4 The Crazy Nun #2
“She was all right,” he said. “But she didn’t say hi to me when she passed by like you do, so I like you better. But then, hardly anybody does. You’re one of the only people who actually stops to talk to me.”
He smiled and went back to his game. I wanted to ask more questions about this Lana, but I felt it wouldn’t be appropriate, so I dropped it.
I wanted to talk to someone, though, and my best friend Nelle didn’t answer, so when I got back to my room, I wound up calling Shannon, who always gave me good advice.
She picked up instantly. She always did.
“Hey, stranger,” she said. “How’s everything?”
“Good. I’m bored, so I decided to call you,” I said, sitting on the bed.
“Well, I’m flattered you were thinking of me, even if it was just because you’re bored.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know, I was kidding. You should see Mom. She’s out of her mind.
I have to go see her every day because she misses you so much.
Dad too. I don’t know how they’re going to hang on till Christmas break.
I wish you could come earlier, but it’s an expensive trip, and I honestly don’t know if any of us could front you the cash to do it. ”
“Yeah,” I said, “I guess you’re right.”
“Well, now that we’ve depressed ourselves talking about money and family, let’s get down to the good stuff. Have you found any handsome guys to hook up with out there? Or girls? I’m not judgmental. Everyone’s free to choose.”
“Shannon, please. Have you forgotten I still have a boyfriend?”
“Who? The idiot?”
“He’s not an idiot.”
“He is, though,” she said.
I told her about our argument, and I could almost hear her thoughts as I did so. She wasn’t surprised in the least. When I mentioned how bad he always made me feel, she told me he always had, and I reminded her he’d never done anything to her to make her have such a bad attitude about him.
“Honey, him never doing anything bad to me is a pretty low bar when we’re talking about your boyfriend.”
“So what?” I asked her. “You want me to go out with Brad Pitt?”
“I wouldn’t mind,” she said, “but I’d try to steal him from you, and I know that violates the code between sisters. Then again: All’s fair in love and war, right?”
I laughed and we talked for another hour, until the sky started to darken and she told me she had to go pick up my nephew, Owen, from his swimming lessons. As soon as I hung up, Naya walked in, looking bored from spending an entire day in the library.
“What’s got you in such a good mood?” I asked.
“Oh, you know, just living my dream. Wasting a whole afternoon studying a bunch of shit I’ve already forgotten. I hate my life.”
“You’ll be fine, Naya.”
“I hope.”
Looking at the time on my watch, I asked when we were supposed to go to the movies with the guys. She told me we had half an hour and then added, “Why? Are you anxious for our double date?”
“Very funny,” I said.
She grinned and responded, “I’m going to shower first.”
She was in and out, and then I got in myself, taking with me the ratty old bathrobe with the pattern of tropical fish on it my father had given me when I was thirteen.
I frowned when I saw the giant circles under my eyes in the bathroom mirror.
I should have taken a nap that afternoon, I thought.
I looked exhausted. When I was done, I opened the door and saw Ross lying there on my bed, looking at my photo album like he owned the place.
Will and Naya were—of course—making out on the other bed beside him.
“Um…hello?” I said.
The two lovebirds were oblivious, but Ross looked over the album’s cover and said, “Wow, nice robe.”
“It’s the only one I have,” I said, embarrassed. “May I ask what you’re doing with my photo album?”
“I was bored. It’s not like those two were paying attention to me.”
“Don’t you have a phone?”
“Yeah. But I’d rather be nosy.”
I grabbed the album out of his hand and saw he’d been looking at a photo of me with Monty, some friend of his, and Nelle. We were all smiling at the camera.
“Who is everyone?” Ross asked.
I sat down next to him.
“My boyfriend, Monty…”
“Monty? What is he, from nineteenth-century England?”
“It’s short for Montgomery,” I said. “It’s a family name. That’s Nelle, who’s a friend of mine, or sort of a friend. It’s kind of a long story, and not a very interesting one. And this guy is one of Monty’s teammates. They had just won a basketball game that day.”
“They’re on a basketball team?” he asked, and when I nodded, he continued, “They look terrible.”
“They were. They’ve gotten better.” I dropped the photo album back on the bed and said, “I’ll be ready in five minutes.”
Ross told me he didn’t mind if I went with them half-naked, and I thanked him for the suggestion but said I’d rather put on some real clothes.
