13. Perfect timing

Chapter 13: Perfect timing

Kelsey's POV

*****

"Come on Ethan, hurry up!" Lara yelled from downstairs, her excitement taking over her.

We were all currently waiting for Ethan and Jake to get down so we could go to the fair. Lara and Ellie were really excited to go, and Noah was simply happy to see May.

It was so cute.

And it made me feel so single.

"Kelsey can't you go yell at him?" Ellie asked me.

"Well, I'll go try" I said smiling at her and heading upstairs.

Truth was, I didn't go get Ethan simply because it was getting late and I was tired of listening to Lara and Ellie whine the entire time, but I also wanted to go grab a sweater from my room. Everyone else was wearing one and I suddenly felt really stupid as soon as I noticed how windy it actually was.

I was wearing my dark blue denim high wasted ripped shorts and a black tank top, along with my black converse. I grabbed a long white sweater that was randomly laying on my desk chair and then went to knock on Ethan's door.

"Guys, would you get out already? You're the only ones left to come down," I said, trying to sound intimidating, yet probably failing.

The door soon opened, revealing a good looking Ethan might I add.

"Damn, you clean up nice," he said, eyeing me up and down, making me blush at the fact that I was feeling as if I were under scrutiny.

"Stop flirting and let's go," Jake said from behind Ethan, tossing him his phone.

"I wasn't flirting, I was just being a gentleman. You should try it sometime," Ethan argued as he went out after Jake, making me shake my head and laugh at his goofiness.

"Finally, what took you guys so long?" Lara said as she spotted Ethan, walking over to him and punching him lightly on the arm.

Anyone would be able to see just how important this night was for Lara, and I was glad that I was there to share it with her. That I was going to be a part of the reason why this night was happening.

"It takes time to look this good," he stated, rubbing the part of his arm which was hit, pretending like it hur.

"I don't see any good looks," Ellie said shrugging, making everyone stare at her with their mouths wide open.

How savage can a seven-year-old be?

More importantly, why was a seven-year-old much more good at comebacks than I was?

"Oh my God, you have just been slayed by a seven year old," Noah said, trying to hold back his laughter but failing rather badly.

"Shut up," Ethan grumpily said before opening the front door and heading to his car.

****

"Are we there yet?" Ellie whined to Ethan for the fifth time.

"We're almost there Els, just five more minutes," Ethan assured her, trying to keep his patience.

"Look, there it is," I said, showing Ellie the fun fair which was currently visible, hoping that that would stop her from constantly asking Ethan whether or not we had arrived at our destination.

It was honestly so spectacular. All the glistening lights and the fun looking rides. I hadn't been to an amusement park in so long, I had forgotten what they felt like.

My father and I rarely had time to let loose and go to an amusement park, and by time, my dad stopped being able to handle the rides. That meant that we couldn't go to the parks to ride the rides anymore.

"It's amazing!" Ellie squealed, squishing her face with the window in order to be able to have a better look. "There's a candy floss stall!" Ellie excitedly said. "Please buy me some Ethie."

"I might, if you behave," he said, his eyes still stuck on the road.

Ellie quickly nodded her head, finally sitting down properly and pursing her lips, probably knowing that she would have had a bigger chance of getting the candy floss if she stayed quiet.

After finally finding an empty parking space we headed towards the entrance of the fair to meet with Meg, May, and Noah, who had procured a ride in Meg's car. Lucky for him, he didn't fit in Ethan's.

"Took you guys long enough," Meg said as she spotted us.

"It's not our fault, we couldn't find an empty parking space. This place is packed," Jake said, trying to defend us.

"Let's stop arguing and just go in," Noah said, walking towards the ticket booth with May walking right beside him.

I was in love with the fact that a person could ride any ride he wanted, as many times as he wanted, as long as he had the ticket. It was much better than those parks that required you to buy separate tickets for each ride. I could always only ride about three due to their over-priced fee.

"I want to go in the haunted house," Noah said right after we purchased our tickets, not wasting any time to even think about it.

"Yeah, me too," May agreed.

One of the things that Noah and May had in common, and which they always bonded over, was the fact that they both loved scary things.

"I want to go on the roller coaster," Ellie said, pointing to one of the biggest roller coasters in the entire park.

"Ellie, you're too short to go on the roller coasters," Lara told her, instantly making Ellie frown.

"You're not so tall either," Ellie grumbled, clearly offended at what her sister had just told her.

I knew that I had to do something so that they didn't end up in another fight like the one they had about Molly. By the looks on their faces, it seemed as if either one of them was ready to pounce.

"That's okay Els, there's a roller coaster for kids, we can go on that one," Ethan said, coming to my rescue by trying to cheer his little sister up, making me slightly smile at how he easily avoided a fight.

"I want to go on the drop tower," Meg and Jake both said at the same time.

"Woah," Jake said chuckling, looking at May and making everyone laugh.

I could swear that I saw her cheeks redden, but quickly glared at me when she noticed me staring at her.

Oh, so it's okay when she does it.

