A Bad Movie Was a Good Thing

 

Chapter Twelve

I pulled into the parking of the fairly new theater and pulled the key out of the ignition. Sam got out without a word, so I followed suit, locking the car before walking up to the ticket booth with her.

“Pick something,” I told her.

“Two for Legend of Zorro,” Sam ordered as I slipped a twenty into the small hole in the plexiglass. We got our tickets and I stopped by the concession stand while Sam excused herself to the restroom. I waved at a few people I recognized from school as I peered up at the yellowing signs, wondering which combo would be best for us to share.

“Aiden! Hey!” I turned around in surprise upon hearing Jess’ voice and smiled widely as she walked up to me, tugging self-consciously on a thick jacket covering a garishly pink sweater. She caught me eyeing the sweater and flushed. “Ethan’s mom gave it to me,” she explained, crossing her arms tightly. “It’s warm, at least.”

I smiled wryly, trying hard not to poke fun at Jess. She kept tugging her black jacket over the thin sweater, trying to cover up as much of it as she could, and a soft snort escaped my lips. Jess stung her tongue out at me childishly and got in line behind me.

“What are you watching?” I asked her. Out of the crowd, Ethan suddenly appeared at her side, wrapping an arm around her waist and planting a kiss on her forehead.

Jess smiled slightly and answered, “We’re watching Walk the Line. What about you? Who are you here with?” Her eyes scanned the crowd behind me anxiously, her eyes flickering from them to Ethan and back to me.

Feeling a slight sense of foreboding�"and a bit of relief we were watching different movies�"I answered, “Sam and I are watching the new Zorro movie.”

Ethan fixed me with a frigid look just as Sam sidled up to me and, completely ignoring Ethan, smiled stiffly at Jess and turned to face the front. I felt her cool fingers brush the back of my hand, but she didn’t make any other movement except to take a step forward when the line moved. I moved forward and turned back to Jess, feeling a small sense of twisted victory when I saw Ethan’s face sour out of the corner of my eye.

Sam nudged me just as I finished talking to Jess, so I ordered and paid for our drinks and popcorn and waved goodbye to her, smirking at Ethan once Jess turned away. His lips thinned into an angry line, and I rolled my eyes and walked away, intertwining my fingers in Sam’s and kissing her cheek briefly as we turned a corner and looked for our theater.

Sam’s eyes sparkled with amusement as she glanced back in the general direction of the concession stand, a conspiring smile on her face. “F****n’ evil,” she said approvingly. “Ethan looked ready to kill you!”

I smirked. “Ethan can go f**k himself,” I muttered as I held the door to our theater open for Sam. She strode inside the dark theater and made a beeline for the darkest corner, settling in and sipping on her Coke contentedly. I sat down next to her and put my feet up on the chair in front of me, stretching my legs while some corny-looking ads played on the giant screen before us.

A giggly group of preteens walked in, decked out in emo gear, and sat down a few rows ahead of us. I glanced at Sam, who was staring disgustedly at the loud group much like I wanted to, and chuckled.

Sam shook her head disbelievingly. “Posers,” she huffed, digging into the large bag of popcorn with silver fingernails I almost didn’t notice. Taking careful aim, she lobbed a piece of popcorn into the air and it managed to hit a chick with a crumpled-looking fedora on, who turned around and peered into the darkness for the offender�"we snickered and shrank back into the shadows, and eventually the chick turned back around.

The movie started and I lost interest after about thirty minutes�"this one wasn’t as good as the first Zorro, and it wasn’t even that far in! I sighed softly and munched on the popcorn, hoping the action picked up soon so I wouldn’t fall asleep in the theater.

Sam glanced over and smiled. “Sorry,” she whispered in my ear, making me shiver, “I heard it was good. Guess not.”

I nodded in agreement, glad I wasn’t the only one not really enjoying the movie. I considered lobbing popcorn at the group of posers for entertainment, but decided I didn’t want to risk being kicked out of the movie theater. “Oh well,” I sighed. “Maybe it’ll get better in a little bit.”

Fifteen minutes later, Sam’s head sunk onto my shoulder just as my eyelids were threatening to close, jerking me awake. “This sucks,” she breathed into my ear, making me shiver again. She laughed quietly and blew gently on my neck, tickling me and making me cringe away from her.

Sam smiled, playfully chucking a piece of popcorn at me. She smiled widely when it hit my nose and bounced off, making me cross-eyed for a minute before I brushed off anything left behind. I caught her arm before she tried to do it again and tried to pull the bag away, but she managed to grab a handful and shoved it down my shirt, snickering softly.

I shuddered at the thought of all that gloopy butter on my skin and shook out the popcorn, hoping I got it all out. I pretended to glare at her and tried to wipe my chest off under my shirt with a crappy napkin and she gave me an innocent smile.

“I didn’t do anything,” she said in a sing-song voice, exaggeratedly batting her eyelashes.

I snorted. “My a*s,” I grumbled quietly, brushing popcorn off my lap. “You should apologize,” I said sternly, wagging my finger humorously.

Sam leaned over and kissed me, pulling back with a devilish smile as I recovered from the momentary shock. “Will that work?” she teased.

I smiled and leaned in, pressing my lips against hers. “You’re not done yet,” I whispered against her lips, smiling as I felt her lips move into a surprised smile before she wrapped her arms around my neck and kept kissing me.

I closed my eyes and ran my fingers through her loose hair, wrapping my other arm around her back so she wasn’t unsupported. She chuckled softly against my lips, nipping at my lower lip. Tentatively, I ran the tip of my tongue along her lip like Andrew back home had said to do, and she opened her mouth fractionally, allowing me to French her.

My heart was pounding as we kissed, my lips tingling fiercely when we pulled apart to breathe before making out again. My arm around her waist tightened, bringing her closer to me and I smiled devilishly when she squeaked softly in surprise.

“I guess that’ll do,” I said teasingly, kissing her once more before drawing back and taking deep breaths, trying to calm my heart’s racing.

Sam sat back, her chest rising and falling rapidly, running her hands through her hair and shaking the tangles out of it. I felt a strange swoop in my stomach as I took in her flushed face and slightly swollen lips.

I shook my hair out slightly, patting it down in case it was sticking up crazily anywhere.

Sam smirked. “You’re a damn good kisser,” she said, her breathing close to normal again. I smiled back, tugging at the rolled-up sleeves of my button-up shirt and planting my feet on the seat in front of me again. Sam snaked an arm around mine, resting her head on my shoulder and sighing contentedly, her eyes glued to the screen as the movie’s pace finally picked up.

I felt a goofy smile tugging the corners of my mouth, and fought hard to keep it off my face. This date was going a lot better than I expected. I stole another glance at Sam, who still looked a little flustered, and smiled smugly to myself before turning my full attention back to the movie.