Finding My Pack

by Lane Whitt

  Tristan and I meet Logan in the middle of the play area. I run and jump at him. He catches me, my legs linking behind his back, my arms around his neck. "We won! We won!" I say to him, giggling in glee. Adrenaline is still pumping through my veins, making me a little loopy.

  "You should have seen her man, she took out four of them. The last two in a complete rage for trying to shoot me. It was awesome!" Tristan says proudly.

  Logan kisses my forehead, making a loud smacking sound. "My fierce Sweetheart, I knew you'd have fun." He picks up a strand of my hair. "You have tiny flecks of paint in your hair." He tsks at me. I shrug.

  "Come on, let's get out of here." Tristan says. Logan lets me down. They start walking toward the exit sign. I don't follow.

  "Hey Logan, did you get the flag?" I call to his back.

  He turns around, confusion on his face. "What flag? The other team's? You got that, I saw you."

  "No, my flag."

  "I don't know what you're talking about Kitten."

  I roll my eyes at him. "My flag. You guys told me that the green and white flag was MINE. That we were protecting it. Did you grab it?"

  Both of them look like their holding back smiles. I don't know what's so funny. "No Kitten, I didn't. Let's go get it."

  We walk back to our tower, Logan runs up, bringing the flagpole with him. He unties the flag, taking the string out of the loopholes. Tristan takes it and folds it into a smaller square. "Here you go Little Warrior." I take it and clutch it to my chest, huge smile plastered on my face. I probably look goofy but I can't make it go away.

  Changing out of our gear takes less time than it took to put on. Some guy in a black polo shirt approaches us. His name tag reads, Ted. He smiles at me before reaching for my flag on the bench. I grab it before he can. I growl at him, narrowing my eyes. "Mine." I say simply, hiding behind Tristan with my treasure.

  Ted looks shocked for a moment before he turns to a laughing Logan. "I think the Lady means to keep it." Logan states.

  "Well…uh...I don't think..." Ted stammers.

  "We'll pay for it." Tristan says, reaching back and pulling his wallet out. I use my free hand to stop him.

  "No Tristan, I earned it. I defended it. It's mine, I own it." I say pleadingly. Why is this such a problem? They are the ones who said it was mine before the game started. Why would I leave it here?

  The guy, Ted, shakes his head. "Whatever." He walks away. I watch him go, making sure he's not coming back. What a weirdo. Tristan turns around, one eyebrow raised, looking to my arms cradling my flag.

  "Let's go, we have more fun to do today. Sheath your claws Kitten, no more competition for you." Logan beeps me on the nose.

  Why no more competition? That was fun!

  ……..

  I'm sitting in the car as the boys discuss what to do next outside. I think it's funny to watch them scramble for ideas. They really had no idea what they were doing. They wanted fun and set out to simply find it. There's something pretty awesome about that. Tristan is looking at his phone, doing who knows what. Logan must see something he likes because he grabs it out of Tristan's hand, jumping in the air. I hear him say. "Hell YES!"

  They get in and we speed off to our next mysterious location. I was worried before but this time I'm just excited. I'm starting to like surprises. These two seem to have good tastes in fun, if paintball was any indication. I believe they are more than qualified to lead this expedition.

  "You know what?" Logan asks Tristan.

  "What?" Tristan replies, not taking his eyes of the road.

  "We should text Reed and Finn, they'd love this too." I like Logan's suggestion, more of the guys need to have fun. Like us.

  "Kellan and Jace would as well." Tristan digs his phone out as he speaks. My heart drops, I don't want Jace to come. He's like a gray cloud, ruining my sunny day.

  "Not Jace." I say firmly. I know he's their friend but he doesn't like me and I'm still mad at him. "If he comes then you can just drop me off somewhere else. I don't want to hang out with him."

  "No worries Kitten, Jace is busy anyhow, so is Kellan actually. No problems with Reed and Finn though right?"

