Author's Note: Rachel was never described in the books so her appearance is purely a fan account. Cleo (Zart's counterpart) is my own creation. Dedicated to ourcastellan on tumblr. Cross posted to tumblr.

"Teresa?! You're going out with Teresa Agnes?!" Sonya screeched over the phone.

Aris hummed as he pressed the phone closer to his ear when he heard snippets of someone, probably Harriet, talking in the background to Sonya.

"…Blondie can you please keep it down…finals will be…"

"But Harri, it's big! Aris is going on a date tonight..."

"So?"

"So, it's Teresa!"

"Ya mean that quiet chick with the perma-smirk on her face?"

"Yeah! Hey so Aris, how'd that happen?" Sonya asked.

"Uh…it's kinda a long story," Aris sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck.

He had been working a shift at the bookstore near the college campus when she came in with an older woman, probably her mom. The woman asked Aris where she could find books for graphic design programs and Aris directed her to the section. Meanwhile, he restocked a few shelves and almost ran into Teresa, who was looking in the Mysteries section. He had apologized profusely, his cheeks feeling warm as he moved away to reach a shelf above her to put away a copy of some demon/human mystery novel. She shot him a smile, probably one of the few times he had seen her smile whenever he saw her. She always hung with some Thomas guy and he assumed that they were probably dating since they were seen together often.

He was just about to leave the section when she tapped him on the shoulder and asked for his recommendation between two books in her hand. Somehow he managed to keep the shakiness out of his voice when he answered her, pointing to a book about a train theft combined with the murder of a wealthy heiress. Eventually, he left her in the Mystery section to finish shelving the new arrivals before returning to the register. About 15 minutes later, she came up to the counter with the woman with 5-6 books and he began to ring her up.

"You've been very helpful young man," the woman said to him as he bagged their purchases. She smiled as she nudged Teresa's arm and added, "Not bad looking either."

Teresa shook her head at the woman and shot Aris an apologetic smile. Aris returned the smile as he pushed the bag across the counter and handed over the change. Both thanked him again before leaving the shop. Two days later, he ran into her after their class on Design and Planning in Architecture. She had wandered over to his desk in the middle of the room and asked if they could walk together for a bit. Aris had looked up from repacking his messenger bag and looked around for Thomas, only to see that he wasn't there, as usual. Teresa rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

"We're not dating," she said. "He's my best friend from middle school. I'm pretty sure he's got a crush on either some Cross-Country guy or the TA in his Math class."

"Oh," Aris said as he stood up from his seat. "Um sure – I don't have class after this. Are you done today?"

"Normally I'm not, but my professor's caught some strain of the flu and canceled class," Teresa said.

The rest of it was blurry in his mind – just somehow over coffee she asked him if he wanted to see a movie this weekend. He said yes and they agreed to meet up at Teresa's around 6:45 PM and carpool over to the theater.

"So…it just happened?" Sonya asked.

Aris buttoned his shirt and tucked it into his slacks. He cradled the phone between his shoulder and ear as he replied, "Yeah pretty much. She asked me after class if I wanted to catch some movie with her and I said sure."

"Aww our little Stick is all grown up," Harriet teased in the background.

"Shut up Harriet," Aris groaned as he held the phone up to his ear with his left hand.

"Don't make him nervous Harri – he might turn beet red before the date begins!" Sonya added with a smirk.

"I swear the both of you Sticks are awful!" Aris said as he stuffed his wallet into his pocket. "Gotta go – she said we were gonna meet around 6:45ish."

"Now, do we need to go over the–"

"Bye!" Aris said as he pressed the End Call button on his screen.

"You ever heard of this film?" Teresa asked him as they walked up to the theater. "I read a few reviews beforehand and it seems like it was mixed."

"No, I uh, didn't check beforehand," Aris admitted as they entered the theater.

Teresa made a beeline for the ticket window on the right side of the lobby and Aris followed.

"Good evening, what can I get you?" the usher greeted them as they walked up.

"Yes, hi umm…" Teresa said as she bit her lip, staring up at the times. "Can we have two tickets to the regular screening of Infected: The Flare Invasion please?"

