Chapter 2: Movie Night

...

When we came back to the base, I waited for the others to go ahead so I could talk to Link more privately. I waved to Link with my bandaged arm.

"H-hey Link."

Link turned to me, one ear fin up and one down, while giving me a puzzled look. I smiled and fumbled with my pale fingers. I always felt so nervous around him. My heart thumped so much it ached. My palms were very sweaty under my fingerless black gloves.

"R-Ready for tonight?" I asked him nervously. His other fin flicked up and he nodded. "Yeah...Don't forget the popcorn." With that he turned and left. I watched him walk down the hallway to his room. I smiled happily.

I finally got the courage to ask him if he wanted to watch the Creature from the Black Lagoon movie with me. A month ago, he got me the trilogy of the Creature on DVD for my birthday. He promised that he would watch it with me. Since then we had been so busy with many alien sightings across the United States, we didn't have time to hang out and chill.

I got to my room and laid on my bed. I stared up at the ceiling at let that scene play back in my head:

I stood there in front of the huge metal wall that acted as a door for Link's room. I took a deep breath and exhaled before knocking on his door. I had to knock again after waiting a few minutes longer than I needed to. Finally the wall opened up and Link appeared on the other side. He looked around before looking down and noticing me. He crossed his arms and leaned against the side of the threshold.

"Yeah?" he asked.

My pale palms started to sweat under my fingerless gloves. "Um...w-would you...uh..." I stumbled over my words. Every second got worse and worse. My face started to turn darker shades of red. Link waited patiently for me to get the words out.

"Wouldyouliketowatchamoviewithmetonight?" I finally asked. Links finned ears flicked against the side of his head in confusion. "What? I didn't catch that. Say it slower, Batsy," he said. I took a deep breath and exhaled. I was very nervous.

"Would you like to watch a movie? Tonight?" I asked. Link thought for a moment. "...There hasn't been talk of an alien invasion..." he said before looking down at me. "What movie? The Creature?" He asked. I nodded. He was silent for a moment, which caused a cold sweat to run down the side of my head.

"It's ok if you c-" I started, but then he interrupted me.

"Ok."

My heart skipped a beat. I blinked. "Ok?" I asked. Link nodded. "Yeah. I haven't seen it. Might as well. Like you said, I'm practically him. I should watch the movie," he said. I opened my mouth wide as a mixture of shock and pure excitement. "Ok!" I said. Link cocked his head a little to the side. I quickly looked down and hid my blushing red face behind my hair. "Ok. Yeah." Trying to sound casual but most likely failing.

I heard Link chuckle a little and ruffle my hair. I lifted my head up and stuck my tongue out at him. I was just gonna tell him something before the alarm went off and Monger shouting to us about another alien sighting, and that the alien looked like a giant robot octopus...

I smiled as I gazed up at the ceiling, thinking about all the scenarios of what might happen while we watch the movie...

...

I chose the time for us to watch the movie at eight, when everyone went to bed after dinner. I was already in the hangout room getting everything prepared. I made a bucket of popcorn, moved the coffee table closer so we could prop our feet up, and placed the DVD down on the DVD player. The lights were dim enough to where I could stand the brightness.

I turned when I heard Link come up to the doorway.

"So is anyone else coming to watch it with us?" Link asked. I paused for a moment where I stood. I didn't think up a lie on why I didn't invite the others. I just wanted it to be me and him watching the movie.

"Uh...I asked...they said they were too tired..." I responded slowly, suddenly feeling warmer then before. My shirt was feeling damp. God, I was a wreck. Trying to act calm when the inner voices in my head were screaming at the tops of their lungs. Thankfully Link bought it and came into the hangout room. I turned around and placed the DVD into the player and used the remote to turn the TV on.

Link sat down at the couch. I cautiously came around the coffee table and gently sat down on the couch next to him, careful not to sit on my wings.

I had brought a big bowl of popcorn I microwaved earlier over to the hangout room and offered the fish man some. He took a handful and dropped them into his mouth. I watched him curiously. When he noticed me staring, I quickly turned away and pressed the play button. From the corner of my eye, I saw him toss a couple more pieces of popcorn into his mouth.

"So...how many times have you seen this movie?" He asked me. I shrugged. "I dunno. At least fifty to sixty times," I said. Link's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh dang. I assumed at least six or seven times," he said. I shook my head. "I watched this movie when I got sick, when I was sad, when my parents were fighting..." I stopped. Link noticed.

I turned away, feeling crappy for bringing that part of my life up. Link quickly changed the subject. "So, is there any kissing in it?" He asked. Waves of heat washed over me. I smiled and shook my head. "Um...uh...t-there are sweet moments," I said.

The familiar sounds of the trumpets came on as the grey world that looked like it was made of clay slowly spun around. Link groaned a little. "...It's going to be one of those movies isnt it?" He asked. I didnt know what he meant but decided to play with his words.

"If you mean amazing and epic then yes!" I said grinning at him. He chuckled and turned his head to the movie. After the intro, the narrator came on, describing the Earth when it was first formed. Just a floating orb with a surface of a dozen oceans. I decided to have fun and pointed at the screen.

