Sweet Tooth (Twd x Male Oc)

Chapter 89: Season 7 ~ Movie Night

Lani comes along with us to the auditorium. Morayo said she'd go find Leviathan and see if he wanted to meet us there, which I doubt somehow. While we wait for them, Lani and I fiddle about in the film room trying to get the projector to work.

"You know Levi was as out of order as you were."

I sigh, aware.

As I peer out of the projector hole in the wall to see how the others are doing, I see Carl, Henry, and Benjamin in the big room winding down the screen on stage and yelling instructions, until the projector light shines on them all.

We get the film started.

A moment later, from the auditorium below, Benjamin shouts, "We goooot iiiit!"

Lani and I rush downstairs and along the first row of chairs as A Hard Day's Night plays on the screen. I love the Beetles. I love them so much that while I watch John Lennon ask a grumpy train passenger for a kiss, I only just notice the smell in the room. I'm still giggling while I look over and see Carl smoking a joint that Benjamin lights for him.

Lani, who is braiding my hair from the chair beside me, snickers. Lani and I watch Carl hold his breath and wince. Benjamin pockets his lighter and watches him, too. Carl holds his breath for so long that when he finally lets out his breath, there is no smoke — all lost inside his lungs.

"Jesus Rovia," I say under my breath.

Henry, who apparently had an intense Aikido training day, is already asleep and curled up in his chair. He's a heavy sleeper, too, because he doesn't wake up even at Benjamin's laughter.

Carl smokes again and then passes the joint back, coughing a little as Benjamin smokes. I snort at them both. They go on passing the joint between each other until Lani joins in, too, because she's finished with my hair. For a while, they smoke and we watch the movie. At some point, Carl is done smoking and comes and sits in the empty seat to my left looking very pale and fidgety. Lani looks at him.

"You okay?" she asks.

He opens his mouth to speak but nothing comes out.

"It's okay," I tell him, "talking gets harder sometimes."

He twitches.

"Take it easy," I add. "Don't think so hard about it."

Carl's hands are trembling but he's nodding. I go back to watching the movie because he seems to not want me watching him. It's hard not to, though, when he brings his hand up to his face and covers his socket with it.

"Stop that," I whisper, pulling his hand down.

"G...g-ot shot," he says. "Sorry. S...s-orry."

"Yeah," I say, putting his hands down again, "don't say sorry."

"I have b...b-rain..."

"Is he okay?" Lani asks.

"Yeah," I say. "He's fine. You're fine, Carl. You'll feel better soon, just take it easy."

"No," he says, "I won't be better. I'm all g...g-ross. My face is all m...m-essed up."

"You're beautiful, man."

I hate how he'll never really believe me. He doesn't even acknowledge I say it. He just buries his face in his hands and groans self-consciously. I sigh. I start to explain that he's just being paranoid — Jerry did this to me once, explained what was happening in my mind even though I couldn't really take it in. It made me feel better anyway.

"You're taking in a lot," I say. "You have been taking in a lot, for days, and now your mind and body are catching up with it all and you feel afraid for no reason."