart thumping.
Maya: i literally don't hv time for this
Jake: so is that a yes
Maya: tomorrow at 7
Jake: yeah I'll meet you outside your dorm
Jake: see u tmw Maya
She shoved her phone away, pulse still jumpy.
Saturday evening. The dorm smelled like coconut lotion and old popcorn. Elena was sprawled on her plush bed, scrolling through Insta, when Maya emerged in a blue baggy jean and a black leather jacket that screamed "date night". Elena's head snapped up. "Where are you going?" she asked, eyes narrowing.
Maya shrugged, frowning at her phone. "Out."
Elena tossed her own phone aside and swung her legs off the bed. "The festival, right? Who are you going with?" She trailed off, gaze flicking to the jacket again.
Maya hesitated, and Elena pounced. "Jake asked you, didn't he?" Her voice was a mix of mock outrage and barely contained excitement.
Maya sighed. "Elena—"
"No, no, no!" Elena flopped back onto her pillows, hands warding Maya off. "You're breaking the girl code! Girls before bros, Maya! It's like, ancient law or something."
Maya laughed, grabbing her keys. "That's not a thing."
Elena sat up, eyes wide. "It's totally a thing! And you're violating it for a—" She stopped. Looked at Maya. The way she'd done her hair. Her expression softened. "But you look amazing."
Maya smiled, feeling a little self-conscious. "Thanks."
Elena waved her hand wildly. "Go! Get out of here before I change my mind. Text me everything."
Maya rolled her eyes, backing toward the door. "Goodnight, Elena."
The door shut, and Elena let out a squeal. "SO PROUD OF YOU, BESTIE!"
Maya stood in the hall, shaking her head with a grin. She couldn't help it – she was smiling as she headed downstairs.
Jake was outside Spruce at six fifty-two. Hands in pockets, looking like he'd just arrived. Maya could tell that now.
"Hi," he said.
"Hi."
She fell into step beside him. "You're here early."
"I was in the area."
"Of my dorm."
"It's a campus Maya, I live here."
The carnival was a rowdy scene filled with music, voices, the thrum of a crowd. Then they turned the corner, and the lights slashed through the dark—string lights between posts, food trucks glowing, the Ferris wheel turning slow against the sky.
They grabbed loaded fries from the first truck. Maya inspected them with all seriousness, and ate while walking.
Jake took a sip of the apple cider and made a face. "That's not apple."
"It's in the apple family."
"Distantly."
She reached for it. "Give it back."
"You like it?"
Maya drank, made the same face, and handed it back. "Waste not."
They passed the stage where a band was playing with a lot of enthusiasm and a loose relationship with a consistent key.
The green sauce tacos sparked a disagreement that escalated faster than it should've.
"It's not that spicy," Maya said.
"My mouth is on fire."
"You're being dramatic."
"My mouth is literally—"
"Jake. It's a mild green sauce."
"We have different definitions of mild."
She ate another one just to prove it. Her eyes watered slightly.
They passed a tent with a hand-painted sign: PALM READER $10. Jake slowed down.
"No," Maya said.
"Yes."
"It's a scam."
"Obviously," he said, leading her toward the tent. "This should be fun."
The palm reader was a woman in her sixties with a shrewd expression. "Thirty dollars," she said.
Maya blinked. "The sign says ten."
"That was the basic reading. This was premium."
"Premium? You only held my hand and said 'journey'."
Jake was already reaching for his wallet.
Maya shot him a look. "Don't."
"It's fine."
"It's not fine. She's scamming us."
"I'm providing a service," the woman said, already counting the bills.
Outside, Maya stared at him. "Thirty dollars."
"New experiences everyday" He seemed pleased.
The photo booth was shoved between a funnel cake stand and a generator. The bench was sticky. They squeezed in, shoulders touching. First flash: both of them posing like they'd never met.Awful. The second shot, Jake made a face at the last second—tongue out, eyes crossed. Maya's expression in the photo was somewhere between confused and personally offended. The third, she decided to go worse. The flash caught her mid-eye-roll and him laughing so hard his eyes were closed. And the fourth, she didn't remember taking it. She was laughing for real, and he wasn't even looking at the camera. He was looking at her.
She looked at the strip. Folded it. Put it in her jacket pocket before he could look at it again.
The caramel apple was bought from a cart near the east fence, covered in enough caramel that eating it gracefully wasn't an option. They ate it, passing it back and forth.
Maya got caramel on her thumb and used a napkin to wipe it off. Jake got it on his jacket and decided to lick it which made her stare at him with open disgust.
