Caleb and I walk to the back of the car to the trunk. He opens it and pulls out a black blanket. He walks to the front of the car with me right behind him, following in his tall shadow.

We are at a Drive-In theater. I didn't even know we had one here. Our town is so small. I thought I knew every place here. Guess I didn't.

People around us are lying on the grass on top of their blankets. The lot is filled with people. I usually hate crowds. But it is not so bad. Nobody here knows me, so nobody is looking at me. The thought of people not knowing me and not staring at me soothes me. I still kind of wish we stayed in the car, though, as some people did. But I guess it would've been hard to see the movie from inside the vehicle.

Caleb spreads the blanket out on the grass. We both sit. I look at the people around me. In front of us, there's a couple, or at least they look like a couple. The girl has blonde hair with blue highlights; the boy has black hair with green tips. I've never seen them before. I'm pretty sure with hair as distinctive as theirs; I would've remembered them. The boy has his arm around her waist; tattoos cover his arm. His thumb rubs the middle of her lower back, over the name Troy, which is tattooed there with a flower circled around the name. That has to be his name.

"So, really have never been here?" Caleb asks me, breaking me away from my thoughts.

I shake my head, "Nope."

"How is that I know this place, and I'm not even from here?"

I shrug my shoulders. "How do you know about it?" I ask.

"My sister and I stumbled across it one night," he says. "We were on our way home from a party. I was drunk; she was drunk. I thought I could drive us back home, I couldn't, and I didn't want to take a chance, so we pulled into here, watched a few movies," he explains.

"Wait, you have a sister?" My eyes go wide. Violet and James didn't mention that.

"Had a sister." He rubs the back of his neck, a reaction he does when he is nervous. He doesn't look at me. "She passed away earlier this year." He explains further.

"Oh. I'm sorry." I don't want to pry. But I do want to know what happened."What was her name?" I ask instead of asking what I really want to know.

"Willow." His whole demeanor has changed now that we are talking about his sister. There's sadness expressed on his face, but the way he tenses up makes me sense anger and aggression.

A sound comes from the giant screen on the field, letting us know that the movie is about to start—the people around us cheer. He looks at the screen.

"What movie is it?" I ask.

"Avengers: Endgame," He says the words slowly. I raise my eyebrows. "I know, I know. I knew it would be risky, bringing a girl to see a superhero movie. We can go somewhere else."

I disregard his slightly sexist remark and say, "No, no. Are you kidding? I love marvel and everything about it. I've seen every movie."

...

It has only been about an hour and a half. This movie seems longer for some reason, probably because I've seen it over ten times. Whereat the part when they go back in time to retrieve the stones. It's kind of hard for me to concentrate on the movie. The couple in front of us are kissing; they're not even paying attention to the most essential part of the movie.

I watch their slow but forceful kissing. Their tongues are entwined; their mouths move together at the same pace and motion. It looks awkward to me, but they seem to be enjoying it. My phone vibrates. I pull it out from my back pocket. It's my dad.

*Just talked to your teacher. He said you no longer have to work with Ryder. -Dad

*Really?! He agreed to that?

*Yes, at first he was against it. So I called your principal. She talked to Brooks and explained the situation, then he agreed. You should have told me the project was about Romeo and Juliet. -Dad

*Why?

*Because this is not the time you should be reading a story like that. It's about suicide -Dad

*Oh

*And Ms. Moore has also decided that students should pick something else for their senior projects. She said she had received calls from other parents, and they had concerns about it too. -dad

*Wait, so now everyone has to find a whole new project? Including me?

*They will be able to continue with the Romeo and Juliet project only if they have their parent's permission. And you don't have me or your mother's approval, so you'll have to find something else. -dad

I click my phone off in anger. I don't even want to respond to him. Why do we need our parent's permission for Romeo and Juliet? Why do we need or parents' permission for anything? I mean, we are seniors. I think we can make our own decisions.

Caleb nudges my shoulder. "Hey, I'm going to go get some popcorn. You want some?"

"No, I'm ok. Thank you, though!" He smiles, gets off the ground, and walks over to the stands. He really is cute. I still can't believe someone like him is out with someone like me—my phone rings. Breaking me away from this unbelievable dream.

I flip my phone over, expecting to see my dad's name across the screen. Instead, I see Ryders. He's not even here, and yet, I feel my insides turn. I send the call to voicemail. The phone rings again. I look around. Oh god, what if he's here. I can't help the guilt I feel arising in me. Wait, why should I feel guilty? I'm not doing anything. The phone hangs up then starts to ding. He's texting me. I open up my phone and read each message as they come.

