Gracy's Begining

Chapter Nine~Popcorn And Pizza

Stacy's POV and Middle Of Shift At Her Job

"Are you busy this evening?" Shelby asks. 

"No. Not that I know of," I respond, skeptical of why she was asking.

"Well, Parker and I were wondering if you and Zachary wanted to come watch a movie tonight,"

"I'll ask him. I'm sure he won't object."

Stacy Is Back At The Apartment

"Graser, do you want to go watch a movie tonight? One of my coworkers invited us, so..."

"Sure! Will there be popcorn?" 

"Yes, Graser. There will be popcorn," We both laugh. I go to put on something a little nicer than my dirty uniform. I pick out a pair of white pants and a mint green top. Graser just exchanges his sweatpants to a pair of jeans.

"Shelby will be here at nine to pick us up," I say to Graser. He was twiddling anxiously on his phone.

He didn't respond. "Graser," I say a little louder, "Are you OK?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah I'm fine," he said, stopping only temporarily to look up from his phone.

"No, you're not"

"I can't even lie around you anymore, can I?" I laugh nervously in response.

"Are you up for this movie tonight? I not, I'll call Shelby"

"I'm just nervous. My anxiety acts up around new people," he sighs. I knew what he was about so say next. 'I'm out of pills, too'

"I'll be there to help. If you start to feel bad, we can leave. Sound OK?"

"Thank you,"

Shelby came a little early to pick us up. It was a surprise to me, but Graser seemed really nervous. I tell him it's OK and that I'm right here.

"Where are we heading exactly? The theater is that way, right?" Shelby laughs.

"Parker insisted we but you guys some dinner. So we're heading to the pizza place." Graser's eyes lit up. We'd been eating sandwiches and instant dinners.

"Is that alright with you guys?" Parker asked. Graser nodded vigorously. I saw his anxiety slip away. Good. I thought.

"Pizza sounds great," I added.

"The movie starts at nine forty five so we've got about thirty minutes until we head to the theater."

"Sounds like a plan, Shelby," I say. The pizza place wasn't very busy. There were maybe six other cars. We ordered the buffet and helped ourselves. Graser got pretty much one of each. I only got three slices. As I went to fill my cup, Shelby snuck up behind me.

"They're hitting it off," she says, pointing to Graser and Parker laughing and talking at our table.

"I'm so glad to hear that," I say, pressing my cup to the machine.

"Yeah, me too. Parker doesn't really talk to people outside of work."

"Graser either," I say, avoiding telling her about his anxiety. I don't know why, but I kept it secret.

"Let's go sit with them," Shelby says after an awkward pause.

Graser and Parker were laughing when we sat down. It was something about high school memories. Me and Shelby kind of kept to ourselves, occasionally talking out.

"Well, it's movie time!" Shelby announced. We all plopped into her car.

"Hup," she said, bouncing into her seat.

"What was that?" I ask. She laughed.

"I don't know, honestly. It's just a noise I make from time to time," she answered. We drove to the theater and bought our tickets.

"What movie are we watching?" Graser asked to no one in particular. I was expecting some romantic film, but instead I got this:

"The last Jedi" Me and Graser exchanged confused looks. I'd seen maybe two of the movies before, but that's it.

"Alright, let's go," Graser said, gripping his popcorn bucket tight. I got us a coke to share. Originally I was going to get a Dr. Pepper, but apparently Graser can't stand them.

"Last Jedi?" A man asked. He was wearing a striped outfit and a name badge. He was an 'escort' as the owners called them. He showed us the room our movie was in.

We watched the whole movie. Graser ate all the popcorn, so I gave Shelby a five dollar bill to pay for it.

"Let's do something again next week," Parker said.

"I'd love to." I felt bad for not paying for anything but popcorn.

"Awesome! We'll arrange something. See you at work tomorrow," Shelby said, waving bye as she dropped me and Graser off.

"So?" I ask.

"Parker's pretty cool," he said. There was something in his voice I could make out.

"Mmhm. Did you do OK?"

"Yeah! Way better than expected."

"I'm glad you came." Me and Graser both changed into pajamas and soon went to sleep. We slept close, in each others embrace.