Ten of Me ✓

Five

A/N: Listen to "Don't Let Me Down" by The Chainsmokers ft. Daya while reading :)

CARMEN

I squinted my eyes against the bright sunlight and straightened my t-shirt, which was sporting the name of some band in ragged Sharpie that I'd long forgotten about. My hair didn't feel that different from the way it usually was--the texture was the same though it was a different color--and I rubbed it between my fingers as I walked, my combat boots quiet against the pavement.

I'd lost sight of Kayla and Noah, but I kept walking towards the movie theatre anyway, surprised by the lack of hurt that was building in my chest. I'd expected to be heartbroken--gutted, even--at the fact that I was just a passing phase to Noah. He had likely forgotten all about me now that he'd met Kayla; either that, or I was just the girl he liked whenever it was most convenient for him.

I kept walking, making my strides longer in order to focus on something other than the jumble of thoughts swirling around in my newly-made-over head. When I reached the movie theatre, I could see Noah and Kayla lined up in front of a ticket counter, their shoulders touching as they leaned close to each other to talk. Biting my lip, I slid into line at the ticket counter farthest away from them and bent my head over my phone, pretending to be occupied.

I wasn't planning on eavesdropping on their conversation, or stalking them, and that made me wonder why I'd followed them in the first place. It had seemed like a really good idea at the time--to figure out if Noah was really the guy I'd obsessed over for the past year or so of my life, and maybe even to test him again to see if he recognized me under my disguise. But now I realized all I wanted was to be away from him. I had no interest in watching him on a date with some other girl while he was supposed to be with me.

With a start, I realized it was my turn to order tickets. Taken aback, I glanced at the screen of movies playing and picked the one coming up next--a wildly popular dystopian movie everyone had already seen but I hadn't gotten around to viewing yet.

Numbly, I handed the cashier seven dollars and got a slip of paper indicating my ticket. I stepped out of line and brushed back my hair, then pulled open the door and headed into the cool lobby. Noah and Kayla were nowhere in sight.

By the second, this was turning more into a pity party for myself than an undercover mission. I bought a giant tub of popcorn and a soda with no fizz, then headed into Theatre 2 just as the cashier had told me. The room was full despite the fact that the movie had been playing for over three weeks.

I spotted the couple of my concern sitting in the second row and ducked my head to climb the steps and head into the very back of the theatre, overly conscious of the enormous tub of popcorn I was holding. I could practically feel their eyes staring into my back even though I was sure they were too busy being occupied with each other to even notice me.

Just as I settled down alone in the back row, the commercials began to play. I set my soda in the cup holder on my right and turned my phone off, then leaned back and prepared to lose myself for the next hour and a half.

It turned out that the movie was good, but not half as good as it would have been if I'd had a friend by my side to share it with. I'd tried avoiding looking down into the second row as best I could as the movie played, since based on my angle I wouldn't have even been able to see Noah anyway. Still, wondering was almost worse than knowing, and I was too occupied with worrying about what he was doing than what was happening onscreen for the majority of the time.

I'd eaten through almost all of my popcorn and was feeling sort of sick as the movie credits began to roll and the lights in the theatre began to flicker on. People were already standing and leaving, but I figured I would sit in the back of the room and wait for everyone to leave before I headed out.