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Saturday. Day two of the McLean Family Fair.
To call it a ‘fair’ was a stretch, anything was a fair compared to the public school it was being sanctioned by, but here Danny was.
Sitting on a shitty folding chair by a wobbly table and managing the tickets to one of the ‘amusements’ on a hot fall night. There were hardly any kids or people at all around here, especially this late, but Chris made it seem like the planet would explode if the teen wasn’t at his position for even a second.
Elbow on the surface and a fist to his cheek, Danny reluctantly accepted his fate for a few bucks. If he scowled any harder, his face might fall off.
Minutes turned into hours on suuuch a slow-moving shift. Chris had confiscated his phone so that he could be more ‘attentive’ and ‘nice to the customers to swindle more cash’ instead of ‘trying to bite them’.
If he was on the other side of the table, he would NOT be at this fucking event, but if he had to be, he would kill to get his hands on whatever that repulsive grease smell was coming from.
Instead, all he could do was rip up these pathetic excuses for tickets as small as he could.
It had been hours since he had last seen Chris, and despite how much this situation sucked, it was getting better by not having his toxic energy stink up the place.
Balancing his squeaky chair on its back two supports, Danny rested his legs up on the table. If Chris had a problem with it, he could fight him about it.
Arms behind his head, he shut his eyes and pretended he was anywhere but here.
Some significant amount of time must’ve passed, but whatever it was, it wasn’t long enough before he was interrupted by a chuckle that was definitely directed at him.
Don’t tell him it was some dumb kid trying to buy tickets for… whatever it was that Danny was managing– he forgot by now.
Not moving from his comfortable cool guy pose, Danny groaned. “What do you want?”
“Now, is that any way to treat a customer, Daniel?”
Okay, Danny had heard some variant of that in every single job he’d ever been in, but not many say his name. Let alone his full name. That was reserved for bosses.
However, Chris rarely ever even referred to him
by name in the first place. There was no way in hell he would say his full one.
Opening his eyes out of pure confusion now, Danny’s expression then looked nothing short of tired and annoyed. Well, even more so than it already was.
“I repeat. What do you want? ”
Amused and still lightly snickering, Topher crossed his arms sassily. “Glad to see you too, dude!”
This Topher guy was a certified McLean Entertainment stalker. Whatever shady gig Chris was up to next, Topher was always there, front and center. Danny had caught wind of him trying to get a job in the past, but Chris turned him down time and time again. While all of these rejections have had a visible effect on the guy, he was resilient and persistent. Much to Danny’s avail and constant migraines.
He also had a penchant for running into Danny at these jobs. Danny always knew that the moment Topher spotted him, it was game over. Imagine having a Topher over your shoulder at all times.
“You good?”
Glaring intensely, Danny spat out. “Does it look like I’m good?! Fuck outta here!”
“You could look like you’re having more fun. Maybe then kids’ll line up to your…” Topher squinted to decipher the activity being advertised behind him. “Uh. What even is that? Darts? Water guns?”
“I don’t know and go away.”
Topher did not go away. That would require him actually listening to anyone other than himself.
Instead, he sat on the rinky-dink seat next to Danny’s, making the teen roll his eyes and grunt as rudely as possible.
Tonight, it was as though with every breeze, it would somehow get hotter. Any actual wind would then feel icky, both physically and emotionally. In that ‘forced to be outside at night in public’ type of way. The way that people usually feel during New Years.
Not being the biggest on hygiene to begin with, Danny would try his best to ignore it, but Topher was simultaneously shivering and messing with his shirt collar to let air in. Why was he even still here if he was such a little bitch about it?
“Maybe you’re just in need of a break,” Topher suggested. “You could have some fun around here for yourself!”
In unison, they scanned the entire area from where they sat:
A barely-set-up bouncy castle, actively deflating as too many children played inside of it. Some vaguely BBQ-esque food booths that were 80% smoke. A face-painting spot where the prices were high and the paint would wear off from sweat instantly. Last but not least, one single amusement park ride. An old-timey looking gravitron that was seconds away from losing its only screw in the middle, and spinning into oncoming traffic.
