3 Movie Night

It's already Friday and I can't wait for this period to end so that I can finally hang out with Callie and Ethan, also Ryan is coming today so Callie already skipped last period so she could go and pick him up from the train station and then we'll meet up at Grandma's House, it's our local diner where we usually hang out.

As soon as the bell rings, I exit the classroom and head for the school gate where Ethan and I agreed to meet.

"Hey Nikki! Are you heading home?" asks Mark as he joins me.

"No actually I'm waiting for Ethan."

"Are you still in for movie night or do you have other plans?" he asks.

"Of course I'm in!"

"Okay then I'll be waiting for you." he says before giving me a quick hug and leaving.

Mark and I are best friends, he lives next door and I've known him since I can remember. He's my closest friend and my confidant. Friday movie nights are our new habit, we started it when I came back from Australia, at first it was almost every night movie night but we agreed we'll keep it for Fridays when school starts.

Five minutes later, Ethan joins me claiming that he was held up by their teacher but he's way too happy for someone who was held up in class for almost ten minutes. I let it slip for the moment because Callie was already texting us why we're late, she could be truly impatient at times.

When we get to Grandma's House, we find Callie and her sexy camp boyfriend waiting for us, pictures didn't give him credits, he had that type of charming beauty even when his features weren't that perfect.

"Hello!" I say opening my arms for a hug which he reciprocates happily. "It's nice to finally meet you Ryan, it feels like I already know you because Callie wouldn't stop talking about you not even for a minute." He chuckles and Callie scoffs at me.

"Well, we've got to admit that she has all the right to brag about him." jokes Ethan shaking Ryan's hand which earns him a proud look from Callie as she kisses her boyfriend.

We sit down and order something to eat. Grandma's House is a pretty cozy diner, its lights are always dim and the atmosphere is homey, the owner is the nicest old lady in the town, she always greets us with a warm smile and would come by and joke with us. She also has some card and board games that we burrow sometimes and she finds great joy in teaching us how to play Poker and the food is just amazing.

"So what exactly did Callie tell you about me because I've got to admit that I know some pretty embarrassing stories about you too." Announces Ryan.

"Callie!" Ethan and I say in choir glaring at her.

"I swear I didn't say anything." She raises her hands in defense looking at Ryan for help.

"You're no fun! I said that to guarantee my safety in case you spilled some beans about me."

"I thought my life was over for a moment." Says Ethan dramatically.

Miss Moore brings our orders after a few minutes, my mouth waters just from the smell coming from our plates.

"Is this THE boyfriend?" She asks as she hands each one of us his order.

"See! Even Miss Moore knows about you!" jokes Ethan.

Ryan stands up and shakes her hand "Ryan, it's nice to meet you, ma'am, your food is truly mouth-watering."

"And a gentleman too! you better keep this one, boys like him are harder to find." She laughs.

We spend the rest of the evening chatting and getting to know each other because even though Callie apparently told us all about the other person, somethings thankfully escaped her which allowed us to have a proper conversation.

At some point, Joe sent me a text saying that they found the perfect house with a picture of the deed and then asking me to join her later to check out the house and help her with some cleaning and getting the necessities in order, so after leaving Callie and Ethan to their plans, I head towards Joe's new house.

Joe takes me on a tour around the house, it's a nice modern house with four bedrooms and two huge living room, it has a nice garden with swings set up which was Martin's favorite part of the house. He was literally promising to transform it to an attraction park for his kids and Joelle had already planned what she's going to keep and what she'll get rid of.

"What are you going to do with the rest of the furniture?" I ask after she shows me the different shops that she'll be visiting for the next two weeks to get her favorite pieces from.

"I don't really know, Martin said we can donate them, everything seems to be new but it's just too modern for me, I need it to be cozy. I always liked how my mom kept our home."

"You can totally ask her to help, her organization has a new manager so she's got plenty of free time now and she's really good at this stuff."

"They already came by earlier and saw the house and we agreed that she'll be coming with me and she also knows more shops than I do. Can you believe that she agreed to give me some of her favorite decorations! Like that antique cabinet that we have in the hall!"

"Are you serious!" I look at her with big wide eyes.

I couldn't believe that my mom would give up her precious cabinet, it was a crafted wedding cabinet that apparently belonged to one of China's emperors and my dad got it for her at an auction for a huge price.

Joelle was going to spend the night at her new house, apparently, they already brought all the belongings that they had at our house so we start putting somethings into order while Martin orders our dinner.

When I finally leave, it was almost 9 p.m and Martin offers to drive me home afraid that my mom would kill them if they let me leave on foot at this hour.

Mark was already waiting for me on our porch and he gives me a quick hug when I reach him.

"Do you need to get some stuff or we can head directly to my house?"

"Nah, I can borrow clothes from you." I say shrugging off.

"Who said you can!" he says fighting off a smile.

"It's not like this is the first time and plus I don't want to go in and disturb my parents, you know it's their sacred Friday."

"Okay let's go, I have a terrific movie for night!" he says excitedly dragging me by the hand towards his house.

My parents have a habit of spending their Friday nights en amoureux, they usually go out for a fancy dinner and then settle down to watch a classical movie, it's something heartwarming and thanks to our parents' relationships we all have high standards when it comes to love.

"Hey mom!" says Mark as soon as we step inside.

"Oh, hey Nicki!" Luciana responds smiling at me.

I can't help but laugh at the face Mark was making "Seriously! Why do you tend to ignore me as soon as she steps foot in our house!" he says sitting furiously on the couch.

