The haunted house smelled like piss. Acrid fog from machines curled around Callie’s ankles as she trailed behind Jabari and Ramsay. They still held hands. Overhead blacklight bars cast an otherworldly glow over everything, brightening Callie’s white T-shirt so that it was almost blinding. Eerie, tinny Halloween music played through unseen speakers, but Callie didn’t recognize the song. Even if she had, she was too busy trying not to trip over the cord stretched over the floor to pay attention to the music.

“Seems like a safety issue to have power cords strewn everywhere,” she muttered.

“What?” Ramsay asked without turning his head.

Callie was surprised he’d heard her. “It smells like piss in here.”

“Wouldn’t rule it out,” Jabari replied. “Lots of my colleagues wander through here when everything’s closed. Good place to get drunk and do… other things.”

Ramsay responded in a low voice only Jabari could hear. He howled with laughter, playfully bumping Ramsay’s shoulder with his own. Callie wanted to roll her eyes, but she resisted, even though she knew they couldn’t see her. It was odd how comfortable they were with each other already, and Ramsay didn’t seem upset about Jabari having stood him up anymore.

Jabari was hot, but that didn’t give him the right to be an asshole. Whatever he’d said to Ramsay via text must have been pretty convincing.

A hydraulic hiss preceded a zombie popping up in front of them, uttering a guttural moan. Ramsay jumped and cried out, latching onto Jabari. Considering that Ramsay frequently fell asleep in the middle of horror movies, Callie found his behavior suspicious.

She didn’t have long to ponder the strangeness. The toe of her Converse caught on a wire, and she went down, scraping up her hands and knees. Sharp heat spread from the injuries, and she swore.

“Callie?” Ramsay tugged Jabari to a stop. He turned, and even in the dim light, Callie recognized his furrowed brow. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I think so.” She pulled herself to a seated position, assessing the damage. Although it was hard to see the extent of the damage in the semidarkness, nothing was broken. Blood trickled from her left knee, and it smarted like hell, but it would heal. Her hands would bruise, maybe. It wasn’t too bad.

Jabari took a menacing stride toward her, setting flashing in his eyes—before he seemed to shake himself and stop just short of Callie. Ramsay threw him an inquisitive look that he didn’t have an answer for.

After looking from Ramsay to Callie again, Jabari’s face softened. “You’re bleeding.”

Callie checked her knee again. “It’s not too bad. Should stop in a minute.”

She regarded Jabari warily. Despite his calm demeanor, there was no mistaking the feral gleam in his eye before Ramsay had intervened. What the hell was that about?

Ramsay brushed past Jabari to kneel beside Callie. If anyone else came into the haunted house, they couldn’t linger like this. Thank God the Starlight Carnival wasn’t all that popular. 

“You want to go?” he asked.

“I thought that’s what we were doing,” she replied. He stretched out a hand, and she let him help her to her feet. “Aren’t we heading toward the exit?”

“More or less,” Jabari said, even though Callie wasn’t speaking to him.

“There should be an emergency exit up ahead,” he added.

Ramsay took out his phone and turned on the flashlight. The pop-up zombie mechanism gave another hydraulic hiss, barely giving anyone time to brace themselves before the zombie reappeared with a prerecorded groan. Ramsay and Callie both jumped, but Jabari didn’t.

Somehow, he’d gotten closer to Callie. When had he taken another step? She could reach out and touch his leg if she wanted to—but of course, she didn’t want to. And… he was taller than she’d realized. A little more imposing.

Ramsay had his hand on her waist now, keeping her steady. Gratitude bloomed through her chest. She shouldn’t have felt jealous, even for a minute. Of course he would be there for her whenever she needed him.

“Which way?” he asked Jabari, still holding onto Callie’s waist. 

Jabari looked at the zombie, eyebrows scrunching together. He jerked his head to the right, toward what seemed to Callie to be just another wall. “This way.”

Ramsay kept his flashlight beam trained on the ground ahead of them as they walked so that there wouldn’t be any more cord-tripping incidents. Jabari pushed on what had looked like a wall to Callie, and it became a curtain that gave way under his touch.

Callie and Ramsay followed Jabari through the curtain and down a corrugated-metal hallway toward a bright-red EXIT sign. Jabari pushed the handle on the door and it swung outward. The smell of fried food and the sounds of cicadas and people shouting poured into the building. Jabari held the door open for Ramsay and Callie, and the red-haired attendant outside shot them a confused look as they exited.

