Snippet #2549294

Ryder enjoyed the daytime carnival. There was so much going on between the carnival music, moving rides, cheers of people winning prizes and smells of various types of foods. Even though it was the same routine every day, the people were always different and that was what interested him. He would watch as young children tugged their parents towards the different rides and teenage boys tried to impress the girls by winning them a big stuffed bear at the ring toss game. Everyone always seemed so happy with the simple amusements that the carnival offered. It was just a few hour excursion for them and after they got their share of enjoyment, they would return to their everyday lives. Nothing in Ryder's life had ever been spectacular or noteworthy, but sometimes he did miss the "real world". At least back then he was free to do what he pleased. However, he tried not to mull over that too much, for it was clearly useless. Instead, he enjoyed interacting with the carnival goers whenever possible. He was never overbearing or social enough to draw too much attention to himself, but sometimes he would take a turn at The High Striker game, where physical strength was key, and once he won, he'd offer the prize to the kid waiting in line behind him. He would offer directions to people who looked confuse or help a child who had wandered too far find his parents again.

It wasn't unusual for him to spend nearly all of the time between morning rehearsal and the midnight performance roaming around the carnival grounds. He did like his fellow performers (some more than others) but it seemed unnecessary to spend all day hanging out with them. There was only so much trivial conversation that he could handle. However, he had been tasked with introducing a new performer to the carnival lifestyle today.

By the growing crowds, Ryder could tell that it was probably around six at night, so he headed back towards the buses. Jade had given them their first pills that morning, meaning that they would be waking up soon enough. Ryder knew how difficult the first day could be and increased his pace, hoping that Gracen wasn't already looking for him.

Even from outside of the girl's bus, the aroma of Catalina's cooking was apparent and after giving a quick glance over at Jade's bus and not spotting Gracen, Ryder figured that he was still asleep and decided to stop for some food first. As he entered the girls' bus, he saw that along with the four girls, Lucas was also there. It was common for most of them to eat in the girls' bus, probably only because Catalina was cooking. It wasn't like the boys' bus didn't have an oven or table too, it was just that none of them offered to cook for everyone like she did.

He gave a quick wave to the others before helping himself to some of the steaming food that was left on the stove. Rather than sitting at the table, Ryder leaned against the counter and began to eat standing up. Mid-bite, he turned to Alexa, knowing that she was also in charge of helping one of the new performers. "Gracen hasn't shown up yet, yeah?" he asked.