[I hope you guys enjoy this one.]

Hearing a faint knock at the front door, Lauren walks out of the kitchen, looks through the door’s peephole, and opens it.

“Hey,” Lauren smiles and steps back from the door.

“What’s up?” Jessica walks in, returning the smile.

Lauren closes the door. “Nothing much. Just making the popcorn. Speaking of, I think it should be ready by now.” As if on cue, the microwave beeps from the kitchen. “You can go ahead and start looking for a movie. I think it’s your turn to decide.”

“Aye, aye!” Jessica skips in the direction of Lauren’s bedroom. Lauren heads into the kitchen to retrieve the popcorn. Pouring the popcorn into a large bowl, Lauren grins as she wonders if Jessica will cry during whichever movie they pick. The slightly-younger girl is as tough as nails, but not when it comes to movies. It doesn’t even matter if the movie is well-made or crappy--if it has any emotional content, Jessica will cry.

When Lauren walks into the bedroom, Jessica is sitting in the beanbag chair and reading a description of The Last Song, starring Miley Cyrus. Lauren laughs. “If you want to keep your makeup looking that way, you might want to choose another movie. I’ve seen it before, and it’s super sad.”

Jessica shrugs, smiling. “I’m in the mood for a chick flick. Besides, I haven’t had a good cry in a while.”

Lauren grabs a pillow from her bed, sets the popcorn between Jessica and her, and lies down. “If that’s what you want, go for it.”

Jessica takes off her coat and reaches for the remote. She pauses.“Wait. Do you have a hair tie I could borrow? The wind totally messed up my hair.”

“Sure,” Lauren takes her extra hair tie off of her wrist and hands it to Jessica.

“Thanks.” In one motion, Jessica gathers all of her long, auburn hair and ties it back. She picks up the remote and presses a button, starting the movie. Lauren stands up to turn off the light and notices that Jessica is still wearing her black, knee-high boots.

“You can take off your boots, if you want,” Lauren offers.

“I think I’ll keep them on. My feet are still cold from walking over here.”

Lauren nods and resumes her position on the floor. “Gotcha.” 
As the movie plays, Lauren glances over at Jessica periodically to see whether or not she’s crying. Jessica is totally engrossed in the movie, unaware that Lauren is keeping an eye on her. During the slow parts, Jessica plays with the zipper on her left boot, slowly zipping it up and down. During the romantic and exciting parts, Lauren notices that Jessica’s feet tap each other, or she wiggles her toes. Lauren prevents herself from chuckling, not wanting to break Jessica’s attention--she finds her friend too endearing to disturb.

About three-fourths into the movie, during a particularly sad part, Lauren glances over at Jessica. A single tear traces down Jessica’s cheek, followed by another, and another. Jessica notices that Lauren is looking at her. They burst out laughing.

“I told you you’d start crying!” Lauren manages to say.

Jessica nods, still laughing. “You were right.”

Lauren stands up and grabs a tissue from the box on her desk. She holds it out to Jessica.

“Thanks,” Jessica takes it and starts wiping her face.

Sitting back down, Lauren returns her attention to the movie. However, instead of watching the movie, she finds herself paying more attention to Jessica’s quiet sniffles. She sneaks one glance at Jessica--her eyes are brighter than normal and her cheeks are flushed, giving her a glowing appearance. Lauren catches herself thinking that Jessica is beautiful when she cries.

Lauren shakes her head to dispel the thought. She looks back at the movie, which is showing the funeral scene. Knowing that the scene will elicit a fresh wave of tears, she can’t resist looking at Jessica again. She stares at the tears sliding down Jessica’s cheek and dripping off of her chin. Jessica wipes at the tears, but new ones spill out of her hazel eyes. Gosh, if only Jessica wasn’t straight…

Once the credits start rolling, Jessica wipes the rest of her tears and tosses the damp tissue into the trash. Lauren turns off the tv. The two friends make small talk about the movie for a few minutes, then Jessica stands up.

“Alright, I better go back home. I still have to study for my Trig exam.”

“Okay.” Lauren stands up and holds her arms open. They hug. “I’m glad you enjoyed the movie.”

They walk slowly over to the front door, regretting the moment when they have to separate. Jessica puts on her coat, then touches her hair. “Oh, wait--your hair tie.” She starts to take her hair out of its ponytail.

“You can give it back tomorrow. It’s pretty windy outside.” Lauren gestures toward the window close to the front door. The pine trees outside are swaying in the wind.

“Thanks!” Jessica says.

“No problem.”

With that, Jessica opens the front door. The cold creeps into the house, nipping at Lauren’s feet.

“See ya,” Jessica steps outside.

“‘Bye,” Lauren waves to Jessica and slowly closes the door. Once she knows that Jessica is more than a few feet away from the door, Lauren turns around and leans back against the door.

Again--if only Jessica wasn’t straight.