Chapter 3

Part 1

After much debate, Xela and I have both agreed on setting them up on a movie date. Well, it’s not really a date yet, but more like a group of 4 friends going to the movie theatre together, but 2 of the friends (Xela and I) ditching halfway so the other 2 (Will and Rebekah) could have some ‘alone time.’

We already finished all the planning including getting the tickets for the four of us, setting up the time and date, and making the seating arrangement. The ‘hangout session’ will be tonight starting from 7:30 and the seating arrangement looks something like this:

Johnny - Will - Rebekah - Xela.

Now that all that’s done, all that’s left is the hard part: getting Will to come.

After the final school bell rang, I quickly rushed over to where Will was standing and put my hand on his shoulder while smiling.

“What is it?” he asked rudely.

“You’re coming with me to the theatre tonight.”

“Why?”

“As a sort of friend gathering y’know?”

“Friend gathering? Which other friends could you possibly convince to sit in a theatre for two hours and watch a movie with you?”

“Xela and…. Oh Yeah! Rebekah!” I told him with a smirk on my face.

“Of course,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Is this your way of trying to hook me up with her? If it is, I don’t need you to go out of your way and mess things up for me.”

“Not everything’s always about you. I haven’t seen Rebekah since middle school, and we want to catch up and stuff. She told me to bring a friend along, which happens to be you, and she’ll bring a friend along too, who is Xela.”

“I barely know either of them,” he argued.

“Well then, think of this as your chance to get to know them better. I’m sure you’re all going to get along just fine by the time the movie ends.”

“I’m broke and don’t enough money for a ticket.”

“That is why, my friend, I bought a ticket for you as well,” I said with a smile and pulling 2 tickets out of my pocket and handing one to him.

“Fuck you.”

“Great! I’ll see you at 7 then!” I said as I began to walk away.

I felt my phone vibrate just as I was walking away, and saw a text message from Will that read:

Will: I really fucking hate you!

“LOVE YOU TOO!” I yelled out to him right before I headed out of the exit.

Part 2

Just as I was about to lie down on my bed to take a short nap, I remembered that I had to give Xela a ride too. I hurried to my 2003 Toyota Corolla and began to drive to her house.

I’ll explain why I need to pick her up. Will, Rebekah and I both live on the west side of town, where the movie theatre is. On the east side, there’s Xela’s house and Filip’s Cafe. In the middle of the town, there’s the school.

Since the movie theatre is on the west side, that means Xela would have to walk a whole hour to the theatre and another hour back, or wait for fifty minutes at the bus stop because we live in a town which is located in the middle of fucking nowhere and the transport system is as dead as the local cemetery. The point is, if Xela were to get here herself, we would have to wait for at least an extra hour, and nobody wants to do that. I also happen to be the only one out of the four of us who can turn a steering wheel, meaning I would have to be the one to pick her up and drop her off.

After around 20 minutes of driving through the whole city, I finally reached Xela’s house. She looked at my 2003 Toyota Corolla in disgust.

“How are you not dead yet?’ she asked me.

“I don’t drive often. Besides, it’s not as bad as it looks, trust me.”

“I don’t know how you expect me to trust you when you drive that thing and say it’s safe.”

“We’re only driving for like 25 minutes to the movie theatre, not a cross-country road trip. Chill.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it broke down thrice on our 25 minute trip to the theatre.”

“I’ll have you know that it didn’t break down even once on my way here.”

“Is that supposed to be something to be proud of?” she remarked.

“Just get in,” I told her.

“Yeah, yeah.”

She hopped in the passenger seat and checked the time on her phone.

“Great! Right on time,” she exclaimed. “If we’re lucky, we’ll get there a bit early.”

“What’s the rush? What are we even gonna do there once we arrive early?”

“Wait.”

“Waiting’s boring though,” I complained.

“You’re boring.”

“Can’t argue with that one,” I admitted.

For a little while after that, we stayed silent while I was concentrating on the road and she was checking something on her phone. Finally, after a couple of minutes, I decided to break the silence.

“You look great by the way,” I said.

“What the fuck do you mean? I didn’t even change from what I wore in school.”

