Making a Watch Party

I catch up to her just as she stops at the crosswalk waiting for her turn to cross. I crouch down to get under her umbrella. In one swift motion, I pull the umbrella out of her hand and then place the shake in the palm before it clench to make a fist. She inspects the shake, swirling it in around in small circles. She stares at me with her harsh gray eyes.

“What no straw?”

I pull said straw out of my pocket and her cheeks sink in as she struggles to pull the shake. Guess Marc wasn't kidding when he said it was thick. The problem only lasts a few seconds, as a third of the shake vanishes in an instant. After a few smacks, she turns to me with a blunt expression on her face.

“You got the order wrong”

The light changes and she begins to walk. I scramble to match her pace so the umbrella covers both of us. She drinks some more of the shake before she continues her lecture.

“You have to go 3:1 when it comes to Malt Mint to get the right flavor. You've got to say to the cashier, 'Let me get an Extra Malt mint shake with another scoop of malt.'”

“I just think your taste buds are messed up”

She lightly jabs me in the ribs. I topple over in pain. While it looks like all she did a light jab, the force behind it was that of a serious punch. Hannah helps me back on my feet, holding the umbrella while I fix my hoodie. We continue our walk, only making it pass 2 blocks before I notice Hannah wasn't drinking the shake anymore. She stares at it before turning her head to look at me.

“So, What do you want?”

I freeze for a second, but try to recover fast enough before Hannah notices.

“Don't act surprise! You are trying to butter me up for something. Why else would you get me my favorite drink randomly”.

She picks up on my plan fast. It's not best to ask right now with her while she is flared up. I should try to diffuse the flames a bit before asking her for some art. What did I say last time in a scenario like this?

“Because we're best friends…”

She side eyes me as I keep my cool, waiting for the signal to spring the question. The side eye continues even when I had to pull on her shirt to stop her from almost walking into traffic. It takes a total of 3 blocks until I see her eyes soften a bit. Better take my chance.

“But since you brought it up,”

The harshness floods back in her eyes as she picks up the pace. I end up just putting the umbrella in front of me since she didn't have any extra protection against the rain, unlike me. Dang that worked last time but can't falter now!

“Look, I just need a picture of a rat drawn by Friday. No need to rush. I'll pay in advance!”

The passerby students start to laugh at my yelling to make sure my voice could be heard through the rain. Hannah starts to slow down. She shoots a look to the students, ceasing their laughter as they quickly run to get away from us.

“I kinda want to relax this week, Max. So I'll have to d…”

She stops moving mid-sentence. The abruptness spooks me a bit. So I check to see if she is okay, but I see her just stare at me. Following her eyes, I see her gaze fixate on my shirt. She stands there for a bit, drinking away until the sounds of the empty cup mix with the symphony of rain fall and cars passing by. This was an eerie situation, but it makes sense since this is her favorite horror movie after all.

“I'll do it if you give me your shirt.”

“Huh? No, I like this shirt.”

“Then no deal.”

She tosses the empty cup in a trash can and resumes the trek towards school. Crap! Her asking for my shirt catches me off guard. I thought she would just complement or shit on the rendition of Monster Joshua. This shirt was almost a hassle to get since you had to go on the site early enough too….

“Wait! Didn't I give you the link to get this shirt before it came out?”

Hannah mimics my short freeze step from moments ago.

“I was… working on something that I missed it.”

We walk in silence for a bit. It is just a stupid shirt. It doesn't hold the same value as getting the perfect issue out. On the other hand, I don't have another shirt that represents this movie in my wardrobe. Would like to have all Pumpkin Patch films represented. But I could just find a replacement shirt after all.

“Well, this issue is important. Give me sometime to think on it.”

My phone vibrates in my pocket. Just in time, Ben sends the description of the monster rat along with the link for the movie. Unfortunately, the link is a magnet link. It's a shame, as I was looking forward to watching the movie during class.

Thanks! The issue will probably go up during the weekend.

Ben:

That means Hannah said yes!

Tell her I said What's up.

Oh, going to be MIA for a bit.

I'm going to bring down that mutant rat!

Mount his head over my bed as a trophy.

Your mom would kill you if you did that.

