Of Moons, Birds, and Monsters

I was asleep, but I could still hear everything that was going on around me. Luke didn't climb over me this time, but he was drooling all over my pillow, and had his arm resting on my back. Dawn came in and woke us up to tell Luke his clothes were dry. He didn't seem to want to get up, but he did while groaning and stretching. While he went to the bathroom to change, I de-wrinkled my shirt and put on some eyeliner. The time read 10:15, but I already felt like I had been awake for two days straight.

"Are you ready to go?" Luke yawned, putting on a black and white striped beanie.

"Mhm," I nodded, grabbing my keys and pushing past him. Dawn was sitting in the recliner, watching a sappy Lifetime movie. When Luke walked past her, she looked up at me with a knowing grin.

"Don't wait up, tonight," I told her pointing a finger at her.

"Don't let her lie." Luke shook his head. "She'll probably call you later tonight to pick us up from Mikkel's house."

I shot Luke a glare, only getting a small smile in return.

"Call me if you need to," Dawn nodded. "I'll be here all night. Do you know the address to this person's house?"

"Yeah," Luke answered. "Here, I'll write it down."

Dawn threw a pen and scrap piece of paper at Luke before she redirected her gaze to me.

"Do you still have those things I gave you?" she whispered.

"No, I don't. Some kids from night school jacked them," I answered sharply. "I need to yell at you about those later when I get home."

"Oh, don't even," she snorted. "I was trying to help you out."

"Here," Luke said, interrupting my next sentence. He set down the pen and paper on the coffee table, and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Alright, I'll have my phone on me. You guys be careful."

"See you." I waved, walking towards the back door. Luke followed me, and groaned when the sun made contact with his eyes.

"Sunlight is fucking blinding," he muttered, rubbing his eyes and climbing into my car.

I put my seatbelt on and started to back out of the driveway.

"Where are we going again?"

"AMC? Cinnemark?" he shrugged. "Whatever one is closest. Movie Theater is a good idea for a date, right?"

"Yeah, the movies are good," I nodded. "So what exactly am I supposed to tell you during this?"

"Just give me some pointers. Tell me when I'm doing something wrong and whatnot."

"Okay then," I sighed. "You're doing something wrong."

"Right now?" he asked in confusion.

"Mhm. Don't ever make your date drive her car. You're the one that's supposed to have the ride," I explained.

"Duh," he scoffed. "I'm not going to ask a girl out until I know for sure Jack is going to let me borrow his car."

"I still think you're worrying about this way too much. You should wait until you're already planning on asking somebody out."

"I kind of already am," he said slowly, leaning his head against the window. "Maybe, I don't know. She seems pretty cool."

"Who is she?" I asked nervously.

“She’s in one of my classes,” he uncomfortably shrugged. “I’ve talked to her maybe twice. She’s really chill.”

My muscles grew tense, causing my grip on the steering wheel to tighten.

“What’s her name?” I asked, adding a bit more pressure on the gas pedal.

“I don’t really remember,” he admitted, scratching the top of his head. “It starts with an ‘A’, I think.”

“That’s pretty cool.” I tried to smile, but it came out feeling like a thousand needles stabbing the corners of my mouth.

It was silent in the car for a little while. The conversation began to pick back up when Luke started to go through my booklet of CDs.

“You never gave me my present,” Luke said, unzipping the giant CD holder.

“What present?” I asked, trying to remember when I said I was going to give him anything.

“When you came to school the other day you told me you had a present for me,” he recapped.

“OH!” I gasped. He was talking about the money I said I was going to give back to him. “Yeah, now I remember. When we go back to my house later, I’ll give it to you.”

“It’s okay; you don’t have to give it to me this weekend. My birthday is coming up.”

“How old are you going to be?”

“Seventeen.”

“You’re not seventeen yet?!” I asked in shocked.

“No. Are you?” he questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“I’ve been seventeen for three months!” I exclaimed. “I didn’t know I was older than you.”

“Not by much,” he slightly shrugged.

“So, you’re still sixteen. You really are a squid!” I laughed, punching his shoulder.

“Only for another week,” he said defensively. “By the end of the camping trip, I’ll be seventeen.”

“Is that your birthday celebration?”

“Yeah, kind of,” he nodded, flipping a page in the loaded CD case. “You’re going, right?”

“I’m planning on it, yeah,” I answered. “Who’s all going?”

“Me, Jack, Izzy, Kevin, Mason, maybe Keir, Danny, and Scotty,” he listed, squinting his eyes to read the small script on a CD.

“Quite a few people,” I mumbled under my breath.

“Oh, HELL YEAH!” Luke shouted, making me jump. He pulled a CD out of the sleeve, and put it in the CD player. “I’m sorry, but this is my jam.”

We both intently stared at the CD player, waiting for the first track to play. I was curious as to what he put in, and he was impatient for it to play.

“A long, long time ago, I can still remember how that music used to make me smile,” the male singer said softly. I instantly knew the song, but waited a second before I questioned Luke about his selection.

“And I knew if I had my chance that I could make those people dance,” the song continued. “And maybe they’d be happy for a while. But every February made me shiver with every paper I’d deliver. Bad news on the doorstep, I couldn’t take one more step. I can’t remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride. But something touched me deep inside, the day the music died.”

“Don McLean?” I asked with a smile.

“Hell yeah, Don McLean!” Luke firmly nodded.

“So bye, bye Miss American Pie. Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry. And them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing this will be the day that I die. This will be the day that I die,” Don sang.

“Did you write the book of love, and do you have faith in God above if the Bible tells you so?” I sang along. American Pie was one of my all time favorites because not only was it catchy, it was about one of my favorite artists, Buddy Holly. “Now do you believe in rock and roll? Can music save your mortal soul? And can you teach me to dance real slow?”

