Finger on the Trigger to My Dear Juliet

I sat in the movie theatre, watching as Charlie fidgeted in her seat. She hadn’t said a word to me since we’d left the school, only giving me a minor thanks for paying for her movie ticket. I had no problem with doing so after seeing how upset I’d made her.

I hadn’t mean to pester her or be annoying about the yelling. I was just a little concerned, and it wasn’t that great of a reassurance when she showed up to school, her arms sore, claiming it was from gym class, when she didn’t even have gym class the day before. I even thought about mentioning it to Ronnie, but I didn’t want to think much of that after what Charlie had said to me.

"Fine then! Tell Ronnie. It's not like he noticed before, it's not like he cares-"

It had to have been something horrible if she didn’t want her best friend to know about it. I knew that Charlie didn’t want me to mention it to Ronnie, which is exactly why she became so defensive about the whole ordeal in the first place, but I just couldn’t understand what could be going on that was so bad that she didn’t want Ronnie to know. Ronnie’s not a judgmental person, he never has been, and I highly doubt anything that Charlie is going though would make Ronnie change who he is. He would still accept her and still care about her.

I looked at Charlie’s face, the bright screen dancing across her cheeks and quickly, my face felt hot as she turned towards me and I caught contact with her brown eyes. My eyes fluttered towards the ground and I swallowed a lump in my throat.

Her arm reached over and nipped me in the back of my arm. I yelped quietly and rubbed the sore spot, turning towards her, smiling as I noticed she had a small grin playing upon her face.

“What the hell was that for?” I whispered in her direction.

She shrugged, “Doesn’t matter. It’s in the past.”

Ronnie leaned over, glaring at us slightly, “Would you two shut your mouths? Some people had to pay for their own ticket, and they kind of want to watch this.”

Charlie turned away from him, a hurt expression clouding her face as she crossed her arms across her chest and looked straight forward, doing her best to pay attention to the screen in front of her. I looked over at Ronnie, who’d followed suit, only was actually watching the movie, instead of just pretending to.

My eyes flitted back over to Charlie’s whose now were watered up to the brim, her eyelashes slightly wet. I wanted to reach over the arm rest and place a comforting hand on her wrist, not necessarily ‘put the moves on her’, just let her know that I was here, and I would rather get into a small pinching war with her than watch a movie.

I looked at her lower lip as it trembled slightly and she reached an arm up into the air, swiping away a tear just before it fell. This time, I was quick enough to look away before she caught me staring again. I sat back in my seat and sighed rather loudly, wondering when the hell this stupid movie was supposed to be over.

I’d always hated going to movies with people I hardly knew. It’s such a horrible way to get to know someone. I mean, go bowling, at least you can fucking talk while you’re hanging out. Movies are for couples who can just sit there with their hands all held in a ball, sneaking stupid kisses on each other’s cheeks. Which wasn’t something I was all that into. PDA? Not my thing, thank you very much.

Although, I wouldn’t mind showing a little affection towards Charlie in a confined area, which just totally made me feel like a major creeper. I’d only known the girl for about a week or so, and I already couldn’t stop thinking about her. Everything about her just intrigued me.

The way she was so similar to Ronnie in looks, her dark hair traveling loosely down her shoulders, looking not unkempt, but I could tell she wasn’t one of those girls that had to blow dry, straighten, curl, dye, cut, whatever the fuck else all those other girls did to their hair, making it look like it was about to fall off at the ends. Her eyes were outlined only slightly in a dark liner, and her eye lashes hovered over her eyes, making her look like a little girl.

And the way she jokes around with Ronnie like he was just someone who she really didn’t care for made me wonder what the hell Ronnie stuck around for this whole time. And then I realize, he probably doesn’t know, just like I don’t know.

Maybe it’s the way her back arches slightly when she’s standing up, smoking. Maybe it’s the way her lips form around the smoke from her cigarette and her eyes seem set on watching the smoke drift away from her mouth until it’s gone in the air. Fuck, maybe it’s just the fact that she smokes.

