WANTED: Love of my Life

39. A relaxing kick in the face

The white door opened about two seconds after we had knocked. Judging from Mrs. Reynolds' face, the three teenagers smiling tentatively up at her on her doorstep were the answer to her prayers.

“Angela! Anastasia! And... Sandra!” She hugged all of us. “It's so nice to see you. Jen's downstairs.”

Sandra frowned. “Mrs. Reynolds.. surely you mean upstairs?”

“No. She's in the cellar. You see, I ordered her to stay in her room, so the first thing she did was leave it and barricade herself down in the cellar.” Jen's mother gave a weak smile. “Sweet little girl, isn't she?”

The smile wasn't very convincing.

“Yeah,” I said, smiling much more brightly. “She is. Do you have popcorn?”

“In the kitchen, why?”

“We need an offering to appease the monster if we dare approach it in its lair,” I called to her and sprinted into the kitchen. I stuffed some popcorn into the microwave. Sandra and Anastasia collected all the soft drinks and sweets in Mrs Reynolds possession – not many, unfortunately, since she was one of these strange sectarians who believed in this thing called 'a healthy diet' – and when we were done, we pooled our resources.

“What do you need all this for?” Mrs Reynolds asked, coming into the kitchen, a concerned look on her face.

“We're planning a movie night. Or movie evening, really,” said the ever-accurate Sandra, glancing out of the window and at the sun which had by no means set yet. “Do you have a TV in the cellar?”

“Well.. normally we don't. But when Jen went down there, she took the small TV and the Blue Ray player from the kitchen with her. She's such a spontaneous, uncomplicated girl.”

“We've noticed. So we'll go down there now, if that's all right?”

“Oh yes, please do. Ehm... how long is the movie again, did you say?”

“We didn't. But don't worry, we'll keep her occupied at least for two hours,” I grinned.

“I.. I don't know what you mean, dear,” she lied, blushing. “But, if it's that long.. perhaps I could go shopping for a bit. After all, I would only be in your way, and we're low on groceries.”

“You do that, Mrs. Reynolds. You do that.”

An overjoyed Mrs. Reynolds fled from the house and we three went down to the cellar with our supplies. Sandra was about to open the door when I grasped her wrist. “Don't. Wait a moment.”

I stepped passed her and called through the door: “Jen? It's us! The residual quantity comes to offer support to its leader in her deathly illness!”

I gestured to Sandra to open the door.

“Go ahead.”

She threw me a confused look, but then did as I told her. The door swung open, and in the room beyond we could see Jen hurriedly dropping a boot and several other heavy objects she had been about to fling at unwanted intruders. “Guys!” she exclaimed. “I knew you would come.”

“Yeah, looks like it,” I teased, pointing at her ammunition.

Jen tried to shove the boot behind her back. “Oh, that. I was just looking at it.”

“Well, perhaps you'd like to look at something more interesting? A movie perhaps?”

Jen scowled. “Can't. My mother's upstairs. I brought the TV and the Blue Ray Player with me, but I forgot to bring a decent supply of movies. I've had to watch sitcoms all day. It's driving me nuts, I can tell you.”