“Is it epic?!” J asked. “Wait, what are you even filming?”
“Frankenstein,” I managed to say before Micah.
“Who is the monster and who is the man?” J asked, eyes bright with excitement. “Please tell me you got Charlie to be the monster. Oh, my God, she’d be the best!”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I laughed.
“Aww, a little Blake monster!” J teased.
“My guess is that Charlie will be the love interest,” Josh interjected, snacking away.
“I don’t even know who that is. Is that the chick who ends up getting diced up and made into another monster?” Ben asked, looking from Micah to me.
“Sure is,” Josh replied.
“Whoa. You really are going to be a Blake monster! Are you going to…” he slid a finger along the crease of his neck, “...make it look like you were all cut up and sewn back together?”
I hadn’t really thought about that element of Elizabeth’s role. If Micah’s vision was to remake the Robert De Niro film, then I would eventually look like Helena Bonham Carter, stitches and all.
“I really didn’t think about that,” I admitted.
“You should get David or Daan to help with your makeup,” Ben suggested. David’s eyes caught mine.
“We could help if you want,” he offered.
“That would be cool,” Micah agreed. “I want to make this as epic as possible. Stunts. Setting. Makeup. The works.”
“Nice,” J said with a smirk. “In other news,” J glanced at David, “did you ever get around to asking Rachel out?”
David glared at J. “I’m not going to answer that right now,” he said solemnly.
“Aw, why not?” J grinned.
“Because it’s none of your business,” David countered.
“Touchy much?” J looked away. I didn’t want to know about Rachel and David; it felt way too invasive. I tugged on Micah’s T-shirt sleeve.
“We’re going to get to work,” I announced.
“We’ll help,” Ben piped up. “I mean, we could be extras or...you know, whatever!”
“Anything for attention,” Josh mumbled.
“Dude, what?” Ben turned on him. I took that as my cue to grab Micah’s arm and yank him toward my room.
“My Eyes”
The Lumineers
I KNEW THEY’D EVENTUALLY STOP arguing and head down to the creek as planned. Micah paused at my door.
“Anxious to get me in your room?”
“Don’t flatter yourself.” I opened the door. Micah glanced around, and I began to wonder what he thought of it. I had begged my dad to let me paint the walls a soft aqua color. Finally, after helping him with work around the house, he relented. One of the stipulations was that I had to pay for the paint. It was the best twenty bucks I’d ever spent.
I had a collage of photos of my friends and me on my bedroom wall and door—memories of field trips, roller-skating, birthday parties, Halloweens, and candid photos from around Grand Lakes. Micah grinned as he admired the pictures, tapping on a few.
“At least you look happy here,” he teased. “The times I see you, you appear to be irritated or constipated. I can’t figure out if I should tell you to take a happy pill or a—”
“That’s not very nice.”
“With all the pizza you ate yesterday at Samantha’s house, I had hoped you’d have found some relief. I was pretty sure you’d spend some time on the—” Micah stopped mid-sentence at my expression. I wanted to shoulder-punch him.
“It’s gotta be resting bitch-face, then. That’s what it has to be!” He laughed as he sat down on the edge of my bed.
“If you’re going to be rude, I will ask you to leave.” But I found myself smiling at him. God! I hate how he does that to me!
Micah grabbed the notebook from his backpack and started to draw out rough sketches of scenery for different parts of the screenplay. I was amazed at his straightforward vision for the sets. I especially understood he was trying to keep it easy for Paul.
“And for the end, we could make some sort of raft and set it on fire on the lake. There’s a full moon on Halloween; it’ll make for a perfectly haunting backdrop. We could get Marshall to figure out how to burn the homemade pyre. It would be so cool.”
Maybe I’d need to make sure Paul or Marshall had 9-1-1 on speed dial that night.
“I guess you won’t really need me for that. By that point in the movie, Elizabeth has been long dead,” I said.
“But this is a part of your project. You’ll probably want to have a say in how it ends.”
“I think as long as aliens and the mafia stay out of the screenplay, I won’t doubt your ability to complete the film without me.”
“Actually,” Micah smiled, “I was thinking about adding a huge change to the ending. Maybe the monster gets abducted by an extraterrestrial.” I snorted but Micah continued, “And then, just as the alien is about to phone home and take the monster with him, the mafia comes out of the woods with the Terminator and Arnold goes all ‘I’ll be back’ on Victor.”
“That’s just dumb,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“So, you’ll be there then?” He smirked, amused. “Because I’m sure Paul and Marshall could make it happen. And by the sound of it, Josh and his friends could, too!”
“You leave me with no choice,” I relented with a feigned exasperated sigh.
“There we go.”
Micah pulled out his phone and took pictures of his sketches. “I’ll get these to Paul and see how soon he can start building.” While Micah was distracted sending the photos, I stood up and decided to check my own phone. There were two text messages from Jennifer.
JENNIFER: Charlie!!! Are you meeting up with him tonight?
JENNIFER: GURL. TELL ME!
I put my phone face down on the nightstand. I didn’t want to chance Micah seeing.
