I bet she looks the same way at Garden Club, and Otter Club.
I can’t wait to see her at hockey.
I can’t. I want her smiling like that while she watches us—me—play. No, I want her even more excited. I want her yelling and cheering and…laughing and singing along.
If I’m going to fucking sing and dance, I want to look to the stands and see Nora singing and shaking it with me.
“But the little girl calls Sullykitty,” someone calls out. “She doesn’t think he’s a dog!”
People laugh.
“That’s true!”
“He should have been a dog,” the first guy says. “Movies with dogs are always the best.”
“I don’t think Old Yeller was!” someone shouts.
More laughter and some groans.
I finally can’t stay quiet as I look out over the group. They’re moving about, returning to the snack table, everyone just calling out pieces of conversation, some smaller groups are having their own conversations the rest of us can’t hear.
I step closer to Nora. “Have theyallseen the movie?” I ask.
She looks up at me. “Of course. They watched it before they got here.”
I frown, thinking that over. “They watched the moviebeforemovie night?”
“Yes, how else would they be able to discuss it?”
“You intended to just discuss it?” I ask, stupidly.
“Yes. With all the conversation everyone always wants to have, it takes us forever to get through a movie when we’re stopping and starting it as we go?—”
“You stop and start it as people want totalkduring the movie?” I ask.
“Well, no. Not anymore. We did that the first two times, but then I realized it was better to just let them talk. That was the fun part.”
I blink at her. “The fun part ofmovie nightwas thetalking?”
“Of course. Anyone can watch a movie. By themselves, in groups, with one other person. But if you want to discuss it, you need a group that has all seen it. So we all watch the movie ahead of time and then get together to talk about it.”
I look over my shoulder at the screen. “But…the screen.”
“Sometimes we play a clip or something if someone wants to rewatch a certain thing for the sake of the discussion or to make a point,” she says. “But we couldn’t get the movie working on Bill’s laptop tonight. So that’s just decoration.”
She grins, truly unbothered.
“This sounds like a book club but with movies,” I say.
She nods. “Yeah, it’s a lot like book club.”
“Why don’t you just have a book club?”
“We do have a book club.”
Of course they do.
“All Dogs Go to Heavenis definitely the best,” someone is yelling from the back.
