Hearts and Other Breakable Things

chapter thirty ✔️

stevie hopkins
- april 10, 2018 -

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW excited I am to watch this," Chelsea held onto my arm tightly, a small squeal escaping her. The Kensington theatre was a place that, I for one, was not a frequent visitor. The place looked old. As if one little thing and the entire building would crumble. It had these weird old signs that looked as if they bought them at a garage sale. Maybe they were just going for some kind of vintage vibe.

            "Really?" I asked.

            We stood in line to buy our tickets. When I suggested a date night that week, I thought we would be doing something a bit more active. Chelsea was an extremely outdoorsy person. She was into hiking and picnics. I had this whole day planned out in my head, but when she said she simply wanted a movie date...

            Well, all that was left behind.

            "Yeah. I heard the entire movie has pretty much no sound at all. That's kind of amazing."

            "It's an interesting concept, that's for sure."

            Our turn finally came around and we stepped up to the glass. An older gentleman smiled at us and I found myself smiling back at him. He had white hair, but wore all black with this simple little, silver tie clip. It stood out instantly. A name tag caught my eyes. His name was George.

            "What are we watching this evening?" He asked, his voice soft and warm. It reminded me of Xavier, but without the accent.

            Chelsea smiled wide, "A Quiet Place, please."

            She went to hand over her card, but I slid mine under the glass before she could, "I'm taking you on the date, remember?"

            "Oh, come on." She shook her head, still trying to give the man her card, "You already paid for dinner and drove. Let me pay for something at the very least. I'm taking you on this date too, you know."

            I raised a brow, "Fine. You can pay for concessions."

            "You want to have more food?" She laughed.

            "I'll have a little," I said. "Only enough to satisfy you paying for something."

            She stuffed her card back in her wallet, "You're the devil."

            I turned my attention back to the man, who was simply looking between us, "This card, please. Sorry about that."

            He waved me off quickly, "It's no problem. Happens more often than you'd think it does actually."

            "Really?" Chelsea asked, stepping closer to the glass.

            "Oh yeah," he laughed, "I've sat through entire arguments over who's going to pay for the tickets. Some of them are pretty funny too."

            We laughed. He sure was nice enough. He handed over our tickets and told us to have a good evening. I even waved goodbye to him. We had our tickets by a young guy with blond hair and glasses who sent us straight to the concessions counter.

            "Hey guys," the redhead behind the counter smiled.

            "Hi," Chelsea stepped up to the candy glass, surveying the options. I concentrated on the drinks. I knew I'd need one of those for sure. Chelsea pointed out a candy and the woman nodded. Apparently, that was her favorite too.

            I was about to order my drink when Chelsea squealed next to me. Jumping, my hand covered my heart. I turned to see what was wrong and she was gone. Instantly, I started to look for her. She was in the arms of a raven-haired girl and they were laughing. My brows knitted together, but I ordered my drink and paid for our items before walking up to them.

            "I got your candy," I said, handing Chelsea the box.

            She glanced at the box in my hands and then back to the counter, "I was supposed to buy the concessions."

            I smiled, "I didn't want to pull you away."

            "Stevie, this is Cheridan Keating. We dated in high school."

            "Oh," I nodded, "It's nice to meet you."

            The girl smiled, "It's good to meet you too. Chelsea has told me so much about you."

            I glanced between the two of them, "She has?"

            "Oh, yeah," she laughed and waved me off, "can't shut up about you, but I guess I get it now."

            My ears turned red, "What are you watching?" I asked, talking around the lump in my throat.

            "A Quiet Place."

            "What!" Chelsea jumped, "So are we, you've got to sit with us."

            "I'd love to." She nodded quickly, but then turned to me, "That is, if it's okay with you."

            "No, of course, sit with us. The more the merrier I always say."

            We picked the very back center. It was me, then Chelsea, then Cheridan. When we sat down, Chelsea grabbed my hand. The zoo that was going rampant in my chest settled. It was kind of like a superpower she possessed.

            "Tell me," Cheridan leaned forward with a smile, "does our Chelsea drag you to obscure coffee shops all over the state for poetry slams too? I swear when we were dating, it was like every weekend we were in some other town listening to people talk in rhyming sentences."

            I shook my head, "No. We've only gone out of town one time for spring break and we just went to Cottage Grove."

            Cheridan's brows knitted together and she looked at Chelsea, "Really? You used to love those trips."

            Chelsea shrugged, "They were fun, but we have fun here too."

            "I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it," Cheridan spoke quickly, "I just know that's where you got a lot of information about competitions."

            The lights started to go down and Cheridan sat back in her seat, but she shook her head as she went. I glanced over at Chelsea who was holding a quiet conversation with her as the trailers started. I had no idea that she used to travel all over for poetry information.

            I'd never even once heard her mention traveling. Did I just miss it or was I not listening? It just made me stop for a minute and think about how much I didn't know. I knew she was an only child and that her house was too quiet.

            I wondered if she ever wanted to travel like that again. We'd have to fit them in between tests, but if she brought it up, I think I'd say yes. I might not say much. I might just go with the flow, but as long as I was with her, I didn't really care where we were.

            All those plans I had put into motion when I'd come to Kensington went out the window the moment we'd met. I still had plans. I had lots of plans, but they all involved Chelsea now. They were what kind of house I wanted to buy us to live in. If I still wanted to go out to be a high school teacher or if maybe I should aim for something higher?

            Maybe a professor.

            Now, I planned how many kids we could logically have or how our house would have to have a home office for her to lock herself away in when she was on a deadline.

            I planned for us and not just me. It took twice as long, but maybe that's what loving someone did to you. I didn't want to plan for just me anymore. I had someone in my life that made me want to plan my life with them included.