“That’s for emergencies,” she said.

“I’m bleeding,” Callie said. “Besides that, nobody’s in there.”

“You’re bleeding? Oh, shit.” The girl crept closer to Callie. She couldn’t have been older than seventeen. “Did something happen in there?”

“No thanks to you,” Ramsay retorted.

“She tripped over a power cord or something,” Jabari said, trying to smooth things over. “Do you have a kit out here?”

“A kit?” The girl paled. “I… I’m supposed to, but I don’t think–“

“Never mind.” Jabari looked to Callie. “You can come with me. I have one in my trailer. We’ll get you patched up.”

It wasn’t until Ramsay frowned that Callie realized Jabari hadn’t invited both of them along. That was a little weird, especially as he barely knew Callie. She wasn’t about to go off with some dude she’d just met. She didn’t think Ramsay would stand for that, either. 

“I want to help,” Ramsay said.

“I think I can handle it, Ram.” Once again, Jabari’s tone was warm, but it had an edge to it that turned Callie’s stomach. The more time she spent around Jabari, the less she liked him. “The trailer’s pretty small, and I don’t want anyone getting claustrophobic.”

“It’s not a problem,” Callie said. “Besides, I want him with me.”

I’ll post it tomorrow. Thank you!

If you’re caught up with all the MFOA installments, and considering the price ($1/month), how do you feel about the length of them?

“What do you mean, you want to go back there?”

Ramsay lifted his head from where he lay on the other end of the couch. His eyes were sleepy but bright. Mischievous. Callie didn’t like the look in them. They’d spent the whole day having a horror movie marathon, complete with beer and popcorn, and though the alcohol was long out of both of their systems, Callie still felt pleasantly relaxed—or at least, she had until Ramsay proposed his asinine plan.

“I want to give it another shot,” he added.

Callie shook her head. “He stood you up. You were pissed. You said so yourself.”

“I know what I said. Can’t a guy change his mind?”

“A guy, yes. You, no. You never change your mind, Ram.” Callie dragged a hand down her face. “What did he say to you to get you all worked up?”

“It’s not what he said so much as how he said it. I’d show you the messages, but I’m not proud of some of the pictures I sent.”

Callie rolled her eyes. Going back to that carnival was the last thing she wanted to do. After waiting in the ticket line for hours and the food line for close to half an hour, the lead-up had definitely not been worth the payoff. All she could think about was the hurt in Ramsay’s eyes, the reek of alcohol on his breath as he cursed beside the petting zoo. She really didn’t want to see him like that again.

The red and yellow friendship bracelet Becca had made him encircled his wrist. He played with the ragged ends of the knot as he spoke. “I’m fine, okay? I know you’re worried about me, have been worried for a long time, but Cal… I promise I’m all right.”

She wanted to believe him, she really did. Truth was, he had come a long way since his sister’s death. From wallowing beneath a mountain of blankets and surfacing only to eat and take a piss to going out in the world on a regular basis, his progress was unmistakable.

But Ramsay showed signs of recklessness, of the kind of risk-taking that Becca would have hated, had she still been alive. She had always been worried about him. Now that she was gone, Callie had inherited that concern.

She thought about a time when they were younger, around the second grade. They’d been playing in a vacant lot, summer sun beating down with a shimmering fist. Ramsay climbed to the top of a dirt mound, egged on by Callie. Becca watched in fear, begging him to get down—and Ramsay jumped. He seemed to stay in midair, fixed by some unseen force—before he slammed into the earth and his arm snapped with a violent crack. He had broken it in three places and needed surgery.

That was not the only evidence of Ramsay’s recklessness that she had on hand, but Callie didn’t care to dredge up the others. One was more than enough. Her concern for him had only increased.

“Callie,” Ramsay pleaded. “Come on. You know I can’t drive or I’d go by myself. I’ll pay for your gas and everything.”

Callie wanted to argue that if he really wanted to go so badly, he could walk, but she didn’t have much fight left in her. If she let him go by himself and something happened, she would never forgive herself.

Reluctantly, Callie stood and picked up her keys from the bowl on the coffee table. “Let’s go before I change my mind.”

This time, when they arrived at the carnival, they didn’t have to wait in line. It was later in the evening, well after dark, and fewer people seemed eager to venture inside. Callie was relieved they didn’t have to wait again. It was bad enough that she’d had to come back here against her will. If she’d had to stand in line again, too, she didn’t think she could have tolerated it.