"Okay, tell you what. Let's get into teams. Obviously not everyone can go on the same rides, and that's not really fair. I'm going to trust Noah and May to go around on their own just because you two are old enough, but you have to call me if anything happens and you have to answer my calls when I call you," I said, looking straight at Noah and May to make sure that everything was clearly understood.

They were two fifteen-year olds. They weren't children anymore, but they certainly weren't immune to any injuries or incidents.

"Okay, I promise. You're the best Kels," Noah said, before embracing me and running off with May whilst holding her hand, making me smile.

"Now that that's settled, Meg, you're going to go with Jake," I said with a smile forming on my face.

I knew she liked him, but I also knew that if she was given the choice to choose who to stay with, she wouldn't have chosen him because she would have been too shy.

Who wouldn't be?

"Sweet," Jake said, smiling at Meg and making me coo in my head.

I honestly felt like such a great friend all of a sudden.

"What about me?" Ethan asked.

"You can pick either with Lara or Ellie," I said.

"I can't pick between my own siblings. How about you and I both stay with them?" Ethan suggested. "I don't want to go around the park all alone with a child," he whispered, ensuring that neither Lara or Ellie heard him.

I couldn't help but chuckle at what he had just said, but I certainly wasn't complaining. I knew that going around the park with Ethan would have been much more fun than going around alone with either Lara or Ellie, no matter how fun both girls were.

"Sure," I agreed.

He was right, the amusement park is much more fun when you get to experience it with friends, and albeit Ethan and I weren't the best of friends, we clearly couldn't be called enemies.

"Aww, you two are going to fall in love under the ferris wheel and then kiss at sundown aren't you," Lara cooed, a huge grin plastered on her face.

Trying to hide the blush which was probably forming on my cheeks, I turned to look at her, wide eyed and shocked at how she could even think that.

"What kinds of movies does she watch?" I whispered to Ethan, whose cheeks were mirroring mine.

"The kinds she will never watch again," he replied, making me awkwardly laugh, hoping that the tension would soon fade away.

"What's so funny?" Lara asked in confusion, looking in between Ethan and I.

"Nothing," I quickly replied. "Where should we go first? There's a lot of rides to choose from."

Relief washed over me as soon as Ellie and Lara's expressions changed into ones of excitement, forgetting everything that was said right before. I was glad that we could move on from Lara's previous comment.

"I want to go on the turtle roller coaster thing," Lara said, pointing at it. "It's the only roller coaster which both Ellie and I are tall enough to go on."

"I'm fine with that, what about you?" I asked Ethan, turning to face him.

"To the turtles!" He said in a dramatic voice, raising his pointer finger in the air which made both Ellie and Lara giggle.

If I had to be honest with myself, I really liked that side of him. I liked it when he did things to make his siblings happy and make them laugh. Each day he was seeming a lot different than the Ethan I was always used to.

Good different.

The kind of different I was maybe starting to like.

****

"That was amazing!" Lara said as soon as we exited from the turtle ride.

"Yeah, it really was, I loved it," Ellie agreed.

"I'm glad you liked it," I said with a small laugh, remembering how much they both screamed, fearing for their lives.

I was really happy that we were able to find something that we all enjoyed. Despite being a ride for children, Neither Ethan nor I could say that we didn't enjoy it. I tried not to remember the moment where I got so scared that I literally grabbed onto Ethan's hand as if it were my lifeline, probably reducing the blood flow in his body.

"Ethie can you buy us candy floss now?" Ellie asked, poking her brother with her little pointer finger.

"Of course Elsie," he replied with a smile, walking towards the candy floss guy next to the ride.

"Do you want one Kels?" He asked, turning to look at me whilst taking out his wallet.

"No it's okay, I'll buy my own," I replied shaking my head.

I always hated accepting offers from people to buy me things. I always felt as if I owed them something. It always made me feel bad.

I knew that candy floss wasn't expensive, and that he was offering out of the kindness of his heart, yet I still felt uncomfortable accepting it.

"I'm gonna buying you one anyways. I know that even if you said you'd buy your own you would probably end up not buying any," he said smirking at me. "I know how careful you are when it comes to spending."

I was surprised at his words. I didn't know how on earth he knew me so well. I never liked spending my money on unimportant things, maybe due to the fact that I had to take care of the little bit of money that I owned. I always preferred using my money to buy things for other people and make them happy rather than spending on myself and ending up feeling guilty about it.

"I will pay you back," I replied as Ethan asked the man to give him four candy floss.

I definitely did not want him to think that I was a gold digger and that I wanted him to buy me things since I couldn't.

You would be surprised at how many people who I considered friends called me that after we stop being friends for one reason or another, even if they were the ones who always bought the things despite me saying no.

I was not that type of person, and I also knew that Ethan had met a lot of those in his past. I didn't want him to think wrongly of me.

"I know you will, but, I don't want you to," he replied without even looking at me.

"You're so stubborn," I replied as soon as I realised that he wasn't going to let me refuse this gentle gesture of his, making him chuckle and shake his head.

