9// ~Movies~

After Daniella dropped me off at home and walked me inside, I had a difficult time falling asleep. I couldn't stop thinking about all three of them. The way they were so patient, gentle. I loved being at there house.

It took me almost an hour to fall asleep, replaying the events of the night over and over in my head.

The next morning I received a text, this time from Morgan asking if i wanted to go with them this weekend to see a movie and maybe go for ice cream or lunch afterwards. Dani must have given her my number. I wonder if she gave Athena my number too? Anyways, know I had three contacts in my phone!

After saving her name in my contacts as 'Morgan 🤎👩🏻‍🍳' I responded telling her that I would definitely love to hang out with them! So that's what I'm getting ready for now.

I had to wake up at 8 today which isn't a problem for me, cause they said they were going to pick me up at 10. They. All of them! Here. Picking me up! I don't why I still got nervous before going to see them, I just did. I shrug thinking about it in my head.

I needed to wear something comfy and that would keep me warm in the theater but also something that I wouldn't look too comfy when we went out to get something to eat after. Plus it was raining so I needed to wear my rain boots.

I end up picking out a gray sweater, pairing it with some jean shorts with black tights underneath, before slipping my rain boots on.

I brush my hair out, deciding to leave it down and flowing, and apply my little bit of makeup. Grabbing my purse I make sure my phone, lipgloss, epipen (since we are going to be out and about), and some money since we are going out to eat after.

I head downstairs seeing as I only have 6 minutes until 10 o'clock.

"Hey Grammy, I'm heading out in a few minutes, do you need anything before I go?" I say, sitting down on the chair next to her and smiling at her.

"Nope, I'm all set honey. I'm glad you're getting out there and hanging out with friends." She smiles warmly at me and pats my hand. "You made sure to take your medicine right?"

"Yep, I remembered today, I took it while I was eating my breakfast." I nod, proud of myself. Remembering by myself was a once in a blue moon situation.

"Alright then, good job. You have fun today and text me if you need me anything, and don't worry about me, my friend is coming over today."

I tilt my head and furrow my eyebrows slightly. "Who? Do I know them?"

"No you don't know him, I met him at the dmv last week and we decided to hang out today."

I try to hold back my smile, happy that she is hanging out with someone. My grandfather passed away around 8 years ago. I know she loved him deeply and did until the day he died, and now still. I know it's hard for her but I'm glad she is putting herself out there. She's only 65, she could have another 30 years to live, and she deserves to feel love again if she wants.

"Okay, that makes me feel better. I hope you guys have a fun time." I say, standing up from the chair, ready to walk over to the front for when they arrive.

She smirks. "I hope you have fun too, just not to much fun." Winking, she goes back to what she was doing.

Why would she wink? Maybe she just had something stuck in her eye. Also, why doesn't she want me to have too much fun, is there even a thing as too much fun, I don't think so.

I choose not to question it and say goodbye, hugging her one last time before making my way over to the stairs, sitting in the same spot I did when I waited for Daniella. It's like I'm getting de-ja-vu!

At exactly 10 o'clock I hear the light knock at the door and pull my finger out of the mouth, not even realizing I was chewing on it, and move quickly to the door, opening it. They are always so on time, so punctual. Ya I know big words, no biggie.

I'm greeted by 3 smiling faces. My friends!

"Hi!" I wave quickly, trying not to bounce up and down in excitement.

Morgan speaks first, as she is the one standing closest to the door. "Hey munchkin, is it alright if we just say hi to your Grammy real quick?"

"Oh, ya, she's right here in the living room. She's making a sweater." I open the door wider, allowing all of them to step into the house, coming into view of the living room.

"Hi, you must be Mrs. Carter, it's lovely to meet you." Morgan shakes Grammys hand, who is now standing up in front of us all.

"Oh please, like I told Daniella, just call my Elaine." She smiles at them. "You must be Morgan, and you must be Athena?"

"Yes, that is correct." Athena replies, nodding her head. "Thank you for trusting us with your girl, I can assure you she is in good hands."

"I have no doubts about that." She turns to me and opens her arms. I run into them, giving her one last hug as she kisses the top of my head. "Goodbye, I love you, and behave alright."

I blush after pulling away. Why would she say that in front of them? Oh my goodness! "Grammyyyy." I say, dragging her name out. "I always behave. Goodbye, I love you too."

"Okay, let's head to the car. Movie starts at 10:30 and it's about 10 minutes away so we should get going." Daniella speaks.

We all walk to the car, a new one I haven't seen before sits in the driveway.

"Another car? How many cars do you guys have, a million?" I spread my arms as wide as they can go. I remember when I went over for dinner that Dani had parked in a garage and that there were other cars, but I was too nervous to really focus.

They all chuckle. "No not quite that many. We have 6 cars, each of us have two. One that's a little more fun and one meant for day to day travel, better safety." Says Athena.

I nod. "Makes sense."

