Veronica simply stared at me with surprise. I laughed quietly, savoring the win I had gotten in giving Veronica a taste of her own medicine with a little prank of my own. If there’s one thing you learn being the younger brother in a family, it's learning how to be a little shit at the most opportune moments. Being on both ends, I could honestly say nothing worked better than the silent treatment. You didn’t even have to be mad. The way Jess and I would freak each other out with it was nothing short of mind breaking. That was how we pranked each other.

My laughter soon died, however, as a very subtle shift in Veronica’s gaze made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Unfortunately, in my moment of trying to get back at Veronica, I had forgotten the other facet of the familial prank I had extended to Veronica. It was usually only funny until the other person realized what was going on. And the look that Veronica was giving me was not unlike what Jessie had given me afterwards. It was also the exact same look Jessie gave Veronica at the pier.

I didn’t even hesitate. I burst into a sprint, hoping I could get a head start on Veronica. No such luck. I should have figured, if she could outrun Jessie, she could outrun me. I suddenly found her jumping on my back, clenching herself around me with her iron vice grip in one arm while smacking me with her other hand. I had never heard Veronica force laughter out, but it was honestly the most terrifying sound I had ever heard in my life. Getting slapped around didn’t help matters, but I was very keenly aware I had crossed a line with her.

The smacks and shouts interspersed with my pleading apologies went on for a few minutes, drawing the attention of almost every pedestrian who walked by. Some stood and gawked at us, while others failed to pretend nothing was happening as they hurried past us. Eventually I collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. Veronica rolled off my back and onto hers, allowing me to breathe again. I moaned in exhaustion as I rolled onto my side.

“Call it a fair crop?” Veronica asked tiredly.

“Are you gonna keep smacking me around if I say no?” I said painfully.

“Do you really want to find out?”

I looked over at Veronica. She smiled tiredly at me. I let out a slow breath.

“No more surprises like that?” I asked tiredly.

“Same goes for you?” she responded.

I looked at her for a moment before nodding.

“Yeah… let’s call it.”

Veronica let out what almost sounded like a relieved sigh. She rolled onto her feet before grabbing me by arm and hoisting me up with ease. Veronica dusted me off before putting her hands on my shoulders.

“Free advice? Never play with a woman’s emotions. Especially mine.”

“Yeah… should have learned that lesson from Jess.”

“ESPECIALLY from Jessie.”

I looked at Veronica. She looked at me as if I was an idiot for thinking otherwise. It wasn’t long after before her expression grew into a smile. We suddenly both began to crack as quiet laughter escaped from both of us. Veronica leaned in and wrapped her arms around me. She held me tightly as she chuckled nervously.

“You scared me there for a tick.”

I froze for a moment. That was when a thought occurred to me. Between me and Jessie, it would make sense we could get away with doing that trick to each other. We might have pushed our luck now and then, but in the end, we were family. We still cared for each other, and I wanted to believe we always would until the day one of us passed on. But Veronica… who all did she have? For a moment, I probably made her feel alone again… like I was tossing her away for something as petty as a joke. I sighed quietly as I embraced her back.

“You don’t ever need to be, okay?” I responded quietly.

She chuckled lightly before giving me another tight squeeze and patting my back. She pulled herself back, her smile turning into a smirk as she looked over her shoulder.

“Y’know, we could still probably catch the third act,” she suggestively joked.

I laughed quietly as I shook my head. As I did, a thought entered my mind. I looked around, gauging where we were, before smiling back at Veronica.

“How about I pick the flick this time?” I asked.

Veronica crossed her arms, giving me a curious look as if trying to figure out a game I was playing with her.

“What movie?”

“Nothing like a little mystery, right?” I responded lightly. “Come on. I know a great place.”

“Oh, so when I make it mysterious, it’s wrong, yeah?” she replied with faux indignation.

