Wrecked (13 page)

“What?”

“C’mon,
we’ll go to the movie theater by the mall.”

I looked
down, my face getting heated. I was getting too excited about watching a movie
with Hunter.

“I don’t
know . . . I wanted to catch up on my Psych 102 readings.”

“Professor
Muller? I aced that class.”

I laughed,
a puff of steam rose in the air between us. “Wow, how humble of you. Some of us
have to study you know.”

“Don’t
worry about it, I’ll help you with it.” He tilted his head toward the direction
of the theater. “It’ll be fun.”

“Wait, how
do you manage to do so well in your classes if you’re busy training all the
time?”

“Well, I
took Muller’s class freshman year and I didn’t start fighting until sophomore
year so I devoted a lot more time to studying back then. My grades still aren’t
that bad now. I don’t spend as much time studying but I’m passing all my
classes at least. So what do ya say?”

I sighed,
but seeing a movie did sound like fun. Even though I had planned on going back
to my room and cracking open the psych textbook, I knew that I’d probably end
up vegging out in front of the TV anyway.

“Okay, but
if I fail the class I’m blaming it on you.”

Hunter
pumped his fist in victory. “You got it. It’s all my fault. Alright, now let’s
go!”

We walked
to the bus stop but didn’t have to wait long before we caught one. The mall was
only a ten minute bus ride away and we were let off right in front. We made our
way through the mall, chatting about what movie we wanted to watch, until we
were in front of the movie theater.

There was
no one in the box office and the lights were all off. “What the . . .” Hunter
said, putting his hands on his head like he had just received some terrible
news.

When we
got closer to box office window, we saw the notice taped onto it.

Closed
for Renovation. Reopening Next Week.

Hunter
walked to the doors, peering into the dark theater. “This is crazy! When did
this happen? They don’t need to be renovated!”

I tried to
hide my laughter as Hunter dropped to his knees, pulling at his hair in mock
despair. It was becoming more clear to me why Hunter had referred to himself as
a ‘weirdo’.

“Hunter,
you’re going to draw attention, and then mall security will kick us out. We’ll
just come back next week.” A few shoppers were already looking over at us.

He quickly
got up, and brushed the dirt off his knees, shrugging as if it had never
happened. “They can kick us out, this mall sucks anyway. Without a movie
theater this place is lame.”

“Sorry, I
know you really wanted to see a movie. Guess it’s back to studying tonight.”

Hunter
nodded grumpily, until his eyes suddenly widened. I leveled my gaze at him, it
looked like he had an idea, hopefully it wasn’t crazy. “I know, let’s drop by
the video rental place in town. We’ll rent something and watch it on my TV. We
can even make popcorn.”

He tugged
my sleeve like he was a kid asking if he could have ice cream. I tried to
imagine Hunter as a goofy adolescent boy but had trouble ignoring the fact that
he was a towering badass alpha male.

“You’re
really determined to prevent me from doing any work tonight aren’t you?” I
asked him.

“Don’t try
to deny it Lorrie, it’s a great idea. Even better than watching something in
the theaters. Let’s get some scary movies. You’re not scared are you?” He
wiggled his fingers in front of my face like he was a conjurer or magician.
God, who knew that Tattoos and Muscles would be such a goofball.

“Psh, I
eat horror movies for breakfast. Nothing’s gonna freak me out.” Hunter didn’t
know that I had a phase in high school after my parents had divorced when I
watched a ton of scary movies and wore only black. It wasn’t a phase I was
really proud of, but I did have the advantage of no longer being easily scared
by ghosts and gore.

“Wanna
bet?” He looked at me in challenge.

“You’re
on.” I playfully poked his stomach with my finger. It was like poking a brick
wall. He grabbed my hand in his and shook it like we were solidifying a
business deal. His hand felt warm and soft against my palm making my heart skip
a beat.

“Come on,
let’s go, no time to waste. I don’t want everyone to rent out all the good
movies,” he said as we walked over to the bus stop by the front of the mall.

“Um. Are
you serious? There’s only one video rental place in town and no one ever goes
there anymore.”

“Who
knows, maybe everyone else who came to the theater got the same idea and all
the really scary movies are already checked out.”

I was
skeptical of that unlikely scenario ever happening but followed him quickly to
the bus stop.

We took
the bus to “Mad Mike’s Movies” and Hunter picked out a stack of DVDs of old
classic horror films. A lot of them looked really cheesy, but Hunter kept
trying to psych me out and tease me about how scary they were going to be. I
just rolled my eyes and went along with it. It felt good to just tease and have
fun with someone. Although Daniela and I had that kind of relationship, I
hadn’t had that with a guy in a long time.

By the
time we got to Hunter’s place it was already a bit past eight. I paid for the
popcorn we picked up from the supermarket, since Hunter had paid for the
movies. His place looked the same as when I was last here. Once we had made the
popcorn and settled in on the couch, Hunter presented the movies to me.

“Alright,
what’ll it be first? ‘The Girl with No Eyes’, ‘Flyman’, or ‘The Vampire
Bride’?” he said, holding out the DVDs in front of me so I could see the
covers.

“How about
‘Flyman’? That sounds pretty interesting.”

Hunter
nodded. “Good choice, I would’ve picked that too.”

He got up,
turned off the lights and put the disc into the DVD player before joining me on
the couch again. The popcorn bowl nestled between us, providing just enough
distance so as not to be inappropriate. Hunter patted me on the arm during the
opening credits.

