🩷🎪💄 The spiraling polka-dotted path of a clown: Chapters 3-4 💄🎪🩷

*This story is underneath my folder titled “Bone Boy”. Gacha Club character designs are under this forum: https://www.youngwriterssociety.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=116005&start=1320. Enjoy!*

Chapter Three-The safe screen

Rosemary was led to Julieta’s room, where a silver box TV was playing a cartoon movie. It was some princess movie that Rosemary could not remember the name of at the moment, but still remembered as one of her favorite movies she liked to watch with her friends.

Harper and Shirley were sitting on the carpet, watching the movie. Shirley was watching intently, Harper was twirling a strand of her black hair absentmindedly. They both glanced up at Rosemary, then back at the movie.

It all looked so peaceful and familiar that she almost forgot that Julieta invited a stranger over to the sleepover. The conversation they had earlier was fresh in her mind, her heart still prickled with anxiety.

She let go of Julieta’s hand and sat next to Harper, looking up at the TV. Usually the silly, nonsensical cartoon would make her feel better, but while watching it, the strangest thing happened: It all meant nothing to her and not in a sentimental, nostalgic way, but quite literally, nothing at all. Rosemary did not feel joy at seeing old characters, nor sadness at the fact that she couldn’t look at it the same way she did as a child. Just…nothing. The feeling frightened her and she tried to think about how she felt when she first watched it, tried to remind herself not to let go of that innocent, precious childhood feeling, because then she would never be happy, but still, nothing came up.

Rosemary turned to look at her friends to see if they felt the same way. She couldn’t tell. Their stares looked so vacant that it didn’t look like anything. She thought about talking to them, but any words she thought of seemed too stupid to say. They didn’t want to hear her talk. They wanted to watch the movie.

The doorbell rang downstairs and then, it was opened. Rosemary could hear Julieta talking to Allan and to some other girl she didn’t know…wait…that must have been Valentina.

No. There was no reason to be scared. It was just somebody new. Nothing to worry about.

Chapter Four-Somewhere to go

Nothing happened after Julieta brought Allan and Valentina to her room. Well, except for the fact that Valentina was shamelessly curled up close to Allan, scrolling through her phone and saying nothing.

The movie was getting very close to ending, which would mean that they would all have to do something later on. At least, that’s what Rosemary thought. She had never been invited to a sleepover until that night, so she didn’t know. But she hoped to do more. She wanted to do more, but she didn’t know what. And her friends were starting to feel distant from her, like they were people completely different than how she imagined them to be. Doing something would fix it, but what?

“Anybody want to go to that abandoned carnival? I think it’d be pretty cool.”

Rosemary stiffened. There was an abandoned carnival in town that stood with washed-out colors, bent in a skeletal structure, looming over all. There were stories about the carnival, but none of them made sense enough to follow. There was no real history for the carnival other than the fact that it was there and watching. Even if someone didn’t believe in ghosts like Rosemary, they’d still get the good sense not to go in there.

And Valentina had suggested that so casually, as if she didn’t care at all. As if the mangled, morbid history didn’t matter to her.

She had only passed by the carnival once or twice, but that was enough for Rosemary. She didn’t want to see the unfriendly chip of the paint, the jarring slash of dull fading paint with paint as bright as a scar, ever again.