It’ll be my first night out where I can drink again. I deserve to be a Disney princess, too. Come on, Bas. Stop pretending you’re not going to let Blaine get his way so I can plan my costume already. A group theme would be fun!
Dude should just embrace his inner self, become his true Robin. There is a hero in us all. Some of us have the perfect figure for Robin. Why wouldn’t he utilize that opportunity?
Who: Alex Peterson, Diya Anderson Smythe (with guest appearences from Cole and Samantha)
Where: The Fair
What: Alex takes Diya to the carnival.
When: Wednesday 24th August 2016
Diya looked around the carnival a smile splitting her face. She had always loved carnivals; all the kids running around, the smell of popcorn tinged with sweetness of funnel cake that seemed to permeate the air. She knew she would be smell it for days. She slid her fingers through Alex's and smiled up at him, "so I don't know if I mentioned it.... but thank you for bringing me here. I can't remember the last carnival I went to. I love it."
A wide smile spread on Alex's lips, and he squeezed Diya's hand gently. It had been a little while since he'd been to a carnival, in all honesty, but he couldn't say he hadn't been looking forward to seeing his girlfriend. Long distance sucked so much. "You're welcome, babe. I believe you said something about beating me at winning one of those big bears over there?" He nodded his head over to one of the smaller stalls, one tacky looking purple bear that looked as is if it was about to burst out of its seams sitting in the middle of the rest of the prizes. He bumped her shoulder playfully. "Or did you wanna go on one of the rides first?"
Diya had really missed Alex over the last few weeks, everything that happened in her life made her realize just how good he was to her and how much he cared about her. She was determined to make this work. Diya raised an eyebrow at Alex and stuck her tongue out at him, " I will have you know that I have skills you have never seen before. I will totally beat you to winning a prize! But....I really would like to go on the ferris wheel. Think you can handle waiting for your inevitable defeat?"
Alex huffed, rolling his eyes affectionately. "You are adorable. But yeah, pretty sure I can hold off kicking your ass at whatever game we're going to play for the sake of the ferris wheel." He looped his arms over her shoulder, kissing the side of her head as he led her towards the brightly lit wheel.
Diya curled into Alex's side and elbowed him slightly, "I think it’s cute that you still think you are going to win. You clearly have no idea what you are up against."
With a chuckle, Alex squeezed Diya's upper arm playfully. "We'll see about that." Truthfully, considering who her parents were, there was no doubt in his mind that she could, in fact, beat him, but he didn't need to tell her that.
Diya relaxed into Alex, happy to be enjoying a carefree night at the carnival with no expectations. She felt lighter than she had in weeks as they gave their tickets to the collector before they got strapped in. "Does it ever concern you that they are able to break these things down so quickly?" Diya asked. "I mean carnivals are literally here one day and then gone the next! It's almost crazy."
"You know," Alex mused, taking her hand with a laugh. "When I was a kid, I used to ask my dad how they could fit these giant structures into trucks. Needless to say, my mind was blown when I saw them all being taken down."
Diya giggled, "did you think that they would just run around the country in giant trucks with these tents and everything fully built? That's cute."
As the cart shuddered to a start and the began to rise into the air, Alex laughed at the memory. "Yep. I thought they, like... towed it or something. Although I did always wonder how it'd fit on the road. Think of the traffic congestion, babe." He paused, nudging Diya playfully. "In my defense, I was five."
"Oh it wasn't last year like I assumed?" She teased playfully. She grabbed Alex's hand tightly when the cart started, the initial jolt of the ferris wheel always took her by surprise before the fun of the ride set in. "We'll have to take a picture once we get to the top, "
Alex hummed in agreement, pulling his phone from his pocket. "We do. I need a new wallpaper. As cute as my dog is, he's going to have to be replaced. He can still be my lock screen."
Diya raised an eyebrow at Alex, "I feel like I should be flattered that you are willing to replace your dog with me as your wallpaper. We should do a series! One serious, one funny! "
Alex chuckled. "Good idea! How many times does this loop around? I want at least one of us kissing."
Diya laughed and tried not to blush, "I think it goes around twice." She pulled her phone out and held out the camera to take a selfie. She smiled right before pecking Alex on the cheek. "There we go one of us kissing! That is what you meant right?"
