Midnight Movie Club Ch. 03

"Oh, my Goddess." Eleanor shook her head in disbelief. "I went over there expecting a simple roll in the hay. Instead, I got a second name to add to my college black book."

"Black book?"

"Yeah, black book. Like, a list of the people you'd call when you're horny and want to get fucked." Eleanor held up both hands horizontally. "For now, Cole is #1, but Alexander's #1a, no doubt."

"Really? What're your criteria for comparison?"

Eleanor blew her hair away from her forehead as she debated her answer. "Cole's got experience and stamina, but Alexander has eagerness, and he hits all the right places better than any other guy I've been with. And what about you, Julie Wyndham?" Eleanor leaned forward again, waggling her eyebrows and making Julie laugh as she asked in a conspiratorial tone, "how was Cole?"

"The best sex I've ever had," she answered simply.

"Really?!?"

"No exaggeration or hyperbole."

"Hell girlfriend, spill the tea!" Eleanor shoved her chair back against her desk before flouncing over and throwing herself on the bed. "One of the things friends do is dish about getting laid." Eleanor grabbed a stuffed red Grateful Dead bear from the head of her bed and hugged it to her chest. "You tell me about Cole and I'll tell you about Alexander. Tit for tat."

Julie laughed as she turned her chair to better face Eleanor. "You've seen my tits and I don't have any tattoos yet. So," she began, "I ran into Cole after you split off to go to class, and thirty seconds later it began to storm..."

X X X X X

"Yo."

"Oh, hey Cole."

"Looking at yourself in the mirror?"

"Seeing if I got something caught between my teeth. Where are you coming from?"

"Ran into Eleanor. Watch the skies for a bit before the power came back on. Got a bite to eat. Fully disclosing, was coming from sleeping with Julie. Talked to Eleanor about that."

"Oh. Well, full disclosure on my end, I slept with Eleanor. I was going to tell you, but you beat me to the punch first."

"She did mention that. Said you weren't half bad."

"Which is what every guy wants to hear."

"You plan on telling Julie about Eleanor? Not the kind of info friends keep from each other."

"Julie said she was going to the expo tomorrow at the student union. If I don't see her there, I'll text her and ask to meet up with her. This is the kind of information I'd prefer to not give over text if possible."

"Clever man."

"So what do you plan to do for the rest of the evening?"

"Get my headphones, listen to music. Yourself?"

"Much the same. Putting on my headphones and going down a YouTube rabbit hole."

"Sounds like a solid notion."

"So are we cool?"

"As the other side of the pillow."

"Outstanding."

X X X X X

"The Farragut College Student Expo," Alexander remarked. "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."

"We must be cautious."

With one eyebrow raised in pleasant surprise, Alexander turned to glance at his roommate. "Points for recognizing the Star Wars quote, Cole."

"Speaking the truth. Wasn't going for a quote. That one from The Last Jedi?"

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response."

The main floor of the student union was packed with a mix of vendors and representatives from various student organizations. Just inside the main entrance were a variety of merchants and company representatives. The merchants hawked a wide assortment of goods, from movie posters to CDs, DVD's and Blu-Rays, with rugs, wall tapestries, and beaded curtains in between. Alexander's initial comment, however, had been directed towards a group of tables near the middle of the union. A substantial group of students was crowded around representatives from companies such as Visa, Discover Card, and AT&T, each attempting to sign first-year college students to ironclad service contracts dedicated to taking advantage of their naivety.

"My father warned me about those kinds of vendors," Alexander noted as he and Cole began to make their way towards the nearby merchants. "They prey on freshmen and sign them up for high-interest credit cards and long-term cell phone service. Why are they be allowed on campus?"

"Because they pay Farragut money. Hail the almighty buck."

"That's probably the biggest reality check of college so far. So, are you looking for anything in particular while you're here?"

Cole gestured towards the middle of the hall. A pair of middle-aged men sat at a long table, surrounded by stacks of narrow paper. "Menus for all the local restaurants and any place doing DoorDash. Cafeteria food's cheap and filling, sometimes though want a good meal that wasn't bulk cooked."

"Make sure to grab one from every stack. I'll try anything once." Alexander motioned towards a nearby vendor. "I'm gonna look at some wall tapestries for my side of the room. I'm a little sick of looking at white cinderblock all night. You have a preference since you're going to be stuck looking at it all year?"