With a smile on his face he handed everyone the big cloud made of sugar before leading us all towards the ferris wheel.

"Is this where they kiss, Lara?" Ellie whispered to her sister, making me look at her, the hand which I was about to use to stuff candy floss in my mouth stopping in midair, my mouth still open.

My eyes widened at the sound of those words, whilst I tried to hide my reddened face in my candy floss.

"Guys, stop it," Ethan reprimanded, glaring at the girls despite blushing himself.

"Sorry," Ellie said, hanging her head down in shame.

After the awkward moment that followed, I was relieved when I spotted Meg and Jake walking towards us with huge grins on their faces.

"Hey, there's Meg and Jake," I told the others, trying to change the conversation.

"What have you guys been up to?" Ethan called out, looking at Jake with a smirk on his face.

"Just going on some rides and talking, no big deal," Jake replied with a small, nervous chuckle which made Ethan's smirk grow, earning a glare from Jake.

During the conversation that was going on between Ethan and Jake, I couldn't help but look at Meg, who was looking at the ground with a smile on her lips.

I could recognise that smile anywhere, and I instantly knew that it wasn't, in fact, no big deal.

"I want to hang out with Meg and Jake now," Ellie told her brother, interrupting their conversation.

"Wow, thanks kid," Ethan replied, slightly offended.

Ellie looked at her brother's face and giggled slightly, before walking next to Jake and holding his hand.

"Sorry Eth, but Jake normally buys us lots of stuff," she excitedly said, looking at Jake with that adorable little smile of hers which always made her nose scrunch up.

"So you only like me for my money?" Jake said, putting his free hand over his chest, pretending he's hurt.

"No, you're also really handsome," Lara said, blushing as soon as the words escaped her mouth.

Ethan and I looked at each other in surprise, and almost burst out laughing at how amusing yet strange it was seeing the two girls flirt with my best friend's crush.

"Aww, thank you," Jake said picking Lara up effortlessly and kissing her on the cheek before setting her down again, making Meg smile in awe.

Meg was a sucker for guys who were good with children, which, in all honesty, I could never blame her for.

"Well then, Meg and Jake, I guess you're taking care of the kids," I said, a plan suddenly brewing in my head.

"Are they also going to kiss at sundown Lara?" Ellie innocently asked her sister.

"I hope so, they're really cute together," Lara replied, making both Meg and Jake blush.

Despite the fact that I felt embarrassed for Meg and Jake because of the girls' lack of will to whisper, I instantly knew that my mission was accomplished as soon as I saw how both of them were affected by the girls' words, and not just Meg.

"See you guys later," I said, grabbing Ethan's arm and walking further away from the group, not wanting to waste any time.

"I didn't know you wanted to stay alone with me that bad," Ethan smirked as soon as I noticed that we were far away enough and released his hand.

I punched him in his arm slightly at his comment, instinctively rolling my eyes at him.

"Don't flatter yourself, I only did that because Meg likes Jake and taking care of Ellie and Lara together might get them to like each other more."

"Aww is it because taking care of them with me made you like me more?" Ethan asked with a playful, boyish grin on his face.

"No," I said bursting out laughing, making Ethan laugh too.

"You're cute when you laugh," he suddenly said, taking a step towards me, and giving me one of his heart-stopping smiles, making my breath hitch a little.

I didn't know what was going on, nor what Ethan was planning on doing. All I could do was stand there and look at Ethan, waiting for his next move.

"Hey, look it's sundown," he stated, taking another step forward making us face to face.

"Yeah, so?" I replied, the words coming out in barely a whisper.

He gently took both of my hands in his, the smile never fading from his lips.

"Well, Lara did say we would kiss during sundown, and hey, look, we're in front of the ferris wheel. Ain't that a funny coincidence?"

It seemed as if every single muscle in my body froze in place, leaving me unable to move or even react to what was going on.

"Ethan, what are you doing?"

"You know perfectly well what I'm doing," he said, looking between my eyes and my lips a couple of times before starting to lean in, making my heart beat quicken like crazy.

Ethan's lips were practically touching mine and I could feel his breath fan on my face. If he leaned in any closer our lips would have collided.

I knew what was about to happen, and yet my mind couldn't register the fact that it was actually happening.

Until it was all ruined.

"Kelsey!"

"Well, shit," Ethan whispered, taking a step back and scratching the back of his neck as my breathing slowly started getting back to normal.

Such perfect timing.

A/N: Hey guys, I left it on a little cliff hanger, I thought it would be more dramatic. Please don't hate me guys :P I don't like to make the main characters get together so quickly, I know you guys would want them to but if they do then the story wouldn't be as exciting so I hope you'll understand. Sorry if I took a while to update I have some huge exams on which my future depends on so I kind of had to study for them. I promise I'll update the next chapter soon and I hope you're enjoying the story.

Also, OMG guys!! My book hit the top 1000 in teen fiction, I've never had a book in the top 1000 before so it's really exciting for me. Thank you guys so so much for your support. I love you all so much and if you have any suggestions feel free to comment them down below!

Love,

~M