42. How Much You Wanna Bet?

After securing tickets for the movie Tangled, Chase and Krislynn made their way inside the movie theatre, fiddling with the 3D glasses the attendant at the box office gave them. It was the first time Krislynn had ever gotten a hold of these newly modified glasses, black frame with dark lens; much more savvy looking than the older cardboard ones with the blue and red lens.

“I love these.” She popped the glasses out of their wrapper before tossing the garbage into a waste basket nearby. “They’re so retro.”

She turned to look at Chase who had, out of entertainment, already taken his out and positioned them in place. “I like these too,” he said. “They hide my black eye.” He turned around and checked out his surroundings before pointing to the concession stand. They had decided on watching an earlier show and grabbing dinner after the movie, but he knew Krislynn would grow restless if she didn’t have something to nibble on before then. “Want to grab some popcorn?”

She nodded fervently and after getting a bunch of snacks, they made their way to the specified theatre with ten minutes to spare. Luckily, the theatre wasn’t very crowded and they found good seats relatively easily before sitting down to watch the big screen in front of them as some movie trivia appeared.

Krislynn grabbed a handful of popcorn and shoved it in her mouth as she listened intently to the trivia question. “Which Pixar animation up to date has produced the highest worldwide gross earning? Is it A. Finding Nemo? B. Toy Story 3? Or C. Monsters Inc.?”

She didn’t even have to think. “A,” she screamed. “Finding Nemo!”

“Wrong,” Chase muttered beside her. “The answer is definitely Toy Story 3.”

“No way!” Krislynn quickly turned to him and threw him a dark glare. “Finding Nemo is the best animation movie ever! Everyone saw it! I mean, who actually went to see Toy Story 3?!”

“I did,” he shouted. “It’s a childhood classic!”

“It’s stupid is what it is,” she grumbled. “Watch me be right!”

He shook his head. “Nope, you’re wrong.”

“Yeah? You wanna bet?”

Chase let out an obnoxious laugh as he bit the head off his gummy bear. “Krislynn, you’re broke ass! You’re living at my house and you still owe me a huge amount of money after I paid off the hotel and your Visa bills and shit. What in the world do you have to offer me?” He raised one eyebrow suggestively before giving her a cocky grin. “Because whatever you’re using to bet me, I’m going to want it tonight.”

Krislynn gave him a look of complete disgust before her stubbornness got the best of her. “Fine,” she shouted dignifiedly. “If I win, my current debt goes down by half! If you win...” She hesitated as her cheeks flushed a deep red, but she knew very well there was only one thing Chase would ever want from her. “I’ll... I’ll have sex with you tonight!”

Her statement made Chase burst into laughter. “You’re going to cry,” he chuckled. “Fine! You’re on.”

Fidgeting, Krislynn waited impatiently for the answer to the trivia, and when it came, her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. “The answer is B. Toy Story 3. The movie made over 1 billion dollars after...”

“Look at you,” Chase teased, nudging her on her arm as she sat stiffly in her seat. “Putting out on the first date – didn’t think you were that kind of girl.”

“I’m not!” She squealed. “And you totally cheated somehow!”

“I didn’t!!” Chase yelled.

“Whatever! Re- redemption round! Let’s play another one!”

“There’s no such thing,” he shouted, swallowing back a chuckle. “You lost and I won, fair and square.”

“Was it only a fluke you got it right?” She taunted. “Scared to lose the next one?”

Chase threw her a glare. “You’re fucking on,” he said. “But if you lose this time, get ready to do some kinky ass shit tonight.”

“Fine,” she yelled, and quickly crossed all her fingers and toes for good luck.

The next trivia question came promptly after they settled their bet. “Which well known Hollywood director is famous for dating multiple Hollywood starlets and his womanizing ways? Is it A. James Cameron? B. Steven Spielberg? Or C. Chase Evans?”

“Oh my God!!! I know this one!” Krislynn screamed. “It’s C. It’s C! It’s C!!!!!!!!”

Chase’s jaw dropped as he threw his arms in the air. “What the hell is with that question?!” He screamed. “I’m going to sue this freaking place!!”

Krislynn giggled excitedly when the answer was given out and she found herself victorious of the bet. “Na na na na boo boo!” She stuck her tongue out at him, but Chase only smiled back before feeding her a gummy bear. “You’re not upset you lost?”

“I’m not immature like you.”

Krislynn openly rolled her eyes at him. “Riight. Keep trying Pinocchio.”

