Popcorn Love

by KL Hughes

“Yes?”

  “I can tell that you’re uncomfortable. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. I mean, you’re not obligated to hang out with me just because you brought me my backpack. Okay? You don’t have to stay.”

  Elena’s heart clenched at the words and she quickly moved to place her own hand atop Allison’s, which still rested on her forearm. “No, Allison, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be so awkward. To be honest, I am just feeling quite out of my element. That is all.”

  “What’s your element?” Allison asked, grinning. “Fancy dinner parties and shit? Never had a friend like me, I’m guessing?”

  Elena returned her smile as she nodded. “Something like that.”

  “Well, look, you don’t have to be out of your element here. Just relax and be yourself. Pretend like we’re back at your house, on your couch, bitching about shitty dates.”

  The tension in Elena’s shoulders loosened at the mere reference, her body relaxing. She smiled at Allison’s words and squeezed her hand. “Thank you.”

  Nodding, Allison retracted her hand and reached over to the bedside table to grab their beers. She handed Elena hers and then began to sip at her own. Between sips, she grabbed the remote. “I hope you like horror movies.”

  Elena’s lip curled a bit. “Will there be much gore?”

  “Eh, not too much. But really, it’s your own fault that we’re watching this.”

  “What? What do you mean?”

  “You didn’t get the lotion reference, and that means I am obligated to educate you. It’s like an unwritten rule of life or whatever.”

  With the push of a button on the TV remote, the movie menu popped up, and Elena’s stomach clenched in anticipation as she saw the title flickering across the screen.

  The Silence of the Lambs.

  Chapter Ten

  Teeth dug into her lip as Allison fought to keep from laughing at Elena. The other woman was coiled back against the wall next to her, body stiff and nearly rolled into a ball. Her lips pursed in disgust as her eyes remained fixed on the television screen.

  The camera zoomed in on a man’s lips, painted with bright red lipstick. Buffalo Bill’s deep voice echoed through the speakers as he stared at his reflection, asking himself, “Would you fuck me?”

  The scene flashed back and forth between those red lips and the man’s young female captive shouting from her massive hole in the ground and desperately trying to capture his dog using a chicken bone and a bucket.

  “I’d fuck me,” that deep voice said again. “I’d fuck me hard. I’d fuck me so hard.”

  “This is positively disturbing,” Elena whispered, and Allison just completely lost it. Elena smacked her on the thigh.

  “Ow!” Laughter still bubbled in her throat as she rubbed the spot. “You don’t have to beat me up, woman!”

  “And you didn’t have to laugh at me.”

  Allison could see how she had loosened up quite a bit since the start of the movie, relaxing into the cushion of pillows behind them, their shoulders frequently rubbing together. “Aw, come on. Your facial expression was pretty funny.”

  “Yes, well, you are supposed to be watching the movie, dear, not my face.”

  “Couldn’t help it. You were just all balled up and horrified.”

  “Any respectable person would be horrified by the particulars of this movie.”

  “Yeah, I guess you’ve got a point there.” But the shit-eating grin still hadn’t fallen from her lips. “Now you know why I said what I said.”

  “Sorry?” Elena asked. “To what are you referring?”

  “The thing about Vivian screening your dates. I mean, look at the chick in this movie. She was just trying to do a good deed, help a dude get his couch up into his van, and then, next thing she knows, she’s in a damn hole with nothing but a chicken bone and some lotion and being referred to as an ‘it’ instead of ‘she’. And they tell us that good deeds should be a priority. Psh! That shit gets you skinned alive so some dude can tuck his junk and dance around in your scalp.”

  Laughter shook through Elena’s body. “This is the most disturbing conversation I have ever had.”

  Allison poked her in the ribs. “You just need to get out more then.”

  “I’m not sure I should if this is all I have to look forward to. Now you’ve caused us to miss a good portion of the movie. How am I to know what’s going on?”

  “Uh, good excuse for me to torture you with this movie again at a later date. Re-watches are a must with classics anyway.”

  “I see.” Elena’s gaze followed as Allison jumped off the bed. “Where are you going?”

