All I've Never Wanted(65)

I hate horror movies!

The others erupted into laughter at my fright. Well, at least some people found this funny.

I would’ve lifted my head to glare at them, except I was too scared to even risk the chance of seeing whatever it was on the screen.

For the past sixty minutes, I’d been “watching” the movie with my hands over my eyes, which meant I could only see the lower left corner of the screen. Nevertheless, the sounds alone were enough to send shivers down my spine, and not the good ones either.

“Uh…Maya?”

“Yes?” I whimpered.

“You’re cutting off my circulation.”

I peeked out from behind Carlo’s shoulder and looked down at his arm, which did look a bit whiter in the area where I gripped him.

“Oh, sorry,” I mumbled, embarrassed. I let go, leaving behind a clear set of nail indentations on his forearm.

“It’s all right, I’ve gotten used to it already,” Carlo said wryly.

“Are you trying to make a move on my girl?” Parker joked, clasping his hands behind his head.

“More like your girl’s trying to make a move on me.”

Parker gave me a faux offended look. “Maya. I never thought you would do such a thing.”

I scowled as everyone laughed at me. Again.

“Aw, My-My, it’s ok, it’s just a movie!” Zack exclaimed. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“I’m not afraid, I’m paranoid,” I grumbled.

“You guys, stop making fun of her,” Adriana scolded, even though she was smiling.

As the others continued to rib on me, though, a light bulb suddenly came on in my head, and I forgot about the movie as I realized something.

Roman had said Adriana’s birthday was a week after homecoming, but it wasn’t just her birthday. It was Zack’s birthday too! Which meant I had to get two presents. Unfortunately, my money supply was dwindling fast, and besides, I had no idea what to get them. I mean, what do you get two people who already had everything?


I needed help.

“Um…I’m going to get more popcorn,” I announced, standing up and grabbing the empty bowl. I made sure to avert my eyes from the screen. “Carlo, can you come with me?”

“Scared to go alone?” he teased, but he followed me nevertheless.

“Don’t hit on my girlfriend!” Parker yelled after us.

“I think you should worry about it being the other way around,” Carlo replied.

I smacked him lightly on the arm. “Don’t encourage him!”

Carlo just laughed.

I smiled. “It’s nice to see you laughing again.”

He glanced at me in surprise. “What do you mean?”

I shrugged, our footsteps echoing in the vast marble corridor.

“You’ve been kind of…down all night.”

A flicker of emotion crossed his face before Carlo looked away. “It’s nothing. I’m just tired.”

“From planning Adriana’s gift?” I guessed.

He paused. “Yeah.”

“I actually wanted to talk to you about that.” I pushed open the doors that led to the kitchen. “Are you guys planning a big gift for Zack too?”

Carlo laughed a bit as I filled up the bowl at the popcorn machine. Yes, they had a freakin’ popcorn machine in the kitchen.

“No, he likes getting a lot of different gifts. Makes him feel special.”

I smirked. That sounded like Zack, all right. “I kind of need some help, then. I’m not sure what to get Adri and Zack for their birthday.”

I set the bowl on the counter and grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge. Popcorn was delicious but seriously dehydrating. I tossed the second bottle to Carlo, who easily caught it.

“Thanks.” He fiddled with the cap. “You don’t have to get them anything. You can actually join in with us on Adri’s present.”

“What? Of course I do!” I exclaimed. “They’ve done so much for me, especially Adri…”

“She doesn’t really like to make a big deal out of her birthday,” Carlo explained. “Honestly, the presents are more formalities and tradition than anything else.”

“Well, it’s a tradition I want to participate in,” I insisted. “And ok, Adri is taken care of, but what about Zack? You know himbetter than I do. We can go sometime this week.”

“You’re quite the persistent little thing,” Carlo teased.

“Does that mean you’ll help me?” I asked hopefully, giving him my best puppy-dog face.

He laughed, ruffling my hair. “Who can resist that face? Are you free after school Thursday?”

I nodded, beaming.

“Good. It’s a date then.”

* * *

I’m happy to say I managed to drag out our little popcorn-filling mission long enough that the movie was almost done by the time we got back to the screening room, though I supposed the time we took made it a bit suspicious, because when we settled into our seats again, I saw Roman flashing us annoyed looks.

“What took you guys so long?” he demanded.

“We…uh, accidentally spilled the popcorn all over the floor,” I lied, nudging Carlo sharply in the side when he snorted at my very lame and blatant lie.