Clint knocked on the front door then entered. Claudia and Lin followed.

There was an asian, middled aged, woman reading a book on the living room couch. She set the book down once Clint walked in.

"Hi Clint." She said.

"Hey Mrs. Brooks." Clint said.

"These are?" Mrs. Brooks asked.

"This is Lina and... Stephanie." Clint said.

"Hi girls."

They both waved at her.

"Stephanie you look familiar." She remarked.

Claudia quickly stammered, "Maybe you've seen my sister around. We look very similar. Her name is Lucy."

Mrs. Brooks squinted, "Yeah, maybe. I heard you guys are having a movie night."

"Yeah. Ben's setting it up in the backyard right now." Clint said.

"In the backyard?" She asked.

"Yes. We're using the projector we bought in 9th grade." Clint said.

"You mean, the projector I bought." Mrs. Brooks said.

"Yes sorry. The projector you bought." Clint corrected himself.

"Can Jen join you guys?" Mrs. Brooks asked.

"Well, it's a bit scary." Clint said nervously.

"Is it supernatural?" She asked.

"No, no. It's not really horror, more of a thriller. Still, not exactly what she likes to watch." Clint said.

"Yes. I agree. It would probably give her nightmares. Like that time you showed Ben the video game where you summon demons. What horror." She said.

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Clint stayed quiet.

"Is it alright if we use your microwave to make popcorn?" Lina asked.

"Yes, that's fine dear." She said.

The trio synchronously moved towards the kitchen. Mrs. Brooks went back to her novel.

Claudia took the boxes of popcorn out from the shopping bag.

"Which ones should we make?" Claudia asked.

"How about one of each?" Lina suggested.

Clint laughed.

"You want to try them all?" He asked.

"Yeah." She said in a chirpy voice.

"What was your plan with the original dozen you wanted to buy?" Clint asked.

"One of each." She replied.

"Theres only four of us." Claudia said.

"One of each." She said, again.

"You're hopeless." Claudia said with a smile on her lips.

She took a bag out and placed it in the microwaved. She kept on opening the boxes while the first bag cooked.

Once the kernels started to pop Lina leaned in close to Clint.

"What was that?" She whispered.

"They're supposed to have bible study today. Her son's watching a movie with his heathen friends instead. Not exactly in the best mood." Clint whispered back.

"Is she always like that?" Lina asked.

"She has her moments." Clint said.

Clint entered the living room through a pair of sliding glass doors.

"Hey mom." He said.

She put her book down.

"I take it you're not going to be at study today?" She asked.

"No. We wanted to watch a movie since it-. Since we studied a lot yesterday." Ben said. He pushed his glasses further up his nose.

"How'd you do on the test?" She asked.

"It's not graded yet." He said.

"How do you think you did?" She asked.

"Pretty sure I aced it." He said.

"That's good. Well," She turned to address the group, "I've got some laundry to fold. I'll leave you kids be." She said and stood up from the couch.

"She give you a speech?" Ben asked Clint after his mom had gone upstairs.

"No. Just called me out for getting you in to 'sacrilegious' video games." Clint responded.

"Of course." Ben shook his head.

The microwave beeped.

"One down, three to go." Claudia said.

"Let me get started on the guac." Ben said.

"I can help with that." Lina said.

They moved to the other side of the kitchen.

Clint reached for the freshly popped bag. Claudia smacked his hand.

"Hey!" Claudia remarked, "Those are mine."

"What?" Clint exclaimed, "I wanted the caramel ones!"

Claudia looked at the bags spread out on the counter and picked one out. She threw it at Clint.

"You can have those." She said.

He held up the bag.

"Who the hell puts barbecue on popcorn." He said and threw it back at her.

"Just take them." She threw the bag back at him.

"I'd rather not eat than eat this." He threw it back at her.

"How about we mix them then?" Claudia asked.

"You want to mix caramel with barbecue?" He asked, disgusted.

"That sounds gross." Ben said.

"Aren't you supposed to be making guacamole?" Claudia asked.

"She took over." He beckoned.

Lina was quickly chopping an onion. It was clearly a developed skill.

"Yeah. She loves cooking for some reason." Claudia said.

"That's good to know." Clint said.

"If you don't mess it up." She glared at Clint, almost a threat, "You'll definitely get a lot of baked goods." The last part was said in a sweeter tone.