Ramsay had fidgeted in the passenger seat on the way to the carnival, tapping his fingers on his thigh and bouncing his leg to the beat of Rob Zombie’s “Dragula.” He hadn’t said much to Callie, either. Now that they were at the carnival, he was even more animated, although less talkative. His eyes darted all around them, never fixating on any one point for too long.

“Are you high or something?” Callie asked once they were through the turnstiles.

“What? No.” He scoffed at her. “I only did coke that one time, remember? Nothing before or since.”

“Okay, it’s just… you’re acting weird. What’s gotten into you?”

“I’m just nervous, I guess.” He peered down at his thumbnail, but he didn’t lift it to his mouth to bite. “I told him we wanted to go through the haunted house first.”

Callie frowned. “We, as in me and you?”

“Well, all three of us.” Ramsay shot her an apologetic look. “I dunno, I’m just… I feel weird because he stood me up yesterday, and then today he acts like nothing’s wrong. Wanna make sure I’m not getting catfished or something.”

“Jesus.” Callie sighed, though maybe she should have expected something like this. 

“You coming or what?”

“Like I have a choice.”

Callie shoved her hands in the pockets of her jeans and stared down at her red Converse as they headed toward the haunted house attraction. She hated that she was pouting, but damn it, Ramsay was being ridiculous. He’d made her an accessory to his bullshit crusade, and all she wanted to do was get back in the ass and leave his ass at the carnival so she could go home and get some sleep. To his credit, Ramsay said nothing as they walked. Maybe he knew better than to press his luck.

A long, low whistle caught Callie’s attention as they neared the attraction. She stopped alongside Ramsay, lifting her gaze to meet the whistler’s. He was a tall Black man with hooded brown eyes, close-cropped hair, and a row of golden earrings all along his left ear. He arched an eyebrow and grinned at Ramsay like the Cheshire cat.

Something in his smile made Callie’s blood run cold.

“Hey, stranger,” the man purred.

Ramsay smiled. “Hey, yourself.”

As nonchalantly as she could, Callie tugged on Ramsay’s sleeve. He ignored her, continuing to stare at the hot stranger. This must have been the famed Jabari.

Without further hesitation, the man came closer to them. He reached them in a few long strides, and his speed set Callie’s nerves on edge. He was still beaming at Ramsay, but the smile left his eyes as he turned his attention to Callie. “You must be the friend.”

Callie bristled. “And you must be the asshole who stood Ramsay up last night.”

Jabari gave a short, sharp laugh of surprise. “Seems she’s got teeth. Ram, you never said that.”

Ram. Callie was the only one who’d ever called him that, and hearing the nickname in some rude man’s mouth was a slap in the face. Her eyes narrowed, and she tugged on Ramsay’s sleeve again, not letting go this time. He had to know that she meant business.

“She’s doesn’t get out much,” Ramsay said. Callie could have smacked him. He kept looking Jabari up and down like he’d never seen a hot guy in his life, and it drove Callie up the wall. She was half a second away from going off on both of them when Jabari leaned in and pressed a kiss to Ramsay’s cheek—and then her best friend blushed.

Imagine if Becca could see him like this, Callie thought. Happy, after so much pain. An ache bloomed in her chest and she let go of his sleeve. They could talk about this later.

“I’m Callie,” she tried again.

“Jabari. Good to meet you.” He didn’t offer her anything more than a nod, taking Ramsay’s hand. “Shall we head inside?”

Happy Monday! Friendly reminder that our first movie night is this Friday, June 18, at 8pm EST! I will be streaming the movie through Cytube and will post the link here. For those of you unfamiliar with Cytube, it’s basically just a free streaming platform where we can all chat (via text) while watching the movie.

If you haven’t streamed through cytube before, you’ll need two downloads for it to work in chrome. An extension called Tampermonkey which you can get here: 

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tampermonkey/dhdgffkkebhmkfjojejmpbldmpobfkfo

And then a user script for it you can get here (the link to it is on the bottom right of the page through this link)

https://cytu.be/google_drive_userscript

Thanks and sorry for the trouble! Please let me know if you have any questions. I can’t wait to hang out with y’all!

I LOVE making mood boards. You all probably know this. I thought it would be fun to share a little of what I’m working on in pictures. Let me know what you think!

