Hey everyone! Have to make this quick, sorry... I have so much studying to do it's unbelievable... First off, thank you to everyoen who reviewed! I won't be able to give a shoutout to everyoen individually like I usually do because of time, so I'm sorry about that. But! Thanks to you guys, I now have 100 reviews! Woo! Triple-digits! -happy dance-
I'm not really satisfied with this chapter, but I felt bad for nto updating in so long. Hope you guys like it more than I do!
Disclaimer: For the last time, no! I don't own Orli.
Yet.
-shifty eyes-
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Chapter 8.
The movie opened with blood spraying everywhere and muffled screams. Elizabeth automatically felt her pulse pick up; she had completely forgotten that she got incredibly scared during horror movies at the thought of blowing the day off with Will.
Shit… a frightened voice said in the back of her head. Normally, she wouldn't care, but she really didn't need Will to know that she was reduced to a cringing little girl that hid her eyes during the scary parts in horror flicks.
The movie progressed quickly. The main character, a teenage girl, was home alone and there had been recent reports of a mass murderer on the loose in the area. Even in her state of apprehension, Elizabeth couldn't help but roll her eyes at the unoriginality of the movie. She looked over at Will, who was rolling his eyes as well. She laughed and he caught her eye; his own twinkling. A scream returned Elizabeth's attention to the screen.
"Hello?" The girl asked, terrified, into the phone. A rasping voice was projected throughout the theater.
"Don't open the door…" it warned. The line went dead. A knock at the door made Elizabeth jump, her eyes wide. The girl opened the door and saw a little boy, covered in blood. He opened his mouth and screamed.
Elizabeth went to grab the armrest, but there was something in the way. It took her a few minutes of clenched fists and eyes squeezed shut to realize that it was Will's hand. Her eyes snapped back open and she looked up at him. He seemed surprised.
"Um… Sorry," she muttered, embarrassed. Will grinned.
"No problem," he said. Elizabeth fake-laughed nervously. For the next ten minutes, she was sure to keep her hands folded together tightly. Her heart was beating a mile a minute; she hated scary movies. She just wanted it to be over. Blood splattered on the screen as the boy cut his leg open with a knife. To Elizabeth's astonishment, Will started chuckling softly behind her.
"Uh… What are you laughing at?" She asked in a scared whisper. Will leaned close to her and whispered, "That is probably the fakest blood and the worst acting I've ever seen."
Elizabeth looked at the movie fully for the first time in half an hour and started to laugh. Blood spurted forcefully from the boy's leg – a result of a maybe quarter of an inch cut. The girl's screaming was obviously forced, and the boy's maniacal laughter started a second too late. Enjoying herself much more, Elizabeth sat back in her seat and laughed. She and Will continued to whisper sarcastic comments to each other for the next half an hour or so, until Will inexplicably became very quiet and brooding. Elizabeth regarded the scene for a minute – the murderer was finally in the house, and was chasing down the boy and teenage girl with a pistol. When he finally found them, huddled in the closet, Will suddenly stood up.
"Are you okay?" Elizabeth asked concernedly.
"Um… bathroom," Will said, avoiding her eyes. Elizabeth followed him out after a minute. The screams of the teenage girl and little boy echoed in her ears as she left the theater. She found Will standing against the wall of the opposite side of the hall, his eyes down at the floor and unseeing, his fists clenched.
"…Will?" she asked timidly. He looked up and she saw absolute fury in his eyes. Surprise quickly extinguished the anger as he gazed at her.
"Yeah?" He asked, returning his eyes to the floor.
"Are you okay? Everything was fine, and then…" she trailed off, not sure what she should say. She could tell there was something upsetting him, something far worse than the movie.
"I'm fine… it's just…" Will started, swallowing. He looked down the corridor and beckoned for her to follow as he started walking down it. They were silent, until Will cleared his throat and began to speak.
"Remember… when we met in the graveyard?" Will asked with difficulty. Elizabeth nodded and opened the door to her Jeep; they were at the car by this point.
"That's how my friends were killed. The guy who murdered them cornered them in their room and shot them," Will explained coldly. Elizabeth felt shock go through her body. It was quickly replaced, though, by sorrow.
"I'm so sorry…" she whispered. Will shrugged. "It was ten years ago."
Elizabeth just drove, unable to think of anything to say. She had wondered how Will's friends were killed, but didn't expect him to just come right out and tell her like he just did. She peeked over at him – he was staring out the window, a brooding look on his face. She decided to change the subject. She didn't want him to dwell on his haunting past.
"Hey… thanks for calming me down back there," she said. Will returned his face to hers and she watched him from the corner of her eye. He smiled after moment.
"Anytime," he said. She smiled at him, taking her eyes off the road for a minute. She could feel his mahogany eyes swallow her; she could look at them forever…
"Whoa!" Will exclaimed. Elizabeth snapped her eyes back to the road and saw she had veered to the left and almost into another car.
"Oops…" she said, biting her lip. Will laughed.
"Maybe I'll drive next time…" he said, shaking his head. Elizabeth laughed.
They arrived back at the Academy at about 5:30, and the sun was just beginning to go down. Elizabeth parked her car and yanked the key out of the ignition. She hopped out of the car and heard Will do the same on the other side. They walked out of the parking lot together wordlessly. Elizabeth wanted to say something, anything, to fill the silence, but could think of no words that would make the situation any less awkward than it was. Luckily, a certain someone came swaggering over to them within a minute.
"Well, well, well…" Jack started, a roguish grin on his face. His eyes darted from Will to Elizabeth.
"Given Cassidy the slip, 'ave ya?" He asked Will. Will snorted and nodded his head. "Shame. I woulda loved to 'ave seen 'er, for ol' times' sake," Jack continued.
"Bet you would have," Elizabeth murmured, remembering Jack explaining his taste in women to her. A moment later, though, she wished she hadn't spoken.
"Ah, Elizabeth! Glad to see you're in a better mood than this mornin'," Jack said slyly, winking. Will looked between them suspiciously.
"This morning?" He asked in suspicion.
"Oh yeah, Elizabeth was in quite a tizzy…" Jack started. Elizabeth sent him a pleading look.
"Really? Why?" Will asked. Elizabeth started to panic.
"Um… I… I, um…" she stuttered, knowing full well she sounded like an idiot. Jack watched this show for a minute, amusement written all over his face. After another few seconds of stuttering, however, he cut across Elizabeth's stammering cleanly.
"Oh, Elizabeth just left some of 'er homework in the cafeteria and was 'aving difficulty locating it," Jack explained. Elizabeth felt relief wash over her and nodded hastily.
"Yeah, I left an essay I was supposed to do for Professor Barbossa in the cafeteria," she agreed.
"Oh. Well, alright then," Will said, looking oddly relieved. Jack grinned.
"Um… I'm gonna go and start on that paper for Gibbs," Elizabeth said after a moment.
"Yeah, I better get working on that, too. I'll see you later, Elizabeth," he said.
"See ya," she said. She walked to her dorm room, a storm of thoughts swirling around in her head. So much seemed to have happened in a single day… She had gotten crazy jealous for the first time in her life, had pretty much stalked someone, had mixed Diet Coke and Sprite with Will, had grabbed Will's hand in a dark movie theater, and had found out more about his painful past. She flopped on her bed and stared up at the ceiling.
"That was one hell of a day…" she said to herself.
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Once again, thanks to everyone who reviewed! I'm sorry I wasn't able to give everyone a shoutout like I usually do. Hope you guys liked this chapter!
Peace!