Suga Babies

Dade

The lights finally went up in the movie theater and my heart slowed to a regular rate. I stood up and Liliana followed. We left the movie theater, silent. I was thinking about how great the movie was and how I hoped Jess hadn't seen us together. I mean, Jess is alright with Liliana, they didn't try to kill each other. But I didn't feel like talking about it.

We walked into the lobby but found that the parents weren't done with their movie yet. There used to be a small cafe thing in the lobby so they had a sitting section. We moved over there and watched people leave. I studied the old cafe section. It was now turned into a place for air hockey and Dance Dance Revolution. A couple of preteens were battling at DDR and a clump of college students were gathered around the table, yelling at the contestants.

It was awkward between Cat and I, sitting at that table not saying a word. We didn't speak a word during the movie and after, the same. We'd bumped into each other several times and we pulled away, as if touching each other burned. It didn't, not literally. But it was as if singed the very skin that brushed against each other.

I wanted to say something. Like, hey, what did you think of the movie? Or maybe, hey, why the hell do you hate me so much? I wanted to ask her why she'd let us get into this situation if she couldn't stand the sight of me. I wanted to grab her by the arms and shake some sense into that stupid head of hers. She got us into this and she's acting like it's my fault!

I shook my head slightly. I had to stop being so negative. I mean, okay, so it wasn't her fault either. But it was so much easier to blame her than it was to try to blame these two unknown mysterious figures that Cat calls her friends. She was someone I could hate easily because of how different we were.

I was an athlete, she was a ghost to the school. I had friends that hung around the school and made high honor roll, she had friends that stole and put innocent people on parole. I loved my parents, my life and okay, maybe not Beverly Hills but everyone resents the place they grew up in, just a little. I was addicted to sleeping pills and what, she got in trouble once? There was nothing for us to talk about even if we did want to.

"So..." Cat broke the silence first.

"Good movie." I stated awkwardly.

"Yeah." she replied. The silence fell over us once again, but didn't last long because we saw our parents heading towards us.

"So, yeah, amazing ending, right?" she asked in a fake sunny bright voice.

"Totally awesome. Feel like going to see it again soon?" I asked as Mom and Dad smiled as they approached, Jose and Nikki following.

"Of course!" she smiled but I saw the pained look in her eyes from faking.

"Ready to go home and begin your punishment?" Dad said to me. I groaned and rolled my eyes. Cat put her hand on my arm and looked at me, causing me to suppress a shudder at the cold, undeniable hatred in her eyes. I smiled weakly and got up, following Mom and Dad to the car. I sat in the back and listened to them talk about how cute Max was and how they wished KW and Carol should've patched things up at the end.

I couldn't keep my thoughts off of Cat, which was odd because I thought I hated her.

Three Days Later

Cat and I showed up where we were supposed to start our community service. We were working at some ice cream social for the Veteran's Home on the outskirts of the city. Mom dropped me off and told me to be nice to the old folks. Mom's a crackhead, and a ninja, as Cat mentioned. But I love her.

"So, Dade, you'll be scooping the ice cream. And Liliana, you'll be putting the stuff on top." the bouncy red-haired organizer named Ana explained, handing us both a green smock. We gingerly put it on and I rubbed the back of my neck as we waited, leaning against the wall. It took about a good 15 minutes before a steady stream of senior veterans walked through our line.

Halfway through, Mr. Jensen, a frail old man, couldn't decide on chocolate or strawberry, so I suggested both. He smiled at me and then moved onto Cat. He couldn't decide on sprinkles or whipped cream. That made an already irritated Cat even more pissed off. You could see it in the way she threw on both sprinkles and whipped cream carelessly. Ana groaned and stepped over to Cat, whispering in her ear. Cat locked her jaw and forced a smile.

"Young man, that's TOO much!" came from someone in front of me. I looked down into the Styrofoam bowl and saw the four scoops I'd added into it.

"Sorry." I mumbled. It was gonna be a long day if I kept getting distracted like this.