:Midnight Movie:
Penny bought a bucket of popcorn and a large diet cola and headed to the theaters. She juggled the two so she could hand her ticket to the usher. At midnight, on a weekday, there weren't a lot of people in the place. In fact, she was all alone when she walked into the dark room. She took a seat right in the middle and got comfy. She had been looking forward to seeing this movie for weeks.
She shoved a handful of popcorn in her mouth and leaned back. Just as the ads began to roll someone else walked into the room. Penny bit back a groan and hoped the newcomer would sit far away, and be quiet.
The man moved past her a few rows and turned to place his drink in the holder. Penny's jaw dropped and she sat up straight. "Howard?"
Howard jumped and almost dropped his Sno-caps. He looked at her with equal surprise. "Penny?"
She bit her lip, indecisively, before her shoulders slumped. "Do you fidget?"
He shook his head and looked at her suspiciously. "Do you chew loudly?"
She shook her head. "Scene analyzing during the film?"
He smiled slightly. "No. Movie quoting?"
Penny smiled back. "Uh uh. Arm grabber?"
Howard picked up his soda. "Nope. Squealer?"
Penny laughed. "Not in a theater." She sat down and waved him over. Howard walked back toward her and sat down beside her.
They got comfortable and faced the screen. "I've been looking forward to this movie for weeks," he said.
Penny grinned and tossed more popcorn in her mouth. "Me, too."
The usher opened the theater doors and watched the gorgeous blonde and the skinny dork walk out. The guy had to be rich, he decided. How else would he get that stunner to date him?
Penny and Howard walked out into the cool night air, laughing cheerfully. "Could you believe that movie?" she giggled. "Holy crap, the merman was awesome and cheesy at the same time!"
Howard shook his head with amusement. "What about Curt on the motorcycle? WHAM! Lit up like a Christmas tree."
"Did you catch the underlying theme?" she asked. "The whole sacrifice of stereotypes to make the gods happy?"
"The gods being us?" he asked. "You know, the whole thing was pretty smart. It poked fun at the genre, while still being true to it."
They reached their vehicles, somehow not all that surprised to find they had parked a couple of spaces away from each other. Howard picked up his helmet and looked over at her as she unlocked her car.
"Penny? That theater over on 8th street is showing The Shining next week. Would you…" He looked away with chagrin. "Never mind."
Penny grinned and opened her door. "Sounds like fun. How about the 9 pm showing?"
Howard grinned widely. "Cool. See you later."
Penny got into her car and watched Howard pull away. She shook her head and smiled. Creepy or not, she had to admit it had been fun watching the movie with him. As for next week, she loved The Shining. It'll be fun to have another horror fan to watch it with.
A/N: Bonus points if you know what movie they watched.