The Princess of Movie Palace, by POTR
a/n: So, the second I saw the prompt for Video Girl, this was the idea that jumped into my head. It's kind of pointless and a little weird, and I don't even like it that much. The title just kind of popped into my head and I'm NOT going to include the ending I originally wrote. So, here we go!
Disclaimer: Wait, what? Since when do I do disclaimers? Because, last I checked, this is a fanfiction website and posting a fanfiction kind of screams I DON'T OWN THIS.
8. "Video girl rocked my world for a whole two seconds." - Video Girl
"Yeah, no—no, I told you—yes, they've got—JOE!" Nick hissed into the phone. "I can't get any new releases… yes. Yes, I'm aware that it's possible to get a new release… No, I can't, Joe, because we NEVER bring them back on time. EVER!"
As he shouted the word 'ever,' the young Lucas became aware of a mother and her four-year-old son staring at him. He quickly stalked away from the family section, trying hard not to drop the stack of movies Kevin had asked him to pick up.
"Joe—Joe, I'm hanging up," he warned. And then paused when his brother asked him to wait. "…yes, I've heard of it. Yes… yes… Sorry, I can't. I'm only sixteen, remember?" He forced out a hollow laugh at Joe's frustrated growl. "Love you, too."
He shut the cell phone with more force than necessary, growling a little himself. He turned down the comedy aisle, searching desperately for something his brother would like.
He hated Movie Night, a so-called family tradition started by their mother. HATED it. Always had and always would. And he hated it even more now that he could drive because he was now stuck with the actual errand of getting movies. Everyone liked something different, so it was INCREDIBLY difficult to settle down and pick something. They were each allowed a movie or two of their choice, but they all tried to pick one to watch together, which was murder.
His parents wanted something chick-y and full of gushy romance. Not the tolerable stuff, either. Stuff like The Notebook and Titanic. Kevin was up for anything, mostly because he was a people-pleaser, but he preferred supernatural stuff with a lot of animals, making things like Harry Potter and animated Disney films right up his alley. Joe, of course, lived for comedy, and Frankie, surprisingly enough, had a thing for thrillers. Nick himself liked action, but could stomach little of the gore his parents didn't know Frankie had become accustomed to.
The one and only time they had ever agreed on a movie and been satisfied was Pirates of the Caribbean, and that ship had sailed eight movie nights ago (for the seventh time).
(Geddit? Pirates? Ship? No…?)
In any case, someone always ended up sulking and leaving half-way through the movie, which ended up in one or even both parents leaving to have a 'talk' with whoever it was. The movie would be put on pause for a minimum of thirty minutes, leaving the others to debate whose freaking fault it was this time that Joe/Frankie/Kevin wasn't enjoying themselves. Finally, by the time the movie was played again, no one would remember or care about the plot and they would all simply sit there, fuming silently.
Fed up with the whole idea, Nick pulled a random movie off the shelf and added it to his stack. Making sure that he didn't pick up anything R- or PG-17-rated, he grabbed another and moved on. He grabbed a cheesy-looking romance for his parents and the mildest thriller he could find for Frankie and, finally, could look for something for himself.
This, surprisingly, was the most difficult part of the trip. Nothing really seemed worth the six bucks it would cost to rent. Some looked good, but their ratings prevented him from adding them to his stack. Others looked too… horror-y for his tastes. He paced up and down in front of the Action shelf for hat felt like an hour. He groaned with frustration.
"Are you having trouble finding something?"
Nick jerked and looked around, but found that he was standing alone in the aisle. After a moment, he realized that a brown head of hair was bobbing in and out of view in front of him as the owner, obviously an employee, shelved movies on the next aisle.
"Well?"
"Uh, not exactly," Nick said hurriedly. "Just… looking."
"Ah," the other person said. He realized that the voice was familiar—and definitely female. "Can't decide?"
"How can you tell?" he asked, absentmindedly picking up a movie about a window. He set it down again when he realized that it, somehow, had warranted an R rating.
"You've been shuffling around over there since I was at the other end of my aisle," said the employee. At a glance, Nick saw that they were nearing the end of the row and he flushed. "Want a recommendation?"
"That might be helpful," Nick muttered.
"Age?"
"Sixteen."
"Huh. Me, too," said the girl. A hand appeared over the shelf that separated them, holding a copy of—did his eyes deceive him?—one of the original Star Wars movies. "How about Star Wars, Episode Five: The Empire Strikes Back? Special effects are a bit rough for nowadays, but like hell I'll ever accept a remake."
