| "What do you want to do tonight?" Colby and Brielle sat on the couch in the apartment he shared with Shane. After taking Brielle to get her car from Brews Brothers, they went to Colby's apartment to see if Shane and Calista wanted to do anything later that day. Shane was sitting on a chair with Calista draped over his lap. The four were bored, and didn't have anything important to do until the next day's Morning Skate. "Who was that directed to?" Shane asked, picking his head up from the back of the chair to look at Colby. "Anyone," Colby mused. "None of us have plans, and we have to figure out something to do before I go insane and take you all with me." There was silence in the room as all four thought about what they could do. A few minutes passed before Shane said, "How about a movie?" "Sounds good," Brielle said. "But are we making it a Blockbuster night or do we wanna go to Cinemark?" "How about we go to Gateway?" Calista suggested. "Everyone's gonna be at Cinemark, and if we go to a small theater, then no one'll bother us." "Good point," Colby said. "The last time I was at Cinemark, I think I signed fifty autographs for squealing little girls before I even got in the lobby." Brielle laughed. "Gateway it is," she said, standing up and walking to the kitchen to grab the newspaper to check the movie listings. "We have... Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron..." Brielle paused to hear boo's from the living room and laughed. "Okay, that's a negative. Umm... We also have Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood... And, oooh! Triple X!" Brielle said, her eyes widening. "Vin Diesel?!" Calista shrieked, jumping up from Shane's lap and running into the kitchen. "Vin Diesel movie?!" "Vin Diesel movie!" Brielle exclaimed, just as excited as Calista. The boys groaned from the living room. "Don't tell me that we have to watch you two drool over Vin Diesel," Shane said, standing up and walking to the kitchen to examine the movie listings to see if there was anything better. "There has to be something that'll make my girlfriend remember my name during it in there somewhere," Colby mumbled, following Shane. Calista began to pout. "But I wanna see Vin Diesel," she said, giving Shane her Puppy Dog look. "I got it, why don't we see The Ring?" Colby said, peering over Brielle's shoulder at the paper. Brielle scrunched up her nose. "Everyone I know told me that movie scared the hell out of them," she said, turning to Colby. "Even Toby said it freaked him out." "Toby's a chickenshit," Colby said, rolling his eyes. "And besides, I'm gonna be there to protect you," he said, smiling, depositing his arms around her waist. Brielle smiled. "Now how can I resist something so cute?" She paused and looked at Calista. "Easily," she said, the smile leaving her face. Colby opened his mouth to say something, but Brielle cut him off. "Colby, we are not going to see The Ring." ~*~*~ "I can't believe I let you talk me into seeing The Ring." Colby, Brielle, Shane and Calista sat in the back of the small movie theater, waiting for the movie to start. They were suffering through the previews, and Brielle was far from comfortable with watching the horror movie. Colby sighed and put his arm around her shoulders. "Sweetie, it's just a stupid movie. Really." "Yeah," Shane threw in, "What have you got to be afraid of? I mean, their tagline is 'Before you die, you see the ring.' Think about it - how lame is that?" Brielle frowned. "You have a point," she said slowly. "But I still don't wanna be here." "It's better than sitting at home and listening to Endo and Calista argue over who loves who more," Colby whispered in Brielle's ear, getting a laugh from her. "I guess you're right." ~*~*~ ~Two Hours Later~ Brielle sat in her seat in the theater, in complete shock. Colby was sitting beside her, staring at the screen as the credits flashed across it. Calista had started sniffing, and was trying not to cry, and Shane's reaction was identical to Colby's. The theater had emptied itself out, and the four were the only ones sitting in it, frightened beyond belief, terrified to get in the car and drive back to Shane and Colby's apartment. The four sat there in silence for a few minutes, watching the credits and trying to collect their thoughts. Brielle couldn't stand the silence any longer. "Are we..." Brielle said, trying to figure out exactly how to word her question, only to be interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone. Calista screamed, and immediately started crying, practically jumping into Shane's lap. Brielle stared at the phone for a few seconds, letting it ring three times before Colby stole it from her hand. "It's probably one of the guys," he muttered, pressing the Send button and putting it to her ear. "Hello?" His eyes widened, and he took the phone away from his ear. "It's for you," he said, handing it to Brielle. She whimpered before tentatively putting it to her ear. "Hello?" she asked in a quiet voice. "Seven days." The connection ended with those two words, the phone slipped from Brielle's fingers and she burst into tears the second it hit the ground. A few seconds later, Colby's and Shane's cell phones began to ring simultaneously. Neither answered the calls, both were too busy tending to Brielle and Calista. Within moments, Toby and Matt Murley ran into the theater, holding their cell phones. "Ellie!" Toby exclaimed, "It was me, stop crying!" he said, frightened by the fact that his new best friend, let alone his assistant coach, was sitting on Colby's lap, crying her eyes out because of some dumb prank he had pulled on her. Brielle was nearing hysterics and Colby was trying to calm her down. "It was YOU?!" Colby shouted, realizing what had happened and getting ready to stand up and beat the hell out of his teammate. "It was just a joke! Ellie, it was a joke, you aren't gonna die in seven days," Toby said to Brielle, who was slowly calming herself down. Brielle looked up, her crying suddenly stopping and her hysteria giving way to anger. "Why..." she mumbled, trying to get the words out. "What the fuck possessed you to do something like that to me?!" Brielle said, jumping up from Colby's lap, taking Toby by surprise and giving him a hard shove by the shoulders, sending him to the floor and causing him to get stuck in between the rows of seats. "God Toby, what goes on in your head?" she shouted. She didn't give Toby a chance to answer or explain himself before she started on Matt. "Murley, were you in on this too?" she shouted. Matt sheepishly shook his head and prepared himself for the slap in the face he expected to get, but never did. "Oh you little... I swear..." She muttered to herself, looking at Toby caught up in between about four seats. "I should let Colby beat the hell out of you," she said, shaking her head at him. "You two have the sickest senses of humor I have ever seen or dealt with. And I'm a professional freakin hockey coach! God, first I find out that you were the one who put the Ben Gay in Eric's cup, now this... Toby, you need help." She turned to Colby and the others. "Let's get out of here." Colby, Shane and Calista joined Brielle in walking out of the theater, leaving Matt to help Toby untangle himself from in between the rows of seats. "Oh, by the way, Toby?" Brielle asked, turning around to see Toby sticking his head out from under the seats. "Yeah?" he asked, his voice reflecting a slight twinge of pain. "You and Matt will be doing some extra crossover sprints tomorrow morning." She paused while they both tried not to moan. "About eighty-five extra." She turned to leave, not waiting for their reactions, and said to Colby with a smile, "It's good to be the assistant coach." |
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