There’s another pause once all the dishes are finished. This is probably the point where I say I should leave, but I don’t want to go just yet. The night doesn’t feel done.
“Got any plans?” I ask her. “For the rest of this fine evening?”
“You probably wouldn’t consider themplans,” she admits, “but I don’t start class until late tomorrow, so I was going to put a movie on and do a snail mask.”
“A...snail mask?” I squint at her. “Like,des escargots?”
She holds up a finger and rushes into her room, coming back with some kind of packet.
“A snail mask,” she repeats, holding the package out to me. “It revitalizes your youthful glow! I think it’s probably bullshit, but they make me feel nice.”
I read the label and glance over the instructions. “So this has snail...stuff in it, and you put it on your face?”
She nods.
“Well this I have to see,” I announce.
Ten minutes later, I’ve persuaded Molly to show me her snail mask. She was too embarrassed at first, but after lots of begging, I am now standing beside her in front of the bathroom mirror. I rip the packet she gave me open and pull out what looks like a slimy lump of wet toilet paper. Molly does the same thing next to me.
“What the fuck am I supposed to do with this?” I demand.
“You have to untangle it,” she explains. “It’s actually a sheet in the shape of a face. You line it up like this”—her lump of toilet paper looks like a mask now, and she holds it up in front of her face—“and then you just stick it on.”
She smoothes the cloth down and I gasp in horror.
“Tabarnak! You look like fuckingFriday the 13th, Molly. Take it off!”
The thing even has little holes for her nostrils. It’s terrifying.
“I’m not taking it off.” She giggles and takes my mask out of my hands, unravelling it for me and holding it up. “Come here and let me put this on you.”
I shake my head and lean away. “Non. I changed my mind. I want nothing to do with this.”
“It’s too late for that. Just put the damn mask on, JP.”
She grabs my shirt and tugs me towards her. That, more than anything, is what makes me stay still as she smoothes the cloth over my face. Even looking like a serial killer, she’s still impossibly cute, especially when her tongue pokes out of her mouth as she concentrates on lining the mask up just right.
“Can you breathe?” she asks me.
“Sort of.” I glance at myself in the mirror. “Esti de chrise, Molly. These things should be illegal.”
“They’re actually quite relaxing!” she protests.
“What do we now?” I ask.
“Well, now I usually chill out and watch a movie.”
I’m standing closest to the door, so I lead the way out of the bathroom.
“Okay, but nothing scary. I’m already terrified enough.”
We decide to watch the movie in her bedroom, since the couch is too small to get comfortable on. Honestly, her twin bed isn’t much better, but I’m not about to complain. She turns on the little mini lights that decorate her walls, and I feel like we’re in a sanctuary, like this is a place where nothing could ever go bad.
“Any requests?” she asks, as she pulls up Netflix on her computer. “ApparentlySharknadoandIronmanare trending.”
“I don’t know why everyone hates onSharknado. I mean, it’s atornadomade ofsharks. That is some dope shit right there!”
Molly shakes her head, and her mask slips. She pulls it back into place. “Sometimes I don’t know if you’re joking or not. Do you actually want to watch it?”
