The Halloween Cannibal

Chapter 8)Unwanted attention

"Paint it Black" by Ciara

***

We were twenty minutes into the babysitter slasher film before either of us spoke again.
"Instead of threatening to call the cops, why not just do it?" said Ben.
He makes a good point. The babysitter just threated to call the police for the third time.
I grin. "B-Because how would we the audience understand just how s-scared and v-vulnerable she is?" I stutter, laughing.
"You notice you never see some bad-ass chick in a scary movie for the most part? Think of the classic 80's slasher films. Practically all the women are whimpering screamers."
This was true. The typical heroine of horror flicks are the weepy emotional girls who spend most of the film wavering between crying or pathetic whining.
"You know what I hate?" I ask.
"What's that, Cass-er-role?"
I wince from his usage of my old nickname. This was feeling too much like old times. "I hate that during the final fight scene, right after they hit the bad guy and knock him out, the girl runs away and leaves her weapon right next to the seemingly dead bad guy." I sigh, knowing from having seen this movie before that's the direction this movie was leading towards.
"Yep." Ben agrees. "I mean, at least take the damn weapon with you! Fine, walk away stupidly instead of watching the killer. But don't leave the weapon with him."
"You can tell the killer is about to make an appearance...The creepy music has started to play," I announce as the music picks up tempo.
Ben watches the screen before looking to me. "I don't remember this...Does she end up living?"
I nod. "Virgin of the film, of course she does."
I can feel Ben's gaze on me from across the couch. "She lives because she's a virgin?" He laughs.
He continues to laugh as I shrug lightly. "Think about it. All the sex-crazed friends she has are too busy seemingly trying to eat each other's faces off by kissing to realize there's a killer watching them in the woods. Captain fake-boobs over here, will live based on the fact she's not playing tonsil hockey with someone."

Ben provides a bemused expression. "That is the most un-romantic thing I have ever heard."
"And yet, it's true. The promiscuous always die in the movies."
Ben thought about this. "Jessica would die in a horror movie," he said gravely.
"That's not..."
Pausing, I realize he wasn't wrong. Jessica isn't exactly a modest type of gal when it came to the opposite sex. She's been thrown into detention on multiple occasions for being caught making out with guys in closets. Her new relationship with Bobby has been no exception.
"Yeah, she'd be goner." I agree with a grin.
"Well, at least I'll live," muttered Ben. He was so very quiet, it seemed as though he was talking to himself then to me.
"We virgins unite." I laugh, wincing away as some dumb unsuspecting guy wanders alone into the woods to look for his friend on-screen.
"You're one too?" said Ben in surprise. He's referring to my offhand virgin comment. Strangely, he looks awfully surprised by this news.
"Is there a reason I wouldn't be?"
"Well...You're with that flirtatious jackass."
"He's not..." I pause, realizing Tyler was exactly that. Ben raises an eyebrow, as if silently daring me to contradict him. "Fine." I shake my head adamantly. "But no. We haven't done..." I flap my hands awkwardly. "That."
Ben nods seriously before he starts to chuckle. "Good to know." He laughs, before a scream on screen catches him off-guard.
We watch for a few minutes without commentary. Just as the girl starts removing her robe for a very not-needed shower scene. "Oh no, there's some freak who's been stalking me all night...I think I'm going to take a shower!" I quietly mock.
"Seems to be the best way to get over the fear."
I send a pair of raised eyebrows at Ben, making him laugh.
"Whatever....Toss me the remote to fast-forward."
He makes a face. "But it's really far away."
"It's right next to you."
"Or it's to the side of you, depending on how you want to look at it." He smiled slyly.
"You just want to see captain fake-boobs strip," I mutter, standing up to walk around the couch. The Sterns have an enormous wrap-around sofa in their family room. But due to the massive size of the room altogether, the couch surprisingly doesn't take up a lot of space.
"Nah, she's not my type," says Ben before taking out his phone to scroll through it. Since the family room is dimly lit, I don't see the object in front of me as I make my way towards the remote. Right as I'm trying to reach for it, I step in what appears to be a bucket. I begin slipping on it since it's already on too-smooth of a hard-wood floor, and I begin to hurdle face-first towards the ground as I fall forwards. Thankfully Ben possessed excellent reflexes. He bolts up and catches me right as I'm about to fall on my face. Although, he lands back-first on the edge of couch, releasing a yelp in pain as his head smacks against the hard end of the couch. It doesn't help him any that I fall right on top of him. "Oomph" He grunts. We stay in stunned surprise for a few moments.

