The last showing of
Take a Hint was about to start. The previews were playing right now. A rom-com about a try hard boy
attempting to get his dream girl and going to
great extents to win her over. The typical trope of ‘friendzone’ but with a pinch of stalker.
Two girls, one with dark skin and pink highlights, and the other with a complete hair of green and black lipstick, were the only ones in the small theater. Both wore
burgundy vests over white blouses, and black pants. Their uniform. One of the girls was none other than Jasmine Fulton, token biker chick and cooking girl extraordinaire, and her uniform fit her ever so tightly because of her voluptuous form. Meanwhile, her coworker and friend,
Iris Snyder, was scrawny to the point where the outfit looked a tad baggy on her. Her skin was as pale as a ghost, which her uniform only washed out even more.
Iris snapped her gum as she swept the area, while Jasmine was behind the candy counter, which was also the only register currently open to buy tickets (for those stragglers). She sat on the counter eating Buncha Crunch. Turning her body around, so her legs were dangling off the counter, she called out to Iris,
“Hey! You hear that?” The apathetic girl pushing the broom lazily glanced over to her coworker with dead eyes,
“The song? Yeah, it’s like… the only noise in here right now since the tvs are off.” And Jasmine tended to blast music when mostly everyone else was gone. Bossman trusted them, especially her since she’s worked here for over a year.
“This is so early 2000s…” Hopping off the counter, Jasmine walked to the sophomore and grinned,
“Do you ever just want to sing and dance?” “No.” The goth girl said plainly.
“I don’t dance.” “Aw, come on. Everyone can dance.”“Not true. I know plenty of people that think they can, but they can’t.” Before Iris knew it, her and the broom were pulled close to the candy rush girl and being manhandled to sway to the Outkast song. The Gothic 'witch' put up no fight because even if she didn’t admit it, she had that ‘Aubrey Plaza’s April from Parks and Rec’ kind of personality, she liked this. Having fun. Being spontaneous.
“Kill me.” This was just how her shifts were. Jasmine got bored and put all her attention on the other person in the room, which was usually her, and they had adventures inside the movie theater. Like dancing in the lobby.
Prancing through the parking lot, Stella clinged to Lee’s arm and looked up at him with pure glee,
“I told you we’d miss your movie if we left too late. Now we have to watch Take a Hint.” It was entirely her fault they didn’t leave on time because she wouldn’t get off of him… wrestling and all. Honestly? This was a win for her because she loved romance and comedy! Put them together, though? The best!
"Why do I get the feeling you planned this?” Lee looked down at his brown eyed beauty and shook his head. He of course couldn’t be mad at her for this. If anything, he respected the game she showed. She was most definitely after his heart and it’s a chase she was winning.
"You Miss Locke might actually be an evil genius behind that big smile...I knew I liked you.”Friday night was normally a working night for the Pacific Park Psycho Cameron Hyde; if he wasn’t out dealing he was usually holed up with McCarthy working on some new hustle or plan to earn some cash dollar. This Friday was supposed to be all about Dare Night. Date Night was Lee’s masterpiece. A single six hour period where the trust fund babies of BHHS would put some of their parents hard earned pennies on the line. The game was simple, teams of two or three, a set of random dares with increasing severity and a points system. The team at the end with the most points gets the cash. The con however was even more clever but that was their secret. Lee and Hyde had run Dare Night two times a year for the past three years. However this year they missed one because of McCarthy being away in NYC so the next game had to be the best ever. Yet here they were, outside a shitty theater with a girl they didn’t know on a date. Life is a mess right now, shit needed to be corrected, fast.
"Lee, can we at least talk about Dare Night after the movie?”"Cameron I swear to God if you don’t stop with that….listen we’ll talk about work tomorrow. You’re wound so damn tight all the time. Relax man or go wait in the car” It was times like this that the boy began to regret his association with the beast of the beach. Lee for one of the few times in his life, reaches into his jacket pocket and turned off his phone. No hustling tonight, not while he was with her.
"So, the manager is a friend, I text him on our way and he’s going to have two tickets behind the desk waiting for us. Back row, center screen.”After slowly blinking at her boyfriend, Stella looked from him and then to Hyde. The thought of where they were sitting was unimportant.
Dare night sounded
fun.
“...what’s Dare night?” Their date didn’t have to end after the movie! They could play games afterwards. Now, Stella had to know and if Lee was learning anything about a Locke woman, they were
persistent.