"What kind of sixteen year old boy would I be if I didn't have the special collector's edition sitting at home?" Nick asked incredulously, grinning at the thought that at least the girl was qualified for her job—and had good taste!
The girl laughed and the hand disappeared, taking the DVD with it. "Too true. Umm… do you have anything against blood?"
"Several things," said the boy, grimacing as he examined the back of a Die Hard movie.
"Well, that whittles our possibilities down to about eight," the girl told him. Her hand hovered once again over the top of the shelf. "I'll bet you've seen Pirates of the Caribbean—"
"Too often to count. Sorry."
"Darn." And down went the hand. "Lord of the Ring?"
"Another epic trilogy," Nick remarked, pushing curly hair out of his eyes. He really needed to trim it. "That is also waiting patiently in its collector's box for a rainy day. Ever read it?"
"I've only done book reports on it since the seventh grade," replied the girl.
"Ha, sixth!" he said with a grin.
"Do you want my help or not, Mr. I'm-so-much-better-than-you?" Silence. "Okay, then. …ah! Transformers!"
"That's not a new release, is it?" Nick asked.
"Are you kidding me? You haven't seen this?" The girl's hand came up again, this time holding the movie they were talking about. Nick noticed that her nail polish was a familiar pale pink color.
"That's kind of the point of asking about it," he said absently, reaching for the movie. The girl handed it over willingly, but there wasn't much point in taking the case, for there wasn't even a summary on the back.
"I can't believe you didn't go see this with your girlfriend last summer."
"What makes you think I have a girlfriend?" he asked, looking up. The bobbing head had moved further down the road and he followed.
"You sound self-assured," said the girl. "No sixteen year old boy has that kind of confidence without outside assistance." She snorted. "Unless you're Nick Lucas or something, then it's totally understandable."
"How would you know anything about Nick Lucas?" said Nick. He was no longer paying attention to the movies, instead watching the brown hair as it came in and out of view. "You know him?"
The girl laughed and finally straightened up. "Not as well as I'd like—OHMYGOD." She was short, so her face was only visible from the nose up, but that was all Nick really needed. Those big brown eyes were unmistakable and he had to wonder how he didn't recognize her voice.
"Nick!" Macy exclaimed. "Since when do you come to Movie Palace?"
"Since when do you work at Movie Palace?" he asked, coming around the shelf to better see her face. He marveled as a pink blush broke out over the girl's cheeks.
"I-I just need some extra cash," she stammered. She looked away from his face, unable to meet his eyes. "I'm taking a trip this summer and I need as much money as I can get my hands on."
"Wow," Nick said. "Where're you going that it's going to cost so much?"
Was it possible to go pale and blush at the same time?
"W-well, I…" She trailed off. "Around America. It's a, um, a road trip."
And it suddenly dawned on Nick exactly what was happening. In two seconds, his entire perception of Macy Misa changed drastically. She went from crazy to dedicated, dangerous to clumsy, annoying to adorable. She was working Lord knew how many jobs so she could follow JONAS's summer tour. And he regretted every single thing he'd ever said that resembled a negative comment about the girl.
"If you wanted to come on tour, all you had to do was say so, Macy," he said slowly, a smile breaking out on his face.
Her blush darkened, if that was possible. "I-I couldn't ask you for something like that. Besides, I'm a walking JONAS hazard. Big Man would never agree to something like this."
"Big Man would love to have a seasoned fangirl on board. You could help him create battle plans and throw off the mobs," Nick said. "Besides, you've gotten better about all the fangirl behavior." He pointed to his left eye. "The last time you gave me a black eye was three months ago. And Joe doesn't have to mentally prepare himself before he asks you about the biology homework anymore."
"He had to mentally prepare himself?" Macy asked, looking a little shocked. She let out a laugh. "Wow."
"Yeah, well, he's a drama queen," Nick said.
"Don't you mean king?"
"No."
Macy laughed at that and gave Nick a questioning look. "You're just not going to let this go, are you?"
"Not a chance," Nick told her, causing the girl to groan and let her shoulders slump.
"Fine. You win."
a/n: I HATE THIS ENDING. But I just want to get it done and posted, so it's going up whether I hate it or not. D: I know it sucks, but maybe someday I'll be able to re-write it and make it awesome.
Until that day, deal.
Much love,
Beth