That One Afternoon at the Theater

A little over seven-and-a-half months ago, Caisey had received a series of urgent text messages from his friend, Don, claiming that he could introduce him to an amazing girl.

she’s exactly yur type bro! Don had said. What a way to start a conversation… Caisey had thought.

Lisa claims her “long lost sis” is coming back to town and will be here on saturday. she showed me a pic and MAN yur gonna luv her

DO NOT CHICKEN OUT THIS TIME

me and Lisa are goin on a date saturday

and Lisa want take her wit us but y b a 3 rd wheel ?!

I told her that u wud come 2 make it a dubble date

At this point, the messages were coming rapid fire and Caisey wondered if his friend had forgotten how to spell in his haste. He knew Don was receiving ‘read’ reports and would soon be on his case about not answering.

I BETTER SEE U THERE

‘Read.’

so are u free or what ???

‘Read.’

u wanna see a pic of her dont u

👀👅😏

Shut up, Caisey picked up his phone and replied.

I knew it 😏😏😏😏😏

To his credit, Don never did send the picture of his girlfriend’s mystery sister, and anyhow, Caisey never wanted it. Eventually, Caisey realized that he was a stressed college student doomed to be forever alone and admitted that he wanted to meet her, agreeing to go on the double date.

It was strange, though.

Seven months before this, Caisey would have jumped at the invitation to meet any girl at nearly any time. College was hectic and it left little opportunity to meet people and make real connections with anyone, let alone a girl, so he hadn’t had many chances to hang out with someone new or go on many dates.

His friend Don had been with Lisa since junior year of high school. They were going on four years together and had been friends with Caisey for far longer. So, they knew all of Caisey’s shy tendencies, his awkward quirks, his ability to slinker off when something—anything—seemed too flashy or a girl was out of his league. They also knew that his 'Caisey Tendencies' had gotten worse over the last several months and that their friend was becoming a recluse, an outcast, a straight-backed Quasimodo. And because they were aware that he’d probably never step up to a girl on his own these days, they often invited him to mixers, group dates, and double dates.

Caisey wasn’t a bad-looking guy, nor was he outright strange or creepy.

“You’re a catch, you know that?” Lisa had said on their way to the movie theater that Saturday afternoon.

Caisey shoved her with his elbow, making her lean heavier into Don’s right side. Don slung his arm over Lisa’s shoulders as Caisey said, “Quit your lies, Lis. Flattery doesn’t work on me.”

“I’m not lying! Honest!” Lisa said, poking her lips out in protest.

The sun was boring down on them in the mid-summer heat. Sweat dotted their foreheads and lightly moistened their skin. Caisey pinched the small, V-shaped collar of his plain black T-shirt and flapped it back and forth in hopes of feeling some cool air. His short and wavy brown hair was starting to moisten at his ears and the nape of his neck. He felt lucky that he had combed the hair that usually fell into his eyes backwards and had slicked it down. But he failed to make sense of why he had put on a pair of white jeans and black sneakers for this weather.

He was suffering so much, he almost forgot the point of the group’s conversation. Lisa continued with, “Girls are interested in you, dummy! That’s why it’s so easy for us to get you a date!”

“She’s not lying.” Don added. “The girls notice you big time on campus. But you’re so caught up in school and you’re always in your own little world like you miss your true home on Mars or something—”

“Hey,” Caisey protested.

“—that they either never go near you or tend to give up on you. Would it kill you to show a little more interest?”

“That’s unfair. I show interest…” Caisey said, but even he wasn’t too convinced by that right now.

“Dude, you’ve rejected at least five of our invitations in the past several months. I don’t know what’s up with you! Where did my Case go!?” Don pretended to cry, stretching his right arm out as if he’d catch the “old Caisey” in his hand.

“Shut up, doofus.” Caisey said, but he was laughing.

Sort of. Because Don wasn’t wrong. Each time he thought of meeting up with a girl for a date, he felt repelled for some reason. Something was holding him back and he didn’t know what was behind it.

Caisey didn’t know what was up with himself, either.

When they got to the theater, Lisa took out her cellphone to give her sister a call. She was supposed to meet up with them there after taking care of some errands with their mother.

“Hey, Aria. What’s your ETA?” Lisa said into the receiver. She waited for the response, then, “Eh? You’re not coming?” She spared a quick glance in Caisey’s direction. “But now—” She was cut off and listened furiously to whatever her sister was saying. Caisey watched her tap her foot against the pavement. They were still waiting outside. It was steaming hot. If she wasn’t coming, Caisey wanted to go inside or go home.

Also, he couldn’t believe it, but… He thought he felt… relieved?

I’m getting sick, he thought. I must be dying. Only thing that explains it. I can't be getting repulsed by girls now, can I? Who else would I be into? DON?!

Agitated by his own line of reasoning, Caisey spared a glance at his best friend who was busy staring off into the distance like his brain had escaped and he was watching it float. When he noticed Caisey looking at him, Don crossed his eyes at him and goofily laughed. Admittedly, Caisey found it a little funny, but still, he shuddered.

