Midnight Movie Club Ch. 01

"Guess it's my turn to apologize then," Alexander said, rubbing the back of his head as he looked sheepishly at Julie. "I'm the one who dragged you to the party. Sorry you didn't have fun."

"I went to the party of my own free will. No harm, no foul. Besides, Eleanor and Cole looked like they were having a good time."

A sense of relief settled over Alexander at Julie's statement. "Good. So what's on your agenda for the rest of the evening then?"

"I'm going to my room and putzing around until I fall asleep. Not the most exciting of strategies, however, I can't think of anything else to do."

"I'll walk with you." As Julie fell in beside him to head back to the residence halls, a notion flashed through Alexander's head. After a few steps, he decided to act on the impulse. "Say, if you're not ready to call it a night either, do you want to come back to my room, maybe hang out, play a game or something?" The words came out jumbled, squished against one another in contrast to the smooth tone of voice Alexander normally used.

Julie came to a stop. When she turned to look at Alexander, it was with narrow eyes and a tilt of her head. It made him feel like he was being put under a microscope. She studied his face, scrutinizing him intently for a couple of seconds. "Just to hang out," Julie eventually said. "Nothing else?"

Holding up one hand as if he was on the witness stand, Alexander proclaimed, "Just to hang out. I promise."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you want to hang out? You and I hardly know each other." She gestured across the street towards the distant house. "The only reason you and I met is that our roommates went to high school together. My coming to your room would be our first long-term social interaction. Considering that we haven't mentioned any shared hobbies or interests, why would you want to invite me up to your room if you weren't planning on trying to sleep with me?"

Julie's words were blunt, direct, and worst of all delivered without a hint of malice or curiosity. Momentarily flustered, Alexander tried to regain his mental balance, which was made more difficult by Julie continuing to look directly at him. "You have no trouble speaking your mind," he eventually managed to say, "do you? You're right, we barely know each other and this is the longest conversation you and I have had. But I wouldn't mind getting to know you, Julie. You're pretty cool, and it seems like you're straightforward. I had my fill of tongue wagging and popularity doublespeak bullshit in high school. Plus it looks like our roommates might become friends, which means it will be easier for the two of us if we're friends as well. And I like making friends."

"So you want to get to know me for me, but you also want to get to know me for Cole and Eleanor?" Julie nodded slowly. "I can appreciate that. And besides, I don't like making friends," she admitted. "I'm not very good at it. I could use the practice."

"Outstanding," Alexander grinned. "I am willing to be your social training dummy." Once again holding up his hand, he added, with complete sincerity in his voice, "I sincerely promise, all clothing will remain in its current physical location during our time together, although I am willing to add an exception clause for shoes."

"I accept those terms. Can I make a suggestion though? Let's go back to my room, maybe watch a movie?" Julie couldn't quite meet Alexander's eyes as she continued. "I'd feel more comfortable. More at ease."

"Lead on, Miss Wyndham. The sooner I'm out of this cold, the better. What kind of movie do you have in mind?" Alexander inquired as they began to walk back towards the center of campus, "I'm pretty flexible, so pick whatever flick you want."

"I'm trying to decide," she answered. "I'm going through my catalog in my head."

"If it helps, I've got Netflix and Amazon Prime on my phone. With a USB cord we can hook it up to your TV," he offered.

"We should be fine. I've got over two thousand movies to pick from. I just have to narrow it down."

The mention of the size of her film catalog almost caused Alexander to trip on the sidewalk. "Wait," he said, looking at Julie with amazement once he managed to recover, "did you say two thousand movies?!?"

"Two thousand," she replied casually. "They're all on flash drives. Our dorm room isn't cluttered with DVD and Blu-Ray cases, I promise."

" You must really love movies, Julie."

For the first time that evening, Alexander saw a genuine smile cross Julie's face. "I'll admit, that's an understatement."

X X X X X

"...because I frequently moved around as a child," Julie continued to explain as she and Alexander stepped off the elevator, "films were the one constant in my life. They allowed me to have something relatively stable and I could use them to help break the ice with all the new people I would meet. Movies are a common thread almost everyone shares."

"That makes sense... huh." Alexander glanced around the small lobby. "Your walls are cinderblock. Ours are drywall. But both carpets are this lovely shade of brown. Anyway," he said as he and Julie walked towards her room, "what you're saying makes sense. Who hasn't seen the original Star Wars trilogy?"

