Page 10 of Spring Forward
“What kind of things will you be watching for?” She squinted, trying to get a better look at her mom in the dark.
“Well, if he pulls the old yawn-and-stretch move, like this.” Derek gave an exaggerated yawn, then held one arm out, as if getting a good stretch, and rested it along the back of her chair, effectively putting his arm around her.
“Mom won’t fall for that.”
“Probably not.” He settled in with his arm still around her shoulders. “I’ll also let you know if he leans in too close to whisper in her ear.” He, of course, leaned in close to whisper the last few words—where else?—in her ear. “Or if he convinces her to sit alone with him in a dark corner of the theater.”
She whipped her head around to look at him. By now, her eyes had adjusted enough to see the look of mischief in his eyes.
“I don’t think we really have to worry about that last one, though,” he whispered. “There aren’t any corners left.”
On that declaration, the previews ended and the movie began. Derek didn’t show any signs of pulling away. He sat casually eating his popcorn with his arm around her, leaning in her direction.
Her box of Junior Mints sat unopened in her hand as her stomach had tied itself in knots. Derek’s cologne, the warmth ofhim next to her, the sound of his voice and the feel of his breath on her ear. She hadn’t been prepared for this.
Just as the on-screen couple had their mandatory contrived misunderstanding, Derek balanced a popcorn kernel on the top of her Junior Mints box. He set another one next to it. Then another.
“What are you doing?” she whispered.
“Uncle Grant isn’t doing anything. I’m bored.”
He tried to fit another kernel on the box, but it fell to the floor.
“Boring is good. It means he’s behaving.”
Derek leaned in close again, his breath tickling her ear. “Did you notice he whispered to her a few times?”
“Hedidn’t get as close as you are right now.” She turned her head enough to look at him out of the corner of her eye. Having him so close actually scared her. Not in a fear-for-her-safety kind of way, but she felt... worried. “You should set a better example for him. You’re making me wonder if your entire family—”
Derek popped the kernels from her candy box into her mouth, cutting off her words. “You’re interrupting the movie.”
She chewed at the unexpected mouthful as she tore open the candy box. She pulled out a mint and tried so stick it in Derek’s mouth, but he turned away. The candy almost went up his nose.
Madison laughed—she couldn’t help herself.
Derek put his hands over her mouth, though she could hear him fighting back a chuckle himself. A couple people in the theater looked over their shoulders at them. They slid down in their seats in perfect unison.
“This is not very covert,” Derek said. The flickering light of the movie illuminated his grinning face. “We’re gonna get caught.”
Madison bit her lips together. If she laughed half as hard as she thought she might, the entire theater would march over and throw them out.
The onscreen couple made up and broke up again before Madison had herself under control. She and Derek didn’t even look at each other. The first hint of a glance, and they’d start all over again.
As the movie reached the big final, convenient solution to everyone’s problems, Derek broke the silence between them.
“Do we try to sneak out now, before our relatives see us, or do we wait here until we know they’re gone?”
“We wait,” she whispered back.
“So did Uncle Grant pass this first test?”
She shrugged. “He did okay, I guess.You, on the other hand...”
That smile of his did her in. It always had. “I shared my popcorn with you. Don’t I get credit for that? And”—he pointed as if emphasizing the importance of his next example—“I let you shove a Junior Mint up my nose.”
She didn’t hold back the laugh that time.
The theater cleared out quickly, so they were able to slip away. He tossed his almost-empty popcorn bucket in the trash on the way out. It was a typical cool spring evening. She should have brought a jacket. She’d have to remember that tomorrow.
