His mouth opens like he’s going to say something, but then he snaps it shut, lost for words. That’s a first. But it doesn’t even matter. He already said what he needed to.
“I’ll see you around,” I say, stepping past him.
“Ella,” he calls to me, but I’m already headed for the exit. I feel him following me until we reach the front of the library. He veers straight toward Sarah.
It already felt like my heart fell out of my chest, but watching him go off to another girl makes it feel like Andy’s straight-up stomping on it. I will myself not to cry—not yet, anyway. I have too much pride. I take a deep breath and continue walking toward the door, blocking out the fact that I asked Andy to do something with me and he went running to another girl. Why did I even put myself in this position? I thought I could handle it, but the way my world is spinning right now shows me I can’t.
Just as I reach the door, I hear Andy behind me.
“Forget everything I said back there.”
“I may have retrograde amnesia but I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to forget that,” I say bitterly.
Andy smiles. “Well, try. Sarah said she’d cover for me.”
“I thought you said this isn’t your mystery to solve?”
“It isn’t. But it would be my privilege to join you.”
Chapter 19
We walk to an old movie theater at the edge of town, our hands so close they’re almost touching. I have the urge to grab his hand but resist and reach into my pocket for the paper heart instead.
A story in front of your eyes
Show these tickets at the entrance.
“You said this was it,” Andy says, watching me skim the note.
“It is. I’m just double-checking.”
“What, you think the message is going to change?” He grins at me.
“Like I said, I was just double-checking. I want to make sure I’m not leading us to the wrong place. I’ve done that enough times.”
He grabs my shoulders and stops me in my tracks. He looks down at me and for a second I think he’s stopping to kiss me. But he doesn’t lean over and his lips curl into a smirk.
“Um. What’re we doing?” I ask.
“I’m just double-checking I’m with the right girl. About five feet two. Blond. Probably has emergency heart-shaped snacks in her purse.”
“Very funny. Let’s go,” I say, walking ahead of him.
“Slightly demanding,” he calls out. “Oh, and a fast walker too!”
I smile but my back is toward him as I keep walking, so he can’t see the stupid grin on my face. Soon he catches up and passes me to beat me to the entrance. He opens the door for me, a cage of butterflies in my stomach opening with it.
At the box office there’s a girl around our age working. I recognize her from somewhere but I can’t put my finger on it. Her name tag says samantha, which seems familiar. Maybe she’s in my sister’s year at school.
I slide her the tickets that were in my paper heart, hoping she doesn’t laugh in my face. When she sees them, her eyes light up.
“Last theater on your right,” Samantha says. “It may take a moment to set up, so take your time getting comfortable.”
It reminds me of the time I got my nails done at the spa and the woman behind the front desk was expecting me.
“Whoa, we need to make a pit stop first,” Andy says. “Are you a popcorn or candy kind of girl?”
“Hmm…”
“Wrong answer,” he says.
“I didn’t give an answer.”
“It was a trick question. I’m getting both so we can put M&Ms in our popcorn. Duh.”
“That seems excessive even for you.”
“Are you joking? It’s the perfect combination of salty and sweet. You’ve never tried it?”
I shake my head.
“Well, I’d be happy to be your first.”
For a second I think he’s saying something else, and I can feel my cheeks burn. Andy doesn’t notice, though. He turns and orders the popcorn and M&Ms and one soda.
“You’re okay sharing, right?” he asks.
“I’m actually worried about your cooties,” I say sarcastically.
“Guess I won’t be kissing you after this date, then,” he says. His lips are pursed like he’s trying not to smile. “Oh, I forgot this isn’t a date,” he adds as the man behind the counter brings his order.
Andy grabs the popcorn and soda.
“Sure feels like a date,” I say, heading to the theater before I can see his reaction. I don’t have to see him to know his dimple is showing.
When we reach the theater, I see a sign that says private party on the outside. My jaw drops. It’s going to be just me and Andy?
Andy’s jaw drops too, but for a different reason.
“I forgot the M&Ms.”
“Good” is all I say.
“No way. I need you to experience the sweet and salty excessiveness.”
I laugh. “If you say so.”
“I do. Go in and enjoy the previews. I’ll be right back.”
Again, I have the urge to kiss Andy. A boy who will go back and stand in line so I can try something he likes for the first time. I enter the theater smiling widely, feeling like I’ve been transported back a hundred years. The dim lighting makes it feel like I’m looking at a blurry black-and-white photo, with old pictures flickering on the screen. The seats are also the plush vintage kind, not like the collapsible ones at the mall theater.
Where do you sit when you have an entire theater to yourself? Dead center, of course. I count the seats in each row and the total number of rows. I make my way to the middle, but as soon as I put the soda in my armrest, I start to worry that I’ll ruin the whole thing mid-movie by having to get up to use the restroom.
I make my way out of the theater, following the signs that take me toward the front again. As I’m walking, Samantha from the box office walks by in a hurry, texting something frantically on her phone. It suddenly comes to me how I recognize her. My mom has a program at her practice where high school students can follow the different doctors for the summer. Samantha was her “shadow.” There’s a picture of the two of them in the Poughkeepsie Journal.
And suddenly the idea pops into my head like a popcorn kernel in a microwave.