You're Such a Fool

Friday came a lot faster than I thought it would. I didn't bother Max on Thursday, well except for convincing him to let me give him a ride home. Although really, that didn't take much. All I had to do was ask and he agreed. Either he finally realized fighting wasn't going to work, or he just really hated the bus. Regardless, my plan was working.

On Friday, I gave him a ride home as well. I told him I'd pick him up around six then went home to make a few drug deals. After that, Nason came over for a while and we shared a blunt.

"Alright, so when you fuck him, make sure you pull his hair. He loves it rough."

I swear, Nason was the only person in the world who wanted someone else to fuck the person they "loved."

I don't understand how he doesn't realize how stupid and fucked up his idea was. I'm still not exactly sure how me breaking his kid's heart was supposed to make him go back to Nason. He tried to explain it to me but it made no sense. According to Nason, if I dump Max, it'd make Max see how Nason was "The only person who could love him and he's come crawling back." I didn't understand his logic, but whatever.

"What time are you going to get him?"

"Six." It was a quarter till now. "So, you should probably go so I can get ready."

I took one more hit then stubbed out the blunt. When Nason was gone, I debated on whether or not to change. I was wearing a pair of grey skinny's and an Aerosmith t-shirt. That was proper fair wear so I left it alone.

I tied my black and white bandana to my belt loop and grabbed my red leather jacket, a pack of Marlboro's, and then was on my way.

I got to Max's a little before six and sent him a text to tell him I was there. I climbed out of the truck to go up there, but then Max sent me a text back telling me to wait outside. Shrugging, I pulled out a cigarette and lit up.

Max came down about a minute later. He was dressed in black jeans and an Iron Maiden t-shirt. I opened up his door for him to which he said, "What a gentleman," sarcastically and climbed in. I smirked and did a halfhearted bow.

As I sped down the road, I turned on the radio to a local rock station. I hummed along to the Buckcherry song while Max just stared out the window. His hair was straightened normally but was styled in an purposely disheveled fashion. His eyes were surrounded in a thin ring of eyeliner.

I've never seen him wear any makeup. So he decided to dress up all pretty for me? Oh yeah, he was totally into me.

"You look good." I said, taking a last drag of my cigarette.

"Thanks." He answered flatly I turned onto the interstate, heading downtown where the fair was located. "So where are we going?" He asked. I tossed the cancer stick out the window and glanced at Max.

"It's a surprise."

"Of course it is." He mumbled under his breath. I ignored him and turned the radio up louder.

I could already tell tonight was going to suck unless Max loosened up a bit. He was so rigid and hardheaded. He'll probably force himself to not have a good time just because he was with me. He was trying so hard to prove a point that I already knew wasn't true. He didn't want to like me, but he did and I was going to make him admit it.

When we arrived at the fair grounds, I noticed Max's eyes light up just slightly.

"Holy shit. I haven't been to the fair in years!"

There were tones of people there tonight. The parking lot was packed so I drove across the street to some ice cream parlor that was closed for the winter. I could smell the fried food and puke from here. We got out and I saw Max was grinning as we approached the cross walk. Alright, that was a good sign.

We crossed the road quickly and joined the crowd of people trying to enter the fair too. I took Max's wrist and pulled him through the people, pushing anyone who got in my way.

I was impatient. What can I say?

When we got to the gate, I paid the ten dollar entry fee for the both of us. Max practically skipped inside. I guess he was really excited to be here.

Point Ronnie.

I steered Max towards one of the ticket booths and bought the thirty dollar package which included passes to get on all the rides, and a hundred tickets for games.

"You don't have to pay for me, you know, Ronnie." Max said after I'd already paid.

"It's ok, babe. I asked you out so I'm paying." Besides, it wasn't like I didn't have the money. Drug dealing paid really well. "So, where to first, sweetheart?"

Max opened his mouth, probably to snap something like "Don't call me that," but then shut it. He settled for a shrug, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Doesn't matter."

He was trying not to seem excited but I could see in his eyes how thrilled he was to be here. Max needed to work on his poker face.

