Bird Song (28 page)

We continued this way for the next ten minutes while Stacy maneuvered her way through the holiday traffic.
 
“I don’t think I’ve seen so many cars on the road here ever,” she griped as she pulled into the darkening parking lot.
 
“I am so ready to see something unromantic, unfunny, and totally gory.
 
Oh, and something my mother would definitely disapprove of.”

“Here
here
!” Lark concurred.

“Are we actually going to find something like that on Valentine’s Day?” I asked as I climbed out of the backseat.
 
I stretched my legs and shocked myself by wishing that I had chosen to arrive on the back of Robert’s motorcycle.

So when
did
your dad start letting Robert pick you up on his bike?
 
Lark wanted to know.

“There’s always at least one horror flick playing on Valentine’s Day, Grace,” Stacy confirmed.

I looked at the two of them, each one staring back awaiting an answer.

“Okay, Stacy.
 
You’re the Zombie expert,” I said quickly.
 
My dad had a change of heart after talking to your mom about Robert’s bike.
 
She told him that he’s very careful, has never had an accident, and feels more comfortable on it than driving the car.
 
My dad said that for short trips, like to school and back, I could ride the bike.

We entered the lobby of the theater, the smell of popcorn and hot dogs hitting our noses like a combination punch.
 
I glanced at the marquee, browsing the different titles in search of the one that Stacy would most like to see.

“See, there it is, just like I told you,” Stacy pointed out.
 
The title definitely jumped out at you.
 
“Black Bouquet.
 
It’s supposed to be the greatest
slasher
-flick in over a decade.
 
It’s going to spawn some serious sequels, although I’m pretty sure that some of them will go straight to DVD.”

I simply stared as she pointed to the movie poster that hung between two obvious romantic comedies.
 
A bouquet of black roses dripping with the deep burgundy of blood set against a backdrop of pure white velvet stood out among the posters full of beautiful, laughing faces.
 
I shook my head, wondering when it was that I had graduated from Rocky Horror to actual horror.

“Hey, do you think you get a family discount?” Stacy asked Lark as we walked up to the ticket counter.
 
“I don’t get a girlfriend discount so I don’t think Grace would get one either, but maybe you do.”

Lark looked at Stacy with a quirky smile crossing her lips.
 
“I’ve never had to pay for a ticket in my life and I don’t plan on starting.”

She smiled at the lady behind the counter, a brilliant smile that made the woman beam.
 
“I’d like three tickets to see Black Bouquet, please.”

The woman, her eyes still gleaming, her smile broad and full on her face, waited for the tickets to print out and then handed them over to Lark.
 
“Enjoy the show,” she said cheerfully.

Lark thanked her and then turned around, handing Stacy and I each a ticket.
 
“See?”

Stacy’s grin was nearly as wide as the woman’s.
 
“Wow!
 
Why didn’t you say something the last time we were here?
 
Is this okay, though?
 
I mean, you won’t get in trouble, will you?”

“Is this even legal?” I asked worriedly.

Lark turned her back to us and pointed at the star of the most recent hit movie.
 
“See that woman in that poster?
 
She made more money for a ninety minute movie than all of the teachers’ in school do combined.
 
Her latest boy toy is starring in the movie we’re about to see, and he got paid twice as much as she did.
 
I think it’s perfectly okay if we take three tickets worth of money from their bank account.”

Stacy nodded, obviously agreeing with Lark’s contrived argument.
 
I was interested in something else entirely.

“Lark, are you allowed to do this?
 
I mean, if it’s not okay to lie, why would it be okay to steal, because that’s what this amounts to:
 
theft.”

She laughed at my concern.
 
“Oh please spare me the moral lectures, Grace.
 
I may be blind, but I’m not stupid.
 
Just enjoy the perk of having me for a friend and let’s go and get some popcorn.”

“I don’t like popcorn,” I admitted.

“You don’t like popcorn?” the two of them gasped.
 

“Yeah, she hates the stuff,” came Graham’s voice from behind me.
 
He placed a hand on my shoulder and smiled reassuringly.
 
“Always has.
 
I always say more for me, but some people find it odd.”

Stacy looked away while Lark smiled.
 
“Odd?
 
I’d say you’re the perfect person to have come with you to the movies.
 
You can buy a bag of popcorn for someone who likes it and then they won’t look like a pig to everyone else.
 
You’re a popcorn junkie decoy!”

“O-okay.”

“So, what movie are you guys watching?” Graham asked, looking over my shoulder at the ticket in my hand.
 
“Black Bouquet?
 
A horror movie?
 
Why not one of the rom-coms we have out?”

“Why not?
 
It’s not like any of us feel exceptionally romantic tonight,” Stacy bit out.
 
“A horror movie is just what we need to keep us in the mood.”

I looked at Stacy quizzically.
 
Mood?
 
What mood?

“What mood?” Graham asked, as though he plucked it straight from my thoughts.

“Unromantic.”

“Oh.”

Lark crept up beside me as Stacy and Graham’s conversation quickly escalated into an argument.

“I don’t get why you think it’s perfectly alright to complain about my lack of romance when you’re the one who turned me down when I asked if you wanted to go to the dance tonight!
 