“Well, I know that you’re in love with him, ‘cause I saw you dancing in the gym,” Luke cut in, sounding a lot better than he did when he attempted drunk singing. “Man, I dig those rhythm blues. I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck, with a pink carnation and a pick up truck, but I knew I was out of luck the day the music died. I started singing…”

“Bye, bye Miss American Pie,” we sang together. “Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry. And them good old boys were drinking whisky and rye singing this will be the day that I die. This will be the day that I die.”

The rest of the ride was dedicated to singing the rest of the eight minute classic song. Luke and I took turns singing, and joined forces when it was time to sing the chorus. The whole time, though, I could se Mason’s fat face in my head saying ‘Couple, couple, couple. Rizzle and Squid, Rizzle and Squid. SQUID KIDS EVERYWHERE.’ I couldn’t decide who was the crazier person; Mason, for saying those things, or me, for picturing him in my head saying it over and over again. Probably me.

I parked the car in the empty parking lot. There was only six other cars there. Four of them probably belonged to employees, if not all six of them. The only people I could think of that would go see a movie at ten in the morning were moms with kids who weren’t old enough to go to school yet.

Luke and I walked towards the front doors, squinting from the blinding sunlight.

“Do you have any idea on what you want to see?” he asked, shielding his eyes with one hand while the other one was shoved in his pocket.

“Not a clue,” I answered. “I don’t even know what movies are out.”

“Zombieland, The Invention of Lying, Whip it,” he listed, looking up at the chart that had Movies times and names. “Toy Story 2 is in 3-D? Why would they do that? It’s already been out for, like, six years.”

“No idea,” I shrugged. “I don’t really care what we watch. Do you?”

“Mmm, not really. Zombieland looks funny, though. It’s got Woody Harelson in it.”

“Woody Harelson is amazing,” I commented. “Is that the one you want to see?”

“Better than Toy Story,” Luke chuckled. “I’ve seen that movie a million times. I don’t even know what ‘Whip It’ is, but I think I don’t want to see it.”

“Zombieland it is,” I nodded.

Luke walked up to the booth, pulling out a twenty from his pocket.

“Welcome to Cinnemark, what film are you interested in seeing today?” the young worker recited, slightly rolling her eyes looking at the computer.

“Uhh, two students for Zombieland,” Luke answered.

The girl quickly looked up at him. She smiled and tapped her wrists on the countertop.

“Hey, Luke,” she said slyly.

Luke looked completely dumbfounded. I felt lost and confused, and looked at her name tag.

Amanda.

“Hey, I didn’t know you worked here,” Luke smiled.

“Yeah, lucky me, right?” she snorted. “I just started two weeks ago.”

“Still aiming to buy those skates?” Luke asked.

“You remembered,” she nodded, clearly impressed. “It’s no use now, though. It’s already starting to get cold. But, what movie did you say?”

“Zombieland,” he repeated.

“Total is $7.50.”

“For two tickets?” he asked with raised eyebrows.

“Nope, one,” she said, printing out two tickets and slipping them under the glass.

Luke traded the twenty dollar bill, a confused look still on his face.

“Yours was free,” I whispered to him.

“Oh!” he gasped, finally getting what was going on. “Sweet!”

“$12.50 is your change,” she winked, sliding the money towards Luke. “Enjoy your movie.”

“Thanks,” Luke nodded.

I grabbed him by his elbow and started pulling him towards the entrance while he pocketed his money.

“Dude! That was her!” Luke exclaimed, pointing back to the ticket booth.

“Yeah, I kind of realized that,” I tried to say in a way that would block out the rudeness in my voice. “She seems cool.”

“Uh, yeah! I got in free!” he cheered. “Hey, do you want to split an Icee with me.”

“Sure,” I answered bitterly.

“White cherry?”

“Go for it.”

I was thankful that the person who ran the concession stand was an obese guy with a beard and a bad cough. At least Luke’s eyes would shrivel into their sockets instead of bulge out they did when he saw Amanda. Luke paid him and took the drink while I grabbed two straws.

“Sweet, we have the place to ourselves!” Luke grinned as we walked into the completely empty theater. “Seat preference?”

“Middle seats in the middle row,” I answered, following him up the stairs.

We were ten minutes early, so we had to watch all the movie trivia that were on before the previews started. For some reason, I had the urge to punch Luke in the throat. I was perfectly fine, but I had to keep my arms crossed so I wouldn’t accidentally knock his Adam’s apple through the back of his neck.

“Doin’ good so far?” he asked, taking a sip out of the Icee.

“Mhm,” I hummed miserably, keeping my attention fixed on the screen.

“Sweet.”

The movie started playing, and I was immediately grossed out. I guess the title and rating should have given it away that Zombieland was a gruesome horror/comedy flick. I never saw a preview for it, but was horrified when a group of zombies started chowing down on a guy. The kid’s rules of survival were pretty funny, though.

“Alright, I think we’ve hit the 45 minute mark,” I said while Woody Harelson cursed the twinkie-deprived Hostess truck. “This were you’re going to want to pull the arm-around-shoulder move.”

“The stretch?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “No way. That’s lame.”

“What? No! You have to! Its classic!”

“No way! It’ll make me look like a total douche,” he argued with a laugh.

“Alright then. Do it your way.”

Luke lifted his arm to wrap it around my shoulders, and I blocked him.

“When a girl does that, don’t try it again for the rest of the night,” I told him.

“And what is she does let me?”

“Then keep it there.”

He continued to wrap his arm around m shoulder. I was comfortable, and for once, warm. I forgot to grab a jacket. Theaters were always freezing. Luke started laughing when I quickly grabbed his hand to cover my eyes. There was a fat zombie in a grocery store with blood gurgling out of his mouth.