The previews began showing quickly after, and after several of them, the movie finally started. Chase wasn’t exactly a big fan of Disney films, but because Krislynn had seemed so excited when she was talking about Tangled, he had Googled all the movie showings in L.A and even the cities around L.A just so he could take her to see it. Fortunately, there was one showing of it in Beverly Hills so he didn’t have to drive far, but he would have taken her further if it meant she got what she wanted.

It was odd though, he thought, the way her emotions could so easily influence him. He had realized when he first met her that he felt like crap every time she was extremely upset, but he hadn’t realized until now that he fed off her happiness too. It was such a weird concept that Chase couldn’t even make much sense out of it.

Pushing his stray thoughts out of his head, Chase leaned back on his chair and let out a sigh. His eyes shifted around the dark theatre before watching a bit of the movie with loose attention. Krislynn’s eyes were glued to the screen, one hand holding onto a giant popcorn bag and the other shoving them into her mouth endlessly.

Chase had no idea how to act. He wanted to hold her hand, but the fact that the action was so juvenile made him embarrass to go about it. He didn’t want to straight out say so, but he also didn’t want to lose pride in randomly grabbing it – especially when her hands seemed so preoccupied with food. No! He couldn’t just grab her hand! He needed a reason or an amazing opportunity!

Shifting in his seat, Chase cleared his throat before resting his hand on the edge of the armrest and tapping his fingers loudly against the plastic material. It was a subtle sign for Krislynn to look at his hand and then rest her arm beside his, but she only threw him a glare when she realized he was making the noise and hissed, “Shhh!”

Her attention quickly diverted back to the screen before Chase cleared his throat again. “Resting your arm on this handy dandy armrest sure feels nice.”

“Chase,” she whispered sternly. “Shut up!”

Feeling his veins fuelling up with fury, Chase angrily reached out and snatched the bag of popcorn from her hands. “Mine!” He growled.

Krislynn immediately whimpered before biting her lips, her eyes growing big and round as she looked at him longingly. Chase felt his heart being tempted by her expression, but he knew better than to give in to her. After all, she was longing for the food, and not him. “Stop looking at me,” he grumbled. “Go watch your stupid movie.”

Krislynn scowled at him before turning away, and Chase was left with the bitterness of boredom once more. The movie dragged on, and he almost fell asleep at one point before he felt Krislynn shaking his arm excitedly. “Look Chase look! It’s like you can touch it!”

His eyes widened at the screen to comprehend what she was talking about. The two main characters were sitting on a little boat in the middle of a lake and millions of lit up lanterns seemed to float around them. It was a breathtaking sight, and because the movie was in 3D, some of the lanterns seemed to be floating right in front of him.

Krislynn gasped in amusement as her arm extended out in attempt to catch one of the lanterns. “Got it! Oops. Ahh! Almost got one!”

Chase blinked absentmindedly at her before his adrenaline kicked in and he sat up, flinging his arm forward and grabbing her hand with his. “S- stop!” He said awkwardly. “You’re, you know, blocking people’s view.”

“Oh...”

“Yeah...”

His palm on top of her hand, his fingers between hers, he slowly led her arm down on the armrest before looking away from her in embarrassment. Chase could feel his cheeks burning up a little, and waited anxiously for it to come. He knew it. He felt it. Krislynn was definitely going to say something extremely clueless and dumb and ruin the whole thing. Why are you still holding onto my hand? Or, what are you doing Chase? Or, um... your hand is sticky, can you let go?

Nervously, he swallowed the lump in his throat and waited impatiently for disaster to come, but after waiting and getting no response, he grew restless and took a peek at her. Krislynn’s eyes were glued to the screen, paying no special attention to him whatsoever and relief quickly flushed over him before he looked down at their hands.

Removing his hand from hers, he gently manoeuvred about until he managed to position their arms perfectly – so that he could hold her hand the exact way he wanted, palms facing, and fingers intertwined. He glanced up at her with a goofy grin once he succeeded and though her eyes were still focused on the screen; her lips were curved in a smile. “You’re silly,” she said.

Chase looked away bashfully and sunk lower on his seat, moving their hands down from the armrest to the top of his lap. “Yeah, well... whatever.”

The rest of the movie didn’t get any more interesting for Chase, but he managed to sit through it until the credits rolled. “That was the most adorable movie in the world,” Krislynn exclaimed when the ending came. “Did you like that part when they...”

Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah.

“Did you like it?” He asked.

She nodded animatedly. “I loved it!”

