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Noel, like most people, enjoyed fun fairs. There was a romantic element to them, and he always liked to imagine himself as one of the many couples walking hand in hand when he went to one, laughing from one attraction to another, kissing in the photo booth, in the Ferris wheel, holding hands while sharing cotton candy… However, being the only gay boy in Uranium had its downside; Noel knew this would only be a fantasy as long as he stayed in this damn place.
So yes, Noel liked fun fairs, but today, with Ocean dragging him and the other choir members to the bumper cars under the harsh sun, talking and talking about some matter or another, Noel started to rethink that statement.
Eventually, after Noel had to endure Ocean for an hour or so, the group split up in two, and Noel got to enjoy the fair without an annoying Ocean nagging him all day. Ocean, Constance and Ricky had decided to go to the haunted house while Noel, Mischa and the new girl that Noel cannot remember the name of opted out and were left to just walk around freely. Time went by pretty quickly. Mischa immediately went to the shooting stand and ended up winning a small pink bear toy that he gave to Noel because "I no want to carry that." It felt like a date, in a way. Plus the new girl, but she didn't say much anyway.
Noel didn't let that thought go very far. It was useless, these dumb hopes.
They then went to the fun house (they were probably a bit too old for it, but they still had fun.) After getting read their fortunes by some weird machine, the three of them went to buy snacks for everyone. The two groups united again and ate what Mischa, Noel and the new girl had bought.
“Guys, we NEED to ride The Cyclone. The three of us wanted to go earlier, but we thought it would be more fun as an everyone thing.” proposed Constance, mouth full of corn dog.
Now see, Noel hated many things. He hated school, he hated his town, he hated spiders, he hated Ocean and much, much more. One of these things he hated were rollercoasters. Noel never liked scary, loopy rides that felt like he could fall any second.
“Ha. No thank you.” he quickly replied. No way in hell was he going on that old, creaky ride.
“See Constance! I told you we should have just gone without them! Let’s just go with the others.” Noel’s protest had clearly irritated Ocean. Good.
“But we can’t just leave out Noel!” protested Constance, crossing her arms.
“No no, you definitely can,” Noel interjected.
The new girl.. Jenny or something? just looked at them without speaking. It seemed she did not mind the idea of riding The Cyclone. Mischa too, looked unbothered, even excited about going on.
Speaking of, the boy began to talk, “You need to go Noel! Rollercoaster, mad cool, man! It look scary at first moment, but very fun!” Ricky enthusiastically nodded next to Mischa in agreement.
Noel looked between all the hopeful puppy eye looks his friends were throwing at him and sighed in surrender.
“Fine guys, I’ll go. Just this once. But only because I feel bad.” The members cheered and Noel bit his lip as they walked to The Cyclone. He was but a jumble of nerves when they reached the queue, buzzing with nervous energy. Mischa noticed, because of course he did.
“You are ok? Tell you what, poet, I will go to Ferris wheel with you when we get off. It is your favorite ride, yes?” Noel felt his cheeks heat up slightly at his words and wordlessly nodded. His nerves grew, already high from the prospect of riding the rollercoaster, but higher even at the thought of a ride alone, with Mischa, in the Ferris wheel. Noel felt as if he was hallucinating the whole thing, still fuzzy when the staff sat him down and pulled the security bar down. He briefly registered Mischa’s presence next to him, half scared to death about what was to come, and felt a hand on his arm.
“Noel? Is okay. It will be soon over, and then you can say you have ridden The Cyclone. Try not to think too much.”
“Okay,” Noel's mind went blank, hyper focused on the touch of Mischa’s hand on his arm. And then, the rollercoaster started abruptly. It was fast, and Noel found himself unconsciously gripping at Mischa's hand. Mischa squeezed back reassuringly and Noel felt himself relax, just a little bit, enough to start actually enjoying the ride. The feeling of the wind against his face and the flip flops his stomach made started becoming somewhat fun, and Noel laughed, a little bit. Mischa held up their still intertwined hands up in the air and Noel started laughing hysterically during the drop, feeling giddy off of adrenaline. And then, just as suddenly as it had started, The Cyclone came to a sudden stop and Noel realized the ride was finished. Mischa helped up Noel as he got out of the car with shaky legs, feeling many emotions at once. Mischa beamed at him.
“See, poet, that wasn’t so bad. Let’s go to Ferris wheel now.” Mischa grabbed Noel’s hand again and started dragging him to the Ferris wheel, shouting to the others to let them know their whereabouts. Noel couldn’t stop laughing all the way to the Ferris wheel and Mischa had a bit of a skip in his step; they were both obviously still giddy in the rollercoaster dopamine afterglow. An unenthusiastic man that looked very tired let Mischa and Noel inside the small cabin, and small it indeed was, the two boys could barely fit inside, and their knees were pressed against each other. They sat in silence as the cabin started slowly moving up. Noel looked outside the window and smiled as the ground under them slowly got smaller and smaller. He couldn’t help but smile on Ferris wheels, and for the first time, he was alone with a boy in one. His heart was beating a million beats an hour and he was sure his blush was visible to the person in front of him.
“You really are beautiful.” Noel flushed a deep red and turned his head towards the source of the words- Mischa.
“You- think so?” Noel choked out, not sure what to say or do with himself.
“Yeah.” Mischa leaned forwards, and Noel thought he might combust right there and then. A hand reached up to cup his cheek.
“Mischa..”
“Very beautiful. Most beautiful boy in town. In the world.” Noel felt his breath catch at the words. He could hardly believe what was happening. Everything seemed blurry, hazy, like a dream. It was when he felt lips to his that he remembered to close his eyes. It wasn’t perfect, but it was Mischa, and it was Mischa in a Ferris wheel, and that was more than anything Noel had ever dared wished for.