He looked around at all of the games, and food booths, and rides. The sun was still out but the fair had hung up multi-colored twinkle lights. It was late January so it was a tad bit chilly. Not too unbearable though.

"Oh! Let's go to the swings! I used to love those when I was a kid."

There was that pumped up attitude I was looking for.

The ride cost two tickets each and went up 300ft in the air. Thankfully the line wasn't too long and we were on it within a few minutes.

After that, we rode a few more rides like the spinning teacup looking things, the zero gravity machine, and a couple of roller coasters

The night was going better than expected. Max seemed to be really enjoying himself. He smiled a lot and actually responded when I talked to him. And I'll admit I was having a good time too. Now that Max wasn't being a stubborn bitch, I could relax a little

After we rode all the good rides, we played a few games. They were all jipped and it, after a while, just pissed me off. Max laughed as I cursed the stupid rings that refused to make it around the bottles.

"Calm down, Ronnie. It's only ring toss."

"Yeah," I cracked a smile, chuckling at my own anger. "You're right."

We moved on to the next booth. It was a shooting game. Yeah, that's more my speed.

"Shoot the bullseye and win a prize!" The foreign booth operator said. I gave him six tickets, three for me, and three for myself.

The target moved left to right slowly in attempt to make this game impossible. Max took his three shots, managing to hit the target but nowhere near the bullseye. He faked a pout and handed me the shot gun.

I took aim and pulled the trigger. Perfect shot.

"Oh, shit!" Max exclaimed with a laugh. I shot two more times, getting another bullseye and just missing the other by an inch. The worker stared at me wide-eyed.

"So, I'll take the giant purple monkey." I said. The man wordlessly handed me the stuffed animal. "Here," I held it out to Max. He looked down at the ground, but I could tell he was blushing.

"Thanks. Uh- so where did you learn to shoot like that?"

"My dad is this gun enthusiast and he taught me and my brother while we were growing up."

"Remind me to never piss you off." Max joked. He held the monkey to his chest, trying to hide his smile.

I slung my arm over his shoulder. His body tenses but he said nothing.

"Are you hungry? Let's go get something to eat." We wandered around the grounds, looking over all the food booths. It was all disgusting, fried garbage but I loved it. "What do you want, babe?"

"Uh-" His gaze landed on a stand a few yards away and his eyes widened. "Elephant ear!"

I laughed because, yeah, that was kinda adorable. It was funny to see a teenage boy get that excited over fried dough.

"Why don't you sit? I'll be back in a minute."

I got in line and pulled out my phone to check the time. I noticed I had a text from Nason.

"How's it going?

I knew he didn't mean the date itself but the progress of his plan. I replied with Better than I thought. He's already starting to loosen up. I got him.

I scanned over the menu to see what else they had. Fried butter? Fried coke? Fried Oreos?

"Hi, can I help you?" The teenage employee asked. He had red hair and horrible acne. Gross.

"Yeah, can I get an elephant ear and... fried oreo."

I got the desserts quickly and found Max sitting at one of the picnic tables near where I left him. I placed his elephant ear in front of him and sat.

"What the hell is that?" He asked, eyeing my plate with this weird look.

"Fried oreos." I answered, shoveling a bite into my mouth. It wasn't that bad actually. I was probably going to gain fifty pounds from it but oh well.

"That's disgusting." He laughed, cutting off a piece of his treat.

"It's actually really good." I said. "Here, try some."

"No thanks." He pulled a face as I held up a spoonful in front of his mouth.

"Come on." He hesitated then opened his mouth. I fed it to him and waited for his reaction. "It's good, right?"

"Yeah, I guess." He shrugged but there was a hint of a smile on his face.

We ate as much of the fried junk food we could then threw the rest in the trash. It was coming on 9:00pm. We've been here for almost three hours.

We'd done pretty much all there is to do except for one thing.

Ferris Wheel.

That was the last part of my plan. Once we were up 300ft in the air, where he couldn't leave, I was going to make my move. No one can reist a kiss on the top of a Ferris wheel. Plus, even if he didn't want to, it wasn't like he could run away.

