Electorate 083

[crushthecamera]

SCENE: Arthouse, night.

Joshua and Katherine walk to the Arthouse.

Katherine: "This better be good."

Joshua: "It's better than most around here."

Katherine: "I guess if it's got alcohol, it'll be all right."

Joshua: "It does have that, yeah."

They walk in; it's dimly lit and slightly grubby, and not as crowded as Katherine is used to. A local band is on stage. There's a reason they're local, and are likely to remain so. In the background, Colin can be seen sitting at the bar with a drink, but neither Joshua or Katherine notice him. Katherine looks up at her brother, an expression of vague disgust on her face.

Katherine: "Okay, less sold than I could be, but it'll do."

Joshua: "Grab us some drinks; I'll steal a table."

Joshua walks off towards the tables along the far wall. Katherine takes a seat at the bar next to Colin and orders drinks. That done, she looks over at Colin, eyebrow raised. Colin doesn't look up; his drink is very engrossing, almost certainly because it's not the first of the night.

Katherine: "You shouldn't be drinking alone."

Colin: "Technically, I'm not."

Two drinks are placed on the counter in front of Katherine. She hands over the money.

Colin: "You know, you should probably only order those one at a time."

Katherine: "I can order as many as I like, but thanks for your advice."

Colin: "Sure, but all at once?"

Katherine: "What, you want to share?"

Colin returns to his fascinating grog.

Katherine: "So, what're you moping about?"

Colin: "How do I even begin to answer that?"

Katherine: "Someone should cheer you up."

Colin looks up, eyebrow raised. Katherine smiles. In the background, Joshua can be seen, hurrying towards the bar, utterly scandalised.

Colin: "Smooth."

Katherine: "Shut up."

Joshua reaches the counter.

Joshua: "No, no. Kat, no. That's Colin. You can't... you can't hit on him. Jesus."

Colin: "You know her?"

Joshua: "She's my sister."

Katherine: "Oh, ew."

Colin: "Hey!"

Katherine holds her head in her hands. Colin looks first to Joshua, then to Katherine, eyes wide.

Colin: "Wait, she's your sister? What are you, then, twelve?"

Katherine: "This is humiliating."

Colin: "I can't believe I just got hit on by a twelve year old."

Katherine glares at Colin, then at her brother.

Katherine: "I'm not twelve! Oh, my God. Why didn't you tell me when we first came in?"

Joshua: "I'm sorry, I didn't expect you to hit on everything that moves."

Colin looks up at Joshua, feigning hurt.

Colin: "Okay, I get that she's your sister and everything, but you're not supposed to insult the appearances of your friends, you know."

Joshua: "Sorry."

Colin: "It's not like I was going to reciprocate."

Katherine: "Oh, thanks."

Colin abruptly realises that was very clumsily put.

Colin: "No, I mean -- fuck. You're really cute and everything, and you seem nice -- "

At this, Joshua resumes being utterly scandalised.

Joshua: "What's that about not reciprocating?"

Colin: "-- but I am really not looking to hook up with anyone, because... reasons, and also you're twelve. Sorry."

Joshua: "That was slightly less traumatising than I thought it was going to be."

Katherine looks up at Joshua.

Katherine: "You said something about stealing a table for us?"

Joshua: "Right. Come on, then. You've had enough weirdly elaborate, tag-team rejections for one night."

Katherine: "I didn't realise there was a quota."

Katherine gets up and walks away, drinks in hand, leaving Colin and Joshua to not look at each other in awkward silence.

Colin: "Man, you're lucky Lauren doesn't have an older brother."

Joshua: "I have a hearing impairment."

Colin: "I said, I'm sorry for getting hit on by your sister."

Joshua smiles.

Joshua: "She won't even care in ten minutes. Don't worry about it. Night."

Joshua walks back over to the tables, where Katherine has already started on her drink and is eyeing Joshua's meaningfully. After a while, Colin finishes his drink and stares at the empty glass for a bit, then leaves and walks back to his place. To his surprise, Angie is sleeping in front of his door, at the end of the hallway. Colin kneels down in front of her.

Colin: "Angie? What are you doing here?"

Angie awakens and opens her eyes blearily, only to see Colin's face hovering in front of hers.

Angie: "Oh, jeez."

Angie stands up. Colin follows suit.

Angie: "Sorry."

Colin: "What are you doing here?"

Angie pauses.

Angie: "I don't know."

Colin: "Did you sleepwalk? You can't have sleepwalked."

Angie: "I didn't sleepwalk, no."

After a moment, Angie thinks of a reason. The reason is extremely plausible, as her expression clearly shows.

Angie: "I just... wanted to see you?"

Colin: "You wanted to see me."

Colin watches her sceptically, arms crossed. Eventually, his expression softens slightly and he nods.

Colin: "Okay."

At this, Colin unlocks his front door and they both go inside.

Comments

[danimaree]

Hahaha, how hilariously awkward!