The Unloved by Jennifer Snyder

get to where I wanted to be with her, I’d have to take it slow. Snail slow. And I was fine with that.
    I knocked on her door and held my breath. It was a little after nine on a Saturday night so I knew her mom would be gone and I prayed that her brother would be, too.
    “Coming,” I heard her yell from inside somewhere.
    She opened the door and I held up the movies and bags of groceries in front of me, then flashed a smile. “Care to join me for a horror marathon and some junk food?”
    Jules scrunched up her face like she was thinking about it. “Only if there’s corny Friday the 13th movies in that mix,” she finally answered with a smile.
    “You know it. Halloween wouldn’t be complete without them,” I said, stepping inside.
    The house was silent and dark and smelled of stale cigarettes. I’d been back across the street for about three months now and this was the first time I’d stepped foot inside her house since shortly before I left. Everything still looked exactly the same—the same faded green couch and old black recliner sat in the middle of the small living room; the same TV on the same bowed out stand; the same thick, grungy looking brown shag carpet that I was sure was still just as sticky from years of built-up nicotine as before; and the same yellowed walls with nothing hung on them.
    Jules sat down on the couch, tucking one leg beneath her. “What do you want to watch first?”
    “Actually, I was gonna make some popcorn first and then put in a surprise movie,” I said, setting the movies down in front of the TV and heading straight for the kitchen to my right. “No peeking at those movies, either,” I called over my shoulder when I heard the couch squeak from her getting up to do just that.
    “You know I don’t like surprises,” she muttered, coming to stand at the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room. She leaned against it and a stray strand of hair fell out from her ponytail and draped across her left eye.
    “It’s a movie, Jules. I think you’ll survive.” I winked and began rummaging through the cabinets, searching for a large bowl to dump the popcorn in once it was finished. I couldn’t remember where anything was in the cabinets, even though I’d been in this kitchen a million times.
    “Here, use this one,” Jules said, moving to a cabinet behind me. She bent at the waist just as I turned around, and in the tight space known as her kitchen, her ass was nearly pressed against my lap.
    My breath caught in my throat and I thought my eyes might bug out. I quickly turned back around and opened the microwave, crammed the bag inside, and slammed the door shut. I stared at the buttons like it was in some foreign language while my mind replayed her bending over in slow motion on repeat.
    “There’s a popcorn button on this one…right here,” she said, pressing it and then start. “Mom dated a guy who worked at Lowes for a while. She’d used his ten percent off discount on top of the extra ten the store was offering at the time and got us a really nice one. Too bad there’s hardly anything ever here to cook in it.”
    “Thanks,” I said, slowly gaining control back and incredibly glad that she hadn’t noticed I’d even lost it.
    I hoped like hell this night went as well as I’d planned. I’d rented Steven King’s It solely with the intention of her snuggling up to me on the couch because I knew how much Jules hated clowns. Maybe it was a bad, premeditated move on my part, but I had to get past this just friends thing with her and step closer into together territory once again. I figured having her cuddled up into my side was a start.
    “So, is Cole home tonight?” I asked, wondering for the millionth time if we were alone.
    Jules shook her head and grabbed two cups from a nearby cabinet. “Nope, it’s just you and me.”
    I glanced at her and noticed a pink tint touch her cheeks. Was it just me or did Jules just blush at the acknowledgment that we were