"The one at 7:15?" the usher asked as she pulled up the times on her screen.

Wasn't that part of a horror franchise? Aris thought as he reached into his pockets. He bit his tongue and hoped that he didn't look as unhappy as he felt inside. Horror was not his favorite genre – granted he wasn't a huge romcom kind of guy but too much guts, gore, and really exaggerated deaths sort of made him wince and borderline nauseous. Sure hope I don't lose it in there.

"Yes," Teresa said with a smile.

"Okay then," the usher replied as she selected the film. "That will be $18, unless you have a reward card with us?"

"I do," Aris said as he stepped forward and fumbled for his rewards program card. He pulled it out and flashed it at the usher.

She looked up from the screen and took his card from him. She swiped it into the scanner at the top of her screen and waited for the screen to reflect the new total.

"Your total is $15," she said with a smile as she passed the card back to Aris through the opening in the Plexiglas.

Aris nodded as he tore his gaze away from her bright eyes and fished out the exact amount in dollar bills. He smiled nervously at her as he slid the bills through the opening and she took them, counting them rapidly before putting them into the register drawer and retrieving his tickets from the printer below.

Her green eyes flecked with hints of gold met his as she passed his receipt and tickets over to him. "Thank you very much. Here are your tickets and I hope you enjoy your movie."

"Thanks," Aris said as he stuffed the receipt into his wallet. He picked up the tickets and passed one to Teresa as they walked up to the usher who was taking tickets.

"Good evening folks," he said as they approached. "Okay so that's in Theater 6 on you right hand side towards the middle."

"Thank you," Teresa said as she took her stub from the usher and walked in the direction of the theater.

Aris took his stub from the usher and thanked him before following Teresa to the theater. She scanned the theater for seats and pointed out two seats in the second to last row at the top of the theater. "Did you want to grab any snacks before the movie starts?" Aris asked once they reached the row.

Teresa slid over to the first empty seat closest to the middle and sat down. She thought about it for a minute and said that she wanted some Junior Mints. She fished out some money from her jacket pocket just as Aris was about reach for his wallet again.

"No I got the snacks – really!" Teresa insisted as she fished out a $20 from her pocket. "You want anything, go ahead and get it. Just bring back the change, of course."

"Got it," Aris said as he put his wallet back.

"Thanks Aris," Teresa said as she settled into the plushy chair. "I'll hold your seat for you, okay?"

"Okay," Aris said as he jogged down the steps and squinted as he entered the lobby area again. He walked over to the concessions stand and studied the menu overhead.

"Hello again," a voice greeted him.

Aris tore his eyes from the menu and saw that the usher who sold him his tickets was now behind the counter of the concessions stand.

"You're everywhere, aren't you?" Aris murmured as he stepped up to the counter. In his mind, he wanted to kick himself for saying something so stupid.

The girl shrugged and nodded over at her co-worker that was sliding a jacket onto her shoulders and unpinning her nametag from her polo shirt. She threw her arms out wide with an amused expression as she said, "Well, if ya had gotten here a couple of minutes ago, Cleo would have taken care of you. But instead, you got me!"

Cleo looked up from reading a text on her phone and she laughed at the other girl's pose and expression before nudging her in the arm. "Oh stop Rach! You're not so bad."

"Well you might not think so, but I can't say what this gentleman thinks," Rachel said with a grin. She turned back to Aris and folded her hands on the counter in front of her. "Anyways, what can I get for you?"

"Can I get a box of Junior Mints, a small bag of popcorn, and a bottle of water…Rachel?" Aris asked as he scanned her name tag.

Cleo nudged Rachel before waving goodbye and walking out of the concessions area. "Be nice to her sir!" she called over her shoulder with a wink.

"Oh can it Cleo – he's with someone already!" Rachel groaned as she reached under the counter for a box of Junior Mints. She shot Aris an apologetic smile as she placed the box on the counter. "Ignore her – she's lovesick crazy and tries to pair everyone off. Sorry about that. Would you like to consider upgrading to the medium bag for free? You'll be able to get free refills during your film."