We could be surrounded by stupid flowers and balloons right now, swimming in
romance
.”

Stacy dismissed his statement.
 
“I didn’t want to go to some stupid dance where everyone’s competing for who has the best dress, who has the best dance moves, who has the best corsage.
 
That’s not romantic.
 
That’s commercial.”

Lark pulled me several steps away from the growing dispute, and I glared at the crowd that had gathered to watch.
 
Did Stacy tell you the real reason she didn’t want to go to the dance tonight?
 
Lark wanted to know, her eyes flitting around, listening to the thoughts of the people surrounding us.

I shook my head.
 
She reveals more things to you than she does to me.

She told Graham no because she thinks he wants to have sex with her and she’s not ready.

I slowly closed my mouth and looked at Stacy and Graham closely, ignoring the redness of anger that disguised their faces from those who truly knew them.
 
Wow.
 
Did you tell her she has nothing to worry about?

Lark gave me an exasperated look, as she shook her head.
 
How would I explain that to her without revealing a thing about Graham?
 
I couldn’t do that to her.
 
It wouldn’t be right.

“Do you two mind telling me what’s going on?”

I turned around to see Robert standing behind us, mild anger crossing his features.
 
“They’re arguing,” I answered, ignoring the obviousness of my statement.

“I see that.
 
Will either of you explain to me why?” he asked as he crept closer to me, his gaze never leaving my face.

“Um…I really don’t know.
 
I think it’s about the fact that they’re not at the dance tonight.
 
And why are you asking?
 
Couldn’t you just…you know.”

His hand rose to gently touch the side of my face.
 
“I could, but it’s much more entertaining to hear other people’s perspectives.
 
Especially yours.”

I couldn’t see it, but I knew that that slight contact between our skin had left my face bright pink with the blush of remembrance.
 
My lips pursed as I looked at him through the corners of my eyes.
 
You cheated.

He didn’t say anything.
 
He merely winked at me and walked over towards the arguing couple.
 
I nearly leapt after him, some strange feeling of protectiveness washing over me that I had not expected but I didn’t know who it was for.
 
He spoke in a low voice—so low I couldn’t make out what he was saying—to Graham and Stacy before nodding his head and turning around, a stiff smile on his face.

“Everything’s okay.
 
Why don’t you ladies go and enjoy your movie,” he said to us when he returned.
 
“I’m sure that it’s about ready to start.”

I opened my mouth to ask him what he had said but he brought his finger to his mouth, a sign.
 
I didn’t feel ready to leave him yet but he appeared ready for me to be.
 
“But…we don’t even have any popcorn,” I blurted.

“But you don’t like popcorn,” three voices around me announced.

***

I sat through the movie, oblivious to what was on the screen.
 
Beside me, Stacy was laughing at each scene, the imagery apparently amusing to her.
 
Lark, on the other hand, was thoroughly annoyed.
 
So annoyed in fact that she didn’t care that she was supposed to be blind.

“They call that a wound?
 
Look at the skin!
 
Saw blades tear at the skin.
 
That skin is smooth, like a scalpel sliced through it.
 
You’d think with such a big budget, these special effects artists could at least have done some research on the way actual skin looks when damaged.
 
And the blood!
 
Who believes red corn syrup is actually blood?”

As the minutes ticked by, I felt myself sinking deeper and deeper into my seat.
 
People around me were trying to forget about being in love, wanting love, looking for love.
 
They were absorbed in gore and guts, escaping the mad, flower and candy heart laden world just beyond the theater doors.

But for the first time in eleven years, I longed for it.
 
The sounds of screaming and slashing, of bodies piling up were causing my mind to recall images I did not want to see.
 
I looked at Stacy; she was so into the movie I probably wouldn’t have been able to glean a response from her if I set her clothes on fire.
 
I turned to look at Lark.
 
She seemed far too engrossed in the inaccuracies to hear my thoughts.
 
As a precaution I started to jumble my thoughts, filling my mind with them, pulling away at just the right moment and finding a quiet corner to focus on what today had meant for so long.

The excuses I made for disliking Valentine’s day had all been a way to avoid the real reason.
 
My mother’s death, the car accident had been the death of one Grace and the birth of another.
 
The sweet Grace that had been accepted, been welcome died that night along with my mother and in her place, the Grace that survived an exploding car, that couldn’t remember a single thing, the “freak” had been born.

I hated that night because I couldn’t remember what had happened, couldn’t recall anything, not for anyone.
 
Dad had asked me over and over, the police had questioned me, too.
 
Therapists had tried to coax the secrets from me, but nothing worked.
 
Until Robert.

He had shown me, physically taken me there to see, to remember.
 
My thoughts brought to life in front of me and I was finally able to understand what had happened to me.
 
I had accepted it, embraced it because for just a brief moment, I was reunited with my mother and I could now look back on those short, precious minutes and know that I had been blind to the truth not because what people had been saying was true.
 
I had blocked out the truth because I couldn’t accept it until Robert was with me.

I shuddered as I thought of what my life would have become had I succeeded at pushing him away after finding out what he truly was, what his call was.
 
Simply imagining it left me feeling cold and empty.

“The main character should have been dead three scenes ago!
 
How unrealistic are they trying to make this movie be?” Lark complained.