Jannie had been on the county fair board since she was sixteen years old, after having won the title prize of the Harrow Hall County Queen. She had been the town's sweetheart for as long as I could remember, and had always loved competing in beauty pageants. Even though she was happy going to university in Denver, she still had a lot of strong ties to Harrow Hall, the type of ties that required her to continue to put her future on hold in order to accommodate the needs of her partners on the board. She had been a judge in the pageants after her first win, regardless of where else she was in her life, not to mention she helped organize every fair that the town held. We had a fair for every season, which seemed excessive to me, but it always brought a large crowd out. I always helped in the background, mostly with different games booths and, as of late, the concession booth. This gave me more time to spend with Jannie, especially seeing as how her schedule was getting more and more busy as she approached graduating from university. Even though I wanted the best for her, I wanted more than anything for my best friend to stay in Harrow Hall with me, but I knew better than that. The world was too small for Jannie and that meant she had to explore every inch, and home would always be where the next opportunity opened up. I loved that about her – her ability to view the world through a lens of an adventurer, stopping only long enough to understand but never long enough to get stuck.
I tried to channel Jannie's charisma when I approached John Shop at work on Monday, acting as if I hadn't rehearsed the conversation over a dozen times that morning while I helped Elaine pick out her wardrobe for the week. I did much better than I thought I would, given the fact that I was extremely nervous to even see him again. He was about finished on the ceiling and roof, hoping to have all the construction finished by Tuesday at noon, which meant I had a very small window of time to make a move. I told him about the fair and asked him if he was going, trying my best not to act too obvious with my intentions, and he mentioned that his cousin and her boyfriend were planning to go. He said he would probably tag along for a little bit and that he would make sure to stop by the concession booth to say hi to me. Though it wasn't much, I was excited to see him.
The week passed by a lot faster than I thought it would, and before I knew it Jannie and I were stocking the cooler at the concession booth with a variety of carbonated drinks. The live band was setting up nearby, tuning their guitars and saying random words into the microphones for the sound check. Jannie checked off a few things on her clipboard before scanning over the concession booth once more, patting me gently on the shoulder.
"If you run out of popcorn, just find Jerry and he can run to the truck to get you some more," Jannie instructed, her cheeks slightly flush from the excitement.
"God forbid we have a popcorn drought, I can already see the crowds overturning cars and taking Mayor McNaughton hostage with a shiv made out of a pixie stick," I joked, nudging Jannie playfully.
"If anyone is going to be making a pixie stick shiv, it'll be McNaughton," Jannie laughed. "So don't run out of popcorn, because all three-hundred pounds of the mayor won't be easy to fend off."
"Aye, aye, captain," I said, saluting Jannie as she shook her head and walked away.
Not much time had passed before the fairgrounds began to fill up with crowds of people, taking their time to play games as well as check out the various booths which boasted arts, homemade baking, and handcrafted jewelery to name a few. Later on in the evening there would be a truck pull, which was just a glorified ego boost for the country bumpkins of Harrow Hall to show how fast and loud their trucks were. There were other events such as a two-legged race, a pie eating competition, and then the biggest event of the evening: The Harrow Hall County Queen and Princess Pageant. Unfortunately, I already had the spoilers for who would win the main title of County Queen because it turns out that the judges pick the winner weeks in advance, which seemed like a waste of time to me. Why not have a crowning ceremony instead of putting the girls through a tremendous amount of pressure to prove themselves for no reason? But tradition made it so, regardless of how inhumane the process was.
Jerry and I manned the concession booth, which got increasingly busy as soon as Jerry turned on the hotdog machine, sending the greasy fried smell of pork floating through the fairground. I rang through the till and handed the food over while Jerry used minimal effort to prepare the hotdogs for each hungry mouth that beckoned. The crowds swarmed more than any year previous, which made me happy knowing that Jannie would raise a lot of money to help the county. They were hoping to open a new recreation center to replace the decrepit arena that needed more repairs than were worth investing in. There were a lot of things in Harrow Hall that needed replacing, but it would take a lot more fairs in order to raise the money to do any extra construction.