I gave her a deadpan look. Veronica stared back before scoffing and nodding, motioning for me to lead the way. After getting my bearings, we took a bus towards midtown. The place in mind was one I was intimately familiar with. As we stepped off the bus, the theater stood just a few blocks away from the stop. In a weird way, it wasn’t much different visually from where Veronica took me. The exterior was modest and unassuming, standing out from the rest of the city not because of its grandiosity, but because it felt like a relic trying not to fade into obscurity.

Unlike the previous theater, there was a certain warmth here that stood tall, a feeling that I still remembered from years ago when Dad took me here. As busy as he was, he always made time once a week to bring me out and see something here. It didn’t matter if it was a school day, if he was sick, or if he had work. It was a ritualistic tradition… do or die. And we always did… until the latter part happened.

What we ended up procuring were two tickets to The Brain from Planet Auros. I’d never heard of it, but I could already tell I was in for a good time based on the absurdity of the title alone. We quickly found our seats in what was practically an empty auditorium, somehow even more so than the previous theater. It was strange how empty it felt, considering this wasn’t the first time I wasn’t one of the only ones here.

I looked around, taking in the environment. A quiet hum from the air conditioner was all I could make out. My gaze slowly switched to the chair beside me. For a moment, I saw my dad sitting there next to me. I remembered we always had the same seats: G8 and G9. Here I was, sitting in G8. The seat felt slightly off, an oddly comforting and familiar sensation.

“So how’d you find this place?”

I looked back towards Veronica. She stared at me curiously. Her gaze felt slightly more intense than it typically did. Typically there was a nonchalance about her that could put you at ease. If anything, it felt like she was on guard now. Not for her sake, though. I think she could tell that something wasn’t sitting right with me. My mouth floundered a bit as I tried to organize my thoughts. I could feel a slightly tightness in my throat as the memories of the auditorium came flooding back.

“My dad was a movie critic. He’d take me here as sort of our bonding time. I think he always wanted to make movies instead of just watching them, but… well, he never got to it.”

“Since you can’t make ‘em, tear ‘em apart instead?” Veronica asked.

“No,” I said, a smile cracking on my face. “It didn’t really matter if it was good or bad to him. Hell, to either of us. Just sitting in the theater, laughing, crying, sitting at the edge of our seats…”

I felt the tightness grow. I don’t think I ever saw him more excited about anything than being able to talk about a movie and the magic behind it. The ingenuity, the passion, or even the insanity at times. He genuinely believed that if something was terrible, there was something you could enjoy. Even if you enjoyed it “ironically,” it didn’t matter as long as you felt something. If it made you happy, it wasn’t really ironic anymore; it was just joy.

And every one of those movies brought so much joy to both of us… joy I hadn’t experienced in so long. It almost hurt more to think about what used to be than what things were like now. I could feel my lip twitch as I struggled to get another word out. My thoughts were interrupted as the room suddenly grew pitch black. The sound of film rolling behind us in a projector kicked up as the screen was illuminated. Veronica grinned as she patted my hand and looked towards me.

“Hold that thought,” she said quietly.

Almost right away, my brain was distracted by the celluloid pictures in front of me. The movie was pretty simple in its insanity. A scientist was possessed by some evil brain creature. His girlfriend was the only one who could try to stop him with the help of another brain creature… who possessed their dog. I don’t think either of us could process what we were watching. Veronica couldn’t help but burst into laughing fits, curling up with an elated smile on her face. She looked almost entranced by how terrible the movie was.

As the movie went on, even I couldn’t help but get sucked into the fun. The amount of times I started to mutter “Oh, my God,” under my breath before I couldn’t keep it quiet anymore. Veronica constantly jostled me, shaking me by the shoulder as she lost control of herself. I started to join in, burying my face into my hand as I tried to catch my breath at times. It really was awful: the acting was corny, the plot made no sense, and the production values were cheap. And I was so glad it was, because this movie wouldn’t have been the same if it was any other way.

As the movie went on, the feelings of nostalgia began to creep back into my mind. Being able to laugh with Veronica like I used to with my dad at these movies almost felt forgotten. Somehow it felt like I was right there with him again, listening to him geek out about movie trivia and factoids in real time. I couldn’t help but wonder what he would have said during this, or if he would been laughing right here with us.