“Then it’s all good.”

“But you didn’t like it? You didn’t think it was cute?” Krislynn promptly narrowed her eyes at him, her voice in an accusing tone, and Chase quickly realized it was one of those stupid ‘do I look fat’ type questions. He had no idea why girls felt the need for guys to agree with everything they say and like, but he remembered the last time Seth pulled a doozey – when he said the Backstreet Boys were gay without realizing Michelle’s complete infatuation with them even years after they disbanded – not pretty!

“Um... I uh...” She narrowed her eyes even more dramatically at him. “I enjoyed uh... the last half of the movie,” he said, which wasn’t entirely a lie even if it had nothing to do with the movie itself. Krislynn brought his words though, and Chase sucked in a breath of relief before asking her where she wanted to have dinner.

Idly, they made their way out of the theatre as Krislynn contemplated her choices. “McDonald’s,” she said.

“Are you serious? I thought you would have chosen some stupid organic vegan place.”

“Yeah I know,” she moaned helplessly, “but I’m soooooo weak for junk stuff and I haven’t had Micky D’s in so long! Please Chase?”

“No way! I don’t want McDonald’s,” he shouted, but fifteen minutes later, there they were, standing in line for a burger inside the nearest McDonald’s down the street. Chase had no idea how he even got there, but apparently he was just as weak to Krislynn’s messed up demands as she was to her craving for food. “You’re a cheap date,” he told her.

She gave him a silly smile. “Yeah, I know,” she laughed.

After a long debate of what to get, Chase finally ended up getting a Big Mac with fries and a Coke, while Krislynn ordered a Happy Meal. Or to be exact, five Happy Meals! Apparently one wasn’t enough to fill her up, but she was oddly determined to get a Happy Meal no matter what sort of sense Chase tried to talk into her. “You youngsters must have a lot of kids to feed,” the elderly lady at the counter remarked.

“Oh, just a couple,” Chase laughed as he gave Krislynn a gentle poke on the side of her ribs.

She wrinkled her nose at him, and after getting their food, they took a table far away from distractions in a tiny corner of the room. “So for the sake of this turning out to be more like an actual first date, you should tell me more about yourself.”

Chase looked up in surprise and watched her pick out the pickles from her cheeseburger before taking a bite. “What do you mean more about myself? Don’t you already know tons about me?” His eyes lowered and concentrated on his own burger as he picked out the pickles and onions from it. “You know where I work, what I like, what I hate, how I like my food, who my friends are―”

“Yeah, but I don’t know tons about you that you know about me,” she interrupted.

“Like what?”

Krislynn tapped a finger to her chin. “Like where you’re from and your family and stuff. You know all about my background.” She opened her Chicken McNuggets and took a bite out of one before she continued. “Were you born in L.A?”

“New York,” he told her. “But everyone’s moved so I don’t really know many people there anymore.”

“And your family?” She asked.

Chase hesitated as he bit into his burger. “Privacy is sort of hard to find in L.A,” he said, “so I don’t tell just anyone about my family. Even Seth and Pete’s knowledge of them is limited.” Krislynn’s expression fell – after all, she had told him every dirty thing about her – but she nodded in comprehension, and Chase felt his resolve breaking apart. “Do you... Do you really want to know?”

He looked at her nervously as she peeked up and nodded her head. “Of course,” she murmured, “but no pressure.”

His eyes stayed fixated on her, studying her silently before his gaze finally softened and the corner of his mouth tilted in a faint smile. “No pressure,” he said softly. Taking his time, he took another couple of bites from his burger. “Um... where do you want me to start?”

Krislynn smiled at how serious he was taking the whole ordeal. It was like he was nervous to talk about his family, but sort of eager to tell her at the same time. “Anywhere,” she said. She watched his face wrinkle in concentration, trying to decide where he wanted to start, and waited patiently for him to figure his thoughts out.

From what she had experienced as a social worker, the relationships people have, and things they say about their families, usually reflect a lot about themselves, and she was personally curious of what Chase would use as a starting point. If he spoke of his mom first, and fondly, he was most likely a closet mama’s boy. If he spoke of his siblings or a close relative first, his relationship with his parents might have been loose or severed. There were all kinds of little things, and whether they were true or not, Krislynn still loved picking up on it.

As if he finally decided where he wanted to start, Chase drew a deep breath in. “Well, my parents are high school sweethearts.” He glanced down at his food as he spoke. “They met each other when they were fourteen, started dating a year after, and have been together ever since.”