Disclaimer: I don't own Sky High.
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Chapter Thirty Five
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"Congratulations on making the school paper, Ethan. What did your parents say?" Layla asked, grinning at him.
"They were so proud that mum made me a cake. I'm tempted to join the yearbook committee next week," Ethan said, laughing.
"You never told me there was cake!" Zach said, sounding scandalised. "I would've come sooner to eat my fill."
"And there's the reason I didn't tell you," Ethan pointed out, grinning. He stood up on his toes to press a quick kiss to Zach's cheek, both of them blushing gently.
"Still planning on 28 Pays Later, Lay? There's some other movies out this week that look just as good," Zach suggested, looking up at the board.
Beside him, Heidi tugged on his sleeve and then signed something, looking excited.
"Really, that one? Oh, I didn't see that. Nice, Heids," Zach replied, signing back to her as well.
"Everything okay?" Layla asked.
"Fine; Heidi just saw that one of the movies has closed captioning, so she can watch it on her own without being forced to see a movie she can't understand, and have to watch me and Eth make out."
"Heidi didn't really say all of that, did she?" Ethan asked, blushing again.
"Well, I might've added the last bit on. Doesn't mean it's not true," Zach added, winking.
"Hey, Layla!" Larry called to her, waving as he made his way over with Craig; Adam and Lisa beside them.
"Hey guys. You ready for the movie?" Layla asked, smiling at them.
"Yeah! Bring on the zombies!" Craig said, grinning.
"We're going to line up for tickets so Heids doesn't miss her movie," Zach called, heading over to the line with Heidi.
"I'm going to get mine, too. I don't want to miss the opening credits," Ethan said, hurrying after them.
"Uh, we might get ours too," Adam said, the other three leaving with him.
Left by herself for the moment, Layla looked up at the screen showing previews of upcoming films. The screen was playing a clip of an upcoming horror movie, the usual damsel in distress screaming and running, the madman chasing after her with a blood-covered knife. There was another scream and the knife was plunged into the woman's stomach, throwing her back across the room with the force. All too fiercely, Layla was reminded of her mother, seeing her thrown across a field.
All of a sudden the cinema foyer felt much too small, there were too many people, she couldn't breathe, but she couldn't move, she couldn't get away. Layla felt as though she was gasping for air, making a spectacle of herself, everyone was staring, and she could hear the rushing of her blood as it hammered through her body far too fast. Her vision started to get spotty, black dots littering her vision, and still, all Layla could see was her mother's body, broken and lifeless in front of her. Layla couldn't breathe, couldn't make herself take in air, couldn't make her mouth work; she was completely frozen.
Mere seconds before she fainted, Layla felt a wave of heat flowing through her. She blinked a few times, slow and languid as she thawed, to see Warren standing in front of her. He looked worried, and as feeling returned to her tingling limbs, Layla realised that he was holding her wrist, the flames circling wildly beneath his fingers. Her fears had been unfounded, no one was staring, and it seemed as though they were completely oblivious to her panic attack.
"You okay?" Warren asked.
Layla licked her lips and gave a slight shake of her head.
"Want to get out of here?"
"No. Not yet. I just... I need dark, I need to breathe," Layla replied, closing her eyes for a moment.
Warren looked over to the movie screening times, then gave a short nod, his hand slipping down to hold Layla's hand instead. "C'mon, hippie."
Layla opened her eyes again and followed Warren without hesitation. She heard him tell Ethan and Zach to create a diversion, and before he'd even finished, Heidi had burst several lightbulbs at one of the cinema entrances. A few people screamed, and the cinema staff ran over to help. While they were distracted, Warren led Layla past the usher's booth and down to a particular cinema. It was empty, credits rolling on the screen, and Warren sat on a seat. He tugged Layla down onto his lap, moving her so she was facing his shoulder, her vision blocked from the screen.
"Breathe, hippie. I've got you," Warren said, pressing a hot kiss to her skin as he wrapped his arms around her, firm and comforting.
Layla let herself relax, breathing in and out slowly, listening to the pulse of Warren's heartbeat.
