Suicide Watch

Chapter 26

Isa POV

"I said no horror movies," Temi says, staring at the TV remote cursor lingering over The Conjuring movie.

I turn to look at her, a slight smirk on my face. "Are you sure? It's a really good movie. It's based on a true story, even."

Temi's scowl deepens.

"I'm just teasing," I say quickly, still unsure of just how far I can push Temi's buttons. She could shut down on me at any moment and we would be back to being how things were before last night. That's the last thing I want right now.

It's strange. Things have definitely shifted between us. There seems to be a better understanding that we have for each other. I don't know what this means for us exactly, but I do know that Temi is actually talking to me now. She isn't staying hidden in her room 24/7, and I like this. I would hate to do something that could potentially change this.

"Do you have anything in mind?" I ask Temi as I continue scrolling through various movie titles, none of them even remotely catching my interest.

Temi doesn't respond for a while, and I continue to scroll through the movie selection.

"Can we watch the first Iron Man movie?" Temi finally says.

"Okay," I reply. I type in the movie name in the search bar and put it on before leaning back into the living room couch.

Temi and I are sitting on the couch, but on opposite ends, as seemingly far away from each other as possible. I don't know if this is intentional on Temi's end, but I don't want to push it. So for now, I stay strictly on my end of the sofa.

We have a pizza box spread out before us. I reach over and take a slice, watching Temi from the corner of my eyes. She mirrors my actions and takes a smaller slice from herself, and we eat silently as the Marvel opening credits play.

"I used to watch this movie all the time with Grace," Temi suddenly says about 15 minutes into the movie, "well not just this movie. Marvel movies in general. We had a tradition of binge-watching them during Christmas time."

I turn my head slightly so I am looking at Temi. Her hands are in her lap and she's staring straight ahead at the TV. I have no idea what she is thinking and I cannot read her expression.

"Would you like us to watch something else?" I ask.

"No, this is fine," she simply says. Her voice is distant and sounds faraway.

I stare at Temi for a few minutes longer, but I don't even think she notices. Her eyes are glued to the TV silently.

I turn back around and it seems the mood in the room has changed. It's tense, and a newfound awkwardness seems to hang heavy in the air.

Temi has barely even touched the pizza and I'm not sure what to do or say.

"So, um, who's your favorite Marvel superhero?" I ask in a desperate attempt to ease the tension getting thicker by the minute.

"Black Panther," Temi answers almost instantly, a small smile lighting up on her face. "I remember when the movie first came out. It was really a time. Grace and I saw it like 10 times." She pauses then, shaking her head and laughing, "Grace loved it so much. She even said she would dress up as Black Panther for the opening night screening once the second movie comes out..."

Temi trails off, and I swallow hard.

"I'm sorry, Isa, Temi says quietly, laughing awkwardly. "I don't mean to make everything suck."

"You have nothing to apologize for. Take all the time you need," I say, and I mean every bit of it.

Temi nods, but does not continue speaking. We both go back to watching the movie before us and soon get pretty invested as the movie picks up.