Chapter 99 FESTIVE
MERRIELYNN.
The night of the festival arrived, and with it came such muchunnecessary excitement buzzing through the air.
The courtyard was a maze of colorful canopies and booths, each offering different activities, games, and prizes.
The laughter and chatter of students mixed with the sounds of carnival music drifting in from speakers set up around the area. It was one of those nights where everyone seemed to be in good spirits, and I couldn’t help but feel a little lighter as I walked around with Emorie.
We were stationed at Emorie’s booth for the night, and I had to admit, it was a pretty good setup.
People had to shoot down targets with a water gun to win stuffed animals, the bigger the target, the bigger the prize. The MVP prize was a giant teddy bear, almost as tall as Emorie herself. It was supposed to be the highlight of the booth, but so far, no one seemed to have any luck hitting the target.
Either the game was rigged, or people just sucked at shooting. I wasn’t sure which one I believed more.
Emorie kept swooning every time a couple walked up to the booth. “Look at them,” she’d say dreamily. “Aren’t they just adorable?”
I rolled my eyes, though I couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. Emorie was the type of person who loved the idea of romance—maybe a little too much for my liking sometimes.
She was all about the cute gestures, the shared glances, the holding hands. To her, every couple was a story in the making. I wasn’t exactly a hopeless romantic. I had my own ideas about what love should look like, and I wasn’t sure it matched Emorie’s fantasy.
Still, as I glanced around the courtyard, my thoughts wandered back to Cormac.
He’d told me he’d be coming to the fair.
Everyone was coming to the fair, he said, so it made sense he’d show up at some point.
But as I looked around, I didn’t see him anywhere.Most of the football players were gathered by the Ferris wheel, all wearing their jackets, laughing and chatting. But Cormac wasn’t among them.
I checked my phone, hoping to see a text from him. I didn’t want to admit it, but I had been waiting for him to show up.
“Hey, Mere! Another couple!” Emorie called out, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I turned back to the booth just in time to see yet another couple attempt to win the teddy bear. They took their turns with the water gun, but their aim was all over the place. I chuckled softly to myself as they missed the target by a mile, the girl trying her best to focus but barely getting a drop on the bullseye.
“Not even close,” I muttered under my breath.
Emorie was too busy swooning to hear me.
I glanced at my phone again. No message from Cormac. Maybe he wasn’t coming after all. It didn’t matter, I told myself. I had a job to do, and that was to help Emorie run her booth, whether or notCormac showed up.
Just as another couple walked up to try their luck, my phone pinged with a new message.
‘Where’s your booth?’
I quickly typed back a response, but before I could hit send, Emorie called for my help. Another customer was ready to try, and I was quickly distracted.
Time passed, and I got so caught up in helping Emorie that I forgot to check my phone again.
I was having too much fun with her, even if the booth was pretty slow. We joked and laughed between customers, making up silly commentary as people tried to win the big teddy.
After a while, the booth started to get crowded, and I realized it had been almost thirty minutes since I last checked my phone. I opened the chat thread from Cormac, feeling a twinge of guilt for not replying sooner. There were bubbles indicating he was typing, and my heart skipped a beat.
’Found you.′
I looked up, scanning the crowd. My breath caught in my throat when I saw him.
He was walking toward us, wearing his football jacket. Of course, I noticed him right away. He looked so effortlessly cool, confident, and just...him.
There was something about the way he moved that made him stand out. He made the jacket look like it was designed just for him, the dark fabricsculpting him perfectly. I felt my heart beat a little faster.
Emorie leaned over and whispered, “That’s Chaos!”
I nodded, unable to tear my eyes away from him.
He approached the booth, looking like he was just another customer. His gaze locked onto mine as soon as he stepped up, and I felt the familiar rush of warmth fill my chest. He didn’t say anythingkeep for a sweltering glance in my direction.
His gaze traveled from my eyes, pausing on my lips before his attention dipped lower.
Why did I feel the need to remind him we were in public?
He paid for a turn, grabbed the water gun, and aimed it at the target. Without hesitation, he shot, and the water hit the center of the target with pinpoint precision. I watched in awe as he continued, one shot after another, making it look so easy.
“Looks like we have a winner!” Emorie announced, excitement clear in her voice.
Cormac took the giant teddy bear from her, holding it effortlessly under his arm like it was nothing more than a small stuffed animal. It was almost as big as Emorie, but he didn’t seem to struggle with it at all.
He turned to me then, his eyes locking onto mine one last time. He gave me a small smirk, then a lazy salute, before turning and walking away, the teddy bear tucked under his arm.
I stood there, watching him go, not sure what to think. I couldn’t stop staring, even when he disappeared into the crowd.
“Well, that was unexpected,” Emorie said, nudging me with her elbow.
I just nodded, still a little lost in the moment. My thoughts were swirling around the feeling that there was more toCormac’s visit than just winning a teddy bear.
As Emorie finished closing down her booth, I snapped back to reality. She,Tobias, and I spent the rest of the night walking around the fair, enjoying everything it had to offer. We tried cotton candy, different flavors of jello, and all sorts of ice cream. It felt good to just relax and have fun, and for a while, I forgot all about my confusing thoughts. The laughter was contagious, and I found myself smiling more than I had in a while.
By the time we made our way back to the dorm, I was winded and tired, but I still had a smile on my face. It had been a good night, full of fun memories, and I was ready to crash into bed.
Emorie and I parted ways as we reached our floor, and I made my way to my room, still holding onto that smile.
When I opened the door and flicked on the light, something immediately startled me, freezing me in my tracks.
Sitting on my bed, was the giant teddy bear Cormac had won.