Love In Destin ✔

25 - tattoos together

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𝑹𝒊𝒄𝒌

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THE SMELL OF popcorn and spices fills the air as we shuffle past people, the cinema busier than usual.  A super popular movie called 'The Princess Bride' is replaying tonight. One can already tell from the long line leading to its ticket booth and the loud racket that comes along. I'm in the mood for a little action to kick things off, but Maya starts steering me toward the line for 'The Princess Bride'. "Come on, it's a replay!" she says excitedly.

"Maya, I'm really not in the mood for a movie about a princess. I don't even know if it'll be good,"

She steps away from me, her eyes widening with astonishment, and she gasps. "You've never watched The Princess Bride?"

"I didn't think I was supposed to,"

"It's basically like Harry Potter. Everyone you meet in your life has probably seen Harry Potter," she says sarcastically.

"Maya, be for real, not everyone has seen Harry Potter. I haven't seen Harry Potter,"

"What rock have you been living under?" she scrunches her nose and rests her hand on her mouth in disbelief, making me roll my eyes. "These movies are practically childhood rights of passage,"

"You're being judgmental," I chuckle.

"Okay, well, today is your lucky day. I get to introduce you to one of my favorite movies,"

"I don't know..."

"Don't be such a baby. It's a fun movie. It even has action if that's what you're really looking for,"

I give in to her demands, and her whole face lights up as she pulls on my arm, dragging me over to the long line of supposed fans of the movie or perhaps new viewers like myself. She clasps her hands together, tapping her foot against the floor as she pops her head out to check the front of the line every few seconds. When we reach the front of the line, she speaks before I can utter a word, and she offers to pay, to which I don't object.

She plays with her hair when we get to the snack bar to get our popcorn and drinks. I have to admit, she looks kinda cute when she's all excited with the way her eyes sparkle. "What drink would you like?" asks the brunette behind the bar.

Maya does it again, speaking quicker than usual before I can say anything, "A Strawberry slushie, please,"

"Sorry miss, we only have cherry, blueberry, and lime,"

"Oh," her smile diminishes as her fidgeting stops and her shoulders slump.

"Are you that upset about it? Just take cherry. It's as close to strawberry as it gets,"

"But it's not the same," the light on her face doesn't shine as bright anymore, and with her slouched posture, she takes a step back.

I ask the brunette for a cherry anyway and get myself a lime."What's the deal with you and strawberries anyway?"

"My favorite character, Strawberry Shortcake, she's the reason,"

"Strawberry Shortcake?"

"You don't know Strawberry—" she starts. "You know what? I won't even bother,"

"No, go on, elaborate,"

"Strawberry Shortcake is a cartoon character that lives in Strawberryland with her friends Ginger Snap and Huckleberry Pie..." As Maya goes on about this Strawberry Shortcake character and how much she adored her during her childhood, my eyes stay glued to her moving lips while my mind cannot fathom what she is saying. There's no way, right? She would be a laughing stock if everyone at school heard her blabber like this. I can feel laughter bubbling up my throat, and if she doesn't stop talking, it will erupt like a volcano, and I know she won't like it. "You should watch it sometime," she grins up at me like a Cheshire cat, her mood in full swing just from speaking about something exhilarating to her.