Chapter 18

The movie began and immediately, our attention was drawn towards the screen. 

The movie was a sci-fi space exploration film that followed the journey of a group of five astronauts to Mars. The opening scene of the movie showed two of the astronauts who were also NASA scientists discussing the likelihood of survival for the journey to Mars. There were a whole of scientific discussions that I could barely understand but thankfully, there wasn't too much of it. 

The main character of the film was a man named Marvin Hecklin - a retired special agent who joined NASA as an IT specialist after being forcefully retired by the U.S. Government for a job gone wrong. He was offered the opportunity to join the Mars 2.0 Expedition with four other of his colleagues - three of whom he was unfamiliar with. Being an introverted person with a head full of past trauma, Marvin finds it difficult to communicate with the rest of the group and form a bond with them. Only one of them, the lady scientist, Melissa Hart, is the only one he is able to express himself too. 

"Ugh, I knew it. It's always the same plot..." I heard Cassius grumble under his breath. 

I could understand his disgruntlement. The trailer of the movie hardly showed any romantic scenes but what was shown on screen right now made it seem like this entire movie was going to be about the budding romance between the main character and the hot scientist chick. It was not the movie I signed up for. 

If I wanted to watch a romance film, I would've just watched 'A Lady's Romance'. 

As the film progressed, the worse and worse it became. 

Though the start was interesting enough, the whole space exploration part was vastly lacking in many areas. For starters, the story had way too many plot holes and lacked any sort of explanation as to why something happened. Secondly, the side characters hardly had any sort of personality and were closer to mobs that thrived in the background. The only one with an actual personality was the main character but his personality was really just a mixture of edginess, depression, and lust when needed. Completely unlikeable. 

And then, there were monsters. Or rather, alien monsters. 

Wasn't this a space exploration film about a journey to Mars?? Why were there aliens? 

"This wasn't sci-fi fantasy when I watched the trailer," I muttered under my breath as the lady scientist on the screen screamed in horror as the alien creature bounded after her. When Melissa Hart shouted at the others to do something, I let out a groan, "What the hell can they do? They're fighting for their own lives and are in a much more dangerous situation than you!"

I didn't realize I had said my thoughts out loud until I heard Cassius reply, "Right? Shouldn't she be smart? There's like a hundred and one places for her to hide but she's choosing the worst directions to run in."

"I think Marvin probably sucked out all her intelligence with all that kissing earlier," I unconsciously responded. 

Cassius snorted in agreement, "Damn right about that. And Marvin was supposed to be a retired special agent. The way that he's acting though, it'd be more believable to say that he was once a depressed security guard rather than a retired agent. He can't even fight properly!"

"They should have at least given the other astronauts more personality. All they're doing is spouting a bunch of nonsense and making crappy jokes. They only scream when things go wrong and do nothing to fix it," I added. 

The climax of the film happens when the alien on the screen suddenly transforms into a human whom Marvin recognizes as his old special agent partner who died. It was a sudden plot twist that made absolutely zero sense whatsoever and in accordance with the rest of the movie, nothing about how, why, or when was explained. 

The movie ended with the two main characters defeating the alien/monster/ex-agent partner and making love inside the destroyed spaceship. 

I was tempted to toss my leftover popcorn at the screen and demand the cinema to give me back my wasted dollars.

The ending credits appeared and neither Cassius nor I had moved from our seats. 

We both simply stared at the screen with utter blankness. 

"That was..." Cassius began.

"Utter trash," I finished.

"Agreed."

——————[oo]——————

"And the bloody alien - like where the hell did that come from?!"

"Marvin's characters had so much potential and it would've been okay if the rest of the plot wasn't so dumb-"

"It was like they tried making Interstellar but a thousand times worse-"

"Oh please, nothing would live up to Interstellar. An absolute masterpiece that film was."

"Anne Hathaway was hot in that."

"And Matthew McConaughey," I said dreamily. 

I was about to add another comment when I suddenly realized something strange. 

Blinking, I glanced around me and found out that we were no longer inside the movie theatre and were now just standing inside the mall randomly walking nowhere. Even stranger, Cassius and I were so caught up in our conversation about the horrible sci-fi film that we had inadvertedly broken down the barrier between us and were talking with ease. 

