Popcorn Love (14 page)

“Uh, wow, that sounded better in my head.” Allison
smacked a hand against her forehead. “I just meant that you
probably won’t be comfortable sitting through a whole movie in that
dress. You can borrow some of my clothes. I mean, if you want?”

“Oh.” The word came out in a rush of breath. “Oh,
right, I see. Well, I suppose—”

“You know you don’t always have to ‘suppose’
everything.” Allison leaned over to nudge Elena with her elbow.
“You could just say ‘yes’.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

Allison threw her hands up and Elena, realizing what
she’d said, reached over and swatted her arm. “Excuse me.” She
rolled her eyes. “I meant to say ‘yes’.”

“That’s more like it.” Hopping off the bed, Allison
pulled out another pair of leggings and a random old, ratty red
T-shirt from a small dresser. She handed the items to Elena and
took the woman’s beer and clutch. “These should fit you. The
bathroom is just through that door over there. You get changed and
I’ll pick us out a movie.”

Elena rose from the bed, Allison’s clothes clutched
in her hands, and crossed to the bathroom. Before she could fully
close the door behind her, she heard Allison let out a groan.

“Let’s get you out of that dress then?” Allison said.
“Way to sound like a friggin’ perv, Al.”

Elena smiled and clicked the door softly closed.

* * *

The mirror in the bathroom showed Elena her own
wide-eyed reflection, Allison’s clothes still bundled between her
hands. She was immensely uncomfortable, not only because she was
about to don someone else’s clothes, but also because she felt so
completely and utterly at a disadvantage. She had never been this
type of person—this carefree, hang-out-in-your-lazy-clothes,
movie-marathon, beer-in-a-can type of girl. She never even had any
friends the likes of Allison Sawyer.

She didn’t know
how
to be that type of girl,
not that she felt like she needed to be. She had no intentions of
trying to be something she wasn’t. It was more that she didn’t want
this experience to be an awkward one for either of them.

The fact that Allison made her feel somewhat more at
ease at least gave her comfort. When the silences set in or when
there was a moment of miscommunication, things became strange, but
never to the point that Elena wanted to cut and run. As long as
Allison was talking, joking and teasing and being herself, it
helped Elena to relax.

Setting Allison’s clothes on the sink counter, Elena
angled her arms back so that she could latch onto the zipper of her
dress. When she managed to lower it enough to ease her body out,
Elena’s eyes fell to her chest. Her stomach clenched uncomfortably
as she was reminded that she was most definitely
not
wearing
a bra.

“Shit.” She had been wearing a crimson-colored bra
when she had first dressed for the show, but when she had decided
to wear
this
particular dress, she had divested herself of
the garment.

She glanced to the door then down to her naked chest,
over to the red baggy T-shirt on the sink, then back to her naked
chest. The rather dim lighting in the dorm room was a plus, she
thought. Allison had the room lit by only a single lamp, which
might or might not be extinguished during whatever movie they were
about to watch. If the room was dark, then surely the fact that she
would be braless would go unnoticed.

Wait—was it cold in the other room? Elena glanced
down at her breasts again.

“Well, it is apparently cold in here,” she
murmured.

She couldn’t remain in the bathroom for an hour, she
reminded herself; so she grabbed the two items of clothing from the
sink, slipped the red T-shirt over her head, and nearly purred at
how comfortable the material was. It was a rather thick material as
well, which helped conceal her obvious chill; not much, but it was
better than nothing. She then pulled on the leggings that Allison
had given her, moving her hips from side to side as she yanked the
tight, stretchy material up her thighs and over her crimson-colored
thong.

Grabbing her dress, Elena held it in front of her
chest as she took a deep breath and exited the bathroom.

* * *

The lamp was off when she returned, and the room was
quite dark but for the glow of the television. Elena let out an
easy breath as she carried her dress over to Macy’s bed and laid it
out so that it would not wrinkle.

Allison, whose back had been turned to the bathroom
while she loaded a DVD into the player beneath the television,
turned at the sound of Elena shuffling around behind her. Her eyes
instantly shot down the length of Elena’s body in her clothes and
then back up. Lips parted, she shook her head quickly and asked,
“So, they fit, yeah?”