Alex bumped her shoulder, admiring the picture. It was a good one, he had to admit. "Perfect. You need to send it to me. What should we do for the funny one? Pull a weird face?" He contorted his expression, sticking out his tongue to demonstrate. "Like this?"
Diya laughed, "I'll send it to you. I like that one." Diya crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue for their next picture. "I think that’s a good look for us"
"The hottest couple in town," Alex agreed, laughing at the second picture, shaking his head. "I'm totally printing it out and framing it."
"Absolutely, we could even give my parents a run for their money." Diya laughed, "What shall we do for the serious picture? I am not a fan of the duck face look."
"I might be competitive, but I'm not so sure I'm ready to take on your parents quite yet. If my father’s stories are anything to go by, they will not back down. I still think we have the edge, though."
He hummed thoughtfully, before putting his arm around his girlfriend. "What about the classic smiling-at-the-camera trope?"
"I think my dads would pull out the big guns and just start making out, but then they would get distracted and it would just be awkward." Diya leaned her head onto Alex's shoulder, "Classic smiling at the camera? How cheesy and boring! I'm kidding, I think I need more pictures of your smiling face." She teased.
With a chuckle, Alex held the camera in front of their faces, a wide grin spread on his own before the camera went off with a click. He glanced down at the picture. "There. Perfect."
"Hmm I don't know if anyone has told you Lex...but you are pretty handsome. It's impressive." Diya said with a smile.
"And I'm sure plenty of people have told you before, babe, but you are gorgeous. How did I get so lucky?” He curled his finger under her chin and nudged her up to meet his lips gently, a sappy smile on his face as they were lowered to the ground.
Diya sighed into the kiss, and wrapped her arms around Alex's neck. She broke away once the carriage stopped the swing reminding her that they weren't quite alone. "You know this reminds me that you are supposed to quit school and become a dancer, have you been working on your moves?"
Alex huffed a breath of laughter, stepping out of the carriage before holding out his hand to help Diya out. "You know, I have. I'd gladly demonstrate them. Maybe not in a public place, though. Can't give it out for free." He winked.
Diya laughed, "If I filmed it I bet we could get it to go viral. But I do think that it should probably be for my eyes only. "
"Well, I have been working extra hard on my abs lately," Alex quipped, tugging Diya back under his arm and pressing a light kiss into her hair. "Can't let myself slip. I intend to keep you around as long as I can."
Diya laughed and pulled at Alex's shirt teasingly to lift it up slightly, "oh have you? How has this not been advertised during our facetime conversations?"
"Sorry," Alex replied with an easy grin. "I'll make sure to do it next time. Right now, though, I'm just enjoying getting to spend some time with you in the flesh."
Diya wrapped her arms around Alex's waist and reached up placing a kiss on his jaw line. "I suppose have you in the flesh is nice."
Alex chuckled, leading Diya over to the little game stalls that were dotted around, pausing just outside the hearing distance of one grumpy-looking attendant. "Wow, she does not look like she's having as much fun as we are."
Diya furrowed her brow when Alex pointed out the grumpy carnival employee, "how can you not have fun when you are surrounded by so much magic! It'd be like someone angry at Disney world."
"Unless you're actually Grumpy," Alex reminded her. "Grumpy can't look happy. It'd just be all wrong. Happy is a whole different Dwarf."
"Even Grumpy has some magic to him. She looks like she woke up on the wrong side of the bed multiple times!" Diya exclaimed
Alex laughed, nuzzling into Diya. "She does a little bit, doesn't she? Should we go cheer her up with some friendly competition? I'm sure the combination of my abs and your dazzling smile is sure to make her day."
Diya laughed, "No sir! those abs are for my eyes only! And maybe the swim coach- but I share that reluctantly! But I suppose some friendly competition wouldn't hurt."
"Fine, friendly competition it is," Alex grinned, leading her over. It seemed to be a simple dartboard game, which was confirmed to him once said grumpy lady practically thrust the darts into his hands after he handed over two tokens. He passed half of them to Diya, giving her a pointed look.
"You ready, babe? Try not to be too disappointed when you lose." Okay, he was fairly certain by this point that he was going to lose, but that was beside the point.
