Movie Nightmare
I was not a morning person. This was true in general of English majors, I had noticed, and it held true for those who–like me–had chosen to specialize in film studies. During our first session of Film and Literature, Dr. Marley had remarked that it was not her choice to hold class at nine thirty in the morning every Tuesday and Thursday, but that she was going to make it as pleasant for the class as possible. That meant we spent each class session on just a short lecture and then watched a movie based on a novel. It wasn’t uncommon for students to come in with pillows, blankets and even breakfast.
None of that made me feel any better when I woke up with just twenty minutes to make it across campus before class started. To save time, I pulled on a pair of jeans I found in the floor but left on the Vlogbrothers t-shirt I had slept in. My hair was a giant poofy mess and my face was makeup free, but I didn’t have time to deal with that. Dr. Marley was cool, but that was no reason to miss class or be late, especially when it was a class I enjoyed this much.
When I finally made it to class, I remembered the one reason why I didn’t want to show up looking like such a mess. I shared this particular class with Bella. For reasons I couldn’t understand, she was taking film studies classes, too. With her pageant girl looks, I would have figured she would prefer to be in front of the camera, not behind it. We had only shared a couple of classes the previous semester, and those were mostly gen ed classes, so I had hoped they were just a fluke. Now that we were getting into our major classes, I knew it wasn’t just a coincidence.
Somehow, I made it to class only a few minutes late. Dr. Marley wasn’t entirely punctual, especially that early, so she was still organizing her notes and beginning her lecture when I walked into the room. It was a fairly small class in a small room where we could all get comfortable for the movies. I still managed to find a seat as far away from Bella as I could manage, but I couldn’t help noticing how perfect she looked even this early in the morning. My t-shirt and wrinkled jeans looked even worse compared to her perfectly matched outfit.
“Okay, guys,” Dr. Marley said loudly to stop what little chatter there was at that point in the morning. “If you still have your syllabus, you know I’m going to give out the paper assignments today. I’ve already put the list of texts you’ll be analyzing up on the screen behind me, and you can see that there are more of you than there are texts. For each text, there will be two students. The idea is that you’re going to work somewhat together and somewhat independently. Each of you will turn in your own complete paper at the end, but through the planning and drafting process, I expect to see some collaboration. That way, you can split the cost of the book and movie, if they can’t be rented, and watch them together. Two sets of eyes will notice more in the movie adaptations than one.”
Sure enough, there was a list of movie and book titles on the board behind her. They covered nearly every genre, from The Bourne Identity to O Brother Where Art Thou. I could see quite a few that I wanted to do, since of course several of the books I was obsessed with had made the list.
“Here’s the catch,” Dr. Marley continued. “I’ll be deciding who gets which text. That way I know there will be two people to each text. I think by this point I know most of you well enough to pick wisely.”
Looking at the list again, I couldn’t even decide which text I was hoping to be assigned. Nearly all of them were right up my alley. I wasn’t nearly as worried about who else might be assigned the same movie. It wasn’t like we would totally be working as partners, so it didn’t seem like it really mattered who Dr. Marley picked. Still, I waited nervously as she went down the list and called out who would be working with who, writing their names beside the titles as she did so.
“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” she said. “That one will be… Georgina and Bella.”
I should have been more nervous. I should have known.
For the rest of class, I felt like I was going to be sick. Even if it wasn’t a traditional group project, we were still partners in a way. I still had to spend far more time with Bella than I wanted to, and that was saying a lot, considering the fact that we lived right next door to each other. I thought I already saw far more than enough of her.
When I really thought about it, though, I didn’t actually see much of her at all. The semester had barely started, but it seemed that with every day that passed, Bella spent less and less time in our suite. I didn’t know where she was going, and I didn’t really care. I was just happy to have some time away from her, since every time she was there, she kept weaseling into my conversations with Zac or trying yet again to give me a makeover or fashion tips or otherwise insinuate that I was ugly.
I brooded all the way through that day’s movie. If I had been asked to discuss it, I wouldn’t have even been able to say what it was, except that I thought it was based on something John Grisham wrote. Other than that, my thoughts were entirely occupied by the problem of Bella.
When class ended, it took me a moment to realize we had been dismissed. Once I did, I was quick to grab my notebooks, shove them in my bag and head for the door. I didn’t want to stick around a moment longer than absolutely necessary.
“Georgina!” A voice called out, and because that was just my luck, it was Bella’s.
I turned around, even though I didn’t want to. “Yeah?”
“You’ve got that Harry Potter movie, don’t you? Surely you do.”
There was an implication there that I was sure was meant to be insulting, but it wasn’t wrong. With a nod, I replied, “Yeah, I have the movie and the book.”
“Oh, great,” she said. “I’m sure you won’t mind if I borrow the book? And we can have a little movie night instead of your game night, hmm? That would be more fun than a board game, at least. We’ll have some popcorn, some drinks… Zac can come over, of course.”
