Once Upon A Dime (hiatus)

6. Movies and Meltdowns

"Sounds okay." Tanner pips up, coming up to join our circle. His eyes appear wet and puffy, while his nose seems red and irritated. Arabella has an arm draped across his shoulders, and a dreadful expression atop her tiny features. I guess I take a moment too long, analyzing his appearance, cause he catches my eye. He gives me a shaky thumbs up, and I return the gesture by nodding slightly.

"We have Despicable Me, The Blind Side, uhh.... The Karate Kid, and Warm Bodies. Decide amongst yourselves what y'all want to watch." Melinda gives a flaky smile, before going back and talking quietly with my mom.

"Warm Bodies. Definitely Warm Bodies." Arabella waggles her head up and down and draws a line with her hand, notifying us all that she won't accept anything else.

"Zombie movie? Sounds boss. I'll go for that." Jackson raises his fist in the air, almost fist-bumping God. But God would never fist-bump someone like Jackson. He should fist-bump me. Right.

"That's fine." I gobble and rest my hands on my shoulders. I steal a glance over in Kenny's direction, and feel my breath squeeze out of my lungs at his face. A pained expression takes over his complexion, and he seems to be suppressing something. He looks around at us, giving us half of a shrug.

"Warm Bodies it is!" Arabella shrieks, dancing around with a unenthusiastic Tanner.

We all navigate over to the movie room, which is not the living room. They have whole rooms dedicated to one separate action, which is a little bit ridiculous. I'm not used to living like this. Multiple leather recliner chairs oppose a drop-down projector, covering an entire, blank wall. A single window on the far wall lets in a single stream of dying light, igniting one square of the floor in a grayish yellow. Jackson skips over, closing the blinds, before launching himself in the front most relaxer. I take a seat near the back and curl up in my jacket, eager to see what type of movie Warm Bodies will prove to be. I never saw it in theaters. In fact, I never see movies when they're in the theaters. It just seems like a waste. Paris takes a seat next to Jackson, and on the other side, Kenny. Arabella and Tanner chose to share one next to mine, advertising their love by their cuddling noises and provocative sitting positions.

A short, brown haired girl appears at the doorway, clutching a blanket in her hands. She stands just short of what I'd presume to be her brother. He has dark blondish hair reaching just above his eyebrows, fashioning a well groomed, healthy attitude. He looks nervous and anxious, as he bites his lip, looking around for something.

"Uh... My name's Chris. This is Zoe. My mom told me that you guys are watching a movie in here?" He squeaks absentmindedly, looking as though he might faint any moment. He looks around Paris' age. Maybe a little older. He's very short for his age, if he is.

"Yeah! Come join us." I flash a welcoming smile, and beckon for him to take a seat alongside us. I shouldn't really be forcing him to do anything, considering this is his house. He sighs, relieved, and travels over to my side, flopping down in the seat. Zoe goes up to take a seat next to Paris, who seems unusually welcoming. Oh wait. Zoe's rich. Nevermind.

"Everyone, sh! The movie's starting!" Arabella shouts, pinning everyone in the room to an uncomfortable silence.

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By the end, I'm practically bawling on the floor in tears. I can't believe that the dad shot him! He was human! He should have known better!

"Come on, stupid." Arabella laughs, heaving me to my feet. She's surprisingly strong for someone so small. The 8 of us journey into the kitchen, where a disheveled looking mother and a restless looking Melinda sit at the counter, staring at the landline phone.