"Or Mean Girls. Or any of the Conjuring movies."

"That's true." Alexander's fingers trailed along the cinderblock wall as they walked. "Still, two thousand movies? That's a lot of common threads."

"Not as many as you'd think. Half of them are movies that people have at least heard of. A quarter are cult classics. The rest are nothing but absolute clunkers. Here we are." Stopping in front of Room 334, Julie pulled a key from her pocket and unlocked the door. She opened the door and stepped inside, hitting the light and motioning for Alexander to follow her. "Welcome to our room."

Alexander closed the door behind him. "Looks about the same size as ours." After unplugging her smartpad from its charging cord, Julie turned to see Alexander staring at the half-painted mural on the wall above Eleanor's bed. "That's halfway amazing," he said, impressed. "It's going to be 100% amazing when it's done."

"Remind me to get your phone number later and I'll send you a picture. Go ahead and grab Eleanor's chair," she told him. Alexander picked up the chair and moved it to just beside the foot of her bed, giving him a clear line of sight to the television, while Julie scrolled the list of movies she had access to from her smart pad. "Considering it's the witching hour, how does a horror movie sound?" she suggested.

"I said you could pick the flick," Alexander said as he sat down, "however you should know, I'm really not a fan of horror movies."

"Do you not like blood and guts?"

"Blood and guts don't bother me. And neither does nudity," he added with a wry grin. "Most horror movies I've watched were boring and predictable or bleak and depressing. If I'm going to watch a movie, I want to have fun."

"Do you mind if I take that as a challenge?" Julie's finger whipped through the air as she scrolled through her catalog. "I've got a horror movie you might enjoy. It's got blood, guts, nudity, and even though it's a slasher knockoff it manages to stand out on its own."

"I trust your judgment." Alexander slipped off his shoes as Julie connected her Nexus to the flatscreen TV via Bluetooth.

As Julie tapped her smartpad, the black screen on the TV became a shot of a cabin at night, with the words "Camp Blackfoot" at the bottom in white lettering. "It's called The Burning. Early 80's Friday the 13th knockoff set at a summer camp that's actually open."

After getting the lights and kicking off her shoes Julie grabbed one of her pillows and, smartpad in hand, flopped onto the bed, rolling onto her stomach and putting the pillow under her chest before starting the movie. She and Alexander watched the opening scene as several young teenage male campers prepared to pull a prank on the camp caretaker while he slept. The custodian woke up to see the prank in question - a fake skull, covered in dirt and earthworms with two candles burning in its eye sockets.

"Gross," Alexander said quietly as the custodian screamed before knocking the skull off his dresser and onto the bed. The blanket quickly caught fire. The custodian, screaming in terror, beat at the flames. In his panic, however, he accidentally knocked over a can of gasoline. "OK, this is... ooooooooooh, damn!"

X X X X X

Julie couldn't help but smile as she saw the look on Alexander's face in the dim glow of the television. He stared at the screen, eyes wide, as Cropsy burst out of his cabin with his entire body engulfed in flames. "Wow," Alexander proclaimed, watching Cropsy flail about for several seconds before falling down a wooden hill, tumbling end over end. "That guy was on fire for a long time!"

The scene shifted to a male nurse telling a skeptical doctor about a patient who had received numerous amount of skin grafts to little effect. The nurse taunted the doctor to come with him into the burn unit and see the patient for himself. Julie saw Alexander lean forward ever so slightly as the nurse pulled back the curtain on the oxygen tent...

"HOLY SHIT!" Her guest rocked back in his chair, as a severely burned arm grabbed the nurse's wrist. The camera lingered on the charred, blistered arm as the doctor beat a hasty retreat. A tight focus on the screaming male nurse cut to a black screen and the words "A Miramax Production Of," followed by, in bright red capital letters, the title of the film - THE BURNING.

"Whoa," Alexander breathed as the opening credits were displayed, "that was intense... and Harvey Weinstein wrote and produced this? Now I know this is a horror movie."

"This was the movie that broke him into the film business," Julie explained, eager to share even a single drop of her vast film knowledge. "It was the late 70's and if you could write, produce, and shoot a horror movie for cheap, some studio would pick your film up and someone would end up making money. Throw in blood and female breasts and a profit was guaranteed."