Diya tried not to smirk when she realized it was the game where you threw darts at the balloons and the number of balloons you popped increased your prize. She was so good at this game; Sebastian had taught her how to play when they used to come to carnivals as a family when she was younger. "I will try to contain my disappointment. Would you like a kiss for luck first?" She said innocently.
"Like I'd turn down a kiss from you," Alex replied, leaning down to give her a peck on the lips, a soft smile when he drew back. "Don't think you can soften me up, though. I'm on to you."
Diya pouted innocently, "I have no idea what you are talking about. This is all in good fun! Please go first and show me how it's done."
Alex raised an eyebrow, surveying the contraption with confusion. "Uh, sure. I can... definitely... do that." Once he worked out what he was supposed to be doing, that was. The attendant seemed to be pointedly avoiding their side of the booth, so he doubted she was going to come and help.
Figuring that it had something to do with the balloons, he aimed for one of them, narrowly missing and hitting the board behind it.
Diya muffled a laugh behind her hand, "Don't worry babe. You still have 3 more darts."
Alex gave Diya an exaggerated pout, before making another attempt. This one caused the balloon to pop, and he thought he'd scored a point or whatever. He couldn't be entirely sure, and the attendant was still ignoring them.
Diya raised an eyebrow slightly impressed, "This doesn't look your first time playing. "
"I'm not too bad with darts," Alex said, and it was the truth, really. He wasn't as practiced as his father was, but he had learned a thing or two. Unfortunately, the third dart he threw missed the balloon. "Damn," he muttered. "Two more."
"Maybe you should widen your stance babe." She said with a wink, "I am sure that will help."
Alex huffed, narrowing his gaze on the next balloon, relief soaring through him when it burst with a pop. "Two out of four. At least I still have the chance of winning you one of the smaller prizes."
Diya smiled, "you did really great babe. I'm impressed!"
Alex chuckled, kissing her cheek before throwing the last one, breathing out a sigh when it burst the balloon. "See? Now you can pick one of the mini-prizes. Uh..." It wasn't a great selection, in all honesty. There never was with the runner up prizes. "There's bubbles?"
Diya giggled and quickly pecked Alex on the mouth. "Could I please have the blue bubbles?" She asked the grumpy attendant who handed them to her without a smile. "I love bubbles!" She unscrewed the cap and blew a few up at her boyfriend.
Alex grinned, at least grateful that he managed to win Diya something. He popped one of the bubbles with a smirk. "Your turn, babe. Show me what you've got."
Diya laughed and bumped her hip against Alex, "ok but hold this!" She handed her bubbles to Alex while she took her stance in front of the line. She fired off her darts causing 4 balloons to burst in rapid succession. "Hmm...it's nice to knows I still have some pizazz in the hands." Diya grinned as she looked at the wide variety of prizes that Alex could select.
Alex was fairly certain his jaw had hit the floor at how fast Diya popped all of the balloons, turning to give his girlfriend a non-heated accusing look. "That wasn't your first rodeo, was it?"
Diya smiled widely, "Depends on your definition of first.... it was my first time this year. Sorry babe. But.... you do get to pick your favourite"
Alex shook his head, a playful smile on his lips. "I feel like this entire game was a lie. I demand a do-over. Two out of three!" He let out a breath of laughter, leaning in to kiss her forehead. "Well done, babe. You did amazing. And, uh, in the spirit of our deal, I choose that hideously tacky overly stuffed bear in the middle."
Diya laughed, "I hate to break it to you babe- but I am practically a carnie. And that hideously tacky overly stuffed bear is adorable. You can cuddle it when you are back at Stanford. "
Diya pulled at Alex's hand once the disgruntled worker handed it over to him, "Come on feel like testing your luck at another booth? I am not perfect at all of them." She teased
With another playful eye roll, Alex let himself be pulled, one hideous overly stuffed bear in his arm. "You're on. I will win you something better than bubbles tonight, mark my words."
Diya paused and turned to face Alex smiling up at him, "You brought me to a carnival, and you won me bubbles...I really cannot imagine anything better. Alex Peterson you may be perfect."
"Well, I do try," Alex replied, preening a little bit as he hooked his arm around Diya's shoulder once more. "But if I'm perfect, you're on a whole other level. You get to pick the stall this time."
