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Laura walked easily towards the back of what was quickly shaping up to be an extravagant carnival in one of Styria’s abandoned plots of land. All the proceeds were going to charity, and Laura had signed up the week before to help out – her breakup with Danny was still a grey horizon on her days, and LaFontaine had been pestering her for a month to get out and about -- anything but sit around in her sweats all day binge watching Netflix. The carnival was the opportunity to do just that; it helped that LaFontaine had threatened to drag her out by her hair if she didn’t sign up. She finally reached her destination, where Perry was handing out job assignments and patiently waited her turn.
When Perry finally reached her, Perry frowned uncertainly.
“We’re actually pretty full with all the stations Laura” she said carefully, not wanting to upset the girl.
“Seriously?” Laura asked flatly, not at all happy she had dragged herself all the way out here for nothing – she was going to kill LaFontaine.
“Yes, quite. The stations are all pretty full, but we need some people to rotate around and help out wherever needed. You, specifically, will be giving out half hour breaks to people at the stations” Perry said patiently, pulling out a sheet of paper with Laura’s name on it, neatly organized into four columns – name of the worker, location, the time their break started and the time their break ended. Laura skimmed the sheet, noting that Perry had given her ten minutes in-between assignments to make sure that nothing ran over schedule. The sheet was fairly simple – cotton candy cart, popcorn station, lemonade stand, one of the gift shops, some of the rides measuring height and her last assignment was – Laura faltered – the kissing booth.
“Um, Perry?” Laura started uncertainly, “What’s with the kissing booth?”
"Oh,” Perry replied cheerily “That’s where people give you a dollar and you kiss them. Don’t worry it’s totally legal. It’s like going to a Zeta party, except less sloppy and you’re kissing a bunch of strangers for charity instead of attention”. Laura’s mouth dropped.
“You-you can’t be serious!” Laura sputtered, horrified, taking a gulp of breath before she continued “Perry, diseases can be spread by doing that – it’s not like the customers are required to show medical documentation” she trilled in a high voice, trying to appeal to Perry’s mother hen instincts, a tactic which failed her as Perry shook her head, amused.
“It’ll be fine Laura, it’s at the end of the night and by then most people will be gone, leaving, or trying to catch one last ride. I’d be surprised if you had even one customer that late at night”. Laura was unconvinced, but Perry was firm in the schedule she had created, so with one last huff, she stalked away for her first assignment. Once she was out of sight, LaFontaine strode in.
“Did she buy it?” they asked eagerly.
“Yes, she did” Perry replied worriedly, looking over at LaFontaine, hesitating but finally deciding to just ask.
“What exactly are you hoping to accomplish? Everything I said is true – no one is going to be over there that late at night, so how is this supposed to fix her up with someone?” Perry asked a little self-consciously – it wasn’t every day that LaFontaine left her in the dark about one of their plans.
“That’s the point. By the time she gets to the kissing booth, no one will be there so she won’t have any competition and they’ll have time to get…err…acquainted with one another” LaFontiane elaborated smugly, obviously pleased with them self.
“Who won’t have any competition?” Perry asked sternly, worried about the kind of situation she might have put Laura in.
“You’ll see.” LaFontaine responded elusively before they sauntered away, whistling, oblivious to Perry’s internal conflict. For Laura’s sake, Perry hoped LaFontaine really knew what they were doing.
///
It was nearing the end of the night when Laura, exhausted from the day, dragged her feet to the kissing booth, grateful for the first time during the night to be working this booth because, oh halleluiah, she could sit. She relieved the girl, a bubbly strawberry blonde, who hopped up quickly squealing something about funnel cake before scurrying off, thankfully dropping gracelessly into the stool behind the counter. She was counting the minutes until she could go home; this was her last station and looked like it would be the easiest of the night. She made a mental note to thank Perry and apologize for ever doubting her. She had only been at the booth five minutes when she heard someone approaching and her thoughts soured, immediately backpedaling on her previous thought.
She looked up, locking eyes with a slim figure shadowed by the moonlight, a figure she happened to recognize – Carmilla, an upperclassman that had caught Laura’s eye on move in day her freshman year. She had nurtured a crush on the girl ever since, but outside of random conversations in the library, coffee shop, laundry room, or quad, she had never interacted with her one on one – certainly not in such a secluded area like this. Eyes still locked, Carmilla drew out a bill from her wallet, sliding it over to Laura, subtly grazing her fingers across the younger girls’ hand. Laura jumped in her seat, straightening her posture, about to say something when Carmilla smoothly cut her off.
