Their town didn't really have a mall - not one of those glitzy, triple-decker compendiums of expensive clothing and endless fast food. Mindy drove out to one of those sometimes, spending 45 minutes on the highway to something called the "power centre" just for a decent selection of too-short skirts. But Cassie and Rainey couldn't be bothered, so they stuck to what their town did have: meagre strip-malls, anchored by a big-box store and complemented by a row of smaller, shadier businesses. The two of them could spend a nothing-going-on afternoon getting their nails done, buying a box of Drumsticks from the grocery store, and eating them on the bench in front of the personal injury lawyer's office. Cassie tried hard not to compare these weekends to the options she would have had if her family had stayed in the city.
If one of them could borrow a car and they were willing to drive a bit, they could go to the multiplex, a six-screen theatre with a thin selection of Hollywood drivel. Rainey had worked here last year, and spent much of the summer in an air-conditioned theatre watching the same irritatingly popular rom-com over and over again. Cassie had sometimes joined her, but even their jokes got old after a while.
They had decided to go to the movies again this weekend. It was the last real weekend of summer. They would both be going off to college in about ten days, and knew that the next weekend would be full of packing and goodbyes and other things that were distinctly out of place with the uneventful rhythm of summer. (Although Cassie's summer had turned out to be pretty eventful). So what better way to spend it than watching the latest superhero blockbuster, probably sneaking into another movie or two afterwards, and loitering around the theatre until the sun went down? Unfortunately, Rainey was no longer a multiplex employee after what was now only described as the Popcorn Maker Incident, so they had to pay full price.
"I don't know why you actually want to see this movie," said Cassie, as they stood in line for tickets.
"So that I know what everyone on Twitter is talking about," said Rainey.
"But everyone on there is saying it's awful."
"Exactly!"
To be honest, Cassie felt a magnetic desire to see the film too. She had watched the previous eight installments in this franchise (mostly at Rainey's insistence), so in a sense she was invested.
"Next, please?"
Cassie stepped up to the ticket window and then stopped in her tracks. It was her ex-girlfriend Sara. At first Cassie barely recognized her. Sara looked different cleaned up, in a nicely pressed shirt and with her earrings removed. She might have gotten a haircut too. But it was definitely her. Cassie never forgot a face she had spent hours making out with, even if she now looked back at that time with a patina of regret.
"Oh hey," said Cassie. This was going to be awkward again. "Uh, you work here now?"
"Yeah," said Sara, blushing. "For a couple of months now."
"Hey, can you get us into this thing cheap?" said Rainey.
"Um, I don't think that's allowed..."
Rainey continued, an unstoppable conversational freight train. "Hey, does Robbie still work here? You know one time I caught him jerking off in the back of an empty theatre? Is he still doing that?"
"Yeah, he's... er, what?"
"Good old Robbie. Say hi for me. And two tickets, please."
Sara took the money and handed over the tickets, still in a daze. When she handed one to Cassie, she held onto her hand for just a moment too long. "Hey," she said. "We should talk. I've been thinking about you a lot since the party. Well, not about you, but... about stuff. You know."
Cassie genuinely didn't know. She peeled Sara's fingers off hers. "After the movie, maybe."
After they had made their way past a disinterested ticket-checker and into the popcorn line, Rainey turned to Cassie. "That should be a new supervillain. The Astonishing Ex-Woman."
"She's not that bad," said Cassie. "And Sara's not the only one to take a long time getting over a breakup. Remember Andrew Chang in tenth grade?"
"No," said Rainey. "That was forever ago. And you're my main squeeze now, Cass - remember?"
The two girls got their popcorn, made liberal use of the self-serve seasoning station, and found seats in the second-to-last row of the darkened theatre. The pre-show of static ads and trivia questions was rolling across the screen. "So, why haven't you and I done it lately?" said Rainey. "I mean, it's been a while since that time in the shower. Did I do something wrong?"
"I've been busy," said Cassie, in between handfuls of popcorn. She was going to be out by the time the trailers finished, and have a stomachache by the end of the first act. God, she loved going to the movies. "And besides, you were away for a while, remember?"
"Oh yeah. Thought it was just that I smelled bad."
There was something insecure and nervous to Rainey's voice, a tone that didn't fit her character at all. Was this another relationship that Cassie would have to maintain? She put a hand on Rainey's shoulder. "Nothing's wrong with you. You're hot as hell."
Rainey turned to Cassie and stared at her, bug-eyed. "If you don't make love to me right now, I'll slit my wrists." She maintained the face for a moment, and then broke out laughing. "Relax, Cass. I'm not some needy bitch. I'm not Sara."
"Someone mention my name?" A curvy body settled in the seat next to Cassie.
A mortified Cassie turned to great Sara with a wooden wave. "Weren't you working?"
"I got Robbie to cover with me. Mentioned something about a secret Rainey told me."
"Always happy to help," said Rainey, although she didn't sound all that happy.
As the lights dimmed down, Cassie felt Sara's arm settling over hers on the armrest. Since Rainey, with her customary bad posture, had spread herself out to cover both armrests and the next seat over, this left Cassie with no other option than to fold both arms in her lap priggishly. If Sara was offended, she didn't say anything.
"You really wanted to see this movie?" Cassie said to Sara as the trailers started.
"I wanted to spend time with you." Well, you could say this much for Sara: she was never hard to figure out.
The movie-going experience was not enjoyable. Cassie and Rainey tried to get into their usual groove of cracking joke at the movie's expense, but a quartet of comic book superfans had settled into the seats in front of them and loudly shushed everything they said. Even when they didn't hiss, Sara would out of politeness. The movie itself wasn't worth focusing her full attention on, a mess of angst and quasi-witty quips and CGI action scenes. Cassie was constantly worrying about what Sara would expect when they got out, and how Rainey would react to her, especially now that they were lovers. To be brief, it was incredibly awkward.
Two and a half hours later, the house lights went up. "That was awful," said Rainey. "I can't wait to see the next one."