“Cool,” he replied, lying back. “I’m going to stick my fingers in my ears and see if I can ignore the sounds of Will and Naya.”
I went back into the bathroom and got dressed quickly. When I came out, I found Will and Naya standing there smoothing out their clothes. Ross looked at them as if he’d observed this scene a million times.
I asked Naya, surprised, “Aren’t you going to fix your hair before we leave?” It looked like a bird’s nest. She checked herself out in the mirror and dragged a brush through it quickly.
We went in Ross’s car. The guys rode up front and the girls in the back. I had to push their jackets out of the way to buckle my seat belt.
Ross pulled out without using his turn signal and asked where we were going. “The theater at the mall,” Naya announced. “There’s a war movie playing. I forgot the title, but that’s the one I want to go see.”
I didn’t want to see a war movie—just thinking about war made me cry—and Will seemed to agree.
Naya asked what the other options were, and Ross mentioned a horror film, “that one about the nun,” he said, lighting a cigarette and driving me into a panic.
I had grave doubts about his ability to smoke and keep a car on the road at the same time.
“Yeah, let’s do that!” Will called out. Naya said, “No way!” and Ross responded, “Sorry, whose car is this?”
Naya whined that it wasn’t fair, but there wasn’t much she could do about it.
I tried to back her up, saying, “It may be your car, but it’s not your movie theater,” and Will laughed, telling me I should come along more because not many people could get Ross to shut up.
Ross looked back at me with an offended expression, and I shouted, “Keep your eyes on the road!”
“Whatever, it’s straight!”
“You think no one’s ever died on a straight road?!” I shouted.
After a bit more argument, it was decided: we were going to see the horror movie.
Ross and Will smiled at the prospect. Naya and I huffed and puffed.
There wasn’t much more to say, so Ross turned on the radio.
His driving was chaotic, and he moved his body frantically as he turned the wheel.
When his sweatshirt slid down, I saw what looked like a tattoo below the back of his neck.
I had one in almost the same place. I still regretted getting it.
His was bigger, and I tried to see what it was.
But I wasn’t sure if I was comfortable with how much he intrigued me, so I tried to distract myself. “Why didn’t Sue come?”
Ross blew a breath of smoke out the window. “Sue is basically fused with that easy chair. She doesn’t like going out. Not with us or with anyone else.”
“I feel like she doesn’t like me,” I confessed.
“It would be weird if she did like you,” Naya reassured me.
“She just doesn’t like people,” Will said. “She’s weird. But you’ll get used to her.”
“You won’t,” Ross declared. “It’s my second year living with her, and I’m not used to her at all.”
He pulled into the lot then. He had to park far from the entrance. When I got out, I was glad I had put on my coat for once. It was cold. Mom would be proud.
Will and Naya walked ahead of us arm in arm, and Ross complained, “I swear, those two make my blood sugar skyrocket.”
“Aww,” I said. “If you had a girlfriend, you’d be the same way.”
He smiled and grabbed my arm. Ross paid for everyone’s tickets at the window and we walked inside.
The screen was massive. I couldn’t believe it, and the spectators couldn’t believe that I couldn’t believe it and stared as they tried to walk past me.
The theater was packed, so we had to sit up front, in the fourth row.
I ended up sitting between Will and Ross, and Ross dug into his popcorn like a rabid dog.
“Are you always hungry?” I asked him during the previews.
“Always.”
“And you never gain weight?”
“Never.”
“I hate you.”
He laughed. “No you don’t.”
“OK,” I said. “But I definitely like you less than I did before.”
“If I gave you some popcorn, would it fix that?” he asked.
I pretended to think it over and said, “Maybe.” He turned the bag my way and I grabbed a handful and started eating. As I chewed, he bent over and asked, “Hey, have you ever seen a horror movie before?”
“No. Why?”
With an amused expression, he said, “You might regret coming when you’re back home tonight.”
I didn’t know why he’d say that until thirty minutes later, when it was nighttime in the film and every five minutes the music would come on so dramatically that it made me jump out of my seat and grab whatever was next to me, normally either the armrest or Ross’s wrist. He was having fun.
Did he like to be scared? The main character of the film was stupid and kept doing stupid things, and that just made it worse.
It was like she just wanted the stupid nun who was chasing her around to kill her.
“Why’s she going in there?” I asked at one point.
“Because if she didn’t, there wouldn’t be a movie,” Ross whispered.
“I know, but it’s so dumb…”