Walking through the classic double doors, the trio were met by the strange sight of a biker and a goth dancing to Outcast in an empty foyer;
"Well fuck me like a nun” Hyde couldn’t help but stifle a laugh
"Ain’t this something fun?" It wasn’t until he got a better look at the two that he realized that he recognized one of them; the pink haired one, she was the one that threw the eggs at him. He closed his hands into fists inside of his pockets: biting back at the urge to throttle her immediately.
"Hi. The manager left some tickets for us, name of McCarthy”Stopping their fun, their bodies going to a sudden halt, Iris simply stared at the trio before her. Without looking away from them, she sluggishly pushed the broom back and forth. She recognized the girl, but kept silent.
Jasmine was the one that took initiative to talk, disregarding the
Hyde boy. Here, he was her customer. That’s it.
“Hey! Yeah, we’ve been expecting you, for sure. I’ll get your tickets.” Unapologetically her, not embarrassed at all for being caught dancing on the job, Jaz turned on her heel and made her way to the counter, going behind it, and one, turning down the music, and two, retrieving their tickets. Iris continued to watch them with no emotion on her face. She pushed the broom back and forth. Back and forth.
“Do you guys want anything to snack on? Or to drink?” Jasmine was laxed, it was late and this theater was probably the most down to earth place you could be. That’s why the majority of the employees were vastly different in appearance and more often than not had colorful hair.
Stella glanced up at Lee and directed him,
“I’m only thirsty. We can share whatever you want. Also, don’t think for a second I’ll forget about the Dare topic. I want to know.” The elegant, filthy rich princess brought her attention back to Iris,
“It’s good to see you! How are your brothers and sister?” Somewhere down the line of family, Iris and Stella were connected, but it was complicated. Stella’s father was the sperm donor to Evelyn Green’s children. Eve was the half sister to Amity Bellerose-Snyder, who was married to Jericho Snyder, who was the brother to Aaron Snyder. The father of Iris. There were family events, rare though, that they both were in attendance to. The Snyders weren’t fond of the more obvious wealthy gatherings, wine and cigars, primarily for business, they preferred the family barbeques. It truly was a small world and Stella and Iris were nothing but polar opposites.
“Aries may be joining a band, which is neat, I guess. Athena is in love, how exciting.” She couldn’t have said that anymore sarcastically. The subject of love wasn’t really something Iris cared for.
“Apollo is just, well, him.”“I just realized you’re the only non-A Roman god name! Why is that?” “Because Aphrodite is stupid. so thankfully they were smart enough to not name me that.” Blunt and straight to the point. Her parents thought it was good to name their children Roman mythology names, that of the big gods, which was cool, she guessed. Luckily, she was the baby and there weren’t many other A names for her. She liked Iris. Iris was short and had a nice ring to it.
"Sure, can we get get a drink for the this one, whatever she’d like? and for me….large popcorn and bottle of water will do just fine. Thanks” Lee reached into his wallet and handed the mocha girl a twenty over the register. Of course his wallet was sparing in cash in these days of digital tender but it was filled with other things; mementos from his varied adventures, some that belonged to happy memories and others not so happy but memories all the same.
Looking down at his love, Lee offered her a smile
"Tell you what, after the movie, we’ll go grab something to eat and I’ll fill you in on Dare Night, sound good?”“Sounds perfect.” A wide, devious grin was plastered on Stella’s face, and then she brought her attention to Iris, who walked away, done talking, and then Jasmine,
“Sprite, thankies.” Hyde clenched his jaw tightly. He was going to bring HER in on Dare Night? This was their thing! They started it together, there was no room for her or anybody else. Cameron could feel his blood boiling and his ears ringing. He tried to breathe the fire from his lungs to maintain himself.
"You two enjoy your movie, I’ll see you at the end” Turning swiftly on heel, Hyde hurried into one of the nearby bathrooms and splashed some water on his face. A few drops of stray blood from his fresh wounds dropped into the porcelain white sink to stain it slightly red.
The more time went on, the less welcome he felt in Lee’s life. Their friendship was one of necessity sure, Leighton was the brains and Cam was the brawn but there was something more to it than that; something Cameron couldn’t quite put his finger on. Wall Street McCarthy had created a rigid and routine based existence for the trouble youth, it helped keep the fire low, it stopped him from burning up. Unchecked and uncontrolled, Cameron was a monster pretending to be a man, he needed structure and it was slipping away because of this bitch.
In time, the two lovebirds had disappeared into the theater. Putting the broom up against the wall, Iris looked to Jasmine,
“I’m going on a break.” She wanted to go to the nearby Mexican restaurant for nachos — better than theater nachos.
“If you want to head home too, that’s fine. I don’t mind closing shop!” “Maybe… I’ll text you my decision.” Iris walked to the door.
