Shadow of the Day (Wolf Moon Sequel)

Chapter 39: Movie Night

Ivy

"So...fancy meeting you here," a voice said behind me. I whirled around, knocking a book from the shelf in my locker in my surprise.

Matt stooped to pick it up, grinning as he handed it to me. "Did I scare you?"

"Pfft me? Scared? Yeah right," I took the book and tossed it in my locker. I tried to appear casual but I could myself getting warm and red just from his presence. Goddamn cute boys. My heart was pounding but it wasn't out of fear, that's for sure.

Attempting to hide my flaming red face, I rifled through my locker, organizing the mess of books and papers. "So whats up?"

Matt moved to lean against the locker next to mine, rendering my evasive maneuver useless. He was in full view of the blush show. "Just checking in. Seeing how you're doing."

"I'm fine," I said quickly, shuffling a stack of biology notes, then reshuffling it.

"Ivy?" I could feel him leaning into me and couldn't resist. My eyes darted to look at him. He looked concerned, but not overly so, like i was going to have a mental breakdown in the hall. He just looked genuinely interested in how I was doing, maybe a touch worried that I wasn't doing as well as I should. I felt better knowing he didn't think I was losing it.

"I'm fine," I said to his face. "Honest. I feel better now that I opened up about Joe. Its still a struggle but I'm hanging in there."

He nodded slowly, studying me for a moment before straightening up. "I propose a movie night."

Talk about conversational whiplash.

"Huh?" Did I black out for a second?

"Well, you should take a break from the struggle once in a while so I suggest a movie night with yours truly," he replied, that warm smile I loved appearing.

"I...when?" Matt was asking me out? Was this real?

"Tonight?"

Tonight!

He must have read the panic in my eyes because he immediately backpedaled. "Or whenever you're free!"

"No! Tonight is fine!" Man I needed a thesaurus. If I had a nickel for every time I used the word "fine" I would be rolling in cash.

"Cool okay. Then I'll pick you up around 6?" The smile returned, this time with a bit of pink in his cheeks.

"Yeah. Sure. Perfect." Before I could get through a list of other single word variations the warning bell rang.

"See you later," he said, waving awkwardly as he walked down the hall.

"Later!" I said, waving back way too enthusiastically to be cool and casual like I'd hoped. But who cared? I was going to watch movies with Matt!

Oh my God. I was going to watch movies...with MATT.

My excitement turned to panic. Yes we had watched movies together before but this was different! We were different! Oh god I was so not prepared for this. He was cute and I was the disaster who cried on him. Oh god.

********

"Whoa. What the hell happened in here?"

I stiffened slightly, pausing in my frantic rummaging through the piles of clothes on my floor. I could see Lila leaning against my doorway just out of the corner of my eye. "Just looking for an outfit." 

"How come? You have plans for tonight?" she asked, coming into my room, picking her way over the clothes strewn about to sit on my bed.

"Yup," I said, not offering up anything else. I still wasn't sure how I felt about Lila after my conversation with Dom, and until I did sort it out I really didn't want her around. 

Silence stretched on as I continued to pick at items on my floor, debating my choices for something super cute but also casual and comfortable for sitting and watching a movie.

"With who? Dom?" she finally asked, probably realizing I wasn't going to explain any further.

I took a deep breath, trying to keep my tone even and calm. Was she serious? "No. Matt."

"Oh really?" I could hear the smirk in her voice. "I didn't know you guys had a date planned. That explains the disaster in here."

"It's not a date," I mumbled, carefully examining a pair of black jeans with a blue knit sweater. 

She snorted. "Okay sure."

"Do you mind? I need to get dressed," I said, maybe a bit more sharply than intended. I kept my back to her, afraid if I looked her in the eye she'd ask me why I was giving her so much attitude.