"How'd you know it would be empty?" Layla asked when she felt calmer.
"It's the only movie that has two showings; it means it was already released a month or so ago, and most people have already seen it. This will be probably be the last weekend it's screened," Warren added. "Better?"
"A little. Let's go out to the others; I'll be all right," Layla said, pulling back from his shoulder.
There was a cough nearby, and they both looked over to see the cleaner standing there, looking embarrassed. Realising the position they were in, with Layla practically straddling Warren's lap, Layla tried not to laugh at the cleaner's misconception and stood up, hoping she looked contrite rather than amused. Warren just rolled his eyes and took her hand as they left the cinema together.
Donny and Wendy had arrived, and their group of friends were waiting by the usher's booth with their tickets, getting them processed by the usher. The glass was still being cleaned at the cinema, signs and velvet rope blocking the area.
"We wondered where you two'd gone," Craig said, grinning and looking between them. "Just couldn't wait 'til you got inside, hey?" he added with an exaggerated wink.
"Funny, Craig," Layla said, rolling her eyes.
Craig didn't seem to mind the sarcasm, laughing as he headed to the cinema with the others. Heidi waved goodbye and headed to her own movie. Zach waited to the side as Ethan handed a ticket each to Layla and Warren.
"You didn't have to buy our tickets, Ethan," Layla said, Warren taking her ticket and offering it to the usher.
"You can buy the next one for me and Zach; he wants to watch The Commander and Jetstream vs. King Kamehamayhem," Ethan said, shaking his head as they headed towards the cinema.
"It's a remake of the original movie, which obviously means it's going to be even worse; therefore: I can mock them as much as I want to," Zach said, grinning.
"You might want to wait for a later session; some people can get fanatic when Jetstream and The Commander are involved, even if it's a bad movie," Layla added.
"I really don't think the movie can be worse than the original. You could still see the strings on the actress they used!" Ethan said.
"Yeah, but this time they're using CGI," Zach said, grinning. "As good as special effects are getting, you can still tell when someone's in front of a green screen pretending to fly."
"Why didn't they just use Blue McQueen? She can hover, and she's an actor," Ethan pointed out.
"Blue McQueen is a B-movie star at best; Hollywood would only want A-listers for a movie about The Commander and Jetstream," Zach said with a laugh, leading the way up the stairs to their seats.
"What's so funny?" Larry asked eagerly as they sat down.
"Talking about the new Jetstream and The Commander movie; Ethan thinks Blue McQueen could've been Jetstream."
"No way!" Craig said, glancing around quickly before changing his features to Blue McQueen's. "You think this looks like Jetstream?"
"I think you overestimated the length of her chin, Craig," Wendy said.
"And her eyes are blue, not green," Adam pointed out.
Craig groaned and shifted back to his normal appearance. "That's not the point I was trying to make, you all suck."
Zach laughed. "They were right; you rushed it and did a crappy job, Craig."
Craig gave Zach the finger, but he was grinning, so no one thought he was actually offended.
"Oh, previews are on; be quiet," Ethan said, putting his hand over Zach's mouth.
Zach made an indignant squawk, muffled by Ethan's hand, but no one came to his defence. He quietened down, Ethan's hand slipping away when he was sure that Zach would stay that way.
Layla felt a rush of relief that the preview she'd had a panic attack over earlier wasn't one of the previews shown. Warren squeezed her hand gently as the movie started, then they all sat quietly as the opening credits started, a zombie stumbling onto the screen.
Layla didn't feel a rush of panic, she didn't freeze, and she continued to breathe normally. The zombies on screen - far more decrepit and disgusting than the scene she'd seen outside - held no sway over her. She briefly wondered if it was because she knew that she had been coming to see a zombie film, whereas the preview had startled her, coming out of nowhere. Warren glanced at her when a zombie claimed it's first victim inside of a bank (less than 2 minutes into the movie, surely that was a record?), but she gave him a reassuring smile and turned her attention back to the movie again, Warren doing the same beside her.
Almost thirty minutes later, Zach groaned loudly. "I can't stand it anymore! This movie actually sucks."
