Very First Time
Bill picks at the seam of his jeans, stomach fluttering in a flurry of anxiety and exhilaration. He has no idea what to expect; truthfully, he never thought he'd get this far…
"Two please!" In front of him, Frank digs two crumpled dollar bills from his pocket. He sets them down on the ticket counter and goes back in, producing a few coins this time.
"For?" The teller asks, taking the money.
"Just two!" Frank speaks a bit louder, standing on his tippy toes.
"No, I mean for which feature?"
"Oh, right." Frank laughs, "Uuh… Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid!"
Seems like a long title for a film. Bill has no idea what it's about, but he's grateful Frank is here to do the talking.
"Come on!" Frank grins at him, waving the tickets towards the entrance.
Inside, it’s like another world.
The lobby isn't particularly large, but the ceiling is higher than in most of the buildings in town. Around them, the air swells with laughter and excited chatter from the various attendees – families and groups of friends, made up mostly of kids who look too young to be there on their own. And, of course, the whole place smells like buttered popcorn, which really makes Bill wish he'd eaten lunch before they left.
Frank’s already on his way to the snack counter, sifting through the crowd as easily as a fish through water. Bill trails after him reluctantly, much more like a salmon travailing upstream.
He clunkily zig-zags between people, bumping into some of them despite his best efforts. A particularly short kid, clutching a drink and popcorn to his chest, snaps at Bill to "Watch it!" and gives him a dirty look as he scrambles away. It frazzles Bill enough that he almost plows into Frank from behind. Almost.
Blissfully unaware of his friend's trouble, Frank turns around, spirited as ever. "Want anything? I'm definitely getting popcorn!"
"Uh, i-it's okay." Bill responds, feeling miserable even as he says it, "Didn’t bring any money."
Frank gives him an inquisitive look, and it's in that moment that Bill's stomach rumbles in audible betrayal. Somehow, Frank's perpetually-wide grin gets even wider.
"Ya know I meant it when I said my treat, right?"
After a moment, Bill nods slowly, "...the popcorn does smell good."
"I'll get the big one!"
“Hey kid,” The employee behind the counter – a small lady with a bulbous back-combed bob – greets, “whatcha having?”
“One large popcorn and two cokes please!”
Bill looks at Frank in slight disbelief. Do his parents really just let him have a whole soda to himself? And Coca-Cola, at that! His own mother refuses to keep soda in the house and, on the off chance he has a few sips at a restaurant or something, he’s only ever allowed ginger ale.
Bill’s pretty sure his movie-goin’ days are over if she finds out. And she always finds out, somehow… (God will probably rat him out during their prayers tonight.)
But, as the lady sets two chilled glass bottles on the counter, Bill keeps his anxieties to himself. He really does want to taste it.
"Drat!" Frank frowns at the counter, where he has unceremoniously emptied all the change from his pockets, "I'm short." When he turns to Bill, his features droop further in disappointment.
"Mind if we share a coke? You can have most of it!"
"I don't mind." Bill answers truthfully, even feeling a bit relieved. A few sips seems more justifiable than the whole bottle.
"Make that one coke and two straws please!"
–
As they get settled, Frank watches Bill shuffle around beneath the dim theater lights, and then glance over the back of his seat a few times. He hasn't said much since they arrived, but seems captivated by every little thing.
"Have you ever done this before?"
"Huh?" Bill stops messing with the armrest he'd been investigating and drops his hands into his lap.
"Been to the cinema, I mean?"
Bill shakes his head. For whatever reason, this makes Frank feel giddy.
Maybe it's because he still remembers the first time his sisters took him to the cinema. Well, not completely, since he had been pretty young (five, maybe six.)
But he remembers the feeling; the pure, unwavering excitement.
Sharing that experience with someone else, knowing it’s their very first time – it’s delightful in a way an eleven year old can’t adequately describe.
–
" 's my first time trying Coca-Cola too." Bill admits, not really knowing why he says it.
Part of him – a big part – expects Frank to laugh at him, and he braces for it, automatically squeezing his hands into fists.
But Frank doesn't laugh, at least not in the way Bill's afraid he will. When Frank laughs, it's friendly and pleasant, like the jingle of windchimes.
"Ya know, this is my first time drinking Coke too.” Frank leans over and takes a small sip from his straw, “It's a bit fizzy." He goes in for another sip and, this time, his face gets all scrunched up.
“Bleh! Super fizzy.”
Bill huffs out an almost-laugh, properly intrigued. He waits for Frank to settle back into his seat before sampling through his own straw. The soda bubbles against the roof of his mouth and burns his throat on the way down. It tastes sweeter than ginger ale, and he finds he likes it more than he expected. Not enough to drink a whole bottle, but the appeal is there.
The theater lights die down, leaving only the projected screen illuminated. Beside him, Frank is practically bouncing in his seat, cheeks puffed out with popcorn. Bill reaches into the bucket and fishes out a handful to snack on, conscious not to munch too loudly. His nerves haven’t left him, but they no longer have him in a chokehold.
The one thing that scares him still is knowing he could get used to this – not just going to see movies, but hanging out with the neighbor kid in general. What is he supposed to do if he were to move away or decide he doesn't want to be friends anymore?
These worries are temporarily drowned out as Frank taps his arm excitedly and sepia footage flickers to life on the screen.
–
“I think my favorite part is when they have to jump off that cliff, and The Kid is all, ‘I can’t swim’ and Butch tells him the fall will probably kill him – but then they both jump anyway! Oh, or maybe the part where they blow up the train car, and it’s the same guy inside trying to stop them! But also the fight for control of their gang where Butch and The Kid work together to trick Harvey. Gah! There are just too many good parts!”
Frank is talking a million miles a minute, but Bill finds that he doesn’t really mind. Frank gets pretty lively when he talks about things he likes, flailing his hands about and cycling through facial expressions at lightspeed. Bill is not so expressive, can’t even figure out where Frank gets all this energy from, but he likes it all the same.
They’re walking back home from the theater, not quite rushing, just aiming to beat the setting sun.
“What about you? What part did you like best?” Frank asks, looking at Bill expectantly. His eyes glisten with residual enthusiasm.
“Uhh…”
Truthfully, Bill enjoyed the movie as a whole; he’s always had trouble picking his favorite parts of things. From the little he knows about Frank, he doesn’t think this answer will suffice though.
“I liked the gun fighting scenes.” He says finally.
“Which ones?”
“All of them? I mean…” Bill takes a second to really think about it, “The last one was pretty intense. If I have to pick, I’d say that one.”
“Yeah, I think so too.” Frank nods and smiles, "You're really rooting for them to make it, ya know? Even though it’s impossible. The impossibility just makes you root for them more.”
“Yeah.” Bill watches as their street comes into view, then looks back at Frank. He feels that fluttering sensation in his stomach return. “Yeah, I know what you mean."