25. Craving Disaster
Chapter twenty-five
Craving Disaster
NOAH
Iwas suddenly aware of everyone around me and wondered why in the world I ever came to this place.
Groups of girlfriends were huddled together squealing about the newest releases, the intolerably loud chatter causing me to feel as though the place was on wheels.
I vaguely thought that I could be having another withdrawal, but disclosed that the churning in my stomach was not from the drug loss.
I couldn’t be sure the sensation was true, but if I focused enough, I could feel the pounding of my heart in my fingertips, beating to the same rhythm of the popcorn maker to my right.
Fast.
It scared me.
The arcade situated behind me was flooded with children running about, hiding from their screaming parents, begging for more money for the machines, and yelling: “Just once more, please?” I heard the amped sound of gunshots, the shrieks of delight following soon after as the small kids made a high score.
There were so many people passing by me as though I weren’t there. Perhaps, I was really invisible.
I felt as though I were sinking.
And I couldn’t shake the look that had been on Delane’s face.
The echoing sound of when the bucket of popcorn hit the ground seemed to ring continually in my ears. Why had she seemed so...afraid?
“Noah?” Alex asked, poking my arm. His face held a certain amount of concern, his eyebrows furrowing. “We can leave if you want to, dude.”
I blinked, trying to pull myself back into my body. After a moment of struggling with my senses, I was successful. “No, let’s go watch the movie.”
“You sure?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“GREAAAAT!” Alex shouted, pumping his fist into the air, causing me to immediately regret making this decision so quickly.
I had no idea what I would find when I pushed open the double doors that led into an inky blackness. I was hoping that Chelsea had forgotten about me and would leave me and Alex alone to pick our own seats.
I should have known by then that I had no such luck.
As soon as I faced the crowd I heard a high-pitched cry from the middle aisle. It was so disrupting, that Alex and I were forced to follow the direction of it with our eyes.
“OVER HERE, Noah!” She stood up and waved, blocking the view of many other people.
I contemplated the idea of ignoring her. The look on Alex’s face promised me that he wouldn’t be upset if I chose to do so, but I decided against my better judgement. I knew that if we didn’t begin to make our way over to her, she would throw a bigger fuss.
“Coming,” I answered, returning her wave so that she would take her seat once again.
As we walked towards the girls, I felt the weight of glares trailing behind us.
I noticed that Delane had taken an edge seat, which gave the only possible spot next to her to Chelsea. Clearly, this wasn’t an accident.
She wanted me nowhere near her.
I stared at the seat approaching and flinched.
I had thought long and hard about sitting next to Chelsea and looked to Alex, wondering if my best friend would help me out once more.
That jackass only grinned, obviously understanding exactly what I was thinking and shoved me forward so that I was forced to claim the spot besides her.
I sighed.
Chelsea nudged me with her elbow and handed me two closed packets of something I could not see. “Here,” she said.
“What is this?” I asked, examining it.
“3D glasses. This movie is going to POP.” She giggled.
“Ohh…cool.” I tried to act enthusiastic as I handed one pair of glasses to Alex, who eagerly ripped the package open and placed them on. I reluctantly did the same with my own.
And before I knew it, Chelsea was poking me again.
“Want some popcorn?” she whispered, ushering to the gigantic tub in between her legs. She winked.
“I’m fine, thank you,” I replied, trying to settle into my chair with effort.
She seemed disappointed, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.
The theater lights dimmed further, and I was glad for that.
With the lights fading, no one could stare at us anymore and I could sink back into the shadows for the next couple of hours.
The previews abruptly ended and the movie I paid for began to play.
I might as well try to enjoy it. But just as the thought settled, I felt a warm presence on my thigh.
It was Alex.
“What are you doing?” I muttered under my breath, not worried, just curious.
“You want this to look real, right?” Without giving me a chance to answer he pinched me. “Then just shut up.”
My phone pinged and I hurriedly reached into my pocket to silence it. I snuck a peek at the screen as I fiddled with volume.
7 new messages from Loser (my name for Damian)
2 new messages from Silas
I tensed, lowered the brightness of my phone and opened the messages from Silas, completely pretending that the ones from Damian did not exist.
The meeting was a fucking flop.
All I could think about was your cock in my hands.
“Who ya texting?” Alex asked, immediately looking over my shoulder to my phone. I was mid read of the word “cock” and nearly chucked my cell across the theater to prevent Alex from seeing it.
