Phychopaths

Four

I went to my closet and changed into a black crop and jean shorts. I wrapped a red flanker around my waist and just brushed my hair out and brushed my teeth. I pulled out "The Mangler'' based upon the Stephen King 1972 short story of the same name, which appeared in his 1978 inaugural short story collection Night Shift. I loved Stephen King's novels. I mean some of them can be hard to get through the first few chapters before it gets good but he's a brilliant author. I heard a knock the door downstairs. I skipped down the stairs and saw everyone was still in the kitchen. I opened the front door to see Randy standing there. "It's about time," I said and pulled him inside, closing the door. 

We walked into the kitchen so I could grab a few snacks and some popcorn. "Randy!" Stu said, clapping him on the back. "So, what do you guys plan on doing?" Sidney asked. "Movie," I answered simply. "What movie?" Billy asked. "The Mangler," I told him. "Wait. You got The Mangler?" Randy asked. I looked over at him and nodded my head. "You guys are so weird," Tatum said. "You're the guy who works at the video store," Carter said. "Yeah," Randy nodded. "Well, we're going to go out to the pool. If you guys want to join after your movie you can," Sidney said. "Maybe," I mumbled. 

I grabbed a couple cans of soda out of the fridge and some candy. Handing them to Randy I said, "Up the stairs, to the left, across the landing, the door is open. I'll be up after the popcorn is done. You can start the movie, it's laying on my bed." Randy nodded and headed for the stairs. "You know, I don't think I've ever been in your room for as much as I came over," he said as he walked up the stairs. I opened the cabinet where we kept the jiffy pop. I was on my tip-toes trying to reach. "Dammit," I whispered. I was about to crawl up onto the counter to get it but a long arm came into view and grabbed me. I looked behind me to see Stu stranded behind me, and quite close too. He handed it to me as I turned around. I cleared my throat, "Thanks," I whispered, taking the tin. "So, are you and Randy, like a thing?" He asked. My eyebrows raised as I stared at him with wide eyes. "What? No! God No! We're best friends," I said. 

"Then why is he up in your room?" He asked.

"Because we're going to watch a movie," I said. 

"You guys always watch movies down here. We all do."

"Okay-- well, I want to watch it in my room. Why do you care?" I asked. I was looking at him in confusion. *Where the hell was this coming from?* He just stared down at me, making me fidget under his stare. "Right. Well, I'm going to make this popcorn now," I said. I went to slide past him but he put his hands in the counter behind me, carrying me in. "You could do better," he said, looking me in the eye. "Do better at what?" I asked. "You're out of his league," he told me. "Oh, my god, Stu! Randy is my best friend! Besides he's like, in love with Sidney," I said and pushed him away from me. I walked over to the stove and turned It on. Peeling off the top of the popcorn I set it on the burner and looked at him. "What if that's just a cover-up?" He asked. "What if he is just saying that because he really wants to be with you?" 

I narrowed my eyes on him. "No. He's in love with Sidney and besides I'm not interested in him like that. Why aren't you out there with your girlfriend?" I asked. "Sidney asked me to grab sodas," he said. I walked into the pantry and grabbed the 12 pack of soda that only had six left and set it on the counter. "There you go," I said. He went to go say something else but Randy came running down the stairs. "Holy shit, y/n, is this real?" He asked. He had one of my  collectors in his hand, eye wide in fascination. "Yes. Now go put it back before you break it! Don't touch anything else!" I scolded him. He quickly ran back upstairs and I shook my head. "You guys are like a bunch of children," I mumbled. "Technically we still are children," Stu said. "Out!" I said, pointing to the door. He laughed while picking up the case of soda and walked out the door. 

After the popcorn was done I dumped it into a bowl and headed upstairs. Randy was touching everything. "Thought I told you not to touch anything," I said. I sat the bowl on my desk and walked over to him. "You never told me about your collection," he said. "You never asked," I smiled. "This is insane. How did you get all of this?" He asked. "A lot of it my parents got me. The small stuff, like all the Fangoria magazines I bought," I told him. He continued to look at everything. "I'm jealous. But I'm glad you're my best friend," he said. I laughed. "You know what? I actually just got a new poster and I know you're going to freak when you see it," I told him. I went to my closet and pulled the poster off the top shelf. 

I walked back into my room, Randy was facing me, waiting to see what I had to show him. "Ready?" I asked with a smirk. He nodded his head clearly excited. I turned the frame around and his eyes widened. "What?! How do you have a signed Prim Night poster?" He yelled. "My mom knows some people," I told him. He took the frame and looked at it more carefully. I was waiting for him to spit on name in particular. "No fucking way!" He yelled. I started laughing. "On a scale from 1 to 10 how jealous are you?" I asked. "100," he said. "Should we watch that movie now?" I asked. "Yeah," he mumbled. 

"Where are you hanging this?" He asked. "Over there," I said, pointing to an empty spot on my wall. I already had a nail in the wall. Randy walked over and carefully hung it up, making sure it was straight. "Thanks," I said. "I'm coming to visit that poster. Jamie Lee Curtis is hot! And you have her autograph!" He said. I rolled my eyes and laughed. We put the movie in and sat on my bed eating popcorn and candy until it was over. When it was over Randy had to leave to pick Martha up. There wouldn't be too many more days to just spend laying around all day doing nothing, school was going to be starting in a week.