  “Well, since we’ve already missed a big chunk of the movie, I might as well take this opportunity to make a snack.”

  “Oh, let me guess,” Elena said as Allison was digging through the contents of a small shelf near the foot of her bed. “Popcorn and candy?”

  “Wow.” Hand pressing to her chest, Allison gasped as she walked over to the microwave on Macy’s side of the room. “When did you gain the power of foresight?”

  “Some time ago. It’s quite a lovely power to have, though I must tell you that it has also unfortunately predicted the many cavities your favorite snack will eventually cause.”

  “Ha ha. You’re funny, you know that? So, so funny.”

  “Sarcasm is not your strong suit.”

  “Sure it isn’t.” Popping sounds began to echo from the microwave, filling in the small silences between the voices still spilling from the television.

  Elena turned her mirth-filled eyes back toward the movie. “Hush,” she said. “I’m trying to watch this movie.”

  When Allison plopped back down onto the bed, she shifted back until she was up against the wall and right next to Elena again. She shook her bag of popcorn at her and Elena glanced into the bag to see the little orange and brown candies floating around between the puffy kernels.

  “You may as well give up. I’m not going to try it.”

  “No way. I’ll never give up. I will convert you eventually.”

  Elena rolled her eyes. “It’s not a religion, dear.”

  “It so is, though.” Allison bumped her shoulder against Elena’s again. “Popcorn and Reese’s—guaranteed to save your soul.”

  They fell into silence after that, both of them getting sucked back into the movie as Allison munched happily. Elena was horrified at more than a few parts of the movie, but when Hannibal Lecter was transferred to a massive cell that looked more like a birdcage, she suddenly shouted at the television. “That cell is not even remotely safe! He can reach right through the bars!”

  “I know, right?”

  “You watch. Someone is going to get killed. I guarantee it. Idiots.”

  Allison decided then and there that she really needed to convince Elena to watch more horror movies, because her reactions were wildly entertaining, from her disturbed facial expressions to her random outbursts. It was far too amusing not to repeat.

  Hannibal managed to make his great escape, and Allison bit her lip again to keep from laughing as she realized that Elena’s face had gotten closer and closer to her throughout the entire scene. The woman had practically ducked behind Allison’s shoulder by the time Hannibal had donned another man’s face in order to get out of the building undetected. By the end, Elena was peeking over the top of Allison’s shoulder, and, when Hannibal peeled the other man’s skin from his face, a shudder rippled down her spine and shook through her body.

  “Oh God, that is vile.” Elena’s words dissolved against Allison’s neck in a puff of warm air.

  “Uh-huh. And apparently scary. You gonna keep hiding behind my shoulder there?”

  She torqued her head to the side so that she could look back at Elena, not realizing how close she was to her. Noses bumped roughly and both women instantly jerked backward, hands going up to their faces. They paused awkwardly for a moment as they stared at each other and rubbed their noses. “Uh,” Allison mumbled. Then they bo
th tried to speak at the same time.

  “Sorry,” they both said simultaneously. “I’m…”

  Silence enveloped them again as small smiles slipped across their lips and then Allison broke. Her laughter started low and soft but built and flooded into the room as the awkwardness of it all cracked her up. Elena’s own laughter soon followed, melding with Allison’s as it danced in the air of the small dorm room.

  “You’re just beating the hell out of me tonight, aren’t you?”

  Elena smirked. “I believe it was you that just rammed your face into mine.”

  “Rammed? Don’t you think ‘rammed’ is a little harsh, Elena?”

  “If you say so, dear.”

  “Gentle, really,” Allison said. “A gentle nudging of noses.”

  “Really?” The deadpan expression on her face did nothing to deter Allison.

  “A nose nudge. A nose hug.”

  “Okay!” Elena grabbed one of the pillows and whacked Allison with it. “I get it.”

  “See? I knew you’d see things my way.”

