Kashi walked around the fairgrounds, cell phone in hand. She had tried to call Matthias twice now but it had gone to his voicemail. There were a million possibilities for why he hadn't answered. The simplest would be that he dropped it and broke it. Apparently he was prone to breaking his phone. Kashi chuckled a little at that, looking down at the phone in her hand. She'd had it for over three years now. Honestly it was probably time for an upgrade. There was a crack in the top left of the screen and it had slowed down to the point of being more a nuisance than a help. She picked at the faded pink case on her phone. If not a new phone, at least a new case.
Kashi checked the time. Five in the evening. She promised to meet up with Carr at six for dinner and a ferris wheel ride. The rides opened at four but they wanted to wait until later when they could catch the sunset from the top. It was going to be a brilliant one. Already the sun was turning to a pretty orange rather than the blazing white ball it had been all day. It had been a beautiful day. The sky had been dotted by puffy wisps all day, shining brightly down on the fairgrounds.
Now that the rides were open, the fair was more packed. It always was in the evenings anyway. Kashi leaned against a booth selling little leather bracelets and trinkets, watching all the people from her town mill about one another. Sierra had gone to pack up the equipment from her musical debut and Carr went to meet someone else. Kashi saw a few friends of hers, but she hadn't really felt like socializing. She watched as Carly and her new fiancee wandered past without a glance in her direction. It was crazy to see the differences between everyone she'd been friends with in high school with just last year, and how everyone was now.
Kashi shook her head. She'd be twenty soon. She'd been out of high school a year and she was living and working on her uncle's farm. She had debated going to college when she was in high school, but she hadn't really been interested in any more schooling. There were no jobs in that direction that appealed to her. Her brothers had gone and seemed to have enjoyed it. At least she knew Scott had been successful. Nathan however… She still didn't know anything about how Nathan was faring. It used to not bug her, but now that she'd gotten closer to Felix and her dad and well… she'd been close to Scott for a little while, she wished she knew how Nathan was.
Kashi sighed heavily, staring across the way at the popcorn stand, the line almost as long as the one to buy tickets for the fair rides. Kashi debated getting some, but then she caught sight of her dad and her uncle in line together. She tilted her head. She couldn't hear them, but she was watching the way they seemed so… casual. Her dad never used his hands when he spoke unless he was comfortable with people, or angry. But he was gently gesturing as he spoke and he even cracked a smile.
She watched as their conversation seemed to lull, the two men looking in different directions. Kashi decided to walk over and see if she could help them resume the conversation.
"Hey dad! Hey uncle Hudson!" She said, popping into the line between them. "What's up?"
Her dad raised an eyebrow, trying not to smile. "What's up is that you're using me to cut in line and you're gonna sucker me into buying you some popcorn."
"You saw right through me!" Kashi giggled, feigning a gasp. "I do think that the kettle corn looks good."
"That kind was always your favorite, wasn't it?" Her uncle asked as they took a few more steps forward in the line. "Remember mine?"
"Anything that's spicy." Kashi shook her head. "You remind me of Sierra. I'd like to see you two face off in a hot sauce challenge."
"Not a competition you will win, Hudson," her dad said. "Sierra is not entirely human. That girl could eat a habanero and ask for a bottle of hot sauce to wash it down."
Kashi laughed. It wasn't wrong. Sierra had a love for spicy foods. Kashi liked mildly spicy things. Like a little jalapeño in a bowl of chili or in a quesadilla was tasteful but Sierra apparently enjoyed the taste of fire. Kashi tried something from Sierra's plate when they went to a Thai restaurant that summer and she'd felt like her face was quite literally going to fall off. "She ordered the spiciest bowl of chili at the chili stand for lunch." Kashi said, "She ate it like it was nothing. I don't think you'd win."
"Yeah, maybe not." her uncle said with a laugh, "well how about this. I'll buy you guys each a bag of popcorn if you promise not to make me compete with Sierra in a spicy foods duel?"
"Sounds like a good deal to me!" Kashi said.
Her uncle bought her a bag of kettle corn, a bag of cheddar for her dad, and some spicy nacho cheese popcorn for himself.
"Where's Felix?" Her uncle asked, looking around. "I haven't seen him at all today."
"Oh he disappeared with his friends the minute the rides opened. I gave him some money for the day. He's probably going to spend it all on rides. My one stipulation was that he not bring back anything living."
Kashi laughed, remembering the year Felix won six goldfish from a ring toss game. "What, not into fish tanks dad?" He rolled his eyes.
Kashi checked her watch. "I have to go get in line for some tickets."
"Kashi, you hate rides. You always say they're dirty and they make you sick." Her dad said.
"Carr wanted to get food with me and go on the ferris wheel. I can do the ferris wheel." Kashi protested. "Besides, they don't always make me sick. Just most of the time."
Her uncle turned to her with a smile. "So are you and this Carr fellow a… couple?"
Kashi nodded. "Yeah. We're having fun."
"Not too much fun?" Her uncle winked.
"Hudson!" her dad said nearly indignantly.
Kashi cackled. "No uncle Hudson, not too much fun. We've barely been on more than a few dates since we work a lot. We usually go on dates to Belle's diner. Her new pot pie is amazing." She turned to her dad, sensing something shift when she mentioned Belle. "Dad, have you been to Belle's stand here at the fair?"
Her dad turned red, "Yeah I have, I bought Felix and I lunch. Her macaroni and ham meal." He looked at his boots as they walked slowly through the field.
Kashi smiled. "You should ask her out someday, dad. I think she'd like that." Before her dad could say anything else, Kashi waved, starting into a jog. "Love you dad. Thanks for the popcorn Uncle Hudson!"