Chapter 31

Rowena

“Here’s your ticket, Rowena.” Adrian held my ticket out to me with a smile on his face. I took it, still ignoring Eric’s looming presence beside me, and felt my heart leap a bit.

It was a scary movie. It was actually a genre that I enjoyed, but the thought of leaping into my date’s arms during a scary scene with my overbearing older brother right next to me felt…

Weird, to say the least.

“Scary movie, eh?” Eric said as we made our way to the theater, popcorn bags in hand. “Rowena doesn’t like scary movies.”

Adrian raised an eyebrow. “Oh, you don’t? I can—”

“I do like scary movies,” I said, shooting Eric a warning glare. “He’s just messing with me.”

“Oh.” Adrian looked back and forth between the two of us, but said nothing. The three of us made our way to our seats, and of course, I got stuck in the middle. Eric leaned over as the trailers began to play, whispering in my ear.

“Sorry for crashing your date,” he murmured.

I whipped my head around and glared at him. “Just sit there and be quiet. You’re already on thin ice.”

“Alright, alright.”

As the movie began to play, I felt myself begin to relax a little bit. The movie was your standard horror fare; a young family moving into a haunted house, chaos ensuing, that sort of thing.

Soon enough, I even began to forget that Eric was beside me. For a little bit, I was just on a regular date with Adrian again, and everything was perfect. I was even beginning to imagine the kiss we might share later; would his lips be soft and sweet, or would he kiss me with a fiery passion?

However, everything changed when a sudden jump scare took over the screen—a loud noise, a frightening face, and…

I jumped.

Only instead of jumping toward my date, something else happened. I found myself moving toward Eric, toward his steady, familiar figure in the dark movie theater. And it was there in the dark that my hand instinctively moved toward his leg.

But I missed. My hand landed right on his crotch.

While the movie continued playing, both Eric and I jumped, our eyes meeting in the brief flash of light from the screen. In that moment, it felt as though time stood still, and I was suddenly transported back to the homecoming dance—back to the moment that Eric had kissed me in the dark.

Our eyes then moved down to his crotch, where my hand still sat firmly between his legs. He said nothing, but I could see the way that he reacted with a squirm and a smirk.

I quickly pulled my hand away, my face reddening, and time seemed to move at a normal pace again. But even as I leaned back toward Adrian, I could still feel that strange sensation in my hand; as though I had been burned by touching Eric.

It had been an innocent mistake, but… why did something seem to stir inside of me when it had happened?

“You okay?” Adrian whispered, leaning over to me.

I swallowed, quickly wiping my hand off on my leg and flashing Adrian a reassuring smile. “Just a crazy jump scare,” I whispered back.

Adrian looked at me for a moment as though he didn’t quite believe me, and despite the darkness of the theater, I swore I saw his eyes flicker over to Eric.

But he said nothing, and instead draped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me a little closer. My blush deepened, and I ate a piece of my popcorn.

Beside me, Eric shifted uncomfortably in his seat, got up, and walked out of the theater. He didn’t return for nearly fifteen minutes.

…

When the three of us stepped out of the theater, our faces flushed with excitement from the harrowing end of the movie, it was getting late. The streets were still bustling with people, though, and I wondered if Adrian had another plan for our Friday night.

A kiss, maybe? Maybe something more?

“That was a good movie,” Eric said as we stopped on the sidewalk outside of the movie theater.

Adrian smirked. “You missed a good chunk of it in the middle there. Was everything okay?”

As Adrian spoke, I instantly felt my heart rate skyrocket. I had tried to push it out of my mind, but had failed. Even now, an hour later, my hand still felt like it had been burned where I had accidentally touched Eric’s crotch.

“Ah, nothing,” Eric said casually. “Just had to take a phone call.”

There was a brief pause, and Adrian looked back and forth between the two of us for a moment. There seemed to be a look of recognition flashing through his eyes, but again, he said nothing.

“Well,” Eric said, wrapping his arm around my shoulders, “I should get her home, don’t you think?”

I opened my mouth to retort, but before I could, Adrian suddenly took my hand and pulled me away before Eric could whisk me home. “I’d like to say goodbye to my date,” he said.

Eric paused for a few moments, those brilliant blue eyes of his seeming to flash for a moment before he finally nodded and stepped back. “Alright.”

Adrian pulled me aside, just barely out of Eric’s earshot, and leaned close to me. “You alright?” he whispered. “You seemed… upset during the movie.”

“I, um…” I felt my cheeks redden even more; there was no way I could admit what had really happened. Not in a million years. Especially not after everything else that had happened between me and Eric recently.

“You know you can tell me, Rowena,” Adrian said gently.

I sighed. “I’m just… tired,” I said, managing a smile. “And tonight took an unexpected turn.”

Adrian chuckled. “You can say that again. I hope one more unexpected turn won’t bother you, though.”

My eyebrows shot up. “What do you—”

And then it happened. Adrian leaned closer to me, his arm looping around my waist. He pulled me closer, and I saw the way that his eyes half-closed, his lips puckering ever so slightly. He was trying to kiss me.

I didn’t know why I did it. But, just like I did in the antique store, I pressed my hands against his chest and leaned away.

Adrian paused for a moment, lingering there, before he leaned back and opened his eyes. “Rowena—”

“I-I’m sorry,” I said, gently disentangling myself from his arms. “I just…”

Before I could finish, Adrian simply nodded and took a step back. “I understand,” he said. “Goodnight, Rowena.”

“Goodnight, Adrian.”

As I watched him walk down the street, I kicked myself inwardly. God, why did I do that? Adrian was my biggest crush at the camp, and one of the top warriors. I had been pining for a kiss since the moment I had met him, and yet…

Part of me just couldn’t even fathom the idea of kissing him right now. And maybe, because of that, I blew my chances with him.

Blinking back the tears that were threatening to come, I turned to see Eric standing a short ways away, just watching me with his hands in his pockets. His face was stony, giving away no emotion. Somehow, that made it even worse.

At that moment, though, something else happened unexpectedly: a scent on the wind. It was faint, but it was there, just like the moment I had noticed my hearing was improving that day at camp all those weeks ago.

I furrowed my brow, still blinking at my brother. Could it be…?

“Eric, you asshole!” a shrill voice suddenly cried out. “You stood me up!”