He finished up and put his notebook back into his backpack. “We could go grab dinner or something…if you wanted to.”
“I don’t know about you, but my allowance doesn’t grow on trees,” I teased him.
Micah feigned shock. “Seriously? And here I was thinking I was consorting with Ms. Money-Bags!”
“Hate to be a disappointment,” I chuckled.
“Well, maybe we could watch a movie?” He indicated the TV on top of my dresser, in the corner of the room. Other than the occasional sleepover with Jennifer or Rachel, when we’d watch A Knight’s Tale or Harry Potter, the TV didn’t see much action. Netflix on my laptop was my go-to.
“What sort of movies do you like?” I asked as I stood and walked to my small shelf of DVDs. I didn’t have many, but hoped that someday, when I was a grown adult, I’d be able to buy all of my favorite movies, music, and books.
“I like action movies. Horror…”
“Do you have a favorite?”
“I have several,” he said as he took a look at the limited movies I owned. “By the looks of it, I’d say you’re a romance fan.”
“I like classics, too. Older films, eighties stuff and a handful of love stories.”
“More than that,” Micah responded as he pulled The Breakfast Club off the shelf. “I’d pick this one.”
“We could always look up a movie online,” I suggested.
“Nah, this’ll do,” he replied and took a seat on my bed. As I turned on the TV and adjusted the sound, my skin tingled. Micah was there just to hang out with me. We were going to sit together on my bed and watch one of my favorite movies. I glanced at the clock beside the TV, where I quickly figured out how much time I would have alone with him until my parents came home.
The movie started and Micah settled against my pillows. As I leaned back, my elbow brushed against him. I readjusted. Micah watched me with curious amusement as I tried to get comfortable.
We were about halfway through the movie when I heard the front door open and close, and the jingle of my mom’s keys echo throughout the house.
“Josh? Charlie?” she called up. I could see her in my mind, standing at the dinner table, sorting the pile of mail: bill—junk mail—bill—junk mail.
“In my room,” I called back. Micah pushed himself off my bed and stood abruptly. “I guess I should get going,” he said, grabbing his bag. He made for my door. I turned off the TV and followed him downstairs.
“It’s okay, you can stay.”
He paused in the doorway between the dining room and kitchen, where my mom looked up at us.
“I’m afraid we haven’t met,” she said with a welcoming smile.
“This is Micah,” I introduced him. “My English partner. We were just doing some homework and watching a movie.”
“How’s the project coming along?” Mom wanted to know.
“Almost done,” I replied. “We just have to film it.”
“Wow! Great!” My mom was enthusiastic. I caught a whiff of pizza coming from the boxes she’d brought to the table. “If you don’t have dinner plans, Micah, you’re more than welcome to stay and have pizza with us. I got a few boxes from a seminar at work this afternoon. I think it’s either cheese or pepperoni…but there’s plenty.”
Almost as if on cue, my stomach grumbled.
“Sure, who can turn down pizza?” He set his backpack down. Micah caught my gaze as his lips quirked into a smile. By the teasing look in his eye, I could only guess he was remembering Samantha’s project hangout…and the pizza.
“Dad should be home soon,” Mom told me, “but we’ll keep it warm in the oven until then.”
“I guess we could finish the movie if you wanted to?” I suggested to Micah. He nodded in agreement and we returned to my room.
“Too bad you don’t have a good horror flick to watch,” Micah sighed as I flipped the TV back on.
“We don’t do horror films here,” I explained tentatively. “Long story, but…we just don’t. Besides, are you complaining? You’re the one who picked the movie.”
“Do you get too scared?” Micah taunted me, wiggling his fingers. “Afraid the boogie man is going to come after you?”
“Hey, if your brother dressed up as Michael Myers and stood in a dark corner to scare the bejesus out of you, you’d have nightmares, too.”
“No way,” he laughed. “Josh scared you with the oldest trick in the book?”
“It was terrifying! I had just watched those movies and....”
“Did you see Paranormal Activity?” Micah asked, his smirk still in place.
“Are you kidding me? I was a kid when that came out. Of course not.”
“Oh, my God, Halloween night: you, me and Paranormal Activity. Okay?”
“No!” I chucked a pillow at him playfully.
“It could be worse.” Micah caught the pillow. “I could haul you to a haunted house.”
“Over my dead body!”
“Chicken.” Micah laughed. “I can only imagine the trouble Josh must give you.”
“Oh, he’s the worst. Once, at an amusement park, Josh told me a story about someone dying on a haunted house ride. He said the guy fell out of the buggy and was run over by the oncoming one, squirting blood everywhere. Apparently, the haunted house has been haunted ever since. I totally freaked out and refused to get on.”
“You’re too gullible,” Micah said. “There’s no way anyone got run over by a buggy in a haunted house ride, let alone died. We’ll have to go to that amusement park someday, and I’ll drag you on it.”
“Like hell you will.”
That only caused Micah to laugh harder. He leaned back, letting out a few more chuckles as we focused our attention back to the TV screen. In no time at all, The Breakfast Club came to an end and we heard my dad’s heavy footsteps coming through the front door. I stood, stretching as I went to turn off the movie.