Diya stood up on her tiptoes and kissed Alex lightly on the mouth, "you are so ridiculous. Come on!" Diya grabbed Alex's hand and pulled him over to the booth where you sprayed water at ducks on a wall to knock them over. "If I remember correctly 3/5 ducks win a prize- and if you just win me bubbles I will be perfectly happy...but I am going to try to win you that obnoxious giraffe."
Alex ducked his head at the kiss, smile still prominent on his lips as he was pulled to the next booth, cocking his head. "Ohh, I think I've played this one. Alright, babe. Prepare to meet your match." He passed the tokens to the much more cheerful girl at the booth, who gave them a beaming smile. "You first this time, though!"
Cole and Sam were at the basketball hoop game, where Cole was pitching his third try. Sam's arms were full of a large teddy bear he had won at the baseball booth, and a bag of kettle corn. "Those hoops are definitely more narrow than regulation," she said soothingly.
Diya winked at Alex as she took a hold of the water gun. This had never been her best game, but it would be rare for her to not hit at least 4 out of the 5 ducks. True to form she held the gun steady and began firing and knocked down 4 ducks in succession but when it came to the fifth duck she could have sworn she heard Cole's voice, her aim went wide and she missed the fifth duck. "Damn." Diya swore. She shook off the chills down her spine, "sooo no giraffe...but I think you can get the octopus?"
"Whoo hoo!" Cole yelled as he finally made one basket in the basketball booth, which was next to the duck booth. "Just a tiny teddy bear, sorry!" he said to Sam with a sheepish grin.
Sam cocked her head as she pointed at the teddy bear she wanted, "Better than what I could do, I'm horrible at this stuff."
"ASB Nerd!" Cole teased.
Sam laughed and shrugged, "Guilty as charged."
"Better than a dumb jock," Cole replied as they walked away from the booth. "Wanna try..." he spotted Diya and Alex. "Diya!" he said with some amazement, glancing at her companion and recognizing him from the instagrams he had seen. "And you must be Alex..." he said with a slightly stiff, polite smile, extending his hand. "I'm Cole...a friend...of Diya's family." He looked over at Sam. "And this is Sam, my girlfriend."
"Holy crap," Alex replied, twisting around to gape at Diya. "Are you Wonder Woman? Am I dating Wonder Woman? I can't believe you'd keep your identity from me like that!" When he went to make his own attempt, though, he heard someone call out his girlfriend's name.
"Uh. Yeah. It’s... nice to meet you, Cole," he replied, a little taken aback. He seemed like a nice guy, but he couldn't help but feel there was something... off about his expression. Still, he let his grin widen, turning to greet the guy's girlfriend. Which... wow. She was pretty breathtaking. Not that anyone could possibly hold a candle to Diya for him, but still. He could appreciate a good looking woman when he saw one. "Hey. Nice to meet you. Sam, was it?" he asked.
Diya smiled, "that wasn't even that good!" She stepped to side to give Alex more room trying to figure out what booth would should be the next one that they hit next when she heard her name and she turned in shock to see Cole and Sam approaching them. It was a good thing that Alex handled his own introduction because she couldn't really speak. "Hi Cole.... Sam..." Diya turned to Alex, "Cole’s dad is one of Papa's best friends from college. Actually Aunt Pauline, his dad, and papa were pretty close."
Sam smiled warmly at Alex. "Hi, yep, Sam - well technically Samantha but that's way too long for anyone I know to bother with..." she said humorously, with a little cock of her head.
Cole was looking at Diya and thinking about how much he missed her. He nodded. "I hear your dad knows Sebastian, too, right?" he said, tearing his eyes from Diya to push himself to be as friendly and warm as possible.
Alex huffed a breath of laughter at Sam's reply, slightly warmed by the interaction, but let go of her hand when Cole spoke up again. "Uh, yeah, they went to high school together. Part of the show choir. The Warblers. I'm told they were like rock stars, but I'm not sure how much of that is my dad trying to make it sound better," he chuckled.
Cole smiled, feeling some relief that Alex seemed nice. Diya deserved that. "I keep hearing about them, and I've seen some videos, they were pretty good!" He paused, smiling again. "You in town for long?"