“That’s the joke,” I said while laughing like a dumbass.

“I’ve never met anyone with a sadder sense of humour than you.”

“Wood?”

“His jokes are just bad. Your jokes are…. Depressing.”

“Whatever.”

“Can you drive faster, please. I feel like I’m riding a Ferris wheel,” she complained.

“Is it a romantic ride at least?”

“Why the hell does that matter?”

“It doesn’t. I just wanted to know whether you were imagining a romantic ride on the ferris wheel with your crush or just a boring one by yourself.”

“Can you shut the fuck up and drive faster please.”

“Road safety is first! Do you know how many people die each year from accidents related to driving?”

“We’re in Fairbanks! The most cars you’ll ever see on the same road at this time is like 20,”

“You never know when one of those 20 cars crash into yours due to careless driving.”

“Dude, you’re driving at fucking 30 miles per hour when the limit’s 80. Which idiot passed you on your driving test?”

“His name’s Popal, and he passed me because I’m driving cautiously and safely on the road, obeying all road rules and being a good member on the road.”

Right as Xela was about to say something, she was cut off by the ringing of my phone.

“Hey, can you get that for me Xela?” I asked.

“Since you said my name correctly, I will Johnny.”

“Thank you.”

She took my phone out of my front pocket and answered the call. I quickly turned it to speaker mode. I look to glance at my phone quickly and see that it’s Scott, one of my good friends from middle school.

“Hey, my man Johnny! How’s it going?!” he said enthusiastically. “Can you do me a little favour please?”

“I’m actually headed somewhere right now. I might be able to help you when I get back home. What do you need?”

“It won’t take long. I need to drop something off at the post office really quick and as you know, I live on the opposite side of town. Nobody else in this damn city seems to have a car, so I was wondering if you could maybe pretty please give me a ride there???”

“Sorry, I’m kinda in a rush to get somewhere right now. I might be able to drive you afterward,” I respond.

“I’ll give you 20 bucks cash,” he bribed me just as I was about to hang up.

“Deal. I’m coming over right now.” I said as I started to make a U-Turn and make my way to Scott’s house.

“What do you think you're doing??” Xela began to spoke. “We've got a movie to get to!.”

“Woah! Is that Xela I hear?” Scott said while giving an excited laugh. “Was I interrupting something? When you said you were headed somewhere, were you perhaps referring to your movie date?”

“NO!” Xela and I both screamed at the same time.

“It’s more like a friend gathering,” I explained to Scott.

“Well, if you say so. Just come quick! I gotta send this package out today.”

“Okay, okay! I’m on my way right now,” I told Scott.

“Why the fuck would you accept that shitty offer? We’ll be like 20 minutes late. The post office is all the way on the other side of town!” Xela exclaimed angrily.

“How is 20 dollars for driving a friend to the post office a shitty offer?? Besides, they won’t care if we’re only 20 minutes late. Trust me,”I assured her.

“At the rate you’re driving right now, 20 minutes may turn into a few hours late.”

“I told you, safety first!”

“This is dangerously slow.”

“I’m done with your driving insults for today. It is important to make the road safe at all times, not only for us but for all the others who we are sharing this road with.”

“There is not a single car on the road right now besides us.”

“You never know when someone will turn at any intersection.”

“From what I’ve seen today so far, we’ll be the only ones driving this road for the whole night.”

I completely forgot we were still in a call with Scott until he decided to speak up. “You guys make a pretty cute couple. Are you sure you two aren’t dating yet?” he said.

“What about this is cute?” Xela asked

“I don’t know, you often see normal couples argue about stuff like how one’s getting too close with another guy or girl, but you seeing you guys argue about something as stupid as road safety is really cute.”

“Isn’t our arguing just proof of how annoying we find each other?” I asked Scott.

“Well, yeah, that’s the point. You guys are supposed to find each other annoying at first. It’s like the beginning developments of a tsundere RomCom.”

“What the fuck are you saying?” Xela and I both screamed out in coordination.

“Hahah, ignore me. I’m just thinking out loud.”

After another 5 or so minutes of arguing with Xela and Scott, we finally arrived at Scott’s place. He hopped in the car and I began driving again shortly after.

