The Summer I Met You

CHAPTER 17

The giant screen in the front lobby cycles through all the movies playing. We should have chosen beforehand, but here we are arguing over what to see, because Dan thought it would be better to wait. He's a fly by the seat of his pants type of guy. So, rule number one, never let Dan plan a date.

I sneak a peek at Lennox. Around her eyes her makeup is smudged along the edges of her lower lid. I've seen that look before on Mom, usually after she sheds some tears. Something inside makes me want to reach out and check on her, but she seems content - at least for now, as her eyes flicker over the choices.

"I have an idea!" She spins to face all of us.

Her voice is loud and commanding to combat the music and noise coming from the arcade to our left. Dan's attention falls on Lennox. Beside me Maya crosses her arms and glares at them.

"I'm going to flip a coin." Lennox pulls one from the black bag at her side.

"Boys are heads, girls are tails. Whoever gets it picks someone to be blind folded and we'll pick that way."

Without waiting for our responses, she flips the coin. I'm impressed by her speed and agility, as it lands perfectly.

"Heads!"

"Yes." Dan jumps up and down like a child.

Lennox ignores him, her eyes landing on Maya. She's searching for something, biting her bottom lip, deep in thought.

"Can I have your headband?" She asks Maya.

Maya scrunches her brows, but hands over the chunky white headband. Her hair falls back over her face. Lennox shakes her hands and points to Dan. "Put it over his eyes then spin him."

Maya chuckles. "Are you sure you want to spin Dan? When was the last time you ate?"

Dan bumps into Maya a playful grin on both their faces.

Dan scowls. "First off we aren't at Adventureland and secondly, I haven't had five slices of pizza."

It's nice to see Maya smiling. Her laughter fills the space around us. The memory of Dan getting sick will always be one I'll never forget. Now we always remind Dan, spinning rides are for before the meal, not after.

"Alright. Don't puke on me," Maya says, placing the band over his eyes.

Dan reaches up to adjust it and his hands glide over hers. Maybe it's because I'm watching intently, but I swear even over the noise, I hear her gasp at the contact. It takes Dan a few moments before he pulls away. He wants to hold on but can't.

She spins him, then helps him to the board. At The Orbit they show older movies as well as newer ones. I'm not opposed to older movies, in fact a few of my favorites are up there. Dan's hand rests over exactly where I wanted it to go. He pulls down the band and frowns.

"No way, Jumanji? CGI in the nineties is awful."

"But you can't go wrong with Robin Williams," Lennox says.

My eyes lift to meet hers. I smile. "He's my favorite actor."

I'm shocked by her confession. Most teens our age have no idea who he is. Movies are my thing and I sometimes find the older generation of actors to be more tolerable.

"Mine too." Her face flushes, as she turns her attention to Alexa. She whispers something in her ear, and I swear her cheeks grow redder.

With the movie choice in place, we all head to grab food and tickets. Inside the theater there aren't many people, which is nice, but Dan ends up leading us all the way to the top.

"There were like twenty rows of empty seats, Dan." Alexa groans as we climb the steps.

"Nothing wrong with sitting in the back."

Dan turns to Lennox behind him and wiggles his brows. I catch it because I'm standing behind her. She rubs the back of her neck and leans her head from side to side.

We pile into the seats, Maya is on Dan's left, Lennox on his right, followed by me, Patty, and Alexa at the end.

We settle down into the seats. Dan lifts his arm over the back of Lennox's. She scoots as if the chair would move and our legs bump again. A jolt of something electrifies my senses.

"I'm sorry."

I've never seen her face so red before, even in the dim light it stands out. She tucks a strand of hair behind her ears and squeezes her legs together.

"Have you seen the sequel?" I ask to distract her.

"Nothing compares to the original. I mean Nick Jonas is a bonus at least," she giggles. "But no one can top Robin William's."

I catch sight of her smile reaching her eyes. I never noticed until now, but when she speaks of things that she loves her eyes widen and sparkle. I can't help but be attracted to her.

"So true. Not even The Rock can smell what he's cooking." I cringe at the ridiculous words that come from my mouth.

Lennox chuckles.

"What's your favorite Robin Williams movie?"

She sucks in a breath, taking a moment to let the question sink in. I adjust in my seat to face her, and our knees bump again. Before I can apologize, she answers, "Patch Adams."

"That's a classic," I say.

"You've got that right. What about you?"

Either she doesn't notice that our legs are touching, or she doesn't care. I don't understand why I'm so aware, but I kind of like it.

"Patch is up there, but for me it's between Good Will Hunting and Good Morning Vietnam."

"Nice choices."

Her grin never falters. Lennox seems just as impressed by my knowledge for movies as I am for her.

"You know what movie was underrated?"

She tilts her head at me as if she were really soaking up our conversation and enjoying it.

"Jack. He was so good in that one."

She lifts her soda from the cup holder, takes a sip, smiles, and says, "that one made me cry."

I imitate the voice of one of the characters when they were all singing in the treehouse, and that gets her to smile. Lennox's laughter echoes through the theater and fills me with unexpected joy. She snorts and covers her mouth, her eyes lit so bright she could light up a room.

"Hey guys, the movie is starting." Dan leans over and shoots me a glance.

He leans back and focuses on the screen. The lights fade around us. Lennox smiles at me and tilts her head down in an adorably shy way. Dan has no right to be angry with me, this isn't a date, it's a group of friends hanging out, nothing more. I check up on him, and find his hands clenched on his lap. I'm slightly annoyed by his behavior but ignore it as the opening credits roll.