Page 5 of Between the Boards
She’s been dreading meeting Alessia ever since I told her the news, and she’s definitely not looking forward to seeing Zale trip over himself around Alessia either. To be honest, I’ve been dreading it too, but mostly because I know how much it’s going to hurt Kairi.
I don’t like seeing her hurt. It makes me want to step in and fix everything for her because she was the first person to welcome me back into that house, and the first person to treat me like I still belong on the team.
She took care of me when I nearly died at The Cove bonfire party two years ago, and a part of me has always felt like I owe her for that; for being a good person; for caring when no one else did.
“How about we go to the movies after the doctor?” I suggest.
She’s quiet for a moment, and when I look over, I find her staring at me as she anxiously nibbles her bottom lip with a deep frown.
“Just us?” she asks.
“Yeah.” I shrug. “By the time the movie ends everyone will already be out enjoying the evening free time anyway. And I doubt Zale will be hanging around the house with Alessia.”
She lets out a deep sigh, looking out the window again.
“Plus,” I say, dragging out the word until she looks my way again. “It’ll give us more time to come up with a strategy for the coaching sessions. Maybe we can even start today.”
She brightens at that, and a warm feeling settles in my stomach, strong enough that I have to force my eyes from her face and back to the road.
“Deal,” she says, finally relaxing back into her seat. “But I get to pick the movie.”
I laugh under my breath. “Deal.”
I’m not usuallypicky when it comes to movies—I once sat through a two-hour silent film about the circus—but put me in front of a giant screen playing a paranormal horror movie?
That’s a different story.
Kairi, on the other hand, lives for them. I’ve never met anyone who enjoys scary movies as much as she does, and somehow I forgot about that when I agreed to this. I figured she’d be scared out of her mind, grabbing onto me during thescary scenes, and all I’d have to do is close my eyes and pretend to be brave for her.
But instead, it’s me fighting the urge to grab onto her every time there’s a jump scare, while she isn’t even phased by a single one. In fact, she’s laughed at most of the scenes as if this is some sort of sick comedy.
My eyes track the movement of her hand as it lifts from the arm rest to put more popcorn in her mouth before coming back down. An overwhelming feeling of want courses through me as I stare at it, ignoring the voice screaming in my head to lace my fingers through hers.
Friends,I remind myself.We’re just friends.
By the time the movie finishes and we’re walking out of the theatre, her popcorn bag is empty and she’s taking the last sip of her soda before dropping it in the trash can, while I’m still trying to get the demonic faces from the movie out of my mind.
“Of all the movies you could have picked,” I say once my heart rate finally settles. “It had to be the one where they had a real priest blessing people on the way to our seats and a medical team on standby?”
She giggles, and the sound melts away the last of my fear the way it always does—I call it theKairi Effect.
“That was such a good movie,” she says, grinning widely. “Thanks for watching it with me. I couldn’t get the girls to go with me when it came out last week with everything going on in their lives right now.”
“You and I have very different opinions on what makes a movie good,” I mutter. “But, if it made you feel better then it was my pleasure.”
Her smile softens. “It did,” she says. “It took my mind off the fact that I basically look like Frankenstein now.”
She points to the bandage that covers the three stitches she had to get on her forehead, and I laugh.
“The doctor said it should heal without any noticeable scarring,” I reassure her, but she doesn’t look convinced. “Anyway,” I continue, changing the subject. “Let’s go get some real food.”
“A movie and food?” she says, shooting me a playful wink. “Is this a date?”
“No,” I say quickly, almost sounding offended. “I’m just hungry, and we still have to go over the love coach plan.”
Her face falls slightly, but it’s enough for me to notice and feel like absolute shit about it.
“Oh. Right,” she says, brushing off the moment a second later like it never happened, the smile returning to her face. “Let’s go to Burger Shack!”
