AN: Sorry that this took a little longer than I had anticipated… I know I told you all I would have it up sooner but I had rather a lot of trouble getting it to a decent length without starting the bit I want to put in the next chapter… which I do believe you'll really enjoy (I know I certainly will!) Anyway… thanks so much to all of my reviewers…
, Cass Boothe, cinderella xo, Cappy-Tan Burger, LethargicLove, I Quoth Nevermore, Kyrina, Evil Angel of DOOM, Via, marikamaroca, DuchessYappingDog, dreamingeye and Cait.
You guys are awesome! As usual I promise to reply to all reviews if they're signed or if you leave an email address if you're reviewing anonymously. Constructive criticism is encouraged and much appreciated. I hope you enjoy reading this one as much as I enjoyed writing it! (For those of you who know me, don't be too skocked ;))
Chapter 11: These boobs ain't big enough for the two of us!
Sarah walked into the movie theatre uncertainly. Her steps were small and hesitant, and she seemed almost to shrink in upon herself, looking very much alone and uncomfortable. Her eyes darted around; taking in her surroundings and searching for Steven in the sea of faces.
The theatre itself was a rare treat… it was tiny and slightly dingy, but somehow it managed to pull that off… the decoration was lavish and artistic, clearly done on a low budget and in need of a bit of a clean, but charming none the less. It had an artsy, welcoming feel that would have put her at ease if not for the crowd of jostling students it contained. They were loud, unselfconscious and clearly at home with both each other and their surroundings. She got the impression that she was intruding upon some sort of family gathering, even though the people were so diverse that a blind man could tell they weren't related.
Steven saw her from across the room as she stood enraptured by the crowd; feeling like a bit of a voyeur. He waved his arms wildly to get her attention. He looked about as out of place in the crowd as she felt. While the majority of the patrons had dressed down, still in the paint-splattered outfits they'd worn that day with mussed hair and ripped jeans and colors that clashed in a way they seemed to make stylish, Steven had chosen to wear khaki's and a white button down shirt. All she could say was that she was glad she'd gone with the jeans and flats because even she didn't stick out quite as much as he did. It was rather clear he'd never been in this place before and she wondered why he'd made it seem as if he had. If he'd been trying to impress her, it had just made him look like a bit of an idiot… although she thought she should probably have taken it as a compliment.
He was completely unfazed about the fact that he stuck out like a saw thumb. In fact he looked rather pleased with himself, and the way he was strutting was beginning to embarrass her a little.
"Nice place huh?" He said when he'd finally fought his way to her.
"Uhh… yeah, it's great." She replied, all of a sudden wishing she was nowhere near him; she didn't want all the awesome people in this theatre to know she was with him for some reason. Then she felt guilty… he had been kind enough to invite her to this place and she was acting like a popular kid in an American movie; looking down her nose at him because he didn't fit in before she even knew him. She resolved to keep an open mind about him.
"You look good, by the way…" He said off-handedly, and he didn't seem quite as sincere as Kyle had seemed. In fact it seemed like he was only saying it so she would return the compliment. Keep an open mind Sarah! She thought, and somewhere she could swear Kyle was sniggering.
"Thank you." She replied, and neglected to reciprocate. Sarah was many things but a liar wasn't one of them. He looked out-of-place, not good. And that was being diplomatic. What happened to keeping an open mind? Was the thought that next drifted through her mind… and it most certainly wasn't her thought… Oooh, she was going to murder him!
I'm already dead. Can a thought be smug? If it could, that was the smuggest thought anyone had ever thought!
"Here's your ticket." Steve said, handing it to her and disrupting her inner battle. His manner was almost condescending. He seemed to be saying 'oh look at me… I bought her ticket for her!' she began to get slightly irritated. She had wanted to buy her ticket… she was not poor or helpless. She didn't need a man to pay for her thank-you-very-much! She bit back her irritation, though her reply was just a touch too civil.
"Thank you." She said haughtily, and Kyle wished he could have laughed so she could hear him. Her tone seemed to say 'you are lucky to have been allowed the privilege of buying my movie ticket!'
She looked down to see what they would be watching and was forced to suppress a groan of dismay. It was a '40's horror movie marathon! Of all the things she would have chosen to see, a horror movie marathon would have been on the very bottom of the list. Scratch that, no horror movie would have made the list; she had studiously avoided horrors since the age of twelve when she had been subjected to her first one, and had intended that particular horror to be her last. Apparently luck just wasn't on her side.
"Isn't it great, I love horrors!" Steven said enthusiastically, before going off on a tangent about the many 'merits' of 'Alien vs. Predator'. He failed to notice the glazed look in her eyes that should have told him she had retired to her rose garden with a copy of 'Pride and Prejudice' and didn't intend to return to planet earth any time soon.
Kyle popped into sight on Steven's right, effectively bringing her out of her Steven induced coma.
"Are you sure you don't want me here?" He asked laughingly, "I mean really, who wouldn't want to share the fun?" He said sarcastically, giving Steven a mocking look up and down. Sarah glared at him and shook her head almost imperceptibly. He sighed dramatically.
"Fine… martyr yourself, but you're cutting off your nose to spite your own face… you know I'm a damn sight more entertaining than this Wally!" Kyle exclaimed, before again disappearing. And she couldn't even disagree with him on that point. She did however force herself to listen to the guy, just because she knew that Kyle was watching and she didn't want to give him any more ammunition. So much for not bringing the ex on the date.