"Ummm…oh yeah, yeah sure," Aris said as he pulled out his rewards card again along with the $20 from Teresa. "Oh yeah, I figured. Don't worry about it – my friends kinda made a big deal about this night too. Sonya, don't get her started on dating and–"

"Sonya? Does she have red-blonde hair, fair-skinned, and freckles on her nose?" Rachel asked as she looked up from grabbing the water from the cooler.

Aris's eyes widened and he nodded. "How do you–"

"She's my neighbor – we live in the same apartment complex," Rachel explained. "I just moved in about a month and a half ago."

"Do you go to college?" Aris asked as he placed the money and his reward card on the counter.

Rachel tapped some salt on top of the popcorn and brought the bag over to the register. She tucked a strand of shoulder length dark hair behind her ear and replied, "Yeah I'm actually wrapping up my general education classes at community college and I'll be transferring to WCKD Institute in the spring. You?"

"I'm at WCKD right now – on a partial scholarship," Aris said as he pushed his hands into his pockets. "It's good – definitely some really interesting material and the professors aren't that bad."

"Good," Rachel said with a smile as she punched in the order on the register. She picked up his rewards card and swiped it before picking up the $20 and entering the amount into the register. The drawer sprung open and she counted out the change and handed it to him.

"Thanks Rachel," Aris said as he put the change away.

"You're welcome," she replied. "Hope you enjoy your movie – let me know what you and your date think of it."

"…Yeah…I uh, I will," Aris trailed off as she walked off to take care of a customer who was looking for the bathroom. He sighed as he picked up the snacks and balanced them as best as he could in his arms as he headed back to his seat in the theater.

"Thanks!" Teresa said as she accepted the Junior Mints from him.

Aris nodded as he fished the change out of his pocket and handed it over to her. Teresa put it away into her jacket pocket and opened the Junior Mints, popping a few into her mouth. Aris settled into his seat and put his water into the cup holder on his right. He reached into the bag and put a huge handful of popcorn into his mouth as the lights dimmed and the trailers began to roll.

"Ugh I hate this franchise," Teresa muttered as the trailer for some vampire teen flick based off a YA book series came on.

Aris made a face and twisted the bottle cap off his water, taking a long sip from it. Teresa held out the box of Junior Mints and Aris shook his head. He wasn't a fan of them – maybe it was because they got so messy when you ate them, especially if they got squashed or split in half.

"Well…I think it's safe to say that this was kind of a joke for $9," Teresa sighed as the credits rolled. "Sorry about that Aris – I was holding out hope that maybe it was just getting sour reviews because of the lead actor but guess they were right about it having no real plotline."

"Yeah…it's okay," Aris murmured as he crumpled his popcorn bag. To be honest, it wasn't just the film that he wasn't crazy about but it was, well, this whole date with Teresa. Sure, she was pretty and kind of cool but Aris couldn't help but think about Rachel during the film. He excused himself once to get a free refill on his popcorn during a very gory scene where Cranks surrounded the main characters and ate one of the weaker female characters while the others ran. Rachel wasn't there to refill his bag; instead, a sharp eyed girl with sallow skin and short dark hair yanked the bag from his hands and dumped in lots of popcorn before practically throwing the full bag at him without so much a greeting. When he came back, Teresa was rolling her eyes during the gory part as the best friend to the weak girl was eaten alive by the Cranks. "So much for this one being a self-proclaimed badass," Teresa mouthed as she looked back at the screen.

Aris had averted his eyes and focused on his popcorn bag until the movie came to a less violent part. He forced himself to focus on the popcorn while the gore dragged on and his mind wandered to Rachel's eyes, which were a unique color – he had never seen anyone with eyes like hers before. Then that made him think of her funny expression when he chatted with her earlier and he bit his lip to keep from laughing at the wrong part of the movie.

Teresa stood up and closed up her box of Junior Mints, stashing them into her pocket. Aris stood up and gestured for her to go first. She scooted out of the row and bounded down the stairs, leaving Aris to run to keep up with her. He tossed his bag into the trash and took one last sip of his water before tossing the empty bottle into the recycle container. Teresa held the door to the theater for him and he thanked her as he walked through it.

