CARNIVAL (The Spark Form Chronicles Book 2) by Matt Doyle Read Free Book Online Page A

paperwork ready before your first match."
                  "Oh yeah," I say, suddenly remembering that I wanted to ask about the line-up changes. "I thought I was first on again. Why'd I get switched up the card? Was that because of the thing with Dorian?"
                  "Nah," he replies with a wicked grin. "You got moved up because Connor Ford is a pain in the arse."
                  I laugh and push myself to my feet. "Thank you Sean. Let me know as soon as, yeah?"
                  "Will do," he says, and starts unlocking his phone.
                  I should think it's rude to be left to see myself out like this, but I think I can forgive him that. He's a busy man, and he is working to do something for my benefit. That and I think that I'm beginning to like him too. I smile to myself while I walk back to the changing room. Maria, Meera, the Merc guys, Slade and Charla, Jeanine, and now Sean ... Starchaser, you really suck at the whole moody, solitary thing, don't you?

JOHN FORRESTER - 10:45
     
                  "Like a raccoon?" he asks, gripping the face paint tightly and clearly unsure that he heard me properly.
                  "Yeah," I reply with a grin. "But make the top all flamey," I say, waving my hands just above my eyes to show what I mean in a doesn't-really-show-what-I-mean-but-I-can't-think-of-a-better-way-to-explain-through-sitting-down-interpretive-dance sorta way.
                  "OK," he nods, his eyes still uncertain. "And you still want it in neon blue?"
                  "Like Carnival, yeah. I still want her face markings too though. Maybe in white. Would that show up over the raccoon bits?"
                  "That would work," he replies. "But what about your arms? You had Carnival's markings on them yesterday."
                  "No need. I've got the show gear peeps grabbing me some mesh arm warmers for today. I figured I'd wear those and go topless this time, just to mix it up a bit, ya know?"
                  "Oh, OK," he replies, clearly relieved. "That makes it easier."
                  Aww, he sounds nervous, bless him. The kid from yesterday must've told him all sorts of horror stories about me. Ooh, speaking of which.
                  "So," I say, drawing the word out longer than needed and letting the note drop as it goes. "What happened to the guy from yesterday? They normally give us the same person each day to do the makeup."
                  "K-Kevin?" he stutters. "He um, we're working on a trial basis you see, so they wanted to move us about to different jobs to see how we, I don't know, how adaptable we are I guess. My name's John too by the way. John Thorpe."
                  "Cool," I say, offering my hand for a handshake. "Pleased to meet you John too." John's jittery, but it's different to how Kevin was yesterday. Kevin was fun to play with. You could see that you could push him and throw him off balance, but he wasn't likely to break . He was reboundy. John though, he's fragile, I can tell from the body language. Whenever I move, his brush stroke becomes slightly heavier and you can see his hand tense. I shall have to give him a mental 'handle with care' sticker and make sure Carnival doesn't do anything too OTT if we bump into him again later. "So what did they have you do yesterday?"
                  "General stuff. Errands for Mr Carlston mostly. And um, some tidying in one of the merchandise shops. It ..." he pauses, trying to decide if he should continue.
                  "Aww c'mon John," I coax. "You can't stop mid-sentence like that. I'll end up spending all day trying to figure out what you were gonna say."
                  He grimaces, swallowing hard. "It's just that, it wasn't what I expected, that's all. I thought I'd be doing stuff like this, but Kevin got to