Chapter 9

Like every year, the carnival was being celebrated in Saint Auburnoe square. The celebrations started on a Tuesday of February, before the lent fast, and the weather was still very cold. Groups of people were dressed up in bright coloured costumes and big hats with feathers. There were many mask balls going on and some sort of jazz music was being played. The streets of the town were decorated with fairy lights and candles, giving it a warm appearance. There were lots of food and games booth set up and people were swamping over the place to buy the tickets. 
Watching all the people dressed in various costumes and masks, Kathy walked across the cavalcade, proceeding through the town, along with Ann and Laura. There were up to five hundred men and boys parading on the streets, wearing costumes and wooden shoes, dancing and breathing out fire from their mouth. Katherine was astonished as she had never been to such a grand carnival before. Every small thing caught her eyes and she was in aww. Hudson came back from a nearby stall holding few apple candies and handed it to his friends.
“So, what do you think about the carnival so far? Do you like it?” He asked Kathy.
“I just love it! I would like to come here every year with you guys.” She spoke loud among the crowd.
“Can we please go on the Ferris wheels now?” pleaded Ann holding Katherine arms.
“No, Ann. I'm really scared of heights. Why don't you all go while I wait here for you guys?”
“Don't be a baby, Kathy. You will love it. Come on, please.” Laura and Ann started pulling her towards the queue. 
“Okay. Okay. Let's go.” Said Kathy, lifting her hands in surrender.
They waited near the booth to collect their tickets, when they saw Noah and Michael sitting there, distributing tickets. Immediately, Kathy's eyes wandered over the place in search of someone.
“Looking for someone, Kathy?” mocked Noah with an evil smile.
“Huh? N..no.” stammered Kathy nervously. 'Was she that obvious?' She Thought.
He shook his head laughing and gave Hudson four tickets to the ride. 
“Wasn't it amazing?” Laura asked as they all walked down the ride.
“Yeah, it was amazing. I think we should go for another ride.” Replied Kathy giggling. 
“Someone was so scared to get on the ride a few minutes ago.” Teased Hudson and Kathy glared at him playfully.
“Let's try the haunted house.” Suggested Ann.
“Nah.. it's so boring.” Denied Hudson. “ Lets go see the magic show.” 
“Don't tell me you are scared, Hudson.” Kathy said mocking him.
“Of course, not.”
“Let's go then.” Katherine and her friends walked in, dragging Hudson who had a poker face.
After spending some time in the entertainment stalls, they decided to have dinner in a nearby Chinese diner.
They had ordered their food and were waiting, when the door bell made a noise indicating the entry of new customers.
They saw Judy and Callie enter the restaurant. Seeing Laura sitting with them, Callie walked to the group and Judy trailed behind her.
“Mind if we join you?” Asked Callie politely.
“Not at all.” Said Hudson and moved slightly to make space for them when the door bell dinged again. 
Kathy chocked on her own saliva at the sight of the person who had entered the diner. Standing there was Ashton, looking as breath taking as ever, dressed in a grey polo full sleeve t-shirt which was pulled up to his elbow and black jean along with a black jacket. He was as shocked as her since he did not expect her there but quickly masked his expression quite well.
Greeting everyone, he took a place on the chair.
“We need two more chairs for Noah and Mike.” Informed Judy.
“Then we should shift to a bigger table.” Suggested Callie.
Meanwhile Kathy quickly turned to Laura suspiciously. 
“Did you by any chance, call them here?”
She widened her eyes and said, “ I swear, I did not do anything like that. I did not know that they would join us.”
Kathy felt bad for accusing her friend and nodded slightly. Soon, their orders were placed in front of them.
Hudson was very involved in the conversation taking place among the boys. It was clear, that he liked being in their company. Katherine was happy for him since, he finally made some male friends.
Unlike every other day, Ashton did not look at Katherine even once but kept talking with his friends, which made Kathy really uncomfortable.
‘Earlier I had a problem because he was staring at me. Now, here I am, unhappy because he did not look at me even once? What is wrong with me? I should be happy that he is not staring at me.’ She thought with a frown on her face which, did not go unnoticed by Ann.