Absolutely never. He thought and returned his attention to Lisa as she sucked her tongue loudly against her teeth.

“I can’t believe she stood us up. And Caisey!” Lisa huffed after hanging up the call. “She’s like, Ooooh, it’s sooo hoooot. I can’t baby sis, waaah. How lame. Let’s head inside without her. Sorry, Case.”

Caisey shrugged, “Don’t mind at all. I mean, it is hotter than hell out here, she’s not exactly wrong. And she doesn’t know me, so…” he shrugged again and breathed in super deep when his body hit the cool air of the movie theater.

“I can feel my body sizzling.” Don said, pretending to physically melt and making his own ssss sound effects with his teeth. Caisey loved that his friend was so dramatic and kept things entertaining. He chuckled and watched Don be stupid.

“We have to hurry before all the tickets get sold out. It’s opening night.” Lisa reminded the guys. Don fixed himself right up and pulled Lisa along. He was the most excited about the movie premiering today. It was about a heroic werewolf who saved merfolk who washed ashore.

It sounded incredibly dumb to Caisey and he very much didn't want to watch it.

“You guys go on ahead,” he raised his voice to say. “I don’t want to third-wheel on your date.”

Both his friends’ faces fell and they looked sorry, like they themselves had been the ones who had bailed on him. They always looked out for him like that.

“You sure? Just come with.” Lisa said.

“Yeah, don’t bail, dude. You wouldn’t be third wheeling, you know that.” Don agreed.

Caisey shook his head and insisted they go alone. “I’ll be fine. I’ll head home and we can hang out tomorrow or whatever. It’s no big deal, really.” It took a few more exchanges of convincing for the pair to finally give in and go on their date. Caisey watched them walk hand-in-hand to the ticketing booth, and they were already smiling.

He loved them both to death.

Caisey turned toward the wall with blinding LED poster frames showcasing the movies that were currently in theaters. He wasn't particularly interested in any one of them, except maybe one about a down-on-her-luck dancer who raised up to fame and fortune after she found her muse. He stared at the glowing poster a bit longer before he stretched his body 'job-well-done' style and grunted out, “Guess it’s time for me to get out of here.”

Just as he turned toward the exit, he stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of a girl who was suddenly standing just beside him. She had thick black hair tied up into a ponytail which hung down to her shoulder blades. On her head, she wore an eye-catching silver headband with a hand-braided pattern. She wore a white and blue striped polo shirt with white jeans and navy platform sandals. The outfit matched perfectly with her caramel skin tone.

At first, she gave the impression of an ordinary girl. Then, she turned to look at Caisey, and Caisey fought down a gasp.

Her eyes.

Her startling, impossibly clear, ocean blue eyes were… Familiar?

Caisey was stunned into silence. He had never seen a girl with such unreal beauty before, and yet he couldn’t forget—

Violently, he shook his head.

No, that’s wrong. Forget’s not the right word. I’ve never seen her before. He thought, But… There’s something about her that I—

“Is there something wrong?”

“Ah!” Caisey shouted and stumbled back a couple steps. Passersby glanced at him with their brows quirked in question, and he was so embarrassed by the outburst that he could've smashed his face into the LED poster screen beside him and just left his face there. Forever. Never before had he been so locked in on a girl that hearing her voice startled him to death!

“I mean,” the beauty before him placed a crooked finger in front of her mouth to cover her giggles, “I didn’t even say anything and you started shaking your head all crazy.”

“Uh… Uhm… I…” Despite his lack of words, Caisey’s mind was screaming, SAY SOMETHING DAMNIT!!

Now the girl was openly chuckling, and she had something knowing in her eyes. Caisey’s cheeks lit up like flames. Aw, man, she’s laughing at me! He thought. He couldn’t recall whether he’d blinked this whole time or if his eyes had just been this painfully wide open for the last several seconds. She totally thinks I’m a world class loser.

Or a creep. Caisey kept thinking.

Or both. His thoughts were practically drowning him now.

The girl's chuckles slowed, and she started digging around in her jeans pockets. Out of one pocket she pulled a folded-up piece of paper. Caisey watched closely as she held it up between the two of them and unfolded it, revealing that it was a movie ticket—and that it was paired with another.

“I got stood up,” the girl said and shrugged. “What do you say we see this movie together? If you have nothing better to do.” She added.

There was absolutely nothing better in the whole entire galaxy that Caisey would rather do.

Caisey could not believe his luck and he hoped his excitement didn’t show on his face when he said, “Uh, yeah, sure. Absolutely. Cool.” And for no reason he added, “I was stood up, too.”

“Cool.” the girl said, laughing at him again. Then, she reached down and took Caisey’s hand in hers, giving him one of the tickets she’d shown him. She also took that chance to grasp his hand in greeting. “I’m Rina,” she said.

“Caisey.” Caisey replied breathlessly to which Rina simply nodded and flashed him a smile that touched her blue eyes. Caisey then allowed himself to be dragged along by the mysterious girl with the outfit that, he noticed, sort of matched his. 

He had but one thought left in his overwhelmed mind.

This girl… is a goddess.