 

Callie felt a jolt of panic as she turned toward the voice.

A tall, slender white girl with bleach-blonde hair, shaved on one side, was examining her friend’s hand. The friend was even taller than the first girl, Black, with long braids threaded with gold. Metallic beads clicked through some strands as she tilted her head to look at Callie. Both of them had septum rings. Both of them were staring at her.

She flushed and averted her gaze. They definitely hadn’t been talking to her before, that much was clear.

“Hey,” the voice said again. “Blondie.”

Callie turned, albeit reluctantly. Maybe she’d been mistaken. The other white girl with blonde hair, the one she’d noticed first, was talking to her. She held her friend’s hand up so Callie could see it. Blood ran from a cut in her friend’s palm and trailed down her elbow, dripping onto the dirt.

“Is she okay?” Callie asked.

“Depends. You got a band-aid?”

Callie slipped her purse off her shoulder and rummaged around inside. She knew she didn’t have any band-aids, but she felt awkward and wanted to at least seem like she was trying to help. After a few seconds of searching, she shook her head. “Probably have a first-aid station up front or something.”

“Not for workers.” The Black girl said. “They don’t give shit to us.”

Callie blinked. Her gaze shifted to the white girl. “You two are carnies?”

“Carnival workers,” the white girl corrected. “And we’re about to be screwed if we can’t stitch this up. But… we also were gonna get something to eat. You mind holding our place in line then?”

“I…” Callie’s stomach growled again, and the girl’s brow raised. Shit, she could hear it. “I mean, yeah, sure, I can hold your place. What happened to her?”

“Maybe caught it on a ride,” the Black girl said. “Anyway, I’m Tahlia. This is Maeve. We should be back soon.”

Callie nodded, and when they kept staring at her, realized she needed to introduce herself too. “Oh, I’m Calliope. Callie. Nice to meet—”

“Be right back,” Maeve said. She raised Tahlia’s arm above her head and made her hold it like that as they walked away. Callie watched them, transfixed. Tahlia hadn’t been bleeding too heavily, but she’d never seen two people so cavalier about blood loss. And now that she thought about it, that cut had looked deep. She hoped everything would be okay.

Before long, Callie was at the front of yet another line. The smells from inside the food stall smacked her in the face as she placed her order. If the cashier was surprised by her ordering a Coke with her funnel cake, he didn’t show it. For most people, that would have been way too much sugar and caffeine, but with Callie’s ADHD, caffeine and sugar often calmed her. It was bizarre and not a thing many people in her life understood. She remembered spending the night at Ramsay’s years ago before she’d gotten diagnosed. They’d both chugged Mountain Dew to stay awake, with Becca drinking iced coffee because she couldn’t stand soda. Callie had fallen asleep. Ramsay and Becca hadn’t understood it until Callie explained it years later.

Now armed with refreshments, Callie cast an anxious look at the rest of the people in the line. Tahlia and Maeve still hadn’t returned, and she wasn’t sure she could save their spots. It was fully dark now, and the floodlights positioned near the food stall illuminated the annoyed looks on the other customers’ faces. Callie had never been great with confrontation. She looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of blonde hair or braids somewhere nearby–but all she saw was families pushing sleeping kids in strollers, people carrying oversized stuffed toys they’d won from games, carnival food, open mouths laughing—

No sight of the near-strangers.

Reluctantly, Callie took her funnel cake and Coke and stepped out of the line. Her phone buzzed against her hip, but she didn’t have a free hand to check it. She carried the paper plate and plastic cup dripping with condensation to an empty picnic table, not far from the Ferris wheel, and sat. She took a long, slow sip of Coke and savored the crispness of the soda and the syrup on her tongue. Then, she pulled her phone out of her pocket. Two messages from Ramsay:

he’s not here yet idk what he’s doing. i don’t think he stood me up though

And the other, sent a few minutes later:

he just texted me. said something happened to his friend. he can’t meet up. I’m pissed. if you need me I’ll be drinking over by the petting zoo

Callie frowned down at her phone. Her thumb hovered over the screen. She wanted to fire off some words of encouragement, but she was worried that Jabari was never going to show. Maybe he wasn’t real. It wasn’t like Ramsay to make someone up, but he sure hadn’t shown her any pictures of the guy, and she hadn’t thought it was like him to just meet up with some random, either. And… well, Ramsay had been through a lot. Everyone processed grief differently. Maybe—

Her phone sprang to life again, chirping and vibrating in her hand. Ramsay’s photo popped up on the screen. She answered the call and held the phone to her ear.