  The movie was completely forgotten as they teased each other. When the soundtrack began to play loudly through the room and they turned to see the credits rolling across the small screen, Allison took that single moment of distraction to lunge across the bed and grab Elena’s feet. She scraped her fingers across the sensitive skin, and Elena instantly screeched and began to flail. Allison only lasted about ten seconds before she took a hard kick to the gut.

  Her breath slammed from her lungs in one loud rush of air, and she keeled over on the mattress, laughing even as she wheezed. But Elena was on her knees in seconds and reaching for her.

  “Shit, Allison!” She placed a hand on Allison’s arm as the blonde curled in a ball on her side. “Are you okay? Can you…can you breathe? Are you hurt?”

  Allison coughed a few times before reaching for Elena’s hand where it was still attached to her bicep. “It’s okay.” Sucking in a few deep breaths, she pushed herself upright once more. “I’m fine.”

  The sigh of relief Elena released quickly morphed into quiet laughter when Allison gave her a ridiculously wide smile and pointed to the visible pearly whites. “See? Still got all my teeth.”

  “So you do.” Elena ducked her head. “I’m sorry, Allison. I didn’t mean to kick you.”

  Allison could tell that Elena felt genuinely bad about it, so she shifted a little closer to her and rested a hand on her knee.

  “Hey.”

  When Elena looked up and locked eyes with her in the glow of the television screen, she smiled at her again. “In all fairness, you did warn me, right?”

  “I did.”

  “Well then, I totally deserved it.” Allison squeezed Elena’s knee. “I’m okay. Okay?”

  “Very well.”

  “Good.” She pointed toward Elena’s feet. “By the way, those lethal fuckers are hella cold. You want some socks?”

  Truthfully, Allison had noticed that Elena’s feet weren’t the only things that were cold. When the credits finished and the DVD menu had popped up on the television screen again, its bright glow cast over Elena, and that was when Allison noticed that her nipples looked hard enough to cut glass at that point and that she was definitely not wearing a bra. This caused strange tickly feelings in her stomach, but she quickly dismissed the sensation and did her best to avert her attention.

  She hated that she was one of those people that couldn’t not look. Any kind of weird or noticeable thing going on and Allison did double and triple takes. It wasn’t that she found the fact that Elena wasn’t wearing a bra disturbing or newsworthy for Christ’s sake. Boobs were great, but it wasn’t like she didn’t have a set of her own, and everyone knows what happens when a woman gets cold. It was not a phenomenon. Still, that didn’t stop her eyes from darting quickly down at least seven times before Elena seemed to notice her looking and tried to discreetly cross her arms over her chest to hide the perky little monsters. Allison was pretty damn grateful for that, because as soon as they were covered, she was no longer compelled to stare.

  “I suppose,” Elena agreed. “Thank you.”

  “I suppose you’re welcome.” Allison darted over to her dresser and pulled another pair of fuzzy socks from her drawer, identical to the ones she was wearing, except purple. She tossed them to Elena and sat back down on the bed.

  “You are apparently intent on having us match this evening,” Elena said. She slipped the socks over her feet while still attempting to keep her chest covered, using her knees to block them. From her expression, she seemed to be internally cursing her body and her decision not to wear a bra.

  “True friends wear matching outfits when they watch horror movies,” Allison said. “Everybody knows that.” She cracked up at herself again. “I guess I am a fuzzy-sock hoarder.”

  “Oh?” Elena asked, amused. “You have an entire hoard of fuzzy socks?”

  “Don’t judge me!”

  Smiling, Elena rested her chin against her knees which were still pressed to her chest, and Allison sat right across from her. Silence crept back in on them then, both of them just sort of rocking back and forth and staring at each other.

  “So.” Allison smacked and popped her lips, just to fill the void, but then quickly decided that words were a must. “Um, so, what’s your favorite color?”

  “Red.”

  “Mine’s green.” Allison beamed. “Together we make Christmas.”

  “Green is Lucas’s favorite as well.”

  “I know.” Knees lifted and pressed up against her chest so that Allison mirrored Elena. “He told me that first night I watched him. We bonded over our mutual love of the color green while he was dunking rubber boats under giant waves of bubble bath.”