“Yeah,” I squeaked out. “I guess… we can do that instead of game night this week.”
I didn’t bother pointing out that it was supposed to be homework, not a party. I wasn’t sure that Bella really cared, and judging by the way she scrunched up her nose when she said Harry Potter, I had a feeling she wasn’t really going to enjoy the movie anyway, if she even paid attention to it at all.
Bella clapped her hands together cheerfully–far, far too cheerfully for so early in the morning. “Great! I’ll pick up some snacks and you can let everyone know we’re doing movie night instead.”
I gave her a painful smile, but that was the best I could manage. Watching a movie, especially one of my favorites, wouldn’t have normally sounded bad at all. But all I could picture was Zac sandwiched in between me and Bella on the couch, and it made me feel sick. There was no way a movie night with her could turn out well for me. It sounded more like a movie nightmare than our typically relaxing Wednesday night plans.
Bella was quickly distracted by the sight of one of her friends, so our conversation ended then. I was glad, because I didn’t think I could handle any more of her. Once she was gone, I made my way up the stairs to the first floor of the building. I didn’t have class again until after lunch, so I figured I would go back to my room and get some work done for my other classes. As I walked down the arts building’s hallway, I noticed a familir figure slumped across a couch in the hallway. I would know those long legs anywhere. There was a hat pulled down so low across his forehead that at first I thought he was asleep, but as I approached, I saw his lips turn up in a smirk. I would have walked right on by, but he whistled at me.
“Looking good, Georgie Girl.”
I rolled my eyes. “Sure I am, Tay.”
“You always do, darling,” he said, scooting up and pushing his hat back a bit to take a better look at me. “Okay, that may not be the best fashion statement, but my point still stands.”
“Do you even have class in this building or do you just like to take your morning nap here?”
Taylor grinned. “Nah, but there are tons of hot underclasswomen roaming these halls. It’s my early morning entertainment.”
“Entertainment slash creeping,” I remarked. “Do you have a conscience at all?”
He actually looked offended for a moment. “Of course I do! It’s in a little silver box at the back of my closet screaming, ‘Let me out, let me out! You’re making bad choices!’”
“You have problems, Taylor. Serious problems.”
“That’s what the doctors keep telling him,” another voice, which I recognized as Zac’s said, as he appeared at my side. “That reminds me, Tay, how’s that latest outbreak clearing up?”
“Why don’t you ask Georgie?” Taylor replied. “Pretty sure she’s the one who gave it to me.”
Zac and I both groaned, but I was used to Taylor’s sexual jokes about me. Zac would never get used to them, it seemed.
“Anyway,” I said, then turned to face Zac. “Do you have my copy of Sorcerer’s Stone?”
“Book or movie?”
“Movie,” I replied.
“Probably,” Zac said. “Do you need it back?”
“If you can dig it out of the disaster zone you call a dorm room, we’re going to watch it tomorrow night. I finally got my paper assignment for Film and Lit.”
I decided to leave out the part where I shared that assignment with Bella, who would also be attending our movie night. I didn’t want to give Zac more reason to unearth the DVD and return it to me. Even though he hadn’t said anything else about being interested in Bella, I could just tell. Besides, what guy wouldn’t be interested in her?
“My room isn’t that bad,” Zac said, frowning.
“Maybe not yet, but that’s only because the semester just began,” I replied.
“Yeah,” Taylor agreed. “It’s a good thing you never try to hook up with any chicks, because you’d probably lose them in the landfill that used to be your dorm room floor.”
I had a brief but wonderful mental image of Bella being lost into the depths of the mess in Zac’s floor, never to be seen again. It was such an amusing thought that I nearly laughed out loud as I pictured her nails on a chalkboard voice screaming for help, gradually fading out into nothingness as she drowned in textbooks and dirty laundry.
“What’s so funny?” Zac asked, poking me in the side. I supposed I hadn’t done such a good job of hiding my laughter.
“The thought of you getting laid, probably,” Taylor said. “It is pretty funny trying to imagine what kind of girl would choose you over, say, someone like me.”
“Perhaps the kind of girl who doesn’t want to die an untimely death due to syphilis,” I replied.
“Ouch,” Taylor said, holding his hand over his heart. “That hurts, Georgie. That really hurts. Especially after last night. I thought we had something special.”
I rolled my eyes at that, glancing at Zac to see his reaction. Thankfully, he was smiling. Sometimes I wondered if he thought Taylor’s jokes about me were serious, especially considering how much he overreacted to some of Taylor’s insinuations.
“Okay,” I said loudly. “On that note, I’m leaving. See you at lunch, Zac, and you have fun doing your creepy thing, Tay.”
“Oh, I will. Trust me, I will.” He grinned.
As I walked away, I was acutely aware of the feeling of Taylor’s eyes on me.