Fake Sam

27. Logan: AWOL

27. Logan: AWOL

On the way there, Sam was feeling almost regrettful, almost like she didn't want to go. So I asked her, "Are you alright?"

She answered, "Yep, I'm good," all yippy and bright.

"Do you really want to go? Or is this something about me going with?"

She makes a little laugh, "No, I seriously want to go. And I want you to come too." She smiles at me. It seems like her fake smile, the one she would use when she is being nice and trying to keep herself in Switzerland, but I know there is something going on here. Something that she isn't going to tell me, and something I have to figure out.

I nod and tell her OK, looking back out the window. The weather is harsh, flurries circle places on the highway and on the edges there are thick hills of snow from the road cleaning committee. Plus, the sky stays sunless, yet cloudless-seeming at the same time. It seems more like a neutral day; and not only are the skies empty, but it is beginning to get dark from the early winter nights.

We pull of on some exit that I don't catch and right there is the cinema. Sam drives around the spaces to find the closest to the door, which is still three rows out, but that's better than the last row.

Seeing the time on the clock, we have to rush in and quickly buy our tickets and on our way to the room, our names are called.

"Hey, Sam, Logan! Wait up!" Andrew runs up from the lobby, and comes to Sam's side. "I was waiting and when I saw you, I said wait so I could get my popcorn, but then you guys just ran off."

Sam blushes, "Sorry! We thought you were in the theater already."

Andrew smiles, "It's fine! Now let's go."

We all head into our designated theater and sit in the front seats, right in the middle of the screen. First, I make sure Andrew and Sam are seated side by side, and I sit an extra seat over from Sam's right.

"Why don't you sit closer?" Sam peers at me, patting the seat beside her. There are flashes of light on her face from the previews, and her voice is speaking over the blasted volume, just not too loud so people don't complain.

I think fast, "Uhh, I talk a lot during movies, I'm just gonna sit over here, so I don't bother you two."

Sam's eyes sparkle and she mouths thank you before looking back to the screen.

I look around the theater, there is no one else in the front rows, but the next grouping of seats, in the front is a row full of old ladies, some of their husbands, but mostly the women. And then the rest of the room is full of teen couples, probably out for their Friday.

Back in front, the movie begins with a girl who is having trouble in school, and says she just wants to go home to Kale; whoever that is. She gets bullied in class and runs out to hide in the bathroom, meeting up with some other girls on drugs who offer her some and she accepts.

What kind of movie is this?

My eyes move down the row to my friends. Sam's brain was sucked into the plot at the very beginning, and Andrew sits beside her trying to pay enough attention to it to consider it. He had told me before that this movie sounded alright, but he really was just coming for Sam, still not because he has feelings for her.

I don't know what's going on with them; all I got is !)Sam loves Andrew, 2)Andrew knows she likes him, 3)Sam knows that Andrew knows that she loves him, 4) Andrew doesn't want to date Sam, but does want to be friends, and 5) I'm their mediator.

I looks back around me, and everyone holds their popcorn buckets in their laps, but keep their eyes stuck to the screen.

I've got it, now's the time to leave.