Freaks and Fortune

"Hey Aqua," I nodded as the blonde boy stepped up to the booth.

It was almost five o'clock and my shift was nearing it's end. I didn't have to work during the Circus, like the rest of my fellow Freaks did. I was only employed for the Carnival, the set of fun shows and booths to entertain the masses before the actual Circus.

The rush had slowed. There weren't many customers left, except for a pair of pre-teen boys who would shove each other as they approached me, red faced.

The blonde Aqua-Boy was smiling casually at me. In a voice so low that only I could hear, he said:

"This is a scam."

I sat up straight in my plush purple chair. He winked and leaned in, dropping the necessary amount of tickets in the large jar. I kissed him just as I would kiss any other customer.

Aqua smiled, nodded, winked again, and ambled off to the booth next to mine, which was a "Wheel-of-Fortune" knockoff.

I wasn't paying attention to him, concentrating on the rest of the sparse line. But I had to turn my head when he began screaming at the top of his lungs. Lights were flashing at the booth and I could hear bells going off.

"I won! I won!" Aqua screeched in an overly dramatic way. "I won!"

He ran over to me, pushing to the front of the line.

"Thank you, Ivy Fortune!" he gushed, waving his ultra-giant stuffed animal in my face.

Suddenly, the line thickened. People were waving tickets under my nose and puckering their lips in anticipation. Boys and men from all over were hearing Aqua's announcement and wanting in on it. They all shoved to get at the Kissing Booth.

Laughing quietly, I watched as the ticket jar overflowed. The Freaks sure knew what they were doing.

-_-_-_-

"Will you stop?" Savannah's voice cried through the door to the cabin. "Get away!"

I entered the room to find complete chaos. Cal seemed to avoid hangovers by staying drunk. He had somehow managed to catch Savannah and throw her over his shoulder. She was laughing because Cal kept tickling the backs of her knees.

Aqua was red in the face, on the floor, cracking up. He'd calm down a bit, and then look up at the pair... Then he'd start laughing all over again.

"Ivy's here!" Cal shouted, surpassing the volume on an 'inside voice' by about a mile. "Ivy's here, Ivy's here!"
"Let's go!" shrieked Savannah, smacking her fists onto Cal's back. "Go, go, go!"

"What's going on?" I asked, looking around the room for some sort of opened container of laughing gas.

"Follow meeeee!" Cal yelled, running out of the cabin.
Savannah screamed in a playful sort of way and kept yelling, "Put me down!"

It took several moments before Aqua was able to recover himself. He managed to choke out a few words:

"Tent C... Tent C, I'll meet you there..."

Think about this Ivy. Your friends have just put on a display akin to that of a couple of crackheads. Then, the one who is on the floor laughing like a maniac tells you to go to the smallest tent at the furthest corner of the circus. Not only that, but he doesn't tell you what you'll be doing there. What shall we do about this?

"Okay..." I replied suspiciously. "Okay."

As you can see, common sense isn't my strength.

I raced out the door, spotting Cal and Savannah in the distance. I raced after them, trying to run without ruining my Lady Luck dress. The cool air shot through my lungs. The temperature always dropped quite dramatically after twilight.

Tent C was, essentially, a storage tent. Dusty crates and cages were lined up against the walls, waiting to be used or opened. No shows were held in Tent C, so obnoxious industrial lights were the only things lighting the place up.

I pushed the flap aside and entered, squinting in the darkness. I could hear Cal giggling and see the outline of a lone figure standing in the middle of the tent. A small flashlight clicked on. Anthony was the one standing, his face now lit from underneath. He was obviously trying to act menacing and scary.

"Now that we're all here," he began in a deep rumbling voice, making it clear that he had definitely descended from a Ringmaster. "We can begin the-"
"Aqua's not here yet," I interrupted.
Everyone groaned.
"What?" Anthony whined. "I used my scary voice for nothing!"
"He'll be here soon," I laughed. "Don't worry."

My eyes had adjusted to the darkness. I could make out a group of people seated in a circle around Anthony. I could see Cal, who was pestering Savannah, and two other figures. I sat down next to Cal and realized that Ravi was on my right!

"Ravi?" I hissed. "What the hell?"
"I'm here against my will," he reassured me.
"What?"
"Damn it... If he wasn't so good looking..." he whispered.
"Who? What's going on?"
"Ant made me come here. I have no clue what we're doing."
I tried not to laugh. "Lighten up!"
He shuffled nervously.

Just then, Aqua yanked the tent flap aside, light flooded into the dim tent, and Anthony began his spiel again.