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Merrin freely admitted things could be far worse. Cal’s favorite movie could have been about the zombie apocalypse, or a horror movie where the characters are picked off one by one, or something set entirely underwater. But, a musical where her boyfriend knew not only every lyric but also all the dance moves and was putting that knowledge to use was pretty bad.
She looked to where he had slid to for the song’s finale, and winced. “You just couldn’t help yourself?”
“Nope,” he shook his head with a grin that made having to watch the performance almost worth it. “I’ve always wanted to do that.”
They both quickly headed outside, and Cal patted along his shorts. “Where’s my phone?”
She stared at him. “What year was this movie made?”
“1962.”
“Right. So what exactly are you planning on doing?”
“Trying to get a refund for my flight.” The exact moment things clicked for him was visible. “Which hasn’t been booked yet. I could also call Cere…who wasn’t born yet.”
“And cell towers weren’t a thing,” she added, “so we couldn’t call the people who are alive. Which would be people like your Grandma Yaddle and my Babushka Talzin.”
Cal’s head tilted. “That might not be a bad idea, since she’s a witch.”
“We are not bringing my grandmother into–” she waved around to their beach surroundings, “you getting us stuck in a movie. Which we need to find a way out of.”
“Right,” he agreed. “We could probably go out the same way we came in.”
“Through the ocean?” She frowned at the Technicolor blue expanse.
“More specifically, a storm. There’s one at the end of the movie, which feels like it means something.”
“Good thinking,” she complimented, before pausing. “How long is the movie?”
“An hour and forty minutes.” He added, “But it takes place over three days.”
Her eyes rolled on their own. “Great. What are we going to do between now and then?”
As if on cue, a group of surfers came out of the diner. There was a blue haired kid, a blonde dude (the one who totally didn’t have tension with the leader of the bikers), the Togruta, and Kanan. Or, at least Merrin thought the main character’s name was Kanan, but she’d also never truly paid attention to the film. The whole group did some ridiculous and overly coordinated secret handshake.
The blue haired kid turned to them with a wide smile. “We’re all having a shindig here later tonight, and we’d love to see you cool cats there.”
Before Merrin could even attempt to say something, Cal responded with an enthusiastic “Sounds totally radical dudes! We wouldn’t miss it!”
“Cowabunga!” the teen responded, before the entire group ran off to who knows where.
Cal waived them off, returned to being stared down by his girlfriend. “We’re stuck in a movie, and you plan to party?” She folded her arms. “Do you also plan on at least helping me search for more clues about how to get home until then?”
In a blink, the lighting shifted over to night and they were surrounded by dancing surfers. Merrin scoffed and looked down to find herself in a new dress.
“I’m cool toned,” she groaned. “Why would they put me in orange?”
“I think you look great,” he complemented while wearing a poncho.
“You’d say the same thing if I took it off.”
“Actually, I would be saying very different things.” He grinned, then glanced at the door. “Want to go in?”
She contemplated this for a moment, and sighed. “I suppose now that it’s dark, there aren't much better things to do.”
Cal grabbed her hand and led them back inside, where even more dancing was taking place. What was it with these people and dancing? The female main character, a green Twi’lek whose name Merrin could not remember, walked up to the stage as yet another song began.
“This is the best scene in the movie,” the ginger beamed and tugged on Merrin's hand. “Want to dance?”
Looking onto the choreographed dance number, she couldn't find it in herself to protest. They found their way into the fold, the moves coming rather easily. They were passed along from partner to partner, always finding their way back to one another as the number went on.
“The big moment’s about to happen,” Cal excitedly whispered while dipping Merrin. “I’m going to watch it over there.”
“Enjoy,” she responded, being swept right back into the number. While she couldn’t exactly remember what was supposed to happen, she knew it had something to do with the stage. So, she turned her gaze to the singer, only to see the woman about to trip off the stage.
Instinctively, she rushed over to catch the Twi’lek, who landed in Merrin’s arms instead of the floor. Her emerald eyes widened and she rushed right back into another chorus. Unsure of what to do, the Zabrak just let it play out while resituating the lead on her precarious heels.
She did eventually stop singing, and spoke, “You saved my life.”
Merrin’s brows furrowed. “The stage is not nearly tall enough for that. I may have saved a wrist at worst.”
“I guess I literally fell for you,” she responded, batting her eyelashes. “I’m Hera.”
“Right. I’m Merrin.” The dreamy staring became uncomfortable, and Merrin stepped away. “Bye.”
“It was nice falling into you,” Hera called after her. “I hope we can do it again!”
She found him in the arms of that Kanan guy. The ginger had his mouth slightly parted as the character’s smile literally sparkled. Because apparently this day could get worse.
Loudly, she cleared her throat, and green eyes quickly found hers. “Oh, hey Mer.” Cal took the hint and thanked the man for catching him before joining his girlfriend away from the crowd. “What’s up?”
“I believe I was just someone’s bisexual awakening.”
He blinked twice. “Congratulations. I actually just got to relieve mine."
“That’s nice.” The staring made a little more sense, and she didn’t begrudge him for acting that way around a fictional crush. She would probably be worse if they were in–
“Who exactly was it you awakened?” A hint of nervousness crept into his voice.
“Hera, why?” She followed his gaze into the crowd and got the sense that something was very wrong.
“They should all be having a dance battle right now.”
“And why aren’t they?” she slowly asked.
“Well Hera was supposed to be caught by Kanan,” he explained. “That starts a whole fight between the bikers and the surfers. Except—”
“We were there,” she filled in, the full horror of the situation dawning on her.
“Yep.”
Shit.