  "None at all. I they are nice to me, did you text them? Are they coming?" I hope so, those two are so quiet, and I feel like I know them the least. I know what Reed's lips feel like on mine, but not much else. I'd love to spend some time with them, especially if we're having more fun.

  "Calm down, I'm doing it now. Are you anxious to see them or something?" Logan asks, sharing a look with Tristan. I nod excitedly. A chirp comes from his phone. "They'll meet us there." He smiles at me. I pull on the blue streak in his hair.

  "How long until we get there?" I ask. Logan slaps my hand away, sending me a mock glare.

  "We'll get there when we get there Kitten." Tristan answers. I stick my tongue out at him in the rearview mirror, making him laugh. This fun stuff is addictive, and I want more.

  Chapter 13

  As we drive down a crowded street I imagine we are getting closer to where we're going. It's probably been fifteen minutes but it feels like forever. People are walking everywhere, mostly all in the same direction. Children have balloons and some adults have backpacks on or are pulling wagons with them.

  When I was younger I wanted a wagon desperately. A boy my age at the time, which was maybe six, brought one with him to the park. I never played with the kids there. The parents always took them away, telling their kids that I was dirty and I'd give them lice. I didn't know what lice was at that moment but I looked it up at the library later, if that's what they thought of me then I didn't want to play with their kids anyway. I really wanted to ask that kid where he got the wagon, but I never did.

  I'm pulled out of my thoughts when the car shuts off, the rumbly engine giving way to silence. We get out and start walking with the crowd. Logan takes my hand, as usual. I reach out and take Tristan's in my other hand. He looks delighted. I am too. I love holding on to these amazing boys.

  As the crowd grows closer together in front of a pair of gates I hear excited screams and clanking noises. There's too many trees in the way for me to be able to see anything. Logan pulls his phone out again. "They're here, walking up now." I search the crowd, going up on my tip toes. When I spot them I realize I didn't have to do that. They are much taller than most of the people here, especially Finn. His black hair glistens in the sunlight, the bright orange button up he's wearing helps me see him too. And... If I had any doubts, the attractive boy next to him, wearing a piece of his cloud, in a white long-sleeves tee, erases them. I wave them to hurry up.

  They each give me a hug when they finally reach us. I turn, taking each of their hands and face my two fun boys. Bouncing on my toes, I plead with them. "Can we go in now? Please, please, please!" Tristan nods and I run for the gates where other people are going, dragging Reed and Finn with me.

  Finn produces five tickets, handing them to the guy in yellow. I let go of the guys' hands as they are simply not moving fast enough. I run up the path, past the stupid trees. "The fair! You brought me to a fair?!" I squeal in sheer happiness. The guys laugh. I've seen these before, passed them from the outside. It costs money to get in and if I ever had any, I spent it on what I needed. I never needed a trip to the fair.

  I see the big wheel with buckets for seats and the ship that swings back and forth. Those always looked like fun. I don't know where to go first, do you start in the front and make your way back? I'm not sure, I defer to my fun expert, Logan. I wrap both of my arms around one of his, looking up to him with pleading eyes.

  "What do you want to do first Kitten?" He asks.

  I shrug. "All of it." They all laugh again.

  "Do you want to ride the rides? Play games? Eat?" He asks.

  Games? They have games here? I wonder what kind. "I like playing, let's play the games. Do they have tag?"

  "My sweet, sweet, Kitten. Let's start you off with Ring Toss, I don't want your mind blown before we escalate to cotton can
dy level."

  "That sounds gross, my shirt is made of cotton." Reed gives me a sad smile at that. I don't know why. I pull Logan along until he guides me in the right direction for this Ring Toss game. Maybe some games will make Reed happy again.

  I watch other people play, trying to understand the game. It takes all of two seconds. You throw the ring and try to get it to land on a bottle. The colored ones gets you a bigger prize.

  "You ready little warrior?" Tristan asks.

