“First saw you at the video exchange
I know my heart and it will never change…”

-- Vanessa Carlton, Hands on Me

Randall’s Movie Rental was one of the few movie stores in town that remained open until three in the morning every single day of the week. It was an otherwise unimpressive shop, but its hours, as well as its lax manager who never charged late fees, made it a hot favorite among broke teenagers ravenous for cheap entertainment on a week-night.

Shane Callahan was no exception to the rule.

Shane was a college senior who had steadfastly avoided home in favor of her vast college campus in Pennsylvania over her sleepy Montana town, Belfast, and this was her first time back in a couple of years. Nothing had really changed much. A few newcomers had bravely attempted to make a home here, and a couple of new buildings had come up near downtown, but other than that, it was identical to the place Shane had eagerly left.

It was both nostalgic and highly irritating for her to see; which was why Shane’s childhood friend, Bethany, sent her off to Randall’s to rent a few movies they could pretend to watch while they chatted all night.

Shane had been eager to go, though; she wanted to stretch her legs and explore Belfast. The place was far too small to need cars, so people walked – and Shane, remembering being ten and falling flat on her face when Penelope Greene accidentally ran her bicycle into her, walked too.

Randall’s was a two minute walk from Bethany’s house, which was one of very few reasons she liked it, and Shane reached all too soon. Beth had requested some dumb romantic so-called comedies, because they were quite a weakness for both girls. Shane already had a few in mind. She entered the small shop, which was surprisingly full of people around her own age, and went straight for the romance section.

Strolling about the aisles slowly in her old blue Adidas sneakers, Shane yawned and scratched her dirty-blonde head as she pondered which movies to take. There were a few bad Steve Martin movies from his early days…some steamy Nicole Kidman ones…even a couple featuring the legendarily awful Paris Hilton…Belfast was known to be behind when it came to a wide selection of movies, and clearly, this was still the case.

Oh well.

Shane sighed to herself as she located more recent romances in the next aisle. Here she began to pick up a few boxes. A Lot Like Love…When Harry Met Sally…Four Weddings and a Funeral…Knocked Up…Dan in Real Life…10 Things I Hate About You…Failure to Launch…Two Weeks Notice…some were all right and some weren’t, but Beth wouldn’t care so long as the main lead was cute enough.

Soon, Shane’s arms were full of half the boxes available in that aisle, and she teetered towards the main desk to check them out. Beth would happily pick and choose which she wanted to see out of these, and hit Randall over the head if they didn’t work on her DVD Player the next day. Shane was lost in such thoughts, grinning unconsciously to herself, when all of a sudden, she bumped into something – or, rather, someone.

The two of them, along with Shane’s many boxes, toppled to the floor with a resounding crash, as Shane squealed with horror. Quickly scrambling to her knees to unearth the person she had knocked down, Shane said, “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, I totally didn’t see you there…”

“No problem,” a pleasant, though unfamiliar masculine voice said as he handed a couple of boxes to Shane. “It’s kind of hard to walk when you’ve got so much in your hands, eh?”

“Yeah,” said Shane, giggling and blushing. “My bad.”

“It’s all good.” The young man – who was admittedly really good-looking with his brown hair that swept over his chocolate-colored eyes and his gentle, easy-going smile – laughed as he took Shane’s hand and helped her to her feet.

“Thanks,” said Shane, her ears reddening as she held her boxes more securely.

“No problem,” the cute guy said, running his fingers through his hair. Shane found herself longing to do the same.

“So…” Shane shifted the DVD’s for the sake of needing something to do as the two awkwardly stood there. “What’s your name?”

“Oliver,” said the guy. “What’s yours?”

“Shane,” she said.

“Shane?” The guy – Oliver – wrinkled his nose. “Isn’t that a boy’s name?”

“Before I was born, my mom thought I was sure to be a boy,” Shane explained, smiling slightly. “She decided my name would be Shane. When I turned out to be a girl, nothing my dad said or did would change her mind. Hence…my name is Shane.” She was babbling, and she knew it, but Shane had obviously no control over her tongue in company of good-looking guys. Did anyone?

“That’s cool,” Oliver said anyway, nodding appreciatively. Then, taking her movies back into account, he asked, “Hey, do you need some help with that?”

For the sole reason of spending a few more minutes with Oliver, Shane said, “Sure…if it’s not too much trouble.”

“Nah, it isn’t,” Oliver said, helping himself to half of Shane’s DVD’s as the two began to walk to the front. “But seriously, Shane, how many of these do you need?”

“My friend Beth wanted choices, but she didn’t want to leave the house,” Shane said, laughing. “So I picked these up.”

Oliver laughed too, and then checked out a few of the titles. He looked incredulously back at Shane. “I may not know you at all, Shane, but I wouldn’t have pegged you for the cheesy romantic type.”

Shane gave him a playful glare. “It’s indulgence,” she said. “I’m a junkie taking a break from school to come to my old house and my old town – I think I’m allowed to enjoy the genre with a tub of chocolate ice cream.”

“Oh, I see,” Oliver said, grinning. “So where do you go to school?”

“University of Pennsylvania,” Shane told him proudly. “My dream school. My dad nearly had a heart-attack when we got the acceptance letter; he didn’t think my grades were good enough. Apparently they liked me a lot.”

“That’s great,” Oliver agreed. “How is it over there?”

“Wonderful,” Shane said sincerely. “I love it.” She paused. “Hey, are you new here? I don’t remember you.”

“I moved here last year,” Oliver said. “My ex-girlfriend used to live here and I figured I’d come down for her. When we broke up, she left, but I don’t have the cash to leave with her.”

“Who’s your ex, if you don’t mind telling me?”

“It’s no problem,” he said easily. “Her name was Deanna Lambert.”

