"We're here," Zach announced from the passenger seat, clapping his hands with excitement.

I turned to Jason, sitting beside me in the backseat of David's car, and squeezed his hand. He smiled, looking incredibly attractive in a fitted black t-shirt and jeans.

As we entered the open-air theatre, I found several parking spaces already occupied by cars of every possible kind. The late evening sky — painted in dark red and orange stripes — failed to illuminate the path in front of us. David cautiously manoeuvred his car into an open spot between a red convertible and a white hatchback before shutting off the engine.

We climbed out of the car and stretched. After an hour-long drive through excruciating traffic, it was a relief to stand on solid ground, no longer surrounded by honking vehicles manned by impatient drivers.

"We have fifteen minutes left until the movie starts," Zach said, studying his wristwatch. "So, let's sit!"

Grabbing blankets and bags of snacks from the trunk of David's car, we installed ourselves on the bed of grass between the movie screen and the parking lot.

David turned to me and asked, "Can we get something to drink?"

I reached into one of the white plastic bags, pulling out four small soda cans.

"Thanks," David, Jason, and Zach said in unison as they accepted their fizzy drinks.

I sipped my grape soda as Zach reached into the back pocket of his jeans and produced a silver flask. He grinned triumphantly as the container glinted in the dark.

"Here you go," he said, tipping a little bit of alcohol into David's soda.

When Zach reached towards Jason's soda can, I felt him stiffen in discomfort. I glanced at him, taken aback to find his eyes filled anxiety.

Averting his gaze to the grassy floor, Jason muttered, "N-no, thanks."

"We're eighteen, Zach," I protested in at attempt to ease Jason's perplexing discomfort. "We can't drink."

"Oops," he cried with a laugh. Tipping the flask into his own soda can, he said, "I forgot!"

"Zach, I didn't know they were underage," David chided his boyfriend. "Why are you offering them booze?"

"It's just a little vodka," he insisted. "It's harmless!"

While David and Zach squabbled about whether or not they should let us drink, I turned to Jason, concerned by the uncharacteristic nervousness he had displayed.

"Are you okay?" I asked, brushing my fingers against his.

He grabbed my hand, seemingly reassured by my touch.

"I'm sorry," he answered, the small smile on his lips failing to reach his eyes. "I'm fine."

There was something odd about Jason's reaction to Zach's offer. He seemed terrified of the alcohol sloshing inside the silver flask. I watched Jason carefully, making a mental note to ask him about his agitation later.

"I'm sorry, guys," David's voice brought me back to the moment. His tone turned playful when he said, "Zach is still overexcited about being able to drink, even though he turned twenty-one a year ago."

"Well, we aren't all mature, twenty-three-year-old college graduates with fancy hacker jobs," Zach teased back, kissing his boyfriend's lips lovingly.

I raised my eyebrows, surprised to discover that David was older than Zach.

"You can have some if you want, Leena," David spoke up a moment later, gesturing to the silver flask.

"No, that's okay," I smiled, waving my hand dismissively. "Thanks."

I snuck a glance at Jason. His eyes — twin pools of darkness under the fading sun — pierced mine with an unmistakable relief. I realised that he approved of my choice to decline the alcohol, leaving me more curious than ever about Jason's repulsion towards underage drinking.

***

"Please, no," an actress cried, begging for mercy from the gruesome Freddy Krueger.

The crowd erupted into cheers and whistles as Freddy went for the kill, nearly drowning out the movie's sound effects in the process. The audience mainly consisted of young couples, their bodies illuminated by the movie screen.

From my vantage point on the grass floor, I could see the screen clearly. Beyond the large display, the headlights of hundreds of cars glimmered across a wide road. The city lights that glowed were no competition to the stars, splashed across the sky like diamonds against velvet.

Almost as if to match the mood of A Nightmare on Elm Street, the night sky turned into a dark shade of purplish blue. The wind blew across the theatre constantly like a faint, eerie hum.

I swept my gaze over Zach and David surreptitiously. Both of them appeared hopelessly enraptured by the film. Turning to my left, I found Jason just as engrossed in the 1984 horror movie. But I simply couldn't bring myself to focus on the film. With an exasperated sigh, I decided to give into my nagging curiosity.

"Hey," I said to Jason, pressing my hand to his cheek.

His short stubble pricked my fingers as I traced the length of his defined jaw.

"Hey," Jason whispered, tearing his eyes away from the screen to meet mine. Turning his face to kiss my palm, he asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah," I answered, my skin tingling from the sensation of his lips. "I . . ."

Suddenly, sounds of violent hacking and screaming ensued, the crowd's deafening cheers reverberating through my body. I waited for the applause to die down.

Leaning closer to Jason's ear, I asked, "Why do you hate underage drinking so much?"

I pulled back to study his face, my fingers knotting themselves in my lap.

"It's not underage drinking," Jason whispered with a short laugh. "It's just . . . drinking in general. I'll explain later, okay?"

"Okay," I relented. After a moment's hesitation, I added, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Jason shook his head and smiled, reaching up to tuck a few strands of my hair behind my ears. He pressed a tender kiss to my forehead that caused my cheeks to flush with warmth. Feeling relieved, I turned back to the screen, finally ready to focus on the movie.

But my focus was lost again when Jason leant towards my ear and whispered something that made my heart grow cold with guilt.

"I'll never keep secrets from you, Leena Faye."

***

The very instant that the waiter left our table, Zach rubbed his palms together cunningly and said, "So, what were you two lovebirds whispering about?"

Jason and I exchanged glances, our eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"At the movie," Zach said, enunciating each word slowly. "Don't think that we didn't notice the two of you whispering to each other."

"You just have to tease them about it," David rolled his eyes at his boyfriend.

With a grin, Zach leant forward in his seat, nudging my knee with his from underneath the restaurant table.

"Were you two talking about bumping uglies?" he stage-whispered.

Jason coughed into his hand self-consciously while David did a poor job of concealing his amused grin.

I thought back to Jason's words.

I'll never keep secrets from you, Leena Faye.

I felt as though I were being poked in my ribs with a sharp stick. The unpleasant sensation of guilt compounded as I replayed the conversation with Jason in my head.

"Hello?" Zach sing-songed, grabbing my attention with his curious gaze.

I plastered a smile on my face, forcing myself to focus on the moment.

"Actually, yes," I lied, surprised by the newfound confidence in my voice. "We were talking about bumping uglies."

Zach's eyebrows shot up, surprised by my response. David and Jason laughed as they took in his undisguised shock. On the outside, I was grinning at the three boys, smug and jovial. But on the inside, my heart thumped against my chest as I kept thinking:

But I'm keeping secrets from you, Jason Hunter.

---

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Hugs,

Amethyst