“After my break.” “Sounds good.” While her coworker took her leave, the sound of the door closing echoing throughout the lobby, Jasmine took out her phone to check out her social media, forgetting all about the two lovebirds or that Hyde boy, who disappeared minutes ago.
Leading his Princess to their screen and seats at the back of the theater, Lee put his arm around her and pulled her close to his chest. He had never really done this; the classic date. It wasn’t part of the plan. To be honest, neither was falling in love yet here he sat in “Take a Hint”, a NY punk with an LA Goddess falling deeper and deeper as the moments drifted off into space like stardust. Trillions upon trillions of atoms, lost in time and connecting like they did; it shattered his philosophy of only betting on a sure thing; Stella was starting to make him believe in fate.
It seemed like only seconds that he had been in the bathroom trying to control his inner demons and clean up his face but when he emerged Hyde glanced over at the clock on the wall and was aghast that it had been well over half an hour. He looked around at the baron wasteland that was the movie theater and saw only one other soul immersed in her phone; that girl from earlier. He looked over the room once; no security or cameras that he could see; if he wanted to get back at this cow for throwing eggs at him, now would be the perfect time.
"You know what you did wasn’t funny. Throwing those eggs. I told you then we were just getting started” the violent teen flared at the dark skinned beauty, even though he was pissed at her, he couldn’t help but take heed of how nice she filled out that uniform, even if it wasn’t the most flattering thing in the world. She had curves in all the right places and was definitely more woman than that skinny skank that McCarthy was with.
"It’s a shame you’re such a bitch because you ain’t bad doll.”“It’s a shame that you think I care.” Glancing up from her phone, staring him dead in the eyes, Jasmine yawned in boredom,
“News flash, I don’t.” Leaning up, pocketing her phone, she crossed her arms and laughed,
“Oh please don’t tell me your poor widdle ego was bruised because of eggs.” She eyed his reaction and then covered her lips with her right hand, completely amused,
“Oh my god, it was.” How cute. Cameron Hyde did enough to his rep by being a coward, taking advantage of those that can’t fight for themselves, but to find out the poor boy couldn’t handle mocking was just pure enjoyment on Jasmine’s part. Little did they both know, the quiet witch was lurking outside, watching. From her perspective, they looked intimately close. Iris didn’t know Jasmine had a boy of interest. What a complete misunderstanding.
"You think you’re getting in my head but you’re not” He hissed at her.
"The only thing your doing is pissing me off. You may think you’ve got me figured but you don’t, not by a long shot. You have no idea who I am or what I can do” Taking a slight step back, Hyde shook his head lightly. The truth of the matter was that Jasmine was getting in his head, in more ways than one. Every fiber of his being was telling him to jump over the counter and put her pretty face through the popcorn machine. Yet there was a sliver inside that was telling him to leave her be, she was being a decent person and was stopping him being the monster that he was.
"Normally this is the part where I either threaten you or I just straight up cave your skull in. This time, I’ll settle for an apology and we’ll leave it at that.”“Wow.” Hyde thought hella’ high of himself, but her parents taught her to not take things personal. Water off a duck’s back.
“I think you’d prefer if I meant it when I apologized, but I wouldn’t, so let’s settle with popcorn.”A bowl of popcorn? That was her peace offering? Well he couldn’t deny that he did love that salted goodness. It was one of life’s great simple pleasures.
"Fair enough.”Jasmine had been working all night, so she wasn’t going to be petty, but she also wasn’t going to apologize when she didn’t think she was in the wrong. So instead, she scooped some popcorn in a bowl and pushed it towards him, not seeking money in exchange, just words,
“Where’s your date? Or do you just tag along with your lover friends?” He stuck his bruised hand into the bowl and grabbed a load of popcorn to shove into his mouth.
"I’m just a driver. He pays, I drive. I don’t get to choose where and when” Cam threw the classic theater treats into his mouth and demolished them fairly quickly. He had worked up quite an appetite earlier in the evening.
"Job is a job at the end of the day” He quipped with a mouthful of food.
“I get that.” In Jasmine’s head, there was no point in starting a war. Beverly Hills High had enough of that going on during the day. The night she could relax and not try to make peace. Here was a boy with a lot of issues, but hey, maybe he needed someone to talk to. Everyone needed that from time to time. Here she just was:
“Jasmine, by the way. The name’s Jasmine.”"Jasmine.” He thought on that name for a short little while. It suited her. She was beautiful like a flower and prickly like the thorn of a rose. Yeah, Jasmine suited her to a T.
