26: Riley

It's the day of the double date and I'm hurrying around to find the things that Quinn likes. I've already gone to the store to buy her sour gummy worms, her favorite candies. Now I'm on my way to a flower shop to get some red and orange roses. She loves these colors, it reminds her of a fire.

I get to the shop and ask the lady for the Rose's and she hands them to me. I quickly but them and head back to my car.

Quinn will swoon for the guy later today. I've already talked to him and told him the game plan. The guy is named Joshua and he and Mason will pick me up first. I'll hand over the presents to Joshua and once we get to the carnival he will give them to Quinn. It's an amazing plan, except for the part where Quinn has no idea that she is going on a double date. Yeah, I messed up there, but it's tor a good cause. The cause is to make Quinn have the best date.

I make it back to my home and carry the items inside where my mom stops me before I can put the roses in a vase of water for a bit before leaving.

"Why do you have all these things?"

"For today. So that Quinn can have an awesome date," I reply walking past her, into the kitchen.

"Why though? Isn't this the guy's job that is taking her one date?"

"Well yes, but he doesn't really know Quinn that well, so I'm helping," I reply.

My mom walks over to me and puts her hands on my shoulder so that I stop what I'm doing to pay attention to her. "Riley, if you do everything then any feelings that Quinn has in the beginning will be fake. There's a possibility that things go great and that she starts falling for this guys when in reality she is falling for the things that you did."

"But, I want Quinn to have a good time, mom."

"Sweetie, she'll have a good time regardless because you're there with her. You're her friend and you'll be by her side. So I doubt she will have a bad time even if she doesn't like the guy," my mom advises.

She's right, but the situation is a bit complicated. I nod, pretending to understand my mom and put the flowers in the vase and head up to my room to get ready. If my feelings weren't involved I would have left this date up to chance, but I can't. I need Quinn to like this guy. I need to make sure that I don't have a single chance with her.

So, I quickly get changed and head downstairs to sneakily grab the items so that my mom doesn't notice. I say goodbye to parents before leaving the house and head over to Mason's. He is outside talking to Joshua and they both wave as I walk closer.

I examine Joshua and he seems like a nice candidate for Quinn. He's a bit quiet, I haven't really talked to him much, but he's always been very nice. He's also got a nice muscular built and beautiful blue eyes. For fucks sake, he's also got dimples and nice smile. I can admit he's hot, that's good I guess. Why would Quinn even like me at all when I'm next to Joshua, he's like a fucking prince charming.

It's going to hurt to see Quinn and Joshua flirt, but its the best thing that could happen I guess.

I get in the car with the two guys and we go to the carnival. We arrive and find parking rather fast, we were lucky. Once, we get out I text Quinn and she texts me back her location. I tell the others and we walk towards her direction and then I notice I'm still carrying the candy and roses. I want to give these things to Quinn, I want to see her face light up because of something I did.

However, I quickly hand the items to Joshua as we get closer. Then we see Quinn leaning against a wall and she sees us. She smiles widely and my heart skips a beat. She's so pretty.

She has her hair in a braid and is wearing light blue jeans with some tears and a yellow shirt. She is dressed so simply but she takes my breath away nonetheless.

We walk closer and before I can say anything, Joshua walks in front of me to introduce himself. Quinn shakes his hand and Joshua hands her the candy and flowers. Quinn looks at him in disbelief then at me and I just shrug.

I forgot to tell Joshua to let me talk to Quinn first. Fuck, things aren't going how I wanted them to go yet.

Quinn thanks Joshua and says hello to Mason and I. She makes sure to walk over to us and in between Mason and I. She left Joshua alone by the wall, but he walks over to us a few seconds later.

I need to tell Quinn what's happening.  Before I can pull her aside so that we can have a talk, Joshua and Mason drag us the ticket booth to buy tickets for rides. Mason pays for himself and me and then Quinn tries to pay for her tickets, but Joshua beats her to it.

Quinn looks like she is about to fight Joshua on that, but I pull her aside and show her the cotton candy stand. She loves cotton candy so I knew it would make her forget about what just happened.

"Come on, I'll get some for you," I say as I drag her away. I ask and pay for the cotton candy and hand it to Quinn.

She smiles and takes it and immediately opens it to eat some. She's so cute. I wish I could wrap my arms around her.

No! I can't do that!

"Hey, Quinn, I need to tell you something," I begin. She looks at me and I freeze. She looks so happy now and I don't want to ruin her day.

"Hey, come on, let's go eat something," Mason yells.

I shrug at Quinn and head towards Mason, but she stops me. "What did you want to tell me?" She asks.

I hesitate for a second and open my mouth to tell her, but Mason wraps his arms around my waist, distracting me. "What's taking you guys so long," he mutters.

"Nothing! Let's go eat," I blurt out.

We head towards an area with a bunch of food trucks. I scan around looking for something to eat while making sure not to look at Quinn. I fucked up. I know, but I don't know how to fix things. Everything is so complicated now.

Finally, we all split up to go order our foods since we want different things. I head to a burger truck and order. Then I hear someone familiar behind me. I turn around and it's Quinn ordering a burger from the same place.

"Oh hi," I say.

She chuckles at me and replies with, "I wasn't so sure about getting tacos, so I just went with the same place as you. I trust you when it comes to food."

"Oh okay, cool," I reply. I just stand there and refuse to say another word. Quinn looks at me expectedly, then rolls her eyes.

"What's with you? Are you okay?" She asks.

Before I can answer her my food comes out and I grab it. I wait with Quinn for a few more minutes until she grabs hers and we look for the others. The guys already found a table and we head towards them.

Mason and Joshua are on opposite sides so Quinn and I can't sit next to each other. Quinn hesitates before sitting next to Joshua, but looks at me and seems to calm down. We begin eating while the guys talk about sports.

Goddamn it. Why can't they stop talking about football for a few minutes. Quinn doesn't like football either and I can tell she is very bored.

"So, what are the plans after we are done eating?" I ask.

"Well, since we just ate we can't go on rides for a bit. How about we go to the arcades afterwards," Mason suggests.

I immediately agree and notice Joshua trying to make small talk with Quinn. Its annoys me to my core.

Joshua gives Quinn a dashing smile and it makes me feel like shit. He's probably making a move on her right now.

And I'm right because the next second he puts his arm around Quinn's shoulder when explaining something to her. I feel like my heart is breaking.

Then I notice Quinn shifting in her seat so that Joshua's arm drops. She leaves more space between them now and asks, "Hey, are you guys ready to go?"

She abruptly gets up and we all stare at her. "Come on, I really want to go to the arcades now. Let's play some games. You want to play games, Riley, right?"

She gives me a look that I'm pretty sure means go along with me. So, I says yes and the boys gets up. Quinn quickly makes it to my side and stays near me as we walk to the arcades.

I wonder what that was all about. Does she not like Joshua? I thought she would, he seemed like a good candidate for her. Well shit. This definitely ruins the plan.

This is going to be one long night.

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Author note: What are your predictions of how things will go down at the carnival?

Also, I uploaded a new youtube video explaining why I started writing in the first place. It will be down below. I'm thinking of doing a Q and A video soon. If you have any questions about writing, wattpad or about me, then comment on the video or here.