“What a coincidence that we’re all seeing the same movie at the same time!” Amanda chirps after we all get our tickets and snacks.

“Yeah, although I guess most people are going to see movies on the weekend,” Harper replies with a nod. “But I’m surprised. Amanda, you like horror?”

“Totally! I’m so glad Matt and I have that in common.”

“I’m not a huge fan of horror,” Matt says, causing all eyes to turn to him. Amanda’s cheeks start to tinge pink. “There just weren’t any others I haven’t seen already.”

“You’ve already seen everything?” Harper asks in disbelief while Amanda bows her head bashfully at Matt’s side. Seems she’s embarrassed. Now I’m starting to feel bad.

“I like movies,” Matt replies.

“That makes sense. You are an actor.” Harper laughs, the only one that doesn’t seem bothered by this whole situation. Wow, I wish I had that kind of strength...or obliviousness. Not sure which one it is yet.

“Wait, we’re supposed to take a picture!” Amanda shouts just before we enter the theater. Good thing too because, judging by our faces, none of us remembered. Amanda laughs. “Come on, let’s take one all together.”

Harper agrees and, well, Matt and I don’t seem to have a say in the matter. Suddenly Harper has his phone out. Amanda is squeezing up against Matt. Harper is pushing against me and, bam, my arm is pressed against Matt’s. I dare not look up, not even when I swear I feel his eyes pointed at me.

“Smile!” Harper orders.

I don’t think I can.

In the end, he takes a few shots with me anxiously awaiting stepping away. My arm feels way too warm.

“Ok, this looks good!” Harper shouts and finally gives me freedom. I take three quick steps back, which has Matt watching me with confused eyes that I choose to ignore.

“How about this one?” Harper asks, showing it to all of us.

“That’s cute!” Amanda says.

Matt has no comment so Harper looks to me, the one that is red in the face currently, and in that picture, but there’s no way I can take another.

“L-Looks good,” I tell him.

“Cool, I’ll text it to you guys after. Let’s head in.”

So the four of us make it into the theater to take our seats. Amanda finds a place in the middle and sits with Matt beside her. It isn’t until I’m standing next to his seat that I turn to ask Harper to switch, only he is already seated. He smiles up at me, this time definitely oblivious.

“Something wrong?” He asks.

Oh how I wish I could say yes and make an excuse to switch seats, unfortunately my brain is not capable of coming up with that kind of nonsense on the spot. With a nervous laugh, I shake my head and take a seat with my arms curled towards me in hopes to not even brush against Matt. Why? I don’t know. He has Celebrity-itus? I just don’t want to be here, ok! I was happy with being Harper’s partner, but now it’s ruined. I might as well have been with Matt!

Groaning, I throw my head back against the chair, earning a confused eyebrow raise from Matt. I offer him an apologetic smile that he simply looks away from. This is going to be one long and awkward movie.

Other viewers start piling in. The lights dim and the commercials start to play. Harper has the popcorn sitting in his lap so I attempt to scoot closer to him to keep a distance between Matt and myself. That should work, only Amanda is using the dark theater and horror movie as an excuse to be close to Matt, who is clearly not pleased with her plan.

“You’re leaning on me,” Matt says so bluntly that it has Harper choking and me staring in shock.

Wow, he has guts.

Amanda, once again, goes red from embarrassment when saying, “O-Oh, sorry, Matt.”

He nods and leans back into the seat. Then his gaze turns to me where I swing my head around real quick. Ok, no looking at Matt for the rest of the movie. I’m meant to be writing a review so pay attention!

Except that’s a bit hard to do when there are two noisy people with us. Well, one is only noisy because of the troubles the other causes, but—

“Aaahhh!” Amanda screams, throwing the entire bowl of popcorn out of her lap. It goes everywhere, including on Matt and the people in front of her. She gets some very annoyed glances while Harper and I pretend we don’t know them.

Matt narrows his eyes then says, “You said you were ok with horror.”