Regardless, I can’t stop thinking about her. I want to know her. I want to find out her favorite band, I want to ask her what her favorite movie is, I want to know why she doesn’t have a best friend that’s of the female variety. I just want to know things about her, and I have this burning feeling in the back of my throat that I’m either A) not going to find out or B) it’s going to be like pulling teeth, from the mouth of an alligator.

I felt a smack in the chest as my eyes averted towards the small girly hand that was the source of all the annoyance, “What?”

“Movie’s over Max. Get your hand out of your pants,” She grinned, “You can always look her picture up on the internet at Ronnie’s.”

“Oh fuck you Charlie.” Ronnie muttered from behind me, not at all sounding like he was joking.

“Actually,” She said, stepping into the aisle, “I’m pretty sure he’s got a couple of them saved.”

I snickered slightly, “That would be lovely, but I think Ms. Jolie’s lips are bit too big for my taste.”

“Yeah,” Ronnie grinned as we stepped outside into the sun, “They’d probably swallow Max’s nub.”

Charlie burst into fits of laughter as Ronnie made jacking off motions with his fore finger and his thumb. I laughed at them, making loud, “HA HA HA.” noises, just so they were knew I didn’t think they were exactly funny, but I wasn’t pissed off about the joke.

“Yeah well,” Charlie said, sufficing her laughter and running her hand across Ronnie’s hips, snagging his package of cigarettes yet again, “At least his asshole isn’t too numb to notice that he’s missing cigarettes left and right.”

“Fuck me!” Ronnie yelled, smiling this time about the thieving of his smokes, “I swear to God Charlie, I’m gonna kick your ass.”

“Oh would you?” She asked, lighting her cigarette, “I might like it Ronnie.”

I laughed as a disgusted look came over Ronnie’s face and he grabbed his lighter and smokes back from Charlie, “That’s gross Charlie. You’re like my sister.”

Charlie turned towards me as we passed the school on our way back from the movies, “You think we look alike, Maxy?”

“Yeah, I do.” I paused, crinkling my nose, “And I’m Max, Charlie.”

An amused expression took over my face as I watched Charlie turn beet red and pull her cigarette away from her mouth, looking as if she was trying to suppress her laughter. Her breaths started coming in choked increments as she held her smoke away from her face and practically collapsed on the ground, trying to lean towards me to catch herself.

“What in the fuck are you laughing about Fallon?” Ronnie asked, a lopsided grin on his face.

“Maxy pad!” She cried out, clutching her chest as tears came to her eyes.

I, too, joined in the laughter as Ronnie started to practically cackle at Charlie’s joke. I could hardly walk straight as we headed towards our houses, stumbling across the sidewalk and slipping against the curb, falling on the ground and eating shit.

Charlie turned around, still laughing, even harder than she was before, “Are you okay?”

I nodded, grimacing as I held up my arm, which was bleeding more than it really should have.

“Jesus!” She yelled, dropping her smoke on the ground and pulling me to my feet, instantly coming back from her fight with laughter, “Holy shit. Doesn’t that hurt?”

I nodded, “Yeah. But I think I’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, why don’t you head on home Fallon?” Ronnie asked, glancing towards his house, “We’ll see you tomorrow.”

She nodded, turning towards the other side of the road and walking quickly across it.

“Why’d you tell her to leave?”

“Tony’s coming outside.” Ronnie said, “Wouldn’t want you to be embarrassed in front of your new girlfriend.”

“My new girlfriend?” I asked, “What the fuck are you talking about Ronnie?”

He turned and looked at me, a glare in his eyes, “Leave her alone, all right? She doesn’t like guys.”

“What?” I said, clutching my arm, “Is she a fucking dyke Ronnie?”

He shrugged, “I don’t fucking know. All I’m saying is, leave her alone.”

I merely ignored Ronnie’s comment and looked towards the end of the road at Charlie’s house, wondering if the yelling coming from it had anything to do with the fact she wouldn’t let herself get within a foot of a male unless it was Ronnie or me.