Page 82 of The Sun
“Don’t tell me that. I like to think everything ends with a good song and everyone’s life going just the way they planned.” She sulked for a minute, obviously more devastated about my “breakup” than I was. “So now that you’re seeing the forbidden one, how are you gonna manage that?”
“I figured a preacher’s daughter with a penchant for romance novels would be just the person to help me figure that out.”
A wicked grin flashed over her face. “And you are in luck. Being sneaky is my area of expertise.”
25
Elias
The inside of the dollar movie theatre smelled a little like the guy’s locker room—sweaty and mildewed. The good thing was, after a while, I got used to it.
I sat on the top row with a tub of popcorn and two sodas. Cherry for Sunny because that used to be her favorite. The entire auditorium was empty except for a couple at the bottom, already lip-locked by the time the previews started. I bounced my leg and crammed a handful of popcorn in my mouth before checking my watch.Seven ten.
Part of me worried Sunny might not show. That somehow her parents had found out about her plan to have Daisy drop her off. Everyone in Fort Morgan knew Mr. Lower, and most of the women here were in a tight-knit, gossip circle. All it would take was one person to see us together, and we’d be screwed. So having Daisy drop Sunny off to meet me at the deserted dollar movies was about as risky of a date as we could take. I hated that we had to sneak around. All it did was remind me that the world didn’t want us together, and that was a shitty feeling.
The loud ring of gunfire boomed through the speakers followed by the high-pitched squeal of tires peeling rounding a corner. There was a flash of Tommy Lee Jones and some actress I didn’t recognize, and then Sunny came jogging up the stairs. Damn, I smiled.
“Hey.”
Before she’d managed to sit all the way down, I had my hand at the back of her neck and my lips to hers. I could have kissed her for hours, hard and long, but I wanted so much from Sunny, and we only had a limited amount of time. “Hey,” I said, then pulled away to offer her the bucket of popcorn.
She grabbed a handful and settled back in the seat, placing her feet on the back of the chair in front of us. It was so easy between us like we were picking up right where we had left off.
I shoved some of the stale snack into my mouth. “Where do your parents think you are?”
“The Haunted Hayride thing with Ben and Daisy. Which, I would never pay someone to scare me like that. One chainsaw and I’m done for.” She tasted her drink. “Cherry Coke?” Then smiled with her eyes as she took another sip. “You remembered?”
“I’ve never forgotten a single thing about you.” I hadn’t. I couldn’t. You don’t forget things about people you love.
“Green,” she blurted, the loud theatrical music in the background almost drowning out her soft voice.
I tilted my head. “What?”
“Your favorite color is green. You only eat PB and Js if the crust is cut off, and your favorite song—at least when you were eight—was ‘Look Away’.”
“God, I haven’t heard that song in forever.”
“I listened to it all the time when I’d read over your letters.”
I couldn’t decide if the tight feeling in my stomach was pride or guilt over that comment, but I was leaning toward a little of both. I watched her take another helping of popcorn. I noticed the way she shook her leg a little, and while I remembered that Sunny liked Cherry Coke, I wanted to know the things she’d come to like since me. “So what kinda music do you listen to now?” I asked.
Narrowing her gaze in thought, she tapped a finger on her chin.
“And if you say that group that sings the theme song toDawson’s Creek, I’m gonna to judge you.”
Her mouth dropped open, and a hand went to her chest like she was appalled.
“Don’t tell me you watch that?”
“Shut up.” She shoved me. “And no. My favorite band is Foo Fighters.”
“That’s acceptable.” I winked at her. “They’re mine, too.”
And then I kissed her again, her tongue cold with the taste of cherry soda. Our lips didn’t part even when the harsh, discordant sounds that accompanied every horror film known to man filled the theatre. Sunny barely jumped with the sound of a single gunshot and subsequent scream sounded through the speakers.
I couldn’t tell anyone one thing that happened in the one-hour and fifty-five-minute movie, except that, by the end of it, my lips were sore, and I had fallen a little more in love with Sunny Ray Lower, even though I hadn’t thought that was possible.
26
