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[sub][b][color=silver]Pines Holler Fairgrounds · July 4th
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Collab with: ([@Qia])[/color][/b][/sub][/center][/cell]
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[color=c0c0c0]Elias glanced back toward the rows of midway games they had just walked past. Bright lights flashed above faded signs and the cacophony of voices, bells and cheers beckoned them closer.
 
[color=00aeef]"Actually..."[/color] he said, nodding toward the booths. [color=00aeef]"Before we go riding the Ferris wheel, let’s try the games. There has to be something here that isn’t rigged."[/color]

Elias took a few steps backward and looked at Anna Lou. She was still brushing at the powdered sugar on the front of her shirt, only managing to spread it around even more. It made him laugh softly. Somehow her smile had stayed exactly the same. Warm. Easy. Unassuming. The kind that made him want to see it again.

He nodded and gestured for her to follow.

[color=00aeef]"You already said the darts are rigged, so those are out."[/color] He studied the midway until his eyes settled on the water gun race with its paint chipped wooden horses. [color=00aeef]"How about we find one that's a little bit fair and gives us both a chance to win?"[/color]

His grin turned to a wider smile and he glanced back at Anna Lou.

[color=00aeef]"Maybe..."[/color] His eyes drifted toward the oversized stuffed animals hanging from the booths. [color=00aeef]"We can make sure you leave here with a prize."[/color]

[color=#4DBDB5]"A prize,"[/color] Anna Lou repeats, raising an eyebrow at him. [color=#4DBDB5]"Bold of you to assume I need your help winning one."[/color] Still, she is already moving toward the water gun booth before she finishes the sentence, sugar-streaked shirt and all, because if there's one thing Anna Lou has never been able to resist, it's a challenge. 

[color=#4DBDB5]"But sure,"[/color] she adds, glancing back at him over her shoulder. 

[color=#4DBDB5]"Let's see what you've got, Petterson."[/color]

Elias let out a quiet laugh, shaking his head as he followed her toward the booth.

[color=00aeef]"Confident,"[/color] he said, glancing at the water guns lined up along the counter. [color=00aeef]"I should’ve expected that."[/color]

He stepped in beside Anna Lou and picked up the old plastic water pistol, testing it in his hand. [color=00aeef]"I’m just saying,"[/color] he added as he settled into place, [color=00aeef]"if it was against anyone else, I’m pretty sure you’d win, but I’ve played this a whole lot of times."[/color]

A faint grin tugged at the corner of his mouth as he glanced over at her. Seeing her expression, he couldn’t help but laugh, [color=00aeef]"You’re not going to make this easy, are you?"[/color]

Shifting his stance, Elias gave Anna Lou a light bump with his hip. [color=00aeef]"So,"[/color] he said, his grin becoming wider, [color=00aeef]"what happens if I win?"[/color]

Anna Lou picks up the water gun on her side and tests the trigger once to get a feel for it. The mechanism is stiff since decades of fairground use have not been kind to it, but the stream shoots true, hitting the faded wooden horse square in the chest. She nods to herself, satisfied. It is not about winning, really, but something about the way Elias had raised his eyebrows when she suggested the game makes her want to prove a point.

The carny behind the counter is a middle-aged man with a tired face and a tattoo on his forearm that has blurred into illegibility. He barely looks at them as they step up, gesturing vaguely at the triggers and says, [color=white]"Winner gets a prize from the wall."[/color]

[color=#4DBDB5]"I've played this a whole lot of times too,"[/color] Anna Lou says mildly, not looking at Elias. She is instead focused on the target and on the way the water pressure feels in her hand. The hip bump does earn him a sideways look, however.  [color=#4DBDB5]"If you win, I'll… concede that mini-donuts are a perfectly acceptable summer food. [i]Not[/i] better. Acceptable."[/color] She fully glances at him then, something slightly more deliberate in it than the easy warmth of the last hour. [color=#4DBDB5]"But if I win, you carry whatever I pick off that prize wall all the way to the Ferris wheel [i]and[/i] you answer one question. Honestly."[/color] She looks back at the target before he can ask what the question is.