“Don’t
worry Lorrie, if you’re scared, I’ll protect you with my muscles.”

“Gee
thanks Hunter,” I said remembering how I jumped into his muscles at the
amusement park and at the hockey game. He was probably planning on a hat-trick—a
hockey term I learned from him—with these scary movies. “What would I do
without you and your chiseled abs?”

He
smirked, grabbed a handful of popcorn and then turned back to the TV.

The movie
was predictably cheesy. The Flyman was just an ordinary man who, as a result of
secret government experiments, developed the head of a fly. Of course, the
experiment also turned him insane, so he started wreaking havoc soon after his
unfortunate transformation. It was entertaining but nowhere near as scary as
some of the movies I watched as a teenager.

Whenever
the Flyman would pop out from behind a corner though, Hunter’s eyes would widen
and he’d shriek while grabbing my arm. I laughed it off the first time, but
then I couldn’t tell if he was just teasing me or if he was actually getting
freaked out. There was no way a six foot, two inch brawler like him who
regularly fights other freakishly huge guys was afraid of some horror movies.

“Wait,
wait, Hunter, you’re just teasing me right? You’re not seriously scared are
you?”

He turned
to look at me, wide-eyed. He shook his head back and forth quickly. I watched
him carefully, my mouth half-open, unsure of what to make of it. I would’ve
sworn he was actually scared if I hadn’t seen the hint of a smile playing at
the edge of his lips. I slapped his arm.

“What
happened to all that big talk of protecting me with your muscles?” I teased.

Hunter
smiled, all suave nonchalance again. “Seems like you don’t need any protection
from the Flyman, you didn’t even blink when he jumped out from behind the lab
door.”

“Come on
Hunter, you can’t possibly think that I’d be scared of black and white special
effects from the sixties.”

“I don’t
know, it looks pretty convincing to me. Next time I’m in the biology building,
I’ll be checking all the corners.”

I laughed
and we turned back to the movie.

When the
movie finally ended with Flyman jumping into an incinerator to save the woman
he’d loved when he was still a human, we had already finished an entire bowl of
popcorn. I yawned, stretching out my arms. Hunter looked at me, holding up the
disc for “The Vampire Bride.”

“One
more?”

“I don’t
know Hunter, I’m pretty wiped out.”

“Aw, come
on, it’s Thursday night. It’s practically the weekend.”

“Fine,
just one more. But let me text Daniela and use the bathroom first.”

“Great!
I’ll make some more popcorn.”

I knew his
bathroom was situated across from his bedroom, having showered there the first
time I came to his apartment. On my way, I noticed his bedroom door was closed
and had a sign that said “Uno Ab Alto”. I shrugged at the mysterious phrase and
moved on. I texted Daniela when I was in the bathroom, letting her know that
I’d be back to the dorms late. When I was finished, I could still hear Hunter
in the kitchen microwaving the popcorn.

I was about
to return to the living room when I noticed the door on my right was cracked
open a slit. Curious, I pushed it open slightly. It was dark but it looked like
it was a closet. The floor was covered in cardboard boxes, filled with
irregular shapes. I struggled to make out what they were for a second, and then
I recognized the shapes. They were model airplanes. There were maybe a hundred
model airplanes of various types covering the floor.

“Lorrie,
the popcorn is ready!”

His voice
made me jump. Why did he have so many model planes? And why in this closet? He
didn’t have any on display in his apartment. If he had them hidden away, it was
probably something I wasn’t supposed to see. I pulled the closet door closed
again and then went back to the living room to join him.

Hunter
offered me the bowl and I popped a small handful into my mouth. He smiled at me
brightly. I was relieved he hadn’t heard me snooping around. We returned to the
couch and turned the movie on, thoughts of the contents of Hunter’s closet still
swirling through my mind.

Halfway
through the movie, my eyes started to droop. I looked over sleepily at Hunter,
but he was entranced with the bloodsucking on screen. My eyelids grew even
heavier. I couldn’t fight the tiredness anymore. I gave in and let my eyes
close.

I opened
my eyes and the bowl of popcorn that had formed the barrier between us was on
the coffee table. I was leaning right on Hunter’s shoulder, a blanket covering
us.

If I was
less sleepy I would have freaked out, but I just looked up at him. “What
happened?”

“You
started snoring, and your head was lolling back. I figured you’d be more
comfortable this way. Also those vampires got scary so I needed your
protection.”

I smiled
against his chest, suppressing a yawn. His chest was so warm and welcoming. He
smelled faintly of aftershave and leather.  

“Go back
to sleep, Snorrie,” he said softly.

I grinned
at the stupid name and nodded sleepily.

He leaned
his head back to look at me. I squinted my eyes open and saw he had a serious
expression on his face. “Hey Lorrie?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“For
what?” I yawned.

“For
coming to the movies with me.”

“Thanks
for inviting me Hunter,” I said, before drifting off completely.

Sunlight flickered against
my face, bringing me slowly to consciousness. I felt completely content and
satisfied. Then I realized I wasn’t in my dorm room.

My eyes
shot open. I was leaning right against Hunter’s chin. His eyes were closed, and
he was snoring gently. We were both laying on his couch together, my arms
around him, his arms around me. My heart pounded erratically, and a cold sweat
started breaking out on my skin.