*Jayda -Ryder

*Where are you? -Ryder

*Answer your phone -Ryder.

*It's important -Ryder

The messages stop. Somehow I doubt it's important. The phone rings again, this time without thinking, I answer.

"Where are you?" He says in a stern voice.

"That's none of your business," I say. I won't be intimidated by him.

"Can you just tell me wh--"

I cut him off. "Ryder, what do you want? If you don't tell me what you want, I'm going to hang up."

"You better not be with him." He growls.

"Who?" I say, acting confused. I know who.

"Caleb! You better not be with him." He yells.

"Ummm, I'm sorry, but I can do whatever I want." I smile on the inside. It feels good to stand up to him. I'm not crying either. It's easier when I'm not in front of him to defend myself. Surely if I were in front of him, I wouldn't say things to make him mad. I hear him take a deep breath.

"Did you get that email from Brooks?" he asks. I'm happy he doesn't continue trying to figure out where I am.

"No."

"Well, he said we don't have to do that fucking project. I mean, we can, but we just need our parent's permission," he states what I already know. "A lot of people are picking something else, though. There are no more partners. I mean, we don't have to have a partner if we don't want to."

"Well, that's good for you, I guess." I roll my eyes even though he can't see me. I look over to the stands. Caleb is still in line. He can't know I'm on the phone with Ryder; this is a date, and even though I've never been on a date before, I'm pretty sure you aren't supposed to be talking to another guy while you're with a guy.

"Why would that be good for me?" He asks.

"Uhhhh, because now you can go back to your life, and I can go back to mine," I explain. "I mean, you said it; people like us just don't mix." We don't; we couldn't even go a full week without things going crazy.

"And this is good for you because?" he stupidly asks.

I laugh. "Are you really even asking me that? After everything you have said and done to me." I spit out. "This is good because I don't have to be around you ever again! I don't have to get insulted by you ever again." This is a big relief that I don't have to work with him; now I can go back to being somewhat invisible.

"So, are you not going to do the project with me?" he asks.

"No, I can't,"

"Why not?"

"My parents won't let me." Even if they did, I wouldn't work with him.

"You're eighteen. You don't need their permission."

"I'm seventeen, I don't turn eighteen till July 31st, so I do need their permission." I've always hated that my birthday was so late. I'm always the youngest one out of everyone. Ryder is older than me. He's nineteen. He started school late, so he is the oldest in our grade. His birthday is October 20th. How do I know that? I ask myself

"If you had their permission, would you still do it with me?"

And there's the clip being pulled off the grenade. I don't want to lie to him. I know the truth will make him mad. But who cares? He doesn't hold his tongue for me, so why should I. "No," I say firmly.

''I wouldn't work with me either," he says. "I really am an ass," he admits out of nowhere. Where did that come from?

"I'm glad you know." Who cares why he's saying it? At least he's finally coming to terms with who he is.

"Nobody has ever talked to me how you talk to me,"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you tell me the truth. You don't hold anything back." he pauses. "You're honest; I admire that." Admire? He admires me? "

I look up, and I see Caleb grabbing the popcorn out of the guy's hand. I need to wrap up this overly long awkward conversation.

"Ryder, I have to go. I uh... I" I can't say I'll talk to him later because I won't.

"Yeah, I have to go too," he says. The phone hangs up.

I guess that was our way of saying goodbye without saying goodbye. Whatever it was, it was goodbye. I don't have to work with him anymore, so I won't ever have to talk to him again. And when I kill myself, I really won't ever speak to him again.

Caleb takes a seat back beside me."What did I miss?" He asks.

"Everything," I say jokingly. He smiles then looks back at the screen. The couple in front of us are still kissing. Were they kissing this whole time? I can't help but continue to stare at their fiery, passionate, forceful kiss. It doesn't look as awkward as it did before.

I can't help but think. Maybe I did lie to Ryder. Would I really have not done the project with him? I think I would've still done it with him. Why though? All he did the whole time was insult me and lie on me. He really did make my life worse in only a week.

But I don't know; it seemed like he was opening up maybe. He actually complimented me. Perhaps it's like that kiss; to me, it looks forceful and rough. But to both of them, it's beautiful. Something beautiful is coming out of this passionate act.

Just like something beautiful was possibly coming out of Ryder.