And Go to school, man!

We have to graduate during the same year!

Ben:

Eh, my school has a good summer program.

No big.

I forward the description to Hannah. Her nose scrunches up as her eyes dance, taking in the description.

“Ugh, where is this thing?”

“North Anthame.”

“God!”

We reach our destination of boring old South Anthame High. I move ahead to hold the glass door open as Hannah closes her umbrella. She put her foot forward before stopping. On the tips of her toes, she gets close to my ear as she could to ask me.

“We're going to take it down this weekend?”

I open the door wider to slip pass Hannah, wanting to get out of the rain. I spin around to face her while trying to not bump in to someone as I continue my walk to home room.

“Nah. Ben is already on the hunt for it. He says, Sup, by the way. I got a better idea for the weekend!”

Lunchtime rolls around, and I make my way to the cafeteria. The wild sea of hungry teens scrambling for food and seat fill my sight as I open the door. I make my way to a shallow part of the sea. Brushing past the harsh waves of boys playing keep away with freshmen lunches, I arrive to a clear enough area to scope out for my friends. A pained scream erupts from the other side of the sea. Turning my head, I watch as the sea splits to revile Hannah. She makes her way to a round table just a bit to my left, where 3 people are already sitting.

Hannah sits next to a guy with light-brown hair. He has a broad build, wearing a navy blue varsity jacket. On the back of the jacket, a silver hair man wearing a ruffle shirt and a large trench coat. His red eyes pull your gaze towards it, almost like a hypnotic trance. The character is Luca Ard from the First-person Shooter game, Myth Vertex. This is Duncan, Hannah's boyfriend. They have been dating for around six months now, after a haunting getaway to Coeus Cove, Anthame's only beach. Ben is still recovering from the news.

Next to Hannah is a girl with long raven hair. Wearing a low cut shirt dress that emphasizes her large chest, She is juggling eating a sandwich and reading something on her phone. It seems to be something Hannah is familiar with as she pinch-zooms to point something out to her. This is Mia, the youngest of the group. After an encounter with the Queen Slime, She has been a part of our circle ever since.

Across from Mia is a girl staring out the window. Her short golden hair and honey skin shimmers against the dull light from the window. She looks lost in the rolling storm clouds. This is Kat. Kat is just awesome. The brains of our group who Hannah and I befriended back in Freshman Year. A ghoul and spooky library, nothing about that day impacted me more than how she looked. She notices me approaching the table.

“Max!”

Kat pushes me as I sit down. Mia puts down her phone hastily. She slips a shining smile as she finishes her sandwich. I look towards Duncan to see him staring at me. He nods his head. Checking the thinning sea to see if there was enough coverage to shield us. I nod back. Duncan throws his arm around me as open my backpack, fixing my books and laptop for extra space. In a small huddle, Duncan pulls out a rectangle box from his bag. Not waiting to admire it, I shove it into my bag, struggling to not damage the contents of the box. With an almost silent zip, we break our huddle after a successful transfer was complete.

“Thanks Duncan! Remind me next week to tell you about a fps game. Have to give it the clean sweep as it might be haunted, but gotta finish the latest issue of Dreadstiary this weekend.”

“Is it modern?”

“90s”

“Elite! Retro might be a fun breather from the extras scrims matches I have next weekend.”

“Speaking of the weekend. Would you guys be to do something on Saturday?”

Mia's green eyes starts to shimmer as she leans forward, pressing her chest on the cafeteria table. She begins to say something, but Kat holds out her hand in front of her. A soft smile appears on Kat's face. She leans forward, getting pretty close to me. I feel the sweat pool in my hands as my body stiffens up. Then, in a playful tone, Kat says.

“Only if you tell us what Duncan just gave you.”

I took some time to compose myself. Kat's smile sent my heart racing and I need to find the right thing to say so….

“It's beer.”

The faint words were struggling to come out of Hannah's mouth as she was chewing on her sandwich. Duncan passes her a bottle of water, which she swigs down. Crap, Duncan must have told her. Well depending on what she knows, this situation could get pretty embarrassing.

“A limited edition run of Succubus' Blood featuring Max's favorite horror hostess…”

“Countess Velvet!?”