“It’s Callie.”

“Why the fuck does this shit happen to me?” Ramsay whined. “And where the fuck are you?”

She wrinkled her nose. “How many beers have you had, Ram?”

“Don’t wanna talk. Just come pick me up.”

Callie sighed and hung up, too tired to argue. She popped a piece of the funnel cake in her mouth and chewed. Then, she wiped the powdered sugar off on her shorts, picked up the plate and her drink, and headed out in search of Ramsay.

True to his word, he was leaning on the fence outside the petting zoo, holding a plastic cup of beer in one hand and gesturing toward a goat with the other. “This motherfucker is so lucky. All he does is bleat and eat.” He laughed at his own joke. Callie held the funnel cake out to him, and he tore off a piece. “What a lucky bitch.”

“There’s children in here,” the attendant said. “Would you might not swearing so much?”

Ramsay and Callie looked at the children in question. They were twin boys, maybe ten years old. Ramsay shrugged. “I’d heard worse at that age. Besides, where are the parents?”

“I don’t get paid enough for this,” the attendant replied. Callie offered her a sympathetic look. She redirected her attention to the children, rattling off some facts about the sheep they were petting.

“Eat some of this and let’s go home,” Callie said.

Ramsay obediently put the funnel cake in his mouth and chewed. He offered Callie some of his beer, but she shook her head. It looked warm, at best, and she’d never really been one for beer.

“I’m sorry about Jabari, Ram.”

“Me too.”

“I mean it. Also, don’t talk while you’re chewing.”

“Sure, Mom.”

She rolled her eyes, and he stuck his tongue out, covered in partially chewed funnel cake and powdered sugar. Callie scrunched up her face. Ramsay laughed. He finished chewing his food, swallowed, and grabbed another piece of funnel cake. Callie, like a proper escort, offered him her arm. He took it and let her lead him away from the petting zoo.

As they passed by the food stall again, Callie swore she heard someone ask about a blonde girl, say something about losing their spot in line, but she didn’t stop to figure it out. Ramsay needed her, and she’d always be there for him. The Starlight Carnival had been a bust, but at least she didn’t have to return.

Hey hey! Thanks to everyone who voted in the poll. The winner is PET SEMATARY! I’ll be streaming the movie with Cytube, so we’ll be able to chat while we watch it. More detailed instructions to come.

Mark your calendars for Friday, June 18 at 8 pm EST! Hope to see you there!

Callie’s eyes narrowed. “It’s worth getting mad about?”

“I don’t like you like this, Cal.”

“Like what, logical?”

Ramsay huffed. “Now I really don’t want to tell you.”

“Now you really have to.” She crossed her arms. “We decided a long time ago, we don’t keep secrets from each other, remember? Best friend code. So, spill it.”

Ramsay held her gaze for a few moments, saying nothing. Callie stood her ground, wore down his defenses enough that he deflated like a sad balloon, shoulders slumping as he spoke. “There’s this guy.”

“I knew it!”

“Okay, damn, hang on.” Color rose in his cheeks. “His name is Jabari. He’s… well, he’s pretty hot.”

Callie had never seen him like this, so caught up in someone new. Or, at least, in the prospect of someone new. He was usually so confident. Whoever Jabari was, he must have really been something. It also wasn’t like Ramsay to meet up with some guy at a carnival. He liked jocks usually, the ones that wanted nothing to do with him and would only agree to a quick blow behind the bleachers before football practice.

At least, that was how it had been for him in high school. Now that both of them were in their twenties, Callie assumed he’d raised his standards. But maybe she was wrong.

“Any reason why he didn’t want to meet you at a restaurant or something?” she asked.

“Said he didn’t have enough time off, and he’s not really a foodie.” Ramsay rubbed the back of his neck. “He… works here, actually. Part of the carnival.”

“You’re into a carnie? Holy shit.” A passing family with two children shot Callie a look at her colorful language, but she shot one right back at them. This was Neap Bay, not the Midwest. She’d heard worse words at two. “Ramsay… please tell me this dude isn’t on drugs or anything. A tweaker could knife you.”

“He’s not on drugs. At least, I don’t think he is.”

