Читать книгу The Anxiety of Kalix the Werewolf - Martin Millar - Страница 16
ОглавлениеDominil’s calm exterior showed signs of fraying as the twins prevaricated at the refreshment stand.
“I can’t make up my mind,” said Beauty.
“Me neither,” said her sister.
“Maybe we should just buy everything?”
“I want everything too!” cried Vex, who had a very sweet tooth.
“Do you want anything, Kalix?” asked Daniel, raising his voice to compete with Vex and the twins.
Kalix shook her head.
“A hot dog? Maybe they could give you a raw one?”
Kalix looked outraged, and turned to Moonglow. “Tell Daniel to stop making jokes about me eating raw hot dogs!”
“Daniel, stop making jokes about Kalix eating raw hot dogs.”
Moonglow and Dominil looked at the squabbling mass in front of the confectionery stall. Moonglow sighed.
“It’s like taking children to the pictures.”
“Indeed,” agreed Dominil. “I’m not sure how I ended up in this position.”
“I know!” said Moonglow. “That’s just how I feel. How did I end up being the mother?”
Dominil and Moonglow shared a brief moment of empathy before shepherding their charges into the cinema. Fortunately for their state of mind, the cinema was quiet for the afternoon showing, and there were few people there to witness the loud behavior of their party. They trooped through the corridor, looking for the correct screen in the large cinema complex.
“Does everyone have their tickets?” asked Moonglow.
“I’ve lost mine,” said Vex.
“How do you know? You didn’t even check.”
“I just assumed,” said Vex, and started fumbling in her pocket. “Oh, here it is!” She brandished her ticket triumphantly.
“I’ve lost my ticket,” said Daniel.
Moonglow scowled at him. “Stop making jokes.”
“I’m not joking. I really have lost it.”
Daniel started searching through all his pockets.
“How could you lose it?” asked Moonglow. “The ticket office is only twenty yards away.”
Daniel looked around. “Maybe it dropped out of my pocket? Oh wait, here it is! I forgot I had a pocket there. It’s this new jacket, I’m not used to it.”
“Is everybody ready now?” asked Dominil.
“I’ve lost my ticket,” said Beauty.
“So have I,” added Delicious.
“You never had your tickets,” said Dominil. “I have them.”
They showed their tickets to the young woman at the door and entered the cinema.
“The previews are on already,” said Beauty, as they walked down the aisle.
“Previews!” cried Vex. “I love previews!”
Vex had never been to the cinema before, so how she could love previews was a mystery. Moonglow and Dominil guided everyone to a row in the middle of the cinema. Before taking their seats, Vex looked around, and waved to some people in the next row.
“It’s my birthday,” she shouted. She pointed to Kalix. “It’s her birthday too.”
“Stop embarrassing me,” hissed Kalix.
Vex waved cheerfully to several other people before taking her seat. After a few moments she turned to Kalix. “Is this the film now?”
“No, it’s an advert.”
“I hate adverts,” said Vex.
There was a brief commotion as Beauty dropped a large bucket of popcorn on the floor and then scrambled to retrieve it. Delicious collapsed with laughter at the sight, and Beauty started laughing too, still scrambling on the floor. Moonglow had never seen Dominil look embarrassed before, but as she looked along the row, she thought that the white-haired werewolf might just have sunk a little further down in her seat, trapped as she was with the twins, in a public place, while they made an exhibition of themselves.
“Shove over, Daniel,” said Vex. “Stop hogging the armrest.”
“I’m not hogging the armrest!” protested Daniel. “I was here first.”
“Moonglow, Daniel’s hogging the armrest!”
“No, I’m not!”
Daniel was in no mood to give in to Vex. He’d already had to struggle with her to ensure that he sat next to Moonglow. For a few moments Daniel’s plans had hung in the balance, but he’d finally managed to maneuver Moonglow to the outside of their group, with him next in line. He could easily put his arm around her without anyone else noticing.
Vex stared at the figures on screen. “Is this the Runaways?” she asked, loudly.
“Of course it’s not the Runaways, it’s an advert for potato chips!” said Kalix.
“Oh . . . will the Runaways be here soon?”
“Yes.”
“Will they be in the next advert?”
“No.”
“Don’t they get to be in any adverts?” asked Vex.
“Why would they be in the adverts?”
“To advertise their film? Can’t they do that?”
“The Runaways won’t be in any adverts!” said Kalix, and started to feel cross. “They’re only in the film. Stop being stupid.”
Vex turned to Daniel. “They should have the Runaways advertising these potato chips. It would definitely make me want to buy them.”
There were a few seconds of silence. Vex leaned over Kalix toward the twins.
“Did anyone buy any potato chips? Now I really want some.”
There were a few dissatisfied mutterings from elsewhere in the cinema as other visitors started to regret being at the same showing as such a noisy party.
“Will everyone keep quiet!” hissed Moonglow.
“Sorry!” shouted Vex.
“I’ve dropped my popcorn again,” wailed Beauty.
Moonglow and Dominil shrank in their seats and hoped, rather desperately, that things might calm down when the film started. As the adverts and previews came to an end, Kalix suddenly felt very excited at the prospect of watching the film about her favorite band. She focused on the screen, ignoring everything around her. Vex and the twins finally fell silent. Daniel inched closer to Moonglow. He felt the warmth of their arms touching.
I’m sure Moonglow’s deliberately leaning on me, he thought. This is going to be perfect. First I’ll put my arm around her and then I’m going to kiss her.
