16

The Twilight Zone marathon was surprisingly well attended given how old the show was, although that was probably mostly due to how slow the summer had been. Daniel was just happy to be at a social event that had zero risk of the police becoming involved.

After grabbing some bags of popcorn and cups of punch from the circulation desk, Daniel and Gloria found a pair of seats near the back of the room and settled in. The screening wasn’t scheduled to start for another ten minutes, and Daniel figured he should take the opportunity to make small talk with Gloria. Okay, just be cool, he thought. You can try channeling your inner “Danny.”

“So, uh . . . do you come here often?” he asked her, just as she was popping a handful of popcorn into her mouth. The pause between his dumb question and Gloria finishing chewing was long enough for Daniel to start losing some of his confidence.

After finally swallowing the last of the popcorn, Gloria smiled and let out a small laugh, “Well, it’s cheaper than actually going to the movies,” she said. “Besides, it doesn’t take too long to see everything showing at the Valley Vu. If you’re really dedicated you can easily get it done in a weekend.”

“Oh, I get in for free there. My friend Charlie works as a ticket taker. We get free popcorn too,” Daniel said.

“So it’s exactly like this?” Gloria laughed.

“I suppose you’re right, but the stuff being screened is a little newer,” Daniel said. “And the popcorn is a little better too.”

As they talked, his nervousness started to fade. Actually, being outside of his comfort zone was much more refreshing right now than when he’d been hurtling down the highway toward Mountain Glen in the back of Charlie’s car.

Gloria popped another handful of popcorn into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully for a minute. “Well, if your buddy Charlie can get one more person in for free, you should think about counting me in next time. I don’t have anything against going to the actual movies, other than not liking to overpay for popcorn.”

Things really were looking up. Deciding not to go to this party—the second time around anyway—was turning out to be one of the best decisions of his high school career. “Uh yeah, that’d be great,” he said. “I don’t have your number, though.”

“Oh, yeah,” Gloria said, “just give me yours and I’ll text you.”

Gloria pulled out her phone, and Daniel did his best to rattle off his phone number without getting tripped up out of nervousness.

“Okay, I just sent you a message,” she said. Daniel’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out to see what she’d said. As soon as his screen woke up, he felt the color drain from his face. In his excitement that things were going so well with Gloria, he’d forgotten about the message he’d received as he entered the library.

Alongside Gloria’s message, which was just her name and a smiley face, was a new message from the unknown number:

Be sure to stay in touch.