Secondary Characters (Novella) - By Rachel Schieffelbein Page 0,7

looks totally freaked out. She seemed nervous when the movie first started, but now her eyes are wide and she’s biting her bottom lip. Her teeth dig into it to the point where I’m afraid it might actually start to bleed.

Every time she jumps I flinch a little. All I want to do is put my arm around her and let her bury her head into my chest and close her eyes. But I think putting my arm around her out of the blue might freak her out more than the movie is. So I just sit here like a jackass and do nothing.

Maybie jumps again, her hand flinging up to cover her mouth. She has a great mouth, wide with dark pink lips. Her hand flies back down to her arm rest. She’s gripping it so tight her knuckles are turning white. I resist the urge to pry her hands off the seat and hold them. Instead I try to come up with another idea.

***

The movie is really frickin’ scary and I want to kill the guys for picking a horror. My whole body is one giant ball of nerves. I jump at everything and my heart is pounding so loud I’m sure the whole theater can hear it.

The main girl is about to get axed by some freaky serial killer and I can’t handle it any more. I reach down to grab my purse and get out of there when something touches my other hand. I gasp and jump about three feet into the air.

Lance has put his hand on mine. He leans in close and whispers to me.

“You know they already signed her on for the sequel?” His face is serious, like he’s trying to tell me something important, but I’m too scattered to figure it out. So scattered I don’t even think to pull my hand away from his.

“What?” I try to make sense of whatever the hell he’s talking about while I do my best to recover from him scaring the living crap out of me.

“That actress,” he says, nodding toward the screen. “They’ve already signed her for the sequel. So …” He shakes his head slowly, like he’s waiting for me to say something. “She must make it through this one, right?”

“Yeah. Wow. You’re right.” I feel tension move out of my shoulders and I lean back into my seat again. But I’m still jittery. I keep my eyes off the screen, staring at the space between us. Lance’s hand is still covering mine. He’s still leaned in close and I notice that he smells really good.

“Of course, in real life she’d never outrun him in those high heels, but we certainly couldn’t have her up on the big screen in dirty old tennis shoes,” he adds with a wink.

I shake my head. “I don’t know.” I lean even closer to him. “I can run pretty fast in my heels.”

I know I said I hate people who talk during movies, but I am just so thankful for the distraction from the bloodbath that I don’t care. It’s sweet of him to notice that I need it.

“Fast enough to run away from a maniacal ax murderer?” he asks skeptically, his eyebrows raised. His face is just inches from mine and I notice his eyes are all twinkly and blue. I am hyper-aware of his hand on mine. It’s warm, and nice, but it feels like there are giant neon signs pointing to it. Lance’s hand is on Mabel’s! Everyone behold the awkwardness! The conversation isn’t awkward, though. It’s actually pretty easy.

“Maybe,” I tell him. “I mean, I would guess wielding that giant ax would have to slow him down some, right?”

“That’s a good point,” he says, rubbing his chin like he’s really thinking about it. “It might throw his balance off.” His smile is seriously adorable. Those dimples, my God! How did I never notice them before? Wait, why am I noticing it now? Maybe it’s just the rush of relief from pulling my mind away from the movie.

I squeeze my eyes shut for a second to try and regain some sense, then look at him again.

Nope, he really is cute.

“I would think so.” I nod knowingly, trying to suppress a smile. Someone a couple rows back shushes us and he makes a face like he’s been caught doing something truly horrendous. I slap my hand over my mouth before I snort out another laugh.

He grins and then turns back to the screen, pulling his