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Authors: Blake Nelson
Tags: Fiction
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hour.
The boy is totally freaking out.
He gets downtown and walks into the movie theater and his heart is racing and he feels like heâs going to puke. He buys two tickets and sits in the lobby and waits for his date.
He stares out the glass doors of the theater and he doesnât know what heâs doing. He wants to run away. He looks at the tickets. The movie theyâre seeing, the movie he chose, is in French. HE HAS NO IDEA WHY HE CHOSE A FRENCH MOVIE. THAT WAS EXTREMELYSTUPID. So he sits there, gripping the two tickets in his sweaty hands, waiting for his date.
The girl arrives. His date. She comes in and sheâs wearing jeans and Pro-Keds and a Ramones T-shirt under her coat. She might even have a little eye makeup on, though the boy is too nervous to look at her face.
She goes to the counter where they sell the tickets but the boy tells her he already got her ticket and he jams it in her face in a clumsy, graceless movement.
She takes the ticket. She looks around the old theater. Itâs called Cinema 21. Itâs known for playing strange, artsy movies, including movies in French. The boy thought it would impress her. Plus there was an article in the newspaper saying the French movie was good. But now the boy realizes that the movie reviewer is probably just a snob, trying to impress his readers by liking French movies. Just like he is trying to impress his date. He sees that all of human existence is people trying to impress other people. He wishes he was at home or at his favorite 24-hour restaurant writing this, instead of actually doing it.
His date wants to pay him back for the ticket but he wonât let her, so then she wants to buy the popcorn. He waits while she buys it and they go to their seats. They eat popcorn. Thatâs when he tells her the movie is in French. She says, âHow are we going to understand it?â He says there are subtitles, like on a DVD.
âOh,â she says.
The movie sucks. Itâs totally boring and itâs two hours and fifteen minutes long. The boy is too freaked out to suggest they leave. So he sits there. So does she, chomping her popcorn until itâs gone. The movie is about a man whose daughter runs away, so he drives around Paris and argues with his wife in French. The car he drives is one of those miniature French ones that probably get 100 mpg. Those would be good to have in America, but nobody would buy them, because you canât impress people with a little car. You have to have a big stupid ridiculous car in America or people think youâre a wuss.
After the movie, the boy and the girl leave the theater and walk around. The girlâs big sister is home from college and theyâre going to call her when theyâre done hanging out. They go to a café near the theater. Again, the boy hopes to impress his date with his knowledge of interesting cafés downtown. She doesnât notice. They order two hot chocolates.
The girl has long brown hair, brown eyes, a pretty face, a cute body. When he asked her out, the boy figured theyâd go to the movie, walk around, make out a little. They would do this a couple more times, they would get to know each other, come to like each other, and eventually they would have sex. She already likes him, after all. And she agreed to go to the movie. He thinks this is pretty much a sure thing; he just has to put the time in.
But he is wrong. This is the opposite of a sure thing. This is fingernails on a blackboard. Especially sitting in the café. It is just about the worst hour he has ever spent in his life. Trying to talk to her, trying to act natural, trying to drink the hot chocolate. Nothing is easy. Everything is impossible. He spills his hot chocolate. Itâs like heâs forgotten how to use a cup.
The girl calls her sister and she comes and picks them up. The boy sits with the girl in the backseat. The minute they get in the car, the girl and her older sister start
The boy is totally freaking out.
He gets downtown and walks into the movie theater and his heart is racing and he feels like heâs going to puke. He buys two tickets and sits in the lobby and waits for his date.
He stares out the glass doors of the theater and he doesnât know what heâs doing. He wants to run away. He looks at the tickets. The movie theyâre seeing, the movie he chose, is in French. HE HAS NO IDEA WHY HE CHOSE A FRENCH MOVIE. THAT WAS EXTREMELYSTUPID. So he sits there, gripping the two tickets in his sweaty hands, waiting for his date.
The girl arrives. His date. She comes in and sheâs wearing jeans and Pro-Keds and a Ramones T-shirt under her coat. She might even have a little eye makeup on, though the boy is too nervous to look at her face.
She goes to the counter where they sell the tickets but the boy tells her he already got her ticket and he jams it in her face in a clumsy, graceless movement.
She takes the ticket. She looks around the old theater. Itâs called Cinema 21. Itâs known for playing strange, artsy movies, including movies in French. The boy thought it would impress her. Plus there was an article in the newspaper saying the French movie was good. But now the boy realizes that the movie reviewer is probably just a snob, trying to impress his readers by liking French movies. Just like he is trying to impress his date. He sees that all of human existence is people trying to impress other people. He wishes he was at home or at his favorite 24-hour restaurant writing this, instead of actually doing it.
His date wants to pay him back for the ticket but he wonât let her, so then she wants to buy the popcorn. He waits while she buys it and they go to their seats. They eat popcorn. Thatâs when he tells her the movie is in French. She says, âHow are we going to understand it?â He says there are subtitles, like on a DVD.
âOh,â she says.
The movie sucks. Itâs totally boring and itâs two hours and fifteen minutes long. The boy is too freaked out to suggest they leave. So he sits there. So does she, chomping her popcorn until itâs gone. The movie is about a man whose daughter runs away, so he drives around Paris and argues with his wife in French. The car he drives is one of those miniature French ones that probably get 100 mpg. Those would be good to have in America, but nobody would buy them, because you canât impress people with a little car. You have to have a big stupid ridiculous car in America or people think youâre a wuss.
After the movie, the boy and the girl leave the theater and walk around. The girlâs big sister is home from college and theyâre going to call her when theyâre done hanging out. They go to a café near the theater. Again, the boy hopes to impress his date with his knowledge of interesting cafés downtown. She doesnât notice. They order two hot chocolates.
The girl has long brown hair, brown eyes, a pretty face, a cute body. When he asked her out, the boy figured theyâd go to the movie, walk around, make out a little. They would do this a couple more times, they would get to know each other, come to like each other, and eventually they would have sex. She already likes him, after all. And she agreed to go to the movie. He thinks this is pretty much a sure thing; he just has to put the time in.
But he is wrong. This is the opposite of a sure thing. This is fingernails on a blackboard. Especially sitting in the café. It is just about the worst hour he has ever spent in his life. Trying to talk to her, trying to act natural, trying to drink the hot chocolate. Nothing is easy. Everything is impossible. He spills his hot chocolate. Itâs like heâs forgotten how to use a cup.
The girl calls her sister and she comes and picks them up. The boy sits with the girl in the backseat. The minute they get in the car, the girl and her older sister start
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