I dropped the crumpled one dollar bill and change on the counter. It spilled out against the cold glass and the burnished metal of the snacks counter.
$1.87 exactly
A penny hit the shiny surface and bounced out of sight. Okay, $1.86 exactly. I sighed and looked up at the geeky looking boy working at the concession stand. He picked dup the change and curled his fingers back and forth signifying I needed the extra penny. I sighed like I was peeved, but I was a little relieved I could waste time before the movie. This was mostly because of the embarrassment of not having a date or friend accompanying me. Also the fact that the movie was a romance flick didn’t help. I reached into my black leather cross- strapped purse, pulling out my coin purse. I sifted through it with my pointer finger. No copper. I pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose, and then looked again. No copper. I bit my lip irritably and handed the cashier a dirty old nickel. He held out a receipt and my change: 4 pennies. What a pain. I snatched the change up and my popcorn and stormed away. I wandered idly. I didn’t want to put the buttery goodness on my popcorn. “Too many calories” I thought to myself. Wait a second, now I’m not one of those overly obsessed anorexics, I just didn’t need the extra fat. I looked down at my grayish purple wool covered belly. It stuck out a little bit. I trudged onward. What theater was it again? I reached down frantically for the ticket searching the front pockets of my gray corduroys then the back pockets. A wave of relief washed over me as I found it under my prehistoric phone. I pulled it out.
Theater 16
I rolled my eyes. Why did it have to be like the last theater in this place? I walked on through the dimly lit corridors, sneaking a glance at the bright movie posters lining the red walls. Nothing was too great, a couple posters promoting animated movies, a few with red eyes glancing through dark backgrounds. I shivered a bit. I was never one for horror; I mean who really liked to scare themselves? Anyway, there was nothing that I would enjoy seeing. I had enough of the animated and horror between my little sister and older brother. I passed a group of giggling girls. They looked around 13 or 14. They looked me up and down. They were clad with designer bags and jeans, with their arms linked. They burst out laughing at the sight of me. I could feel my freckled face turning as red as my hair. I took a sharp turn into the girl’s bathroom to avoid confrontation. I clutched the popcorn in my arms. A couple pieces bounced out and onto the floor as I scrambled towards the mirrors. I set the oily bag down on the counter next to a sink. I reached out for the ‘cold’ handle. I pulled it and water rushed forward in a little stream. I cupped my hands under until a little pool filled them to the brim. I leaned forward and brought my hands to my blushing face. Ahhhh! It was refreshing and I felt the red hotness fading. I pushed the cold faucet away from me and the stream of water ceased. I dried my hand on a speckled brown paper towel and tossed it into the trash, gathering up my armful of large popcorn. I headed out of the bathroom and found myself next to the door of Theater 16. I pulled the door out and stepped into the theater. The previews were already playing and the theater was barely occupied. There were a few couples smashed up against the velvety dim lit walls, but the middle aisles were mostly free. I slid into a comfy fold down chair and set my popcorn in the space between me and the chair’s arm rest. It was quite comfortable. I watched the previews silently as the theater began filling up. I was zoning out, and into a preview about a girl and her relationship with her dog. It seemed sweet, maybe I’d see it. My mom might like to co—
Someone slid into the seat next to me and spilt my popcorn all over the floor. My head snapped away from the screen.
“Hey!” I whisper hissed.
“Sorry!” A low voice sounded as I scrambled to retrieve any pieces that hadn’t touched the floor.
I pushed up my glasses and got a good look at the face.
And let me tell you… my jaw dropped. I mean literally, I needed to manually close it. He had a square jaw, striking green eyes, and brown messy hair that wisped over his eyebrows.
“Uhm… um…” I nodded vigorously, “Yea, no…. its, uh… cool?”
He gave me a crooked grin and handed me the bag.
I got back into my seat embarrassed and snatched the popcorn from his grasp. His arm dropped into his lap. My attention moved back to the previews. I wasn’t about to let some stupid boy ruin this movie. I reached into get some popcorn but realized there was none left. I looked inside and only detected butter stains. I winced. Thanks to the ignoramus on my left side, I no longer was going to be able to enjoy this movie. I crossed my arms defiantly over my chest and pouted.
He leaned over towards me with another crooked grin. I could feel my lips twitching and almost giving into a smile. Ugh!
“You know, I could buy you another popcorn if you want...”
I bit my lip to hide a smile and turned to him raising a brow.
“Yea right,” His face looked confused, “You’ll be buying me a large drink too.”
The crooked grin came back twice as big, he opened his mouth to talk and I swore he would say no but he rumbled, “Pepsi or Coke?”
He left to get the Coke and popcorn for me. I looked down and saw my legs shaking ever so slightly. Wow, I had just met the guy, I hadn’t even asked his name and he was buying me popcorn. I smiled at the thought of him searching for change and then not finding any. Then I wiped the smile off my face. This was silly, I was in a movie theater minutes away from the beginning of a movie, and I was worrying if a too cute for words guy liked me. I wiped the idea from my mind.
By the time I was back into the previews and oblivious to my surroundings I heard someone shuffling through the aisle going “Excuse me!” “Sorry!”
I looked up to see him jockeying two large drinks and a popcorn. I got up and helped him.
“Didn’t you want to get yourself popcorn?” I asked.
He looked a little embarrassed, “Well, I was kind of thinking you might share.”
My face turned red, well I felt stupid! He probably thought I was fat.
“Oh yea I was too,” I tried to be convincible; “I just wasn’t sure.”
He nodded looking a little nervous.
I ignored his cuteness and watched the lights dim a little and the movie credits came on. I reached for the popcorn. Our hands touched. I pulled my hand away instantly sneaking a glance at him. He was smiling at me again.
“What?” I whispered.
He reached a hand forward to my hair, and for a second I thought he was going to kiss me. But he pulled two pieces of popcorn from my auburn locks. I wasn’t going to lie, I was a little sad. He threw them on the ground.
He laughed. I shrugged and tried to pay attention to the movie. I could feel him paying attention to me. It was really distractive. I never had a guy seem so into me.
“Do you mind?” I asked.
“No, do you?” He turned to the screen his eyes glittering, and shoved a handful of popcorn into his grinning mouth.
I was stupefied. I didn’t know what to do. So I reached my hand in the bag and shoved the popcorn into my mouth. He had put butter on it. But I didn’t mind. I could hear him chuckling at me. I smiled and pieces of popcorn fell out of my mouth. They fell in my lap. Ew! They were soggy.
“You’re pretty cool,” He said as he flicked the soggy kernels from my lap, “I’m Dylan.”
“I’m Dotty.” I smiled shyly.
A rude couple behind our seats shushed us.
“Well, Dotty, can we consider this our first date? Or will we have to do this again where I don’t spill your popcorn?”
I was staring at the screen but I was grinning. I turned and pushed the popcorn all over him.
“Now we can consider it our first date.”
Then we both grinned.