"Between the skull, the guy on the fire, the third-degree burns, and Harvey Weinstein, our agreement to keep our clothes where they currently are is holding strong. I don't see how anyone would be in the mood after that opening sequence."

"Don't be so sure," Julie countered. "Any time people feel frightened, their adrenaline and cortisol levels increase, and blood gets pumped to their extremities. The same biological reaction occurs when they're aroused as well." As the credits came to an end, she noticed Alexander had turned to look at her, a look of questioning intrigue on his face. "I've seen this movie enough times to not get frightened," she said with a quiet laugh. "Our clothing is safe, I promise."

He responded with a chuckle. "I'll hold you to that." The pair fell silent as the screen showed Cropsy being released from the hospital, covered in a trenchcoat and hat. After killing a prostitute in a fit of rage, the burned caretaker obtained a pair of garden shears and over the next thirty-five minutes proceeded to stalk the campers and counselors of Camp Stonewater.

As the movie rolled on, Julie found herself watching Alexander watch the movie. He had remained quiet since the opening credits, leaning forward in the chair, hands clasped between his knees, eyes focused on the screen with keen interest. During a scene where a camper almost stumbled upon Cropsy while looking for a lost baseball, Alexander had held his breath. When another camper saw Cropsy appear outside his window in a later scene, Julie felt a brief pride when Alexander noticeably flinched in his chair at the jump scare. In between, he had given a playful snort when a blonde counselor gratuitously showed off her naked body to the camera while taking a shower in an outdoor stall.

Seeing Alexander engaged with the slasher film helped scrub away the lingering negative resonance from the party. To her, few things were worse than watching someone react to a movie with disinterest, especially one she suggested. Alexander had unknowingly thrown down the gauntlet when he said he didn't care for horror movies. She truly enjoyed introducing people to movies they would never seek out on their own. Ever since the opening scene Alexander hadn't checked his phone out of boredom or begun an MST3K-esque running commentary to maintain focus. The young man had become invested in the events of the movie. And they hadn't even gotten to the back half of The Burning where events started to get incredibly bloody.

Julie shifted on her mattress as she began to feel warm. The windows to the dorm room were closed, making the room a bit stuffy. She briefly debated getting up to open then, before Alexander distracted her.

"Oooooh damn." His proclamation came as a young woman, freshly dressed after a round of full frontal skinny dipping with her boyfriend, had her throat slashed by Cropsy using his gardening shears. The practical effect was incredibly gruesome. The shears cut deep into the woman's neck. Blood, dark, red, and rich, spurted from the wound. Aside from a quick cut to Cropsy driving his shears into a nearby tree, the camera lingered on the woman as she died. The blood flowed down her open shirt, coating her chest and midriff with streaks of crimson.

Julie felt an emotional rush roll through her body as Alexander shook his head in amazement. "They are not playing around with these special effects, are they?" It took some effort to not respond as Alexander's focus went back to the movie. As the movie drew closer to its signature scene, Julie found herself squirming on her bed. Not out of fear or anxiety, but from eagerness. She wanted to see Alexander's reaction, especially considering that they were watching the uncut version of the film.

After a few minutes, the scene began. Several camp counselors were paddling down a wide river on a makeshift raft, searching for some stolen canoes. By now Alexander was leaning forward in his chair with his hands steepled against his chin. The dim glow of the television outlined his face. As Julie turned her attention back to the television, however, the door to her room swung open. The harsh fluorescent light of the hallway flooded the room. Alexander immediately covered his eyes, cursing sharply. With her night vision momentarily ruined, Julie had the presence of mind to pause the movie as the voice of Eleanor filled the air.

"So this is my room and... oh, Julie!" There was a noticeable slur to Eleanor's words as she proclaimed, "I completely forgot you were coming back here!" Eleanor was little more than a blurry outline as Julie's eyes tried to adjust.

"Could you close the door, please?" Alexander waved one hand, the other pressed over his eyes. "I'm going blind here."

"Alexander?" The bright light vanished as the door closed, replacing the blurry outline with a slouched pile of darkness. "I didn't know you were here!"