“...Yeah, no. I don’t think so. The only fun to be had during a break would be sitting my ass right here.”
“Psh. Oh, what?” Topher, gripping the bottom of his chair all cutesy, leaned in closer to him to tease. “Big scary Danny is too chicken to go in the bouncy castle?”
Shoving his face away, Danny glanced at him incredulously. “Please, you’re the one who's too much of a pussy to get your face painted!”
The thought of that immediately made Topher gag, it was practically a scream. Eyes bulging, Danny’s lips were tight, holding back bursting out laughing. “Do you know the cheap ingredients they use for that junk?! It’s like begging to get acne! And this face is worth millions, at least!”
“Hah! Coward.”
Absentmindedly caressing his own complexion, Topher still felt determined. “Well… I’ll do it if you do it…!”
Topher was beginning to speak Danny’s language.
“Really, now? I’d love to see you with tiger makeup on. Or maybe a little puppy, that suits you more.”
“And I’d love to see you look like an idiot in that bouncy castle.” Topher got up and along the way, tried getting Danny to stand up as well. “Let’s go!”
“Man,” shaking his head in amusement at this turn of events, Danny stayed seated and looked up at him. “Chris’ll decapitate me even if I try taking a break.”
“Since when do you care about what Chris thinks?”
Danny raised his eyebrows. “You got me there, hotshot. LET’S GO! ”
The bouncy castle was more fun than expected. Danny went all out making terrifying noises, scaring the kids out of there as he had the whole thing all to himself now. This was for the best, as his nearly-an-adult weight was the final blow for the inflatable to give out and none of the children were in there. Danny was caught in the middle of it crashing down, but honestly, that was part of the fun.
And they can’t blame him for being the reason the machine kicked the bucket because no one saw him. No one other than Topher, who stood on the sides like a proud parent giving a thumbs up.
It was time for Topher’s end of the bargain.
His fear when going into face painting, especially when forcibly sat on the chair, you’d think he was about to get blood drawn with the gnarliest needle being shoved into his body. Danny was beside him, stretching out his arms and using them as restraints to prevent Topher from falling out. The person doing the painting was one of Danny’s coworkers, a girl who had also seemingly sold her soul to Chris McLean, as she was usually always there, at these awful odd jobs, as well.
In the end, Topher got some veryyy light tiger makeup on his face. Kind of a letdown and it wore off pretty quickly, but he still threw a tantrum about it like a baby.
Now that they were free, doing the most the could as one of the few people still at this fair, there was no going back to Danny’s miserable ticket taking shift.
Getting available food, Topher went for some cotton candy.
“Of course you’re the type of person to eat that by ripping it into little pieces.”
“I’m not risking any of this highly processed sugar getting anywhere near my flawless complexion, thankyouverymuch!”
Danny went for some deep fried monstrosity. Or perhaps it was barbequed, he got conflicting information. It kind of looked like a hot dog, kind of like a taco sandwich. But also kind of like a twinkie dunked in hot grease.
Despite not being the one eating it, Topher was the one about to hurl. According to Danny, it was apparently a drink. Mostly.
They ‘enjoyed’ their meals while sitting front row by an empty stage, all alone. There was a brief, prize-less talent show earlier. Other than that, there wasn’t enough in the budget for a live band to fill the air for even an hour.
The two teens discussed what they’d be doing up on that stage if presented the chance. Both of their daydreams could co-exist. Topher would host obviously, and announce to the crowd that Bad Karma was about to perform. That being Danny’s amateur punk rock band (consisting of a trio of him and his exes; it was messyyy and Topher was living for drama that didn’t involve him).
Lastly, after an argument over who should go on the potentially deadly gravitron, they both ended up going. Screaming their heads off, but Danny doing so with the biggest smile on display.