Alex relaxed a little, the atmosphere seeming way more friendly now. Maybe he'd picked things up wrong initially. "I'm only here for the summer, I'm afraid. As much as I'd love to spend all of my time with my lady, I'm going to have to go back next week."
Diya pouted when Alex mentioned having to go back to Stanford after the weekend, especially since she knew her dads were not about to let her visit anytime soon.
She glanced at the ground before looking up and pasting a somewhat stiff smile on her face. She hadn't spoken to Cole in weeks and this interaction felt particularly uncomfortable. Diya nodded at the stuffed animal in Sam's arm, "That's cute. Which booth did you win it at? She asked politely.
Sam smiled, though she noticed how stiff Diya's smile was and wondered what was wrong. Maybe she and Cole had interrupted something. "Cole won it at the baseball booth." She pointed at the bear in Diya's arms and asked in her friendly way, "Where'd you guys win that one?"
Diya shifted the bear in her arms mentally trying to extricate herself from this situation, "Oh the darts booth. With quite possibly the surliest attendant. She was not impressed with our skills."
"Your skills," Alex corrected Diya. "All I managed to win were bubbles."
Sam smiled again, feeling relieved to have Alex join in the conversation. "Awesome!" she said. "I was just saying I haven't even bothered trying."
Cole smiled at his girlfriend. "It's such a relief to find that she's not perfect at everything," he said affectionately, putting his arm around Sam's waist.
Sam shook her head modestly at Cole. "Oh brother..." she looked at Diya and Alex. "We haven't been dating long enough for him to see it all, believe me."
"Hey! Not just any bubble blue bubbles! And they are so much cooler than the teddy bear." Diya replied.
Sam noticed that Diya seemed a little uneasy, and wondered what she should do. She chose to be self-deprecating, which usually put people more at ease. "I haven't even bothered wasting our tokens with my lack of skill...I think my parents spent enough money when I was a kid feeding my pointless attempts at trying to win something..."
Diya nodded along when Sam mentioned not trying at any of the games, trying to hide her unease, "My dads and I used to come to these a lot- so I got fairly decent at some of them. I would stay away from the ones that are pretty rigged though- the ring toss isn't exactly fair"
Alex wrapped his arm around Diya's shoulder once more with a grin. "I think she's secretly Wonder Woman, but she won't admit it. She keeps kicking my ass at everything."
Diya shook her head and leaned into Alex's body, "technically I only got 4 out of 5 ducks. You will have to settle for the stuffed octopus. No giraffe."
Cole felt his heart sink a little at Diya leaning into Alex. "Hah, sounds like Diya," he said fondly, though his voice bordered on wistful. "You guys been here long? We're going to hit a few more games, then head over the Ferris Wheel," he said, taking a deep breath and hoping there was a graceful exit to be had.
"Oh, we already went on the Ferris Wheel. Managed to get a few pictures in, too," Alex replied, grinning down at Diya. "We were gonna play a few more games, and then... I'm not sure. Was there something else you wanted to go on, babe?"
Diya blushed when Alex mentioned the pictures on the Ferris Wheel. "I still need to show you how it's done at a few more booths and I was thinking the Carousel? Don't judge but I love that ride."
Sam smiled at them and Cole spoke up with a brave smile. "Oh, well don't let us intrude on your limited time together," he said. "It was nice to meet you though," he said, smiling at Alex with a warm smile. "Have fun with Wonder Woman..."
"Oh, I will." He grinned, kissing Diya on the side of the head. "Don't worry, babe. I love the carousel, too."
Diya nodded at Cole and smiled. "Yeah you too..." Diya said, her stomach sinking slightly, "Don't leave without getting the funnel cake. It is pretty great."
Sam smiled and waved at them cheerfully as Cole moved her away. "Good to meet you, Alex. Great to see you, Diya!"
Diya waved half-heartedly at Sam and Cole before turning back to her boyfriend. "Carousel and then funnel cake?"
After waving the two off, Alex turned his attention fully back to Diya, grinning in reply. "Sounds perfect."
What didn’t he do, is the real question. It’s so bad, I like to think of myself as a kind person, but this little stinker disrupted the whole group lesson, I thought I was gonna throttle him!
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