Two Extra Eyes

Chapter Two

Cinema Craziness

Later that day, the sun was beginning to set, bathing the sky in a beautiful aura of oranges, blues, and purples. Stars began to appear in the sky as it gradually darkened more and more each second. As the world began to surrender to the darkness, Lars was lounging in his room. He was currently lying on his bed, reading a comic book. He was going to go to the movies with his subordinates later, so he was binding his time until he had to get going. He didn't have his lamp on and his window shutters were closed, despite the oncoming evening. He chuckled as he turned the page.

"That Jug Head cracks me up every time! Ahahahahahaha!.!.!"

Soon, the door opened and in walked Sandy, who was carrying a clothes basket.

"Lars, I need your clothes for the—" She put the basket down and gasped. "LARS!.!.!"

"Oh what now?" The brunet mumbled to himself. He closed the comic and turned to Sandy with an innocent look on his face. "Yes…?"

"What do you think you're doing!.?.!" She demanded, not even buying the act. The boy blinked at her curiously.

"I was just sitting here reading a comic book. Is that suddenly against the rules in this house?"

She glared at him. "Don't get smart. You know exactly what you've been doing! You can't read in dim light! You'll go blind like Uncle Manuel!"

He didn't even argue this time, not that it would've helped anyway. Returning the glare, he put the comic away, put his dirty clothes into the basket his mother had and left for the movie theater without a single word.

"Why couldn't Uncle Manuel have gone deaf instead of blind?" He grumbled to himself as he walked down the hill. "That way, she wouldn't have to nag all the time."

Soon, he arrived at the Ortega Theater, where he found his cronies standing in the back of the line. After greeting him, they started talking about usual guy stuff. You know; cars, sports, the occasional mention of music, and of course girls. Needless to say, whenever the last topic came up, the leader of the crew would look around in an attempt to stave off boredom. He would keep one eye on the conversation while checking out any of the other guys in the line. Of course, he paid attention to the chat at all times lest he be caught by the other Lasers. The trio of thugs knew of his preference and was cool with it (They better have been if they didn't want to suffer his wrath!), but they always voiced their protest whenever he was caught looking. So he catered to the big babies, but often he couldn't help but observe.

There were some good-looking boys there. Because of the heat, a lot of them were wearing white tank tops in which their nipples were visible through the fabric and jean shorts that barely stayed on their waists, giving Lars an eyeful. Some had hats on while others were wearing headbands. And a few were even wearing goggles on their heads! They were his age or a little older judging by their looks. Unfortunately for him, almost all of them had a girl hanging from their arms and those that didn't were looking at the girls wistfully. He gave a disgruntled noise as he turned back to his henchmen and rejoined the conversation.

Soon, they got their tickets (which were for Mr. and Mrs. Smith) and made their way inside. Despite living in a hot place like Ocean Shores for sixteen years, the cool lick of an air conditioner was always like heaven to the quartet. As they waited in another line to get snacks, they closed their eyes, feeling the sweet pleasure soothe their weary spirits, Lars' especially. When the brunet finally got used to the cool atmosphere, he turned his head to the left and found himself staring at the backside of some guy. Making sure the others weren't paying attention, he decided to let his eyes linger a bit.

The boy wasn't bad-looking at all. In fact, he was kinda cute. He had sandy blond hair which went down the back of his head until it touched his shoulders. He seemed to have a medium tan almost like the one Twister had before his skin had darkened. He looked to have a mixture between a surfer and skater's build which scored more points for Lars. He was about half a foot shorter than the brunet. He was wearing a short sleeved yellow-orange shirt and a pair of blue shorts. Lars gaped at the boy's slender legs before peering upwards to look at his sweet can. Drool began to form as he imagined what it'd feel like to grab it.

"Hey, Lars?" Pi's voice was heard. The brunet just mumbled something incoherent. The rest of the group blinked. "Yo, Lars!"

"Hmmm-mmmm…?" He said, imitating Sputz. A small puddle began to form at his feet.

