Occasionally

Alex goes to the cinema!

I'm at the line. Where are you?

After we ate lunch at Sampaloc Lake, Karl and I decided to go to SM City San Pablo since the heat was already scorching us. I even had to change from my hoodie to an extra white shirt I packed in my car.

I asked him before we went to the mall, "What should we do there?"

"Do you want to watch a movie with me?" he proposed. "I really want to see Frozen 2."

I chuckled. "Really? Frozen?"

He nodded. "Please? I'll buy the food for the both of us."

"After all that we ate earlier, you're still hungry?"

"No, but I want to munch on something while we watch."

I just shrugged my head at him and chuckled. "Your stomach is something."

"You won't be disappointed with the food choices that I'll bring. You can buy the tickets." He grabbed his wallet from his pockets and handed me some cash. "Here. You can use this to pay for our tickets."

I pushed his hand away. "No, no, no. I can pay."

"If you don't accept this, I'll be really annoyed with you," he warned, his murderous eyes pointing straight at me.

In the end, I accepted the cash and put it in my wallet. Then, we agreed to split up so we could catch the 1 PM showtime. I buy the tickets; he buys the food.

SM San Pablo wasn't that big compared to the malls in Manila. It is jampacked with people—mostly teenagers, though. I assume that this is their premier hangout place outside school because of the free air conditioning. It's also relatively easy to navigate, unlike the pathways in Glorietta.

There were a lot of people lined up to watch the film—mostly kids with their parents who are really active here while waiting. I seemed out of place watching this film, to be honest. But hey, I might enjoy this, right? I guess I can just pretend to watch later.

When Karl came back, I was astounded by all the food that he brought. Three jumbo packs of Kettle Korn—cheese, butter, and sour cream. Two large Coke. A huge paper bag from McDo. It didn't take him long to find me. He immediately dumped some of the food on my hands.

"Are you sure this is allowed inside?" I asked him. I'm not used to this much food in the cinema! Usually, the guards restrict from bringing food that was not brought in the nearby stands.

"We'll be fine," he assured me. "We're in the province. They don't usually care for this one."

"That is not reassuring."

"I even once brought a whole rice meal inside."

"Are you fucking serious?"

"I'm not kidding! I brought a rice meal in there. It's just a little hard to eat inside. You know, being dark and all."

In the end, he was right. They were just cautiously eyeing the two of us when we went in. But I'm pretty much sure that it wasn't the food—it's the fact that two guys are on a movie date. It doesn't bother me at all, after all the experience I've had with dating, this is just normal. Karl, on the other hand, was too absorbed in the film.

We sat in the middle row on the right side of the cinema. Of course, the back rows were immediately filled out. But we're lucky that our row wasn't filled. Maybe they don't want to interfere with two guys dating.

Karl's feet can't really take a rest. I poked his arm and asked, "Okay, you must tell me—why Frozen 2?"

"Okay now, shh. It's starting," he excitedly whispered in my ear as he opened one of the Kettle Corn bags. Contrary to what he said—it's not yet starting; it's just the opening trailers showing. And yet, he's now eating. I bet he can finish all of these before the movie even starts.