Before I could finish the text, however, the corner of my eye caught yellow light coming from the doorframe. Two darkened silhouettes stood against the light, moving slowly out the door. Even if I didn’t know who I was picking up, I could easily identify Ashley with her narrow torso and lean muscular legs. Kyla stood beside her; a couple inches shorter, with a small build. I realized suddenly how long it had been since I’d seen Kyla, and excitement flared up in me. Even though she was Ashley’s sister, Kyla was my friend, too. The two girls strode gracefully toward the vehicle, their shoes tapping loudly against the asphalt. Kyla opened one of the rear doors and slid into the car excitedly, jumping and embracing me around the neck in my forward facing position.
“I’ve missed you, Spencer!” She said through her closed jaw, her smile shining noticeably.
“I’ve missed you too, Kyla.” I said back, genuinely happy that we’d invited her. She’d only been invited to battle awkwardness, but I suddenly realized that I really wanted her here. It had been a while since I’d spent time with any friends that I didn’t really have feelings for.
Ashley climbed into the car soon after Kyla did, keeping a little cooler in her demeanor. From her I received no strangling hug, but she did flash me a winning smile.
“Hey, Spence”
“Hey, Ash” I replied, smiling widely. I turned to Avery beside me and pointed to her. “Avery, Kyla. Kyla, Avery. Oh and Ash, you two have already met.” At this each of them nodded silently, looking at one another skeptically. The corners of Ashley’s lips pulled up into a sarcastic smile as she raised her eyebrows. I shot her a mean look, and I knew she saw it, because she immediately stopped. “Alright, are we ready?” I asked, breaking the silence. There were 3 nods, so I turned around and put the car in drive.
The remainder of the ride would have been horrifically awkward had it not been for Kyla, who was increasingly becoming my personal superhero. Whenever awkward silences set in, she seemed to know just the innocent topic to bring up to get everyone to chime in at least once. I think that even Avery took an immediate liking to her. I still sensed a strange hostility between Avery and Ashley, but it wasn’t killing the mood, so I decided against regarding it. I allowed Kyla to continue directing the conversation – she was the one keeping this boat afloat after all.
It wasn’t long until we arrived at the movies. We purchased tickets, got some food, and filed into the theatre. We decided to see this new movie ‘Juno’ that had come out earlier this month. It was apparently about a teenage pregnancy – I’d seen plenty of lifetime movies on this subject, but it wasn’t often that this kind of story reached the theatres. I was excited for some new material, and hoped that the drama in our little group would remain nonexistent so that I could actually focus on it.
As we made our way into the theatre, Avery laced her fingers into mine, and guided me towards the stairs. I followed her, my eyes roving over the hundreds of heads that were slightly illuminated in the light of the trailers. We really did pick the wrong night to come to the movies. All four of us stopped, our eyes scanning each row for seats. Some rows had single seats available, while some had two open. Though I’m sure Avery would have been more than happy to sit just us, I really wanted to sit all together.
“Aha! Found some!” I heard Kyla whisper triumphantly. She jogged up the stairs towards the middle of the theatre with Ashley in tow by her wrist. Avery forced herself ahead of me and plowed up the stairs behind them. Conveniently enough, there were 4 seats on the outside of a row, so we wouldn’t have to be those obnoxious people who make everyone else stand up. Kyla went in first, followed by Ashley, and then to my dismay, Avery followed. I stood in the aisle, frozen for a moment.