"Whatever catches my eye," Cole answered. "Was thinking about maybe stringing Christmas lights along the ceiling, cheer the place up a bit. Something that'll complement that maybe?"

"Let's see what they have then." With mutual nods, the pair made their way towards a nearby pair of tables. A variety of colorful rugs and small tapestries were folded on the table, with several larger pieces hanging on a display behind the vendors. After browsing for a few minutes, Alexander and Cole decided on a tapestry that would cover the wall beside Alexander's bed, a piece of tie-dyed canvas stained with the primary colors mixed at the boundaries. After paying and making arrangements to pick it up on the way out, Alexander turned to Cole. "Well," he said, "I've done what I came here to do. You thinking about decorating your side of the room?"

"Wasn't before, but now, a poster or two wouldn't hurt. Think they're selling some down this way." Alexander followed Cole to a grouping of tables spread out on opposite sides of the hall. The tables were home to several vendors selling a wide variety of posters ranging from movies and music to famous quotes, photographs, and slices-of-life, with humorous pictures and college-related topics mixed in.

Cole went directly to the music posters. He idly flipped through the stack, eyes focusing on each picture before moving on to the next one. Alexander stood off to the side watching his roommate as he deliberated. The tapestry was the only purchase he had planned to make at the expo. The remainder of his time here would be spent practicing willpower and self-restraint to ensure he didn't spend any more cash on impulse buys or regrettable purchases. "Eyeing anything in particular?" he inquired.

"Thinking of Johnny Cash. Always been an idol of mine." Cole gave an annoyed grunt. "Problem is, every poster here's the same one." He lifted one of the posters, showing Alexander a picture of an angry man, guitar slung across his chest, giving a profound middle finger to the camera. The obscene gesture blazed with intensity. To Alexander, it felt like the man was shoving the middle finger directly in the face of damn near everyone in authority. "San Quentin, 1969. Photograph asked for a picture for the warden. Great picture, sums up Cash perfectly, but looking for something different."

"How about this one then?"

Alexander and Cole both turned. A slender redhead with pale, freckled skin had pulled a poster from the stack she had been looking through. Turning it to face them revealed another picture of Johnny Cash, this one in color, that appeared to have been taken at the drum kit. Cash was sitting in a chair with his guitar on his lap, looking out over an audience in blue denim prison uniforms. "Looks like it's from the Folsom Prison concert," she mused.

"Like it." Cole stepped towards the young woman. "Take it only if you ain't."

"I already have mine." The redhead handed the poster to Cole before motioning to two posters sitting at her feet. "Got the covers to two of my favorite albums of all time. Dark Side of the Moon, and Benny Goodman's 1938 concert at Carnegie Hall, AKA the reason I got into jazz music in the first place."

"Big band era, huh? You a fan of swinging?" Cole punctuated his question with a raised eyebrow, causing the redhead to laugh.

"Sorry Cole, you don't know me well enough to get an answer to that question."

"Shame. Alexander, this is Lynn, from my History of Jazz class." Cole motioned to Alexander with both hands before turning his body towards Lynn. "Lynn, Alexander, friend, and roommate."

The well-practiced smile was on Alexander's face as he leaned forward, hand outstretched. "Alexander de'Armond. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," she answered, answering with a firm handshake. "Lynn Reed."

With the introductions out of the way, Cole and Lynn fell into a conversation regarding the collection of posters mixed with observations about the first week of school. Alexander stood quietly to the side, pretending to flip through the stacks. In actuality, he was paying attention to Lynn. Wearing a loose gray blouse and blue jean shorts, the willowy redhead had an inch or two on Cole. Her hair was slightly wavy, with the ends falling just below her shoulders as they curtained her graceful neck. "My roommate's OK," she told Cole as Alexander listened. "I think she's having trouble adjusting to college life. But it's only been a week," she added. "I'm sure she'll get a handle on it by midterms."

"I don't want to strangle Alexander," drawled Cole. "Taking that as a positive sign."

"And I don't want to put a pillow over Cole's face in the middle of the night," Alexander responded. "Although now I've made myself a suspect if he dies mysteriously."

Lynn drew a single finger across lips coated with a shiny gloss. "My lips are sealed."

Cole gave an exaggerated sigh. "And here I thought we were close enough for you to be a material witness."

