Chapter Ten

"Cierra," Dawn whispered, elbowing her, "Is that who I think it is?"

Dawn gestured at a person a few rows in front of them and to the left. Cierra tried to make out who they could be from their outline in the dark theater. Even with the dark screen it still took Cierra's eyes a minute to adjust to the room.

"Is that," She paused squinting her eyes to see their features better. Luckily the scene changed for a moment to a white locker room, helping Cierra see. The person was clearly tall, their head and shoulders at least six inches higher than the people near him, and his hair reach just passed the nape of his neck. Cierra only knew one guy who kept his hair that long. "Jeremiah?" she asked.

"Yes!" The person in front of Dawn looked back and gave her a quick 'shh' and Dawn stuck her tongue out at them. "I didn't know he liked horror movies, did you?"

On screen, a woman screamed. A cheerleader on screen had just finished arguing with her boyfriend and, left alone and vulnerable, had quickly fallen prey to the cheer squad murderer.

"How would I have known?" She asked back, staring at the screen, trying to make it obvious she was watching the movie.

Dawn turned back to the screen, "When this movie is over it is on."

Cierra resisted the urge to roll her eyes, instead choosing to melt snowcaps between her tongue and the roof of her mouth. Dawn had successfully talked to Jeremiah a handful of times, and each conversation had started with an 'Um' and finished with him awkwardly excusing himself. Now that Cierra thought about it, for a bad boy, he had great manners. Looking back where he was sitting, she couldn't help but notice that he sat alone, the seats on either side of him empty.

"I knew it was the captain and co-captain of the Raging Rogers," Cierra said as the lights turned on around them. "Too bad though, I really wanted to know what happened to that guy from Scream Squad V."

Cierra might as well have been talking to herself for how much Dawn was paying attention. Her eyes were locked on the aisle where Jeremiah was just now standing up, waiting for the people around him to pass.

"C'mon, c'mon," Dawn rushed her, hurrying them out of the aisle, "He's going to get away!"

"He must know you're coming," Cierra teased. Dawn ignored her, instead choosing to push forward.

Dawn pursued Jeremiah like she was on a mission, not letting him out of their sights. For a second Cierra thought they had lost him when they exited the theater onto the once red, now dirty maroon carpeted hallway.

Dawn wasn't going to give up that easily, power walking into the lobby, scanning the crowd. Jeremiah wasn't hard to pinpoint, he stood taller than most and his long hair helped him stand out further in the crowd.

When they were close enough, she pounced.

"Hey, Jeremiah," she called out, and when he turned around, she waved. "What are you doing here?"

For a moment he looked confused by her question. Cierra groaned inwardly. What did Dawn think he was at the movie theater for? She knew Dawn was looking for any opening, but 'What movie are you coming from?' felt like the better choice. She smiled awkwardly next to Dawn, hoping her face hid her thoughts.

"Hey," stopped for a second, thinking, "Dawn, right? And Cierra?" He looked at each of them he said their names. He looked confused as to why they were talking to him, and he waited a beat to see if Dawn had anything else to say. When she simply stared up at him, smiling, he continued, "I was just watching a movie," he said, the confusion on his face melting into an easy-going smile. His piercings today were a pearly white that reminded Cierra of pictures she'd seen of moonstone. They contrasted well with his tanner complexion. How hard was it to find mostly matching ear, nose, and lip piercings, she wondered? Though, now that she was looking at him closely, it looked like he had one gold piercing at the top of his left ear, the gold stud jut barely visible through his hair. "Saw Scream Squad VII. Have you heard of it?"

The energy coming off Dawn was palpable, she reminded Cierra of a small child just being told they were going to get their favorite ice cream. This must have been what she was waiting for.

"Yeah," Dawn was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet, "We actually just saw that one as well. We've made it a priority to watch all of them as they come out. Have you seen the whole franchise or are you just now jumping in?"

"It's actually my first one of the series, but you know what they say," Jeremiah paused looking from Dawn to Cierra and back, "A scary movie a day keeps the nightmares away."

Huh? Cierra's brain felt as though someone had pressed the pause button. What did he mean by that?

"Anyway, I have to go," Already he was making to turn away from them, "Have a good night."

Cierra could have sworn he winked right before his back was completely turned.

"Did you see that?!" Dawn pulled on Cierra's arm, "I talked to him!"

"What do you think he meant by 'a scary movie a day keeps the nightmares away?'" Cierra asked, ignoring Dawn's excitement.

Dawn looked over at Cierra, puzzled, her eyebrows knitting together. "I don't know, it was probably just some witty play on scary movies giving people nightmares? That's not what's important here, what's important is he knew my name!"

Cierra nodded; Dawn was right, it made sense for Jeremiah to mention nightmares in the context of scary movies. The two went hand in hand. Not to mention Goldie had mentioned there weren't any other people like her. How would Jeremiah know about nightmares if he couldn't even access the dream world?

After dropping Dawn off at home, having listened to her recap the entire conversation twice, each ending with: "And at the end, did you see him wink at us?!" She put so much emphasis on 'wink' she had to stop and catch her breath before continuing.

Jeremiah was attractive, and many girls had fallen for his boyish wolf cut and so brown they were almost black eyes, but he wasn't Cierra's type. Something about him felt like a river with a deep under current, waiting to pull someone under. Or maybe she just couldn't understand why he was constantly trying to fight so hard against teachers and the school. She admired him for his efforts, but at the same time she couldn't but wonder if he just needed someone to fight against.

Over the years Dawn had asked Cierra what her type was, listing through the popular names: Harry Styles, Henry Caville, Idris Elba, Robert Downey, Jr. When that failed, she started going through the girls: Zendaya, Emilia Clarke, Natalie Portman, Megan Thee Stallion. But Cierra didn't have an answer. She liked the Geralt of Rivia look, strong and rugged, but also slightly otherworldly with the gray hair. She wasn't a fan of his closed off demeanor though. When she really thought about it, she wasn't certain she could romantically like anyone without getting to know them first.

What was the point of liking only their looks if they were constantly thirsting after other partners or never looked up from their phones?

Thinking back, Cierra couldn't even remember a time when she had a crush on someone. There had been a boy back in elementary school who always shared candy he brought from home with her, but she wasn't sure if she liked him or just his candy.

She sighed, pulling into the driveway at home. In some ways she found herself jealous of Dawn; she always had something to think on or look forward to in her life, even if it was just the idea of running into her crush somewhere and having a short two-minute conversation.

Then again, she thought, quietly opening the door, and sneaking upstairs in case her aunt and uncle were asleep, she was looking forward to hunting down a goddess tonight and that was exciting in its own right.

After getting ready for bed, she picked up Cid, situating him on the bed. Every day he seemed to grow a little bigger, his head reaching the top of her calf now. Even his fluff had started smoothing down more to fur as the days went by, as if he was shedding his baby hair and growing into his adult coat. Cierra absently wondered what size he would get to in the real world and how she was going to keep feeding him if he got much bigger.

Wherever she was going, Cierra knew she was going to want Cid with her.