Forced to have the Player's Kid (Book One of The Great Age Plague Series)

Chapter Thirty-One

Since my mother died, I would find myself staring at the wall between moments in my day, such as washing my hands in the bathroom or looking for a book mark through a drawer, and just aching. It was a slow ache that eventually made its way to my chest, squeezing my heart and sometimes, I would cry, for no reason whatsoever, small tears rolling down my cheeks and blinding my vision as I attempted to continue the menial tasks. These aches were different than the initial blow of losing my mom-- the loneliness, the fear, the anxiety attacks-- but it hurt all the same and kept me up at night wondering if I was depressed or not. This feeling caught me off guard quite often, but when I was around people, whether that be Josh or, more recently, Cally or Keon, that aching feeling didn't creep up like it used to. I wondered if Josh felt the same way.

For this reason, I was thrilled when Josh suggested we watch a movie after dinner, and when Keon asked if we had any scary movies, I got extra excited. Despite being quite the girly-girl, I loved scary movies. Of course, it started with scary books, like Frankenstein or Brave New World, but despite some of the cheesiness, there was nothing better than watching a good "slice and dice them" movie like Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Entering the movie theatre behind Josh's garage, I marveled at how big the screen was despite it being a home theatre. Around the screen were these heavenly looking chairs that were shaped like eggs, which could be positioned to sit up, or lay down, making a nest of brightly colored pillows. In the back corner of the room Josh had, of course, a pop corn machine with the wall behind it loaded with large posters of great movies like The Shining. Having never been there before, I turned to Josh with a smirk.

"Really?" I said, looking around the room. At this Josh gave a confident smile that looked like something of a movie star, bright white teeth and all. He gave a laugh, as if I was the one being ridiculous, not him. 

"What can I say? My parents spared no expense. I used to have boy-girl movie nights in here before the plague that were all the rage. Don't use it as much anymore," said Josh, as he sauntered into the room. His feet idly led him to what I assumed was his egg (the one he always used) and Keon trailed behind him, sitting in the egg next to it. I entered the room as well, shutting the outside door behind me with a trail of drizzle following me in. It was nighttime now and the drizzly weather suggested upcoming snow, as freezing rain was so bad I had to wear a coat before entering.

"Boy-Girl parties?" I said with a smile tugging my lips. To my surprise, Keon laughed, a wonderful sound that only made my smile grow wider. Josh was laughing too, emanating confidence whereas Keon's laugh suggested shyness, a sort of timid release of sound, but both had laughs that made me feel like a million bucks in completely different ways.

"Yeah, we were only freshman, I think. I had my first kiss in here in seventh grade as well. With Lilia Evans," said Josh, making a grossed out face. At this, I tried my best to hold my face in a smile, but it suddenly felt very forced. Lilia Evans moved away during eighth grade, but she was absolutely stunning from what I remembered. She had these amazing eyes with one green and one an amber-brown, so naturally every boy in middle school wanted to be her boyfriend. Despite it being years ago, I felt a rush of not only insecurity, but jealousy, as Lilia seemed to get everything she wanted because of her stupid eyes. 

"Is she the girl who had those different color eyes?" asked Keon, to which Josh nodded. Great, even Keon remembered that stupid girl! Walking into the room, I sat on the egg while looking at my phone, pretending to be uninterested. I told myself it wasn't important-- come on, she moved away years ago!-- yet still wondered if at her new school, Lilia still had all the boys after her. To my relief, Josh changed the subject.

"Hey, do you know when C--" before Josh could finish talking, though, a knock at the back door made him stop. He shrugged and walked to the back muttering "Guess that answers my question." Flinging open the door, Josh put on his award-winning smile in greeting for Cally, who looked like an angry wet dog, her long brown curls glittering with dew.