FicWad

Disclaimer: It's still FICTION.

c h a p t e r TWO
{ you are a getaway car, a rush of blood to the head

*
Patrick's POV

I pulled into the theater parking lot, hopped out of the driver's seat and opened the door for Emi.

"You're quite the gentleman."
"I aim to please."
"It's no wonder that my mom loves you."
"Don't you?"
"What kind of question is that? I love you thiiis much," Emi said, holding her arms out really wide.

We made our way to the ticket counter.
"Two for 'Pulse,' " I said.
"That'll be $14.04."
I paid for our tickets then we headed inside.

As the previews rolled we tried to guess the titles of the movies like we always did.

The "feature presentation" began and I held her hand in mine. That's how it's always been. I'm not really a fan of scary movies, but Emi "loveloveloves" them. So instead of Emi clutching my arm when murderers pop onto the screen, it's the other way around. Luckily she doesn't mind. She just puts her head on my shoulder and laughs when blood and guts spew out. Sometimes I worry about her...

After the movie, Emi was raving about how awesome it was. "The clothes falling out of the washer was creepy enough, but then BAM! That thing popped out!" she said with a smile on her face. I, however, was a little paranoid. Emi noticed and put her arms around my waist.

"Oh, Trick, don't worry. I'll protect you from the monsters at the dry cleaner's."
"Thanks, Emi...Hungry?"
"Let's go to Starbucks. Jess's treat."
"Okay, let's go."

We got in the car and Emi sang along to Sugarcult. After about 10 minutes of driving, we arrived at Starbucks. Luckily the place wasn't very crowded.

"Hey Jess," I said.
"Hey, Patrick. What can I get for you and my sister this evening?" the dark-haired guy behind the counter asked.

"The usual," we said in unison.
"You two never change... and lemme guess, it's on me, right?"
"Well, you are my big brother in college, Jess," Emi said.
"I could pay for it," I said. After all. Emi and I must have had at least $100 in free coffee since summer started.
"Nah, it's okay, I've got it," Jess said. "Em, why can't you date nice guys like Trick instead of creeps like Trevor? He came around asking about you again."
"I can manage my own social life, Jess. I broke up with him last week."
"Well that's not stopping him from hanging around here and snooping around," Jess said. Emi sighed.

After about a minute or so, our order was finished: caramel frappuccino and blueberry muffin for her, vanilla frappuccino and apple pastry thing for me.

"Thanks."
"Thank you."

We both grabbed our stuff and Emi headed toward an empty table. I was about to follow her when Jess grabbed my arm. "Trick, please watch out for her, okay?"
I nodded and brought my order over to the table.

"What was that little chat about?" she asked.
"Nothing really. Jess just told me to watch out for Trevor."
"I see. Well, today was fun. Thanks for saving me from the boredom."
"It was no problem. You saved me from hanging out with my weird cousins."
"Hey, I'm weird, but you hang out with me."
"They're...bad weird. You're good weird."
"Ahh, I see. Wait, what's today?"
"Thursday."
"No, I mean the date."
"Um. It's July 20th, why?"
"Never mind. It's still 2 months away..."
"What is?"
"It's nothing."

We finished up our drinks and headed back to my car.
"Where to now?" I asked.
"I would say your house, but you have your cousins over. How about my house?"
"Okay."

I pulled out of the parking lot while Emi turned on the radio and started singing along. We arrived at her house about 20 minutes later.

"Mom, I'm home!" She yelled when we stepped inside.
"You two have fun?"
"Yeah, we did Ms. Ikuhara."
"That's good. Well I've got to get to work. Patrick, you're welcome to stay here and keep Emi company, just remember call your mom. Emi, don't forget to tuck Ben into bed."
" 'Kay mom. Love you."
"Love you, too."
With a smile and a kiss on Emi's cheek, her mom was out the door. I called my mom, then sat on the couch.

"Whaddaya wanna do now?" she asked.
"Up for another movie?"
"Ooh. Sounds good. I already got my horror fix, so you can choose what we watch."

I walked over to the video cabinet thing and picked out Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I put it into the VCR.
"Good choice, Trick."
"Mhmm," I said as I plopped onto the couch.

We were on the part where Ferris, Sloan, and Cameron were at the museum when I noticed that Emi was asleep. I carefully got off the couch and went upstairs to tuck in her brother.
"Ben?"
"Hey, Trick!" he said, playing with some cars. "Whatcha doin' here?"
"I'm supposed to tuck you in."
"Oh, okay." He put away his toys and got into bed. I pulled the covers over him.
"Will you think about it?" he asked.
"Think about what?"
"Marrying Emi. I like you a lot more than that other boy, Traybor."
"Trevor?"
"Yeah."
"You love watching Arthur, right?"
"Yes."
"Well, I love Emi, but it's like how you love Arthur. You wouldn't marry him, would you?"
"No."
"Here's a deal. I'm not going to marry her, but I'll help her find someone to marry. Sound good?"
"Yeah, thanks. Good night, Trick."
"Night, Ben."

I turned out the light and closed the door. Walking back downstairs I bumped into Emi.
"I thought you were asleep."
"I was, then I woke up and you weren't there. Then I remembered I was supposed to tuck Ben in, but I see that you already did that."
"Yep."

We finished the rest of the movie, then popped in Pirates of the Caribbean. By the time that was over, it was almost 11.
"Crap, I've got to get home," I said getting up.
"Aw, okay..." she said with a yawn and a stretch. Then she got up and we walked to the door.
"Thanks for keeping me company, Trick."
"No problem, you know I love hanging out with you." She pulled me into a hug, then kissed my cheek.
"Night."
"Night, Emi."

I got into my car and pulled out of the driveway.