Survival Of The Fittest

Audrey cocked her head.

"Man of the house? What do you mean?"

Come to think of it, it was weird how Ben had called coming to Diamondback "a trip down memory lane." Was there something that had happened in the past that irreversibly changed something? Or was she just over thinking it as usual. Audrey didn't know what to make of the statement; she shook her head. Maybe she really was just overthinking it. Ben seemed awfully tight-lipped, though, and Audrey hadn't gotten that impression from him when he was at drama club. She was pretty bad about reading people, though, and this was likely one of those situations.

Audrey hated those situations.

"Well," Audrey quipped. "Baseball sounds fun, anyway."

Henry was talking a lot about movies again, which Audrey appreciated, smiling and nodding at her newfound friend. There was definitely a shift in the atmosphere, however, though Audrey sensed that maybe she was the only one that could feel it. She shivered involuntarily for a second; that happened sometimes when she got a tingly feeling all over her body - she never really understood why. Maybe it was like a Spider Sense, an omen for what's to come. Or maybe she's just reading into things again.

Annnnnnd Audrey asked him to go further than what he said. This was going to get awkward. Not many people knew that he had a dead dad, and that was probably for the best. If he said it out loud it'd become a real conversation killer, he knew that from experience. It was normally best that he didn't talk about it at all until he was specifically questioned about it, so if she asked further he supposed that he'd just say it straight out. It'd probably make the whole thing uncomfortable but it was for the best, maybe.

Luckily for him, Audrey decided to drop the topic and say that baseball was pretty cool. Which it was, but the more important thing was that she decided to drop it. Henry went on about the two making a baseball movie - not the most original idea for a movie and there was so much you could do with an overdone concept - which ended in…

Wait.

What?

Yeah… Ben knew that this had been confirmed multiple times before but there was definately something up with this kid. Probably not a mental condition though, he just seemed to like horror movies a lot. He mentioned Unfriended, something that he had heard of before. When first reading it he thought the concept was gay as fuck but apparently it had gotten good reviews so maybe it was worth watching. He decided that he was going to ask Henry about it.

"A literally killer movie?"

Okay, probably not the best thing to say if he wanted to learn about the movie, but maybe he could make the conversation go where Ben wanted it to go, rather than have him talk about his dad.

"Yeah!" Henry exclaimed. "Uh, well...like, metaphorically because it's a great movie, you know? Like, 'this is a killer ice cream cone!'. And literally 'cause you know, people get killed. Make sense?" Henry didn't know why killer referred to good things sometimes. He ought to look that up. The etymology was interesting.

"But yeah, it's about these teens who are hanging out on Skype and then this girl who killed herself logs on. And she starts making them kill themselves because they bullied her. It's awesome." Henry paused for a moment, reminiscing about the film. It was a really neat modern take on horror/haunting movies, and he'd really enjoyed it.

"Oh, you know what else is good? Babadook. Excellent supernatural horror."

Audrey let out another laugh. There was nothing that phased Henry was there? He just went on and on talking about this movie. What a great kid, Audrey thought. Ignorant of the ways of the world and all that. Come to think of it, Henry would be the perfect main character for a movie (or short film/television series)! Or at least a member of the supporting cast! Ideas started zooming through Audrey's head and she gripped her camera bag almost in excitement. Maybe they could even make it a horror movie since Henry liked those so much? Oh, the ideas!

She sat up, energy bounding through her.

"Henry!" she shouted out at him. "I have the best idea! Let's make a movie, you and me! I'll direct and do the technical stuff and write it and do all the hard work, basically, but you'll be the star! You're going to be my big, shining star! Think about it! Henry, uh, Spencer (character name pending) as the protagonist of our own little indie horror movie!" She bounced up and down her seat, spilling a little bit of her ice cream on her shirt but she didn't seem to notice.

She suddenly looked at Ben and her expression immediately turned sullen. Her breath caught in her throat. Oh, God. She'd done it again, hadn't she? Acted weird, done something out of turn? Damn social conventions, she hated them. Suddenly, she felt a rash of self-consciousness attack her and she swallowed as if her throat had become hoarse - beginning to sweat like someone had turned on the heater during a scorching summer day.

"I mean, er, you know..." Audrey mumbled incoherently as she gazed at Henry - though taking quick looks at Ben as if subtly asking him to forgive her for the sudden weird outburst. "...if you're interested."

More movie talk happened. Henry went on about the movie. Yep, the premise was still gay as fuck. It was still apparently pretty good, so again, he was probably going to watch it at some point. He also mentioned the Babadook, which he hadn't heard of. It was probably good though,  Henry seemed to actually have good enough taste, or at least taste that the critics agreed with. Maybe he'd figure out what it's about when he got back home, or something.

And then Audrey just kinda went crazy and decided that she wanted to make a movie with Henry… Okay? That was a little sudden. He knew that she was kinda energetic but not to that extent. He just sat back at this point, having a little bit more of his cookies and ice cream. Yum.

And then she noticed him. Awkwardddddddd. Well, not really. Ben didn't really care, but Audrey was making a big deal out of it. Probably a good idea for him to speak up.

"Oh no, it's fine. I'd totally be cool with playing the slasher movie monster, though." He grinned a little bit, kinda exaggerated, kinda legitimate.

"That would be. So. Cool."

Henry's jubilation at this proclamation was palpable. He was almost bouncing in his chair. Him? In a movie? And a horror movie at that? His excitement was like a neutrino; it was uncontainable. Then again, neutrinos were really small, and his enthusiasm for Audrey's suggestion was very large. So that simile was somewhat innacurate.

Regardless. Movie. "I'm so in for that you have no idea. Indie horror is one of my favorite subgenres." Downing the last of his ice cream cone with a gulp, Henry wiped his mouth and grinned even wider. "What if we did like, a crazy psychological thriller-type thing, with creepy noises and minimal on-screen monster stuff, like Jaws?"

Ideas for possible monsters, settings and plotlines were rushing through Henry's head so fast he could barely focus. "Ooh, or what about a demonic possession thing? Oh, oh, or-" A memory triggered in Henry's head. Uh-oh.

"Crap, I forgot I have some homework from my English class. Hey, Audrey, here." Henry grabbed a nearby napkin, plucked a pen from his jacket pocket (he always kept a few on hand just in case) and scrawled something on it. Tossing it onto the table, Henry hurried off, calling back, "Call me later and we can discuss this!"

'Henry Spencer
Ace Protagonist
(928)-222-1381
Call me =)'

((Henry Spencer continued in Hecate on Roman Halloween))

And then Henry left. That was sudden. It was a little weird, too. He kinda just stood up, started talking about an English assessment he had and then left out of nowhere. Not before he gave Audrey his phone number though. He chuckled.

"Hey, he gave you his phone number. He's a keeper." Okay, that probably wasn't the best way to say it, especially to someone he just met, but eh, whatever. Didn't really matter. He only really met her by chance so he doubted that he'd meet her again unless he seeked her out. Come to think of it, how long had he been in here? It was at least a couple of minutes.

…

And as much as he wanted to stay in Memory Lane, wow he wasted time in here and he needed to go home.

"And on that note, turns out that I'm going to be late going home." He picked up the shopping bags, thankfully without anything in there being damaged. "Sorry."

He stood up. "See you at Drama, I guess."

He made sure to wave to her on the way out, at least.

((Ben Fields continued in Prize FIghter))

((Audrey Reyes continued elsewhere...))