CHAPTER 2
The Basketball Game and The Movies
Isaac and his group began walking up the Newark city streets. "So what should we do first?" Isaac asked.
"I think we should go see that romantic movie, Two Hearts on a Velvet Couch." Mia said.
"It says here on this billboard that a basketball team called the New Jersey Nets is having a game today." Felix observed.
"Hey, I like sports!" Ivan said.
"Me too!" Isaac agreed. "We go to the basketball game!"
"No, no, no!" Mia declared, and she stopped and crossed her arms. "I don't want to go watch a bunch of smelly guys running around tossing a ball to each other! It's out of the question!"
"But Mia, it's the New Jersey Nets!"
Mia stood her ground. "The answer is no."
Felix rolled his eyes. "If you'll come to the game with us, then we'll all go see that movie with you. How would that be?"
Mia considered it for a moment. "Well… okay then." Isaac, Felix, and Ivan cheered. They hurriedly set out for the arena, when suddenly, they were attacked!
Newark criminal 1 appears!
Newark criminal 2 appears!
Newark criminal 3 appears!
The group looked at their attackers, and then at each other. "What do we do?" Isaac asked. "Should we use Psynergy?" But before they could make any decisions, the following happened:
Newark criminal 1 and Newark criminal 2 hold Isaac's arms!!
Newark criminal 3 has stolen Isaac's wallet!!!
Newark criminal 1 runs!
Newark criminal 2 runs!
Newark criminal 3 runs!
The group watched the men take off down the street. "How very different the battles here are," Felix mused. "Luckily, I brought my wallet as well, so we have nothing to worry about."
"It's just as well," Isaac said cheerfully. "I had no money in there, just some passwords to some websites on the Internet."
"What kind of websites?" Mia asked curiously.
Isaac regarded her, and then smiled and said, "You wouldn't understand."
"Oh, yes I would!" Mia thought, grinning evilly to herself.
"Well, to the stadium!" Ivan declared.
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The boys cheered wildly as the game raged on. Felix used Teleport Psynergy to get to the concession stand and back quickly, so they didn't go hungry. At one point, when the Nets missed a basket, Ivan stood up and roared, "You gotta dunk that, man! You gotta dunk it!"
"Ivan," Isaac said, reaching up and putting his hand on the younger boy's shoulder, "It'll be all right. Come on, sit down. That's right."
The game was neck-and-neck the whole time, and finally, when there was 10 seconds left on the clock, the game was 96, 94 in favor of the visiting team.
"We have to do something, Isaac," Ivan cried. "The Nets have to win!"
"Don't interfere," Felix warned.
"It would be best to let it be." Isaac said.
"No!" Ivan shouted, and he leapt down the bleachers and positioned himself by the sidelines. The clock was winding down, and when the Nets went for the three-point shot, (which would clearly have missed,) Ivan used the MOVE Psynergy to guide the ball safely into the basket. The Nets had won!!!
Up in the bleachers, Isaac and Felix were cheering and slapping high fives, while Mia simply sat back and turned her nose up. Suddenly, Ivan began to hear very strange thoughts from the man next to him, who it turned out was the owner of the Nets. The thoughts were: Damn it! I gave those boys $2 million extra EACH to throw this game! And still they defy me? Oh, once I corner them in that locker room, I tell you… Ivan took a few steps backward, and then ran up to his friends. "I think we should leave now."
"I think that's a good idea." Felix agreed, and they hurried out of the stadium, waving their big foam fingers around.
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And now they came to the part that Mia wanted, the movie called Two Hearts on a Velvet Couch.
"I can't believe we're actually going to see this!" Ivan groaned. "I want to go see Hellboy!"
"Sorry, boys, but a deal is a deal!" Mia said happily. She was planning on sitting next to Isaac, because she wanted to tell him exactly how she felt about him, there in the darkness.
"Guy huddle!" Ivan called out, and he drew Felix and Isaac close. "Okay, how does this sound… during the movie, one of us will go down to the front of the theater and fake being in a brutal fight with someone else. Mia, the kind-hearted soul that she is, will come down to break it up. Then, the said party member will dash through the exit door, and she will follow. Then, in her absence, the other two will sneak into the Hellboy theater and wait for the aforementioned party member. Mia will return to the Two Hearts theater distraught, only to find nobody there! And, Bob's your uncle, we see Hellboy! What do you say?"
Felix patted Ivan on the back. "It won't be that bad. Besides, you've got to learn to watch chick flicks, if you ever want to go out with Sheba later in life."
Ivan was aghast. "How did you know I liked Sheba?"
Felix shrugged. "She told me. She's a mind reader too, you know, being a Jupiter adept and all."
"And, does she like me also?" Ivan said excitedly.
"…Perhaps…"
"Perhaps? Perhaps what?!"
"Don't yell at me!" Felix cried indignantly.
"I'm not yelling, I just want a straight answer."
Just then, Mia called to them. "Come on, boys, I've got our tickets!" And so the conversation perished.
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In the theater, the arrangements were, from left to right, Mia, Isaac, Felix, and Ivan. The lights dimmed, and the movie began.
It was autumn, a beautiful autumn day as I reread the letter my love had written to me… As the words ran through my mind, so too did the memories of him, of his touch, his voice, his kiss… how I long for those days to be real again, and to leave the harsh reality I now lived in. It started five years ago, when…
The movie was romantic right from the beginning, and within the first half hour, Mia had her hand resting on Isaac's knee. Isaac was mildly surprised. He had not known that Mia would display any affection for him, because he assumed she didn't have any. He gently rested his hand on top of hers.
Meanwhile, Ivan was struggling not to gag at the movie. Then he turned to Felix and said, "Okay, Feely, here's the new plan: we stuff ourselves with food from the concession stand until we pass out, and then we don't have to watch the movie! Here's $50, get as much as you can bring back!" Felix stared at Ivan, bewildered. "What are you waiting for? Go! Now!"
"What did you call me?" Felix asked quietly. "Did you call me 'Feely?'"
"Yeah. It's my new nickname for you."
Felix glowered at him. "And here's my nickname for you: Boy who isn't getting anything else from the concession stand due to his insolence!" And he turned back to the movie and slouched down in his seat, arms crossed.
"Okay, how about this then? I'll continue to make myself retch until the usher throws me out for it! How does that sound?" He got no response from Felix. He resigned himself to watching the rest of the movie, flopping back in the chair with a muttering of, "Aw, Mauler poo…"
By this point in the movie, Isaac and Mia's hands were clasped firmly together, and Mia had rested her head on Isaac's shoulder. And yet, since the movie started, they hadn't said a word. Jupiter adepts they were not, but they knew what the other was thinking. They shared a romantic bond in that movie theater, and so it was no surprise when, during the big love scene, Mia gently turned Isaac's face to her and kissed him gently on the lips.
When the kiss was through, Isaac started to speak, but he hadn't gotten past, "Mia, I…" before she shushed him again with another kiss. Then she put her arm around Isaac and rested her head on his shoulder again. This had to be the happiest day of Isaac's life.
Meanwhile, Ivan had been watching the whole thing, and then muttered to himself, "I think now I'm going to retch involuntarily."
