Brandon

Cool. I'm glad we're heading for the movies. The last thing I want to do is be stuck inside and cooped up all day. I am restless, you know, I guess it's because we've got a big game coming up next week and then prom. I couldn't be asked to organize a date to be perfectly honest. The girls I usually see to satisfy my needs are not the type of girl I want hanging off my arm at prom for all those pictures and one of the highlights of the end of school. No fucking way, man.

When Lizzie said she'd be my prom date, I could have turned round and kissed her. In fact, I had to do everything to stop myself. My heart melted right there and then when she said yes. Besides, who else would I go with? She is my best friend, and we always used to play prom king and queen. Sure, we were only kids, about seven or eight years old.

We'd dress up, I'd wear a cape my mother had bought for me for some Halloween outing, it was black, lined with red, and Lizzie would wear one of her mother's smaller summer dresses and tie her hair up. We'd get a couple of flower heads from her mother's garden and stick them in her hair band. It was fun. Being a kid was huge fun. Sometimes I really miss those days.

All the innocence of just running around playing, climbing trees, hanging out in the park and being on the swings. Although Lizzie's favorite was the seesaw. Man, I used to love playing seesaw bumps with her. Her hair would fly up in the air, and she'd giggle like crazy. I run my hand through my hair with one hand as we stand in line at the cinema.

"You know we could have gone for a private screening, right?" Lizzie says as she stands next to me. I can smell her coconut shampoo and her favorite fragrance – Daisy by Marc Jacobs. Last week it was Coco by Chanel. She likes to swap them around. But this one is light, citrusy and floral. Mmm, I could stand here sniffing her all day long. I check she hasn't noticed that I'm being intoxicated by her fragrance. Close to me in line, our arms are touching. A bolt of electricity passes through me, and I look at Lizzie, who is looking right back at me. I can see something in her eyes; her pupils have dilated. Holy Fucking Shit. What just happened?

I quickly pull myself together. So fucking weird, right? Lizzie moves slightly away, grabs her mobile from her back jeans pocket, and starts scrolling. I cough.

"Nah, sometimes it's nice to be at the cinema with other people," I say. The girl behind the counter smiles broadly at me, her shiny white teeth on full display. Boy, they look like the teeth of a horse. Seriously, that girl needs a new dentist, stat.

"How can I help you?" she asks, her voice as sweet as sugar and a little too high-pitched for my liking. I recognize her from school, and I'm pretty sure she is two years younger than Lizzie and me.

"Two large popcorns, a Diet Coke, a normal Coke, and two hot dogs." Lizzie looks up at the girl and smiles.

"Oh, hey Linnie. How are you?" Lizzie seems to know just about everyone and is always so ultra-friendly and nice to people. That's how she is.

"Hey Lizzie. All good. Working the morning shift, then off for the rest of the weekend. I can't wait to get out of here." She busies herself scooping the popcorn into our paper bags.

"I bet. Hope you've got something good planned." Lizzie puts her mobile back in her pocket; that weird moment that passed between us is now gone. Thank God.

"Not much. I have a few assignments to get finished, but heading over to my bestie's later and the library, our reading group is meeting up."

"Wow, that'll be fun. I love my reading group. Well, enjoy the weekend when you're done, Linnie." I take our popcorn, Lizzie grabs the drinks and hot dogs on a tray, and we head off to door three, where the cinema screens numbered eleven to twenty are behind us.

The complex is gigantic. Lizzie is right, however. We could have had a private screening at her house or even at mine. But you know, sometimes I like doing the same stuff normal kids and teenagers do. So here we are, with lots of people all ages milling around us. Because it's so early, there are a huge number of kids swarming around with parents, and they're so excited for the kids' films screening this morning.

We have tickets for Disney's Beauty and the Beast. It's Lizzie's favorite, and whatever she likes, I like. Okay, it's really not my thing, but being with Lizzie is definitely my thing. We have seats right at the back at the top, the best seats in my opinion. Lizzie prefers to sit right down at the front, but when we booked, she said she'd go with the seats I wanted to. That's what I love about her, she's so easy-going and so chilled out.

"Are you nervous about the game next week?" she asks, stuffing her face with popcorn. If there's someone who loves popcorn it is definitely Lizzie.

"Yeah, it's a big game." I slide down in the seat and relax my legs. Why is Lizzie staring at me? I check my fly is done up just in case, only it's making me feel strange inside with her eyes on me. I stir in my jeans. What the fuck is going on?

"You're playing the Aptos Mariners, right?"

"That's the one. It's our last game of the season for school. I can't wait to wipe the floor with these guys. Denver is going to have a field day with them. There's a player on their team he can't stand. Some dude made a pass at Lilly not that long ago at a different game. Now he's got it in for the guy."

"Can't blame him. You'd be no different if it were your girl." She is right, I'd knock him the fuck out.

"Ooo, the movie is starting." Lizzie immediately turns back to the large cinema screen, drinks some of her drink. I watch as the straw goes between her full lips and feel my dick twinge. Again. I'm so frigging full of teenage hormones, I swear if the wind changes, I'd be ready to pump away. I feel uncomfortable in my jeans, and thinking about Lizzie being sat so damn close to me is getting me all twisted inside out. This is the worst. I can't feel like this about Lizzie. She's my all-time best friend and I know she won't feel the same way.

I try to focus, but it's so hard with her closeness and warmth. I wonder what it'd be like to be that straw being sucked on. Damn it, I'm jealous of a goddamn straw. Unbelievable. Unfuckingbelievable.