The carny grunts. [color=white]"Ready when you are."[/color]

Elias looked over at Anna Lou and smiled, wondering what question she had in mind. Before he could think about it any longer, the carny slapped the lever down, the bell clanged, and the race began.

Already behind, Elias squeezed the trigger. The stream of water struck the target just off-center before he adjusted and finally found the center of the bull's-eye. Beside him, Anna Lou's gun was hissing steadily, the two wooden horses creeping forward almost perfectly in sync, but hers was already half a horse length ahead.

[color=00aeef]"You've definitely done this before,"[/color] he laughed, never taking his eyes off the target.

The horses slid forward together, neither gaining more than an inch until….

[color=00aeef]"Damn..."[/color] he said with a laugh, still squeezing the trigger. [color=00aeef]"You left out that you were really good at this."[/color]

The race is over before Anna Lou fully registers it. One moment, she is squeezing the trigger, her stream steady and true. The next moment, the bell clangs and the carny gestures at the prize wall indifferently and clearly a little bored. Anna Lou blinks. The water gun is still in her hands, the trigger still depressed like Elias’s, a thin trickle of water dribbling from the nozzle onto her shoes.

[color=#4DBDB5]"I told you I'd played before,"[/color] she says, and there is a faint breathlessness in her voice that she does not entirely recognize. She finally sets the water gun down on the counter, her fingers tingling slightly from the effort.

[color=00aeef]"You said you played before..."[/color] he answered back with a grin. [color=00aeef]"Only thing, you didn’t mention being Pines Holler’s best.."[/color] 

[color=#4DBDB5]"You should have probably stopped talking. It definitely affected your aim."[/color] She says it lightly, teasing, but her eyes are still on the horse that sits frozen at the finish line. She keeps her eyes there and thinks, despite having nothing to do but squeeze a trigger and wait, that she had meant what she said back at the funnel cake stall about genuinely not having known what she wanted to study. Education had been the closest thing to an answer she could find because she was good with people and good at explaining things, and was clearly good at this, too. 

But reasonable and wanted had never quite been the same thing for her, and Anna Lou had known that even then, at seventeen, filling out the deferral form at the kitchen table while her father iced his back in the next room.  She had just never figured out what she [i]actually[/i] wanted instead.

[color=white]"Pick your prize, miss,"[/color] the carny says then. He gestures at the prize wall, and Anna Lou looks at Elias, a small smirk on her face. She does not gloat often, but when she does, she likes to do it properly.

[color=#4DBDB5]"Told yuhhh,"[/color] she says, drawing the word out just slightly. [color=#4DBDB5]"Again."[/color] 

Turning his head, Elias catches the grin on her face, [color=00aeef]"Yeah, you did. Next time, I’ll make sure to practice first.”[/color] 

Anna Lou surveys the prize wall after that, taking her time as her eyes move slowly across the rows of stuffed animals. The stuffed bears are too obvious. The oversized bananas are funny, but impractical. The generic cartoon characters, like the faded SpongeBob and a knockoff Pikachu, feel like they belong to someone else's childhood. But then her eyes land on it. A strawberry approximately the size of a small child, red and improbable and decorated with a grinning felt face. The smile is wide, and the eyes are mismatched buttons, and there is a small green stem on top that looks like it has been merely glued on. 

It is the most ridiculous thing she has ever seen, and Anna Lou loves it immediately. 

She points at it. [color=#4DBDB5]"That one."[/color]

The carny follows her gaze, grunts, and reaches up to retrieve the strawberry from its hook, handing it over without comment. The strawberry is, in fact, enormous. It is also surprisingly light, filled with the kind of cheap polyester stuffing that has probably been inside prizes since the 1980s. Anna Lou accepts it with both arms, cradling it like a child, before she turns and holds it out to Elias with a perfectly pleasant expression.