  "Yeah." I reply, stepping up where the people before us were. Logan hands the guy money and the guy hands me three of the rings.

  "Go for the red bottle. If you get it you'll get one of the big prizes." Tristan tells me.

  "I don't want a big prize, I want a goldfish. If I get any of them I can get one right?" I ask.

  "Those are just going to die." Finn says. I stand up straight, turning to look at him.

  "Why are they going to die?" I tilt my head at him.

  "Because they keep them in those tiny little cups out here in the hot sun for days on end. If the heat doesn't kill them then the stress will. Not to mention that when you win them they get put into little baggies with the end tied off. By the time you're ready to leave they will have most likely used up all of the oxygen in the water, or the sun will have turned the water stagnant." I'm absolutely appalled at Finn's explanation.

  I hand the rings back to the man. I will not aid in his goldfish killing scheme. I turn, walking away, taking Finn with me. "Did you bring a lot of money with you Finn?" I whisper to him.

  "Uh, I guess. These fairs deal mostly in cash, not cards."

  "Good, keep it will you? I have plans for when we leave." I say in a secretive voice.

  Finn looks confused for a split second before it dawns on him what I have in mind. His smile could rival the sun. He throws his arm around my shoulder, giving me a side hug. "Done." Is all he says. He leaves his arm around me. I love that I have a partner in crime now.

  Reed is the one to lead us to the next game. At this one you aim a spray of water at a hole and a red thing moves up, showing who's in the lead. I lean over the side, making sure they're not hiding helpless goldfish back there. Nope, none.

  I nod to Reed, letting him know he made a good choice. "You want to play with me Reed?" I'll let him win if it will make him smile.

  He smiles at me, gesturing for me to choose a seat. Tristan hands the guy in yellow money again as Reed sits next to me. I already got him to smile, that means I don't have to let him win now right? I sigh inwardly, I'm an awful person sometimes. I am what I am though. I like winning.

  The hose thing is turned on and I attempt to aim it at the little target. It's harder than it looks. For me at least. The water is only going in half the time. Reed is aiming it right at the target, getting all of his water in. I guess I won't have to let him win after all. The bell dings and Reed is declared the winner. I stand from my seat, kissing his cheek. "You were awesome." I tell him. He blushes all the way to the tips of his ears. I'll have to do that more often, he looks adorable like that.

  "Your turn." I say to Logan. He frowns. I frown back. "If I get to play then so do you. Fair's fair." I shrug. He beeps my nose before sitting beside Reed. Reed starts to stand before Logan pulls him back down.

  "Uh uh man, challenger takes on the next person. We all play, Kitten's rules." They ready their hoses. Reed wins again. Then he beats Tristan and Finn too. That makes me feel a little better about losing to him. The man's good. When everyone is done losing to Reed, the guy in yellow tells him to pick a prize, he's earned any one he wants.

  "Pick one, Kitten." He says.

  "But...you won. You beat us all." I reply, not understanding why he'd give his prize away.

  "Yes, I won, so I get to do what I want. And what I want is for you to choose a prize that you would like to have." Can't argue with logic like that. Something tells me he'd be insulted if I didn't. I look around at all the odd things hanging from the ceiling, a monkey in a banana peel with dread locks, a stuffed green snake, a blown up plastic hammer. My eyes fall on a perfect white teddy bear with brown eyes, a red ribbon tied around its neck in a bow. As I'm about to point to it, I notice a smaller, raggedy brown bear sitting in the corner on the floor. That bear has obviously been through hell. The blue ribbon is pulled out of its bow, one eye is missing, and stuffing is coming out of its foot a little and it just looks ...dirty. It's perfect. I love it already.

  "That one." I point to the brown bear. The man in yellow follows my finger.

  "Are you serious? I took that one down after a storm passed through here and it was left out. Why don't you pick a better one sweet cheeks, a pretty girl like you needs pretty things." He winks at me.