She turned to him once they got a few feet away from the theater and she crossed her arms over her chest. "So…thanks for going with me Aris," she began. "Hey, can I say something?"

"Um, sure I, I guess," Aris said as he rubbed the back of his neck. He hoped that she wasn't asking to kiss him or anything, especially with what both of them ate in the theater.

Teresa sighed as she rocked back on her heels and looked around the lobby as she talked. "Listen, I'm not trying to sound like a heartless bitch but, I only asked you out because my mom wouldn't stop talking about how nice you seemed and that you looked like a cute guy… Um yeah, I know this was kind of a sucky date and I didn't mean to make it worse but I thought…you know…that it would be better to be honest with you."

Aris relaxed his shoulders and shot her a small smile. "Actually Teresa…I kinda thought that you and me, well, it's kind of a stretch. You like horror movies and I'm…a wuss when it comes to those. Believe me; you have no idea how relieved I am to hear that we're on the same page."

Teresa uncrossed her arms and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Great! …So the usher seemed interested in you."

Aris felt his cheeks warm and he looked around the lobby as he ran a hand through his hair. Teresa rolled her eyes and nodded over at Rachel who was cleaning the counters and surfaces in the concessions stand. She nudged Aris in the arm. "Look, not to sound like a mom or like Sonya but, go talk to her."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously!" Teresa said as she gave him a little push in the direction of the concessions stand. "I can already tell that you two seem interested in each other."

Aris wiped his palms on his slacks and walked up to the counter. Rachel looked up from spraying the counter with a cleaning solution and she shot him an apologetic smile.

"I'm afraid the popcorn's all gone for the night – but I can get you something else if you or your date wants something from the counter," she said as she put down the cleaning solution and the rag.

"Actually," Aris began as he pushed his hands into his pockets. "I kinda came up here to talk to you, you know, since you said let you know how the movie was?"

"Oh right!" Rachel said as she straightened up. "So, is it worth seeing or should I just wait for it to come out on DVD?"

"Uhhh well, if you like gore and horror with no plotline, yeah then go see it," Aris said with a shrug. "Teresa thought it was horrible and not worth seeing. …As for me, I'm a wimp when it comes to horror so I can't say it was something I'd personally recommend."

Rachel tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and sighed. "I'm not a big horror person myself but every now and then, I'll humor my roommate and go see something with her because she loves the genre. Were the characters stereotype horror characters?"

Aris nodded and Rachel made a face. "Looks like I dodged a bullet there – luckily she hates those tropes and she won't make me see it. Thanks for the warning by the way."

"You're welcome," Aris said. "Hey so, do you maybe want to uh, oh I don't know, grab coffee or something sometime?"

Rachel's eyes widened and she raised a brow at him in confusion.

Teresa craned her neck to look past Aris and she called out, "My mom forced me to ask him out – you're fine! We're just classmates and friends – not an actual couple! I told him to talk to you."

Rachel blinked and shot Teresa an amused look. "Yeah I thought you guys were dating – sorry about that!"

"Yeah, she came in with her mom to the bookstore I work at and her mom…kind of hinted that I should date her," Aris said as he shifted his feet.

Rachel straightened up and folded her hands on the counter. "Yeah I can see that. So…Aris right? I think that's the name I saw on your rewards card?"

"Yes that's me."

"Well ya know what Aris? Why not?" Rachel said with a wide smile. "You made my shift a little less blah and I think you seem like a decent enough Stick that I'd like to talk to again. What's your number?"

Aris hoped he wasn't blushing too much as he slid his phone over the counter and Rachel typed her number in. She passed his phone back before handing over her phone so he could put his number in. He entered it quickly and handed back her phone with a smile.

"I'll let you know when I'm free," Rachel said as she put her phone away. She checked her watch and winced when she saw what time it was. "I'm afraid I have to politely kick both of you out of the theater now as our last screening just ended for the day."

"Understandable," Aris said with a smile. "So…I'll see you around then?"

"Yes," Rachel said as she returned the smile. "See you soon Aris."