For the Love of Claire

Chapter 3

        I pulled up to the theater in my old, beat-up Ford something that my parents gave to me when I got my license last month. It was not a great car, but it ran. And that was the most important thing. I looked for Tommy, LeAnn, and Carter but I didn't see them yet. It was only 7:40 after all.

        I ended up wearing a loose-fitting purple tank top tucked into the black pencil skirt I had worn to school, with a long gold chain with a cute little heart charm. Suddenly, I saw a familiar car and out came three familiar faces. I casually sucked in my gut, out of habit, and walked over to them. 

        "Hey!" I said to LeAnn as I hugged her. I also hugged Carter awkwardly and saved the last squeeze for Tommy. "So what are we even seeing?" I asked, unsure.

        Carter replied, "Some chick flick that LeAnn insisted on." He smiled at Tommy and he huffed out a single laugh. Or maybe it was a cough. LeAnn playfully hit Carter and said, "Hey, it was the best choice out of the ones you let me pick from. If you didn't want to see it, you could've left it out when you gave me the choices. Gosh!" Good, chick flicks are good. Maybe this was really a date and he liked me. But probably not. I was skeptical of the idea of anyone ever liking me, let alone loving me the way I loved people. 

       "Popcorn?" Tommy asked all of us to see how much we should buy. We all nodded yes. "Candy?" he asked us, and made note of our answers.

       "Skittles," LeAnn said.

       "Raisinets," Carter added on to the list.

       "Sno-Caps," I told Tommy, and I wondered if he would ask us about drinks. Surely, he did, and we all wanted Coke. We ended up walking to Theater #3 with a jumbo popcorn (extra butter), a box of each of our candies (Tommy got Sno-Caps, too! How cute!), and two large Cokes. LeAnn and Carter wanted to share, so Tommy and I would share the other one. I was quite happy when that was decided upon. Didn't couples always share their drink at the movies? That also meant we had to sit next to each other, which I was hoping for all along.

         When we got in to the screening room, there were four seats right next to each other in the back that were empty. Carter scooted down the row first, then LeAnn, then me, and finally Tommy. I must have apologized to at least four people as our butts went in their faces as we navigated to the plush red seats. After we were settled in, Tommy passed out the candy and I was left to hold the giant popcorn bucket in my lap. As soon as the screen started playing the opening crap, I saw LeAnn already leaning onto Carter with his arm around her. I hoped Tommy would see them and somehow realize that we should have been siiting like the happy couple next to us. 

        The movie started rolling, and LeAnn stared intently at the screen. The guys of the group pretended to have no interest in the movie, but I caught each of them watching it at least a few times. I, myself, watched the first fifteen minutes before it got boring. It was about a young girl and a young guy keeping a relationship overseas when his family moved to Europe or something. It was cute, but the storyline just dragged on forever. LeAnn never lost interest. She didn't  even open her candy and she'd only eaten a few kernels of popcorn from the bucket on my lap. Tommy startled me after thirty minutes of complete silence by saying, "This movie is pretty slow, don't you think?"

        "Yeah, it's pretty boring. But LeAnn over there can't get enough of it." Hearing her name, LeAnn turned to me and said, "Huh? Oh, this movie isn't that good. The guy is just so hot, I can't take my eyes off of him." 

        "Hey!" reciprocated Carter, who didn't appreciate the attention his girlfriend was giving the actor on the screen. I had to admit, though, the man was attractive. I didn't know who he was, but I would stay through the credits just to find out. Tommy did something just then that scared me again. He scooted closer to me and started to lean in towards me. Oh my God! He was going to kiss me! I turned my head and closed my eyes, and waited for a kiss that didn't come. After the most awkward ten seconds of my life, I opened my eyes. Tommy had bent over to take a sip from our drink that was still in my hand . He looked at me and said, "Just wake up? I saw your eyes closed, and I was just gonna leave you there. I'd rather be asleep too." He laughed a little and so did the people in front of us.