The machine didn’t break with them in it, but deciding to ride it right after eating was maybe not the smartest idea.
Remember when this event was related to a school? Well, it took place on their open field.
Ergo, the rest of the school, being abandoned on this Saturday night, was unused and right there.
Lots of rooms and areas were locked down, sure, but it wasn’t like there was any security keeping them out of places like dark hallways.
Topher didn’t want to admit it, but he thought that going anywhere in there was probably haunted. Maybe not by ghosts or anything of the sort, but that nothing good could come out of it.
Danny, meanwhile, felt a rush of being somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be. And sneaking away from his job was already wearing off, so this was the next best thing.
He couldn’t do it alone, though. That’d be boring. So, despite Topher’s cowardliness, Danny ruffled up the wannabe’s beloved hair and ran towards the empty halls as he was angrily chased.
Topher was satiated by catching up to him and smacking his side, only to then be scared out of his mind by their new hangout spot.
Too far in to run back, all he could do now was walk behind Danny, both hands holding onto his shoulder like a vice.
While still a bit spooky, their walk proved to be… kinda nice?
It wasn’t as noisy as being at the fair, there were some unexpectedly humorous moments– namely Danny nearly tripping several times and his stomach growls echoing so much worse than expected– and best of all, they reached part of the school that was out in the open. Like a super secret hiding place where they could sit, talk, and look at the stars.
Talk about what? Anything.
Their futures. Their favorite shows. Their classes. Any funny videos they’d seen recently. Anything they wanted to bitch about. Danny’s writer’s block. Topher’s latest trip to the mall. The fact that Danny takes these jobs not just for the money but to get out of his house. The fact that Topher was still at the fair because his dad dropped him off and Topher himself doesn’t drive.
They had reached that point in the hangout where they felt comfortable enough to talk about whatever was on their mind and it wouldn’t be questioned. Well, it could , since they were both weirdos, but it wouldn’t be surprising. Since they were both weirdos.
More walking and talking later, they reached part of a building that was by the parking lot.
Despite having so much space for just the two of them, they found themselves shoulder-to-shoulder, and happily so. Anyone who didn’t know any better might think that they’re drunk.
“Man, what time is it?”
Topher, who was using his phone as a flashlight, now used it to check. “ Wow. Almost twelve!”
“Damn.”
“I don’t usually stay up this late.”
“Really? What– you got a bedtime? Daddy Don will get mad at you? Hah.”
“Don’t call my dad that ever again.” After shuddering, Topher nudged him. “I make it a strict rule to get as much sleep as possible. There’s a direct correlation between it and looking good, I need my eight-to-nine hours!” A manicured hand emphasized his facial features as though showing off a fancy new item in an infomercial.
“Sooo, in other words, you have a bedtime.” Grinning teasingly, Danny crossed his arms.
“...You look like you could use some sleep, you know! Maybe you’ll be less cranky and your eyebags wouldn’t look like they were drawn with a sharpie.”
Without realizing it, they’d stopped walking and faced each other, leaning against a wall.
“No, thanks,” Danny said. “The prettyboy lifestyle isn’t for me.”
Raising an eyebrow, that drew Topher’s interest quite a bit. “Oh? You think I’m pretty?”
“...’Course I do.”
It was unclear at what point they had gotten even closer to each other, but at this rate, they were actively leaning in.
“How pretty?”
“..Maybe a ‘lil...”
Faces warming.
Fluttering their eyes closed.
Feeling each other’s breath.
Only for some blinding lights to make them break away.
It was followed by a car honk.
“ HEY! Dingus!” It was Chris in the driver’s seat, looking a little disheveled. “Yeah! I’m talking to you! Aren’t you supposed to be doing your job, and NOT making out right about now?!”
(On the passenger seat was Chef, realizing that he was still gripping Chris’ shirt, bashfully letting go of it.)
The teens gazed at one another from the corners of their eyes.
Danny and Topher scurried off, laughing as they did so.