Lies Don't Die

Chapter Four

        My phone vibrates in my pocket as I drive down the highway. I pull over to the side of the road and reach into my pocket to pull it out. It’s Michael. I swallow any fear I have and forget about it. I’m going to give this guy a chance.

        “Hey Michael! How are you doing?” I say in my peppiest voice.

        “Uh-Um. I’m doing good. So, do you want to go see a movie at 7:00 maybe?” Michael’s voice comes out in short choppy phrases.

        “Yeah, sure. What do you want to see? I’m pretty flexible with anything.” I quickly glance at the clock and it reads 6:25.

        “I can read off some ideas?”

        “Go ahead.”

        “The Fault in our Stars. If I stay? Marley and Me? Want to see any of those? The other movies are very violent and gory. Not a good first hangout movie.”

        “The Fault in our Stars seems good.”

        “Okay, see you there.” With that he hangs up. I sit still for a moment. Why would a punk want to go see a sad chick flick? Wouldn’t he want to see some scary zombie movie?

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As I pull into the parking lot of Cinemagic, I notice Michael standing near the front doors. Quickly, I park and roll on an extra layer of my favorite lip gloss. I push open my door and start toward where Michael is standing. A small smile spreads across his face as I walk up to him.

        “Hello, here is your ticket.” Michael hands me a ticket and I stare blankly at it.

        “You didn’t have to buy my ticket for me! How much do I owe you?”

        “Nothing! You showed up! That’s all I need.” A smile spreads from one of his ears to the other. “So, are you ready for the movie? I've heard it’s a tearjerker so you might need these.” He pulls a small bag of tissues out of his pocket and hands it to me.

        “Thanks!” I have to laugh a little. Maybe this won’t be as bad as I thought it would be. Michael swings the door open for me and I walk through. My nose is stuffed with the overwhelming scent of over buttered popcorn. I cough a little and Michael looks at me.

        “Yeah, it’s a little, popcorny in here.” A small smile spreads across his face. “Let’s just get into the stadium where it smells less like butter.”

        “Yeah.” I look around the wide room, hoping no one I knew was here to see me hanging out with the bad boy. If anyone saw me and spread it through the school, my reputation would be ruined. Luckily, no one was here. Maybe four or five people, this theatre wasn’t the most popular place to go.

        Michael leads me toward a small, dark room. Commercials flash on the huge screen inside. He opens the door for me and I head in. We settle down in the second to last row. When the “Please turn your phones off” video clip comes on, I pull out my phone and check my text messages real quickly. Nicole had texted me. It read; BE CAREFUL! IF HE TRIES TO HURT YOU, RUN. LOVE NIKKI <3. I turn off  the ringer on my phone and place it back in my coat pocket just as the movie starts.

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        Near the end of the movie, I found myself holding Michael’s hand and crying into his shoulder. My favorite character had just died and I was very emotional. I look up at Michael’s face and notice that he was crying too. Maybe he wasn’t as tough as we all thought. When the movie ended, we left and headed for the front door. Before he could open the door for me, I stopped him. “Do you think we could sit down for a minute?”

        “Yeah, of course.” We head over to a green circular table next to a huge window that shows the parking lot. “What is it Kaitlyn?” His greyish-green eyes sparkle in the light from the ceiling.

        “I had a lot of fun tonight. More fun than I thought I would. The point is, I’m terrified of you. You’re a punk and intimidating, but you were really nice tonight. You opened the doors for me and you bought me my ticket. Do you think we can do this again some time? I would really like to get to know the real you, not the one from the bad school rumors.”

        “Um, yeah sure.” He runs his hand through his bright red hair. Sadness echoes through his voice and I could tell I hurt something. He plasters a smile on his face and looks at me. “Tomorrow? Or is that too soon?”

        “That’s fine. Same time?” I ask as I stand up out of the chair.

        “Yeah, That’ll work.” He smiles again and we head toward the front doors. Once again, he opens the door. A huge breeze sweeps my auburn hair back and my nose becomes instantly cold. I wrap my arms around my cold body. “I’ll see you tomorrow at school. Bye Kaitlyn.” Michael waves and heads toward a run down Range Rover. I wave back and jog toward my car. The inside is freezing and I quickly put the car heater on. Slowly, the car becomes warmer and I just sit there thinking. He is really nice. Maybe everything everyone said is wrong. Unless he’s trying to trick me. I’ll just have to give him a shot.

        A quote my mom always told me comes to mind; ‘Don’t judge a person from the outside.’