“Quite well, actually.” Elena ran her hands a little
self-consciously over the clothing, unable to recall a single time
in her entire life when she had worn anything of the sort, at
least, not in front of anyone outside her family. “Thank you.”

“No problem. Make yourself comfortable.”

Like before, Elena settled herself gingerly on the
edge of the bed, and Allison took one look at her and rolled her
eyes.

“Oh yeah. You look
hella
comfortable. Must be
that rigid posture and the way your ass is hanging halfway off the
bed.” She crawled onto the bed, scooting all the way back until her
back touched the wall, which she cushioned with a couple of
pillows. “The bed’s not going to swallow you, I promise. Loosen up
a bit.”

Elena inched slowly back until she was settled
against the pillows next to Allison, who reached out and squeezed
Elena’s forearm. “Hey,” she said softly. Green eyes glinted in the
television glow.

“Yes?”

“I can tell that you’re uncomfortable. You don’t have
to stay if you don’t want to. I mean, you’re not obligated to hang
out with me just because you brought me my backpack. Okay? You
don’t have to stay.”

Elena’s heart clenched at the words and she quickly
moved to place her own hand atop Allison’s, which still rested on
her forearm. “No, Allison, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be so
awkward. To be honest, I am just feeling quite out of my element.
That is all.”

“What’s your element?” Allison asked, grinning.
“Fancy dinner parties and shit? Never had a friend like me, I’m
guessing?”

Elena returned her smile as she nodded. “Something
like that.”

“Well, look, you don’t have to be out of your element
here. Just relax and be yourself. Pretend like we’re back at your
house, on your couch, bitching about shitty dates.”

The tension in Elena’s shoulders loosened at the mere
reference, her body relaxing. She smiled at Allison’s words and
squeezed her hand. “Thank you.”

Nodding, Allison retracted her hand and reached over
to the bedside table to grab their beers. She handed Elena hers and
then began to sip at her own. Between sips, she grabbed the remote.
“I hope you like horror movies.”

Elena’s lip curled a bit. “Will there be much
gore?”

“Eh, not
too
much. But really, it’s your own
fault that we’re watching this.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“You didn’t get the lotion reference, and that means
I am obligated to educate you. It’s like an unwritten rule of life
or whatever.”

With the push of a button on the TV remote, the movie
menu popped up, and Elena’s stomach clenched in anticipation as she
saw the title flickering across the screen.

The Silence of the Lambs.

Teeth dug into her lip as Allison fought to keep from
laughing at Elena. The other woman was coiled back against the wall
next to her, body stiff and nearly rolled into a ball. Her lips
pursed in disgust as her eyes remained fixed on the television
screen.

The camera zoomed in on a man’s lips, painted with
bright red lipstick. Buffalo Bill’s deep voice echoed through the
speakers as he stared at his reflection, asking himself, “Would you
fuck me?”

The scene flashed back and forth between those red
lips and the man’s young female captive shouting from her massive
hole in the ground and desperately trying to capture his dog using
a chicken bone and a bucket.

“I’d fuck me,” that deep voice said again. “I’d fuck
me hard. I’d fuck me so hard.”

“This is positively
disturbing
,” Elena
whispered, and Allison just completely lost it. Elena smacked her
on the thigh.

“Ow!” Laughter still bubbled in her throat as she
rubbed the spot. “You don’t have to beat me up, woman!”

“And
you
didn’t have to laugh at me.”

Allison could see how she had loosened up quite a bit
since the start of the movie, relaxing into the cushion of pillows
behind them, their shoulders frequently rubbing together. “Aw, come
on. Your facial expression was pretty funny.”

“Yes, well, you are
supposed
to be watching
the movie, dear, not my face.”

“Couldn’t help it. You were just all balled up and
horrified.”

“Any respectable person would be horrified by the
particulars of this movie.”

“Yeah, I guess you’ve got a point there.” But the
shit-eating grin still hadn’t fallen from her lips. “Now you know
why I said what I said.”