Part 3

“We’re going to be late and it’s all your fault. We’re going to be late and it’s all your fault.” Xela kept repeating as I continued to drive.

Scott was quietly sitting in the backseat minding his own business and looking out the window.

“So what if we’re late?” I asked. “What’s the big deal anyway?”

“What’s the big deal? Do you know what this means Johnny? Rebekah and Will are probably at the theatre by now standing around and doing awkward things and praying we come soon,” Xela responded.

“Isn’t this what we wanted anyway? They can get some alone time now and properly get to know each other.”

“God dammit Johnny! How many fucking times have we gone over this? We need to be there with them at first so they can get comfortable, as their two friends are there. Later on, when they are comfortable enough and feel they don’t need us anymore, then we make our exit and let them do whatever they want. If we don’t show up, they won’t get past the first stage,” she explains.

“Don’t worry. 20 minutes isn’t too big of a deal.”

Right after I said that my phone began to ring again.

“What now?” Xela asked, clearly annoyed.

“May you get that for me please?” I asked politely.

She takes the phone out of my pocket and picks up the call again and put it to speaker mode. I quickly glanced at my phone to see who it is. It was from Wilson, one of my teammates from the hockey team, and another good friend of mine.

“JOHNNY! I NEED YOU TO GIVE ME A RIDE RIGHT NOW!” Wilson screams into his phone.

“STOP SCREAMING!” I yell at him back.

“Sorry, it’s urgent! My dad got drunk at his book club and is now trying to fight people as we speak. I need you to drive me over there so I can take him back home,” Wilson told us.

All three of us in the car started dying in laughter after we heard that. Book club? Really??

“Ah, I really wish I could, but I’ve also got somewhere to go and it’s kinda urgent,” I responded while trying to hold in my laughter.

“What could be more important than this right now?”

“Going to see a movie at the theatre.”

“This is a life or death situation. If you don’t help me out here, my father’s reputation around the city could be ruined,” Wilson said seriously.

I look to my side and see Xela nod her head sideways, implying that she doesn’t want me to help him out. I take a look at the time on my phone and see that it’s already 7:40 and 10 minutes into the movie.

“Look, I really gotta get to this movie right now and I’m already late. Ask someone else to drive you there.”

“There’s nobody in this goddamn city with a car. WAIT A MINUTE! Remember when we went to Canada for that hockey tournament, you told me I could ask you for ANYTHING one day if I-”

“Where are you right now?” I cut him off as I remembered exactly what deal he was talking about.

“I’m at the pharmacy right now.”

“I’ll be there.”

As I hang up the call, I make yet another U-Turn and Xela starts hitting my arm while yelling at me.

“Why did you do that?” she asked unpleased. “You do realize how late we already are right?”

“Hey, his dad is drunk and needs our help. For all we know, he could be vomiting on everyone if we don’t help Wilson out.”

“Whatever,” she said while rolling her eyes. “How far away are we from the pharmacy?”

“We only passed by it around 10 minutes ago.” Scott said from the backseat.

Part 4

The time struck 8:30 and what originally was a short drive to the theatre had become a 4 person carpool. My phone was filled with text messages from Will calling me an asshole and asking where I was.

We were nearly at the location of Wilson’s dad’s book club, which was the complete opposite direction of the movie theatre. Somehow I ended up further from my original destination than I was at from the beginning.

The car’s conversation constantly consisted of Xela scolding me about how big of an idiot I am, me ignoring her, Wilson freaking about his drunk dad, and Scott sitting quietly while occasionally making a few comments about our “RomCom character development.”

A few minutes later, my phone started ringing once again.

“Who could it be this time?” asked Xela who was clearly annoyed.

“Pick it up for me, would you?” I clearly had no more energy to be polite.

“As much as I love the carpool, I am getting to the post office today, right?” Scott asked jokingly.

“Shut the fuck up Scott.” we all said at the same time.

Once again, Xela took out the phone out of my pocket, answered the call, and put it on speaker mode. This time it was from our teacher, Wood.

“What the fuck do you want Wood?” Xela and I both yelled at him.