The comment drew a chuckle from Lynn and Alexander along with a quick smirk from Cole. As Alexander laughed, he noticed a familiar black-haired female several tables up the row. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go look at some movie posters. Again, a pleasure to meet you, Lynn." With a friendly wave, Alexander stepped away from Cole and Lynn. They resumed their conversation as Alexander made his way further along the main floor. He came up beside the young woman who, at the moment, was carefully looking at a stack of movie posters. Her eyes were focused on the posters, keenly studying each one for several seconds before moving on to the next one. "Hello Julie," he said in way of greeting.

A rolled-up poster tucked under one arm, Julie, wearing tan shorts and a blue tank top that showed off her toned arms, looked up, a warm smile crossing her face at the sight of her friend. "Good afternoon Alexander," she said brightly. "How are you?"

"I'm doing my best. How about you?"

"Would you believe having trouble trying to decide between movie posters?"

He leaned over to look at the stack she had been perusing. "Looking for one in particular?"

"Something obscure and unique," she said as she took hold of the poster under her arm. "I've already been lucky with this one." Unrolling it revealed what Alexander recognized as a submarine from World War II plunging bow-first into the depths. The title of the movie was on the bottom of the poster - Below, while the upper left corner had the words "Six hundred feet below the surface, terror runs deep." "It's a ghost story set on a submarine," Julie explained, "directed by David Twohy and written by Darren Aronofsky."

"I've heard of Aronofsky," Alexander said as Julie rolled up the poster, "but not the other guy."

"Twohy directed the three Riddick movies," Julie explained, "as well as A Perfect Getaway which I highly recommend if you haven't seen it."

"I'll add it to the list."

"What list?"

"The list of movies I say I'll add to the list of movies I need to see however will probably never get around to seeing."

Julie answered with a warm smile. "Stick with me, Alexander, and we'll knock that list down to size by the time freshman year is over. While I have you here, any interest in helping me find another movie poster?"

"Sure." Alexander stepped up beside Julie as he said, "Though you have way more movie knowledge than I do. The best I can offer you is a second opinion on whatever you pull."

"Sometimes a neutral observer has the best vision."

"Good point." Julie began to flip through the stack again. She took her time studying each poster before moving on to the next one.

"So," Alexander asked, "are we all still on for dinner tonight?"

"As far as I know," Julie replied, staring for several seconds as a poster for a movie called Secretary. The poster consisted of a bent-over woman, ankles crossed, butt prominently displayed. After a moment, Julie shook her head. "Good movie, better than Fifty Shades of Gray by several miles, but not something I'd want on my wall." She gave the young man another grin. "Maybe we should add it to your list."

"I'll read up on it and get back to you." Alexander took a deep breath. "So look, I want to tell you something you probably already know, however, I wanted you to hear it directly from me face-to-face rather than over text..."

Julie didn't look up from the posters as she cut him off. "Because we're friends and you wanted to make sure everything was OK between us via a face-to-face conversation rather than..." She looked up, frowning. "I'm sorry Alexander, that was incredibly rude of me. I should have let you finish before interjecting."

The sudden change in Julie's dialogue threw Alexander. "Apology accepted," he eventually said with a disarming smile. "You're correct. You can't gauge someone's reaction over text, plus depending on what's said one might come off as cowardly." Julie nodded in agreement. "And yes," Alexander continued quietly, "because we're friends. Eleanor and I hooked up last night, and I know you and Cole hooked up during the storm as well."

After a moment, Julie leaned forward. Warm lips softly pressed against Alexander's cheek as she gently kissed him. "I did know that information," she whispered so no one else could hear. "But thank you for telling me. I appreciate your forthright manner as much as I appreciate your burgeoning friendship."

Alexander sighed in relief. "I was afraid you were going to be upset. I sort of knew you wouldn't be, but I was still afraid."

"Because brains are stupid?"

"Because brains are stupid," he laughed heartily. "We're OK then?"

"For now. Let's put a pin in this conversation for now, shall we? We will pick it back up during dinner when Cole and Eleanor are involved."

"Agreed." Alexander took a quick look around. "Speaking of your roommate, where is Eleanor?"

X X X X X

"We don't just focus on nature." The young man behind the table handed a color pamphlet to Eleanor. "During the winter we organize trips down to Coeur d'Alene or over to Spokane and help out there. Soup kitchens, meal packing, stuff like that."

