Chapter 3: Third Wheel, Front Row

Sixth floor of the mall, right next to the food court that always smells like Cinnabon and stale fries.

The movie was a blockbuster—one of those sequels people had been waiting for since freshman year. Every seat was sold out, the line at the counter already a mile long, snaking past the arcade. The line snaked past a claw machine blinking with neon lights. Somewhere nearby, a toddler shrieked for Dippin’ Dots.

Sure enough, Derek was in line, holding a fresh smoothie from that trendy juice bar everyone’s obsessed with.

When he saw Natalie, his eyes lit up. "Hey, what a coincidence running into you here."

Derek instinctively reached out to put his arm around her shoulders, acting like the main character in a romcom. Then he reached into her coat pocket.

"Still got that thing in your pocket? You promised 24 hours, not a minute less."

His hand was already halfway in, like he’d done this a hundred times before.

But then he seemed to notice me, hovering awkwardly like a ghost at the family reunion. "Oh, your boyfriend’s here too."

He pulled his hand back, acting all restrained, but with that sideways smile that made my skin crawl. "Hey man, I wasn’t messing with Natalie. Don’t get mad."

[Seriously, why is the main guy apologizing? He and the lead knew each other first. Alex is the latecomer, the third wheel, isn’t he?]

[When will the slowpoke lead finally realize Derek is a thousand times better than the second-string boyfriend?]

[Don’t worry, the turning point is coming.]

I was lost in thought, biting the inside of my cheek. No time to respond to Derek’s sarcasm. The line shuffled forward, inching toward the flickering marquee.

Derek got the last two tickets, flashing them like he’d won the lottery.

When it was our turn, the clerk smiled apologetically, tapping at her touchscreen. "Sorry, there are no seats left for today."

At that moment, Derek was holding the last two tickets. Natalie looked at him, then at the ticket stubs in his hand, hope fading from her eyes.

"Hey, you know I’ve waited five years for this sequel. Don’t even think about taking my spot."

With no tickets, Natalie looked at me apologetically. "How about… I come back tomorrow and line up, or we could go to another theater, but it just won’t be the same…"

Before she could finish, Derek handed her the tickets, looking pained, like he was giving up his firstborn.

"Fine, I’ll play the hero. You two go ahead."

He pressed his lips together and muttered, just loud enough for Natalie to hear, "Running around everywhere would really tire you out, Natalie…"

He lowered his head and, pretending to be annoyed, grabbed her neck in that playful, teasing way only old friends can get away with. "Aren’t you going to thank your hero?"

Before she could take the tickets, I pulled Natalie aside, my voice flat as day-old coffee. "Suddenly don’t feel like seeing this movie. Isn’t that fox movie playing at the same time? Let’s go watch that one."

Natalie quickly turned back, caught off guard. "Huh? But I heard that movie…"

She met my eyes, searching for something I wasn’t sure I could give her.

After a moment’s silence, she straightened up and went to the counter. "Two tickets for the fox movie, please."

I didn’t look back, but I heard someone behind me slam their smoothie into the trash can, the plastic cup cracking loud against the metal bin.