Chapter 13

AUTHOR

Thank you for the looong wait. I know I'm back from my much-needed hiatus.

P.S. Read endnote at the end. Thanks!

**

The day of the carnival…

Ginny is utterly mortified and disgusted. Why does she have to do this again? Why does she have to sacrifice her 'me time' just to let random strangers violate her dignity? How utterly shameful. If she would revert back to her egoistic—narcissistic—over-the-top personality, there would be no Kissing Booth project to begin with—because she's that kind of biatch. This is all Natalie's fault. Natalie, with her nonsense schemes and her obsession with American pop culture.

The idea of the kissing booth is very simple: you kiss strangers, you'll get money, and then the money will go to charity. Ugh. Just thinking about it already makes her feel like she's swimming in pigs' vomit. Not the charity part, of course. She's not that heartless.

"It's just a kiss on the cheeks, Ginny." She recalled Natalie's hopeless act of persuasion. "It's not gonna kill you." It won't, of course—just your dignity and COVID. Just imagine all the germs and salivas. Filthy! It's already enough to give her nightmares. Ginny made sure to pack a handful of hand sanitizers to use as holy water for later.

Sure, it's for charity, but come on! There are countless other ways to raise money. How about a bake sale or a car wash? She'd even consider running a marathon dressed as a giant carrot rather than willingly kiss random strangers. She suggested that to Natalie, which the latter agreed was a good idea, but immediately shut down when she said, "You should have told me that before." By 'before,' she meant after the Kissing Booth nonsense was approved.

Disregarding all those complications, this could be an opportunity to play Cupid for Persephone and Ariel. Thankfully, that's her only motivation for putting up with this nonsense. She knows this is not going to be easy, especially if Persephone is laser-focused on her. The goal is to avoid getting caught. How hard can it be? 

"It's going to be fine," she reassures herself in her mind. But little did she know that what she was about to do would complicate a lot of things.

♦

Ginny couldn't believe she was standing in front of the dreaded kissing booth. She looked at the line of volunteers, who were all too enthusiastic about smooching random people for charity. One of them, a guy named Measly Bob, was already puckering up for a practise run while looking at her, making loud kissing noises that sounded like a pair of wet slippers being thrown against a wall.

Ginny shuddered at the thought of those wet slippers coming anywhere near her face. She knew she had to come up with a plan to get out of this mess, and fast. As Measly Bob continued to practise his over-the-top kissing noises, Ginny decided to take a different approach.

She turned to the person next to her, Lily, one of their roommates, who was busy applying lip balm and checking her reflection in a compact mirror. Ginny leaned in and whispered, "Hey, Lily, do you think I could wear one of those frog masks while doing this thing? You know, for germ protection?" She pointed to the booth next to them that sells silicone masks.

The alt girl, Lily, blinked uninterestedly, then responded in a deadpan tone. "No one is stopping you, Green. Do whatever you want."

Ginny took that as a positive response. Even though Lily looks aloof and uninterested, she's not someone who snitches on people as long as you give her something in return.

"Pay up." Lily gestures with her hand. Ginny handed her £1. "That's £3."

"You charge £3 for not snitching?! Don't you think that's a little bit overboard?"

"My time and expertise are expensive, Green. Do you wanna pay or not?" Lily nonchalantly responds. Ginny just sighs in defeat and pays the right amount.

"Would it be okay if I transferred all the customers to your lane?" Ginny suggested. "Y'know before Ariel comes and takes my place?" She only has an hour to execute her plan and lure Persephone, and staying here would not do her any good.

"Twenty." Lily firmly said, which made Ginny groan and roll her eyes.

"Y'know that's to—"

"Twenty-one."

"What no—"

"Twenty-two."

"All right, all right! Twenty it is. Geez." 

Ginny handed the money to a smirking Lily. She can't believe Natalie managed to negotiate with this person. She might have paid her a lot to help them. Lily is quite popular despite her aloof and sarcastic demeanour (which she has trouble understanding why), so it'll boost their booth a lot. It's all about publicity, as Natalie would have remarked. Speaking of Natalie, where is that little devil?

"Hey, is this thing yours?"

A stern voice caught Ginny's attention. Measly Bob was talking to her. By the looks of it, he seems to be irritated about something.

"It's been biting my freaking toes for godfreaking time!" He was referring to the offending offender pecking his now-swollen toes.

"Sorry." Ginny pulled Prof. Beak away from Measly Bob and scolded him gently. Secretly, she felt proud of Prof. Beak for doing that.

♦

Ginny left Lily to deal with all the customers. She doesn't have enough time before Ariel comes and takes her spot, so she has to lure Persephone to her trap as soon as possible. And by luring, that only means that she has to seduce her. Just thinking about that was already enough reason to bang her head on the wall.

She arrives at the prefect hut carrying Prof. Beak in his Birkin slash carrier bag.

"Professor, stay here. I have to talk to Persephone first, then we'll get your food." Prof. Beak quack in approval, as if understanding the meaning of her words. Ginny placed Prof. Beak on a table and went inside the hut. 

There are three people inside the hut, and one of them was Persephone. They seem to be talking about some final preparations for the event.

"Ginny." Persephone's baby blue eyes light up as they look at her. "What are you doing here?" Persephone dismissed the two people with whom she was talking and faced Ginny.

"I'm sorry. I hope I wasn't interrupting anything," she started.

"No. Not at all." Persephone has this fond look in her face that she shouldn't fathom. "I was supposed to go visit you. I was just surprised you'd look for me first."

Those aquamarine eyes are very distracting. Focus, Ginny! Focus! She scolded herself.