I reached into the nearest cooler to grab a few sodas, exchanging them for a handful of change from the giddy school girls. I turned around to close the cooler, and when I turned back to face the main counter I was met by the warm smile of John. I felt my cheeks burn hot, noting that I was wearing the required County Fair visor and tee-shirt that depicted a chicken playing a violin on it.
"Cute hat," He teased, leaning his elbows against the counter as he scanned over the concession. "What do you have that won't clog my arteries?"
I leaned into him and raised my eyebrows. "You're at the county fair, not the Olive Garden. If you're looking for healthy, you might want to steal some of the spinach that they have over at the petting zoo."
He chuckled, pointing over to the popcorn. "I'll take popcorn from the least buttered side."
"Oh, live a little," I replied, grabbing a small shovel of popcorn and sliding it into a disposal bag before handing it to him. "It won't kill you to have a bit of butter --- well, it won't kill you for another ten to fifteen years, at least."
"In that case, if you have a pack of cigarettes and a bottle of rye then I'll make it worth my while," He added, fishing some change from his pocket.
"Hey, if you head out by the horse stables you could probably score a little crack while you're at it," I said, watching his face contort a little. I wanted to smack my own forehead in embarrassment, but he finally lightened up and laughed. "Too much?"
"I'm not trying to throw my entire life away, Ellion," He paused, picking a piece of popcorn out of his bag and handing it to me. I smiled and accepted it while he took a piece for himself, ignoring the impatient line that was brooding behind him. "So are you stuck here all night?"
"I'm a slave, what can I say?"
He looked behind him, still willingly ignoring the line of people, before turning back to me. "They let you have bathroom breaks, right?"
"Depends if I behave myself or not, sometimes they don't even give me water. I'm like a neglected hamster that was given to a rich kid on Christmas."
He laughed, his face rippling into a smile that made me wiggle my toes. "You're funny, but you probably already know that."
"If you say so," I said, and internally I wanted to explode. I didn't know what had come over me, but I felt like I was embodying the spirit of sassy Joan Rivers. Just a few days prior I could barely look him in the eye, but now that I was standing in front of him in a geeky chicken shirt and visor I seemed to be at my best. Maybe Elaine was right after-all.
"Say, if they undo your chains for any amount of time, come find me and maybe I can help you escape from your prison for a little while?" He said, offering his popcorn to me again. I took a piece, popping it into my mouth before nodding as if it was no big deal, "Sounds good, I'll find you later."
He looked down to my shirt, eying the strange logo. "Maybe then you could explain to me what significance a chicken playing a violin has to do with Harrow Hall."
Just as he was about to turn away, he smiled at me in a way that made me want to turn into a puddle on the sticky concession booth floor. I remained calm until I saw him walk away, meeting up with his cousin Hadley, who was unmistakable due to her bright red hair. He talked to her for a moment, looking over his shoulder at me while Hadley also peeked out at me. I turned away for a moment, feeling my heart jump with excitement. He was telling his cousin about me, pointing me out to her. I bit my lip, exhaling deeply through my nose before turning around to face the next batch of customers. I couldn't help but sneak a look over to John and Hadley again, but this time someone else had joined them. It took me a moment to register who it was, but it was clear as day despite how many times I told myself that I was seeing things. There, wrapping his arm lovingly around Hadley, was my ex-boyfriend Atheson.
My stomach sunk, feeling the tug and pull of anxiety once more. My confidence plummeted into a sinking hole of pessimism, and suddenly I was plagued by the image of John's death again. I felt my feet give way underneath me, and suddenly I was landing on the hard concrete and smacking my tailbone against it. I cursed out loud, causing a mother nearby to sternly call out excuse me. Jerry spun around, seeing the long line of people waiting for food and beverages while I sat on the ground, rubbing my lower back.
"For crying out loud, Ellion, I told you to clean up that spill half an hour ago," Jerry snapped, unimpressed as I pulled myself carefully from the ground. "If this was a restaurant, I would fire you on the spot."
