"How many?" asked the guy in the ticket booth. He was about seventeen, with shaggy brown hair and bright blue eyes. He was rather cute, but not my type at all.
"Umm, one," I answered, shifting my weight a little.
"All by yourself, huh? Can't understand why, but all right." He handed me my tickets and smiled at me. I blushed and hurried off to the refreshment stand.
I wasn't as shy as I used to be, but still, being the center of attention wasn't easy for me. I knew that people like Kristy revelled in it, but I just couldn't understand why. It could make you feel special in some way, but it just put you on the stop.
The mere encounter with the ticket boy had made me feel strange. So I ordered myself a medium coke and a small popcorn, hoping to stop thinking and just be able to eat and absorb myself in the film.
It was a matinee showing, and there wasn't a lot of people in the theater. I'd always liked to sit in the middle, and I was able to get the center seat in the exactly middle row. I smiled to myself as I sunk into my seat. At least something was going right.
The opening notes of "Moon River" began. Audrey was wandering on the screen alone, taking a bite out of a danish. Something about the opening of the movie has always struck me. There was something just terrifically lonely about it. I reached into my purse for my travel package of tissues, preparing for the tears that I knew that were going to start flowing any minute.
But I never got a chance to cry. Someone sat down next to me. A shock of sandy blonde hair, a trace of a knowing grin always on their face...
Cary Retlin. "Hey, Mary Anne," he said, grinning a little.
"Oh, um, hi, Cary. Didn't know you liked this kind of movie," I said, stumbling through my words.
I knew Cary, sure; but apart from the whole Cokie plot (he had helped me get my revenge on Cokie for being horrible to me on regular basis), I'd never been alone with him like this before.
"There's a lot of things you don't know about me," he said, not in a mean way at all. In a way he sounded... wistful?
I smiled, to show that I was okay with Cary sitting with me and that I wasn't a total social freak. "Um, I guess not."
Just then, someone from behind us told us, rather rudely, to "SHUT UP!" I sunk down in my seat, embarrassed. Cary smiled a little and shrugged. Cary, on the other hand, didn't seem to be bothered at all.
For the next two hours, I tried to get involved in the movie, but I just couldn't. I had to keep on looking over at Cary. Sitting there, calmly; Cary just distracted me from the picture. At one point, he asked me if there was anything else I wanted from the refreshment stand. When I answered, "Um, no, not right now," I was so flustered that I forgot to lower my voice. Mr. Silence behind us started to get angry again. I sat back and looked at the ceiling, wondering why I was just so damn _shy_.
Even though I wasn't as involved in the movie as I could have been, by the end, I was bawling. Cary looked concered. "Are you okay?" he asked me.
"Yes," I said, sniffling through my tears. "I always cry at movies."
He nodded and looked back at the screen.
"Moon river, two drifters, off to see the world & there's such a lot of world to see." How anyone could not be absolutely bawling at that is beyond me.
"Umm, one," I answered, shifting my weight a little.
"All by yourself, huh? Can't understand why, but all right." He handed me my tickets and smiled at me. I blushed and hurried off to the refreshment stand.
I wasn't as shy as I used to be, but still, being the center of attention wasn't easy for me. I knew that people like Kristy revelled in it, but I just couldn't understand why. It could make you feel special in some way, but it just put you on the stop.
The mere encounter with the ticket boy had made me feel strange. So I ordered myself a medium coke and a small popcorn, hoping to stop thinking and just be able to eat and absorb myself in the film.
It was a matinee showing, and there wasn't a lot of people in the theater. I'd always liked to sit in the middle, and I was able to get the center seat in the exactly middle row. I smiled to myself as I sunk into my seat. At least something was going right.
The opening notes of "Moon River" began. Audrey was wandering on the screen alone, taking a bite out of a danish. Something about the opening of the movie has always struck me. There was something just terrifically lonely about it. I reached into my purse for my travel package of tissues, preparing for the tears that I knew that were going to start flowing any minute.
But I never got a chance to cry. Someone sat down next to me. A shock of sandy blonde hair, a trace of a knowing grin always on their face...
Cary Retlin. "Hey, Mary Anne," he said, grinning a little.
"Oh, um, hi, Cary. Didn't know you liked this kind of movie," I said, stumbling through my words.
I knew Cary, sure; but apart from the whole Cokie plot (he had helped me get my revenge on Cokie for being horrible to me on regular basis), I'd never been alone with him like this before.
"There's a lot of things you don't know about me," he said, not in a mean way at all. In a way he sounded... wistful?
I smiled, to show that I was okay with Cary sitting with me and that I wasn't a total social freak. "Um, I guess not."
Just then, someone from behind us told us, rather rudely, to "SHUT UP!" I sunk down in my seat, embarrassed. Cary smiled a little and shrugged. Cary, on the other hand, didn't seem to be bothered at all.
For the next two hours, I tried to get involved in the movie, but I just couldn't. I had to keep on looking over at Cary. Sitting there, calmly; Cary just distracted me from the picture. At one point, he asked me if there was anything else I wanted from the refreshment stand. When I answered, "Um, no, not right now," I was so flustered that I forgot to lower my voice. Mr. Silence behind us started to get angry again. I sat back and looked at the ceiling, wondering why I was just so damn _shy_.
Even though I wasn't as involved in the movie as I could have been, by the end, I was bawling. Cary looked concered. "Are you okay?" he asked me.
"Yes," I said, sniffling through my tears. "I always cry at movies."
He nodded and looked back at the screen.
"Moon river, two drifters, off to see the world & there's such a lot of world to see." How anyone could not be absolutely bawling at that is beyond me.