“Sorry?” Elena asked. “To what are you
referring?”

“The thing about Vivian screening your dates. I mean,
look at the chick in this movie. She was just trying to do a good
deed, help a dude get his couch up into his van, and then, next
thing she knows, she’s in a damn hole with nothing but a chicken
bone and some lotion and being referred to as an ‘it’ instead of
‘she’. And they tell us that good deeds should be a priority. Psh!
That shit gets you skinned alive so some dude can tuck his junk and
dance around in your scalp.”

Laughter shook through Elena’s body. “This is the
most disturbing conversation I have ever had.”

Allison poked her in the ribs. “You just need to get
out more then.”

“I’m not sure I should if this is all I have to look
forward to. Now you’ve caused us to miss a good portion of the
movie. How am I to know what’s going on?”

“Uh, good excuse for me to torture you with this
movie again at a later date. Re-watches are a must with classics
anyway.”

“I see.” Elena’s gaze followed as Allison jumped off
the bed. “Where are you going?”

“Well, since we’ve already missed a big chunk of the
movie, I might as well take this opportunity to make a snack.”

“Oh, let me guess,” Elena said as Allison was digging
through the contents of a small shelf near the foot of her bed.
“Popcorn and candy?”

“Wow.” Hand pressing to her chest, Allison gasped as
she walked over to the microwave on Macy’s side of the room. “When
did you gain the power of foresight?”

“Some time ago. It’s quite a lovely power to have,
though I must tell you that it has also unfortunately predicted the
many cavities your favorite snack will eventually cause.”

“Ha ha. You’re funny, you know that? So, so
funny.”

“Sarcasm is not your strong suit.”

“Sure it isn’t.” Popping sounds began to echo from
the microwave, filling in the small silences between the voices
still spilling from the television.

Elena turned her mirth-filled eyes back toward the
movie. “Hush,” she said. “I’m trying to watch this movie.”

When Allison plopped back down onto the bed, she
shifted back until she was up against the wall and right next to
Elena again. She shook her bag of popcorn at her and Elena glanced
into the bag to see the little orange and brown candies floating
around between the puffy kernels.

“You may as well give up. I’m not going to try
it.”

“No way. I’ll never give up. I
will
convert
you eventually.”

Elena rolled her eyes. “It’s not a religion,
dear.”

“It so is, though.” Allison bumped her shoulder
against Elena’s again. “Popcorn and Reese’s—guaranteed to save your
soul.”

They fell into silence after that, both of them
getting sucked back into the movie as Allison munched happily.
Elena was horrified at more than a few parts of the movie, but when
Hannibal Lecter was transferred to a massive cell that looked more
like a birdcage, she suddenly shouted at the television. “That cell
is not even remotely safe! He can reach right through the
bars!”

“I know, right?”

“You watch. Someone is going to get killed. I
guarantee it. Idiots.”

Allison decided then and there that she really needed
to convince Elena to watch more horror movies, because her
reactions were wildly entertaining, from her disturbed facial
expressions to her random outbursts. It was far too amusing not to
repeat.

Hannibal managed to make his great escape, and
Allison bit her lip again to keep from laughing as she realized
that Elena’s face had gotten closer and closer to her throughout
the entire scene. The woman had practically ducked behind Allison’s
shoulder by the time Hannibal had donned another man’s face in
order to get out of the building undetected. By the end, Elena was
peeking over the top of Allison’s shoulder, and, when Hannibal
peeled the other man’s skin from his face, a shudder rippled down
her spine and shook through her body.

“Oh God, that is vile.” Elena’s words dissolved
against Allison’s neck in a puff of warm air.

“Uh-huh. And apparently scary. You gonna keep hiding
behind my shoulder there?”

She torqued her head to the side so that she could
look back at Elena, not realizing how close she was to her. Noses
bumped roughly and both women instantly jerked backward, hands
going up to their faces. They paused awkwardly for a moment as they
stared at each other and rubbed their noses. “Uh,” Allison mumbled.
Then they both tried to speak at the same time.