The Fault in Our Stars

My friend Kelli and I went to see The Fault in Our Stars a few weeks ago.  I just realized I never blogged about it and it was a pretty funny trip.  And P.S... there are spoilers in this post. 

So, I had never heard of TFIOS until a few weeks before I saw the movie.  My friend Jody posted about it on Facebook.  I googled it and thought it sounded interesting and found out that it had been adapted into a movie which was about to be released.  Then I forgot about it until my friend Kelli posted about it on Facebook.  Then,  I decided I'd give it a try and downloaded it.  I started it and, honestly, thought it was a little on the slow side.  This was during Summer Xtreme, so I was busy and tired.  Maybe this was a factor in my opinion.  A few days before the movie was set to premier, Kelli invited me to go.  To say that I was in need of a Mom's Night would be a gross understatement.  I cleared it with The Hubs and we made plans.  

We also invited Jody, who is a member of our YA book/movie club.  She said she had planned to take her daughters to the movie on the same night and would look for us there.  So, it was just Kel and myself at dinner.  I had missed her a lot and was glad to spend the evening catching up with her.  While I was waiting for her to arrive at the restaurant, I browsed Facebook and saw a post from my friend Lori about seeing TFIOS that night.  I commented, saying that I was seeing it that night, too, at 8:00.  Then Kelli showed up at our table and I closed Facebook down.  

Toward the end of the meal, I received a text:  "We are already in the theater.  Dumb teens weren't getting my seats...:)"

I assumed this text was from Jody and had a flashback of the time we went to see New Moon together and had to fight the teenagers off to get good seats.  I did think it was strange that this text only came up as a phone number and not Jody's name.  I knew her number was saved in my phone but I had lost several of my contacts during an iPhone update and thought Jody's must have been one of them.  I sent "Jody" a text back, asking her to save 2 seats for us.  She said she would, and we finished our meal and drove to the theater.  

While waiting in line at the concession stand, Kelli says, "Oh, there's Jody.  And her kids.  She's not sitting in the theater!"  

I followed her gaze and sure enough, there were Jody and her girls waiting in line for tickets.  Kelli and I looked at each other with wide eyes and I said, "Who in the world is in the theater saving our seats?  Who've I been texting?!?"  

I was a little unnerved.  And embarrassed.  I wasn't sure what to do... walk into the theater and look around for someone I knew?  Walk in and sit in the back?  I wound up texting the mystery person back. 

Me:  "Wait, who is this?"

Mystery Person:  "Really?"

Me:  "Yes.  For real."

Silence.  

Silence.

Mystery Person:  "Your cousin, Lori."

Ha ha!  It was my "Cousin Lori".  Not my blood cousin, but Chris thought she was my cousin for the longest time, which is another story.  I had forgotten about replying to her Facebook post.  She'd replied back to me, but I hadn't had my phone out.  

I was really excited to see the movie with Lori and her daughter, Jackie.  

Now, the movie.  It was good.  I made Kelli go ahead and tell me how the book ended since I was nowhere near finished and I wanted to know what to expect.  I totally was NOT expecting her to tell me that Augustus dies. I actually thought she was just joking, but she wasn't.  This is a sad, sad movie.  I cried.  So did everybody else in the theater.  

At one point, the saddest part, the sniffles were deafening.  Beside me, Lori was shaking in her seat.  Now, Lori is not the most emotional person I know, and I was really surprised that the movie was having this effect on her.  That's when I realized that she was laughing.  I nudged her and asked if she had a heart of stone.  She said, no, but someone behind her was making weird wheezy crying noises and it just made her laugh.  Then she couldn't stop.  So, of course I started laughing, too.  It was very, very inappropriate for us to be laughing when Hazel was delivering Augustus' eulogy during the mock funeral.  It was like laughing during church as a child.  You knew you were going to be in so much trouble, but things are just so funny!  

Thankfully, we pulled it together and behaved for the rest of the show.  

Sad movie, but a fun night.  

And for the record, I did finish the book and I really enjoyed it.