“Are you okay?” She placed her palm on Katherine's hand and asked.
“Yeah I was thinking were we should go next, after eating.” She lied.
She knew that something was bothering her friend but she just smiled at her and turned to talk with Laura.
‘Is he hurt because of the school incident that took place earlier? But we met after that, in the cafe. He was fine. What now? May be he is not interested anymore. But why am I bothered? Shouldn't I be happy about it?’ Her mind was over thinking now and she fiddled with her food.
Soon the group decided to go out and spend time together. They watched the magic show for sometime and when they felt it boring, they decided to go to the balloon shooting booth.
The boys were excited and took turns shooting the balloons.
Hudson had shot three balloons, mike six and Noah none, out of ten chances. The group mocked Noah for his bad aiming.
When Noah handed the long gun to Ashton feeling embarassed, he simply refused to try.
‘May he did not want to get insulted like Noah, in front of so many girls.’ Thought Kathy.
“I will try next.” Jumped Callie. She had successfully shot two balloons
Ann, Laura and Judy followed Callie and no one shot any balloons.
“ You next.” Judy shoved the heavy gun into Kathy's hands arrogantly.
“I am not very good at aiming. I don't think I can do...” Stammered Katherine nervously since she did not want to get tantalised in front of Ashton.
Ashton did not let her finish her sentence. He encircled her and helped her hold the gun in her hands firmly from behind. Katherine froze there for a moment. She tried to get out of his hold but he was too strong for her. 
“Don't move. Hold your breath. Focus at the target.” He instructed her.
‘Hold your breath? I don't think I am breathing anymore.’ She mocked herself in her mind.
She stopped fighting and closed her eyes. She had never let a guy come so close to her before. 
Ashton gently placed his one hand over her hand on the barrel and held her finger with the other hand, which was placed at the trigger. He placed his chin on her shoulder. She could feel his breath tickling at her neck. 
She felt weak and she unknowingly leaned back on his hard chest. 
He aimed the target and pressed the trigger.
A balloon was shot with a ‘pop’ sound, then it was followed by several ‘pop' sounds.
Kathy felt the warmth from his body creeping through her own. He was so close to her but his touch wasn't indecent in any way. He was such a gentleman after all. She was lost in the moment. She felt safe and wanted to stay there forever.

‘Forever?’ She was suddenly brought back to the reality by the clapping sounds from her friends.
“You shot all the ten balloons, wow!” screamed Laura. Ann clapped her hands and walked towards Kathy. The girls were mesmerised by the scene taking plac in front of them.
She immediately freed herself from his arms and looked at him. He had a proud look of victory on his beautiful face. Her breath caught at her throat at the sight.
She walked to her friends and they all congratulated her. She stood there quietly not daring to look at anyone's face but she knew everyone was in aww.
Callie smiled at her and patter her slightly while Judy was throwing her annoyed looks 
Ashton walked to her with a big teddy bear in his hands and placed it on her hands with the usual smirk on his lips.
“That's for you, for shooting all the balloons.” He said.
He noticed that her cheeks were red from embarrassment. She did not lift her head to look at him.
‘Thanks’ was all she could say.
It was past eleven, in the night and they all decided to leave. Kathy's hostel had given permission for late entry due to the carnival. Everyone walked to the parking lot and bid farewell.
Hudson offered to take Katherine back to her hostel and they were currently, on their way, when Ann spoke.
“I see something for you, in his eyes. I guess, he really likes you." 
“Yeah, I agree with her.” Said Hudson.
Kathy knew they were right, she saw how Ashton looked at her. She saw something in those eyes but she was scared. Scared of getting hurt. Scared of getting ended up like her mother did. So, she decided to ignore her friends, while looking out of the window, hugging the huge teddy bear.
“See you guys, later.” She wished her friends, goodnight after reaching her hostel.
Hudson drove away his car along with Ann.
Reaching her room, she fell on to her bed with the teddy bear in her hands. 
Her mind travelled back to the moment when she was in Ashton's arms. A small smile crept on her lips. She hugged the teddy more close to her and she closed her eyes to drift off to sleep