"Cameron Hyde, most just call me Hyde” Jesus, was the dark passenger of Beverly Hills actually holding a conversation? The world was changing. For this minute alone, it didn’t feel like a world of Gods and Monsters, of light and dark. For a change, for Hyde, it was a world of boys and girls talking in a movie theater on a Friday night.
"Haven’t I seen you working the diner too? I gotta say, you seem like a busy girl…”Raising an eyebrow at his observation, Jasmine made a mental note to herself. Something she’d keep to herself.
“The bakery, actually. The one owned by the Locke family. I do frequent the diner, though, since my family loves their burgers.” She grabbed a handful of popcorn, and placed one in her mouth.
“The goal is to eventually bump into Remy Wells, to learn a thing or to by a master chef and baker, but I’m in no rush.” She shrugged to herself and plopped another popcorn in her mouth,
“But you’re right, I am busy. It’s how I like to be.” And part of her felt like she had no choice because she didn’t want to burden her family with her money needs.
"I get that, not too dissimilar myself” Hyde grabbed another handful.
"If I’m not busy with my work with McCarthy, I’m pretty much depressed or angry. Got to keep my hands busy or my head will burn up” He knocked his knuckles against his head like an empty glass bottle and for the first time in a while, a genuine smile crossed his angelic face. As he dropped the popcorn into his mouth, Cameron’s brain had an original thought, one he didn’t know if he would come to regret or not.
"I’m hoping to slow it down one day though, you know? Get out of LA. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy the surf but I hate the people. Gonna get me a ranch somewhere, live off the land and just forget the bullshit. The Great American Heartlands, that’s the dream” Why he was opening up to the pink haired temptress was anyone’s guess, Hyde certainly had no clue. She was disarming him.
"You know, we got something coming up, big business for us generally but more than that, it’s great chance to unwind but in a fun way; Dare night. If you’re up for a challenge, I can get you an invite. It’s a pretty exclusive evening”Huh. Kindness went a long way and it allowed Jasmine to get a glimpse of the heart of her acquaintance. She didn’t question him. He obviously thought she was someone that could listen. She got that a lot. That she was a good listener. This was just… surprising, but not in a bad way. From their first meeting to now. They were holding a conversation and he was inviting her on a… date?
“Sounds—” Jasmine stopped herself when she got a glimpse of her coworker, standing by a large movie stand of some superhero movie, like the creep that she was. Did she even get her nachos? Probably not. Really, she probably smoked weed by the dumpster or something.
“Iris.” “You should go. When was the last time you took a break anyways? Like an actual break? Not like your typical break where you hideaway in home ec to bake.” Jasmine’s reply was simply her munching on more popcorn. Guilty. Her social life was limited to a handful of people.
“Exactly. Do it. No balls.” For a girl with a monotone voice and a straight face, her words were humorous, as she leaned against the stand, almost pushing it over.
“I’d have to tell my parents…” which would only lead to questions and she really didn’t need her parents in her business. That is unless she had her sister cover for her. It took dad… awhile to be okay with his baby girls hanging with boys. He still hasn’t fully accepted Mitch. KC’s boyfriend.
“It’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission. Just say you’re going to my place. It’ll be cool.”Bringing her attention back to Hyde, Jasmine chuckled,
“I guess it’s decided. Sure, why not. I’ll play along.” She paused, before she teased,
“Of course, only if you can get me an invite to this ‘exclusive evening’.” "Well normally, if you don’t have an invite the buy-in is five hundred bucks...a small price to pay for rich kids looking to test their limits” Cameron glanced over at Jasmines green haired colleague; part of him was screaming that she didn’t need to stick her nose in and that she needed to get moving before he made her move and the other part was whispering that it might be a good idea to invite her too, keep on Jaz’s good side. It was always a constant fight in his haunted mind and most of the time, it was too difficult to predict which ghost would win. He looked back over to the mocha girl and made an attempt at a smile
"Alright then, I’ll make sure you get invited. All you have to do is pick up the phone and follow the instructions. I’m not sure when it’ll be, you gotta be ready to go at a moments notice.”Getting to his feet, he reached into his jacket and pulled out his phone.
"Whack your number in that and expect my call” Sliding the phone across the counter, with his free hand Hyde pulled a joint from his pocket and plopped it in his mouth.
"I only call once. You don’t answer, we don’t dance.”Rolling her eyes, this was a roundabout way to get her digits, Jasmine courteously grabbed a napkin and cleaned her fingers, before grabbing his phone and typing her number in,
“Oh please.” It’s been awhile since she’s had this much fun and perhaps it was because of how spontaneous and
different he was from everyone else, or perhaps she simply felt drawn to find out his damage. Whichever it was, she was willing to take the risk to get to know him, for better or for worse. She’d blame the peacemaker in her later.
