ACE OF HEARTS ( mike wheeler! )

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Suddenly, the ring of a bell caused both girls' eyes to move upwards. Cassie smiles as her eyes met Mike, Max, Lucas, and Will.

Sighing, Robin shouted behind her shoulder, "Hey, dingus, your children are here!"

Swiftly opening the window, Steve reappeared with a groan, "Again? Seriously?"

Leaning in through the window, Cassie wrapped her arms around her brother tightly and smiled, "Thanks Steve, you're the best!"

Cassie then hopped off the counter, joining her friends as they knowingly made their way out the back and through a series of doors. As soon as they found the one that entered into the theatre, Mike opened the door with an "all clear" and led the group into the screening of Day Of The Dead.

As they moved down the rows of red velvet chairs, Mike spotted three open seats in one row and two open seats in the row just below.

"Cassie, do you want to sit down there?" Mike smiled, nudging towards the isolated seats.

At first, Cassie smiled — the idea of sitting alone with Mike during the movie excited her. After all, who wouldn't want to spend some alone time watching a movie with their boyfriend?

But, when she took one glance back at Will Byers — who trailed behind the group shyly — she turned back to Mike and shook her head.

"How about we let Lucas and Max sit alone," Cassie suggested. "Then Will can sit with us."

Looking back at Will's innocent face, Mike sighed and nodded, "Alright, let's hurry up so we don't miss it."

The three scurried to the open seats and sat down quickly.

"See, Lucas? We made it!" Mike whispered to the boy.

"We missed the previews," Lucas replied with a groan.

From beside him, Max shrugged, smiling as she spoke, "Still made it. Fart face."

As Will pulled out his bag of snacks, Mike took notice of how the three were seated. He was on the end, Cassie in the middle, and Will on the other end just beside her.

Taking one quick glance at Will, Mike tried his best to swallow the jealousy rising inside him.

"Hey, Mike, are you alright?" Cassie asked the boy, handing him a Sprite.

Mike laughed nervously, "Yeah, I'm good."

In truth, Mike wasn't alright. The boy wasn't sure what Will's intentions were. Along with that, he wasn't too happy that his girlfriend was spending so much time with him.

But, as he looked one more time at Will's face, Mike sighed and shook his head. He knew his best friend would never do that to him.

When the movie started, all of his thoughts seemed to disappear. Now he was able to sit back and enjoy the movie with his best friends and girlfriend. That was, until five minutes in, when the entire theatre went black.

"Oh, come on!" Cassie whined.

"Whats happening?" Will asked.

"It's probably just a power outage or something." Cassie answered. "They'll probably come back on in a few-"

Before Cassie could finish her sentence, the movie flickered back on and resumed.

"-minutes." Cassie hummed. "Never mind then."

The audience began to cheer as the movie continued, and soon, everyone was hooked. About twenty minutes in, the group sat, engrossed, barely noticing the candy that failed to make it to their mouths.

When the screen fell to black, Cassie's body became still and her hand immedietly searched for Mike's. He grinned. This wasn't one of those romantic films that many girls seem to prefer. This was action, thriller, horror and Mike couldn't be happier that his girlfriend was there to watch it with him.

"You seemed pretty scared in there, Cass," Mike teased as the group made their way out of the theatre.

"I was not!" Cassie defended, playfully shoving him.

"You were too!" Mike continued. "I swear, you were holding my hand so tightly I thought you would break bones."

"If anyone was the wimp I'd say it was Lucas," Max announced with a giggle. "Did you hear him screaming? He sounded just like a little girl!"

The group instantly broke into a fit of laughter as they made their way back through the secret hallway and entered into Scoops Ahoy Ice Cream Parlor.

"Hey, Steve!" Cassie called as she raced over to the cash register. When stopping before him, she stuck her arms straight out and crossed her eyes. "I'm coming to eat your brains!"

"Charming," Steve replied unamused, watching as the three girls before him turned away with disgusted looks on their faces. "Good job, by the way. You just scared off the girls."

Cassie only laughed, "Sorry to break it to you, older brother, but they weren't interested anyway."

"Cassie's right," Robin called from the back room, appearing through the window as she added a tally on the board. "And another one bites the dust! That's oh-for-six, Popeye."

Steve crossed his arms over his chest, "Yeah, yeah, I can count."

Robins eyes widened, "You know that means you suck."

As the group of friends walked out of the shop, Cassie turned to Mike, shook her head, and laughed, "Oh, they are so going to date one day."