People Change

“I give it an A+ for effort, F for originality,” Sydney commented as Brian pulled into a parking spot outside the gates into the carnival. The carnival was set up all year round, since in California it rarely got too cold. Sydney couldn’t help but think that it was November, though: at night, it could get pretty nippy. She wore only a t-shirt, having not known where Brian would take her, and couldn’t help but be jealous that Brian had been the smart one and brought a hoodie, which he slipped on as they climbed out of the vehicle.

“Well, you should feel special,” Brian replied as they met each other around the front of his SUV and walked towards the front gates. Slowly, Brian slipped his arm around Sydney’s waist, cautious about her reaction. Before Sydney could stop herself, she took a quarter step closer to Brian. His arm settled itself around her waist, a heavy but yet very comforting object. Sydney stopped herself before she did any further damage, such as wrapping her arm back around Brian. Yes, that would be bad; very, very bad.

“Why should I feel special?” Sydney asked as they stepped into line to pay for their tickets. She pulled her money out of her back pocket, but Brian snatched it out of her fingers and gently slid it back into her pocket. “I refuse to let you pay—”

“Good luck with that,” Brian answered, pulling out his wallet and ordering two tickets before Sydney could get another word in. They walked into the gates, the brilliant lights and moving crowds swallowing them whole. “Well, you should feel special because I’ve never taken any of my girlfriends here on dates.”

“Could that possibly be because you fucked, then dumped them too quickly to have an actual date?” Sydney asked scathingly, raising her eyebrows. She didn’t expect Brian to look suddenly ashamed, however.

“Yeah, more than likely,” Brian agreed.

Sydney quickly swallowed back an apology for being so mean. Brian was the one who needed to apologize, not Sydney. Why was she even thinking about letting herself fall into his trap, his very attractive trap?

“So, what do you want to do first?” Brian asked abruptly to fill the awkward silence.

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Sydney felt dismayed. She felt dismayed because not only had Brian managed to be a complete and total sweetheart the entire duration of their date, but Sydney was actually beginning to grow on him a bit. For instance, after they’d been at the carnival for about an hour and night had settled all around them, Sydney became quite cold. She tried not to show it, but Brian could obviously feel her shivering against his arm. And without one word, as though it were the most natural thing he could ever do, Brian pulled his hoodie off and slipped it over Sydney’s head before she could protest.

His hoodie was way baggy on her thin frame, but it was still warm with his body heat and smelled just like he did: like cologne and smoke. Sydney hugged her arms around herself, discreetly inhaling so that the smell coming from the hoodie flowed up her nostrils. Brian just smiled and wrapped his arm back around her waist, pulling her gently against his side.

“You’re so cliché, it hurts,” Sydney commented as Brian easily won one of those carnival games where you throw three baseballs to knock down a pyramid of bottles. She accepted the giant stuffed giraffe he handed over to her anyway, finding it so difficult to hide her delight that she didn’t even try. “But...it’s a sweet gesture anyway.”

“How about a ride on the Ferris Wheel, and then we can leave?” Brian asked, slipping his hand into the pocket of his hoodie. Sydney had stuck her hand in there to keep it warm as her other arm held the giraffe tightly against her side. His cold palm rested against the back of her hand before his fingers gently laced themselves with hers.

“Sounds like a plan,” Sydney agreed, and they veered off towards the line for the Ferris Wheel.

As they stood in line waiting to buy a ticket and get on the giant spinning wheel, Sydney rested her head on Brian’s shoulder. She felt surprisingly content and happy with his arm around her waist, with his hand within hers. Sometimes she hated to admit it, but she used to have a crush on Brian during high school, for just a short period of time. It developed the first time she’d saw him, the first time he came over to Jimmy’s house after he became friends with the guys. Sydney always dreaded Jimmy’s friends coming over; she never knew when they would get bossy and start ordering her around, or shoving her, or calling her names and such.

But when it came to Brian, she instantly began to crush. She thought that maybe he’d be different. But no, it turned out he was worse than the rest of them combined. She’d given up on the crush about that time. She’d never even told Lanie about it. It was her own little secret.

They approached the ticket booth and Brian bought two tickets. The person in the booth waved them on, and they climbed into the next empty seat, steel and painted yellow somewhere between neon and pastel. Brian moved his arm, instead wrapping it across Sydney’s shoulders as their seat moved forward a little bit so the next seat was available to be sat in. Sydney hugged her giraffe to her chest and relaxed against Brian’s side. He really had changed since high school, and Sydney couldn’t believe it took her this long to figure something like that out, especially since she’d been a bit of a brainiac in high school.

He’d changed enough to stir up Sydney’s old feelings for him, at least. That had to count for something. Sydney’s heart did not lie. Sure, Sydney knew that she could never fully trust him, and she also knew that he was still an ass in some aspects of the word. But he’d changed enough to be a different guy. He’d changed enough to be forgiven.

“I haven’t been on one of these since college,” Sydney said as the Ferris Wheel stopped them at the top of the wheel so they could look out across the town. Sydney could clearly see all the lights from Huntington in the distance, dots of light in a dark night.

“I’m sorry,” Brian breathed into Sydney’s ear. She turned her head and looked into Brian’s sincere, warm eyes.

“I forgive you,” Sydney answered, pecking Brian on the cheek before resting her head on his shoulder again.