Gypsy Girl and Horse Lovin' Boys Read Free Page B

was swallowed by the crowd. He said I could find them waiting in line at the mini-coaster. I wound a ponytail holder around my hair and froze before I reached the line. Crap, I forgot to check my face and I was still wearing my show make-up. It was too late. Noah waved and I waved back, trying hard to forget all the things I might have checked if I wasn’t so excited to go to the carnival with someone other than Cessie.
    Noah casually leaned against the rails. Dark-haired-girl shifted her stance so it looked like he had his arm around her.
    “So your mom introduced you as Seraphina. Is that your name or just for the show?” the Dark One asked.
    “My full name is Seraphina but I prefer friends call me Sera.” I shoved my hands into my pockets. At least I had some today. I had never met someone before that could make me squirm just by the glares they gave me.
    “You look totally different. I didn’t recognize you, did you guys?” the other boy asked the group.
    Everyone shook their heads except for Noah.
    “I met her last night in regular clothes so I almost didn’t recognize her in costume this morning. This is Josh.” Noah pointed to the boy. He pointed to The Dark One. “This is Kelly.”
    The smile on her face was full of contempt.
    Noah pointed at the other two girls. “Bree, and Rachel.”
    They smiled at me briefly before whispering to each other.
    All three girls were pretty. Kelly had perfect dark hair and rich dark skin. She was very fit and knew how to flaunt it with her pink western shirt and short jean shorts. Bree’s blonde hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and suited her tiny frame and extra large eyes. Rachel was the closest to looking like me with lighter brown hair. Unlike my average height and build, Rachel was tall and thin. I wasn’t sure why I was comparing them to myself except maybe I was wondering if I even had a shot with Noah. He was as nice and polite to the three girls as he was to me. Josh wasn’t bad looking either. He wore glasses and had short, sandy brown hair that was mostly hidden under his backwards baseball cap. Josh wore an unbuttoned plaid shirt over a T-shirt like Noah. The difference was Josh had on long khaki shorts with big pockets instead of jeans.
    “Are you all showing horses?” I asked.
    “Yeah, we are all from Middleton and in the same club.” Josh pulled back and forth on the rails, nearly colliding into the people behind him. He apologized and moved closer, leaning on the rail next to me.
    “Where are you from?” Noah asked.
    “We live in Arizona in the winter. In the summer we travel all around the country performing.”
    “They
are
gypsies, I told you,” Kelly said, smiling triumphantly up at Noah.
    “Not really. We just perform the show pretending to be like them. We go to Renaissance Faires, and State and county fairs to do our show. In the winter we homeschool while mom writes her stories and we make the toys for the show.”
    “You guys made those? They’re really cute,” Bree said.
    “So do you have any friends if you homeschool?” Rachel asked.
    “Yes. I have a few friends. Sometimes I meet them at the fair. Like now. I have friends everywhere.” I didn’t mention that most were wannabe-friends not real friends that knew who I really was. They were mainly fans from the show. I hadn’t decided yet if this group was going to fall into that same category. I checked my phone after if vibrated. Mom wasn’t happy with me at all. There was not time to deal with that, it was finally our turn.
    Bree and Rachel climbed in the first car. Kelly grabbed Noah’s arm to sit in the next one. I had to ride with Josh and was rather shy until he made goofy scared faces at me before the ride even started. He pretended to be terrified as our car climbed to the top. I couldn’t help it, I joined him by throwing my arms up in the air with every plunge. The girls in front of us screamed like terrified children. Josh intentionally squished me on the