While Lea pours the barbecue chips into a bowl, I reluctantly follow Casper and Nick to the living room, then watch them remove the VHS cassette tape boxes from the stack.

"Damn, Cass," Nick remarks, grinning. "You have a good taste in horror movies."

"What can I say?" Casper brags with a massive smirk on his face. "You taught me very well."

In the meantime, I peer at his movie selection and ask, "Are you sure you're comfortable watching Candyman, Cass?"

"And Sleepwalkers?" inquired Nico, lifting a cassette tape box from the pile.

Casper snorts a laugh and tells us not to worry - that he can handle one scary movie.

"Are you sure?" I press, looking away from the stack of tapes. "Because the last time you watched IT with Lea, you refused to shower for three weeks."

Lea shoots me a look. She lifts the bowl of barbecue chips, goes over to the coffee table, and growls, "Oh, for fuck's sake. It was just a harmless dare. Cass bragged that he had watched Stanley Kubrick films back-to-back!"

"So, you dared him to watch a fucking Stephen King movie?" Nick snorts, raising his left eyebrow. "That's kind of stupid."

"So's that Buzzcocks shirt, Nick." Lea retorts. "But that didn't stop you from wearing it with those overpriced jeans, huh?"

Nick bitterly lifts his hands in his air. "Okay, seriously, what's your guys' deal with the Buzzcocks? Did they steal your lunch money or something?"

Draping my arms behind the back of my head, I trudge back to the couch and then sit in the middle.

"I don't think the Buzzcocks suck," I point out. "Back in New York, I have a shitload of their cassette singles."

Nick's eyes brighten. He turns to me and asks, "Wait, you're into the Buzzcocks?"

"Yeah, I am." I answer truthfully. "Honestly, I'm surprised there are still some fans here in Louisiana. I thought I was the only one who likes them."

"Me too," Nick admits, smirking for the first time. "The moment I grabbed their album off the shelves, my mom made me get rid of it because she believes that punk came from the devil."

I burst into laughter.

"Believe it or not, that was the same response I got from my mom when I asked her if I could go to Nirvana's first concert." I tell Nick. "But every time I bring it up, my mom would shut me down."

In my town, it was abnormal for a black girl to be listening to punk music. If a white guy listens to The Clash or Minor Threat, it's fine; but if I dance to a song from the Sex Pistols, people would label me as a charity case who's too good for Queen Latifah or Brandy.

Honestly, I think stereotypes are overrated. I mean, if Vanilla Ice can rap, then I can listen to something that's raw and honest than that 'puppy dogs and rainbow' crap Mom loves.

Leaning his elbow on the couch, Nick asks, "So, what's your favorite Buzzcocks album?"

"Well, Love Bites is my favorite," I explain. "I think I have their cassette tape in my bag. I can show it to you if you like, but in the meantime, we should probably watch a movie with no monsters."

Lea swivels her eyes to the ceiling. "Oh, says the girl who's obsessed with Pulp Fiction."

"Yeah," I snort. "That's because it's an action movie—"

"—with blood and guts in them," Lea finishes. "Look, we kill fucking monsters every day, Reese. It's not my fault Casper couldn't handle a stupid clown or those Chuck-E-Cheese robots, for that matter."

"Fuck you, Lea!" Casper answered back angrily.

"Hey, you two," Nick said sternly. "How about we just watch some movies and go to...