  “Well, it sounds like you and Lucas had a better date than I that night.”

  “Oh yeah, it was pretty great. I was totally ready to see him again by the end of it.”

  Elena shook her head and sighed. “I suppose I should go soon.” The blinking clock on the DVD player read 4:45. Her eyes widened. “It is quite late.”

  “Or you could stay.” Allison’s entire face went red as she realized what she’d just blurted out. She was having such a fun time with Elena, and once she left, Allison would be alone again and most likely bored out of her mind and unable to sleep. She cleared her throat, adding, “for a while.”

  Elena didn’t say anything at first. Her eyes merely stared into Allison’s, and Allison was so freaked out by her own word vomit that she almost missed the way Elena’s lips were just slightly pulling up at the corners.

  “I just meant that I, uh, I don’t mind if you wanna stick around a while longer,” Allison clarified, trying to fill in the silence. “I probably won’t sleep for a while, and I’m…well, this has been fun.”

  Elena’s smile fully blossomed then as she nodded gently against her knees. “It has.”

  Hope bloomed in Allison’s chest in that moment, but then Elena exhaled. “However, I told Lucas I would pick him up first thing in the morning, so I really should be on my way.”

  “Oh, right. Sure, yeah. That’s totally understandable.”

  They shared another awkward smile before Allison hopped off the bed, slipped on her house shoes, and busied herself with removing the DVD from the player while Elena slipped back into the bathroom to change back into her dress. When she re-emerged, she handed Allison the neat pile of clothes she had worn and slid her feet back into her red pumps.

  The two women were silent as they shuffled slowly to the door. Elena turned and opened her mouth to say goodnight, but Allison urged her on. “I’ll walk you down.”

  “Oh.” Elena smiled. “Very well.”

  The elevator ride seemed to only last about a second, although Allison frequently felt the thing crawled. It landed at ground level way too soon, and then she and Elena took baby steps all the way out of the building.

  When they stepped outside, the warm night breeze washed over them and both w
omen breathed it in. “Uh,” Allison muttered. “It’s dark. Might as well walk you to your car, just to be safe.”

  “Are you sure?” Elena asked. “It is a bit far.”

  “Yeah. I don’t mind.”

  They continued their shuffling crawl a few blocks over to Elena’s waiting black Mercedes. Elena held her clutch tightly in her hands while Allison crossed her arms over her chest and they stood across from one another. Neither actually made any attempt to move or leave. The silence between them dragged on for quite some time before Elena finally cleared her throat and said, “Well, good night then.”

  “Yeah, good night.” Allison smiled and gave an awkward little wave of her hand.

  Elena placed a hand on her arm. “I really did have fun, Allison. Thank you.”

  Allison could do little more than smile and watch as Elena turned and lowered herself into the car. When the engine started, Allison let out a long sigh and turned to walk back to the dorm, wondering when Lucas might need a babysitter again.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Wow, you look terrible.”

  Elena rolled her eyes as she settled Lucas into a high chair at the restaurant table before dropping into the chair opposite Vivian. “Sometimes, I have to remind myself that I love you.”

  Chuckling, Vivian leaned over to kiss Lucas’s cheek and place a small coloring mat and crayons on the table in front of him. “Thank you!” He latched onto her finger and held it tightly in one hand as he used his other to grab the green crayon and begin scribbling all over the paper.

  “You’re welcome, sweet pea.” Vivian pulled her index finger from his grasp as she cooed at him. She watched as Elena ran a hand through her hair and reached for her menu. “So, are you going to tell me why you look like you had a wild party last night and woke up hung over?”

  Elena glared. “Well, obviously, I did not have a wild party.”

  “Obviously. So, spill.”

  “I was out,” Elena said. “Later than I expected to be.”

  “Oh really?”

  Elena ignored Vivian’s teasing tone, raising an eyebrow as she plowed right through and said, “And then of course my mother called me at six a.m. and put Lucas on the phone.” She turned to Lucas. “And what did you say very loudly in Momma’s ear, munchkin?”