"Oh, thank god; I thought it was just me," Lisa said, snickering.
"What's wrong with it?" Larry asked, looking at them worriedly.
"Not enough time to go into it; bad plot, bad acting, bad graphics, bad acting."
"You already said that," Larry said.
"It's true," Adam replied, wincing when the male lead declared his love for the female lead in the middle of banking their cheques with an armed bank teller.
"Who reckons the woman will be bitten?" Craig asked.
"I think the man will. There's meant to be a twist in this, according to the reviews," Ethan said, finally giving in on his 'no talking' rule - the movie was bad enough to warrant rule-breaking.
"I don't think I care enough to stay long enough to find out," Donny groaned.
"What's Heidi watching?" Layla asked Zach.
"She's watching the new animated movie about the platypus and the duck that steal a rocket to save their monkey friend from the space circus. It's showing in cinema 4."
Without a word, Wendy was out of her seat in a flurry, and Donny followed her out a second later.
"Are they switching cinemas?" Larry asked, eyes wide in concern.
"I think they just really needed the bathroom," Layla lied, Adam barely holding back a snort of laughter.
From the expression on his face, Larry didn't believe her. "Should we tell someone? I mean, that's not right that they've switched cinemas in the middle of this movie."
"It's not the end of the world, Larry. They already paid for a movie, who cares if they leave one for another? It's not like this place is fully packed," Craig said, clapping Larry on the back.
Another cheque was banked on screen, and as someone came in to make a withdrawal, they were bombarded by several zombies, dying with a theatrical scream.
"That's all I can take. I think I'm looking forward to the space platypus and duck," Zach said, standing and edging his way out of the aisle.
Ethan grimaced at the screen and followed after Zach. Craig left, imitating one of the actor's screams dramatically. Larry looked like he'd been personally offended, and his expression only grew more wounded as Adam and Lisa left as well, leaving him alone with Layla and Warren.
"Are you staying, Layla?" Larry asked hopefully.
"No. I would've left ten minutes ago if I'd known there was another option. Why don't you come as well?" Layla offered, Warren already standing and waiting.
"I don't want to leave. I'm enjoying the movie," he replied, stubbornly.
"All right. If you change your mind, we're in Cinema 4, okay?" Layla said.
Larry's stubborn expression softened briefly, but then he nodded curtly and turned his attention back to the movie.
Layla left with Warren, grinning broadly. This was going even better than they'd planned.
The usher saw them walk past, but didn't look as though he was going to stop or reprimand them, even as they blatantly walked straight into another cinema. Warren shook his head and headed over to where their friends were crowded. Heidi was giving Zach a quick rundown on what had happened so far in the movie, her hands moving fast as he translated to the others.
"So, basically, the girl platypus is called Plati, the boy duck is called Bill, and the girl monkey is called Chimp? Chimp was kidnapped by space pirates who run a circus in space in order to steal from the people that attend, and Bill and Phil have to convince NASA to give them a rocket so they can go save Chimp?"
Heidi nodded firmly, grinning.
"This already sounds better than 28 Pays Later," Craig said, settling back on his chair to watch the movie.
Fifteen minutes later...
"I don't even care how Chimp is juggling balls of fire, that's just awesome. Why don't you do that, Warren?" Zach asked, grinning brightly.
"Because I'm not an animated monkey being forced to participate in a circus in space," Warren replied.
"Semantics," Zach said, waving him off. Ethan covered his mouth again and Zach visibly deflated, his shoulders drooping low.
"Be quiet, I want to know how Plati's going to get Bill away from Captain Octopus."
Zach nodded and Ethan took his hand away again, patting Zach on the leg when he looked a little low.
"We'll talk about it afterwards, okay?"
"Okay," Zach replied, voice soft.
A sword fight between a seven-legged octopus (she lost one in a different fight, and had a peg leg replacement) and a platypus who could only use their tail as a shield was somewhat one-sided, but somehow Plati still managed to disarm the Captain and free both Bill and Chimp from the lower decks of the pirates' ship. Layla thought it was charmingly predictable to make the good guys win, if a little boring. Then Captain Octopus stood up on her seven legs and dove for Bill and Chimp (the monkey had become a favourite with the crowds, drawing in more people than her crew could pickpocket), wrapping her legs around them tightly and forcing Plati to choose.