"Was the earth really like that?" I asked him. Link gave me a look. "I'm not that old!" Link snapped, but in a playful way. He wasn't that angry. I laughed. "Did you ride dinosaurs to school?" I jokingly asked him. He gave me a playful shove. "I ate dinosaurs for breakfast," he said grinning, revealing his sharp teeth. I laughed.

We joked about moments in the movie. Link laughed when I joked about the cheesy green screen moments and pretended to be amazed by "how real and amazing the scenery looked."

"I thought you liked this movie," Link laughed. I grinned. "I do! the Gill Man is my favorite classic monster. He's so cool." Link smirked at me before shoveling another handful of popcorn into his mouth.

"What makes him so cool to you?" He asked me. I looked over to the screen. "I mean...just look at him! His whole look. The idea that he came from another time and his love interest in the girl...His movies to me are so much more interesting."

Link nodded. "Yeah. I like him, for obvious reasons, and The Wolfman," he admitted. I looked over to him. "You like the Wolfman?" I asked. Link nodded. "Yeah." My ears went side ways in a quizzical way. "Why is that?" I asked. Link told me how the Wolfman was basically the only monster of the classic monsters who wasn't born a monster, and was turned into one. He found the idea very unique. I smiled a small smile. I wasn't born a monster. I wondered if he liked how I became a monster.

I pointed out things to Link in the movie, like how the creatures design was created by a woman, the sequel, Revenge of the Creature, was Clint Eastwood's first movie, and how the Creature had an appearance in the Munsters. Link was amazed by my Creature movie trivia. It felt nice being nerdy and being noticed for it.

I smiled when my favorite scene came on. Julie Adam's was swimming in the water in her white bathing suit. Underneath her, was the Gill man himself. It was such a romantic scene, I couldnt help but to sigh. Blushing. I imagined me and Link swimming together the same way. I turned to look over at him. Link seemed intrigued by the swimming scene. Most likely was falling for Julie Adams. My yellow eyes flickered downward.

Link's hand was near mine on the couch. My eyes kept looking over to it. My whole body began to heat up at the idea of placing my hand on top of it. Link noticed my red face. He thought I was getting sick or something. I lied and said that I was sensitive to the room temperature and said it was warm.

Link got up and changed the thermostat.

"That better?" He asked.

I lied and said yes.

"I didn't change it a whole lot, since I'm more sensitive to the cold than you are," he said as he came back to the couch and sat next to me.

"You cold blooded?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Yeah. It's not fun, I'll tell you that. I'm more into the hot climates. Warm waters." he commented. I nodded. "So, if you were in, let's say Antarctica, you'd turn into a Fishsicle?" I asked smirking.

Link gave me a look, but a smirk played on his face. Then he chuckled and shook his head. I always liked it when he laughed, especially at my dumb jokes.

We watched the rest of the movie. It's only about an hour and roughly twenty minutes. Link wasn't all that happy when the monster died. I told him that he came back in the second movie.

"In the same way, I wished they gave the creature a happy ending in this one," I said.

Link stared at me for a moment. "Does he get a happy ending in the other movies?" He asked. I hesitated. "Do you want me to spoil the movies for you?" I asked him. Link thought for a moment, then his broad shoulders sank.

"I think I can figure it out on my own. It's what every monster gets. A sad, tragic ending," he said. Link didn't look at me to see me nod. He knew the formula. Monsters were automatically the bad guys. The antagonists. I always found the creature's movies the most sad. I never saw the Creature as the bad guy. The humans were the bad guys. They invaded his home, polluted his waters, and killed him when all he was doing was trying to live in a time that was not his. He was all alone in the world.

I turned to Link, remembering him telling his story to us. He's the only one of his kind. I kind of related with him. Being the only teen in the universe with bat ears and wings. Close to being a teen vampire I guess. All thanks to a horrible man named John. The real monster. I was an experiment. Alien DNA running in my veins. October's blood. A real alien who crash landed on earth years ago. He too was one of John's experiments.

I hesitated for a moment before looking over to Link on the couch, checking if there was anymore popcorn in the bowl.

"So...what did you think of the movie?" I asked. Link looked over to the screen as it showed the end credits. "I liked it...Much better then I thought it would be. Good acting," he said. I smiled.

"So...You up to watch the second one?" I asked him. Link hesitated for a moment. "Um. I'm kind of beat. We can watch it some other time," he said. My bat ears went down a little. "Oh...ok," I said. I was kind of hoping to continue watching, but I could see that Link was having a hard time staying up.

With that, Link got up from the couch, taking the empty popcorn bowl with him. "Thanks for showing me the movie," he said. I smiled. "You are welcome...this was fun." Then I got nervous and quickly said. "We should do this again sometime."

Link turned to look at me. I adverted my eyes and tucked my hair behind my bat ear, but it came out and landed in front of my face. "Um...Goodnight," I quickly said before turning away and leaving.

"Bat," Link called.

I stopped and turned. "Yeah?" I asked.

Link pointed to the DVD still in the DVD player. "You forgot something," he said. Embarrassed, I walked back over and took the DVD out of the player and back into its case. I turned off the player and silently walked out with the movie in my hands. I was so embarrassed, I didn't turn to look at Link. I just quickly walked away back to my room.

...