one
Tate
October
All I’m saying is, you got to pick the movie last time.” I shove the popcorn bowl into Fletcher’s chest, sit down next to him, and pull the blanket over my lap, leaving Fletcher’s legs bare.
“I’m pretty sure you’re the one who wanted to watchHow to Lose A Guy in Ten Days… again. If it were my choice, we would’ve watched—”
“Miracle. I know. It’s the only movie you ever want to watch.”
“Because it’s a classic.” He throws popcorn into his mouth. “It’s one of the reasons I wanted to be a hockey player.”
Bits of popcorn fly out of his mouth as he talks, and I grimace.
“Next time, Fletch, finish your popcorn before speaking. I don’t want to clean chewed-up popcorn off my blanket again.”
“Well, I currently don’t have any blanket since you’re hogging it all, so I guess you don’t have to worry about that.”
He tosses more popcorn in his mouth and then tugs at the side of the blanket closest to him, pulling it onto his legs and leaving one of mine uncovered.
“I’m gonna start making you bring your own blanket,” I mumble. “And I’m picking the movie tonight. Even if I did pick it last time.”
“Ha! So, you admit that it’s my turn to pick.”
“Too bad, the movie’s already starting.”
“But you just said—”
“Shhh. Don’t you know it’s not nice to talk during a movie?”
I scoot closer to Fletcher on the couch so that we can share the blanket and grab some popcorn from the bowl. I lean forward, grab some Raisinets, and mix them with my popcorn before throwing them in my mouth.
“You’re disgusting,” he whispers. “Raisins with popcorn?”
Fletcher’s made fun of me about that for as long as I can remember. I don’t even know when I started eating Raisinets with my popcorn during a movie, but I’m fairly certain I got the idea from my dad.
It’s one of the few things I did get from him. Movies were the only time we really spent together, and because of his work schedule, it was limited. As I grew older, the movie nights slowly disappeared.
I suppose it didn’t bother me too much, though, because I always had Fletcher. If I was sad or bored or my parents weren’t home for dinner, I was at his house.
The chaos of his family made me forget the quietness of my own. I mattered over there in a way I didn’t matter to my parents.
I wouldn’t change a thing about how I grew up, though. Without my parents' busy work schedules, I wonder if I would have ever met Fletcher. And if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have my best friend.
To be honest, I wouldn’t have any friends.
“Do you like any movies that aren’t rom-coms?” He rests his head on the back of my couch, looking over at me.
“We literally watched a horror movie a couple of weeks ago.”
“That’s because we had to choose something together for our birthdays. Every time we watch a movie, just the two of us, if it’s your week to pick, it’s a rom-com.”
“That’s so not true!” I argue. “What aboutBig Hero 6? That’s not a rom-com.”
“It doesn’t count if it’s one of your favorite childhood movies.”
“I think you just like complaining when, in reality, you know my movie choices areelite.”
