I was running to the old entertainment building to find shelter for the parade before
the downpour started and I got caught in the rain. I had just barely gotten under the
cover of the old sheet-metal canopy, when he ran in at the same time and bumped into
me, almost knocking me over and sending my banner falling to the floor.

His eyes went wide, and he immediately starting apologizing. "Oh I am so sorry, are
you okay? I am so so sorry." I looked up and froze, my mouth starting to hang open as
he continued to apologize. His shaggy brown hair hung in his sparkling hazel eyes,
dripping wet from the cascading downpour. His sopping wet white tunic clung to his
chest, and his gray wrap-pants were tucked into his black mud-encrusted Bristol-style
boots.

He continued to apologize, his smooth voice just turning my brain cells to absolute
pudding consistency. I shook my head to try and get my thoughts to settle down, and I
used my banner pole to pull myself over to a worn wooden table and sit down. "I am
really so sorry-“ He began, but I raised my hand to cut him off, and said, "It's perfectly fine, the rain is making everyone slip, trust me." He raised an eyebrow, but nodded slowly.

He shifted nervously on one foot, and dragged his hands through his hair. "I've
noticed you before, have you worked here long?" he asked me nervously. I smiled at
him, and nodded. "Yeah, this is my fourth year." He blinked at me, his eyes
wide. "Wow. So you're a Ren Fest senior?" I laughed and nodded. "Yes, I suppose so.
for a while, but it's the first year I've worked here for money. I like it here." He
smiled at me, and I had to remind myself to breathe normally.

"So why do you like working here?" I asked, "Well," he said, "I'm here for the money,
the fun, and to see all the pretty little maidens, such as yourself, my lady." He said with
a twinkle in his eye. I grinned, because I could feel myself starting to become warmer,
and it wasn't exactly from escaping the rain.

I took a deep breath in and stood up, shaking my head back to dry out my hair, as I
could feel his wandering gaze roam all over me. From my long blonde hair all the way
down my black and red laced corset and my jet black leggings, to the very bottom of my black
knee-high Strider Buckle boots.

I peeked out of the corner of my eye at him, and saw him merely standing there, his
chest breathing heavily up and down, and his eyes flickering all over me. I cleared my
throat and he snapped back to attention, slightly jumping as if I had stabbed him with a
hot poker. He turned bright red, as he realized I knew that he had been watching me.
He attempted to hide his face behind his banner, and I laughed again and tried to move
it out of the way so I could see him, but he ducked and quickly averted my gaze by
blurting out a quick, "Parade's starting." I blew the hair out of my eyes and sighed.

I mumbled illegibly under my breath as I ran out in the rain behind him, and I hesitated
to get a spot near him, but I was simply not going to miss out on this opportunity. I only
come here for two months out of the year, I thought to myself, Why not? He seems nice,
and besides, it’s the last weekend of the festival anyway. If he winds up being a jerk, I
won’t have to see him for another ten months. I shrugged off the rest of my thoughts,
and I went to go join him.



He looked surprised as I walked up to him, but he smiled anyway. He cleared his throat, looked at me and said, “So do you want to walk with me during the parade?” I smiled at him, and said, “Well that depends.” He started to look confused, and I laughed and said, “It depends on how much loudness your ears can handle.” I winked at him, and he grinned and leaned on his banner pole. “Oh really?” He asked, raising his eyebrow, “You think you’re pretty loud, don’t you?” I tilted my head, and contemplated for a moment.

“Well, if my mother, my boss, and a few of my Ren Fest friends have anything to say
about it, then yes I would definitely say that I think I’m pretty loud; especially for my size.” He laughed and shook his head. “What?” I asked playfully. He gave me a small smile, and said “Nothing, you’re just so…” “Just so what?” I asked, getting a mischievous gleam in my eye. “That’s just it,” He said, “I can’t describe you. You’re nothing like any other girls I’ve ever met. You don’t seem to be a self-centered Barbie, and you love working here, which is probably the craziest thing in the world to love doing. But I’m glad you’re crazy,” He said, smiling, “Because if you weren’t crazy then I never would have met you.”

I could feel the blush creeping up my cheeks, and now it was my turn to hide behind my banner as we started to move forward. We walked out of the gate, and I lost all thoughts of anything, as I let myself be swept up into my act; losing myself in the feeling of putting all my energies into belting out my lines with as much power and volume as I possibly could muster up to push out of my vocal cords.

As soon as we had reached the end of the parade, I stopped to take a breather and sit down for a minute on an old stone bench near the opening gates of the festival. I didn’t really care that I was getting soaked by the rain, it was helping me relax. I looked up from my seat and saw him standing there again, completely drenched and grinning from ear to ear. I laughed and said, “Hey, what’s so funny? Haven’t you ever seen a drenched pirate before?” He shook his head and started laughing un-controllably. “Hey!” I protested, “I’m sitting down, I don’t care how insanely sopping wet I look, I’m just relaxing for a minute.” It took him a few minutes, but he eventually stopped laughing and merely grinned and said, “You know something? You are amazing.” I grinned and laughed. “Well, now I know.”

His gaze softened, and he stepped a little bit closer to where I was sitting. “Please don’t think this is a weird question or anything, but do you have a boyfriend?” I shook my head, and quickly shrugged off the thoughts of the jerk who was the reason I was currently single. “Nope. No guy is currently in my life. And trust me, it’s not a weird question.”

I smiled, but I froze when I heard the giant clock from the main entrance chime 12:30pm, and I jumped to my feet in a hurry, which was a bad idea with all the mud and water around there. I found myself flat on my back in the mud, my mouth hanging open in horror. Oh my god, did I seriously just plant myself flat into the freaking mud in front of this guy?! I thought, an embarrassing shade of red staining my cheeks. Hide!! I scrambled to my feet and brushed myself off, attempting to save whatever dignity I had left.

I lifted my chin up in triumph, grabbed my banner and was prepared to leave; but then he reached out and took hold of my arm to stop me. I swear I felt a warm tingle shoot up straight through the nerves in my arm, and spread all over my body, from my toes to the very top of my head. “Wait,” He said, “I have two questions. One, what is your name?” I smiled and said, “Christiana.” He blinked and said, “Wow. That’s a beautiful name.” I laughed and said, “Yeah, I get that a lot. What’s yours?” He smiled and said, “Justin.” I smiled and said, “One more question for me?”

He shifted nervously and said, “Can I at least see you again before the festival closes tomorrow night?” I grinned, that mischievous gleam fully showing in my eyes now. I began to walk away, and I could feel him watching me leave. “Well can I?” He asked me once again. I turned around and grinned mischievously. “You have to find me first.” If I had turned around I would have seen him still standing there, watching me leave, with a small smile and an expression of wonder on his face.

It has been over a year now since that day. He did find me, and we did work the festival again the next year, and to this day we are still together.