She grabs the handle of the door and opens it before I can. I thank her before climbing into the back of the car and getting comfy in my seat, looking around the car at how fancy but also practical it looks.

Athena reaches over and buckles me in. "Oops, sorry I didn't realize I forgot to buckle." I say, shyly, hoping she's not mad at me.

She smiles and pulls away. "That's alright, I've got it covered." She runs her hand over my head once before closer the door and moving the passenger seat.

I'm sat in the back with Dani, while Morgan drives, and Athena sits in the passenger seat. I place my purse on the ground in front of my feet and watch as Morgan turns the car on, and puts it in drive. She turns on the radio and 'Breakthrough' from Lemonade Mouth comes on.

I gasp. "I love this song!" I start dancing slightly in my seat, not caring if they think I'm weird at this moment. I just need to dance!

After that song is over, two more play before we arrive at the mall. Morgan parks the car and we all get out. I stand next to the car until everyone's ready to go.

Athena grabs my hand and we start making our way inside, me skipping the whole way. We make it inside the theater and it so pretty in here!

"What movie are we seeing?" I forgot to ask them earlier.

"I thought we could see the new Lion King movie, if that sounds like fun to you? If not we can look at the other movies, whatever you want." Morgan says.

"No that's perfect, I wanted to see that!" I say a little too loudly.

Athena squeezes my hand a little causing my to move my gaze from Morgan to her, and look up at her. "I'm very happy to hear that sweetheart but let's try and use our inside voices so we don't disturb the other people trying to watch a movie alright." She says gently.

Even though I know she probably not mad, I don't like being in trouble at all. I try my hardest to be good all the time and now I messed up.

Dumb Arabella.

I look down at my feet, not wanting to make eye contact with her after acting bad. "Sorry Thena." I mumble out.

She places her fingers under my chin and forces me to raise my head back up so I'm looking at her face. She's smiling though. She doesn't look mad. "I know honey, and I know it wasn't on purpose, that's why I'm not mad alright? I'm just reminding you."

I nod my head and then blush, remembering Dani and Morgan are standing there watching this. Hopefully they still want to be my friends.

We make our way up to the counter to get snacks and candy for the movie, until I remember that I forgot my purse in the car. Oh no, my money!

I tap Dani on the shoulder and wait till she turns towards me to gesture her to lean down, that way I can whisper in her ear.

As she leans down I go slightly on my tippy toes, cupping my hands around her ear and whispering. "I forgot my money in the car, can I go get it?" I place the heels of my feet back on the ground.

"You don't need to worry about that alright, we're paying. Now tell me what you want. You want candy or a snack?"

"But-"

She cuts me off. "Nope, no buts, tell me what you want."

I sign before giving in. "Can I um...please have the....cookie dough bites?"

She picks them up and places them on the counter, along with all their food and snacks. She pulls out a black card from her wallet and hands to the worker who inserts it into the machine before handing it back.

Dani picks up the cookie dough bites and turns around, handing them to me. "Thank you! I'll be sure to pay you pack when we get back in the car!" I smile up at her.

She returns the smile and grabs my hand. "Nope. No, no, no. You're not paying me back, now forget all of about that. Can you do that for me munchkin?"

I don't like people paying for me but I also want her to be proud of me so I nod. "I can do that!"

"Good girl." She runs her thumb over the back of my hand. "Let's go watch the movie now."

It felt like my tummy did a flip when she said that. It felt funny, but I liked it. It made me feel happy. I bite my lip trying hard to smile too big as we all make our way into the theater.

We find our seats towards the middle, back of the theater. I like this place, you can put down the arm chairs if you want, but if you don't it's just like one big couch!

I sit down, bouncing as I do so. Morgan and Athena sit down on either side of me, and Dani sits down next to Morgan.

I kick my legs back on forth, until someone presses a button, allowing the feet of the chair to rise up. It's like a squishy bed. "I like it! I'm so excited!" I flap my hand up and down slightly, not knowing what to do with all the energy in my body right now.

They all laugh, smiling at me. "I'm glad." Says Athena.

The movie starts and I lay back, eating my cookie dough bites that Athena opened up for me earlier.

About half way through I could feel my eyelids start to close slowly. I try my best to keep them open though. Maybe I should have mentioned I rarely make it through movies without falling asleep. I just thought that this would be one of the times I would stay awake.

I lean over a little bit, into who I think is Morgan. She doesn't say anything, but shifts her body to allow me to lean into her more.

My body lets out a yawn and I try super duper hard to keep my eyes open, but I think I'm losing the battle.

"It's alright love, you can close your eyes, we're right here." I hear her whisper in my ear before I feel a light kiss pressed to my forehead, lowering me into a sound sleep.

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Here is Arabella's outfit!

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Hi! I hope you all enjoyed! Thank you all so so so so much for 1k reads I didn't think I would get that many! I thought maybe like 20 people would read this at most lol! I appreciate every single one of you!

Have a good day! Vote, comment, whatever you would like! Bye-bye!

- lauren 💕