"Yeah man," a low voice mumbled, "didn't think anyone would be here." The pile of darkness was gradually separating into two distinct forms. The splash of light from the television provided enough illumination into the entryway for Julie to eventually make out Cole, one arm wrapped around Eleanor's waist and one of her arms thrown over his shoulders. "Completely blanked out that you were coming back here, Julie," he admitted. "Sorry about that."

"No... wait..." Eleanor held out one hand, her eyes looking towards the ceiling as she drunkenly tried to recreate a previous thought process. "We knew Julie was coming back here...and Alexander was with those two girls, so it was your room that was empty..." Eleanor's head lolled to one side as she glanced at Cole. "We came to the wrong residence hall!"

"I'm guessing you guys kept partying after I left," Julie remarked.

"We helped finish off the keg," Cole confirmed with a hint of pride. "And we figured we weren't done partying so we were going to my room to hang out. Wires got crossed in our brains somewhere and now we're here. Hey, what happened to those two girls you left the party with?"

"One of the girls was drunk," Alexander explained, "and I was helping her roommate get her back to her room. I ran into Julie on the way back to the party and we decided to come back here and watch a movie."

"Oh." With his arm still around her waist, Cole tilted his head to look at Eleanor. "You want to head over to my room then? Let these two have some privacy?"

Eleanor's response was to look at the television screen, where five young men and women were frozen in mid-paddle. "What movie are you guys watching?" she asked, curious.

"It's a slasher film called The Burning." Julie motioned towards Alexander. "Alexander said he doesn't care for horror movies and I took it as a bit of a challenge."

"I'm enjoying it." Alexander nodded towards the television. "It's bloody but suspenseful, I care about the characters, and the scenery is gorgeous. It could be a comedy about a summer camp if it wasn't for all the, you know, murder."

"The Burning? Never heard of it." After staring at the TV for several seconds Eleanor told Cole, "I don't want to go all the way back outside. You OK with sitting down and watching the movie?"

Cole nodded casually. "Whatever."

"Cool... wait, wait, wait!" Eleanor thrust her arm forward, vaguely pointing in both Alexander and Julie's direction at the same time. "We're not... interrupting anything, are we?"

"No," Julie and Alexander answered simultaneously. They both turned to look at each other for a brief moment before laughing quietly. "We were watching the movie," Julie explained, motioning between her and her guest. "That's all."

"Two new friends hanging out," Alexander added. "I'm fine with you guys joining us if Julie is." After Julie nodded her consent, Alexander started to rise from the chair. "You can have your chair, Eleanor. I'll sit on the floor..."

"You're fine," Eleanor interrupted. "Here," she directed Cole, "climb up on the bed." The young woman had to put one hand against the wall to keep her balance as Cole took his arm from her waist before sitting down on Eleanor's bed. He scooted so his back was against the cinderblock wall at the head of the mattress. As he put a pillow behind his shoulders Eleanor shoved his feet apart and climbed between them. By the time both Cole and Eleanor had gotten comfortable she was sitting between his legs, her back against his chest and his arms wrapped loosely around her waist. "Oh, um... Alexander, you're blocking our view of the TV," Eleanor pointed out. "Maybe you do need to sit on the floor. Sorry."

"It's OK," Alexander replied, once again beginning to stand up. "I should probably move the chair back a bit anyway. My eyes are starting to hurt from sitting so close to the TV."

As he slid the chair away from the foot of the bed, a pair of revelations hit Julie in rapid succession. The first came as she noticed Cole nibbling on Eleanor's neck, drawing a giggle of approval from the young woman as she pushed herself further into his embrace. To use Eleanor's phrase from earlier, apparently 'anything' was in the cards for the pair at some point in the evening. It was the follow-up, the second revelation in the one-two punch, that concerned Julie more - if Alexander moved back, she wouldn't be able to see his reaction to the remainder of the film. Even if she sat up and put her back against the head of her bed ala Cole and Eleanor, Alexander would be out of her line-of-sight and no longer directly lit by the glow of the television.

She made her decision before rationalizing it. And with that, the wheels of the next eight months were set in motion.

"Wait." Julie rolled off of her stomach to sit up. She made her way to the top of her bed and, somewhat like Cole, put her back in the corner made by her bedframe and the wall. "Sit here." As she patted the mattress next to her, Julie had the pleasure of seeing Alexander's eyes widen, as if he had just seen a man set on fire or a young woman's neck slit open by a pair of gardening shears.