After more useless bickering, we finally settled on the fairest way to choose—by closing our eyes and scrolling until we hit the lucky selection.
It was…Finding Nemo.
You’ve gotta be shitting me.
I kept my expression neutral, but my muscles locked with tension as the movie’s opening scene unfurled.
“Why are you so quiet?” Jules slid a sidelong glance in my direction. “Don’t tell me you don’t like this movie either. It’s a classic.”
A dozen excuses sat on the tip of my tongue, but the truth swept past all of them and spilled out before I could stop it. “This was me and my dad’s favorite movie,” I said shortly. “We watched it every year on my birthday. Tradition.”
Jules’s face softened for the first time that night. “We can watch something else.”
“Nah, we’re good. It’s just a movie.”
Onscreen, Marlin the clownfish pursued the boat that had captured his son Nemo to no avail.
It was ironic that a movie about a role model parent was the one that reminded me most of Michael, considering he was the exact opposite of a good parent.
“Finding Nemo is fish propaganda,” Jules said out of nowhere. “Did you know real-life fish are terrible parents? Most fish species are happy to abandon their newborns to fend for themselves. It’s not worth the energy and risk for them to try and protect their offspring.”
A startled laugh escaped me. “How do you know that?”
“I did a report on it in high school. I got an A,” Jules added with pride.
I suppressed another smile. “Of course you did.” My leg brushed against hers when I shifted positions, and a tiny electric zing shot up my thigh before I yanked it away. “What does your dad do?” I asked, trying to cover up my knee-jerk reaction.
Part of me was also genuinely curious. Jules never talked about her family.
She shrugged. “No idea. He left when I was a baby.”
“Shit. I’m sorry.”Way to step into it, Chen.
“It’s fine. From what I hear, he was an asshole anyway.”
“Children of asshole fathers unite,” I quipped, earning myself a small laugh.
We fell into a comfortable silence as we watched the movie. I only half paid attention to what was happening onscreen; the other half was busy gauging Jules’s reactions to my favorite scenes. Her laugh when Marlin met Dory, her gasp when the shark started chasing the pair, her humming along to Dory’s famous just keep swimming mantra.
She must’ve seen the movie already, but she reacted like it was her first time. It was oddly charming.
I dragged my eyes back to the screen. Focus.
It was only when we neared the end of the film that I realized the rain had stopped. I checked on Jules to find her passed out with her head nestled against the throw pillow on her other side.
One of our rules was no sleepovers, but she looked so peaceful I couldn’t bring myself to wake her up.
It was only one night, and the weather had forced her to stay over. It wasn’t like we were going to make a habit of staying over each other’s places.
Just one night. That’s it.