Sliding his phone back to him, Jasmine cooed,
“You obviously don’t know me.” It was a rarity for her to not answer her phone. With eleven siblings, and family emergencies that could pop up any time of day, picking up her phone was an obligation. Too bad she didn’t have a smartphone with an Assistant, then she could send her contact information through bluetooth and with voice command. At last, her family was old fashioned, so she was left with no choice but to manually put in her number. He seemed to trust her enough to touch his phone, so she’d keep that in mind.
The game seemed easy enough, and because she had a bike she’d have more mobility compared to whomever else was playing. If anything, this seemed intriguing and for once, she could have something to talk about rather than her saying ‘hey, i worked and went home to bake and watch one of my shows’.
“Y’know, Jaz. I can clean up. Usually you let me leave early, but I wouldn’t mind staying so you can enjoy Friday Night Date Night.” Iris glided to the seemingly new couple. She wasn’t going to assume they were a thing but it
seemed like the boy was asking her friend out.
“It’s the least I could do.” “...Is this a date?” Jasmine subconsciously responded, deeply staring into Hyde’s eyes, waiting expectantly.
Date. It was almost a dirty word in Hyde’s dictionary. He didn’t date, he hasn’t been in a relationship in a long time. Not many people wanted to spend time with him, at least not emotionally. Physically, Cam was always fucking someone, boy or girl it didn’t particularly matter to him. At the end of the day it was a release for some of his baggage. As far as actual relationships, he didn’t initially hate them, quite the opposite in fact. The problem was that once someone became Hyde’s North Star, he struggled to see beyond that. They became his world. Some would call it obsessive. Coupled with his anger at a world that let him down, it became apparent that Cameron Hyde was not boyfriend material.
"I can’t say that it is but I also can’t say that it isn’t. It’s Dare Night, anything could happen. What I can tell you is that where you’re going, it ain’t your world. You’re gonna have to be ready for anything” he glanced over at the witch and then back to Jasmine and took his cigarette out of his mouth,
"That said, if you want to get out of here now…”“Oh god, yeah. Give me a sec. Gotta’ change outta this.” Grabbing a black backpack from the cabinet under the register, Jasmine left Iris and Hyde alone for a few, awkward minutes with the desire to get out of her work attire, changing into something she deemed more
comfortable. In that moment, Iris decided to put multiple pieces of gum in her mouth, all the while staring at the blonde boy before her.
Hyde watched the witchy looking thing before him and narrowed his piercing baby blues
“You’re a strange little thing ain’t ya?”Elsewhere in theater number 5, Lee sat with his girl curled under his arm, her soft hair brushing against his cheek. He was stuck in a dichotomy, he was falling asleep because Take a Hint was utter garbage, yet he was fighting it because he didn’t want to be without Stella for any amount of time. He yawned ever so lightly before looking down at the creature of light that he held so tight. The world works in mysterious ways.
The blissful blonde wondered whether or not she should tell her father yet about Leighton. Her boyfriend. Her mind wasn’t thinking anything beyond that and this moment. It was another perfect moment for her and it was because she had him. Stella glanced up at Lee intimately staring at her, which resulted into her twinkling and pressing her lips against his. She was sure this film wasn’t his scene but it meant a lot to her that he was willing to watch it for her. Softly, in a near whisper, she asked,
“You like what you see?” Her kiss was like fire, as gentle as it was, it sent a pleasant warmth through his body, through is veins and into his heart.
“When what I’m looking at is the most beautiful thing in the world, you’re damn right I do, how could I not?” Lee had all but convinced himself that looking for a girlfriend was not a venture that he wanted to undertake. Not only due to his secrets but also because of his theories. The hustler had three simple rules he lived by: Only bet on a sure thing. Only fools are kind and Never show them the hand you're dealt. Yet here Leighton was; breaking all of his beliefs because she made it easy. Stella was making the dark that much brighter.
Coming out of the bathroom, in a less revealing outfit than the first time they met, she didn't expect she'd be going out this night, Jasmine swung her bag over her shoulder and gestured toward the door with her head,
“Ready?”“Always” Cameron quickly typed a message in his phone, letting Lee know he had to leave and that they were without a ride tonight. He knew the boss would understand, since meeting Stella the American Psycho was turning into a Blissfull Idiot. Hyde looked her up and down and grinned, a little rattlesnake grin, before opening the front door for Jasmine like the gentlemen he wasn’t.
“Welcome to the dark side, hot chocolate.”