I rolled my eyes when Jerry wasn't looking, composing myself as I took the order of the customers next in line. Jerry Graff wasn't always crusty, but he definitely liked to put himself on a pedestal no matter what he was doing. At one point he had worked in a five star restaurant as a sous chef before being fired for serving undercooked steak, which he claims was a conspiracy on the fact of his coworkers wanting his position. Grandeur was definitely Jerry's middle-name. But he wasn't totally unlikeable, because he also had moments where he was very funny, usually after a few drinks of bourbon. He played poker with my dad once a month, so on that special occasion I got to see what Jerry was like when he didn't have a stick lodged so far up his --- well, you know.
Every opportunity that I had, I looked over to see Atheson swaddling Hadley in affection. John was immersed in conversation with his cousin, but Atheson seemed to ignore him entirely, as if Hadley was the only person on the planet. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't jealous, because I remembered what it was like to be the center of Atheson's universe, and just how important he could make a person feel.
What made it worse was knowing that of all the people in Harrow Hall, Atheson's girlfriend just had to be Hadley Daniels. How had I not heard this before, and why didn't Jannie mention it when we looked her up on Facebook? How had all of these facts gone unspoken? Deep down I knew it was because Jannie didn't want to upset me, but she didn't have any reason to think it would. I wasn't an overly emotional person when it came to my break-up with Atheson, I hadn't even truly cried about it. Frankly this was the first real spike of emotion that I had had since Atheson picked me up a few months ago in his car only to tell me that he wanted to see other people --- while simultaneously leaving out the fact that he had already been seeing someone else.
After standing around for a bit longer, Atheson and the other two decided to walk around the fairgrounds, leaving me to my thoughts. I tried not to, but the more that I got upset about Atheson, the more I thought of John dying. The knife, the water rushing over him, the panic leaping and bounding inside of him like a feral cat being cornered --- all of it played over rampantly in my head. I couldn't take it anymore, looking over to the popcorn to see that it was getting near empty.
"I'm going to get some more popcorn from the truck, Jerry. You okay to watch the booth?" I asked, immediately regretting it as Jerry's tone quickly flipped into the defensive. "You think I can't look after a concession stand? Go."
What Jerry didn't know at the time was that I wasn't planning on coming back in a few minutes, rather I needed some space to myself to sort through my emotions. I grabbed a bottle of water before leaving the booth, sipping at it while navigating through the cheery crowd. The live band was pumping out some high tempo blues songs while a few people danced near the stage. I weaved through the crowd until I made it behind the stage, distancing myself from the hustle of the fairground.
I perched myself on a box that had been used to house various electronic equipment for the band, taking a large gulp of my water while pulling off my visor and setting it on my lap. Even though it was only mid March, the weather was much warmer than anyone had anticipated. The rain had let up long enough for the fair to set up and take place, but it was predicted to start pouring again by Sunday morning, which meant clean-up was going to be a long and wet process.
I leaned my elbows on my knees, listening to the music playing behind me as the light dimly shone onto the area which I was sitting. I felt at a loss for a plethora of reasons, but mostly because I knew John was going to be murdered. How was I supposed to make sense of my purpose in his premonition? Most times I felt drawn to the people in order to provide comfort, but what was I supposed to do with John? I wanted to know who would want to kill John and, most of all, I wanted to stop them. He seemed like a perfectly normal guy, and regardless if he was or not, he didn't deserve such a terrible end.
On top of that I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that Atheson was dating John's cousin Hadley. I had just been flirting with him as cool as a cucumber, but if I was going to see him again tonight, there would be no way that I'd be able to keep up that charade. My nerves were shot, and I was upset about the fact that the first guy I have had an interest in since Atheson broke-up with me just so happens to be in the same circle as him. I was getting tired of how small small towns really were.
"You stole my spot," I heard a voice call out nearby, causing me to look over. There was John, standing with his hands shoved into his pockets. "But it's alright, you look like you need it more than I do."
"You can have it, I just needed a breather," I replied, about to stand up before he quickly waved the thought away, stepping over beside me to sit down next to me. He kept his hands in his pockets, gently shrugging his shoulders at me. I caught a whiff of his cologne, instantly perking me up. "Why aren't you getting a swab of cotton candy or trying your arm at the ring toss?"
"Can I be completely honest with you?" He asked, sending my heart into frenzied beats. I nodded, and he leaned in so close that I could smell the mint on his breath. "I actually hate fairs. Sorry if it's your thing, but it's all just a desperate money grab for a few minutes of cheap gratification."
