Freaks and Fortune

I was stunned, confused, motionless. I should have been concerned with a lot of things in that moment (for instance, the long line of paying customers growing restless in front of my booth, the fact that Cal could shoot fire from his hands, and, oh yeah, the fact that Cal could shoot fire from his hands) but the only thing I could think of was the stolen kiss.

I was filled with a sort of hate that I had never experienced before. I now understood why Ravi hated Cal so much... It wasn't because of the grudge he held against him for breathing fire at his elephants... It was because Cal had no respect for things that are important.

To Ravi, his elephants are the most important things in his life. Cal threatening them was not only heartbreaking, but also stupid and immature. And now Cal had soiled something that was important to me -- my first kiss... You know, without being paid. He'd taken it and now I would never get to do it again.

There were no do-overs. My first kiss was with Cal Orion.

Regret and anger bubbled in my chest. The heat from it seemed to radiate through me, thawing my joints and allowing me to move. I gasped in a deep breath, and let it out as a frustrated growl. I took off, stomping out from behind my booth and pushing through the line of customers. They grumbled and cried out, and most of them left. They probably knew I wasn't going to come back.

I could see Cal up ahead of me. The smoke from his newly lit cigarette drifted back and filled my nose and lungs. I picked up my pace and was easily able to catch up with the meandering boy. My heels kept stabbing into the soft earth and I stumbled as I reached him.

I reached out and yanked sharply on the collar of his leather jacket. I fell into it because of my shoes and used more force than I meant to. Cal looked surprised as he turned around to see me, but after he got over his shock he smiled.

I snatched the cigarette from his lip and tossed it to the ground, wiping the smile off his face.

"What the hell, babe? It's dry as a bone out here! You trying to start a-"
"Would you mind explaining what went on back there?" I hissed with so much acid in my voice I wouldn't have been surprised if the words had burnt the inside of my mouth.

Cal sighed and mistook my fury for confusion and disbelief. He smiled wide again and began explaining. "I found out when I was seven. These older kids stopped me on my way home and started to mess me around, you know? I got real angry and scared and then my hands started to feel like they were burning. Then, presto chango, I'm like the Human Torch or something, babe. It took a while but, through concentration, I found out that I could manipulate the flame up through my mouth and-"
"No," I interrupted him rudely. "The kiss."

Cal looked surprised. He couldn't wrap his head around the fact that I was more interested in his kiss than his ability to bend fire. It was then that he was able to grasp the depth of my anger.

"I..." he stuttered.

I shoved his chest with all my might gritting my teeth. Cal stumbled back.

"Woah!" he uttered, shocked at my force. "Calm down!"
"You stupid little ignorant-"
"Dude, chill!"

He grabbed my wrists the next time I reached out to push him. I struggled, but he had a really good grip.

"Why would you trick me?" I yelled, ignoring the stares we were getting from the crowded fairgrounds. "How could you do something like that?"
"Easy," he said. "Like this!"

He bent my arms to my side and tugged me a step closer. Before my angry mind could process what was happening, he kissed me again, quickly this time.

I gasped and turned my head away, tearing my wrists from his grasp with the force of my newly renewed rage. My anger was physically hurting me. It ached in my chest... I yearned to see Cal hurt or broken or even the tiniest bit upset.

"You asshole!" I cried. "You self-absorbed orphan!"

Even that one didn't do anything. And I was well aware that that was way below the belt. He threw his head back and laughed merrily, his eyes bright. He seemed to think that my anger was a joke and that my attempts to insult him were funny.

"I hate you," I told him through my teeth, my throat closing up. "I really do."
"Is that so?" he asked, hiding a smile.
"Yes, it is," I responded nastily.
He chuckled. I could tell in his eyes that he was debating wether or not to kiss me again.

"Ivy," he said, letting a laugh slide through his teeth. "Get over yourself."
"Me?" I screeched.
"Oh yeah, Madame Bailey, you."
I tried to think of something to say, but I ended up sputtering.
"You really think that we don't know where you came from?" he asked politely, but he raised his upper lip into a sneer. "You really think that I was the only one who read your file?"
"W-What are you-"
"Ivenia Bailey. Daughter of Richard and Elenora Bailey," he recited.
I was confused. The anger was still there, but at this point, I was more confused than anything.
Cal clued me in, "You honestly think we were too stupid to recognize your name, Ivy? Bailey," he shouted. "Of Bailey Oil Co.!"
"I... I..."

My throat hurt for some reason. It was tight... And the tightness extended down into my chest. It was becoming harder and harder to breathe.

I clenched my hands into fists and then opened them into a flat palms.

"I want to slap you so bad right now..." I told him through tight teeth.
"Go ahead!" he laughed, excited.

I swallowed thickly and my eyes started stinging. My hand dropped limply to it's side.

"There's no way to make you angry!" I cried weakly. It was meant to come out frustrated and menacing but, somewhere along the way, it turned into a whine.

