Lazy Summer Afternoons by Nora LeDuc #Romance Gems

The summer I turned 13, the local movie theater announced they'd show beach-themed movies at Saturday matinees. Hot guys flexing muscles, tan girls showing off their two-piece bikinis--this sounded terrific to me and to my two best friends. I volunteered my mother as our chauffeur and crossed my fingers she'd agree when I asked her to drive us.

Thankfully, she did. So when the weekend rolled around, we headed to the big screen. My mom dropped us off by the ticket booth out front and reminded us she'd pick us up right there. Then we paid for our tickets and entered through the double glass doors. Inside, a cushy red carpet ran the length of the dim foyer. Posters of movie stars in their upcoming films decorated the walls. We paused and pointed out the ones we liked. Most of the movies had already played in better theaters, but we didn't care. We were in a magical world where any story was possible, and in our imaginations, we were the stars.


We bought our snacks and chose our seats on the side aisle. This way we could talk and glance at the incoming audience, hoping to spot boys! Sadly, although a mixed group filled up one third of the rows, there were no teenage males that day. Finally, the lights went down. Now if you follow our Gems Blog, you know that we have book boyfriends, male characters from the book that we love. Well, my friends and I had movie boyfriends. We also had a few rules about our process. You couldn't choose your boyfriend until the show started and you saw him on the screen. Once you did, the other two friends had to agree that you were a match. Luckily, this movie had three teen heartthrobs, which was perfect, one for each of us. Choosing was easy. I wanted the one I thought was cutest. No other qualifications mattered. Fortunately, this story had lots of cuties running around on the white sand and surfing on their boards. They also always gathered in the evenings by a fire with the girl of their dreams.

Truthfully, I remember little of the plots, but I do recall the fun we had together on those afternoons. Giggling, sighing, and ah-ing we became captivated by our fictional characters. And the following Saturday, we did it all again.

My Saturday Matinee Movie Friends Today!!

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