Amanda is shivering with fear in her seat. I can see dark bags forming under her eyes already. She’s practically in tears, too scared after a mere 30 minutes of the movie to even consider finishing. Then at every jump she grabs hold of Matt or buries her face in his arm. Harper and I keep looking over to see and, wow, Matt has never looked so out of place. I wouldn’t say he’s mad, more uncomfortable, pulling away and whispering, “Stop grabbing me,” or “Just leave.”

He has no mercy. I suppose I can’t blame him since it’s obvious Amanda chose a horror movie as an excuse to cuddle and now she’s facing the consequences. Still, when I look to Harper, even he has an apologetic frown. In the end, Amanda leaves about 15 minutes later claiming that she’ll wait in the food court. The moment she’s gone Matt clicks his tongue in annoyance and sits comfortably in place, arms crossed and brows furrowed. I pity him just a little bit. Just a little.

At least we can enjoy the rest of the movie, which honestly wasn’t too scary. It mostly had jump scares and that gets old after a while. So once it’s over the three of us get up to head out. Harper starts chuckling outside, throwing away our empty popcorn bag while asking, “Why’d you agree, Matt?”

“What?” Matt asks, digging through his front hoodie pocket to find popcorn. He rolls his eyes and tosses it in the trash.

“To a horror movie. You knew it was just an excuse.”

“For what?” Matt hums, blinking rapidly at the both of us with obvious confusion.

He’s joking, right?

Except the longer Harper and I stand here staring at him the more we realize, holy shit, he isn’t joking. Harper looks to me like he expects me to explain. I ain’t touching that with a ten foot pole though, so I shrug and pretend I don’t know either.

“You know what happens when you watch a horror movie, you’ve been in romance dramas!” Harper exclaims, the three of us now walking out of the theater. “Cuddling, she wanted an excuse to cuddle and be close with you.”

“That’s a stupid idea,” Matt says so bluntly that it has both Harper and I tripping over our own feet. Matt keeps walking as if he isn’t aware of the situation and I’m starting to think that to be true.

Was he that oblivious to Amanda’s plans? How?! She was so obvious about it that anyone within a ten mile radius could feel her intent!

But there isn’t time to discuss it further since Amanda is waiting for us. She’s been embarrassed enough today so I don’t bring it up. Neither does Harper.

Matt, however, is a force I never want to reckon with.

“Did you really choose a horror movie because you hoped to cuddle?” he asks without hesitation or remorse.

Harper’s jaw drops. I don’t even want to consider what kind of face I’m making. Amanda hasn’t just gone red in the face, I swear her entire body is giving off a blinding red while her lips start to quiver.

“You better hope they’ll explain the movie to you because I’m not.” Then Matt reaches into his hoodie pocket, pulls out headphones, and leaves without giving either of us a proper goodbye. And we’re all too shocked to do or say anything until he disappears around the corner towards the exit.

“Oh my god!” Amanda screams suddenly earning wide-eyed looks from Harper and myself. She throws her hands over her face then stomps childishly with very clear embarrassment. “Oh my god, oh my god!”

“Hey, Amanda, uh...I can tell you about the movie. You can look over my review?” Harper suggests, walking over awkwardly to peer at Amanda, but she refuses to take her hands from her face. Understandable. I’m embarrassed and I didn’t even do anything.

“Stupid. How embarrassing! I...can we talk later?” Amanda asks, finally dropping her hands to show utter defeat on her face. Harper nods. She gives the both of us a sad smile then walks away, head down and arms crossed over her chest.

“Not to sound like a jerk, but...she shouldn’t have tried to do that so—” Harper bites his lip, looking at me to see if I agree, which I do.

“Yeah. Still, Matt was brutal.”

“I’m not surprised. Probably best if he is.”

Following Harper to one of the tables in the food court, I ask, “What do you mean?”

“Well, he’s a celebrity that’s walking around on campus. Most of the people that talk to him probably want something. Maybe not money, but just 15 minutes of fame or an introduction to someone else. Matt has connections, to more than just actors too, so he has to be on his toes probably.”

That’s true. Matt must be used to people approaching him with ulterior motives. Even if he doesn’t always know what they are, it’s likely he assumes it’s there first and has to wait to find out the truth. Must be rough. I certainly couldn’t imagine a life like that. It’s hard enough being your average joe.

