CHAPTER Twenty-Seven
The six of us stand in the lobby of the movie theater—Russ, Mattie, Rollins, Anna, Samantha, and me. It’s a strange grouping, and there are a few moments of awkward silence as we try to think of something to talk about. My mind keeps returning to Scotch, but I can’t bring him up in front of Russ and Anna.
“Well, shall we?” Russ asks Mattie finally, gesturing toward the ticket window. Russ digs out his wallet and retrieves a twenty-dollar bill.
The rest of us pay for our own tickets and head to the snack counter. Anna announces that she’ll buy the popcorn. Samantha gets some strawberry Twizzlers. I buy a small Mountain Dew, allowing myself a little caffeine to stay awake during the movie. We carry our loot into the theater.
Russ and Mattie take seats up front, where they can kick their legs up on the railing. They look like a real couple already, laughing and sharing popcorn. I feel a pang of jealousy when I have to follow Rollins and Anna to the back row, where Rollins and I usually sit so we can make fun of movies without people yelling at us. Samantha trails behind me.
Anna edges her way down the row first, and Rollins goes next. I take a seat on his other side and slouch down. My skirt rides up embarrassingly high, and I yank it so it covers my thighs. Samantha flops into the chair on my other side, already chewing on a Twizzler.
The lights dim, and the previews come up. Rollins has the popcorn in his lap, and I’m conscious of every time Anna reaches over to grab a handful. I watch out of the corner of my eye to make sure her hand doesn’t linger and brush against his. They both seem oblivious to my angst, though. Slowly, my attention moves away from Anna’s and Rollins’s hands dipping repeatedly into the popcorn.
Onscreen, a beautiful girl with dark brown hair is in the shower, lathering shampoo into her hair. Her eyes are closed, and she doesn’t see the shadow that moves across the bright orange shower curtain. She starts to sing a pop song, belting the lyrics over the sound of the cascading water.
Mattie, several rows ahead of me, hides her face against Russ’s shoulder. He raises his arm and wraps it around her.
After her shower, the girl in the movie throws open the curtain and steps into the bathroom. She reaches for a towel and wraps it around her. Through the steamy bathroom mirror, we see her take a step toward the closed door. She reaches out her hand, gets ready to open it.
Someone in the front shouts, “Don’t do it!”
But of course she does.
She opens the door, and there the killer is, wearing a clown mask.
The girl screams, takes a step backward, stumbles on the bath mat, and falls. We see the shiny steel raise into the air. And lower. Again and again.
Without thinking, I reach over and grab Rollins’s sleeve. My eyes are glued to the screen.
The last shot is of the knife, speckled with dots of red. Then the title sequence begins. My heart is thumping under my shirt, even though I’ve seen the previous Scar movies and anticipated what was going to happen. There’s something about seeing a movie in the theater, as opposed to my own living room. Makes it scarier. More delicious.
I’m just about to lean over and tell Rollins as much when I realize I’m not the only one grabbing on to him. On his other side, Anna is clutching Rollins’s bicep and averting her eyes from the screen. And Rollins has a half smile on his face, as if he’s enjoying it.
I choose this moment to go to the ladies’ room. I’m so upset, I almost trip over Samantha while I’m rushing to get out of the theater. I hurry out the door, and the brightness of the hallway makes me squint. I’m disoriented for a moment, but then I see the sign for the women’s room.
Inside, I take my time. My face is wet, and I realize I’ve been crying, which just makes me even angrier because some girl grabbing Rollins’s arm is nothing to cry about. I unroll a few squares of toilet paper and use it to wipe my face off, then flush it down the toilet.
When I open the stall door, I come face-to-face with Mattie, her brow furrowed with worry. “I saw you running out of the theater. I wanted to make sure everything was okay. Are you all right?”
I sniff, hoping she can’t tell I’ve been crying. I’m supposed to be the tough one. I’m supposed to take care of her. But look at me now, standing here in my too-tight pink tank top and too-short skirt, crying over a guy. I feel like I don’t even know who I am anymore. I knew I shouldn’t have worn this stupid outfit.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I say, pushing past her to the sink. “I guess I’m just not really in the mood for a scary movie.”
After drying my hands, I throw the wadded-up paper towel in the trash. I turn around to look at Mattie, who’s folded her arms across her chest.
“Don’t give me that crap. What happened?”
I sigh in exasperation. “It’s just—Rollins and I always go to these movies together, and all of a sudden Anna’s in the picture. He says she’s just a friend, but it seems like she’s always around. I know she likes him . . .”
Mattie squeezes my shoulder. “You know Rollins isn’t into Anna. He’s been in love with you ever since he laid eyes on you, practically. A blind person could see that.”
Her words confirm what Rollins has already said to me, but I can’t accept them, for some reason. Maybe it’s because Rollins said yes to Anna’s invitation when it should be obvious to anyone that it would hurt me. Maybe it’s the expression on his face when she clung to his arm during the murder scene.
Mattie pulls me toward the door. “Now can I get back to my date? Russ threatened to eat all of the popcorn if I was gone too long.”
I resist. “You go ahead. I just need to be alone for a few minutes.” In case I start crying again, I think, but there’s no way I’m going to say that out loud.
Mattie gives me a reproachful look but lets go of me. “Okay. Don’t take too long, though. Feeling sorry for yourself isn’t going to make this situation any better.”
She leaves me, but her words remain. Mattie is right, of course. It’s not going to do me any good to sit here in the bathroom and bawl all night.
I take a deep breath.
Then I straighten my skirt and walk out of the bathroom, wobbling a little on the high heels Samantha and Mattie insisted I wear.
Anna manages to refrain from touching Rollins for the rest of the movie. Not that I’m keeping track or anything. The lights go on, and I stand up quickly, grabbing my empty cup so I can dump it in the trash on the way out.
Russ and Mattie wait for us at the front of the theater.
Samantha yawns. “That was boring.”
“It was okay,” Russ replies, “but it’s no Evil Dead II.”
Rollins slaps Russ on the back. “I knew there was a reason I liked you.”
Mattie holds her cell phone, scrolling through messages. From the look on her face, I can tell something’s wrong. I let Rollins and Anna head toward the exit without me so I can see what’s going on. Russ follows, claiming he has to use the bathroom.
I touch Mattie’s elbow.
She looks up. “Regina texted me.”
Samantha suddenly looks very alert.
“And?”
Mattie looks at us with wide eyes.
“Scotch is awake.”