History Must Repeat Itself

Chapter 20

         We raced down the deliveries' hallway of Starcourt Mall. If the soldiers wanted to shoot us, we didn't have anywhere to hide. It was a straight shot. I pushed down the vomit that was grumbling in my stomach. The stress wasn't good for whatever crap was inside of me.

"Where are we going?" Erica and I asked at the same time. We both turned to Dustin, who obviously had a goal in mind.

"Just trust me."

Dustin finally slowed, raising a finger. He pushed against a door, sticking his head through. I felt a hand wrap around mine. Glancing back, I smiled at Robin but grabbed the side of Steve's shirt before he wandered away.

"All clear."

It turned out to be the Starcourt movie theatre. Tightly holding to Robin's hand, we ran into the closest showing. As we dashed to the front of the full room, I could barely register what the film was. It was that time one, I think, with the guy from Family Ties. That's the best my brain could do. In the front row, three empty seats sat together.

"You three, sit," Dustin commanded.

"No, no! These seats are too close!" Robin whined, throwing her head back.

"Dude, these seats blow," Steve added with a groan.

I opened my mouth to ask Dustin and Erica if I could sit with them instead, but the person behind us began shushing. Robin responded in kind. I sat down next to a stranger, smiling awkwardly.

"Whatever you do, don't go anywhere," Dustin told us, glaring at Steve and Robin.

          Leaning forwards, I covered my ears and shut my eyes. The nausea was starting to come back to forefront of my mind. A migraine added to it, along with the buzzing at the back of my skull.

"Hey, are you okay?" Robin asked, loudly whispering in my ear. I shook my head. She didn't say anything else. The movie's bass shook the theatre around us. I considered leaving but I remembered the look on Dustin's face when he told us to stay. He was obviously freaking out, having to be the adult in a situation with three teenagers.

A small part of my brain was starting to sober up, as my stomach yelled that it needed to be emptied soon. I could even remember the movie's title. Back to the Future. I had wanted to see it. Eddie and I were talking about it the other day. 

I felt an urge to call Eddie. I knew the desire was led by the drugs in my system because I had a rush to tell Eddie just how cute he was and that I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to run my fingers through his hair and watch him smile.

Another boy's smile appeared in my head. Billy Hargrove. He may have kissed a lot of girls, but I forgot that when I saw his smile. His smile was intoxicating. The little chuckle he did when he leaned forward, enticing me to kiss him. Kissing Billy felt amazing.

Once again, the intoxication made my thoughts mush together. There was another set of hands I imagined on my face, holding me closely while we kissed. And he was sitting a seat over from me. 

I glanced over. My heart stopped for a moment when I saw the seats beside me, empty. Looking the other way, Erica sat alone, focused on the movie. Okay, so the whole group didn't leave me.

         Sober and intoxication clashed and I knew I was about to vomit. Attempting to be casual, I rushed out of the theatre. In the hallway, I bent over. Taking deep breaths through my nose, I begged my body not to empty itself all over the carpet. I'd hate for someone else to clean that up. I spotted a garbage with a wide opening. The most unattractive sounds came out of my throat as whatever drugs left in my stomach made their exit.