Nano Snippit

The young girl smiled as brightly as possible. She sat all alone on a bench. The people she was going with had already disappeared inside the building with the long line. They had gotten a pass so they could get into the faster line and it was pointless for her to bother with the long line, they had forgotten to tell her about that so she could try to get one too. That was okay, they had taken different buses. They were supposed to stay together anyways, and she couldn’t break that rule again because she had already gotten in trouble for being left behind twice that day. But she was a lone and they had lost her so it was her fault anyways.
She never had been good at being noticed.
She had wanted to go on this one though, had been looking forward to it. Probably more than she should have wanted it. But she smiled brightly because no one should cry in a place like this.
Maybe she wasn’t bright enough. A woman had whispered those words to the person sitting beside her.
It didn’t hurt anyways.
It wasn’t like she had been stuck at this building for the past half hour already. It wasn’t like she hadn’t been running to keep up and forgetting the things she wanted to do. She had gotten to go into a mask store though, and bought a beautiful mask. It had yellowed sheet music and red paper on it and was made of real plaster, fancy plaster, it was almost like the half mask she wanted but couldn’t afford. She would make one. And that made up a little for her rushed tour of the Japanese store, where she had managed, much to her friend’s annoyance, bought a little purple cat charm for creativity.
She felt for it in her purse.
She could always lose herself.
And someday if she saved up a lot of money she would come back. She would drag along someone who would not leave her, who liked the things she liked and had patience for when she could not speak, or was to nervous to go through a crowd.
In her mind she would tell those who had left her behind to fuck off and ride it like she had always wanted to.
But maybe by then it would have lost its wonder, like the first time she had gone to a water park. She had been too old to enjoy it really. And maybe she was too old to enjoy here too.
So she sat all alone, the smile starting to wear off. Her band director sat down beside her.
“How’s it going?”
Oh gosh she hoped her voice was happy enough, she hoped she spoke beyond what was left of her internally bruised throat.
“Just fine.”
“You’re alone again.” He said.
“My friends are on the ride. I wasn’t so interested so I just waited outside. I’m a bit of a chicken.” Angel shrugged, smiling wide. The liar’s smile. She loved anything to do with roller coasters and haunted houses.
He studied her a moment.
Her friends walked out of the door, saving her from any further conversation.
“The next ride starts in like five minutes.” A girl said, checking her phone for the faster times.
Then they started to run though the crowded paths. And Angel tried her best to keep up, tried to avoid people as much as she could.
It was so embarrassing. To run like a child. Dangerous too, with so many people. So many small children parading as princesses and princes while they still believed in that shit. So many grandmothers and grandfathers remembering how they used to believe that shit, some pretending they still did.
She blinked, shaking out her wings.
Why had she remembered that anyways?