Will
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Ican’t believe I used Theo’s move.
His cheesy as hell, let’s watch a scary movie move.
But apparently he—and every teenaged boy to ever exist—was on to something, because Elsie was currently pressed up against my side, clutching onto my arm as if I were the only thing in the world standing between her and Michael Myers.
It didn’t take long for her to realize we were watching a horror movie. The menacing theme song made quick work of that.
And at first, she reminded me of her hatred for scary films, which I—God knows why—encouraged her to give a chance, for the sake of the holiday.
Really, I didn’t think it would be so bad for her. I mean, Matthew and I had watched this ourselves when we were ten or eleven. It was more cheesy than anything else. So I thought.
But I quickly realized Elsie’s hatred of horror movies wasn’t just a dislike, but a genuine, all-encompassing fear.
No matter how content I was with my situation, I felt like an ass for getting Elsie so freaked out. But at least it had her distracted from my other fumble of the night—bringing up her past.
“We don’t have to watch this,” I told her when she let out a particularly high-pitched squeal.
“Yes, we do! That’s the problem with me, Will!
I’m a curious being by nature!” she said through the gap in her fingers covering her face.
“Now that my intrigued is peaked, I won’t be able to look away, even though I know it’ll result in some emotionally scarring images I’ll never be able to get out of my head! ”
“We can watch something else,” I said, lifting the remote.
“Don’t you dare.” She stared me down menacingly. “I have to wait for the happy ending.”
“Elsie,” I said, “you realize this is a horror movie, right?”
She stared at me as if to say, what’s your point?
“They usually don’t end with a ‘and they all lived happily ever after.’”
“Well, duh. But they at least have to kill off the villain by the end, don’t they? I mean, I read a lot of books, and that’s usually the formula for how stories end.”
“Do you read horror books by any chance?”
“No. Usually romance.”
“Jesus,” I muttered under my breath, realizing how ill-prepared Elsie was for the rest of the movie.
“Are you making fun of the romance genre, Will? Because I have to say, I think men who do that have the weakest sense of masculinity I’ve ever encountered!”
“I’m not making fun of romance!”
“Then why did you mutter?”
“Because I don’t think you have any idea that horror movies usually end with—”
Michael Myers appeared back on the screen, suddenly appearing over the shoulder of Jamie Lee Curtis, and Elsie dove headfirst into my side, bracing both hands over her head as if she were preparing to brace for his attack.
The irony of the situation was not lost on me.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d watched a movie with anyone, let alone a woman. One I’d known for a little over a month, might I add.
And here I was, in her house, almost certainly taking advantage of the situation in some way.
And despite it all, there wasn’t a single part of me that wanted to be a better man and put an end to it.
“It’s okay, Elsie,” I told her, tentatively draping an arm over her. “He’s not real.”
I hated that she was scared, even if it was because of an actor in a mask. What I didn’t hate was the way she burrowed into my side, as if she trusted me to protect her from invisible monsters that existed solely on her television screen.
“But it’s not like he’s a monster,” she groaned from under my arm, finally peeking up. “He’s just a psycho killer, and those are definitely real.”
“Not in Colbridge,” I assured her.
“Promise?” she asked hopefully.
“Promise.”
I don’t know how, but my words caused her to relax under me, and even though she seemed substantially less afraid than before, she didn’t move away.
But neither did I.
“You really weren’t kidding about no happy endings, huh?” Elsie let out a shaky breath as the end credits rolled.
We’d watched not only the first movie, but the two sequels that followed, because Elsie was hellbent that the story would somehow redeem itself on some uplifting note.
By the end of the third movie, Elsie was shaking and decided she was done with horror films for good, and I was right there with her.
For some reason, I felt just as freaked out as she did, though my nerves had nothing to do with the movie.
“Well, I’d argue that the villains usually get a happy ending,” I said, awkwardly tugging my hat back on my head.
I didn’t have any other excuse to keep sitting there beside her, so I stood, knowing that there was nothing left for me to do except leave.
“Hey,” Elsie eyed me warily from the couch, “where are you going?”
“Home,” I said, glancing at my watch. “It’s late.”
“Uh, no way.” She leaped to her feet, rushing to stand guard at the door. “Absolutely not.”
“What?”
“You do not force me to watch three horror movies and then say, ‘Alright, I’ll be going now!’”
“I did not force you to watch anything,” I countered. “You’re the one who said things were looking up after the ending of the second movie.”
“Fine,” she said, stepping aside. “Go. But just know that I’ll be spending the night staring at the door, flinching at every noise and expecting to get murdered if I dare close my eyes, and it’s all your fault.”
I blinked down at her, trying to assess how serious she was.
She couldn’t really be asking me to stay, could she?
“What do you want me to—”
“Stay,” her green eyes implored.
I blinked.
“Please, Will.”
She wasn’t pulling my leg, I realized right away. She really genuinely wanted me to stay. Not for any other reason than to not be alone, but it was enough for me.
“Okay,” I told her. “I’ll stay.”