that makes me feel marginally better. i try to focus on chris by my side. his presence, the feel of his arm brushing against mine, the sound of his soft breathing. it brings me some comfort. 
i swipe a few more pieces of popcorn. 
- 
two hours later, the movie finished with all of us jumpy and on edge. it was actually scary! not one of those cheap, low budget horror movies, but for real will haunt my dreams. 
chris and i couldn't agree on who had screamed first. after bringing the issue to the jury (matt, nick, and georgia), they decided that we had both screamed at the same time, during the jumpscare in the first ten minutes of the movie. 
"fine, but bree screamed more overall." he pointed at me. "guess you owe me a pepsi." 
"um, no. not the deal we agreed upon." 
"yeah, but it was a tie, so we have to adjust the rules." 
"well that could go either way. you screamed louder, so how about my dr. pepper?" 
"no way—" 
"chris, you owe bree a dr. pepper," georgia said. i smirked at him. "and bree," she continued, "you owe chris a pepsi." 
"wait, what?!" 
"doesn't that defeat the whole purpose . . . ?" chris trailed off. 
georgia held up a hand. "end of discussion."
after that debate had been settled, we walked back out to the parking lot. none of us seemed to want to end the night, though. 
"mcdonald's?" matt asked. 
that was all he had to say. we all piled into his vehicle, mcdonald's-bond and hungry. we joked about the last time i was in that car, way back forever ago when i made an impulsive decision to join two random strangers on an excursion to six flags. 
and that brings us to now, sitting on the grassy edge of the mcdonald's parking lot, fries in hand, laughing under the night sky. 
"imagine," matt is saying, his voice ominous, "if all the streetlights cut off right now. and just as your eyes are adjusting to the dark . . ." he pauses dramatically before turning and punching chris in the gut. 
"OW!" chris howls. he drops his fries to the ground and tackles his brother. 
georgia and i lean against each other, dying of laughter. 
"get off, chris! my fries!" matt gets his legs under chris's chest and forcefully kicks him off. 
chris sits up, wiping the blades of grass off his clothes and picking up his fries that had fallen on the ground. 
"you're not going to eat those, are you?" georgia asks. 
chris looks her dead in the eye and stuffs the fries into his mouth, sending the two of us back into our laughing fit. 
"i'll get you back for that, matt." chris mutters.
matt looks unbothered. "i was just testing you."
"come on, chris," i tease. "you were obviously supposed to sense the blow coming and deflect."
"you let your guard down, and it cost you the well-being of your french fries," georgia adds.
chris winces, rubbing his abdomen. "and my internal organs." 
"you'll be fine," matt says, eating a few more of his own fries. nick changes the subject, bringing up the stupidity of one of the movie characters and how their actions destroyed everything they've ever known and loved.
after another hour of laughter and conversation, all the fries are eaten and the temperature in the air has dropped a few degrees. 
"anyone else getting cold?" i ask the group. 
"me," georgia says. 
"it's getting late," nick adds. "you guys ready to head back?" 
"yeah," i reply. "unfortunately, i have work in the morning." 
"where do you work?" chris asks as he stands up. 
i take nick's hand and he pulls me up. "at a coffee shop in my apartment building." 
he seems to store this piece of information away. "well, have fun with that." 
i chuckle. "i'll sure try." 
once everyone's gotten to their feet and wiped the grass off their clothes, we all hurry back to matt's car. he blasts the heat and the music, and i can't help but smile in the dark. 
whatever feelings i have for chris aside, i really have fun hanging out with these guys. 
matt pulls back into the theatre's parking lot and georgia and i hop out. 
"thanks so much, guys!" i say, waving to them. 
"of course," matt calls from the front seat. 
nick leans his head out of the backseat window. "we'll see you guys soon?" 
georgia and i look at each other and smile. "yeah!" she calls back. "let's do it!" 
chris points at me from the passenger seat. "better be soon, because you owe me a soda." 
"right back at you!" 
we wave a final time and matt drives off. georgia and i get into her car and she drives me home.

                                

                                    
                                
                                  
                                      
                                  
                                  
                                    
                                      
                                      
                                    
                                  
                                 
                                
                                
                              
                              
bree.mills.03 🍿🤗
-view all comments-
georgie_ashford cutesy little caption as if we didn't just watch the scariest movie of all time😊 
matthew.sturniolo i'm under your bed 😈
         |___ bree.mills.03 OH??
|___ user_391 THAT'S CRAZYYY MATTHEW
christophersturniolo boo 👻 
         |___ bree.mills.03 AH!
nicolassturniolo it wasn't even that scary guys 
         |___ bree.mills.03 get out 🚪👈
                |___ georgie_ashford i second that
                         |___ nicolassturniolo :(
user_90382 okay fr how does this girl know them like what