The movie itself wasn’t particularly long, but the laughter felt like it stretched the sense of time out longer. By the time the credits rolled, I was crying for completely different reasons from what I expected. Then again, it’s not like I didn’t feel mixed emotions being inside what was practically my childhood hangout. Whatever the reason, though, it felt good to get it out.

“Okay, I will concede that you picked the better movie tonight,” Veronica said, trying to calm herself down.

I laughed as I looked away. As I looked back towards her, I suddenly found her leaning on my shoulder, her nose almost touching mine. Her grin widened.

“So… what next?” she asked me softly.

I stammered for a moment. Veronica chuckled quietly.

“I meant the movie.”

I froze. I could feel my face growing flush as I let out an embarrassed laugh.

“Uh… I mean, if you’re still down for another…”

I tried to rack my brain around the schedule. I remembered seeing it at the ticket booth, although the titles escaped for me for a moment.

“Uh… Some Like It Hot or The Man With the Golden Arm, I think?”

Veronica’s eyes widened, beaming with excitement. Generally when her eyes beamed like that, it was because she had some devious thought in mind. Yet somehow, her eyes actually sparkled. She started brushing my arm as if trying to hurry me out of the seat.

“I don’t care how good a laugh Norma Jean can give me, I’m getting my Rat Pack fix!”

I stared at her in surprise. A smile tugged at my mouth. I don’t think I had ever seen her so giddy in such an innocent way before. It was… adorable. She began to brush my arm again.

“Go, go, go, go, go! Tickets, mate, tickets!”

I jolted, so engrossed by her enthusiasm that I forgot I couldn’t just stay there for all eternity. I nodded before quickly making my way to and fro with new tickets. I didn’t expect to follow up an unintentional comedy with a shockingly good drama about drugs with Frank Sinatra of all people, but… that’s what I got. And as intrigued as I was, Veronica was absolutely fascinated. She leaned up against me, absolutely mesmerized by the screen in front of her. It was odd seeing her like that. Someone who was normally so vivacious and aware of everything was suddenly in a state of serenity… all because of a movie.

Veronica couldn’t take her eyes off the screen. Eventually I couldn’t focus on the movie. What started as small glances at Veronica soon took up all of my attention. The little moments of her eyes sparkling as the drama unfolded, the little smiles that curled on her lips as Sinatra got into his monologues, and even at moments of quiet mundanity all captivated her. I couldn’t help but wonder how many times I sat in the seat with the same look. The thought of it brought a smile to my face.

In one moment, she caught me looking at her. She stared for a moment before her smile widened and shifted her gaze back to the screen. Her arm suddenly wrapped around as she somehow leaned in closer to me. After a moment, I felt what I could only assume the serenity she was experiencing. I looked back to the screen, my smile somehow widening even more. For the rest of the movie, we stared in silence at the screen.

When the movie ended and the house lights rose, we sat there in silence, just taking in what we had seen. Veronica’s arm was still wrapped around mine, her hand holding onto my wrist. I think we were both lost in the thought of the moment. Even with all my social anxiety around her, I didn’t feel the nerves that typically floated around in my stomach. I just felt… good.

“Same time next week?” Veronica piped up.

I looked back at Veronica, who suddenly kicked up her feet onto the seat in front of her. She grinned playfully at me, awaiting my response. I simply smiled and nodded. Veronica’s grin widened as she simply nodded back. She closed her eyes and rested her head on my shoulder. I felt myself tense up for a moment. My hand twitched as my shoulders recoiled back into the seat. Veronica took in a deep breath before exhaling quietly.

I could feel my body gradually relax. I closed my eyes and let my head lean back for a moment. After I could feel my body growing looser, my head began to roll to the side, shifting and resting on Veronica’s head. I took in a deep breath and sighed quietly. It was funny. The thought of coming back here for the past couple of years sparked my anxiety like it was nobody’s business. I spent most of the time thinking about how I didn’t want to relive those memories that I couldn’t experience anymore.

Now I found myself wishing I couldn’t leave.