Ginny has always been a confident person, but only when she's trying to outwit her enemies by crushing their confidence and flawed principles. Flirting with the enemy is something she hasn't done before, simply because she doesn't want to stoop that low. However, Persephone is neither a foe nor a friend; she's simply someone who likes to toy with her until she succumbs to submission. As if she's going to let that happen—never.

Ginny's hands felt clammy from anxiousness. She could feel her hiccups are trying to kick in. Her anxiety level would have decreased if she didn't look like a potato right now. She should have dressed well—probably that would help—maybe. But she's not really trying to impress Persephone. That's not her main objective. She was just trying to undo the kind of witchcraft she'd bestowed upon this poor soul. And by the power of true love's kiss (Ariel's kiss.), it shall remove thy curse.

Ginny mentally slapped herself. She was in the middle of a mental breakdown that's why she's having nonsensical thoughts.

Here goes nothing.

"Um, I'd like you to know that I'll be working at the kissing booth at 8," Ginny murmured softly, her words carrying a hint of flirtation. "Would you consider dropping by?" Her approach was delicately suggestive, designed to avoid arousing any suspicion in Persephone's mind.

Ginny knew that she's walking into trouble right now. As she awaited Persephone's response, her heart was pounding so loudly that she half-expected it to give her away. The fairgrounds around them seemed to hold their breath, waiting for the comedic yet treacherous twist of fate that was about to unfold. It's also not helping that they're inside the prefect hut, and anyone could just walk in, halting whatever tension was surrounding them.

Persephone, with a sly grin that could melt the polar ice caps, leaned in even closer, her lips dangerously close to Ginny's ear. "Well, Ginny," she purred, "if you're offering a kiss, I suppose I can't refuse such a tempting invitation."

Ginny's eyes widened like a startled deer, and she struggled to stifle a nervous giggle that threatened to erupt. This wasn't how she had meticulously planned things in her head. She had anticipated a more subtle conversation, not a potentially steamy rendezvous playing out in front of the entire fair. She hadn't even had the chance to react when Persephone backed her into a corner, metaphorically and quite literally; her back was pinned to a wall.

As Ginny's conscience screamed at her to retreat, it felt like a red emergency light was flashing inside her mind, screaming, "Abort! Abort! Abort!" But like a soldier on a mission, she's already committed to this nonsense. She's not going to back down that easily, no matter how hard her inner voice pleads with her to bail out of this absurd situation.

With an internal monologue that was the equivalent of a panicked hamster on a wheel, she decided to play along. "How about we save that for later?" she said, her voice a bit huskier than she intended. Her outward appearance seemed calm, but on the inside, she was in full-blown panic mode. She was silently begging Persephone to just freaking agree to her suggestion, thinking, "Come on, please, just go with it! Goddamned!"

However, Persephone, who was an unstoppable force of charm and persistence, refused to yield. She leaned in even closer, her breath tantalisingly warm against Ginny's ear. "Why wait when we can seize the moment? Right here, right now," she whispered, her voice carrying an undeniable allure that made her heart race even faster. 

Ginny is a person who typically refrained from using profanity and found herself in a predicament that left her no choice but to let out an involuntary whimper of nervousness and mentally say, Oh, fuck me.

"What do you say, Ginny?" Persephone asked, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

Caught off guard, Ginny stammered, "Uh, well, I, um, didn't really plan on seizing any moments, especially here in the prefect hut... or anywhere else, for that matter." Ginny avoided Persephone's piercing gaze and tried to look elsewhere.

Persephone chuckled, a sound that sent shivers down Ginny's spine. "Well, you shouldn't say words like that if you can't comply. Someone might assume that you're trying to mislead them."

 Ginny, still pinned against the wall, tried to regain control. "I'm not trying to mislead you," she said. 

She didn't know where the words came from, but she had already said them; she might as well just improvise with them. 

"I was just asking you a decent question. But instead of answering it, you teased me just to get a reaction from me. Don't you know that's a bit rude?"

Ginny watched Persephone's shocked face as she tried to glare at her. Although she doesn't look menacing since Persephone was a little bit taller than her.

"It wasn't my intention to make fun of you," she softly said. "I'm sorry you felt that way."

"No, you're not sorry." Ginny immediately counters, "You like what you're doing to me, so you're not really sorry."

"That's right." She gradually admits, "I do love it when I get a reaction from you. But can you blame me though?" 

Gently, Persephone was playing with strands of Ginny's hair. 

"You look so adorable, and I just couldn't help myself." Ginny looks away, her face full of discontentment.

"You do know why I'm doing these things, right?" Persephone whispers near her ear as she tries to tuck a strand behind it.

Ginny knows exactly what Persephone's trying to imply. It's just that she doesn't want to acknowledge that.

Persephone's giggles echoed in the confined space, making Ginny's discomfort grow. "I was just teasing. Please don't be upset anymore."

Persephone tilted her head, considering Ginny's proposal from a while ago. "Well, since you asked so nicely, how can I resist?"

As she started to pull away, she left Ginny with a parting whisper, "Looking forward to that kiss later, Ginny," before gracefully exiting the prefect hut.

Left alone, Ginny let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. She wasn't sure if she should be thrilled or terrified, but one thing was certain—this had to stop. She can't take all these weird emotions anymore. The tips of her finger tips are still tingling, and the fast beating of her heart wouldn't calm down.

Suddenly, she felt a vibration in her pocket. Unconsciously, Ginny answered the call without looking at the caller ID.

"Where are you?" said the person on the other line.

"I'm in the prefect hut?" Ginny responded, thinking it was Natalie. However, the voice on the other end didn't sound like Natalie's.

Ginny's eyes went wide like a saucer when the name written on the caller ID was her sister Guinevere.

"Stay there. We're coming." And then the call ended before she could respond.

"Can this day get any worse?" she mutters defeatedly.

To be continued...