The cinema screen is almost 15 feet wide and the U-shaped couch is 10 feet away from the screen. It has a two-seater in the middle and an ottoman on both sides. I sat down on the right ottoman and just then, Cat came in, carrying a ridiculously large glass bowl with a tiny pile of popcorn in it.
"Sorry, I couldn't find another bowl that looked nice. But as they say, size doesn't matter, right?"
"Uhm, yes, sure… take a seat. We can switch if you want the right side"
"No, it's fine. She laid down on the left side of the couch and placed the bowl on the two seats between us. I could reach it easily, but Cat had to lean over to her right to grab a handful of popcorn.
I started the movie. Cat took some popcorn and then, with a full mouth: "Hey, that's the girl from E.T., right?" - "Yes" - "Cool, I like her" - "Hmmm…"
It took only a few minutes and Cat was quiet. Very quiet. Tense. She stared at the screen, a piece of popcorn in her hand, but it never made it to her mouth. Captivated.
The scenes with the boyfriend on the terrace came on. It was bloodier than I remembered and Cat screamed. Then Ghostface chased Drew Barrymore and finally put the knife into her belly… in total silence, I could hear Cat breathing.
"Holy fuck"
"We can turn it off if you…"
"Are you kidding me? This is like the coolest shit ever. They just killed off E.T.s girlfriend."
I looked at her. She mouthed "Thank you" and I gave her a thumbs up. You want lame? I got it.
The movie slowed down, lots of exposition - and the first call of Ghostface to Sidney.
"Any murders in the next 2 minutes?"
"Uhm, I don't think so, but it's been some time since I watched it. I can pause if you…"
"Nope…" She got up, ran to the stairway, and turned around. And with what was probably the worst Schwarzenegger impersonation ever: "I'll be back". Pause. "This is where you say: 'Hasta la Vista, baby'". She rolled her eyes and was gone. Back not even a minute later, with two glasses and a fresh pitcher of ice water.
She poured both of us a glass and again downed her glass in one long gulp.
"You must have the cleanest urinary tract in all of New Jersey".
Why? Can't. I. Just. Shut. Up.
"Hold that thought. What did I miss?"
"Not much. Dewey and the reporter were introduced, but you're gonna see a lot of them later, so no worries."
"Great". Cat put the popcorn bowl on the table and sat down on the two-seater in the middle of the couch.
"Do you mind? To be honest… it is a little scary."
"It's ok. Tell me if it gets too much."
"No no no, not too much… I'm just used to grabbing my mom when we watch something scary."
"What kind of scary movies have you watched?"
"Like…" Pause. She looked down. "Twilight". It took a lot of restraint to not laugh.
"I know… that's lame. But I have watched 'A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night' with Narges. That was really scary".
I gave her an approving nod. Say what you want, but she's always good for a surprise. That movie was on my shelf. Special Edition and all. Yes, that's how cool I am.
We focused on the movie. Cat sat next to me, but with a good foot between us. I relaxed. Had a sip of water. When I reached for the popcorn, Cat grabbed the bowl without looking and held it for me. I took some and she set it back on the table, without ever taking her eyes off the screen.
Boring parts of the movie, lots of talk and most of the meta references didn't land with a kid who had never watched any of the movies Scream was quoting.
"Hey, sorry, I totally forgot to ask you. Is it ok if two friends come over tomorrow. I really don't want to disturb you or anything, we can go downstairs and… uhm… work on our project"
"It's no problem. And you know I have promised your mom… so I'd rather you meet here. Girls from your class?"
"Nope, Narges is one grade above me and Ti is in 9th grade"
"They're in different grades but you have projects together?"
"I'll explain later, ok? Narges wants to come around noon and Ti later. He has water gymnastics on Saturday."
"Water gymnastics? Is he like 60?"
"No… I guess you'll understand when you see him".
We had taken our eyes off the screen while we talked. Suddenly a loud bang and when Cat turned her head. Ghostface jumped out of the dark and stabbed the principal. Cat screamed and jumped, she turned to me and hid her head against my shoulder. Grabbed my arm. My cock had been mostly dormant during the last 20 minutes, but now it woke up… feeling her pressed against me… her breath on my arm… I couldn't say for sure, but it felt like something hard and pointy under her nightgown was brushing my arm… I exhaled… tried to calm down…
"Sorry… this was unexpected. I'm such a wuss…"
"You looked like you had just peed yourself…" (My god, shut up…)
"Hold that thought. Anyways, thanks for letting my friends come over. They're cool and very… well-behaved. Trust me, no parties with this bunch. And only soft drugs"
Cat was still hugging my arm and I was still trying to breathe slowly. Inhale. Exhale.
"Tell me if I'm, you know, like… violating your personal space or something. But this is like I watch scary movies with my mom".
"It's ok… but you could maybe stop pulling on my arm".
"Ooops, sorry."
We sat like this. Cat leaned against me, her head on my shoulder, her arms wrapped around my upper arm. She leaned forward, grabbed some popcorn, put some in her mouth, and held her hand in front of my face, just an inch or two from my mouth.
"Uhm, thank you…" I leaned back to give myself some room and took a few pieces from her hand. ("I'm such a wuss"... that makes two of us I guess)
On the screen, the night party started. The pace was picking up. With the screen going almost completely dark, the room itself was getting dark, too. I looked to the side. Cat was almost invisible in the dark. All I could see was the white in her big eyes and sometimes her teeth when she nibbled another piece of popcorn. My cock was so hard it hurt. The tight boxers had been a good idea to hide my erection. They had been a really bad idea when it came to blood flow through my nether regions. The head of my cock was pushing against the tight waistband. It felt like someone was strangling it.