The meal was paid for by William, and the group left the hot pot restaurant.
Ellie thought about repaying him by buying the movie tickets. She was focusing on the movie tickets on her phone, about to ask them which seats to buy, when her phone was taken away.
William took her phone and looked at her with a teasing smile, saying, "Little prude, what? Want to secretly buy the movie tickets?"
Ellie said earnestly, "You paid for the meal just now, I'll buy the movie tickets."
William chuckled, his eyes filled with amusement, and from Ellie's perspective, she could see his strong jawline.
He said, "There's no such rule that makes girls pay the bill."
Ellie glanced at her phone, which was still in his hand, and didn't say anything.
Aria was chatting with Daniel, the two of them discussing movies, soap operas, and gossip, getting more and more excited as they talked.
Daniel: "We've been in the same class for over a year, and I didn't realize we had so much in common."
Aria: "We didn't chat much before, didn't talk much."
Hao Ming added with a gloomy tone: "As long as they can speak, who can't you chat with?"
Daniel glared at him: "Get lost."
"Where do you like to sit?" William asked Ellie.
"The last row."
Daniel said: "Coincidentally, we also like to sit in the last row."
William directly bought five seats in the last row.
William went to the front desk to get the tickets with his phone and saw popcorn, turning his head to ask Ellie: "Do you eat popcorn?"
Ellie looked up at him, then at the popcorn, and nodded.
Daniel shouted from behind: "William, I want cola, not popcorn." Then he asked Aria next to him, "Do you want some?"
Aria nodded.
Daniel said: "Big head eats one bucket, I don't eat, Aria eats one bucket."
William bought three buckets of popcorn and three cups of cola, and said to Daniel: "Come and get it yourself."
Daniel happily took two buckets of popcorn and two cups of cola.
William stuffed the bucket of popcorn into Ellie's arms.
The group waited outside for a while and went in ten minutes before the movie started.
The five of them sat down.
Ellie sat on the inside, next to William, with Daniel and Aria sitting on the outside, chatting animatedly.
The movie began.
The movie was a zombie film with high ratings.
William glanced at Ellie, seeing her watching the screen intently, then popped a few pieces of popcorn into his mouth.
He didn't like sweet and greasy things like popcorn. When he was a child, Scarlett always bought him popcorn when they went to the movies.
After growing up, he almost never ate popcorn again.
William was distracted when he saw Ellie offering popcorn, her voice soft and gentle: "Do you want some?"
He wanted to say no, but then he heard Ellie say: "This flavor is okay, not bad."
William skeptically took one and put it in his mouth. It was sweet. He saw Ellie smile at him, her apricot eyes very clear, her smile a bit dazzling. She whispered: "Not bad, right?"
William said: "It's just like that."
Ellie put the popcorn between the two of them and said: "Let's eat together."
Ellie was watching intently when a sudden zombie appeared, scaring her and making her lean back.
A pair of warm hands covered her eyes, and the teenager's clear and husky unique voice sounded in her ear: "Don't be afraid."
Ellie's heart was beating fast, she couldn't tell if it was because she was scared or because of his sudden action. She subconsciously grabbed the hand covering her eyes, which made William a bit stunned.
The small hands that grabbed his were soft and small, like a feather gently scratching his hand, making him unable to say anything teasing.
Aria wanted to ask Ellie if she was scared, but when she turned her head, she saw the usually indifferent and aggressive teenager covering Ellie's eyes.
The lighting in the cinema was very dark, blurring the teenager's expression, and only his smooth jawline could be seen. However, Aria felt for some reason that his eyes looking at Ellie were clear and somewhat gentle.
Ellie took back her hand and said: "Is there more?"
William glanced at the screen and said: "It's over." After speaking, he took back his hand.
Ellie didn't dare to look into his eyes, but she heard William say: "I forgot you were scared. I should have known better than to watch this movie."
"I'm not scared, I just got a fright," Ellie explained in a low voice.
William looked at her and chuckled, saying: "You're not scared."
Ellie met his gaze, and for a moment, she couldn't hear what the movie was playing. She only saw the teenager's eyes full of laughter. She took back her gaze, then sat up straight.
She picked up the drink next to her, and before she could bring it to her mouth, she heard the person next to her say: "That's my cola."
Ellie looked at the thing in her hand and realized that her milk tea was on the right. She had casually taken William's cola. She put the cola back and heard the person next to her say: "I've already drunk from it. If you want to drink it, we can go out and buy you a new one."
Ellie shook her head: "No need." She held the milk tea and took a few sips, only then feeling the heat on her face dissipate a bit.
After the movie was over.
The lights in the cinema came on.
Daniel looked at Ellie, whose earlobes were a bit red, and said: "Ellie, why are your ears so red?"
Ellie touched her ears and said: "I don't know, maybe adrenaline spiked."
Daniel said: "Adrenaline?"
William glanced at Ellie, whose earlobes were red, and said: "She got scared."
Daniel "oh"ed, still reacting to what adrenaline was – it seemed to have been mentioned in biology books.
It was already past seven in the evening when they left the cinema.
Aria received a phone call and said to Ellie: "Ellie, I have to go. My mom is calling me home, saying my grandmother is here."
Ellie said: "Then I'll walk you out."
"No need, Ellie, I'll just hail a taxi and go home," Aria looked at William and said: "William, could you please see Ellie home?"
William "Hmm"ed.
Aria got into a taxi, rolled down the window, and waved to the group.
Ellie waved goodbye to her.
William looked at Ellie and said: "It's past seven. Are you going home now, little classmate?"
Ellie shook her head.
Daniel also asked: "Ellie, are your parents strict with you? Do they have a curfew for you?"
"Neither is at home."
Upon hearing this, William nodded thoughtfully and said: "Then let's play a bit longer, and I'll see you home."
Ellie listened to his tone, which was like coaxing a child, and then nodded and said: "Okay."