I sighed, chuckling to myself as I looked down at my shoes. "Don't worry, I'm not really a fan myself. I just do it for my best friend who is on the board."
"Tell me she pays you at least?"
"In well wishes and blisters on my feet."
He laughed, his shoulder brushing against mine. "Crappy deal."
"It makes her happy, so I try not too complain too much."
"You're a better friend than I am,"
"Depends on the day, really. Sometimes I want to throttle her and she knows it."
"So why are you friends, then?"
I paused, thinking over his question. Jannie and I were exact opposites, yet we attracted to each other like a magnet and metal. Somehow our friendship blossomed from the fact that neither one of us needed to try around each other, for once we were just able to be ourselves. I was the underdog, not quite understood by people and definitely not popular at all, while Jannie was in her prime and able to make friends left and right. But I had heard all about the tireless things Jannie had to do to maintain her status as popular, and I was glad that she was able to lose the charade long enough to be herself with me. I didn't think of myself as being her buffer, which a lot of people said that I was in high school, instead I saw it as me being the most real friend Jannie had.
"The way people often are friends --- for no reason at all," I replied, leaning back so that I could wrap my arms around myself. He noted this, shimmying out of his jacket and handing it over to me.
"You look cold," He said, motioning for me to take his jacket. "Your uniform really doesn't accommodate the spring weather."
I paused, staring at the jacket and then his face. "Are you from some other time --- like a time traveler or something? You're giving me your jacket."
He laughed, nodding. "It's not unheard of to be nice."
I gratefully accepted his jacket, feeling his warmth still lingering inside of the cotton as I wrapped it around my shoulders. "But it's certainly not common."
"So, you were going to tell me about the chicken on your shirt," He said, trying to turn the conversation away.
We talked for twenty or so minutes about Harrow Hall and the mysterious violin playing chicken that somehow represented our quaint little town, rabbit-trailing into the different things a person can do when the weather cooperates. From there we talked about what we both did for a living, which I came to learn he had, as his profile on Facebook had previously said, studied Psychology in university and was actively trying to become a social worker to work with marginalized teens in poverty stricken areas. The more I heard about him, the more insecure I felt about being nothing but a grocery delivery driver. But he didn't seem put-off whatsoever by my occupation, in fact he seemed interested whenever I talked about my clients, especially when I spoke of Elaine.
"She sounds like a hoot," He said, his knee bumping against my own.
"Who says hoot anymore? You're not helping your case, I still believe your a time-traveler, John Shop," I said, nudging him playfully. "I'm sure she'd love to meet you, though. She has a thing for attractive men."
John perked up, raising an eyebrow as a mischievous smile pried on his lips. "You think I'm attractive, Ellion Marksman?"
I felt my face burn hot, immediately dropping my head down to hide the fact that a giddy, almost schoolgirl-like smile wrapped around my face. He nudged me back, chuckling softly to himself.
"Sorry, I won't make you blush any harder than you already are," He added.
I tried to calm myself, but my heart decided that now of all times was the best opportunity to join a race against Usain Bolt. I realized that time was ticking away, and that soon the concession booth would be temporarily closing before the pageant began.
"I would love to keep talking, but I should really get back," I said, motioning to my wristwatch before gently taking off his jacket and handing it back to him. "Thanks for keeping me company."
He paused, his eyes trailing to my lips for a moment. I could have sworn he was going to kiss me, but instead his eyes met mine again and he smiled that same radiant smile that made every square inch of my body tingle. "We should do this again sometime," He said.
"We should," I replied, and wanted nothing more than to lean in and kiss him. But I couldn't, because I just didn't contain that much confidence. At least not yet.
I stood up and smiled at him one more time before leaving, heading back towards the concession booth. All of the previous thoughts I had before were washed away and instead I felt like I had a skip in my step, that nothing in the world could bring me down from the clouds I happened to be dancing on.
Just as I was about to turn back towards the lane that led to the concession booth, I noticed a small multi-coloured tent with string lights dangling softly around it and a hand-painted sign that said ORACLE.