“No one, just Damian,” I said quickly, shoving the phone back into my pocket. I was flushed.
Alex threw his hands up, “Okay, okay.”
I shook my head in annoyance and turned my attention to the movie, which showed two lovers kissing under a setting sun.
I rolled my eyes. How cliché.
“Ronald, I love you.” The two young lovebirds clasped hands.
“And I love you, Jessica.”
“Then...why don’t we get married?”
“I want to but… Jessica, there is something I must tell you.” Ronald’s eyes lowered in shame, though there was something else hidden behind his gaze.
I reached for some popcorn, ignoring the look of satisfaction on Chelsea’s face. I was suddenly invested in the film’s stupidity.
“Then tell me, Ronald.”
There was a booming sound, and horrific music began to play as Ronald slashed his lover’s throat, taking the limp and bloody body and throwing it into the screen.
Alex flinched violently and covered his eyes as the dead Jessica lurched in our direction.
The unexpected slaughter that sprung out at me from the screen made me jump a little, though I would never admit it.
A quick adjustment in my seat was all it took to mask my jolt.
The last thing I needed was to look like a frightened little girl from a silly movie.
The body slipped from view, but the blood stayed in our faces as if the theater screen was made from glass, and slowly the bloody remnants molded into the movie’s title: Love Love Kiss Kiss Death, stared back at me in red, dripping letters.
I groaned, already able to tell that the movie was going to be a huge flop.
I could only hope that it wouldn’t last long.
DAMIAN
I was pacing the living room when the phone rang. I jumped for it, suspecting and hoping that it would be Noah calling.
“Hello?”
I hadn’t even known Noah had left. But when I returned home from work, he was of course gone, again, without permission. I was about to blow a fuse, unleashing all of my authority and grounding the brat as soon as he reached the front door.
I tried telling mom that giving him his own personal driver was a mistake.
I’d have to confiscate that too, and then he’d profess his hatred for me even more.
Everyone else in the household was so incompetent when it came to following through with consequences.
The responsibility was on my shoulders alone.
All of this on top of that fucking phone call from before and I was ready to rage. I didn’t even want to consider that Noah was with Silas right now. That young Thorne had some nerve to hang up on me.
“Hi, Honey,” my mother sang from the other end of the phone.
I sighed and collapsed onto the couch, rubbing my temples. “Hello.”
“What’s wrong, dear?” Instantly, she was able to notice the strain in my voice.
“Noah isn’t here.”
“Well, where–”
“I don’t know. His cell phone is off. He isn’t answering.” I massaged my head with my two fingers. I had already sent him multiple texts, which I knew he was ignoring on purpose.
“Should I call your father?”
Her comment set me back some. I definitely didn’t want David to arrive home early.
“No. I doubt it’s that serious,” I paused. “I just don’t know what I’m going to do with him anymore.”
“I’m so sorry sweetheart. I’ll have another talk with him, I promise.”
I knew there wasn’t much she could do. Noah was a rebel, his life goal was to prove that he had no bounds, and I was starting to believe it was true.
I knew that Noah had lost all respect for himself, and that’s what frightened me the most. How was my little brother supposed to survive in a world of hatred when he had no desire to protect himself from it?
He was stepping into the firing range, unknowing and uncaring to who was shooting, too engulfed in his shell to see just how close he was to the bullets.
Noah had his share of bullets, and I knew that.
But it seemed my brother thrived on the pain of being shot down. And what he didn’t seem to understand, was that I couldn’t live without him. I wanted him to take better care of himself.
“I apologize for worrying you,” I spoke softly and calmly, so as not to upset mom further. “I’m sure he is fine. I’ll call you when he gets home.”
“Alright, hon. Are you sure you don’t want me to come home?”
“It’s fine, I will figure it out.”
“Okay then,” I could picture her smile. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
NOAH
It hadn’t been more than thirty minutes before Alex was nudging me.
“What?” I whispered, already annoyed.
“Hot, huh?” He tilted his head to the screen, unnecessarily reminding me that there was a 3D sex scene splayed out before our eyes, like I was blind to the bouncing tits or something.
I sighed. I had been doing a lot of that lately. “Whatever.”
“Oh, yes! YES!”
Alex giggled and deliberately snuggled into my arm. I glared at him but said nothing. Chelsea watched us with a sideways glance.