Their Wattpad Love

Chapter 19

*Briella's POV*

The next day, I invited Nick to sit with me and Taylor at lunch. Taylor was glad to meet him and was very friendly-a little too friendly. But that's just how she is.

The cafeteria was serving pizza that day. It was basically just cold tomato sauce and moldy cheese on bread. So I didn't eat.

Taylor, who always brought her lunch to school, offered me her apple. "No thanks, I don't like the green kind," I said.

"You're so weird," she dismissed, shaking her head.

"So, Nick, wanna hang out after school?"

Whoa, where did this courage come from?

"Yeah, sure. What do you wanna do?"

"Well there's this new horror movie called The Visit, and I really wanna see it. We could go. They're showing it today after school. Like 3:30, I think."

"Oh, I've heard of that movie. It looks cool," he agreed.

I turned to my friend. "Taylor, wanna come?"

"Well, you know I love horror movies, but unfortunately, I have a crapload of homework today. So I don't think Mom will let me."

"Okay. We can rent it together when it comes out," I promised.

"Sounds good."

I turned my attention back to Nick, who was eating the disgusting pizza. Yuck. "How can you eat that?" I asked, wrinkling my nose.

"There's nothing else to eat, so I figured I might as well. It's really not that bad."

"Yeah, right. Everyone knows this school has terrible food," I argued.

"True."

Just then, the lunch bell rang, so we had to clean up our things and head to classes. Taylor and Nick picked up their trays and stashed them with the others, and I walked with them.

"See you guys later," Taylor said. "I have bio. Ugh. Wish me luck."

Taylor hated biology. And all sciences. "Good luck," I told her.

"Hey, Briella?" Nick said, touching my elbow as I began to head out the door.

I flinched at his touch, a warm sensation tingling all through my arm. "Yeah?"

"Thanks for letting me sit with you and Taylor today. I usually just sit by myself."

"Oh yeah, no problem."

"So, see you after school?"

"Yeah. I can ask my brother to take us to the movies."

"Okay, cool. I really need to get my permit."

"Yeah, but even then, you wouldn't be able to drive with other people." Ugh, why did I say that? He already knew that, obviously.

"True. But I'd be one step closer to getting my license and being free..." he said, almost wistfully. "Sorry, I just mean...getting away from my dad."

I frowned, feeling sorry for him. "You guys having problems again?"

"Yeah. Well, it's back to the way it used to be."

"I'm sorry," I said, meaning it.

"Don't be. It's his fault."

"Well I hope things get better."

"Thanks."

I hadn't realized we were still standing in the cafeteria. Only a handful of students littered the lunchroom now. "Oh, um, we better get to class," I stuttered.

"Right. See ya later, Briella."

"You can call me Bri if you want. My friends do." I felt myself blush. Why was I blushing? Maybe because I just referred to him as my friend?

"Okay." He smiled, then added, "Bri."

Gosh, could he get any cuter?

- - -

*Nick's POV*

When school let out for the day, I met Briella at the quad. She was sitting by herself, and I had to stop and admire her beauty. She was wearing a Dr Pepper T-shirt with faded, ripped jeans and Converse. Without a trace of makeup on, she still looked absolutely gorgeous.

I took a deep breath, ran a hand through my hair, and sniffed my dark blue T-shirt. Still smelled like Old Spice. That was a good sign.

Finally, I approached Briella. "Hi."

"Oh, hey. Ready to go? Ashton's waiting by the car."

Right, her brother. "Yup."

She led the way to a beat-up old Ford. "Nick, meet Shakira. And my brother Ashton."

"Hey," said her brother. He looked just like her, only older. Same dark hair and blue eyes, but his were a lighter shade of blue.

"Hi. I'm Nick." We shook hands, and I took that as another good sign.

"Briella tells me you're going to see The Visit?"

"Yup."

"Should I come?"

"Um..."

"Ashton, stop. We'll be fine on our own, thanks," Briella said.

"Okay." We all got in the car. Briella sat in the back with me, and I was glad for the company.

Ashton drove us to the theater, which was about five miles from school. "Thanks for the ride," I told him.

"You're welcome. And watch it with my sister. Hands to yourself, got it?"

I blushed. Crap, did I really care about her that much?

"Ashton, shut up!" Briella hissed. "Nick, if you're ready?"

"Ready." I followed her into the theater, making sure to open all the doors.

Even though I didn't have a ton of money, I chose to pay for the both of us. It was the gentlemanly thing to do. And if her brother asked about it later, I wanted her to be able to say yes.

We headed into the theater, and my palms were sweating. Ugh, why was I so nervous? I loved scary movies. So it couldn't be that. It must be the beautiful girl next to me.

We were the only two people in the dark room. "I guess we picked a good time to come," I whispered to Briella.

"Yeah, there's no one here. But that makes it even scarier."

"Hey, the scarier, the better," I reminded her. "Do you want any popcorn or anything?"

"Yeah, but I'll get it."

I was about to protest, but then I remembered I only had three bucks left in my wallet, so I shut my mouth. She bought a tub of popcorn and a large Dr Pepper. "Matches your shirt," I commented.

She looked down at her shirt. "Yeah, I guess so."

I helped her carry the drink, cuz they can be pretty heavy-and difficult to carry when you're holding a tub of popcorn.

Finally, we sat down to watch the movie. Previews were just starting. We started eating the popcorn, and I took a drink of Dr Pepper before realizing that there was only one straw. Looks like we'd be sharing.

When the movie started, I watched intensely. There was something about a horror movie that was just so exhilarating. I loved the adrenaline rush, the challenge of getting scared.

Towards the middle of the movie, I looked over at Briella to see if she was enjoying it as much as I was. Her face was unmoving, her eyes wide as she stared at the screen. I couldn't help thinking how pretty she looked.

My eyes drifted to her left hand, which sat loosely on the armrest. Her nails were painted this cool dark blue color, but the polish was chipped. I'd never noticed how small her hands were, either. All I wanted was to lace my fingers with hers. But I didn't.

Then, when something in the movie caused her to jump and scream, she grabbed my hand. It startled me, making me flinch, but I let her hold on as long as she needed to. Surprisingly, she never pulled her hand away.