I think he realised it as well because he suddenly stopped and scratched his head awkwardly. 

Suddenly, the atmosphere became weird. 

"Um..." he began to say, "T-That was..."

"Yeah," I muttered. "So..."

"So..."

A beat of silence passed and then...

"Do you, er, wanna grab a cup of coffee or something?" 

I looked up at Cassius in surprise, completely not expecting him to suddenly ask that question. His expression was a mixture of nervousness and uncertainty and I found myself saying yes before I knew it. 

"S-Sure."

Which brings us back to the present. 

Sitting opposite him, tapping gently against the surface of the table, I wondered what possessed me to follow this guy into a coffee shop. I mean, I knew this whole thing was just going to be a bundle of awkwardness and weirdness considering our...lack of relationship so it was surprising to say the least that Cassius asked and I actually agreed.

"So, you like sci-fi movies?" 

Okay. Looks like we're starting with this.

I shrugged, "I guess. I'm not picky when it comes to movie genres as long as the storyline and plot are good. What about you?"

"Sci-fi is my go-to," he replied with a small grin. "Comedy is my second favorite and horror is my third."

"Oh no. I'm a big coward so I can't stand horror movies," I shivered. 

"Seriously?" Cassius gave me a funny look. He sliced off a bit of cheesecake and said, "Well. I guess it isn't so surprising. You don't seem like that kind of person that enjoys horror and stuff."

I raised an eyebrow at his words, "Oh? And what kind of person do I seem like?"

"Eh, you know..." he coughed and muttered, "Good girl. Good grades, doesn't break rules, doesn't go to parties; that kind of stuff."

Normally I would be offended but he isn't exactly wrong. Though I wouldn't call myself a 'good girl', the facts and what people see from their perspective would imply that I am indeed the 'stereotypical good girl'. The only thing I lack now is a 'bad boy' I guess. 

"I heard about your grades," Cassius said after swallowing a piece of cheesecake, "You almost scored a full mark. That's impressive."

"Thanks," I replied unsurely. "When you live a life such as mine, you don't really do anything other than study."

It was a sentence I had blurted out without thinking but I quickly regretted it seeing the expression on Cassius' face. 

"Um I didn't mean-"

"No. I get it," he cut me off. With a sigh, he said, "I...I know that how we treat you is wrong. A-Although we hate her, it isn't right to take out our anger on you who is innocent."

I tensed up and let my gaze fall down to my brownie. 

"I-I'm sorry," he finally said. 

In shock, I looked up at him with wide eyes and my mouth fell open. Searching his expression, I found that he was being sincere but I couldn't bring myself to just accept it. 

"...Why?" I asked. "Why are you apologizing now?" 

"Because I'm acknowledging the truth," he responded seriously. "My father...he was really hurt by what she did and h-he was filled with hate. My brother and I grew up following his attitude and believed him when he said that she had abandoned us. I still despise her actually but you don't deserve to be hated for something you didn't do."

I didn't know what to say and refrained from speaking while he continued.

"You haven't done anything at all to us. Even when you came to live with us, you've kept to yourself and never bothered us. It's almost as if you don't even live in the manor because of how little presence you have," he said. "And that day when I was sick, you could've left me and ignored my request but you went out of your way to fulfill it. I guess from your position, you probably thought you had no other choice but regardless, it was nice of you to make the chicken soup."

"...I see."

Cassius breathed out a sigh and said, "I don't think you're a bad person is what I'm trying to say."

"You barely know me," I pointed out. 

"Yes but if there's one thing you should know about rich kids, it's that we are trained to read people and distinguish between those who are genuine and those who are just using us. I can tell that you are a good person who doesn't harbor any ill will toward me," he said confidently. 

"If you're so sure-"

"I am."

Alright then. 

"But what brought this all on all of a sudden?" I questioned. "Surely, your opinion of me didn't change all of a sudden because of a single bonding session over a crappy film."

Cassius tensed. His expression changed into something akin to anger and he hesitated before saying, "A couple of days ago, just before my fight with Marcus, I found out something."

"What do you me-"

"Marcus' new girlfriend, someone he met at a party, has been sleeping with one of the teachers."

...WHAT?!