Chapter 77: Horror Movie

Sara and Emily had stopped ahead of us because an employee was asking what they wanted during the movie.

By the time Gwen and I reached them, Sara was already studying the choices before deciding, “Popcorn.

Large.” Emily looked at her and reminded her, “We just ate.” Sara simply replied, “It’s a movie.” Emily stared at her.

“That doesn’t answer anything.” Sara shrugged.

“You can’t watch a movie without popcorn.”

I looked toward the employee and told him, “Bring whatever they want.” Sara immediately turned toward me and said, “Don’t say that.” When I asked why, she told me, “Because you’ll somehow find a way to turn popcorn into another expensive gift.” I stared at her for a moment before asking, “How exactly would I even do that?” Sara thought about it before admitting, “I don’t know. You’d find a way.”

A few minutes later, we entered the screening room.

It wasn’t one of the largest halls in the building, but it was still much bigger than four people needed.

Rows of wide seats stretched around us, almost all completely empty.

The center seats had already been prepared with our drinks, popcorn, and a few folded blankets.

Sara stopped near the entrance and looked around before saying, “This feels ridiculous.” Emily agreed, “A little.” Gwen walked past both of them and said, “You get used to it.” I looked at her and reminded her, “You’ve been to one private screening.” She sat down before answering, “I’m adapting quickly.”

Sara immediately took the seat beside Gwen, while Emily sat on Sara’s other side.

That left the seat beside Gwen for me.

Gwen noticed me looking at the arrangement before smiling slightly and tapping the empty seat.

“Problem?” I shook my head and answered, “No,” before sitting beside her.

The lights hadn’t even dimmed yet when Sara opened her popcorn.

Emily immediately reminded her we’d just eaten, but Sara ignored her until the lights slowly began fading and the screen brightened.

Before the movie properly started, I looked toward the three of them and said, “Last chance.

We can still choose something else.” Sara immediately refused, Emily shook her head, and Gwen leaned back comfortably before telling me, “Start it.”

I gave the employee near the entrance a small nod.

He left the room, the doors closed, and the movie began.

For the first fifteen minutes, nothing particularly interesting happened.

Sara continued eating while occasionally whispering something to Emily.

Gwen watched quietly beside me, and I found myself paying almost as much attention to their reactions as I did to the movie.

Then the atmosphere began changing.

Sara slowly stopped eating, Emily’s hand remained inside her popcorn without moving, and Gwen leaned slightly farther back into her seat.

I couldn’t help smiling.

Without looking away from the screen, Gwen quietly warned me, “Don’t.” I replied, “I didn’t say anything.” She immediately answered, “I can see you smiling.”

A few minutes later, the first sudden sound hit.

Sara jumped enough for Emily to notice immediately.

Emily smiled and reminded her, “I thought old movies weren’t scary.” Sara straightened herself before saying, “That wasn’t fear.” Emily asked what it was, and Sara replied, “Surprise.” Emily smiled.

“Of course.” Sara narrowed her eyes at her and said, “You jumped too.” Emily immediately defended herself.

“I moved.” Sara stared at her.

“That’s literally the same thing.” Gwen covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

The movie continued, and after that the scenes became noticeably darker.

Sara gradually stopped eating altogether, while Emily became much quieter.

Gwen still seemed mostly fine until one scene suddenly changed without warning.

Her hand immediately grabbed my sleeve, and she froze the moment she realized what she’d done.

I looked down at her hand before looking toward her.

Gwen followed my gaze, slowly released my sleeve, and warned, “Don’t say anything.” I answered, “I wasn’t going to.” She kept looking at me for another second before finally returning her attention to the screen.

A few minutes later, the movie reached a part that seemed to affect all three of them.

The room had gone almost completely quiet before a sudden scene filled the screen and a sharp sound exploded through the speakers.

Gwen immediately grabbed my hand, Sara jerked hard enough that some popcorn fell onto her dress, and Emily jumped as well.

Unlike before, Emily didn’t even try pretending she wasn’t scared.

She stared at the screen for several seconds before suddenly standing and picking up her popcorn and drink.

I looked toward her and asked, “Where are you going?” Instead of answering properly, she walked around the seats and sat down directly on my other side.

I looked at her before pointing out, “There were a lot of empty seats.” Emily kept her eyes firmly on the screen.

“This one is better.” I almost smiled but decided saying anything else would probably make her move just to prove a point, so I returned my attention to the movie.

The seating arrangement had completely changed now.

Emily was directly on my left, Gwen was sitting on my right while still holding my hand, and Sara was sitting on Gwen’s other side.

Sara slowly looked past Gwen toward Emily, then at me, before finally looking back at Gwen.

She leaned closer and whispered something into Gwen’s ear.

