Seaglass Promises in the Midnight Sky

Summer Lovin'

Conrad got a couple of blankets out of a closet and they buried themselves under them on the couch. He was looking through the DV collection when Lorraine thought of making popcorn. By the time she returned he had the tv on the menu screen and was settled under half the blankets.

She set the popcorn on his blanket tomb before climbing into her own and asking, "So what's this movie about?"

"You've never seen Grease?" He asked with an incredulous look on his face.

"Unfortunately not." She leaned over to take a handful of popcorn attempting to ignore his stare. He scoffed but didn't say anything, just turned on the movie.

"I don't understand, why are they having a car race? Is that even legal?" She asked as the screen showed Sandy sitting on the sidelines.

"No it's not legal, it's like a dominance thing. They're rival gangs." Conrad explained.

"Wait the T-birds are a gang?" Lorraine asked, confused about such a non-violent depiction of gangs. She had thought it was just an overzealous friend group.

"Yes?" He said as though this was common knowledge. Lorraine fell silent for a while after that. Speaking up again just after the school dance scene.

"Why did he keep dancing?"

"He wanted to win," Conrad said with a shrug.

"What do they even get if they win?" She asked, thinking it was a reasonable betrayal if money was involved, it wasn't like he kissed the other girl or anything.

"I don't know." He admitted, looking as though he had never considered that before. She turned her attention back to the film.

When the credits finally rolled, Lorraine was up on her feet singing lyrics to the songs and laughing. She managed to get a couple lines of Summer Lovin' out of Conrad, even if they were more said than sung. All the commotion attracted the adults.

"Grease? We haven't watched that in years." Susanna said, surprise clear on her face. Conrad seemed more closed off when Lorraine glanced over at him. Once again it felt like everyone in the room knew something she didn't.

Instead of responding, mostly because she was at a loss of how to respond, Lorraine sat back down on the couch.

When it became clear no one was going to say anything, Laurel offered, "How about we join you for the sequel?"

Lorraine looked at Conrad, who had sighed as though it were a great nuisance but was smiling when he said, "Sure."

Ten minutes later the four of them were animatedly watching the sequel, laughing and passionately complaining about the direction taken.

They were just getting to the plot when the door opened. That was how Belly and the others found them when they finally arrived back at the house. Conrad hogging the popcorn, holding it out of reach as Lorraine tried to reach it without getting out of her blanket coffin. Laurel questioning the choices and arguing that none of it was realistic, while Susanna praised the film as a masterpiece of cinema.

"What is going on?" Jeremiah asked, drawing the attention of everyone on the couch.

"Lorraine had never watched the sequel so we thought it would be fun," Susanna explained, smiling brightly.

Jeremiah shared a look with Steven, shrugged, and hopped over the back of the couch to sit on the other side of his mom. Steven took a more conservative approach, walking in front of everyone to sit with Laurel. Lorraine passed them each a blanket, stealing one of Conrad's to make sure everyone was somewhat even.

"Belly?" Lorraine inquired, unsure if she should move so Belly could sit next to her mom and Conrad. Belly was shy by nature and Lorraine wasn't sure if it would be good or bad for her to be next to her crush.

Belly looked from Conrad to Jeremiah, then said, "I'm all movied out, I'm going to go work on my AP reading." 

She headed for the stairs, leaving a confused Lorraine in her wake. The others started the movie again, but Lorraine spent the time wondering why Belly seemed so different in this town. That was until Conrad threw popcorn at her. Then her thoughts traveled a lighter path.

None of them noticed the rain slowing down and eventually stopping. They stayed in the living room as afternoon turned to night, moving on to other movies from all sorts of genres. 

Steven and Jeremiah tapped out after a family movie about dogs, claiming they had work in the morning. Lorraine felt her eyes getting heavy ten minutes into a dinosaur movie, a failed struggle to stay awake followed. Laurel and Susanna were still there when she fell asleep but when she woke up the next morning it was just her and Conrad.

She resolved to talk to Belly as she cleaned up.