“Supper!” I heard my mom call from the kitchen.
I was surprised to see Josh at the table. I hadn’t heard him come back from the creek with his friends. My dad was sitting down, gazing at the pile of mail and the first few pages of the newspaper. He adjusted his reading glasses and paid no attention to Micah or me. My mom had set the table with paper plates, and the boxes of pizza were stacked in the middle.
Josh was the first to dig in, and Micah followed. I was grabbing a piece when my dad lowered the newspaper and looked at me.
“How was your day, honey?” He helped himself to a slice after me.
“It was all right. How was yours?” I enjoyed listening to my dad talk about his day. There were times I didn’t understand the car parts he’d reference, but he didn’t mind explaining them to me.
“Busy. Hard. Work,” he replied, biting into his pizza. This meant he had a normal day. “And you must be Micah?” Dad looked at him.
“Yes, sir.” Micah lowered his piece of pizza to his plate.
“How is the project going?”
“It’s going well, thanks,” Micah replied. “We got the screenplay written…and uh…next we’re going to build a few sets and start filming.”
“Build sets, huh?” Dad smiled. “You’re actually going to get Charlie to pick up a hammer?”
“I can pick up a hammer,” I asserted.
“Took you forever to learn the difference between a Phillips and a flathead,” Josh guffawed.
“Actually, my friends are going to help us out. I’ll probably make Charlie paint or something.” Micah smiled at me.
“That sounds like some great teamwork,” Josh hinted, glancing between the two of us, amused. I was tempted to throw a pepperoni at him.
“How’s Jackie O?” I countered. Two could play this game.
“What about her?” Josh’s grin disappeared. His eyes dared me to continue in front of Dad.
“I know you wanted to ask her to—”
“I changed my mind,” Josh snapped. “I asked someone else to Homecoming.”
“Oh, you’re going to Homecoming?” Mom looked delighted, her smile lighting up the room.
I looked at Josh. No Jackie O? Had he really given up so easily? I wanted to ask him if he was really going to let Brent Pierce win, but I knew it was a conversation for another place and time. Josh was private about his crush around our parents. I didn’t blame him for feeling weird about it in front of them.
“Maybe,” Josh mumbled to our mom.
“You just said you asked someone to Homecoming, so you must be going,” Dad commented. Josh only shrugged.
Mom changed the subject after an awkward silence, and discussed her day at work with my dad. When my parents were done eating, they headed into the living room to watch the World News.
“What happened to Jackie O and you?” I whispered across the table to Josh.
“She’s going with Brent. I don’t stand a chance.” Josh sighed. “Just let it go, Charlie. I have.”
“Did you really ask someone else?”
“Yes, I actually did.” Josh stood up and began to clear the dinner table.
“Who?!” I demanded, following him to the trash can.
“No one you know.”
“How is that possible? This is too small of a town to not know someone,” I argued.
“It doesn’t matter, Charlie. I doubt I’ll even go,” Josh explained.
“Then why bother asking someone? That doesn’t make sense.” I placed the leftover slices of pizza into a large plastic Ziploc bag while Josh washed his hands. He didn’t answer me, only wiped his wet hands on his jeans and started toward the door.
“Josh!”
He disappeared upstairs and into his room.
Micah came up beside me.
“I’m gonna walk home,” Micah told me. “Th
anks for dinner and the movie.”
I felt bad. He was going to walk to the Greensboro Trax? I wanted to offer him to stay longer, but I didn’t want to sound desperate. I was not desperate.
“You’re welcome,” I replied as he wandered to the front door. “I can ask Josh to drive—”
“Nah, I’d rather walk. The leaves are falling; the air is just right.” He lifted his hand in farewell.
I grabbed a slice of pizza out of the Ziploc bag and took a big bite out of that heavenly-made crust.
If I couldn’t express my feelings, at least I’d eat them.
“This Town”
Niall Horan
RACHEL: I wanted to know if you would like to attend a youth group function with me?
RACHEL: It’s happening on Friday. Would you want to come?
CHARLIE: Does it involve ice-hockey again? X_X lol
CHARLIE: That was kinda awesome last time.
RACHEL: No, sadly! Haha! We’re hosting a dance at the fire hall.
RACHEL: The money we raise is to benefit veterans.
RACHEL: Wanna go?
CHARLIE: Sure! I’ll have to ask, but yeah!
RACHEL: Great! I was hoping you’d say yes!
RACHEL: Open invites to anyone you might want to bring along!
CHARLIE: I’m not asking Josh lol! :P
RACHEL: I’m not talking about Josh, silly.
RACHEL: :P
I lay back in bed, rereading Rachel’s texts. Of course she meant Micah. There was no mistake. But, ask Micah to a dance? I could feel my cheeks heat up at the thought.
CHARLIE: I don’t think I’ll be asking anyone to go, but thanks!
RACHEL: You should! It’s very normal to hang out with friends.
CHARLIE: I’ll be hanging out with you.
The Songs in Our Hearts: A Young Adult Romance Page 10