"Hey! Why are ya looking at Squid!.?.!" The round member of the group shouted, shaking him. Lars' eyes went wide when he heard that name.

"Squid!.?.! I was looking at Squid!.?" He shouted, looking at his crew with a shocked look. They nodded and pointed at the boy in question. Lars gulped as he turned.

Indeed he was facing Sam, who was standing with Otto, Twister, and Reggie in the line next to theirs. The blond was blushing and looking away from the brunet, who was sweating, despite the air conditioning. He glared at the two redheads, who were smirking at him, but at the same time, had a look of surprise as well. Was Sam actually on to something? Lars then blinked when he felt the stares of the Lasers and everybody else on him. He stuttered to think of someway out of this.

"Ha!" He finally crossed his arms. "I can't believe ya bunch of kooks would think I'd be looking at Four Eyes here!"

Sam turned to him with a hurt look. The brunet paid no attention though. Noticing his friend's expression, Otto took action.

"Oh yeah? Then just who were you looking at?" He challenged.

Lars fixed him with a glower but still kept his tough demeanor.

"Don't make me laugh, Rocket Dork! I was looking at her!"

Reggie blinked in surprise at that. She shifted her attention to Sam, whose mouth was agape. It looked as if he felt betrayed. Soon his expression turned to one of rage and fury. Gulping, she quickly turned back to the situation at hand.

"Me?.! You were looking at me!.?.!"

The whole place stood in silence for a few moments.

"PFFFFT!.!.! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!.!.!" Everyone laughed, holding their sides as they pointed at her. Reggie put on a look that was a mix of irritation and boredom, as if she was expecting that reaction. Her eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Her fists shook at her sides as she struggled not to attack the whole lot of them.

Lars wiped away a tear as he stifled some chuckles. "You must be joking! I was looking at her!"

He pointed at a cardboard cutout of Angelina Jolie that was advertising the movie he and the Lasers were about to watch. Reggie wiped her sweaty face as Sam breathed a sigh of relief. Twister smirked as he decided to make a move in this situation.

"But Lars, the cutout's all the way over there." He pointed at the same ad, which was to the left of where his brother was standing. "Squid was standing right here." He pointed to where Sam's been standing all this time, which was a good couple of feet from where Lars could've possibly seen the cutout. Lars mentally cursed the redhead as tried to come up with something.

"Ummm… Uhhh…"

"Unless ya got P.S.P—"

"That's E.S.P." Reggie corrected, holding her forehead with an exasperated sigh. Rolling his eyes, Twister continued.

"—There's no way you coulda been looking over there when you were clearly facing him!"

"Hey that's right!" Otto agreed, giving his rival a mischievous look. "So whaddya have to say?" Lars would've shaken a fist at him if he wasn't giving his sibling a confused look.

"Since when were you smart?" He shook his head before turning to his cohorts. "Run away!.!.!"

With that, he grabbed all three of them (how he did that is beyond me) and dashed over to where his movie was playing. As they got inside, Lars, inwardly praying that those twerps weren't going to see the same movie they were, let go of the others and started walking down. The trio, scratching their heads at what had just transpired, followed him as he walked down to the very first row of the room.

As they walked, they all raised their eyebrows when they saw their leader tripping and falling all over the place. Several times, he bumped into people that were trying to get into the upper rows. A couple of times, he actually crashed into them head-on, causing whatever snacks they had to go flying. By the time they reached the bottom row, all four of them were covered with nachos, popcorn, soda, and gummy bears as well as other assorted snacks. Despite all the space there was between the screen and the chairs, Lars still managed to collide with the chairs' armrests before finally falling into three of them. The others cringed at the sight.

"Ugh…" The one in the gray hat groaned. "Maybe Mom's right. I should be a little more careful with my eyes." He then thought about that for a few seconds. "…Nah!.!.!"

He pushed himself off the chairs and sat down next to Sputz, who reached over and picked some bite-sized pretzels off his boss's head. Lars growled at him in response as the place darkened and the movie started.

