Rush List (Dalia's P.O.V.)

Chapter 7: Kings & Queens

"Dylan?!" I say at the same time Kay exclaims "Spencer?!"

We look at each other the boys are dressed up in some very stupid jester costumes. They ordered them for something last year for a QQK party. We look at each other again and burst out laughing.

The boys clear their throats and with a very serious face simultaneously start reading from the scroll they got out from behind them.
"Hear thee, Hear thee, Queen Dalia and Queen Kay have been formally invited for an evening of wooing brought to you by King Diego and King Derek. Prepare to be as our high majesties said word for word wo freaking oed. To make up for the stupid actions of the Kings as well as the dummie mc dummie jesters you see before you. Please accept this token as a formal apology and let the wooing commence" the boys finish reading and pick up the flowers they had placed beside our front door which we hadn't seen.
"I must admit their old timey voices got better since last semester, have they been practicing?" I say trying to control my laughter but failing as I hold on to the door frame. "I don't know, the voices might have gotten better however the clothes got tighter" Kay pats Spencer's stomach and I start laughing again. It’s true, I guess all the beer has to accumulate somewhere. The amount of alcohol Spencer consumes blows my mind everytime
"Hey" he protests "you know it's rock hard don't even play" he winks at her and I make a face of disgust. I still don’t understand how he manages to make the girls swoon for him.
"Stay in character, Spencer!" Dylan snaps, and my eyes travel to him. I don’t know is it’s the glasses with the jester costume but he looks shorter than usual. Which is funny for someone who swears he is 6 feet tall.

