Chapter Nine

Carter had told Tom to meet his next blind date in front of the local movie theater. "She'll be wearing green, so you'll know her," he had said. Sure enough, there she stood in front of the Megamulticinaplex wearing a bright green sweater.

"I'm Chelly Ann!!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms wide open in a grand 'Ta-Da' gesture.

"Uh, hi. I'm--"

"Tom! I know!" she said. "I sit two rows behind you in Marketing Management 101 and I must say, you are even hotter closer up!" She gave him a wink.

Tom didn't quite know what to say to that, opting instead to keep quiet as Chelly Ann babbled on.

"This will be ever so much fun!" she continued, practically bouncing as spoke. "What do you want to see?"

"Well I--"

"Love's First Momentum? Me too! Sounds great!" she exclaimed.

"Uh, OK."

After Tom had paid for the tickets, they made their way inside the theater with Chelly Ann hanging onto his arm all the way there.

"Ooo! Can we get popcorn! I love popcorn! Get me popcorn, Tom!"

"I---"

"P-l-e-a-s-e?!!" she begged. "Please please please please please?!!"

"Fine!" He lifted Chelly's arm off of his and made his way to the snack counter.

"I want light butter!" she called after him.

After waiting in an outrageously long line, he bought the popcorn. He assured the man working at the counter that no, she wasn't really a friend of his, and no, he didn't know how to make her shut up. He brought the popcorn back to Chelly, who was waiting by the entrance to the movie they would see.

"Finally!" she grabbed the bag from Tom and shoveled a handful of popcorn into her mouth. Suddenly, she wrinkled her nose. "This is not light butter."

"What? Yes it is!" Tom grabbed a few kernels and popped them into his mouth. "There's hardly any butter on here!"

"Take it back. It's not what I asked for."

Tom frowned. This girl was really trying his patience. Reminding himself again that she was Carter's friend, and therefore, it would be in bad form to ditch her, he tried to reason with her instead. "If I do, we'd miss half the movie. Look at that line!"

Chelly Ann sighed. "You're right. Let's go!" She roughly grabbed his hand and dragged him into the theater.

The theater was as crowded as Tom had ever seen it. Except for a few gaps near the front, every row was packed. Chelly was beginning to head down the steps to the front.

"Wow! We're lucky! Look at all those seats in the front row! Awesome!" she said.

Tom held her back. "Wait, I can't sit in the front. It gives me headaches."

Chelly Ann rolled her eyes. "Ok, Mr. Selfish. Wait! There aren't any two seats together up here!" She bit her lower lip in thought. "Hmm…. I have an idea!"

As Tom watched the movie from the back row, he supposed he was lucky that he was sitting so far away from her. 'She'd probably talk during the movie, anyway,' he thought. From the front row, Chelly turned around and waved at him, then went back to watching the movie.

The rest of the night was pleasant until the movie ended and Tom was forced to be in contact with Chelly Ann again.

"Hiya, cutie!" Chelly beamed at him.

"Yeah, hi," said Tom, feeling quite thankful that the night was over.

She began to dig through her purse. "Wanna Tic-Tac?" she offered loudly, making several other movie-goers turn at the sound of her voice.

"No thanks."

"Suit yourself," she said in the same sonic boom of a voice, "but I always like to have fresh breath before I make out."

A nearby mother gasped, covered her child's ears, and led her little girl away, glaring at Chelly and Tom as she went.

"I…um.. can't," began Tom, backing away slowly. "I have to be somewhere early tomorrow morning… actually, I have somewhere I need to be now, so…bye."

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"How did it go?" asked Carter.

The sound of a slammed door was his only answer.

"Um…not well, then?"

"Carter, what were you thinking?" he exclaimed as he threw his coat on his bed.

Cupid grinned as he stood invisibly next to him. 'The question is: What was I thinking!'

"She was horrible!" Tom continued, flopping into a nearby chair.

Carter frowned. "Hey, she's nice once you get to know her. Give her another chance!"

"No. She's not getting another chance. No one is getting a chance. I quit. I'm done. I give up. No more blind dates. Maybe no dates at all, now. All those girls--that muffin obsessed girl, the appearance fanatic, that girl with all the piercings---"

"Hey, that's what makes Theresa Theresa."

"---they've practically ruined it for me!"

"Oh come on…"

"I mean it, Carter!"

'Oh no,' thought Cupid. 'This is not cool; this is definitely not cool.' He hadn't been planning on making Tom not like dating, but it seemed that it was happening. 'I've got to do something. I've got…..' He smiled. "…a plan!' It would take a lot of hard work and maneuvering to pull it off, but it was Cupid's last hope.