“Oh, that’s reassuring,” Callie said, rolling her eyes. Ramsay wasn’t naive, but he didn’t have the best judgment, especially when it came to hot guys. She recognized his failing because she was the same way, just with girls. They usually called each other out on shit like that, and she couldn’t help worrying that he’d put himself in another awful situation.

Ramsay didn’t answer her. Instead, he pulled his cell phone out and scrolled through his text messages. Somewhere nearby, a car backfired. Callie flinched. It sounded like gunshots, and her nerves were wound like a coiled spring. She couldn’t help it—something about the Starlight Carnival gave her the creeps. And the darker it got, the more convinced she was that something bad was going to happen.

“Says he’s over by the haunted house,” Ramsay said.

Callie looked around. All she saw was food stalls, the Ferris wheel, a carousel, and a row of carnival games. If she squinted, she thought she could make out two buildings about a football field away. The fairgrounds were massive.

“I think that’s on the other side of the carnival,” she replied.

“I’m heading over.”

“Let me get some food first.”

He lifted a hand to his mouth and chewed his thumbnail. “Don’t really need a chaperone, Cal. Why don’t you stay here, get some food, maybe hang out for a while? I’ll text you when I’m free.”

Annoyance pricked her skin. “You’re the one who invited me to come here with you.”

“Yeah, and now we’re both here. Jabari’s here. I gotta go.”

“Wait.” She touched his shoulder. “I’m assuming you invited me because you didn’t feel safe or something. Why would you ditch me now?”

“He says it’s fine,” Ramsay said. “He said… well, he asked me not to bring anyone with me. I can’t show up with you in tow. It’ll look like I don’t trust him.”

“Do you?”

“Do I what?”

“Trust him.”

Ramsay exhaled. “I don’t know, okay? What I do know, though, is that I haven’t gotten laid in like, seven months. This guy is hot, he wants me, and that’s good enough for me.”

Callie shook her head. “He could stab you.”

“Anyone could stab me. And the longer I stay here with you, the more I feel like you’re the one who could snap.” He offered her a smile to soften his words. “Look, if anything happens, I’ll call or text you. Scout’s honor.”

Callie chewed the inside of her cheek. Typically, she’d bust his balls about something like this, but the buzz of the crowds and the electric atmosphere had lifted the hairs on the back of her neck, and she was too focused on wanting to get her bearings to argue with Ramsay, or to give him a hard time. Besides, her stomach was still growling. She needed to get some food.

She studied Ramsay’s face for a minute. His blue eyes were warm, imploring. A little sad. She knew he needed the boost. More than anyone she knew, he deserved it.

His sister Becca’s face flashed into her mind, and her chest ached. She brushed the pang of grief away and gave Ramsay what she hoped looked like a sweet smile.

“You gonna be safe?”

“Like I have a choice.”

He whipped a condom out of the front pocket of his shirt, and Callie laughed. With another grin and a kiss on her cheek, he turned and headed off in search of Jabari.

“We share the same weakness for pretty boys.” Becca’s voice nagged at Callie’s consciousness again. “Only with Ramsay, I worry it might get him killed.”

Callie’s eyes burned, and she pressed the backs of her hands against her eyelids to keep the tears at bay. Becca would’ve hated seeing her like this. She had been the crybaby; Callie was the strong one. Ramsay was the mediator, feeding off whomever’s energy was stronger at the time. The follower. The empath.

Not for the first time, Callie wondered if her anguish fed his own, if her failure to properly grieve her friend’s loss and move on was making things worse for Ramsay. She got in line at the food stall, tabling the thought. She knew she had to let herself fully feel the sadness, but the carnival wasn’t the best place to do that. Right now, she needed funnel cake and Coke to chase her pain.

“Shit,” came a voice from behind her. “You’re bleeding.”

The summer air smelled like fried food, cigarettes, and booze. Callie took a deep breath. If she focused, she’d catch a whiff of salty sea, pretend she was at the beach bonfire with the rest of her friends—instead of a weird traveling carnival with Ramsay.

Callie had never been a carnival person. It felt like the grease from the food always ended up on her skin and the cigarette smoke always clung to her hair, even for days afterward. She did like cotton candy, though last year when she’d tried to eat some—at another carnival with Ramsay—its cloying sweetness clogged her throat until it finally dissolved. Afterward, she’d felt like throwing up. Maybe she’d outgrown the treat.

What she hadn’t outgrown, somehow, was Ramsay. He kept dragging her to things, and she kept going. That had to mean something, right?

