You are now Eridan.
You seriously regret watching this movie. You like to pretend that you love violence, but actually seeing it scares the ever-loving fuck out of you. Not only did this movie ruin any violent schemes you may have concocted, but it also destroyed any dignity you had left. It was bad enough you'd invited her over, but the position you were now in was compromising at best. In the midst of your fear, you'd gotten up from your seat and planted yourself in Phae's lap, burying your face in the crook of her neck every time you were scared, which was most of the time. She never laughed at you or made fun of you like you'd expected though; she just wrapped her arms around your waist and allowed you to squish her while her eyes remained glued to the screen.
At the time it hadn't seemed like a big deal, but now that the automatic lights had powered back on and the film was over, this arrangement was less than acceptable. Phae made no effort to remove you, only furthering your severe embarrassment. The embarrassment soon changes into resentment, and then you have an idea. She made you sit through a horror film, so YOU were going to make her sit through something you loved that everyone else despised: documentaries.
You force her arms away and stand up, turning your arms until they pop. Once you adjust to a standing position, you walk over to where the movies are located and search for your favorite. Then you spot your favorite, simply titled Anti-Peace: The History of Every War Ever. You set it to the side as you remove Blood Bath, giving it a look of disapproval before putting it back in its case and replacing it with the documentary. You giddily go back to your seat, picking up the empty plates covered with BBQ and dipping sauce and placing them in the vacant chair next to yours.
"Um, what are we watching dude?" Phae inquires, twisting her body to look at you. You smirk, ignore her, and cross one leg over the other, clapping as the movie starts. Jeffery, your butler, enters the room and bows.
"How may I help you sir?" he asks, and you watch his eyes dart over to Phae for a couple seconds before resting on you again. During those seconds, his face had contorted into a look of disdain, which sort of pissed you off for some reason. He didn't even know her, why did he get to look at her like that? Something inside of you snaps and you leap out of your seat to address him formally. You stand straight and tall so he remembers who's the boss here, and he visibly cringes.
"Do you havve a fuckin' issue wwith my friend here? You don't get to look at her like that, only I can. Your job is to servve me, and from noww on, you servve her too. Got it?" you say in a harsh whisper, looking up at him as your head was angled downward to give your words more hatred. He gulps and nods, making you smirk devilishly, "Phae, go ahead and tell this thing wwhat you wwant to eat."
"Hmm do you got any pocky? Strawberry specifically?" she asks politely, and even though you know you don't have that, you figure that Jeffery will have no problem going out and buying some.
"I don't think wwe do. Jeffery, go out and buy as much of this pocky as possible. Then fetch me a long island ice tea, and a Bloody Mary for the girl. You're dismissed," you say with a wave, sitting back down only to realize that you've missed five minutes of the film. Jeffery nods and leaves the room: good riddance.
"Thanks for sticking up for me dude, but you didn't have to do that. I'm used to getting looks, usually from you actually," she adds with a chuckle, making you extremely self-conscious for some reason. You look down at your outfit and smooth out the imperfections, happy for the automatic dimming of the lights. Then what she said registers; she's used to it (complete disregard of the second half of that)?
"Wwhat the fuck do you mean you're used to it?" you start, completely ignoring the documentary you adored so much. She smiles and shrugs in response, which will not satisfy you again. In fact, all it does is remind you of earlier when she mentioned she couldn't afford a maid. A lot of people can't, but she wouldn't even talk to you after that. Suspicions rise dramatically.
"An' wwhy did you shut dowwn after the maid thing?" you add, tacking on yet another question. She shrugs again and focuses on the screen, which you know is an act because nobody has ever shown any interest in in documentaries ever. Not even Feferi could sit through one of these with you.
"Ya know, history has always been my favorite subject. Where did you get this?" she asks, changing the subject completely. You scoff at her failure and reach out to grip her wrist painfully. She flinches at the contact and jerks away, staring at you with the eyes of a madwoman. Then she's standing up and storming out of the screening room. What the fuck is up with women, like seriously? You get up and follow after her, seeing her already at the door. She opens them wide and stomps down the stairs, and once you finally reach the door way you just watch her like an idiot. What did you even do?
You watch as she starts up her bike, not even bothering to put the helmet on, and follows the circular road around the centerpiece fountain until reaching the large gate. It opens once it senses her presence, and then she's gone, speeding off fuck knows where. You sigh and close the front doors, going back into the screening room only to see the empty plates gone. Anne Marie, your maid, must have cleaned up already. You sit in the chair Phae had been sitting it and slouch like she would, trying to figure out why her leaving made you feel so bad.
A few moments later Jeffery walks in with a plastic bag with a large Wal-Mart logo on it hanging on his arm and a drink in either hand. He silently hands you the long island tea, then sets the Bloody Mary in the cup holder in your arm rest. He then pours the bags contents on the chair to your right, where you'd been sitting before. Ten pink boxes titled Pocky fall onto the red seat, and it sends a pain into your heart. Then Jeffery sets the bag on top of the treat and exits the room, leaving you by your lonesome.
…
Since today was Friday, you and Phae were in charge of preparing for the big football game. Personally, you hated the sport, much like you did all other sports, but at least you'd have an opportunity to talk to Phae, who was still ignoring you. You were both in charge of cleaning up after the game as well, meaning the two of you had to come in Saturday, so it'd be best to mend things now. The game didn't start for another hour at least, and you were almost done setting up the admission booth and refreshments/food areas, so you'd have a lot of time to kill before anyone got here.