“I remember Deanna,” Shane said with a smile. “She used to steal my crayons until fifth grade. I hated her for it.”

Oliver laughed – he had a very sweet, choky sort of laugh. “That sounds like Deanna. She could get a little catty sometimes.”

Shane smiled at him, and realized a little too late that they were already at the desk, still holding her mother-lode of DVD’s. She dropped them on the counter, as Oliver did as well, and they waited for Randall – who was in the back – to come out and let her go. Oliver drummed his fingers on the scrubbed surface, thoughtful, and Shane couldn’t help but admire how handsome he was.

Something was going on in her stomach, something that happened a lot when the unbelievably gorgeous upper-classmen at U of Pen talked to her. It was familiar to her; the restless tingling in her legs, the frantic pounding of her heart. However, she knew it wasn’t allowed, so she coughed to clear her head and smiled at Oliver again. He smiled back at her, and he was about to say something, but it was at this precise moment that the short and dumpy Randall finally emerged, disgruntled, from his room and came to the counter.

“Hey Callahan,” Randall wheezed, waving at Shane. “You thinkin’ of buying out my store?”

“I’m going to put you out of business one day, old man,” Shane said teasingly to mask her disappointment in his appearance.

“Yes, of course you will, you little college snoot,” Randall muttered. His grey eyes then settled on Oliver. He smiled – or rather, leered – at the boy. “Oh, hello, Sheean; what are you doing here?”

Randall had something about calling people by their last names. Shane was more than used to it, but Oliver was still new enough to roll his eyes and complain, “My name is Oliver, Randall.”

“Whatever,” said Randall, going ahead and checking out the movies at a surprisingly swift speed.

Oliver made a face and Shane laughed a little more loudly than she would have liked at the gesture. She won a grin from Oliver, but Randall snorted; the man had no sense of humor to speak of.

The three of them were silent then, as Randall stuffed the movie boxes into a large bag which he slammed on the counter. “Give me fifty, Callahan,” he said when he was finished.

“Dollars?Randall,” Shane whined. “I don’t have that much!”

“I’m being very generous with you, Callahan,” Randall said, squinting his eyes and doing his famous finger shake at Shane. “Fifty bucks, nothing more and nothing less.”

“Tomorrow I’ll come with Beth and we’ll pay you then,” Shane promised.

Used to this trick, Randall settled with an evil eye and said, “I’ll be waiting for you.”

“You do that, Randall.” Shane took her bag and gave him a wide smile. “Thanks.”

“Get out of here,” Randall said by way of a friendly farewell as he retired back to his room. Oliver snorted.

“Are you going to come back tomorrow?” he asked.

Shane chuckled. “Of course not. He’ll come chasing after us demanding payment, but Beth’s used to dealing with old Randall. We won’t end up paying.”

Oliver whistled. “I’ll need to learn how to do that.”

“Beth is a master,” Shane informed him as she made her way to the door. “Talk to her about it and she’ll probably give you a few trade secrets…for a price.”

Oliver quickly joined her, something Shane was pleased to note as the two of them left Randall’s Movie Rentals. “How much would the price be?”

“You never know with Beth.” Shane tucked her long hair behind her ear.

Oliver nodded pensively. He didn’t speak then for several moments, the two of them just standing there again as they had inside with Shane’s circulatory system working twice as hard as it usually did; but he eventually asked, his tone smoother than a new road, “So…if you haven’t finished all these movies by the weekend with Beth…do you want to bring them over and watch a couple with me?”

Her heart trilling with pleasure, Shane tried her best to be nonchalant and composed as she said, “Um, sure. I’ll need your address though, I don’t know where you live.”

“Do you know where Deanna used to live?”

“Yes,” said Shane.

“Next house on the left is me,” Oliver said, his hands in his pockets.

“Cool.” Shane smiled, holding on a little tighter to her bag. “So…I’ll come around on Saturday some time in the afternoon.”

“When are you going back to school?”

“I’m driving five hours to the airport on Sunday night and my flight is on Monday morning,” said Shane.

“Okay.” Shane genuinely hoped she hadn’t misheard the disappointment in his voice. “That’s fine, then. I’ll see you Saturday, all right?”

“Sure,” said Shane. “See you.”

Oliver gave her a little wave of his hand and teasingly said over his shoulder as he left, “Enjoy your romance and ice cream, Shane.”

“I’ll be thinking of you, Oliver,” Shane called back rather flirtatiously as she began her own way in the opposite direction.

Oliver laughed, but didn’t respond as the two of them continued to diverge on their separate paths. Shane, too antsy to walk, broke into a jog as she made her way back to Beth’s; she couldn’t wait to tell her friend about Oliver.

She hadn’t been joking when she told him she’d be thinking of him. She honestly couldn’t wait for Saturday to come around when she could see him – she and Beth could go through the movies and pick the gooiest ones to take to Oliver’s and force him through. A million possibilities exploded in the depths of Shane’s stomach as she turned the corner and neared her best friend’s dwelling; if only she could pack Oliver in her suitcase and take him to school along with the rest of her things…

Bounding through Beth’s door, Shane all but kangaroo-hopped up to the attic where Beth was intolerantly loitering about with the snacks, TV, and sleeping bags, far too excited to be controlled.

“Hey Shane, what took so long?” Beth asked irritably. “I’ve been waiting forever!”

“Bethy,” Shane said, all in a feverish rush, dropping the bag in the corner of the tiny room, “Bethy, you are never going to believe what happened to me down at Randall’s today–”

“Did you find a cute guy?” Beth interrupted knowledgably.

“How did you know?” Shane asked, bewildered enough to slow down and be properly taken aback.

“I’m psychic,” Beth said with a slothful grin. “So, tell me, who was he?”

“His name was Oliver Sheean…”