[color=#4DBDB5]"You know the deal,"[/color] she says.

Shaking his head, Elias chuckled, a grin spreading across his face, [color=00aeef]"The strawberry? Really?"[/color]

He reached out and took the oversized berry from Anna Lou, giving it a light squeeze. [color=00aeef]"Yeah… a deal’s a deal."[/color]

Seeing more people drifting toward the rides, Elias shifted his stance. He looked at the girl in front of him and couldn’t help but smile. Everything about the night felt easy. Talking to Anna Lou, playing the game, it was fun. For one single moment, that space  between heart beats, something quiet settled in his chest. He wondered if he had been wrong. He had shut out the people of Pines Holler for too long, spent too long expecting judgment from friends, family and strangers. But standing here with Anna Lou, there was none of that. Just ease.

[color=00aeef]"So you said something about a question."[/color] 

Glancing towards the Ferris wheel in the distance, then back at her. [color=00aeef]"Do you want to ask it now, or after we get in line?"[/color]

[color=#4DBDB5]"Now's good,"[/color] Anna Lou says, falling into step beside him with her hands in her pockets now that the strawberry has been successfully transferred. The Ferris wheel is visible above the roofline ahead of them, its lights turning slow and steady against the darkening sky. It is beautiful in a way that makes people stop and stare and forget what they were about to say.  Anna Lou does not allow its beauty to distract her, however. Instead, she takes a breath and feels the words gathering in her chest.

[color=#4DBDB5]"So, I heard something interesting recently,"[/color] she says, keeping her voice conversational. She does not want to sound like she is accusing him of anything. [color=#4DBDB5]"While I was working. About Husker's. Something about you and…Virginia?"[/color] She glances sideways at him briefly just enough to gauge his reaction without making it obvious that she is gauging anything at all. The fairground lights catch the side of his face, and she wonders what she is hoping to see there. Surprise? Denial? Confirmation of…something? 

Either way, Anna Lou looks ahead again and at anything that is not that expression. 

[color=#4DBDB5]"So… I guess my question is,"[/color] she continues, [color=#4DBDB5]"should I know something about that? Before we get on the Ferris wheel?"[/color]

Elias blinked, surprised by the question. For a second he looked up to the Ferris wheel instead of answering, then he let out a quiet laugh, mostly to himself.

[color=00aeef]"Well..."[/color] he said, scratching the stubble on his cheek,[color=00aeef]"You have to love Pine’s Holler. Rumours spread around here faster than truth."[/color]

His smile lingered, and then he continued, [color=00aeef]"Virginia came into Huskers a few nights ago."[/color] He glanced over at Anna Lou before looking back toward the rides. [color=00aeef]"She was having a rough night."[/color]

He repositioned the oversized strawberry under his arm before he continued, [color=00aeef]"She didn't have anywhere to stay. At least nowhere she felt safe going."[/color]

A small shrug followed as he breathed in deep. He hoped the question was innocent but he couldn’t help but worry about Pines Holler and the judgements that followed at every corner.

[color=00aeef]"I've got a spare bedroom, so I told her she could stay there for the night."[/color]

He met Anna Lou's eyes, letting the glance linger,[color=00aeef]"That's all it was."[/color]
After a moment he added,[color=00aeef]"She slept in one room, I slept in the other. She left the next morning after breakfast. Nothing more, honestly."[/color]

He smiled faintly, almost embarrassed.[color=00aeef]”It didn't really feel like there was another choice. You know, I figured if my sister had ever been in that situation, I'd hope somebody would've done the same for her."[/color]

Anna Lou listens and watches his face while he talks. She sees the earnestness in him, the decency at the coaches' table. And she believes him. She believes him immediately and without much deliberation. It is not that she is naive. She has been lied to before by people who smiled and said the right things and meant none of them. She has learned to be careful because of this and to wait and see before she trusts. But something about Elias is different. Something about the way he tells the story makes her feel like she is seeing and hearing the real him.

