Chapter 6
Seth, taking Zoe's advice, asked Sam if she'd like to go see a movie on Saturday. To Seth's surprise, Sam said yes, and agreed to meet him at the movie theatres in the early afternoon.
"So, you want me to drive you down there?" Julie asked Seth as she washed the dishes from Peter and Tyler's lunch.
Seth shook his head. "Nah, it's okay, I'll walk."
She looked up at him. "Are you sure, it's a long walk."
"I'm sure." He told her. "Bye guys." He gave Peter a high five and patted Tyler's head. "See you mom." He said, and headed for the front door.
"Bye Seth!" She called to him, and the door closed behind him.
It was about a 20 minute walk to the Chesapeake Heights town center, and when he got to the movie theatres, Mahea was already there.
"Hey." He said, walking up to her. "You've been waiting long?"
She shook her head. "Nah, just got here."
"Ready?" He asked, gesturing towards the ticket line.
"Yep." Mahea replied, and they both walked in the ticket line.
"Two for the 1:45 showing of Batman Begins." Seth said to the woman in the ticket booth. Seth saw Mahea reaching for her wallet, but stopped her. "No it's okay, I got it." He said, and quickly gave the woman his money for the tickets.
Mahea smiled. "Thanks." They walked into the theatre which was buzzing with people in it.
"So," Seth got in a line. "Do you want a drink? And popcorn?" He asked her.
"Yeah, a small Pepsi." She said.
"Hi, could we have two small Pepsi's, and a small popcorn." Seth said, watching the teenage boy scramble to make their drinks and get their popcorn.
"That'll be $8." The boy said.
Mahea quickly got her money out and handed it to the boy. She looked at Seth. "I got this one." She told him. "You got the tickets, I got the snacks." She smiled.
A smile made it's way across his face. "Okay."
They walked over to their theatre and sat down in the fifth row. Soon the lights went down, making the crowd stop talking. Several commercials played, including one about Smoothie Mixed Skittles that both Mahea and Seth found amusing, yet twisted. Five movie previews played, and finally the movie began. Seth and Mahea watched in silence, occasionally whispering something about the movie they found funny, or interesting. After the movie, they walked around the town center and talked about the movie.
"It's weird, going to see movie versions of comic books." Mahea mentioned. "I mean, sometimes I don't wanna go see the movie, 'cause I'm afraid it'll mess up the original comic." She smiled. "Kinda silly."
Seth looked at her and smiled. "No, that's exactly how I am." He said. "A lot of the times the movies get a whole bunch of stuff wrong with the storyline. I hate it when they do that."
"Exactly." Mahea agreed. They smiled at each other, then walked a few steps in silence.
"Want some ice cream?" Seth suggested, and Mahea smiled. They walked over to Baskin Robins, Seth got a scoop of Rocky Road, and Mahea got a scoop of Cookies N' Cream. They walked around the town center some more, eating their ice cream and talking about school.
"So, how was your first week here?" Seth asked her, taking a spoonful of his ice cream and sticking it in his mouth.
She nodded. "It was pretty good. I like it here." She looked off into the distance. "But, it's still not like home, when everything was easier." She sighed.
"What do you mean?" Seth asked her.
Mahea saw an open bench and walked over to it, Seth following her. "Back home in Hawaii." She said as Seth sat down next to her. "When I was younger, everything was easy. School, friends, everything was always there, it wasn't as hectic as it is now. Once we started moving, I've been really busy, it's always hard to settle down again." She told him, watching her ice cream turn into soup.
Seth finished his ice cream. "I can see how that must be hard." He said. "Everything does get harder as you grow up. I used to always wanna be Peter Pan, and never have to grow up."
"I know what you mean. Growing up takes a lot of work, but I'm sure there's positive things in the end." She said, changing her tone of voice.
Seth smiled. "Yeah, I guess you're right." They looked up at each other and smiled. They got up and continued to walk around the town center, when they passed Fun Factory and Mahea stopped right in front of it.