I couldn’t hear what Sara said over the movie, but Gwen apparently heard it perfectly because she immediately turned toward her.

Sara glanced toward me once before looking back at Gwen, and Gwen’s face slowly became red.

For several seconds, Gwen didn’t do anything.

She looked toward me, then toward Sara, and finally toward the movie again.

I could almost see her arguing with herself before she finally turned toward me and quietly called, “Chris?” I looked at her and answered, “Hm?” Her face became even redder before she asked, “Can I sit on your lap?” For a second, I only looked at her because that wasn’t the question I’d expected.

Gwen quickly explained, “Sara can’t move any closer while I’m sitting here.”

That explained whatever Sara had whispered.

I glanced toward Sara, who had suddenly become extremely interested in whatever was happening on the screen.

I looked back at Gwen and simply answered, “Sure.”

Gwen hesitated for another second before standing.

I moved farther back into the seat to give her enough room, and she carefully sat on my lap before adjusting the skirt of her navy gown so it didn’t get caught between us.

Her face was still red, and she deliberately kept her attention on the screen as though the seating arrangement was completely normal.

I didn’t comment on it.

The moment Gwen’s old seat became empty, Sara slid into it without wasting any time.

I looked toward her, and Sara noticed immediately before asking, “What?” I shook my head.

“Nothing.” She nodded once.

“Good.” Emily glanced across me toward Sara before smiling slightly.

“So that was what you whispered?” Sara ignored her completely, while Gwen covered part of her face with one hand and said, “Can we please just watch the movie?” I smiled.

“Of course.”

The movie continued, and the new arrangement apparently worked much better for everyone.

Sara was now sitting close enough to grab my right arm whenever something happened, Emily had already claimed the other side, and Gwen remained sitting on my lap.

Whenever the movie became tense, I could feel Gwen stiffen slightly.

When something suddenly appeared on the screen, she would sometimes lean back against me before realizing what she’d done.

The first few times she immediately moved forward again, but after a while she seemed to stop thinking about it.

About twenty minutes later, another frightening scene appeared without warning.

Sara jumped and immediately grabbed my right arm while Emily caught the other one almost at the same time.

Gwen looked toward Sara’s hand, then across me toward Emily’s, before looking down at herself.

I noticed and quietly asked, “Everything okay?” Gwen immediately answered, “Yes.” I looked at her for another second.

“You look annoyed.” She denied it.

“I’m not.” Sara glanced toward her and whispered with a small smile, “You have the best seat. You can’t complain.” Gwen’s face immediately became red again.

“I wasn’t complaining.” Emily started laughing quietly, making Gwen look toward her and tell her, “Stop.” Emily tried to defend herself by saying, “I’m not saying anything.” Gwen pointed out, “You’re laughing.” Emily smiled.

“That’s different.”

I decided staying out of that conversation was probably the safest choice.

The movie continued for nearly another hour.

Sara eventually stopped claiming it wasn’t frightening and changed her description to “creepy.” Emily remained quieter than usual, though she never moved back to her original seat, and Gwen didn’t move either.

At some point, Gwen seemed to completely forget that sitting on my lap had originally been about giving Sara another seat.

She simply stayed there, occasionally reaching for her drink or whispering something whenever Sara reacted too strongly.

I didn’t remind her.

If she was comfortable, there wasn’t any reason to make things awkward.

By the time the credits finally appeared, the lights slowly began brightening again.

For several seconds, nobody moved.

I looked between them before asking, “Good movie?” Sara nodded and answered, “Yeah,” while Emily agreed that it had been good.

Gwen looked around as though she had only just remembered exactly where she’d been sitting for most of the movie.

Her face slowly became red again before she stood from my lap and carefully fixed her dress.

I decided not to mention anything, although Sara apparently didn’t have the same idea.

She looked toward Gwen with a small smile and asked, “Comfortable?” Gwen immediately gave her a warning look.

“Don’t.” Sara laughed but thankfully left it there.

Emily looked around the empty screening room before asking, “Does anyone else suddenly not want to walk through an empty cinema?” Sara’s smile disappeared almost immediately.

She looked toward the closed doors before slowly turning back toward Emily.

“…I wasn’t thinking about that.”

I stood and looked toward the three of them.

“Don’t worry.

I’ll go first.” Sara immediately pointed toward me and warned, “If you hide around a corner and try to scare us, I’m never talking to you again.” I told her, “I wasn’t planning to.” Emily collected her clutch and carefully checked both earrings before standing.

“I’m staying close to someone.” Sara immediately moved beside her and said, “Same.”

I shook my head before starting toward the door while the three of them followed much closer than when we’d entered.

Apparently renting an empty cinema for a horror movie had one problem I hadn’t considered.

Once the movie ended, the empty cinema became part of the experience.