The next night…

'Man, last night was crazy!' Lars thought as he sat down on the couch and watched TV. 'I can't believe I ran into that stupid lamppost and then tripped on the curb after I left the movies! What's the deal!.?'

He sighed as he grabbed the remote and flipped through a few channels. It was then that he thought back to before he and his cronies watched the movie.

'That was Squid I was looking at!.?' He asked himself, still unconvinced he was looking at the blond. 'When the hell did he get cute!.?' His eyes widened at the thought as he shook his head.

'What am I saying!.? I can't be thinking about Four Eyes that way! That's crazy! I only date hot-looking guys! …Not that I've managed to hook up with any guys, but still… I can't wind up with him of all people!'

He held his chin as a thought came to him.

'I wonder how he looks without those glasses of his on…'

He looked at the screen with a glazed look as he pondered seeing the other boy without his spectacles on. He soon smiled at his fantasy.

Just then, the sound of clicking heels was heard approaching the living room. Seconds later, angry muttering was heard.

"Lars!.!.!" Sandy shouted at the brunet, shocking him out of his thoughts. "What do you think you're doing!.?.!" Irritated for having his pleasant, but completely unexpected thought ruined, he turned towards her. He was getting ready to yell when he blinked.

His mother was dressed in a fancy black, sparkling dress and high heels of the same color. Her reddish-brown hair was fixed in an elegant bun unlike how it normally looks. She was wearing red lipstick, blue eye shadow, and blush. Finally, her nails were done; they were black as well. Lars glowered at her before he realized something.

"Ha! You can't say anything this time!" He shouted hysterically. "I'm not sitting too close to the TV! I'm nice and comfortable on the sofa, which is a few feet away! Now what!.?"

She only crossed her arms as a smirk overcame her features.

"Well, I wouldn't have anything to say…" She started, causing Lars to give her a smug, defiant look. "…If you weren't sitting in the dark!"

Indeed, save for the glow of the TV, the entire room was pitch black. The boy slapped his head. He knew all too well that you're not supposed to watch TV in the dark. After all, that was what caused Uncle Manuel to lose his eyesight in the first place. He paled when he saw his mother reach for the light switch. His eyes widened and he gulped fearfully when he realized that he must've been sitting there for a good couple of hours.

"Mom! Wait!" He pleaded with a gasp.

Too late.

°Click!°

Instantly, Lars' pain filled screech echoed throughout the cul-de-sac, causing everyone nearby to look at the house in confusion.

"Now hurry up and get dressed!" Sandy ordered, watching her older son hold his eyes in agony.

'Ugh! I'm starting to think it wasn't just watching TV in the dark that did in Uncle Manuel…' He groaned as his eyes adjusted to the light. He then recalled what his mother just said and raised an eyebrow.

"Get dressed? For what? And whaddya think I'm wearing?" He asked, standing. He then gestured at his clothes.

"You're not going out in that! Not tonight! Go put on your good clothes and tie." She replied. "And don't forget your dress shoes! We're going out to celebrate my and your father's anniversary. Now hurry! Your father, Mauricio, and Otto are waiting in the car."

"It's your anniversary already?" He questioned, walking towards his room. Sandy nodded as she followed. Before he opened his door, he raised an eyebrow at her. "Hey, wait a minute… Since when do we go with you on your date?" He shuddered at the word. "And what's that little dork doing coming with us!.?"

"Lars!" She scolded. "He is not a dork! He's going to be your brother-in-law someday!"

Again, Lars shuddered. He couldn't begin to imagine how horrible it'd be to call Otto his brother of all things.

"It's also their anniversary, remember?" She continued.

The teen resisted the all-too-tempting urge to gag at that one. He had forgotten that it was exactly a year ago that those two got together. As he walked inside, he held his chin. It was that day that they got together, at least according to Twister… He scoffed at the memory.

'Knowing him, he probably said that just so that Mom and Dad could praise them and shower them with gifts.'

He sighed as he closed the door and proceeded to get dressed.