Page 16 of Act of Brotherhood
Nicolette sat up straight and tugged on her shirt. It had a screen-print of a Viking wearing a horned helmet. The Viking had been their high school mascot, and Nicolette had gotten the shirt while on the cross-country team. “This is my favorite shirt.”
“I know. That’s why it looks the way it does,” said Clara with a snort.
“Find me another Viking shirt and then I’ll retire this one.”
“Deal.” Clara nodded her head. “Want some chips?”
Giving in, Nicolette nodded and helped herself to some. She held a hand under the chip after piling it with dip so as not to spill salsa on her shirt. “Okay, so what is this movie about?”
“Slasher film with supernatural elements,” returned Clara between tortilla-chip chews. She turned, and her long brown hair that was pulled back in a ponytail flopped over one shoulder. “This director is awesome. I’ve loved all his other works. I can’t wait to see how he handles shifters and vampires.”
“Uh, me too.”
Clara beamed. “Thank you for trying to take an interest in what I like. I know you hate scary movies. You’ll end up having bad dreams, I’m sure of it.”
“You hated pottery classes, but you went to every one of those with me,” said Nicolette.
“And you suffered through gourmet cooking courses withme. It was funny when the teacher made you stop touching things for fear you’d burn the place down. We give and take. We’re cool like that.” Clara twisted and grabbed a soda from the end table. “Want one?”
“I am not putting that in my body.”
“You were almost fun for about two seconds there. Live a little, Nicolette. Be spontaneous. Go out, find a hunk and have a wild time with him. Or, baby step and have a soda,” teased Clara before starting the movie. She popped the top of the soda can and ended up misting Nicolette with soda as it sprayed out.
The opening credits came on and Nicolette’s thoughts drifted to other things, like what she still needed to handle for the classroom celebration.
Glancing up, she spotted a handsome actor on the screen. He was missing a shirt and totally ripped. The very sight of him made Nicolette consider Clara’s suggestion of finding a hot guy and having a wild time with him.
Clara glanced at her and burst into a fit of giggles. “Just took some hot man candy to get you to pay attention.”
“You’re talking during the movie,” Nicolette pointed out with a wink.
“I’m allowed. I’m special like that.”
Nicolette tossed a chip at her friend, and then cackled when Clara shot forward and caught it with her mouth.
The man on the screen morphed into a wolf, and Nicolette paid more attention. The special effects were amazing. The movie showed him running through the woods, clearly on the hunt for something. When he came to an open clearing, he shifted into a man again. A very naked man. “I’m changing my mind about scary movies. If they all start with hot-guy backside, I’m a fan.”
“I don’t know many women who would disagree.” Clara picked up the remote and paused the movie. “Suppose men who could change into animals were real and that hot. What would you do if you met one?”
“We really need to ween you off these movies. You’re obsessed with immortality, vampires, and shape-shifters lately. Is this a phase? Tell me it is. I amnothaving another movie marathon dedicated to vampire romance movies again. Not happening. Once was enough for me. The teen angst was thick enough to choke on, not to mention I started rooting for the bad guys to win just to get rid of the whiny hero. That shouldn’t be.”
“I’ll have you know I love those moviesandthe books. I don’t care what anyone else says. They made me want a love like that.”
Nicolette grinned. “We just need to find you a dead guy. I’d rather my guy have a pulse.”
Clara clucked her tongue against her cheek. “So, you’re a shifter kind of girl?”
Nicolette laughed as she helped herself to another chip with dip. She then thought harder about the question. “If I met a guy who could really change into an animal, I’d probably be too busy screaming to stop and do much else. You?”
“I’d make them change back and forth a bunch, so I could watch,” said Clara, before offering a look that said she knew a secret. “Then, I’d thank the gods for making such hunky males to begin with—that is, if they were naturally made. Some were cooked up in a lab and created. Not born that way.”
Nicolette leaned and sniffed Clara’s soda can for signs of liquor. “Dude, is that soda really part rum?”
In a playful manner, Clara pushed Nicolette’s forehead back slightly. “You are so weird.”
“Right. BecauseI’mthe one talking about people changing into animals and being cooked up in labs. That is soIsland of Doctor Moreau.” Nicolette tried to take the remote from Clara to turn the movie on once more, but Clara held it out far to her left. “You’re forcing one of your ‘what if’ talks again, aren’t you?”
The woman was famous for discussions that started with “what if.” So much so that Nicolette’s instant reaction to the knowledge one was taking place was to want to take a nap. They always made her tired.
