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Read this one before reading 5 B!
I'm dissatisfied with this series. So I ended it early. I just have too many ideas for ItSotV.

Edited

Similarities between characters and events in this story and real people and events are purely coincidental.

---

Mark awoke feeling great.

It was the day he was supposed to go to the charity fair with Jill. He pulled out his phone and checked his text messages. There was an unfunny meme from Michael, a text from Jill telling him where she would pick him up, and a photo from his mother of some potted plant. He frowned, opening Leanna’s message box, looking over the texts from almost a week ago.
-hey guess wat
What?-
-jll asked me out
What did you say?-
-i said yes of course XD
-were going to the charity fair.
seen

Mark chuckled at Leanna’s perfect texting English, but wondered with some degree of worry, why she didn’t text back. Sure, it was an open ended text without any text back obligations, but she had to have some comment. He shrugged, walked into the living room and headed for the kitchen. “Morning.”
“Hey~ Mark, I got something for you.” Dan said, with a grin on his face that would make a hyena blush.
Mark grabbed a mixer full of protein shake a gulped it down. “ Yeah? What?”
Dan tossed Mark a small box as he re-entered the living room. “Whoa! … Chocolates?”
“Don’t tell her it’s from me.”
Mark opened the box and looked inside. “Dan… They’re half eaten.”
“Maybe I had one… or five.”
He dropped the box back onto Dan’s lap (but not before grabbing one himself) and walked into the bathroom to shower. “I already got her something anyway.”
“Ooo, what is it?”
Mark had to yell to be heard from the bathroom. “I got her a snake necklace!”
“A what?!”
“A snake necklace!”
“What’s a snake necklace?!”
“It’s a necklace with a green glass snake on it!”
“Oh! Sounds nice!”
Mark stepped out of the shower, shook himself and dried off. “I paid a ton for it. Down at that nick nack shop… what’s it called?”
“Uhh… Afterwards?”
Mark fell onto the couch next to Dan. “Yeah. You think she’ll like it?” He held up a box and opened it.
A small glass snake with piercing eyes stared at Dan. “Shiny. It looks badass.”
Mark sighed with relief. “Whew, good. It looks like it would fit her well, eh?”
“How long is the chain?”
“What? I don’t know…”
Dan took it out and let the necklace unravel. He put it on, and Mark looked at where it reached. “Whoa. It almost goes all the way to your bellybutton!”
“Well, it’ll be about right for her then.”
“Gimme that.”
Mark placed the necklace back in its box and tucked it away in his pocket as Dan chuckled. “It might be a bit long. But that’s fine. Go get ‘er, tiger!”
“Ha, very funny.” Mark muttered as he stood and headed for the door.

~~~

Mark tapped his paw on the concrete as he waited for Jill. He held the box in his paw as he looked up and down the street. She was late. He sighed, his nerves getting the better of him, butterflies making a fuss in his stomach. “I wonder if they’ll be a connection?” He muttered to himself, trying to calm himself down a little.
“Who knows? Maybe we’ll really get along as a couple?”
That thought didn’t help, and caused him to stare into the pavement. Soon a voice caused his head to shoot up. “Sorry I’m late.”
“Uh… Hi! Y-you look great…”
Jill laughed and pushed open the passenger side door. She was wearing what she would usually wear on any given day. “Why don’t you ever tell me that at work?”
He climbed in, calming down significantly. “Because it was never a date.”
“Touché.”
Jill was about to drive off, but Mark stopped her. “Wait, I have something for you.”
He handed her the box. She looked at it and smiled. “Oh, you shouldn’t have… Oh my. Mark, this is so cool! How does it look?”
Mark grinned and glanced at the necklace. “You look like a regular biker.”
Jill tugged him into a brief hug. “Thanks. But I don’t have anything for you…”
“Nah, its fine.”
“Aw, you’re so sweet. Let’s go then.”
They drove off in the direction of Mount Pearl, which was no short trip.

