Unforgettable (Unfamiliar Series #2) (NEW COPY)

Chapter 18 (10/2/24)

"So...uh, which one do you want to see?" Shawn asks as he side-eyes me expectantly.

I blink, realizing then that I've zoned out as I stifle a yawn. I could feel that my new medication had gone to work this morning, colors and sounds blurring together. I slogged through studying for my classes in the library before I booked a taxi and headed over here for a movie with Shawn.

A few other people are milling about in the entryway to the Liberty Tree Mall theater, but their presence doesn't bother me as I ignore them. The only thing I do notice is that I'm hyperaware of Shawn's presence. We're standing an awkward distance apart, not quite close enough to be considered a couple. But not too far away to be seen as strangers.

I stub the toe of my tennis shoe against the tiled floor beneath me. I squint up at the electronic board that has movies and times lit up on it in amber letters and numbers. A tired looking cashier around my age uninterestedly picks at her fingernails on the other side of the glass wall of her booth as she waits for us to make a decision.

"I think that new comedy, 'It Happens' would be good to watch," I suggest.

The only alternative within the next hour is a horror movie that I don't care to see, not with my current nightmares.

"Sounds good," he murmurs as he pulls out his wallet.

"Oh, I can pay for mine," I assure him in a low voice as I pull out my own.

"No, I insist," Shawn interrupts as he steps up to the booth, "we need two tickets for the comedy movie showing at four thirty." 

"That'll be twenty two thirty two," the cashier reads off.

I resist the urge to frown as Shawn swipes his credit card on the reader. The tickets print out and the cashier tears them off and passes them to us. Shawn then walks to the glass doors for the lobby and opens one for me.

I thank him and step through into the black and white tiled lobby. The walls are painted an outrageous shade of mustard yellow while white support pillars hold up the vaulted ceiling. Rings of pink neon lights are wrapped around the tops of the pillars, giving it a vintage 80s appeal. 

Shawn breaks away from me suddenly and grins over his shoulder. He motions for me to follow him over to the concessions hub.

"Come on, I'm buying," he offers.

"But-, but you already paid for our tickets!" I sputter. 

He shrugs at this, "So?" 

The thought of food right now isn't the most appealing, my stomach already twisted with anxiety during the ride over here. But I follow him over anyways and join him in line behind a few people. The buttery scent of popcorn fills the lobby as a machine pops in the background, the hollow noise soothing me. I dare to stand another inch closer to Shawn.

He's not a tall boy and it makes me all the more anxious that we're nearly eye-level with each other. He turns to look at me and I instinctively draw in a quick breath. His eyes are liquid amber as they shimmer under the overhead lights, several pools of darker brown spots gleaming like ink blots in his irises. I can just catch a whiff of juniper, the scent clean and fresh but not overpowering as I take a moment to appreciate it. His eyes wrinkle at the edges as I look away.

"Kara?"

"Hm?" 

I glance up to see that he's watching me, his right eye squinting slightly. I notice that there's a tiny freckle on his eyelid and above that, a faint white scar.

"Did you want a medium or large popcorn?" he asks.

Heat rushes to my face when I realize that we're standing in front of the cash register, an employee for the theater watching me expectantly. I swallow once as I fear that my voice will crack before I speak.