  "It's not the bear's fault you forgot about it and it had to go through a storm by itself. I want the brown one." I glare at his back as he finally does as I asked.

  "Have it your way Princess." He sneers at me, handing me my bear. I could care less what the guy thinks, I clutch my bear to me as gently as I can with the excitement of new treasure coursing through me.

  "Ahem...I think we should maybe move on to the rides now." Tristan says. I startle a little. I almost forgot the guys. I make my way back to Reed. I throw my arms around his neck, squeezing him as hard as I can, the bear getting squished between us.

  "This is the best present I've ever had. Thank you soooo much Reed." I say into his neck. He smells like his cloud bed. He's as comfortable as it too. I let go, grabbing my bear before he falls. Reed has the goofiest grin on his face. The other guys share a look between them.

  "Which one first?" I ask.

  "Let's start with The Scrambler and work out way up." Logan, my personal director of fun.

  We stand in a short line for ride that has silver booths with a bar going across them, they move back and forth and side to side. When it's our turn the guys act like they don't know where to sit. Other people are filling up the booths fast so I climb into the closest one, calling to Finn. "Are you coming, Mr. Wolf?"

  Finn smirks at me. It's a good look on him. "Only if you don't tell me to get down once I climb in." I blush, remembering how I treated him like an ordinary dog. How was I supposed to know? At least we can laugh about that now. I didn't want to stay mad at him anyway. Besides, technically, he didn't leave me, he was there the whole time.

  After The Scrambler we ride a bunch of different contraptions. One was a big tower with a circle around it that went like, a thousand stories high before it left you up there, sweating it out, not knowing when the heck it was going to plunge you to the earth at breakneck speed. NEVER.FRIGGIN.AGAIN! Another ride had egg shaped cages that spun in an oval, Logan and I had a good time seeing how many times we could spin our cage around. I was so dizzy after that. It was okay though, Finn gave me a piggyback ride until my head stopped spinning. I think that was my favorite ride, honestly. I blew in his ears and he couldn't do a thing about it since his arms were around my legs, helping to hold me up.

  We get to the boat ride and I'm ecstatic. Tristan and Reed sit with me in the front seat, Logan and Finn sitting right behind us. As it gets all the way up, I lift my arms into the air like I saw other people doing. I come up out of my seat, like when you go too high on a swing but much better. A hand clamps down on each of my thighs, bringing me back down as the boat swings back. They leave their hands on me, doing it each time. I feel free, like I'm flying. I can't stop the constant giggles streaming from me or the smile that is so wide that it hurts my face.

  We attempted to go on the Ferris Wheel- that's what the big wheel thing is called, Finn informed me. When we were standing in line to get on I watched as the people in the silver and red buckets talked and chatted in a relaxed manner. Some people my age rocked them back and forth, but still, it looked tame to the other stuff we went on. I sat with Logan, his arm stretched across the back, me snuggled into his side.

  "So…what did you name the bear?" He asks me as the other buckets are being filled.

&
nbsp; "I'm supposed to name it?"

  Logan chuckles. "Yeah, you have to give it a good name."

  I bite my lip, trying to think of a strong name for the strong bear. "I'm going to call him Noah." I smile at my bear. He weathered a storm too.

  Logan bursts with laughter. "You can't name a teddy bear Noah, most people name them Teddy, or Berry. Who ever heard of a bear named Noah?"

  I blink at him. "Who ever heard of a girl named Kitten?" That wipes the smirk off his face. Ha! I win.

  The wheel starts to spin now, probably filled with people. I look away from Logan and take in the view. We're at the top, looking over the whole fair and beyond. Then I make a mistake, I look down. I'm not afraid of heights but there is something truly sick and twisted about the ground slowly moving up to meet you. This is soooooo much worse than the tower thing. If I'm going to die from a fall I'd prefer it to be quick, so I don't have to know about it for that long.