Trapped (egobang trans)

Chapter 28 - Movie

< Arin's POV >

The weekend came quicker than Arin expected. She'd been trying to prepare herself for the movie most of the last week, and on the Saturday when the movie was she actually found herself a little excited to go. It was an odd feeling, especially to be related to a social event. Usually they spawned feelings of anxiety and fear, certainly not excitement.

Her mum, who had paid for her ticket, drove her down into town that afternoon. The movie started around 5, but they'd all agreed to get there a bit earlier to be sure. Arin smiled as they pulled up and she saw a familiar head of curls near the door of the cinema.

"Text me when you want picking up, okay?" Arin's mum said with a smile as Arin started to open her door.

"Okay," Arin agreed, hopping out.

She waved as her mum pulled away again and watched until the car was out of sight before looking over at Dani- Danny. The change would take some getting used to still.

Danny had noticed her at this point and smiled, waving her over. He looked like he was the only one there so far as Arin walked over.

"Hey, is everyone else not here yet?" Arin asked.

"Nah, but when have they ever been on time for anything?" Danny chuckled, taking out his phone to check the time it seemed.

"Yeah..." Arin said idly.

Danny was leaned casually against the wall of the cinema, predictably dressed in ripped jeans and a shirt a few sizes too big. Arin now understood why, but it didn't make his attire any less stylish in her opinion. If anything, she just admired him even more because of what she knew. Danny was strong enough to be himself and come out to someone - even seeing him do so hadn't broken down any of Arin's walls. She would never be that strong.

"Y'okay, Arin?" Danny asked, catching Arin's attention.

His head was tilted to the side, a raised eyebrow as he looked confused, maybe even slightly concerned. Arin blushed; her expressions were often at the mercy of her inner feelings, and she figured that she'd probably shown something on her face just then.

"Y-Yeah. Just thinking, that's all."

Danny didn't look convinced, but Arin was never a good liar. Ironic, considering she'd been keeping one her entire life.

The two of them stood waiting for a while, and at some point Danny took out his phone again and started to play some sort of game. Arin had never been one for that type of thing and instead leaned on the wall beside Danny to just watch the world go by. And Danny absent-mindedly starting to whistle beside her gave her a sound to fill the silence that Arin always hated, which was good. Time seemed to fly, and in what felt like the blink of an eye ten minutes had passed.

"Gah, and they say I'm unreliable," Danny moaned to himself, checking the time again.

"Have you texted them?" Arin asked.

"Yeah, apparently they're just running late."

Arin giggled as Danny put the last part in air quotes, giving an annoyed eye roll to compliment. They divulged into silence again. Arin felt herself grow uncomfortable because of it, but she could tell that Danny was seething and she didn't want to push him, so she stayed quiet. Luckily within a few minutes a car pulled up practically right in front of them, and out jumped the entire crew, masks and all. It seemed that unlike Danny and Arin, they'd all come as a group. Arin guessed that was what had caused the hold up and smiled as they all walked over.

"Alright, who's ready to see this film?" exclaimed Meouch as greeting while everyone else just said "hello" normally.

"Yeah, if we haven't missed it at this rate," Danny hissed, though a smirk told them he wasn't entirely serious.

They all laughed over that and headed inside. It was only a little after five, but hopefully there would be half an hour of adverts running before the movie actually started. As they all went to buy popcorn Arin hoped that was the case - Danny was already on the cusp of proper anger, and missing part of the movie because the others were late would definitely push him over the edge.

Once they got a bucket each and some drinks they showed their tickets and headed in. Walking through Arin almost breathed a sigh of relief as she heard the familiar sound of advertisements. Looking over at Danny she was glad to see him looking calm again, probably for the same reason.

It wasn't full by any means, but the movie was clearly popular. Arin followed behind the rest of them, letting them pick the seats. Unsurprisingly Meouch lead the search, picking out a strip of empty ones just a little further forward than the middle. Arin was glad they weren't directly at the front and happily sat down. Since she'd walked at the back she was on the end of the line, Danny to her left, followed by Brian and then TWRP. Arin slipped her drink carefully into the cup-holder of her seat, positioning her popcorn in her lap as she settled into her seat.

It seemed they'd arrived at just the right time as the adverts faded, and there was a black screen for a while. Then, the name of the movie came up in white letters, signalling that it was about to start. Arin smiled as she heard excited whispers break out around them, mostly from Meouch from what she could hear. The letters faded and some music started, the beginnings of an intro.

An epic narration started and Arin glanced quickly over at Danny. He caught her eye too and they exchanged excited smiles, leaning back simultaneously in their seats just before the main character came on screen.