You wipe off the counter and let out a tired sigh because you're FINALLY done getting everything ready. You look over at Phae, who was in charge of the admission booth and setting up the seats for band member, and watch her unfold the last chair. She struggles with it for a while, then inspects it, struggles some more, and finally throws the damned thing down while cussing up a storm. She knocks another chair down in the process and throws her hands up, storming off towards the bleachers. You chuckle and walk over to the chairs, setting the fallen over one back up and attempting to unfold the source of her agitation.
Ya, it won't open. You carry it to the shed and grab a different chair, then set it in the open spot. There, done. You wipe your brow and rub your hand on your light brown skinny jeans, deciding to confront Phae about yesterday. You pull down your blue and black striped sweater and run a hand across the top of your hair, making sure you look your best. Then you march over to her with more confidence than any man should possess. If she notices you, she doesn't say anything or give you any reason to believe she does. She's just looking down at her phone with a stoic expression.
"Hey Phae," you greet once you walk to the top of the bleachers. There's a small platform hanging off the left of the top bleachers that's being held up by eight support beams for recreational purposes, and you decide to sprawl out there instead of sitting on those metal bleachers. You stare at the darkening sky and here her sigh, and a moment later she's sitting crisscross next to you, still looking down at her phone. You notice she has a single earbud in, and curiosity overcomes you. You grab the neglected earbud and pop it in your ear, and you have to admit, the music surprises you.
Judging by her outfit, you'd have expected rock or metal or something like that. Even now she looked the part! She was wearing a thin blue v-neck sweater and black skinny jeans, black fingerless gloves, and Converse with the Joker on them. Weird. She had on her usual black makeup surrounding her eyes and somehow her eyelashes sparkled. This was not a look that made you think jazz.
She was listening to an artist you knew named Dean Martin. The song specifically was Sway, one of the songs he was better known for. It made you smile and then you got an idea. You remove the earbud from your ear and pull the other out of hers, to which you receive a glare. Before she can say anything you take her phone and unplug the earbuds, letting them drop to the floor. Then you restart the song and turn it all the way up, setting it by the earbuds and extending a hand to Phae. You hope the invitation to dance is obvious, because you aren't sure if you'd be willing to say it out loud.
"When Marimba Rhythms start to play,
Dance with me, make me sway.
Like a lazy ocean hugs the shore,
Hold me close, sway me more."
Luckily she does, as she places her hand in yours and rolls her eyes with mild agitation. You know she's not too annoyed though, because of the amused smile on her face.
"Like a flower bending in the breeze,
Bend with me, sway with ease.
When we dance you have a way with me.
Stay with me, sway with me."
You pull her close to you and do as the song says, swaying with her body to the music. Your left hand is intertwined with her right one as you lead, your other hand resting on her hip. Her other hand is lightly gripping your shoulder as she does her best not to look you in the eyes. Fine with you, because you don't want her to know that you're staring at where the V in her shirt ends. Hey, you're still a guy!
"Other dancers may be on the floor,
Dear, but my eyes will see only you.
Only you have the magic technique.
When we sway I grow weak."
Then she looks up at you and you panic, darting your eyes up towards the sky. She laughs and runs her hand from your shoulder to your back, pulling you closer against her. You're pretty sure that you prefer this, and you wonder if you should say something.
"I can hear the sounds of violins,
Long before it begins.
Make me thrill as only you know how.
Sway me smooth, sway me now."
"About yesterday...," you begin, "Wwhat did I do wwrong?"
"Other dancers may be on the floor,
Dear, but my eyes will see only you.
Only you have the magic technique.
When we sway I go weak."
"It wasn't really your fault, it's just that you reminded me of my dad when you held my wrist," she half-explained, but now you just wanted to know more. You spin her around and once she's facing you again you dip her just as the song ends.
"I can hear the sounds of violins,
Long before it begins.
Make me thrill as only you know how,
Sway me smooth, sway me now.
You know how,
Sway me smooth, sway me now."
You lift her back up as the song changes to something you'd expect. You don't actually know who the band is or what the song is, but for the record and the readers, it's Asylum by Disturbed. Afraid of killing the mood, you rush over to the device and turn the music off, and she just chuckles behind you. Then you go back to her and hold her hands in yours, keeping her only a couple feet away.
"What IS your dad like?" you ask, hoping that she won't avoid the question. She shrugs and looks at your hand before responding.
"I can tell you what he WAS like. He beat my brother Ayexis all the time. Anytime he tried hurting me, Ayexis would step in and take the beating for me. I don't know who my mother is, but Ayexis says she was nice. Our father left about five years ago, when my brother turned 16 and I was only 11, so the first 2 years were really rough. When Ayexis turned 18, he rented an apartment and things got a little better. He works at an office now that supplies healthcare, and it pays pretty well. He's gotten like four promotions in the last four years, so that's nice. Plus when I turned 16 last year, the finances got better. Ayexis pretty much raises me, and he's an awesome parent," she explains, this time sparing nothing. It hurts you to know things for her and her brother were so hard. No wonder your house amazed her so much! Although, it sort of amazed everyone.
You decide you want to distract her from these obviously shitty memories, so you pull out your own phone and hand it to her.
"Pick any song you like an' wwe can dance the night awway or some shit," you offer, and she giggles. It's a strange sound coming from her, but you like it. She chooses Young at Heart by Frank Sinatra and sets your phone near hers. Then she wraps both arms around your neck and rests her face on your chest. You smile and wrap your own arms around her waist as the two of you dance for the next hour or so, only stopping when the football players arrive. You both shy away from the location and part ways, and personally, as you watch her drive off on her bike, you're sort of happy you have detention tomorrow.
Why do I always have to put angst in my stories!? I just love typing sad things ;v;