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Authors: Rochelle Maya Callen
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movie.”
He perks up, “Oh really?”
“Yep. Do you want to pick one out with me?”
He looks flustered for a minute. “Uh, yeah.”
“Oh wait!” The predictable rushes to mind. “Nanan has friends coming over tonight… so I don’t have a place to watch one.”
“Oh, well, um, do you want to see it at my house?”
“Sure, sounds good.” I start walking toward the movie store. I think of his light, the beauty and immensity of it. I grab a fistful of his shirt and drag him forward. “Let’s go, slow poke.” I skip into a jog. Before I know it, we are racing. At first, he plays it safe, but after sticking out my tongue at him a few times, he quickens his pace and I see him run like when he is out on the street alone, really running, enjoying it. He doesn’t pull ahead until we are almost to the store. When we get there, we both skid to a stop.
He flickers gold and green. “Good job.”
“Thanks.” He’s panting a little bit. When he looks up, he tenses for a moment.
“What’s wrong?”
He shifts his eyes away from me and digs his hands into his pockets. “I, uh, have never seen you smile before.”
Was I smiling? “You’ve seen me smile.”
“No, like really smile.”
“Okay…” The word hangs there for a minute. I think of the pulsing glow surrounding him only seconds before, but now gone. “Well, thanks for giving me reason to.”
He looks confused for a second and is about to say something when I cut him off.
“All right, mister. It’s movie time.”
Chapter 18
Connor
Something changes, something fundamental, when Jade smiles. Her smile is wide, almost too wide for her face. Her green eyes change from distant, sharp, or amused eyes to vulnerable and sweet. She isn’t just some hot girl, she is a beautiful one and she smiles up at me as if I am the one who made something bubble up within her and spill out across her face. I want to make her smile like that again. I wish I knew how.
“Question,” I say after replacing the umpteenth movie to the shelf. “Is there any movie you haven’t seen?”
Jade shrugs and noncommittally pulls out another DVD. “I’ve watched a lot of movies. Just pick one.”
“Well, what do you like? Action, comedy, romance, horror—”
“Not horror. I don’t want to watch horror,” she says sharply.
Definitely not what I was expecting. “Okay, horror is out.”
Finger dragging on the spines of the movies, she smiles and pulls one out, clutching it in both hands, “This one!”
I look at it then back at her. Somehow I don’t see how the cover’s wispy, romantic guy and girl wrapped up together could appeal to this hardened, no-nonsense, leather boots chick, but we have been here for almost an hour and she finally seemed interested in something . “Cool. Romantic comedy it is, then.”
“Oh, wait. Sorry, kind of feminine, huh? We can get an action movie instead. I like those too.”
“No, this is fine.” I may even learn something from the on-screen romance.
She links her arm through mine and drags me to the checkout. I can’t help smiling. If I didn’t know better, I would feel closer to having a girlfriend. But I know better, so I don’t. She drops the movie on the counter and waves at the clerk in the far corner.
“Stephen!” She says, he nearly trips trying to get to us too fast.
“Hi, Jade.” His voice breaks. He nervously eyes Jade, me, then our linked arms and purses his lips.
“Hey Steph, I’m here to check out another one. You must be sick of me by now.” She laughs and takes her arm from mine to drum her fingers on the counter. The simple motion makes me feel shut out.
Stephen smiles back at her, “Nah, we love havin’ you around. You should just move in to the apartment upstairs. It would save you a trip back and forth.”
Ha! You wish! Slimy, movie-store guy. He doesn’t mention he lives in that apartment. A pang of jealousy rattles me, but I feel Jade touch my arm and the twisting in my stomach
He perks up, “Oh really?”
“Yep. Do you want to pick one out with me?”
He looks flustered for a minute. “Uh, yeah.”
“Oh wait!” The predictable rushes to mind. “Nanan has friends coming over tonight… so I don’t have a place to watch one.”
“Oh, well, um, do you want to see it at my house?”
“Sure, sounds good.” I start walking toward the movie store. I think of his light, the beauty and immensity of it. I grab a fistful of his shirt and drag him forward. “Let’s go, slow poke.” I skip into a jog. Before I know it, we are racing. At first, he plays it safe, but after sticking out my tongue at him a few times, he quickens his pace and I see him run like when he is out on the street alone, really running, enjoying it. He doesn’t pull ahead until we are almost to the store. When we get there, we both skid to a stop.
He flickers gold and green. “Good job.”
“Thanks.” He’s panting a little bit. When he looks up, he tenses for a moment.
“What’s wrong?”
He shifts his eyes away from me and digs his hands into his pockets. “I, uh, have never seen you smile before.”
Was I smiling? “You’ve seen me smile.”
“No, like really smile.”
“Okay…” The word hangs there for a minute. I think of the pulsing glow surrounding him only seconds before, but now gone. “Well, thanks for giving me reason to.”
He looks confused for a second and is about to say something when I cut him off.
“All right, mister. It’s movie time.”
Chapter 18
Connor
Something changes, something fundamental, when Jade smiles. Her smile is wide, almost too wide for her face. Her green eyes change from distant, sharp, or amused eyes to vulnerable and sweet. She isn’t just some hot girl, she is a beautiful one and she smiles up at me as if I am the one who made something bubble up within her and spill out across her face. I want to make her smile like that again. I wish I knew how.
“Question,” I say after replacing the umpteenth movie to the shelf. “Is there any movie you haven’t seen?”
Jade shrugs and noncommittally pulls out another DVD. “I’ve watched a lot of movies. Just pick one.”
“Well, what do you like? Action, comedy, romance, horror—”
“Not horror. I don’t want to watch horror,” she says sharply.
Definitely not what I was expecting. “Okay, horror is out.”
Finger dragging on the spines of the movies, she smiles and pulls one out, clutching it in both hands, “This one!”
I look at it then back at her. Somehow I don’t see how the cover’s wispy, romantic guy and girl wrapped up together could appeal to this hardened, no-nonsense, leather boots chick, but we have been here for almost an hour and she finally seemed interested in something . “Cool. Romantic comedy it is, then.”
“Oh, wait. Sorry, kind of feminine, huh? We can get an action movie instead. I like those too.”
“No, this is fine.” I may even learn something from the on-screen romance.
She links her arm through mine and drags me to the checkout. I can’t help smiling. If I didn’t know better, I would feel closer to having a girlfriend. But I know better, so I don’t. She drops the movie on the counter and waves at the clerk in the far corner.
“Stephen!” She says, he nearly trips trying to get to us too fast.
“Hi, Jade.” His voice breaks. He nervously eyes Jade, me, then our linked arms and purses his lips.
“Hey Steph, I’m here to check out another one. You must be sick of me by now.” She laughs and takes her arm from mine to drum her fingers on the counter. The simple motion makes me feel shut out.
Stephen smiles back at her, “Nah, we love havin’ you around. You should just move in to the apartment upstairs. It would save you a trip back and forth.”
Ha! You wish! Slimy, movie-store guy. He doesn’t mention he lives in that apartment. A pang of jealousy rattles me, but I feel Jade touch my arm and the twisting in my stomach
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