Plati chose Chimp, Bill looked appropriately devastated for a duck, and Captain Octopus looked surprised but victorious after a moment. Then Chimp withdrew two swords that had been stolen while in the octopus' grasp, and Chimp and Plati worked together to free Bill. When Captain Octopus' was sushi, the three friends flew back home in the rocket ship Bill and Plati had stolen from NASA.
"I can't believe Plati chose Chimp!" Wendy said as they left the cinema after the usual post-credits musical.
"She knew that Chimp had the swords though; Bill wouldn't have been able to use them, even if he did get them! He's a duck!" Donny argued.
"Bill could've bitten his way free from Captain Octopus. He still had those razor-sharp teeth that one of the space pirates stole from that little old grandma," Adam pointed out.
"Heidi thinks the grandma was awesome," Zach said, grinning at his sister.
"I think I'd watch a sequel just about her," Lisa agreed.
"But then you won't find out what happens when Captain Octopus' first mate escapes the lion cage; they've got to go on from that!" Craig said. "You can't tell me that you don't want to know how the lion's going to go against that hedgehog?"
Layla was about to answer, Warren on his phone beside her, when they saw Larry leaving his cinema as well. They stopped to wait, no one wanting to admit they'd forgotten about him, and Larry hurried to catch up with them.
"The reviews were right; the ending for 28 Pays Later was so unexpected!" he exclaimed as soon as he was close enough to talk without yelling.
"What happened?" Ethan asked, curious but not burning with a need for knowledge, not like he usually did.
"You'll have to watch it to find out; I'm not going to spoil it," Larry replied.
Warren looked up from his phone. "The guy was a zombie all along; he was the first person that got bitten, but he just managed to last longer because he was under the influence and the virus mutated. And there's going to be a sequel with the grandmother," he added, looking to Heidi.
Heidi looked excited, signing something to her brother, and tugging on Lisa's sleeve.
"She's going to use the hedgehog as a pin cushion to get her pearl earrings back," Zach said.
"I think she'd be more concerned about her teeth first!" Lisa replied, laughing.
Heidi gave a shrug.
"How'd you know that about the movie?" Larry demanded of Warren, standing up as tall as he could.
"I read the reviews before I came here; one of them was a spoiler."
Larry looked like he wanted to power up right then and there. The cinema might not have been packed full of people, but there were still enough that causing a scene probably wasn't a good idea.
"Who's up for ice cream?" Layla offered.
Heidi waved enthusiastically, Zach barely a second behind her. Ethan just laughed and put his hand up as well, not waving quite as much. The others all joined in, Wendy keeping her hand low and probably trying not to look as though she knew them. Warren didn't bother raising his hand and just lead the way out of the cinema and towards the ice cream store on the corner.
Before they could go inside, Larry's phone started ringing loudly, and he answered his mother's call.
"The movie's just finished... We're going for ice cream... Oh, you are?" Larry answered, craning his head to look over Lisa's shoulder. "Oh, yeah... Uh, okay... Yes, I'll be right there," he said, hanging up and turning to the others. "My mum's here to pick me up, so I'll have to skip the ice cream."
Craig gave Larry a sympathetic slap on the back. "Maybe next time, yeah?"
"Yeah, maybe. See ya!" Larry called, hurrying off at a fast-paced walk to his mother's car.
"She could've got an ice cream and waited," Donny muttered. "What? You were all thinking it!"
"I wasn't! I was thinking about the ice cream I'm going to have," Lisa admitted a little guiltily.
Heidi just raised her hand as if to admit she'd thought it, and then went inside the ice cream store without an ounce of remorse. Zach held the door open for them all, and they trekked in, Lisa talking excitedly about the new flavours she wanted to try.
Layla smiled up at Warren and pressed a kiss to his cheek. After this, they would take everyone to the Hive, and things could really get started.
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End of the thirty-fifth chapter.
Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it.