We got in the considerably lengthy line and waited. It had gotten significantly chillier than from when we first arrived. Max shivered a little bit, so I did the gentlemanly thing and gave him my jacket. Then, just to take it a step further, wrapped my arm around him, pulling him close to my body.

He didn't fight it.

We inched forward in line, slowly but surely. It took almost fifteen minutes but then we were finally on. We sat across from each other, staying silent for most of the ride up.

You could see the entire city from here. White lights lit up the sky, making up for all the lost stars. It was a clear night- no traces of any clouds- and the moon was half full.

Max stared out at the scenery with the light of the moon reflection from his eyes. He was kinda hot. Thank God he wasn't ugly because then I definitely couldn't do this. I was shallow, I'll admit it.

"So did you have fun tonight?" I asked. Max looked at me and smiled, biting the corner of his lip.

"Actually, yeah. Tonight was great. So... thanks."

"Well, I'm glad."

[i/] Yes, it was working.

"So, does that mean there's a possibility for a second date?"

Max sighed heavily. "Ronnie, I-"

I leaned forward to cut him off with a kiss. I'd never kissed someone with lip rings and it felt weird. But a good weird.

Max didn't react at first and for a split second, I got worried, but then he began to kiss back. I mentally high-fived myself.

I did it! Finally! Max being willing to kiss me was a big step. This was going to be smooth sailing from now on. I got him now. Hook, line, and sinker.

The kiss didn't last long; maybe about twelve seconds. I pulled away first, trying to hide my smirk. Max had this dazed look for a moment but then he blinked it away. Now he actually looked a little angry.

"Really? How cliche can you fucking get? Did you really think kissing me at the top of a Ferris wheel was going to work?" His pissed off tone didn't faze me a bit.

"It did." I stated with an amused look.

Max stared at me with hard eyes and then cracked a smile.

"Yeah... you're right."

~~~

After we left the fair, I drove him home, grinning my ass off the whole time. I was so glad I got Max to admit he liked me. Well, to imply it at least.

On the way to the car, we walked hand in hand. I never was big on holding hands but I had to keep up my charming, Mr. Nice Guy act. At least for the time being.

Max was a cautious person and I knew I hadn't completely earned his trust. That was going to take a little more effort. It would be a while before I could start being my asshole-self. If I got Max to fall for me, he couldn't be so quick to leave me when I start treating him like shit.

When we arrived at his apartment, I put the car in park. Max lingered in his seat, playing with his fingers nervously. He turned his head towards me, bangs falling in his eyes. I reached over to wipe them back.

Leaning over, I kissed him gently. I felt like one of those tools from the movies. This moment felt like it beloned in some Nicholas Sparks' novel.

Well, except for the fact that this was all pretend and I'm only doing it so he'll theoretically have no choice but to get back with Nason.

"So, Max." I said, drawing back to look him in the eyes. "I was wondering, will you go out with me?"

"Yeah." He smiled shyly. "I will."

I pressed my lips to his again, this time a bit harder. I can't do that gentle shit again. It just felt foreign to me.

I forced my tongue into his mouth, exploring every inch of it. He had been chewing gum and he tasted like spearmint.

We made out for a while and I'll give Max this; He was a great kisser. I thought he'd be awkward and clumsy but definitely wasn't the case. The boy had a very strong tongue.

It ended when I placed my hand on his upper thigh. He pulled away quickly, his cheeks flushed and lips slightly swollen.

"I should probably go." He said, and cleared his throat. "Thanks for tonight, Ronnie. I'll admit I wasn't expecting it."

"I'm full of surprises, babe." I said. "But didn't I tell you, you'd change your mind about me?"

"Shut up." Max said, playfully slapping my arm. I chuckled and pecked his lips. "Goodnight, Ronnie."

"You know, you could invite me up." I said suggestively.

"Goodnight, Ronnie." He repeated and unlocked his door. He kissed me one last time then hopped up, running up the stairs to his apartment.