“I think this should cover what I want, correct?” Carmilla asked in a low voice, her voice lilting smoothly. Laura nodded, swallowing discreetly, or so she hoped. She stood from her stool slowly, feeling a little wobbly. She stared at Carmilla, who stared back at her with a small smirk on her face.
“Are you okay cupcake?” Carmilla asked delicately, her smirk growing in size by the second. Laura nodded, and gestured with her hands awkwardly.
“I’m fine, I just …uh” Laura tripped over her words and she silently cursed herself for losing what little eloquence she had now, of all times, “I’m just replacing the other girl for a bit, so I just go he-here so…” she trailed off, her cheeks flushing with color.
“Oh. Is it not open while the regular girl is gone?” Carmilla asked, sounding unsure for the first time that night. Her smirk was replaced with a displeased frown – LaFontaine had assured her that she would be able to do this without making her feelings obvious so that she could see if Laura reciprocated them.
“Oh, no it’s still open” Laura replied a little too enthusiastically, breaking Carmilla’s train of thought “It’s just that I only just got here so I haven’t umm…” Laura paused again, and she mentally kicked herself for doing this – she was an adult, she should be able to say that she hadn’t kissed anyone at the booth yet so she was a little unsure of how it worked. Carmilla’s smirk returned, bigger than ever.
“That’s quite alright” she confidently interrupted Laura’s mental tirade “I don’t mind being the first”. Her words carried a hefty meaning behind them, and Laura couldn’t decide if it was intentional or not, which only made her more flustered.
“Well” Carmilla began “I think the mechanisms work much the same way as in any other context; it’s a mutual contribution between two parties that involves –“
“I know how kissing works” Laura intervened, her cheeks glowing with embarrassment as she gathered her thoughts and breathed in deeply before finishing “I just wasn’t prepared to be here today and it’s not as if I’m used to doing…this so it just feels a little weird to me, that’s all. We can start whenever you’re ready”. Carmilla, smirked, stepping closer until she was up against the other end of the booth, less than a foot between them.
“I’m ready now” she stated simply. Laura released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in, leaning in as Carmilla did, their eyes focused on one another, only closing their eyes right as their lips touched. Laura’s eyelashes fluttered against her cheek as she felt Carmilla’s hands climb up from the table to frame her face carefully, pushing their mouths even closer together. Laura was so drawn in she didn’t even notice when she ran her hands up Carmilla’s arms to grip the collar of Carmilla’s leather jacket, pulling them even closer together, deepening their connection into something that was definitely not suitable for a kissing booth, let alone a public venue. Laura was sure the kiss lasted much longer than it should have, and when they finally separated, Carmilla nipping her bottom lip with her teeth to finish, Laura’s head was spinning and she felt lightheaded, but elated. She reluctantly pulled back, retracting her hands into her pockets and biting her lip worriedly.
“I must apologize” Carmilla said gently, making Laura's head snap up and her mouth to turn down into a frown “I think that was a little more than the fee covered”. Laura looked up at Carmilla curiously, but noticed that despite the apology, Carmilla looked unabashed at their actions. Laura paused, before deciding she might as well just go for it – what did she have to lose?
“That’s okay” Laura smiled timidly, “End of night special, buy one get one free”. Carmilla, charmed by Laura’s obvious flirting, bit back a smile, opting to lift her brow loftily instead.
“I’m afraid I still got more than my fair share” Carmilla insisted, making up her mind – it was now or never.
“I don’t mind --” Laura started, before being cut off gently one last time.
I’d like to, perhaps, make it up to you somehow…” Carmilla said suggestively, releasing a small, genuine smile as she finished “Maybe dinner sometime?” and Laura would have sworn she was hallucinating if it weren’t for the distant screams of joy coming from the rides as they finished off their last rounds. She nodded quickly before she remembered how to speak.
“I’d love to” she responded quietly, afraid she was dreaming and speaking loudly would wake her up. Carmilla, satisfied with how the evening was turning out, leaned forward on the table pointedly, observing Laura’s eyes drifting down to her lips and then shooting back up to meet Carmilla’s eyes once more, and she gave Laura a knowing look.
“I’ll be in touch” Carmilla whispered with a seductive flourish, before slowly backing away to leave. She winked at Laura, pleased to see the blush spread across the younger girls’ cheeks, then turned and walked away. She was almost out of sight when she halted and looked back, noting that Laura was still looking at her. She caught her eye deliberately, blowing a kiss to the embarrassed girl before slipping out of sight.
Laura was in a daze as the regular girl came back to close up not long after, and she couldn’t help but have a spring in her step as she walked towards the parking lot. She grinned confidently and couldn’t help but think “Perry, LaFontaine…I so owe you guys one”.
Carmilla, lounging in her dorm room, was thinking the exact same thing.