She stared at the back of his head in front of her, noting how the breeze tousled the red strands that had grown too long. Callie frowned, willing him to turn around.

He must have felt her frustration, because he did turn then, and he looked right at her, brown eyes bright with unexplained glee. “Why the long face, babe?”

“We’ve been waiting in line for hours,” she said. “You told me nobody would be here.”

“Chill, all right? The lines at Sephora are longer. Go home if you want to.”

Callie made a face. “You were the one who  wanted to go to Sephora. Besides, I can’t leave you here alone. Who knows what kind of trouble you’ll get into?”

Ramsay raised an eyebrow, but he had no rebuttal. At last, the line was moving up, so he had to turn around.

As they stepped forward, Callie’s eyes fell on the telephone pole to her right, littered with MISSING posters. Neap Bay had had more than its fair share of trouble lately, with anyone remotely close to Callie and Ramsay’s age vanishing without a trace. She hated to admit it, but she’d almost gotten used to seeing the posters everywhere. She hardly noticed them anymore.

But this one caught her attention. The woman in the photo—Teresa Cruz, according to the poster—had graduated from high school the same year as Callie and Ramsay. She was twenty-two, with bleached-blonde hair and dark roots, brown eyes, and a bright smile. If Callie remembered correctly, they’d taken some classes together.

Teresa was a quiet, deeply religious girl. Unlike some of the others who had gone missing, she didn’t seem to have a criminal past, didn’t run with a bad crowd. Of course, that all could have changed in the years since Callie last saw her, but somehow, she doubted it.

So why was she missing?

“Earth to Callie,” Ramsay said. She snapped out of her reverie, realizing her inattention had created a gap in the line. Ramsay had moved all the way up without her and was staring at her expectantly. She offered him a sheepish look and scooted up beside him.

They’d finally reached the ticket booth. The attendant took their money and slid their tickets out from under the window. Callie pocketed the change and examined the ticket carefully: STARLIGHT CARNIVAL. ADMIT ONE. NO REENTRY PERMITTED.

Weird for a fair called Starlight Carnival to open during the daytime, but then again, it was almost sunset. It felt like they’d been waiting in line the whole day, but a quick glance at Callie’s phone confirmed it had only been an hour. A pang of guilt nagged her. Maybe she shouldn’t have been so impatient. She’d tried to keep complaining to a minimum this summer—Ramsay said no one would date her because her attitude sucked, and she hated to think he was right.

Ramsay led her through the crowd and past the turnstiles, which clicked loudly as Callie pushed through them. On the other side, at the front of the carnival, two gilded posts marked the entrance. An enormous blue banner stretched between them, with gold letters that screamed STARLIGHT CARNIVAL: A GALAXY OF DELIGHTS AWAIT YOU, and stars embroidered all around. Callie sincerely doubted the fair held a planet’s worth of attractions, let alone a galaxy, but she digressed—or she would, anyway, once she got some food in her.

As though reading her mind, Ramsay jerked his head in the direction of a food stall. “You want to get something to eat?”

Callie’s stomach growled, but more than a dozen people stood in line in front of them. She sighed. “Maybe we can find another one. I’m not too eager to get back in a line right now, you know?”

The buzz and chatter of people all around them made it difficult to hear herself think. Even Ramsay, who wasn’t a quiet talker, had to raise his voice to respond. “You want to get on a ride or something then?”

His eyes held a mischievous spark she recognized. Callie crossed her arms. “Tell me why we’re here.”

“What do you mean?” he said. “I told you, I wanted to do something different.”

“We never do anything different, Ram. And, up until two days ago, you wanted to go to the bonfire with Declan and everyone else. You called me up on my one evening off and dragged me out to this shithole. I waited in line for an hour. Could you at least tell me the truth?”

Ramsay frowned. “Entitled, much? I thought we were best friends.”

“We are, okay?” She softened a little. He was right, she needed to reign in her attitude. “But… I was really looking forward to the bonfire. Lola was going to be there. And since Declan’s single now, I assumed you’d be down for that, too.”

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Didn’t know you had a thing for Lola.”

“Yeah, she’s a blonde. So sue me.”

“Can’t believe Callie Danoff would go against type. She must be something special.”

Callie couldn’t help smiling, too. “Is that a ‘no comment’ on Declan?”

Ramsay hesitated, and then he relented. “Okay, I’ll tell you why we’re here. You promise me you won’t get mad?”