Introvert's Mind

The shrill sound of the blue cell phone ringing erupted through Thomas’s room, making the boy reach for it hastily while his eyes were still glued on the television.

“Yes?” he answered, distracted by the moving figures on the television that danced around him while his thumbs moved rapidly across his Xbox controller. He was playing one of his old games that he had originally beat in the matter of days and that he now struggled with. His gaming time had extremely diminished but since it had been three weeks since the end of school and the fact that he was bored to the death he had decided he would give it another go.

“Thomas! Sup, bro?” Luke’s voice sprang loudly in the other boy’s ear, making the latter cringe and pause his game so he wouldn't get distracted and then killed. Thomas also noticed that Luke had once again started talking like the other guys at their school; something that Luke thought would make him fit in better.

From what the other boy could see it was failing miserably.

"Nothing much, just playing some video games." Thomas replied lazily as he closed his eyes and rested his head on his pillow. His parents were out for the weekend and Clary was in her room on her laptop as far as her brother knew, although he didn't need to pay much attention to her. Clarly knew how to take care of herself.

"Cool. Hey, there's the fair this weekend and I was planning on going today. Did you want to come?" Thomas hesitated at the offer, unsure of what he should do. He hadn't really gotten out of the house since vacations had started but he wasn't the biggest fan of being surrounded by other sweaty human beings while waiting in line for everything. Luke who had presumably noticed Thomas's hesitation sighed loudly although it was hinted with amusement.

"Come on, Thomas. You know you want to come. You don't really have a choice anyways since I already made my mom drive all the way to your house. We're outside right now, you have five minutes."

Thomas's eyes widened as he jumped off his bed and looked out his window just to find the familiar minivan parked in their driveway. A curse escaped his lips as he quickly changed his shirt, which he had split juice on, while combing his hair with his free hand. This was the best he could do for the time being.

"Clary, I'm going to be gone for the rest of the day! There's some pizza in the fridge!" Thomas yelled while pulling on his shoes and running outside. Luke was sitting in the passenger seat, grinning like kid that had just fooled his parents. Consequently, his mother didn't seem all too happy.

Thomas hadn't even finished buckling up before the minivan had swerved out of the driveway and was now speeding through the streets of the neighborhood. It was a bit funny since Luke’s mother, Diana, was a short Italian woman with a bulging stomach but she had the most speeding tickets than anyone Thomas knew.

“Aren't you excited?” Luke suddenly said after a moment of silence, whirling around so suddenly that his hair flew in his eyes. He wore a ‘Girls love Gamers’ shirt but he had worn it so many times that the letters had started to fade slightly. His face was broken into a grin and Thomas cursed himself for forgetting how much Luke adored fairs. The two boys had known each other for 12 years and every single year Luke had dragged Thomas there. He could not believe that he had forgotten about it. He didn’t really mind fairs all that much and actually enjoyed them sometimes but it was nothing compared to Luke’s obsession with them.

“Yes, I guess I am.” he replied with a small smile to make Luke happy. The latter kept chattering away excitedly, his mother scowling him when he got too loud and Thomas suppressing a chuckle that would immediately incriminate him. The drive passed by shortly as they finally arrived at the site of the fair which was already full with people. With a quick ‘thank you’ to Diana, Luke and Thomas both got out of the car and into the burning sun.

They paid their tickets and entered the gates hastily, Thomas following Luke closely so he wouldn't lose him. The place was crowded with people, all of them sweating just as Thomas had suspected. Children could be heard laughing while others were crying and the voices of anxious parents were even louder than all that. Teenagers ruled the place, some wreaking havoc while others were waiting impatiently in line for the rides that would make them sick to their stomachs but even with that they’d go once more. You could hear people screaming from the top of the Ferris Wheel, youngsters who wanted attention, probably. As they continued to walk the people from the game booths kept hollering as they always did, wanting people to waste their money for a cheap stuffed animal but everyone just ignored them as usual except Luke who as a tradition always started out his day at the fair by playing one of those games.

“Come on! I want to try this one!” Luke said loudly enough to be heard by his neighbor while he took him by the arm and dragged him out of the wave of people and to the side. The boy had stopped in front of a particular booth where the girl working behind the counter wasn't trying to get people’s attention and was only chewing her gum with a bored expression on her face. From what Thomas could see the object of the game was to pierce the balloons pinned on the wall with a certain number of darts. Thomas had to admit that it was better than the one Luke had chosen the year before which consisted in trying to toss rings around beer bottles. It had been damn near impossible.

Luke didn't even have the time to say anything when he got in front of the booth before the red-haired girl looked at him with an annoyed look, blowing a bubble right in his face.
“10 dollars for 3 darts. Blow two balloons and you get one of these small toys. Blow three and lucky you, you get a huge stoner banana.”

Thomas’s eyes moved to look at the giant bananas that were hanging from the booth. They had dreadlocks and multi-coloured beanies. Yes, he agreed, that looked like one doped up banana.

Luke slapped a ten dollar bill on the counter while eyeing the girl and Thomas shook his head, not really wanting to see his friend attempt to flirt with the girl and then be shot down. Thankfully though the girl acted quickly and handed Luke his three darts before glaring at him and starting to chew her gum once more which was starting to seriously annoy Thomas. Luke took the first dart, aimed while closing one of his eyes and threw, missing a balloon by inches. His second shot was more successful as was his third so that the boy left the booth with a purple monkey that he immediately chucked at the garbage, following the tradition.

“Let’s go on the Zipper!” Luke suddenly said, making Thomas groan. The Zipper was one of those rides that was fabricated by the devil. It spun you around so many times that when you got out it honestly felt like your insides had all been shaken up. It was probably the most popular ride at the fair.

Thomas didn't mind the ride all that much, honestly, but since he had eaten not too long ago he wasn't very enthusiastic about going on it. The boy knew that if he said something Luke would tease him though so he just went with Luke to wait in line.

They hadn't even been in line for more than ten minutes before Luke suddenly announced that he had to go to the bathroom, leaving Thomas in the middle of the line, alone. The teenager shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other, feeling slightly awkward in between all of the conversations of the people in front and behind him while he was all alone.

“Hey, you’re Thomas, right?”The boy suddenly heard behind him and he knew the voice. Everyone knew the voice. When he turned around Dakotah Samuels was standing in front of him, a smile tainting her lips as the sun made her blonde hair look white.

That was the first sentence Dakotah ever said to him and Thomas knew he would never forget it even if he lived to be a hundred and one.