[color=#4DBDB5]"Okay,"[/color] she says, and the word is simple, but it carries the weight of everything she is not saying. [color=#4DBDB5]"That was a good thing you did. For her. This place could use more of that."[/color]

Elias held her gaze for a moment, considering the reply, measuring her expression. Her question had surprised him but he hadn't realized how much he wanted Anna Lou to believe him. 

[color=00aeef]"Thanks,"[/color] he said, the word coming out quieter than he'd intended. [color=00aeef]"I only did what I thought was right."[/color]

He shifted the giant strawberry prize higher under his arm, glancing toward the Ferris wheel as more and more people began to head in that direction.

He looked back at Anna Lou.[color=00aeef]"I'm glad you asked instead of just believing whatever you heard. Not everyone would do that."[/color]

He drifted a little closer, his smile widening. [color=00aeef]"We've got a strawberry to get to the top of the Ferris wheel … unless you have any more questions."[/color]

[color=#4DBDB5]"No more questions. For now,"[/color] she says, though the qualifier slips out before she can stop it, which earns him a sideways look that is mostly exasperation directed at herself. [color=#4DBDB5]"You know,"[/color] she says, glancing at the strawberry tucked under his arm, [color=#4DBDB5]"I think that's the best prize I've ever won. The watergun wasn’t even rigged or anything either."[/color]

Elias noticed the pause between her words and looked at Anna Lou with a genuine smile. He chuckled quietly when she added,[color=#4DBDB5] "For now,"[/color]but he didn't comment. If she wanted to ask another question later, he had nothing to hide.

When her eyes drifted back to the oversized strawberry, his eyes followed, and he tucked it a little more securely beneath his arm.[color=00aeef]"It is pretty amazing,"[/color] he said, giving it another light squeeze. [color=00aeef]"And yes, you won it fair and square... though I still think you were distracting me."[/color]

Shaking his head, he laughed as he looked toward the Ferris wheel. Its lights turned slowly against the darkening sky, and the line of couples waiting beneath it seemed to grow longer by the minute.
[color=00aeef]"Come on,"[/color] he said. [color=00aeef]"If we wait much longer, we'll end up watching the fireworks from the ground instead of the top."[/color]

Without another word, he started toward the line, the giant strawberry tucked beneath one arm. When they reached the entrance gate to the ride, he pulled it open and stepped aside, letting Anna Lou go first.

Anna Lou steps through the gate and joins the line, which has grown long enough that they will have a good while longer to wait. The crowd has thickened in the past few minutes, and the Ferris wheel turns slowly above them, each gondola swaying slightly as it crests the top.

She tilts her head back to look at it properly. It is not the biggest Ferris wheel she has ever seen; she knows that intellectually. There are bigger ones, fancier ones, but this one is hers. It has always been hers. 

[color=#4DBDB5]"You know, I used to come here every year as a kid,"[/color] Anna Lou says then, more to the wheel than to Elias. [color=#4DBDB5]"My dad would always let me pick one thing to do and one thing to eat. I picked this every time. And the funnel cake was always the food. Obviously."[/color] 

She glances at him sideways, a small smile tugging at her mouth. She can remember it now, the feeling of her father's hand in hers, the way he would lift her to see over the crowd, and the patient way he listened to her chatter about which colours she liked best on the wheel's lights. She had not thought about that in years. Or maybe she had, but she had not let herself feel it.

[color=#4DBDB5]"You're going to like the view. I promise."[/color] Because she has. She has seen this view under every kind of sky. She has seen it with her father, with her mother, and with friends who have since moved away and rarely come back. She has seen it alone, too, during times when she needed to remember that the world was bigger than the counter at Huskers.

But she has never seen it with Elias Petterson.[/color]