They got popcorn from a cart by the stage. Maya had declared she didn't want any, but she'd been eating it steadily for five minutes when Jake reached over to take some and bumped her arm and half of it went over the side of the cone.
She turned to look at him.
"That wasn't me."
"You bumped my arm."
"I barely—"
"Jake. The popcorn is on the ground."
He looked at the popcorn. Looked at her. "Whoops."
She stared at him for a second. Then she laughed and grabbed what was left of the cone.
A group of girls squeezed between them, bass vibrating through the ground, for a second they couldn't hear each other at all. A kid ran past, cotton candy in hand, and almost collided with Jake's elbow.
They kept walking.
Jake stopped in front of the one the games with giant stuffed bears hanging from the top—aggressively large ones.
"No," Maya said.
"What?"
"Jake."
"It's just a game Maya, chill." He was already reaching for his wallet.
The booth operator, scrolling through his phone not caring about them, handed over the balls without looking up. Three tries. Knock all the bottles off.
"Those are rigged," Maya said.
He looked at her. "Yeah I know."
"So why—" He tossed the first ball. Four bottles down. Two standing.
Maya tilted her head.
"Don't," Jake said
"I didn't say anything."
"You're doing the judging thing. With your arms."
She looked down at her crossed arms. "My arms are cold."
He picked up the second ball. She went quiet. He threw. One more down. One left standing. It wobbled but stayed up.
"Huh," Maya said. "Statistically, you throw things for a living—"
"The bottles are—"
"Weighted foam, I know." She was smiling.
"Very heavy weighted foam."
Jake picked up the third ball. "Three tries," she said.
He threw. Every bottle went down. The operator looked up from his phone. "Pick one."
Jake pointed at the largest bear. It was handed over. He turned and held it out.
Maya stared at the bear then at him.
" What? C'mon take the bear."
She took it. It was enormous. She hugged it automatically, then caught herself.
"You're ridiculous," she said to the bear, not to him.
They started walking again, the carnival swirling around them. The roller coaster loomed at the far end of the midway, its light blinking in sequence. Maya told herself she wasn't nervous as Jake dragged her towards it.
"I'm fine with heights," she said as they waited in line.
"Okay." He said
"Like, completely fine."
"I heard you."
"I just want that—you know—on record."
Jake turned to look at her. "It's on record."
"I'm not someone who—"
He chuckled. "I know, Maya."
The incline was slow at first. The loop loomed above them, way bigger than it had looked from the ground. She had time to regret every choice that led here.
Then the drop.
She felt her stomach in her chest. The wind ripped the air from her lungs. She screamed and grabbed onto the first thing she found. Jake's arm. Then his hair. She was gripping it. Hard.
"JAKE—" Her voice was gone. He was yelling something too, but she couldn't hear it over the wind and her own panic.
Then came the loop. Her face was pressed into his shoulder. This was it. This was how she died.
The second corner. She might have said something embarrassing. She would deny it later. But right now, she was just trying to survive.
The coaster slowed, then stopped. The bar came up. She became aware, slowly, that her hand was still in his hair. She let go.
Jake turned to look at her with a bewildered expression.
"I'm fine," she said.
"But my hair isn't," he said smiling.
"In my defense I was trying not to die."
"You have a strong grip."
"I needed something to hold onto and your hair was—" She looked at his hair. Slightly wrecked. "It was there."
"Jake, I was—" She stopped. Then she started laughing. "Okay. I panicked. I'm sorry. I panicked and your hair was there."
He was laughing too. She was still catching her breath, her hair everywhere, and she kept going on and on about random things.
She caught her reflection in her phone screen. "Oh my god." She stopped. "My hair." She tried to smooth it down. A piece fell back. She tried again. Gave up, laughing. "I look like I lost a fight with the wind."
He reached out and held her face in both hands. His palms were warm. She stopped mid-sentence.
He kissed her. Soft, brief.
He pulled back, looking at her. "Sorry. I just—" He looked at her face. "I'm sorry."
She stared at him for a moment. Then she grabbed the front of his jacket and kissed him back. Longer, more intense.
When they finally separated, she couldn't look at him. She stared somewhere past his shoulder.
"I paid four dollars for that popcorn," she said.
Jake stared at her.
"It was good popcorn." She gave a small nod. "I just thought you should know."
He bent forward laughing. She started laughing too. He found her hand. His fingers laced through hers. She looked down at their hands, then up at the lights.
"C'mon, let's get you a new batch of popcorn."
They walked.