The tone of my voice caught Cal off guard and he looked at me with wide eyes. I sank to my knees and, for some reason, began crying. Cal became a blurry shape and the fairgrounds morphed into stripes of greens and yellows. I have never, in my life, cried in a public area. I usually got angry, not emotional. But it seems that everything was breaking, all the emotions I'd kept to myself had manifested themselves in Cal and that kiss.

"Ivy," I heard Cal say. Through my tears I could see his anxious face. "Oh God, Ivy... Don't do that!"

He sank down next to me. I felt his heavy hand on my shoulder and I shrugged it off. Sobs choked me and churned my stomach. My chest heaved faster than I ever thought possible.

"Come on..." he said awkwardly. "I didn't mean to make you cry..."

I curled up over my knees to get away from his voice. My own tears slid over my knees and down my legs. My eyes were aching.

"Ivy, your dress."

Cal shifted uncomfortably. The hem of my dress had ridden up. It was exposing the bottom seam of my blue boy-shorts.

Cal tugged on my dress and covered me up.

I wasn't crying very loudly, just soft enough so that Cal could hear. But I was crying hard.

"Come on, seriously..." he muttered.
"Asshole," I managed.
"I know," he said, more to himself than to me. "God, I know I am."

He took my arms away from my face, but I hid my head in my knees.

"Ivy, come on..." he pleaded. "Just look at me, huh? Just listen to me for a minute, babe."

He caught my chin and raised my head, but I shook away and curled back up in a ball. His leather jacket squeaked as he tried to get his arms around me. I refused to let him touch me and rolled over in the dirt, lying my head down on the ground.

"You're getting all dusty," he said. "Babe... Ivy cooperate, here! Please? Oh God... Come on, stop crying, yeah? Please, babe, you gotta stop. You're killing me here!"
"Asshole!" I sobbed.

He sighed and got up on his knees. In one swift motion he scooped me up off the ground.

"No!" I yelled, but I was too weak to kick. I had used up all my energy crying.
"I know you don't exactly want to be near me right now," he said softly, readjusting his arm to hold down the hem of my dress. "But I'm taking you back up to the cabin."
"No..."

Another wave of emotion hit. I didn't sob this time... The tears just leaked out of my aching eyes.

"Aw, stop that," Cal murmured. "Don't... Is it what I said?"
I didn't answer.
"I'm sorry... I didn't mean it as an insult... Was it the kiss?"
Silence.
"I'm sorry about that, too. Everything I've ever done I'm sorry for, okay? Just smile again, please? Or at least quit crying?"

I was silent until we reached the cabin. I wasn't crying... I was just numb. Cal opened the door and set me down on my bed. I proceeded to turn my back on him and fling the blanket up over my head.

"What the hell?" I heard Savannah cry.
"It's not what it looks like, Sav!"
"What's wrong with you, Cal?"
"Woah!" That was Aqua. "What did you do to her?"

"I kissed her."
"What?"
"Twice."

I peeked out from under the blanked in time to see Savannah flip off her bed and, in the process, smack Cal in the back of the head with her foot.

"Ouch!" he yelled.

Aqua shot him a dirty look as he came over and sat down at the foot of my bed. I could feel his hand on my shoulder.

"What else did you do to her?" Savannah demanded. She poked her finger into Cal's chest.
"Nothing!"
"Calvin!"
"Okay, I bent for her."
"Without warning?"
"Yeah..."
"You idiot!" she yelled. "Do I have to follow you around everywhere like some seeing-eye dog? Do I have to babysit you 24-7? It seems like every time you go out on your own you screw everything up!"
His eyes widened.
"What else?" she hissed.
"I..."
"What else?"
"Nothing... I don't know... I told her that we knew about Bailey Oil Company."

Savannah pushed past him and sat next to Aqua on my bed.

"Ivy, we weren't going to tell you that we found out... Because it's not important to us," she said.
"Yeah," Aqua added softly. "We don't care where you came from."
"We didn't judge you... Just like we didn't judge Cal when we found out about his past," Savannah soothed. "Although I'm not so sure he deserves such kindness."

Cal scowled and sunk down into his hammock, staring at the ceiling.

"My parents are big-shots too," Savannah told me as Aqua patted my hair. "They were always going off to exotic locations and leaving me behind. That's why I came here."
"And here's a pretty good place to be," Aqua told me. "At least I think so."

"And don't worry about Cal," Savannah laughed. "His kisses don't count."
I smiled a little bit.
"He's probably kissed everyone in the entire Circus," she said, trying to coax out a bigger smile. "Even Aqua."
Aqua laughed and nodded. "He came home drunk. Kept calling me Natalie Portman."
"How many times did you brush your teeth after that?" Savannah tried to recall.
"I lost count after thirty five."
"And you used up all my Listerine!"

I laughed, wiping off my face.

"Guys," I said shakily, giving them a small smile. "I'm quitting."
"What?" Everyone shouted, even Cal - who sat up straight in his hammock.
"I'm quitting. I'm going home."