Mia chimes in with Hannah's teasing. Of course, Hannah knew everything.

“She's so cute! Especially with that outfit of hers…. Makes sense, you would want to get that beer.”

Mia face turns into a pout as Kat and Hannah exchange a look with each other. I hope they're not continuing the teasing with their eyes. Kat points her finger at me like a teacher scolding a student.

“Max, you know better. You should have waited until after school!”

“Chill, Kat. The bozo sea makes great coverage for our transaction. Right Max?”

A loud clap rings in my ears as Duncan slaps my back. Crackling laughter escapes from Hannah, much clearing now than her initial teasing.

“So Now that you know. Would you guys be down to watch a movie Saturday? We can video chat it if it sways your choice.”

“I rather go hunt those Monster Rats.”

Kat springs to life, hearing Hannah's complaint. Her amber eyes bloom as she looks at my direction. I made a cutting motion with my hands to signal that it was already being taken care of to Kat. She sulks back down as she deflates for some reason. Mia takes this opportunity to ask me a question.

“Who's the film by, Max? Aiden Perry?”

“Great guess Mia! It is!”

I hop up, raising both of my hands for a high five, which Mia does gleefully. She jumps to reach my hands, as I forgot to lower them to accommodate for her height. Low whispers of praise reach my ears from behind me.

“Who is that again?”

And just like my joy fades with Kat's words. I fight back the tears swelling in my eyes to give a quick explanation.

“Aiden Perry is a famous horror director from the late 80s-early 90s

era of horror movies. You would have heard his most popular movie before. Cosmic Blood.”

Kat nods her head.

“I have! How sleazy is the movie? Don't want to spend my weekend hearing Duncan howl over the excessive nudity.”

Hannah quickly moves to slap Duncan as Kat's words bring a wide grin to his face. However, in a smooth motion, he manages to block the slap. He then leans over me to get closer to Kat.

“Nothing wrong with excessive Nudity in horror. Like that movie Sleazy Strippers in Ghoul Mall. That was a 10/10 classic!”

“Wrong, Duncan.”

Mia imitates Kat's serious tone and posture from her earlier lecturing. Then a bright smile flashes on her face.

“The sequel was better! Sleazy Strippers in Blood Manor.”

“How could I forget! Like when the main thot with massive bolt-ons had to run through the blood rain topless in order to kill the demon!”

“Then out of nowhere, a goat headed statue charges at the girl with a stone axe.”

There was a small amount of pride welling up inside me as Mia and Duncan went back and forth talking about the horror movie. Both made by Aiden Perry, by the way. Out of nowhere, a horrible chill races up my spine, replacing the small built up pride that I have accumulated. Mia and Duncan feel the chill as well, cutting their gushing over the movie short.

The chill is echoing out as more conversations around us die down. A short continuous rapt of fingers slowing build up as we look on to see Hannah. The severe stare of hers weighing down on all of us, except for Kat. A small snicker comes out of her mouth as she takes a picture of the scene.

“Oh, what to do. Looks like Max has corrupted two more people. Oh, what ever should I do.”

The emotionless words escape from Hannah. The cold words form a tight grip on my spine. Different words, sentences, ideas all race in my mind trying to defuse this situation. Instead of furthering this conversation, I go back to pitching the movie weekend. That's when the perfect blade for this moment comes appears.

“If it sweetens the thought, I have never seen the movie before.”

My word slice through the chilling wave as I hear a loud wave of students sigh in relief.

“Bullshit, of course you've seen the movie”

“Nope, not this one, Scout’s Honor.”

I make a cross over my heart, which makes Hannah snort.

“Oh please. That won't last long. Your will is weak to new movies.”

“It won't falter. I'll treat it like fighting a monster.”

I mimic a memory of Ben slashing down a monster. My erratic arm flailing causes Hannah to burst out laughing, as if the display triggers the same memory for her. Even during laughing, Hannah's face is serious, no sense of a smile.

“"" We're down”””

Duncan, Mia, and Kat cut into my imaginary swordplay with a unanimous agreement. Mia leans forward with a huge smile on her face.

“After all, it's rare to watch a horror movie with Max that he's never seen before!”