"Queen Dalia" Dylan offers me the flowers "on behalf of King the brave and strong Diego, please accompany me this way" he waves extravagantly to his beat up Toyota Corolla and I nod playing the bit as if it where the most elegant carriage.
"You guys are ridiculous" I shake my head smiling. I follow Dylan carefully and before getting into the car "bye Queen Kay" I scream giving my best princess wave as I get in and Dylan closes the door.
Once Dylan is in the car starts moving I doze off looking at the cars passing by. “Are you good? I didn’t see you at the party” Dylan takes me out of my thoughts.”Where’s the old timey voice? I will accuse you with Diego” I say laughing but he doesn’t find it funny.
“Come on Dalia, I need the cash don’t do that” he pleads making me laugh a little “Im joking relax.” I roll my eyes and le lets out a sigh. “I wasn't feeling good.”I answer.
“But you were stalking your boyfriend on my insta stories”
“You bet, keyword boyfriend. I have all the rights.” he laughs as we approach a place I know very well. The drive in. Our little hideout in plain sight, ever since he realized that I don’t like to go to the cinema.
All the anxiety that the dark little room with a big screen causes inside me splashes all over me when Dylan parks his car. This isn’t supposed to be like this. I enjoy the drive in, but for some reason not today. I feel my hands shaking and I clasp them together once I get out of the car and Dylan holds the door.
“Come out my queen. King Diego is waiting for you at the middle row of cars, were you have clear view and no one can bother you.” I nod as an answer. My eyes scan the place full of car and land on Diego’s blue jeep.
“Are you okay?” Dylan’s voice went from jester to worried real quick and I forced a smile.
“Yeah, yeah, just first date nerves” I try to pass it as a joke and it seems to work because he laughs thru his nose and leads the way. We walk between the cars as I listen from a far to people shouting things probably to Dylan, but I ignore them. I look at the car so fixated in what can happen that it’s shape doesn’t make sense to me anymore.
“Here we are my Lord” I hear Dylan’s voice again making me blink multiple times while looking at the floor. I Blink multiple times, to focus on his face I rub my clammy hands against my jeans.
“Hey there Little Lady” Diego's hand gently puts a strand of hair behind my ear making me look up to him. His hand traveled from my ear down my arm to end up at my hand.
“Hear yee, hear yee. I'm leaving thee” Dylan says and before I could say anything he disappeared.
I am here alone with Diego, and I don’t know how to feel. My stomach insists on tumbling and turning and I am trying my best to not let him read the anxiety that is about to pour out every single part of my body.
“I already bought the candy, but we need to go and get the popcorn. For you my queen” he pauses “Oh, and you look beautiful” he spins me around still holding my hand.
“Thank you” I muttered, his comments about how I looked always used to mesmerize me. I felt like the prettiest girl at the party and no one could push me off that cloud. But today it feels like a free fall. I'm feeling all the butterflies but for the wrong reasons. They are moths, that are flying in a desperate attempt to get out.
“Earth to Dalia” I feel a hand to my cheek and I blink again focusing on Diego and his close proximity. I swallow my breath for a moment but his smile manages to melt me for a second. Just a second.
“Perdón” I smile “I was…” I try to find an explanation but I can’t. “Te vez bien” I compliment him and I see his smile grow. I have said that phrase long enough to where he already knows it’s meaning. He looks relieved for a second. He grabs my hand again firmly as we start walking to the little popcorn kiosk on the side of the drive in.
We walk in and there are a few people in line so we stand there waiting. Diego’s arm travels and lands over my shoulders and I lean my head against him getting a full sniff of his cologne. I close my eyes almost against my will. For a moment it feels normal.
“You want popcorn or nachos?” he asks and I furrow my eyebrows at him “We are watching a movie. What psychopath eats nacho’s instead of popcorn?” Diego with his best poker face points at the couple walking beside us with a plate of nachos and giving me a nasty look. He starts laughing once they head out.
“Stoop, laughing” I scold him trying to not laugh myself but failing miserably. “You are the one insulting people’s choices” he points out and I shake my head. “I was just stating facts. They were intruding in our conversation.” I cross my arms and he smiles.”Well you were talking a little loud for a conversation of two” he pats my head and my jaw falls to the floor.
“Did you just called me bocona?” I say dead serious and his eyes open wide “I have no clue of what you just said but it appears to be bad so my answer is… no” he says slightly squinting his eyes at me a bit scared. He is hoping his answer was right and I roll my eyes taking a few steps forward in the line.
“Come on don’t be like that” he wraps his arms around me from behind and kisses my cheek a few times in a row “Stop getting mad and let me love you, Little lady” I’m trying my best not to smile, but I fail miserably. I look at him and he grins before leaning to give me a peck on the lips, but I move my face again making it land on my cheek. “No, not this again.” he pleads and I laugh as we walk forward once again. The movie will start before we get to the car if they don't hurry up. The line is extra slow. “Baby, sorry not sorry.” I shrug before laughing again.
Diego stays hugging me from behind and rests his chin on my shoulder, I caress his hair as we wait and lean my head little towards his.
“Do you already have your classes for the semester?” I ask as a way to start a new conversation.
“Mhm.” he answers “It’s not that bad, except for Pre calc that will drain the couple of brain cells I have left.” he admits and I nod. Math is a horrible subject.”You still have those?” I pretend to be surprised as I feel his jaw drop even though I can’t properly see it “I see what you are doing, but I’m going to ignore it, this time” he laughs and I feel the vibrations of his chest in my upper back “and you? How are your classes this semester? do we have any together?” he insists, making  emphasis on the last part.
I shake my head “I don’t think so, I have a couple of classes that have me kind of nervous but nothing too bad. But I have to count the film club almost as another class because it’s so much work. But We are filming a new”
“Look, the line it’s moving,” he points, interrupting me. Diego loves away from me heading to the counter first.
“Of course, I wasn’t talking to you at all”
I sigh. The trembles that I was able to ignore for quite a bit came back. My hands are getting sweaty again, and the popcorn machine is popping louder than usual. Diego starts looking at the menu tab to see what to order. I try to breathe in normally.
The noise gets louder, the popping sound gets stronger, the popcorn smell is so pungent it doesn’t seem tasty anymore. I close my eyes for a second trying to remember my order number. I know this place like the palm of my hand. We used to come here weekly. The order is always the same. A number nine so it can be shared. Even though I would eat most of it.
Breathe in
Breathe out.
I clean my clammy hands in my pants and open my eyes slowly. I jump a little when Diego is standing in front of me, his eyes meeting mine.