Eleanor couldn't help but be impressed as she studied the pamphlet for the Farragut Environmental Society. Aside from the standard pictures of nearby Lake Pend Oreille and the surrounding mountains, the interior held photographs of college students performing activities filling boxes with non-perishable foods, and unloading a truck of second-hand clothing. "So you guys are more of a community group than an environmental club?"

"To us, human beings are part of the environment." The young man, his long brown hair pulled into a ponytail, tapped the pamphlet. "Our motto is 'think smaller, give a dollar.'"

"Oooooh," Eleanor whistled, "I like that. Did you come up with that?"

The young man laughed. "I wish," he answered, shaking his head. "It's from a webcomic called Least I Could Do. Hopefully they won't sue us! It was a perfect fit though, too good to pass up."

"Oh, I know all about perfect fits," Eleanor said. "Do you guys have a Facebook group?"

"Yep! All that info is on the back page. Next Saturday," the young man continued, "we're going to be heading over to the lake for clean-up. If you're interested, the Facebook group will have all the details."

"Cool." Eleanor nodded. "I'll go ahead and check it out."

"Great! I hope to see you next week then!"

X X X X X

"...mainly we play board and card games," the young woman explained, "both one-offs and legacy. Last year some of us did an entire Gloomhaven campaign and another group played Imperial Assault. We've also got Cards Against Humanity, Betrayal at the House on the Hill, Throw Throw Burrito..."

"Good and well," Cole responded. "How about Dungeons and Dragons? Or anything else pen-and-paper."

"We also do those, although we tend to do one-shots."

"Not full campaigns? That's kind of what I'm looking for, to get in on something long-term."

The young woman nodded dejectedly in agreement. "You're not alone," she bemoaned. "The reason we're the Gaming Club and not the Role-Playing Game Club is because it's nearly impossible to keep an RPG group intact. Between studying, tests, papers, and partying, people tend to drop out mid-campaign, either outright quitting or worse they just stop showing up. Either way, it kills the momentum."

"Yeah," Cole sighed, "makes sense. Sucks, makes sense." He looked at the stack of empty game boxes behind the young woman that served as the display for the Gaming Club. "Eh, heard good things about Gloomhaven. Suppose it's worth a spin."

"Look at it this way," the young woman offered. "Maybe you'll meet enough people to start a dorm room game. I'm not a D&D girl but my boyfriend is, and I want to say half his group is people he met here at Gaming Club. And no," she said, giving Cole a disarming smile as she held up one finger, "they're full."

"Promise wasn't going to ask. Feeling that gotta audition for a gaming group like auditioning for a band."

The amicable smile on the young woman's face put Cole at ease. "That's a solid analogy. Well, if you want to play with us... gaming, not music," she teased, "we're up here on the second floor, every Wednesday night, 7 pm until we feel like stopping."

"Sounds good. See you next Wednesday."

X X X X X

Julie politely waited to be noticed before speaking. "Hello," she said to the young man standing behind the table, "I'm interested in discussing the Farragut Film Society."

As the young man looked up from his phone, a pair of thoughts immediately came to Julie's mind. First, the young man was the very definition of 'movie star handsome' with his dark hair, brown eyes, high cheekbones, and a wicked jawline to go along with his white shirt, black vest, and gray slacks. Julie couldn't help but imagine an old-school actor named Farley Granger, best known for his two collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock - Rope and Strangers on a Train - and familiar to Julie via his part as the Sheriff in the 1981 slasher movie The Prowler.

Second, Alexander's wide, beaming, rehearsed grin failed to hold a candle to the minimalist crease that touched the young man's lips as he laid his gaze upon Julie.

"You are? Fantastic." The young man set his phone face down on the table before motioning to a folding chair. "Please, have a seat." Julie sat down, as did the young man. He set his arms on the table and folded his hands together, his shoulders back and spine straight. His posture was almost a mirror image of Julie's, save that she kept her hands in her lap. "So," he inquired, "are you a film buff?"

Even his voice was from the Golden Age of Hollywood, quiet confidence woven into the smooth enunciation of his words. "Yes," Julie replied after the briefest of hesitations. "Movies have provided my life with stability. I enjoy both watching movies and learning the various behind-the-scenes information and trivia that go along with the filmmaking process."