"Ooh, can we go in?" She asked Seth, making him turn around and look at her. "I haven't been in an arcade for months!" She exclaimed, and pulled on his hand and led him inside. Mahea got a few dollars worth of tokens and walked around with Seth looking for games to play.
The ended up playing a few racing games, air hockey, and a game of Mortal Combat.
"I'll get a few more dollars." Seth said, and headed off to the token machine. He returned, and found Mahea gazing at the Dance Dance Revolution system in front of her.
Mahea grinned. "Wanna play?"
Seth looked at her, then looked at the game. "Are you serious?" He asked, not able to picture himself playing that game. He looked at Mahea and saw her smiling. "No, no way, I'm not playing that game." Seth told her, turning around to walk away.
She grabbed his hand. "Oh c'mon, it'll be fun!" She said.
He took another look at the game and sighed. "I guess it wouldn't kill me." He gave in, following Mahea on to the dance pad.
"Here, I like this song." Mahea said, clicking on the title, "Moonlight Shadow".
"You've played this before?" Seth asked Mahea.
She nodded and smiled. "Yeah, tons of times before. I even have two versions of it on Playstation." She said.
Seth threw up his hands. "Great, not only am I gonna look like an idiot, I'll look like an idiot against someone who knows what they're doing." He complained.
Mahea chuckled. "Don't worry, you could never look like an idiot." She said, making him smile.
The music started to play, and they both focused on the screen in front of them. Both started to move their feet according to the arrows that flashed across the screen. Halfway through the song, a crowd gathered around them, watching them play. At the end of the first song, Seth stopped moving his feat and breathed heavily.
"You play this for fun?" He asked, leaning on his knees.
Mahea smiled. "Yeah, I like it." She said. "Here, you know what you do, don't keep putting your foot back into the center." She told him. "Just keep your feet on the last arrow that you touch, then move it to the next arrow. That way, you don't have to rush and figure out where to put it, it makes it easier."
Seth nodded. "Okay, I'll try it." The next song started, and Seth did a lot better. He actually found himself smiling and laughing through that song.
"See, that wasn't so bad." Mahea smiled. The crowd clapped for them once the second song ended. "Okay…" She looked for the last song. "Here, this is my favorite song." She said, and clicked on a song entitled "Boys". The music began and lights flashed from the screen, and Seth and Mahea started moving their feet on the different arrows.
After the song was through, the screen showed their scores.
"Wow, double A's?" Seth said as the crowd cheered. "You're really good Mahea.
She smiled. "Thanks. But see, you got a B. You're not that bad either." She smiled, and they both stepped off the dance pad as the crowd disappeared. Seth and Mahea took a few steps off the dance pad, and found Tony and his flunkies behind him.
"Well, well, well." Troy said. "I didn't know Creeper went out during the day." He sneered, making Cory and Sean laugh.
Seth glared at Troy. "I'm not a vampire."
"Are you sure?" Sean said. "Then what's with all the black you wear?" He teased, laughing some more.
"I think he looks fine." Mahea said, glaring at all three of them.
Troy looked at Sam, then smiled. "Oh c'mon Mahea, you don't have to be nice to Creeper anymore." He said, taking a few steps towards Mahea.
"Don't even." Mahea backed away from Troy as he tried to take her hand.
"Just leave us alone." Seth said, getting both annoyed and angry.
Troy stared at Seth. "Or what?" He said. Then the manager came up behind Sam and Seth.
"Do we have a problem here?" He asked sternly.
Troy looked to Sean and Cory, then Seth and Mahea. "No sir." He grunted, then walked away, with his friends following him.
"C'mon, let's go." Seth said and he and Mahea walked out of Fun Factory. "Sorry, they're always there to bother me." Seth said, shaking his head.
"It's okay." Mahea said. "Thanks for playing with me, see, you liked it, didn't you?" She smiled, changing it to a better subject.
A smile crept across his face. "Yeah, I guess it was fun." He admitted, making them both laugh. He looked at Mahea. "You want me to walk you home?" He asked, hoping she'd say yes.
She looked up at him. "It's kinda a long way from here." She told him.
"I don't mind." He said, and they turned around to walk to Mahea's house.