Hunter nodded grumpily, until his eyes suddenly widened. I leveled my gaze at him, it looked like he had an idea, hopefully it wasn’t crazy. “I know, let’s drop by the video rental place in town. We’ll rent something and watch it on my TV. We can even make popcorn.”
He tugged my sleeve like he was a kid asking if he could have ice cream. I tried to imagine Hunter as a goofy adolescent boy but had trouble ignoring the fact that he was a towering badass alpha male.
“You’re really determined to prevent me from doing any work tonight aren’t you?” I asked him.
“Don’t try to deny it Lorrie, it’s a great idea. Even better than watching something in the theaters. Let’s get some scary movies. You’re not scared are you?” He wiggled his fingers in front of my face like he was a conjurer or magician. God, who knew that Tattoos and Muscles would be such a goofball.
“Psh, I eat horror movies for breakfast. Nothing’s gonna freak me out.” Hunter didn’t know that I had a phase in high school after my parents had divorced when I watched a ton of scary movies and wore only black. It wasn’t a phase I was really proud of, but I did have the advantage of no longer being easily scared by ghosts and gore.
“Wanna bet?” He looked at me in challenge.
“You’re on.” I playfully poked his stomach with my finger. It was like poking a brick wall. He grabbed my hand in his and shook it like we were solidifying a business deal. His hand felt warm and soft against my palm making my heart skip a beat.
“Come on, let’s go, no time to waste. I don’t want everyone to rent out all the good movies,” he said as we walked over to the bus stop by the front of the mall.
“Um. Are you serious? There’s only one video rental place in town and no one ever goes there anymore.”
“Who knows, maybe everyone else who came to the theater got the same idea and all the really scary movies are already checked out.”
I was skeptical of that unlikely scenario ever happening but followed him quickly to the bus stop.
We took the bus to “Mad Mike’s Movies” and Hunter picked out a stack of DVDs of old classic horror films. A lot of them looked really cheesy, but Hunter kept trying to psych me out and tease me about how scary they were going to be. I just rolled my eyes and went along with it. It felt good to just tease and have fun with someone. Although Daniela and I had that kind of relationship, I hadn’t had that with a guy in a long time.
By the time we got to Hunter’s place it was already a bit past eight. I paid for the popcorn we picked up from the supermarket, since Hunter had paid for the movies. His place looked the same as when I was last here. Once we had made the popcorn and settled in on the couch, Hunter presented the movies to me.
“Alright, what’ll it be first? ‘The Girl with No Eyes’, ‘Flyman’, or ‘The Vampire Bride’?” he said, holding out the DVDs in front of me so I could see the covers.
“How about ‘Flyman’? That sounds pretty interesting.”
Hunter nodded. “Good choice, I would’ve picked that too.”
He got up, turned off the lights and put the disc into the DVD player before joining me on the couch again. The popcorn bowl nestled between us, providing just enough distance so as not to be inappropriate. Hunter patted me on the arm during the opening credits.
“Don’t worry Lorrie, if you’re scared, I’ll protect you with my muscles.”
“Gee thanks Hunter,” I said remembering how I jumped into his muscles at the amusement park and at the hockey game. He was probably planning on a hat-trick—a hockey term I learned from him—with these scary movies. “What would I do without you and your chiseled abs?”
He smirked, grabbed a handful of popcorn and then turned back to the TV.
The movie was predictably cheesy. The Flyman was just an ordinary man who, as a result of secret government experiments, developed the head of a fly. Of course, the experiment also turned him insane, so he started wreaking havoc soon after his unfortunate transformation. It was entertaining but nowhere near as scary as some of the movies I watched as a teenager.
Whenever the Flyman would pop out from behind a corner though, Hunter’s eyes would widen and he’d shriek while grabbing my arm. I laughed it off the first time, but then I couldn’t tell if he was just teasing me or if he was actually getting freaked out. There was no way a six foot, two inch brawler like him who regularly fights other freakishly huge guys was afraid of some horror movies.
“Wait, wait, Hunter, you’re just teasing me right? You’re not seriously scared are you?”
He turned to look at me, wide-eyed. He shook his head back and forth quickly. I watched him carefully, my mouth half-open, unsure of what to make of it. I would’ve sworn he was actually scared if I hadn’t seen the hint of a smile playing at the edge of his lips. I slapped his arm.
“What happened to all that big talk of protecting me with your muscles?” I teased.
Hunter smiled, all suave nonchalance again. “Seems like you don’t need any protection from the Flyman, you didn’t even blink when he jumped out from behind the lab door.”
“Come on Hunter, you can’t possibly think that I’d be scared of black and white special effects from the sixties.”
“I don’t know, it looks pretty convincing to me. Next time I’m in the biology building, I’ll be checking all the corners.”
I laughed and we turned back to the movie.
When the movie finally ended with Flyman jumping into an incinerator to save the woman he’d loved when he was still a human, we had already finished an entire bowl of popcorn. I yawned, stretching out my arms. Hunter looked at me, holding up the disc for “The Vampire Bride.”
“One more?”
“I don’t know Hunter, I’m pretty wiped out.”
“Aw, come on, it’s Thursday night. It’s practically the weekend.”
“Fine, just one more. But let me text Daniela and use the bathroom first.”
“Great! I’ll make some more popcorn.”
I knew his bathroom was situated across from his bedroom, having showered there the first time I came to his apartment. On my way, I noticed his bedroom door was closed and had a sign that said “Uno Ab Alto”. I shrugged at the mysterious phrase and moved on. I texted Daniela when I was in the bathroom, letting her know that I’d be back to the dorms late. When I was finished, I could still hear Hunter in the kitchen microwaving the popcorn.
I was about to return to the living room when I noticed the door on my right was cracked open a slit. Curious, I pushed it open slightly. It was dark but it looked like it was a closet. The floor was covered in cardboard boxes, filled with irregular shapes. I struggled to make out what they were for a second, and then I recognized the shapes. They were model airplanes. There were maybe a hundred model airplanes of various types covering the floor.
“Lorrie, the popcorn is ready!”
His voice made me jump. Why did he have so many model planes? And why in this closet? He didn’t have any on display in his apartment. If he had them hidden away, it was probably something I wasn’t supposed to see. I pulled the closet door closed again and then went back to the living room to join him.