~~~

“Wow! Look at that Ferris wheel!”
Jill and Mark looked up at the tall wheel as it slowly spun around, taking people up to see the view. “Yeah… pretty tall.”
Jill pushed him playfully. “Not afraid of heights, are you?”
“Heights? Yeah… Big fan.”
She giggled at his reaction. “So, where to first?”
“Hmm… Let’s start it off slow… how about the Vomit Comet?”
“What?! The roller coaster right off?”
Mark held out his paw. “Afraid of speed?”
She grinned and took it. “You’re on.”
They strolled slowly towards the Vomit Comet, a wooden roller coaster with two drops. It did three circuits before it stopped, and people getting off could be seen stumbling around as though they were drunk. The fair was relatively small. Both Mark and Jill had been to many in the past, and this one was much smaller. Mark had to stop and look at the bright colorful lights on the magic carpet ride, however. “That’s going to cause a seizure…”
Jill laughed. “I love the atmosphere here, don’t you? Just a bunch of random strangers having fun!”
“Yeah. I bet Michael would like it here. Or Leanna.”
“Oh? Cheating on me already?”
“You know what I mean!”
Jill wrapped her arm around Mark’s and pulled him towards the roller coaster. “Well it’s just you and me now. Come on!”
Once they arrived, they joined the short que line, and were soon strapped into the wooden car. Mark gulped as the ride began to move. “Uhh… I changed my mind…”
“Haha! I can’t wait! … Mark, you’re crushing my paw.”
“Sorry! Terrified over here!”
They began their steady climb to the first hill, and began cresting it. “Mark, this was a great ideaaAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!”
“I DISAGREEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

~~~

Mark wiped ice cream off his paws as he and Jill walked along the fairgrounds. “Hehe, yeah, you’re right. His face does look like a prune.”
“Mark! This paper is three minutes late! Zero!”
They laughed so hard they stopped in the middle of the path and supported each other. “Haha! That’s a perfect impression of Mr. Palmer!”
“Hehe! Yeah, he caught me doing it once!”
“Did he eviscerate you?”
“Pretty much.”
They recovered, and looked up at where they were. “Hey, let’s do the Ferris wheel next!”
“Alright… I gotta tell you something anyway.”
Jill glanced at him, slightly worried, but she smiled and pulled him onto the ride as it was stopping. They slowly rode to the top, the scenery opening up to them, the noonday sun lighting the area perfectly. “Whoa! Look at that…”
Mark and Jill sat next to each other, looking out over the view. Mark fiddled with his paws and looked at his feet. The mood was maybe a little too romantic for what he was about to say. “Um… Jill…”
She looked over at him, and he forced himself to meet her gaze. “Mark…”
“Uh… Look, you’re really nice and… I like you, but…”
To Mark’s surprise, Jill sighed in relief. “Oh, Mark. Me too. I mean, we just hung out and did friend things…”
“…And there was no real… spark, you know?”
“Yeah. I understand completely.”
Mark sighed his own sigh and grinned. “I thought you would… I don’t know… not feel the same and get all mad.”
Jill laughed. “I thought you were about to pledge your undying love to me, and I would have to turn you down.”
Mark chuckled. “Heh, that would be awkward.”
“So… Friends still?”
“Yeah.”
They reached the apex of the Ferris wheel’s turn, and Jill coughed, the wheel stopping to let people off. “Mark… I want to ask one… favor.”
“Yeah?”
“Could I… kiss you just once?”
“… Um, may I ask why?”
“Well, I know it sounds silly… But your muzzle looks just like an orange Popsicle and I’ve been fantasizing about its flavor for a week now…”
There was a pause, then Mark burst out laughing. “Haha! You know, that’s not the first time someone’s said that?”
“Really?”
“Yeah, and I kinda see it now. … Sure, but no tongue.”
Jill blushed and smacked him on the arm. “Shut up and just get it over with.”
He leaned forward, and she placed a little peck on his muzzle. She licked her lips and frowned. “Aww… It doesn’t taste like orange. Oh well.”
“Hmm… You’re a good kisser.”
“Shut up.”

~~~

The pair stepped towards the exit, chatting as though nothing had happened. As they walked up to Jill’s car, Mark looked back at the fair and stopped. There, at the edge of the fair, stood Leanna. She was looking his way with intense eyes. Jill climbed in, then leaned over to look into Mark’s face. “Um… What’s the matter?”
“There’s someone I know over there…”
Jill smiled and looked over. “Oh, Leanne, right? Well, I have somewhere to be if you wanna go over and talk to her. She looks kinda… disturbed.”
“Yeah… I’m getting that vibe too… I should talk to her. I’ll see you at work.”
“Yep. This was fun, we should hang out more.”
“Definitely.”
She slammed the door and put the car in reverse, blowing Mark an over-dramatic kiss and laughing as she drove off. He waved and crossed the street over to Leanna’s side. The traffic was low, only the occasional car. As he approached, she appeared to get smaller, until he was about a foot from her, standing on the sidewalk as she bowed her head. “Hey Leanna. I didn’t know you would be at the fair today…”
He made a note in his head that she did know he was there, and that it was a date. He frowned as she mumbled. “Hello Mark.”
“You look pale, are you alright?”
She whispered something that Mark couldn’t hear. “What was that? Sorry, I-”
“I’M IN LOVE WITH YOU!”

~~~