“Crap!” Harper suddenly shouts making me jump. He looks at me with a frown. “I forgot to get Matt’s number so I could send him the picture.”

I keep the fact that I have Matt's number to myself. I shouldn't be handing it out without his permission anyway. “Ah, well, Amanda can show it. I mean, we’re all in it so as long as one of us has it.”

“True, but I thought he might like to have—” Harper snorts. “Maybe not though, after what happened.”

I chuckle along with him then the topic of our unpleasant guests during the movie are dropped in order to discuss said movie over some food. Harper and I manage to come up with some good info to talk about in a review then go our separate ways later that evening. It definitely won’t take long to write a short paper. I’m grateful to Professor Tarue for making it so simple and, well, I think it worked. Harper seems like a nice guy so if I see him around on campus again I won’t feel all that weird about saying hello. Amanda though...I don’t really want to speak with her again. Just going to bring up bad memories.

Speaking of bad memories, after I return to the dorms I receive a text, yet another surprising one that has me feeling somewhere between awkward and amused.

Matt: Sorry about today.

Me: What for?

Matt: Disrupting the movie.

Well, that definitely wasn’t Matt’s fault. He was forced to see a movie with someone that had ulterior motives. Out of all of us, he was probably the most uncomfortable.

Ah, that is true. I bite my lip. Should I ask?

I glance over to Tori’s side of the room. He isn’t even here. He’s spending time with Chelsea again. It’s easy to guess what they’re doing. Pretty sure they’re just friends with benefits. I’m not even sure if that’ll change, but the point is, even when he isn’t here I feel him being nosy.

Shaking my head, I work up the courage to ask.

Me: That wasn’t your fault. Are you ok, though?

Matt: ???

I snicker. Wow, even in text he can find ways to not talk. Impressive.

Me: Amanda was just grabbing you without permission. Did it bother you? You ok?

I wait patiently, staring at the phone hovering above my face. Except Matt doesn't respond immediately like he has been. My fingers start sweating. Did I go too far? Maybe I shouldn’t have asked. It’s none of my business and, if he was bothered, he probably didn’t want it—my phone goes off. I quickly open the message.

Matt: Fine. I’m used to it.

That doesn’t make me feel better. Even if it makes sense. We’ve all seen scenes of celebrities walking through large crowds where they’re grabbed or touched without their consent. Then Matt is coming to school where people are constantly trying to befriend him. It’s why he has to have a bodyguard, to avoid incidents like that, so why didn’t he bring one today?

Wait, that’s not my business! He probably doesn’t want to be followed all the time, wants to do something normal. I don’t know but it’s not my business and we’ve been texting for too long anyways so, with a firm nod, I reply.

Me: That’s good.

The moment I hit send I regret it. Fuck, wait, that doesn’t sound right!

Me: I mean, that you’re ok! Not the being used to being groped part

Me: Wait, not groped either, just touched

Me: That doesn’t sound better. I’m sorry.

I drop my phone on my chest, staring at the ceiling that I wish would reach down to swallow me whole. Please, I’m an embarrassment to myself and the world. What the hell am I saying? Why did we talk for this long? Idiot. I’m a complete idiot.

Ding!

Damn. I’m too scared to look.

But, with a deep breath, I do and I’m even more surprised at the simple response. (Yet somehow it makes my heart skip a beat.)

Matt: lol

“Lol” should not make my heart skip. “Lol” is used to end a conversation or add to one that you aren’t necessarily invested in. No one actually “laughs out loud” when they send that. Ok, yeah, this needs to end.

Me: Good luck on your review.

Matt: You too.

Setting my phone aside, I sit up with every intention to start the review. Except my cheeks are extraordinarily warm and, to make matters worse, the door swings open to show Tori with a shit eating grin and a very obvious hickey on his neck. However, it isn’t his hickey that gets any attention.

“Hey, are you sick? Your face is super red.”

“Ah, maybe,” I cough. “M-My head kind of hurts.”

But my head knows that to be a lie and my heart knows that I’m spewing some bullshit.