I kiss Luciana on the cheek and then sit next to her on the floor, she had several cans, crayons and cartons scattered around her.

"I just saw you minutes ago but Nicki is the one I haven't seen in over a week!" she defends herself.

"I know I'm your favorite," I say hugging her "where's Luna?"

"She went to get the glue and scissors, she has a school project and I'm helping her."

"I'll go make us popcorn for the night." says Mark before getting up and heading towards the kitchen.

Luna joins us a few seconds later, she hugs me tightly then sits down next to her mom and begins assembling her soon-to-be recycled robot figurines. Luna is the sweetest 7 years old girl that I have ever known, she and Mark are really close and we tend to take her out with us as much as we can. Luciana worked really hard to be her kids' best friend, since their father is a pilot and he's constantly absent, raising them was left to her and she wanted to raise a family that supports and loves each other.

I help them out a bit with the project until Mark joins us with two large bowls of popcorn, he hands one to Luna who takes it excitedly then we head to his room.

"Take whatever you need from the closest, I'm going to set up the movie." He was already wearing grey sweatpants and a black ACDC t-shirt so I bet that'll be his pajamas for the night.

I take out the smallest sweatpants and t-shirt he has, which makes a nice combination of blue and orange, and head to his bathroom.

"So Joelle is going to settle down here!" He asks.

"Yes, they think it's better for her and the baby but unfortunately Martin will have to drive miles daily."

"You must be excited about this, how does it feel knowing that you'll be an aunt?" He asks.

"I'm happy to have her back and it's strange somehow but I'm excited about it." I say as I walk out of the bathroom, even though I choose the smallest pieces he has, the clothes still hang loose on me.

"I can't say that I know exactly how you're feeling but I know you well enough and I can assure you that this baby will not change the kind of relationship you have with your siblings nor with your parents." he sits on the bed and holds my gaze, he has already set everything up and even brought a couple of soda cans along with a few bags of chips and candies.

"How can you be so sure that I'm feeling that way? I told you I'm excited about it." I try to defend myself.

"Well, I told you I know you so well, don't you remember that one time when I brought Fred home, when we were like twelve and you totally became jealous of him thinking that I'll forget about you because of him, you practically scared him away. You're the type of person who wants to always be number one so I know that you're already jealous of that baby." He explains and I can't help but laugh at the memory.

"You had to bring that up didn't you!"

"Of course!" He laughs.

I give him a light slap on the shoulder and sit next to him.

"Let's forget about all that! What are we watching today?"

"The Call! It's an Asian movie, a thriller, people have been giving it great reviews." He says settling comfortably on the bed and I lay next to him.

Mark has always been good with choosing movies, that's why he's the one who always chooses what we watch and this one was no different. It was truly a masterpiece, I even teared up a little at some scenes.

The next morning, I wakeup with Mark still peacefully sleeping by my side and it was already 11 a.m. so I decided to let him sleep a little bit more while I washup. Due to the numerous nights I spend at Mark's house, I had the idea of packing an extra toiletry bag and leaving it at his house that way I won't need to bring anything with me each time I come over.

Once I come out of the bathroom, I jump on the bed and start shaking Mark to wake him up.

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" I keep on screaming.

He covers his head with his pillow and grants "You fucker! Can't you let me sleep in peace!"

"Come on! It's past eleven and I want to do something fun!" I complain.

"There's nothing to do! Let me sleep in peace!" he screams, I forgot to mention that he's not a morning person but I bet you've already figured that out.

"You know you'll regret it if you don't wake up this instance!" I threaten him.

"Fine" he grunts as he stands up "I hate you!"

"I love you too," I smile at him "I'll be in the kitchen!" I say as I exit the room.

When I get to the kitchen, Luciana was taking out a deliciously smelling cake from the oven. She actually owns a bakery and her patisseries are the best in the world.

"Good morning!" she smiles at me as I kiss her on the cheek.

"The smell is incredible!" I say leaning over the cake to better take in the sugary smell.

"I'll get you a piece right away, there's coffee in the pot and there's some leftover blueberry cheesecake in the fridge, I forgot to tell you about it yesterday."

"You're the best!" I say hugging her tightly, blueberry cheesecake is my favorite, especially hers.

"So how was the movie?" she asks as I take out the Tupperware containing the cake and dig right into it.

"It's was amazing! I can tell you all about it but it's a thriller and I know you don't like them even though it's not that scary." I say with my mouth half full, trying as best to say some understandable words.

"You can spare me the details then." she laughs.

"You know what! We can opt for a romantic comedy next week, we'll let Mark suffer a little bit." I suggest.

"Did I hear romantic comedy?" says Mark as he enters the kitchen "morning mom," he kisses her on the cheek "and you" he says pointing his finger at me "don't you even think about making me watch a romcom, I still hate for waking me up that way!"

"Not even for your mom!" I smile wickedly.

"Seriously!" he looks at her for help but she only nods her head "fine!" he says exasperated "but only if you promise that we can watch a movie of my choosing after it."

"it's a plan then!" I say and high-five Luciana.

The rest of the day was spent at the Retro coffee shop, some of our friends joined us for the evening and we spent our time chatting and playing some stupid games, at some point, even Ian joined us but of course we didn't even share a single word.

As for Sunday, I spent my time with Joelle helping her get the furniture she needed and we spent the whole day furniture shopping with my mom. It was truly exhausting but nothing beats family time.