MARVEL: BUYING GODHOOD

That somehow made the table quiet again.

Gwen lowered her eyes toward her food.

Sara looked between the two of us with far too much interest, while Emily seemed to be thinking about what I’d just said.

I sighed.

“We’re really bad at keeping lunch normal.” Sara laughed quietly before telling me, “You’re the one giving serious answers.” I looked between the three of them and said, “Then let’s stop asking serious questions. Do you want to do something after this?” Sara immediately looked down at her emerald gown before moving one of her feet slightly beneath the table.

“In these dresses and heels?

Not really.” Emily carefully touched one of her pearl earrings before adding, “After seeing how much these accessories cost, most of my attention is currently on making sure I don’t lose anything.”

I frowned.

“You know they’re gifts, right? You don’t have to be that tense about them.” That clearly didn’t help.

Emily looked at the earrings again before saying, “That makes it worse. If they were yours, I could give them back without losing anything. Now they’re mine, which means I have to make sure I don’t lose them.” Sara nodded immediately.

“Exactly.”

I hadn’t considered that.

“If you’re that uncomfortable, we can go back and change,” I offered.

“I can arrange it.” Emily shook her head almost immediately.

“No. You put too much thought into choosing everything.” Sara and Gwen both slowly turned toward her.

Emily noticed and frowned.

“What?” Sara smiled before answering, “Nothing.” Gwen was smiling too now.

“Absolutely nothing.”

Emily looked between them suspiciously before returning to her food.

I decided not to ask what that was about.

“Fine.

No changing.

What do you want to do after lunch?” Sara shrugged and said, “Anything is good.” Emily nodded in agreement, and Gwen said she didn’t have anything planned either.

I thought about it for a moment before asking, “Movie?”

The three of them looked at each other.

That was apparently enough communication because all three nodded almost at the same time.

I asked, “Okay.

What genre?” They thought about it for a while before all three answered together, “Horror.” I stared at them for a moment, making Sara smile and ask, “What?” I shook my head.

“Nothing. I’m just starting to think you practice answering together.” Gwen laughed.

“We don’t.”

I took my phone out while they continued eating and made a quick call.

Once someone answered, I gave them the name of the cinema I wanted and told them to arrange a private screening for us.

It only took a few seconds before everything was confirmed.

I ended the call and put my phone down.

“Finish eating. We’ll go when you’re done.”

Sara stopped eating for a moment.

“Wait.

A private screening?

Isn’t that a little much?” I replied, “It’s fine.” Gwen looked down at her navy gown and then at Sara and Emily before saying, “Actually, going to a movie dressed like this is going to be embarrassing.”

I looked at the three of them.

They had a point.

Three girls in formal gowns and heels walking into a normal cinema with me wearing an emerald jacket and red shirt would probably attract a little more attention than any of them wanted.

“Okay. Don’t worry about it.” I picked up my phone again and made another short call.

This one took slightly longer, and when I ended it, Gwen was already looking at me suspiciously.

“What did you do?” she asked.

I put my phone down and replied, “You can be sure nobody else will be there.” Gwen stared at me for a few seconds before asking, “Nobody?” I nodded.

“Nobody.” Sara slowly put her fork down.

“Did you rent the entire place?” Instead of answering, I picked up my own fork again and told her, “Finish eating.” Sara looked toward Emily, who was trying not to laugh, before Gwen finally shook her head and returned to her food.

“Okay.”

The conversation moved back to college after that, and thankfully nobody asked another serious question.

I leaned back slightly and listened as Gwen started arguing with Sara about something that had happened in one of their classes while Emily kept correcting both of them.

At least lunch had finally become normal, or as normal as lunch could be when we were about to watch a horror movie in formal clothes inside an empty cinema.

A little later, I remembered one problem with the movie plan.

I looked between the three of them and asked, “Do you want to watch something new or an old movie?” All three of them stopped.

Sara’s fork remained halfway toward her mouth, Emily looked up from her plate, and Gwen slowly turned toward the other two.

None of them answered immediately.

Apparently choosing horror had been easy.

Choosing what kind of horror was somehow more difficult.

Sara finally lowered her fork and said, “Old.” Emily agreed with her, and after thinking about it for another few seconds, Gwen nodded as well.

“Yeah.

Old.” I looked between them and said, “That was surprisingly serious.” Sara ignored that and asked which one, so I took out my phone and looked through some of the available choices before finding one I recognized.

“What about The Exor####?”

Gwen immediately looked at Sara, while Sara looked toward Emily.

Emily thought for a few seconds before admitting, “I’ve never watched it.” Sara hadn’t either, and when Gwen shook her head as well, that settled it.

I told them, “Then that’s the one.” Sara looked toward me and asked, “Have you seen it?” I answered, “Some of it.” That wasn’t completely false.

I remembered watching it a very long time ago, although those memories belonged to a life none of them knew about.

It had been years even from my perspective, so I couldn’t remember every scene anymore.

Gwen narrowed her eyes slightly.

“Some of it?” When I told her I knew what happened, she immediately warned me not to spoil anything.

Sara added, “And don’t do that annoying thing where someone keeps saying something is about to happen.” Emily nodded before adding, “And don’t look at us whenever you know something scary is coming.” I smiled.

“Now I want to do it.” All three of them stared at me until I finally gave in.

“Fine. I won’t.”

We finished lunch not long after that.

The manager returned once the plates were cleared and asked whether we wanted dessert, but everyone agreed we’d probably get something at the cinema instead.

I thanked him before we left, and once again he personally walked us back toward the private elevator.

By the time we reached the lobby, our car was already waiting outside.

The drive to the cinema wasn’t very long.

Sara and Emily spent most of it telling Gwen more about the classes she’d missed, although the conversation eventually returned to the movie.

Apparently, none of them wanted to admit they were easily scared.

Sara claimed old horror movies weren’t frightening because their effects were outdated, but Emily immediately reminded her that she’d once refused to walk through a dark hallway after watching something at Gwen’s house.

Sara defended herself by saying, “That hallway was already creepy.” Gwen immediately reminded her, “You made me go first.” Sara replied, “There could’ve been someone there.” Gwen stared at her before saying, “That’s the entire point.” Sara looked toward Emily for support, but Emily only smiled and added, “You also turned every light on.” Sara looked between both of them before complaining, “Why are both of you against me?”

When we reached the cinema, I turned into the underground entrance instead of stopping near the public doors.

One of the employees was already waiting beside the private parking area.

He approached as soon as we stopped and opened Gwen’s door before another employee came around the other side.

Sara looked outside and then toward me.

“You really did rent everything.” I reminded her, “I told you nobody would be there.” Sara replied, “I thought you meant the screening.” Emily nodded beside her.

“So did I.”

Gwen slowly looked around the nearly empty parking area before asking, “You closed the entire cinema?” I answered, “Only for a few hours.” Sara stared at me for several seconds before shaking her head as she got out.

“I’m beginning to understand why Gwen stopped arguing about money.” Gwen smiled as she joined us.

“Exactly.”

We were escorted through a side entrance so none of them had to walk through the public lobby in formal clothes.

The corridors were completely empty except for a few employees waiting for us.

Nobody was staring, nobody was taking photographs, and nobody seemed interested in asking why four teenagers were dressed like we were going to some formal event before watching a horror movie.

Gwen noticed almost immediately.

She moved closer and quietly asked, “You arranged this because I said it would be embarrassing?” I told her that had been the idea, and she looked around once more before smiling.

“Thanks.” I smiled slightly before answering, “You’re welcome.”