"You alright?" I ask lightly.
He lifts his head up. "Mm hmm. Just call me Superman." He grinned.
As I start give a slight laugh, I'm suddenly aware of how close we are. He's sprawled out on his back, and I'm in his arms. I'm lying on top of him with the palms of my hands pressed against his muscled torso. His face is just inches away from my own. We're so close, I can even smell his minty-scented breath from the gum he had been chewing earlier. I feel immediately awkward. I've never been in a position resembling this even with the guy I've been calling my boyfriend the last couple months. I blink slowly, noticing how truly electric-blue Ben's eyes are in this lighting.
The way his bottom lip curves, it makes me curious as to what it would be like to kiss him...
A groan escapes me as I realize the thoughts that are running through my head. His hands suddenly tighten at my waist as I try and pull away. "Hey, you alright?" He says worriedly.
"Yeah," I say in a small voice, breaking eye contact. I try to wiggle away once more, but his hands remain firmly placed on my waist.
"Cassi," He says in a low tone. "You okay?"
I shake my head to say no to his question.
"Seriously. What's wrong?"
"What makes you think something is wrong?"
He watches me soundlessly for a moment. "Because I know you."
"Not anymore, I'm fine."
"No, you're not." He removes a hand from my waist and moves a finger underneath my chin. He tilts my head up to look back at him.
"I know you, Cassi. It doesn't matter how much time has passed. When you can't look someone in the eye, it means you're upset."
"I was just thinking about things."
"I get that you're a little clumsy, but it's nothing to feel too down about." He grins stupidly, earning a laugh from me.

"No..." I trail off, thinking of how to phrase it. "I've missed knowing you." I mutter, trying to look away. As I turn away my head, his fingers have now slipped to the nape of my neck.
"I've missed knowing you too. Actually, that doesn't even phrase it right for me...I've missed you all together." He utters, his thumb gently caressing my neck, sending a spark of enjoyable electricity through me. It's such a small motion...But it's one that doesn't feel exactly...Friendly.
It feels like a gesture that meant to be more than that. Much more than friendship. "Why didn't you ask me to prom?" I finally say after what felt like an eternity of silence.
Surprise overtakes Ben as well, his eyes widening slightly as his body goes rigid underneath me. We sit gazing at each other for a few moments, lost in what appears to be silence, or just simply not knowing what to say. Finally, Ben seems to have fully recovered from the surprise to find his voice again. "I didn't think you would go with me." His eyes never left mine as he said this.
"Why not?" My voice was small.
Ben scrunches his eyes. "You're...You." He says, as if that explains everything. He pauses, considering something. "And I'm...Me." He shrugs. "I didn't think you'd want your nerdy friend asking you out." He groans, attempting to sit up. "Embarrassed myself with revealing that." He deadpans, shaking his head.
I realize if I don't say something now, I might think back on this moment later and regret not saying how I feel. "I wanted my nerdy friend to ask me."
Ben turns to me hesitantly. "I don't think you're getting that I didn't want to ask you as your friend, Cass."
"Ben...I wanted you to ask me out. If you had asked me...Even after Tyler had, I would have turned him down to have gone with you." I reveal, suddenly aware that I'm shuddering slightly
His eyes slightly widen with surprise. He slumps his head back against the couch, looking stunned. "Why didn't you tell me this months ago?"
"Well, I-"
"That would've made a helluva difference Cassi. That's something you should've told me instead of having me believe you genuinely liked that moron," he says incredulously.
"Ben, I-"
He slaps his forehead. "You simply said yes to the first person who asked instead of talking to me about it?!"
I stare at his shocked expression. "I am so sorry. I guess after all the times I tried texting, calling, and emailing where you didn't answer it kind of blew the opportunity to share that info." I snap.
Ben groans once more. He turns his hand into a fist and lightly taps his forehead with his knuckles. "Well...That sucks." He exclaims bitterly, shaking his head in surprise.