“That’s not a very nice way to greet your teacher.” Wood commented. “Anyway, Johnny, I heard you have a car. I forgot to buy cereal from the grocery store and it’s too late to walk out now. I need you to drive me to the grocery store. I’ll send you an address, come pick me up there.”

Wood hung up and a few seconds later sent me an address of his house. I looked at Xela for a moment and I think we both knew better than to disobey a teacher.

“You better drop me off first before you take that guy grocery shopping. My dad is drunk!” Wilson added.

“WE GET IT!” we all screamed at him.

Part 5

By the time we had finished dropping everyone off, it was already 10:30 and the movie was nearly over.

What a night! After we dropped Wilson off to take care of his drunk dad, we quickly went to the address Wood sent us which also conveniently happened to be on the East side of town and dropped him off there to do his cereal shopping. We told him to walk the way back to his house,as we were then in a hurry to drive Scott to West side of the town to go the Postal Office. He was being stubborn and saying how it’s ‘scary walking back home at night’, but reluctantly listened to our decision after much convincing and arguing.

After dropping of Wood, we drove for another 30 minutes until we reached the West side of the town and the Postal Office where we dropped off Scott and also told him to find another way back home, as I was not prepared to drive another 30 minutes back to his house. Luckily, the bus that shows up every hour or so happened to be there at exactly the right time, and he took that to get home.

That left just Xela and I remaining in the car. Needless to say, I was way too tired after all that shit and didn't know how much longer I could go. If I passed out at the wheel that would not be good.

“Guess it’s too late to head to the theatre now, eh?’ I commented.

“Just a little.” she retorted sarcastically.

I still had to drive Xela all the way back home, and we were just about to drive past my neighbourhood when an idea popped in my head.

“Since we’re pretty much already here and I’m way too tired to drive back to your place, can you please just stay the night at my house?”

“What? No. Why can’t you just stay awake for another hour and drive to my house and back?”

“Yes, because I can just tell my body to stay awake whenever I want it to. If you really wanna die in a car crash today, we can try your idea.”

“What about your family? What will they say about you having a girl over for the night?” she asked.

“Have the whole house to myself for another week.”

“What if you try to do anything weird to me?”

“Grab your phone as quick as possible and call 9-1-1.”

“What if I can’t grab my phone because you hid it before or something?”

“Use the home phone.”

“What if you purposely made it so the home phones aren’t working before I came in.”

“I don’t know. Jump out the window or find another escape route somewhere else. Are you done yet?”

“I don’t have any other choice, do I?” she asked, already knowing her answer.

“Nope,”

“Okay, fine. Just for tonight, and I’m just sleeping over so don’t get any other ideas okay?”

“I just wanna go to sleep right now.”

I pulled into the driveway of my house and walked in through the main door. We both rushed to the sofa and lied down in exhaustion.

“Hey, I got a good idea! ”Since we missed that movie in the theatre, how about we watch a movie right here and now.” I suggested.

“Okay, not a bad idea. You got Netflix?”

“We canceled the subscription,” I said as I began to look through the DVD section of my cabinet.

“I’ve got Finding Nemo, Cars, and No Strings Attached in DVD.”

“Why the fuck do you have two kids movies and out of nowhere No Strings Attached?

“The kids movies were for my little sister when she was younger and No Strings Attached was on sale at the thrift store.”

“Let’s watch that then,” she demanded.

“If you say so”

I took the disc out of the box and slid it into the DVD player while Xela was popping the microwaved popcorn for us. Once we were both done what we were doing, we sat back down on the couch again on opposite sides of the sofa and let the movie play.

“Today was not what I expected,” Xela said, grabbing some of the popcorn out of the bowl.

“Tell me about it. I’ve never been this tired at 11 P.M in my life. All you people drove me crazy in the car.”

“That’s your fault for accepting other people’s errands, you big idiot,” she said with little energy as she was getting sleepy too.

“I’m sorry for being a nice person.” I said jokingly. “By the way, what are we going to do about Will and Rebekah?”

“We’ll figure that out tomorrow.”

“Yeah, tomorrow sounds like a good idea.”

For the rest of the night, we were both silent and just watched the movie until we both eventually passed out and fell asleep.