Scalar: Thanos' Daughter

The anxious date

A brisk wind blew through the crack in Skylar's window. It was Saturday and she laid in bed reading The portrait of Dorian Grey. Her project that was assigned on Thursday was to partner up with two other people  to do a presentation on the dangers of beauty. Skylar wasn't sure what that even meant. Sighing Skylar tossed the book onto her nightstand and sat at the edge of her bed.  She had enough notes and annotations to contribute to her meeting with her partners. The doorbell ring downstairs and Skylar felt a fluttering in her stomach. She quickly pulled her hair into a ponytail and ran down the stairs. The living room was tidy and her kitchen was spotless. On the coffee table she prepped sodas, water, chips, and cookies. It was Strange's idea.
"Hey!" Skylar said swinging the door open. Johnny stood next to MJ with a brown bag.
"I bought mango sticky rice! I remembered you said you liked sticky rice" Johnny said cheerfully. Skylar's smile broke remembering the incident at the Thai restaurant last month.
"Can we come in?" MJ wondered aloud. Skylar snapped back and stepped aside. MJ came through the door first taking off her black converses. Johnny followed behind taking off his yellow sneakers. Skylar closed the door but not before catching a glimpse of a man leaning on a car staring back at her. Quickly, she slammed the door shut and locked it. When she walked into the living room MJ was seated on the floor reading over her notes. Johnny sat awkwardly looking around.
"You live alone?" He asked. Skylar sat on the couch next to Johnny further away from MJ.
Skylar clasped her hands in her lap and cleared her throat.
"Let's just jump right into this. I'm three chapters away from finishing the book," she looked at MJ who had a raised eyebrow.
"You're almost finished?" MJ asked. Johnny wrapped his arm around Skylar.
"She's a bookworm," he said proudly.
"I know. We used to be friends," MJ snapped. Johnny narrowed his eyes. Skylar grabbed a water just to hold and keep her hands from shaking. She wasn't nervous or scared but more angry than anything. She wasn't happy when the teacher placed MJ into her group.
"Ok, well, how do you both feel about talking about," as Johnny drilled on Skylar took mental notes and side glances at MJ.

After three hours of dissecting text and highlighting, the three decided that they had a good idea of where their project was headed. MJ quickly snapped her book closed and shoved it in her bag.
"I'll email you the slides Johnny so y'all can put your parts in," she said before briskly walking to the door. Skylar rolled her eyes and Johnny looked over his glasses.
"She was cheerful," Johnny snorted folding his glasses and running a hand through his hair.  Skylar but her tongue and watched as MJ walked out the door.
"Why aren't you two friends?" Johnny asked snapping open a bag of chips.
"I used to like Peter, Peter Parker, and after the blip I guess things changed between us. I thought Peter and I both  liked each other, but when I came back to school MJ and Peter were dating." Skylar admitted. Johnny watched Skylar closely.
"Do you still like Peter?" he asked. Skylar looked over at Johnny. There was still a part of her that did like Peter.
"No," she said.
"Good," Johnny stood up and stretched. Skylar raised and eyebrow. Good?
"I'll help you clean up. Where's your kitchen?" Johnny asked collecting the bags of chips, canned sodas, and cookies. Skylar pointed towards the kitchen and Johnny began his trek. Skylar looked at her clock and it was 9:39pm. Johnny re-emerged from the kitchen with a smile. His shaggy wavy hair falling around his face resting at his jaw line.
"How about we just go to our date like this? It would take too long for me to walk home and come back," Johnny asked.
"Sure," Skylar smiled, "let me grab my jacket!"
Skylar raced up the stairs and into her room to grab her hoodie and bolted back downstairs.
"Ready?" Johnny grinned.
"Ready!"

Their three block walk of laughing and playfully shoving each other ended as they reached the movie theatre.
"It's a really great movie showing and it's only 45 min so it's not too long," Johnny stepped up to the ticket booth.
"I'll get the popcorn and you buy the tickets Peter," MJ said from behind Skylar. Skylar felt a tingle down her spine. Johnny turned around and must've seen them too because he quickly took Skylars hand.
"Let's head in," he said pulling her along. The movie theatre was small and old with red walls and dark oak accents with old fashion movie posters stuck to the walls. There was a small gaming arcade where a few children were crowded around the claw machine. Skylar looked at the lights in the ceiling that reminded her of stars.
"Our theatre is over here," Johnny waved standing in front of a brown door with a red number 9 painted on it. Skylar jogged over and Johnny held the door open for her.
The pair sat in the middle and were the only two in the theatre.
"This is really cool," Johnny whispered. Skylar couldn't help but feel her heart palpitating. The lights began to dim and her breath became labored.
"You alright?" Johnny asked. Skylar nodded her head. Johnny clasped his large hand around hers and squeezed it gently.
"We can leave if you want." Skylar shook her head.
"I'll be fine." The movie started and two figures rushed passed them causing Johnny to jump.
"Let's just sit up here MJ," Peter whispered. Skylar ignored them. It was a scary movie. She felt herself sweating at times. When the main character got thrown into a wall and disfigured their arm Skylar subconsciously touched hers.
"What's wrong little one?" The villain asked. Skylar knew it was happening on the screen but she kept envisioning Thanos. Suddenly, her chest felt heavy and it was becoming harder to breathe. Skylar rubbed her neck and cleared her throat a couple of times.
"Do you want something to drink? I can get it," Johnny offered starting to stand. Skylar stood up and accidentally pushed Johnny back down practically stepping over him to get out.
"I'll get it," she said in a raspy voice. Her shoes clomped down the stairs and she bolted out of the door. She bent dow on one of the walls for support taking in deep breaths as if she had ran a marathon. A collection of sweat beaded on her forehead. Why is this still happening? I thought Fury took care of all of this. Skylar leaned up slowly now resting her head on the wall. The door to their theatre swung open and Peter appeared.
"H-hey, I just wanted to make sure you were ok," he asked. His face looked pained. Skylar rolled her eyes. The door opened again and Johnny appeared.
"I had to grab our stuff," Johnny said, "let's head home?" Skylar nodded. Johnny walked over pushing Peter away.
"I'm sorry," Skylar said humiliated. Johnny shook his head.
"No need. I get anxious too sometimes. Like, it'll get hard to breathe and I keep swallowing to make sure my throat isn't dry. It's annoying," Johnny laughed. Skylar nodded not able to speak yet. The pair walked back home hand in hand. Once at her doorstep, Skylar finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thanks for everything Johnny," she beamed. Johnny smiled tussling his hair.
"No problem," he looked down at Skylar and quickly pecked her on the cheek.
"Wha—."
"Get inside, it's cold," Johnny smiled. Skylar got her keys from her back pocket and let herself in. Johnny waited until the door closed to leave. Skylar's cheeks wouldn't go down to save her life.
"First date huh?" Skylar jumped. She couldn't see anyone immediately but when she climbed the steps she saw nebula sitting on her couch eating a bag of chips.