After the captivating 'Alien vs. Predator' debate (because Steven had the singular talent of debating with himself… out loud), there was a fascinating monologue about the joys of water polo; because Sarah had made the grave mistake inquiring after his day in the hopes of distracting him from Alien vs. Predator. And boy did it distract him from Alien vs. Predator… hadn't this guy ever heard of awkward small talk about the weather on a first date? In fact why had he brought along anyone at all, he was clearly self involved, he just couldn't get enough of tooting his own horn!
A few minutes later the crowd, thankfully, began to move into the theatre. Sarah had never before thought she would be glad at the prospect of seeing a horror, but anything that would shut Steven up was currently looking fabulously attractive.
An hour and half a movie later Sarah was seriously disgruntled! She felt like she was in the drive in scene from Grease… watching a movie that bore far too much resemblance to 'the blob' movie in her opinion, and having to put up with the fact that Steven's arm was slowly snaking along the top of her chair. She honestly couldn't believe that a date like this was happening to her… She'd thought that the arm snaking along the chair trick had gone out with cod-pieces! Seriously!
She fumed silently at the giant screen before her. The only possible good thing she could say about the movie was that there were no skimpily dressed women going to investigate noises on their own. (What kind of moron would go outside in the middle of the night in her negligee anyway?)
She got the fright of her life when his arm dropped onto her shoulders. She tried to shrug it off… it was no use. She tried again… apparently he was ignoring her not-so-subtle hints. She scooted to the edge of her chair so that she was as far away from him as it was physically possible for her to be. He leaned towards her.
In her mind, she began to count to ten in an attempt to prevent herself from springing from her seat and ripping his arm off.
And then, to her utter and complete shock and horror, he did something that in her naïveté she had never in her wildest dreams expected.
His hand; his sweaty, still salty-from-popcorn hand, dropped down from her shoulder to cup her breast! Cup her breast!
For a few seconds her every brain function seemed to come to a grinding halt in her all encompassing shock. When thoughts finally returned the first thing that popped into her head was: 'Seriously? Seriously? I am living in a really fucked up version of 'Grease'!'
Then she registered the fact that his had was still on her.
She bolted from her seat, almost ripping Steven's arm from its socket. The unfortunate boy had had barely enough time to cop a feel, and the violence of her movements would probably cause irreparable nerve damage in his arm that would prevent him from ever copping a feel again.
Sarah barely noticed Kyle who had once again appeared out of nowhere and was standing behind Steven wearing a rather terrifying expression. Had Steven actually been able to see him he may have been rendered mute. Kyle on the other hand was displaying just how not-mute he could be for the sake of only himself as nobody but Sarah could hear him and she was too busy fuming to notice even his bellows and creative expletives.
"What the f…" Steven shouted in pain. Sarah cut him off before he could even finish his curse.
"Honey, I have put up with a lot in the last hour!" She stormed, slowly gaining volume and momentum and becoming a frightening figure to behold in her passionate rage. "I have listened to you babble incessantly about topics that are of absolutely no interest to me… mostly yourself! I have endured the better part of the most appalling horror film ever created. I have uncomplainingly put up with you hogging the popcorn and the armrest. I have not said a word about your completely inappropriate dress. I even managed to control myself when you rested your arm around my shoulders. But dearest… these boobs ain't big enough for the two of us!"
And then Sarah stormed past a speechless Steven to the thunderous applause of the entire audience, who had for the last minute or so been riveted to the scene she was making rather than the movie. Kyle stormed along in her wake… though without quite such a satisfying effect.
When once again out on the street the passion of her rage seemed to dim in light of the fact that she was (physically at least) alone, and stranded on a cold dark street in an area that was not renowned for its safety.
The ten minute walk down the hill from Res in the late afternoon sunshine was one thing… the twenty minute trek back up the hill in the cold and dark without the security of many students milling around was entirely another. She felt like the biggest simpleton in the world for agreeing to go out with someone she had known for five minutes, and who had, in that five minutes, not displayed any particularly admirable qualities either.
Kyle was muttering darkly behind her, and in her frustration she rounded on him.
"What now huh?" She asked loudly… not caring that she was standing in the middle of the street and passers-by might think her crazy. There weren't any passers-by at that moment anyway. "It was your idea that I go on this date, and look where it got me! I've just been molested in a movie theatre, and I'm now alone in a dingy alley! So, oh wise and powerful Kyle, how about you tell me how I'm supposed to get myself out of this mess!"
Kyle glowered at her… mostly because he was kicking himself for making the suggestion and didn't particularly like hearing it from her as well… though the fact that he felt about ready to decapitate Steven probably also had it's effect on his expression.
She waited expectantly with her arms crossed over her chest and her toe tapping impatiently on the tar underfoot. When all he did was continue to glower, she turned swiftly away from him and marched up an unfamiliar road… which may not have been a very good idea, but taking a road that was familiar would have meant walking past Kyle which she didn't particularly feel like doing.
She turned a corner, and to her absolute relief saw the lights of a charming little café spilling out through the windows and into the road. They looked so warm and inviting in contrast with her current rather cold and hopeless situation that her feet didn't falter for a second… they seemed to take charge and lead her right through the doors with Kyle following silently behind her.
AN: Please review!