spoke stubbornly into the black cell phone. He paused every so often to listen to his superior. “She said he would steal the soap, and he did. She said the girl would scream, and she did. She predicted it with immaculate precision. I really think we should look into this. I can do it if no one else is available,” the tanned man said secretly hoping every other agent was already busy. “I can do both. It won’t cause me to neglect my other assignment, John. I’m almost done with it anyway. Alright. Goodbye.” The tall, muscular man pressed the button to end the call and sat himself on the black metal bench while he planned his new mission.
***
“Hello ladies,” Landon said as he appeared from around the ice cream stand.
“Hi,” Malaya said, her face lighting up like a Christmas tree.
“So what brings you to the mall? A little shopping, huh?”
“Not really,” Lily said curtly. She hoped he wasn’t planning on sticking around, because she really didn’t want him to. She would rather not converse with the enemy.
“We were just hanging out,” Malaya said nearly singing her response. “We were about to get some ice cream.”
“Ice cream sounds good. I think I’ll get some myself,” Landon replied splashing on a hunky smile. Lily tried to force a smile, but wasn’t very successful at it. “Look, I know that you’re both probably still mad at me for what happened a couple weeks ago, so let me make it up to you. Let me take you to a movie or something.”
“A movie sounds great,” Malaya quickly responded before Lily could reject his offer.
“Good, you can pick whatever movie you want. I’ll even force myself to stay awake through a chick flick if that’s what you two want,” Landon said laughing.
“Sounds great, right Lily?”
“Um, yeah I guess so.” Lily wasn’t looking forward to spending the next two hours stuck in a dark room with Landon, but Malaya seemed to really like him. She hadn’t seemed so happy and excited since she bought her first wand of mascara a couple years ago. She had practically danced out of the store. Lily wouldn’t be too surprised if Malaya cartwheeled down the hall of the movie theater. She had never been one to hide her emotions. Lily would do just about anything for her friend, so she made every effort to temporarily forget how much she didn’t like Landon at the moment.
The theater was already dark when the three of them went to find open seats. There wasn’t much space left, but they managed to find three seats together at the end of a row. Malaya went in first, then Landon, then Lily so she could rest her crutches in the aisle. The previews had already started, so aside from a few remarks about upcoming movies, the three of them were silent until the movie was over.
***
Landon stared at the screen, his eyes glazing over slightly. Of course they had to pick a chick flick, they were girls after all, but he had kind of hoped they liked high speed racing, and killer explosions. No such luck. He spent most of the movie looking out of the corner of his eye in Lily’s direction. He could spend all day gazing at her beautiful face. He knew she was still mad at him, but wasn’t sure what he would have to do to prove to her that he wasn’t like those other guys at school. Whatever it was, he knew he would do it, regardless of the consequences. He didn’t want to lose his group of friends, but he knew if she asked him to give them up, he would. She had that much power over him. Not so much power as influence perhaps. Sitting next to her in that theater he made up his mind that he would do just about anything for her, even if that meant changing his entire life. When the movie was over, they talked as they waited for the theater to clear. Lily didn’t say much, but her demeanor had softened. Malaya didn’t waste any time inviting him to eat lunch with them the following Monday. Landon looked to Lily for her approval, but he didn’t find any. He didn’t find any disapproval either, so he accepted the invitation as they made their way out of the now vacant theater. They were on their way down the hall to the theater’s lobby when Landon heard a familiar voice coming from behind