Short Stories

Movie Theatre Dream

The summer after our middle school life has ended, and people are moving from one place to another. Since two of my friends are moving to another high school, I thought it'd be a good idea to hang out with each other for the last time. I invited three girls to go to the movies with me and they all agreed.

We carpooled to the theater and showed our tickets to the staff. Our show was starting in five minutes, at 5:00, in Room 24.

After getting our food and drinks, we set out to find our seats. The only problem was our seats were taken — well, it was more like MY seat was taken — by none other than Tryston and his group.

The seating arrangement was:

1 - Collin

2 - Bryant

3 - Hasan

4 - Tryston/Me

5 - Jennifer

6 - Hema

7 - Addie

While the other girls didn't have any problems, my seat just happens to be taken by Tryston... Why?!

A staff member suddenly announces that there had been a minor mishap and Finding Dory was going to play AFTER the Action Movie. Since we were already here and because it felt like a bargain to watch two movies in one payment, we stayed. The only problem was that I had nowhere to sit.

{Don't even say go to another row; somehow the dream had already placed a person in every seat so that I would be the odd ball out}

So being the awkward person that I am, I decided to sit on the floor. (I know, so stupid...) That way I wouldn't be a hindrance to the people who were watching.

Ten minutes into the movie, Tryston tapped my shoulder and said, "You can sit up here, you know..." He offered me the seat, and I said sure (thinking he'd move out of the seat... But no...) I was to sit next to him, in the same seat, squished to death. But I guess it was better than sitting on the floor.

... This isn't working

He must've thought the same, because a few seconds later he told me to get up. At this point, I'm pretty much done...

I'm not going to get squished to death anymore. Anyway, what he does next was very surprising; he slides back into the seat and tells me to sit in between his legs. Even though this was getting out of hand, I could see that I was in the way of people's view so I agreed.

I sat down and tried my best to not move. It was the most awkward moment ever. To make matters worse, my heart was beating so loudly.

I tried my best to watch the movie, but honestly, it was quite boring. My attention span was getting shorter by the seconds. And then I felt something unusual. Tryston's arms had snaked around me and pulled me into a hug... What?!?!!

This moment just went into slow motion. I didn't even dare to turn my head. I was sure that it's going to make my heart stop so I refused to turn. The movie kept playing and I eventually dozed off. Then the dream switched to third person.

From third person view, I could see everyone; Addie was on the edge of her seat, mumbling something under breath every three seconds, engrossed in the movie; Hema and Jennifer was fighting over some snacks; Collin and Bryant were whispering dirty jokes to each other; Hasan was just watching the movie like a normal person (he's probably the only person that was normal among us...)

And then there was me. I was sleeping... My head was against Tryston's chest, treating it as a pillow. When he finally realized what had happened, he turned his head towards Bryant and asked what to do. Bryant, a prankster mastermind, takes out his phone and mouths, "Make a pose."

Tryston, in response, raised his hand and makes bunny ears on the top of my head. Bryant gave him a thumbs up and snapped some photo. After the "mini photo shoot" they went back to watching the movie.

There was one moment where I had slightly moved in my sleep and Tryston looked at me for a second. And then... He lightly kissed my forehead.

Everyone else watched the rest of the movie without interruptions. Then the Action Movie ends and Tryston shakes me awake.

The dream switches back to first person but everything was fuzzy. When my eyes cleared up, I realized what had happened. My face probably went tomato red as I apologized for falling asleep on him.

Since the movie had ended, the boys were all getting up to go home. Collin, however, suggested that they stay and watch Finding Dory. Everyone agreed since they had nothing better to do. This time, I didn't fall asleep. I had paid for this movie, and there's no way I was going to watch it.

About thirty minutes into the movie, I could feel Tryston's arms around me again. But this time, he also rested his chin onto my shoulder. It felt like time froze.

"Um..." I said. Our eyes made contact as I turned my head towards him. I raised my eyebrow in question. He didn't do anything except look back at me and smirk. That's when I realized that our lips were just a centimeter apart.

I prayed to the lord that he couldn't see my face turn red. I quickly turned my head back and tried to focus on the movie.

We ran out of snacks just as Finding Dory ended. As we start heading towards the exit, Bryant suggested that we take a group picture. The question was how are we supposed to fit eight people into one frame? We couldn't fit into the frame if we had stood in a line so the only solution would be the boys would stand behind the girls.

We asked a staff member to take the picture for us. He counted to three and pressed the button. And within that three short seconds, I caught many things I didn't expect.

Tryston had his arms around me in a back hug. Collin had bend over and made bunny ears on Jennifer. Hema and Addie were kneeling on the floor with peace signs. And lastly, Bryant and Hasan... Their bodies were facing each other but their faces were turned towards the camera. Hasan had his hands by his side and Bryant's arms were hugging Hasan. It would've been a normal thing if it wasn't for Bryant's hands. If you paid attention, you could see his hands were grabbing Hasan's butt.

The staff member pressed the button and the photo was taken.

And the dream ends just like that.