Natalie Clark

Nat smiled running her eyes over everything she had to offer in the case. “Personally, I like a simple chocolate bar. Milk chocolate preferably.” She admitted. “Classic MnMs are actually our best seller.” They were currently playing a romantic comedy though it wasn’t completely empty it wasn’t as busy as it had been in the past. She had been having a tough time bringing in the crowds for the past few months.

“Do you have a personal fave? Different movies bring different crowds of candy consumers.” Natalie told her fidgeting by fixing the straws and lids to the side of the counter.

Ellie looked at the chocolate bars. MnM’s weren’t exactly her thing, but chocolate she could get behind. “I’m usually a fan of twix bars. But when it comes to chocolate I’m not usually that picky.” She grinned. “Can I get four chocolate bars and one snickers and one twix bar.” She finally decided on.

Natalie set down the murder mystery novel she was reading to help the customer. “Oh then you are in luck, I have lots of chocolate for sale.” Natalie smiled up at the young woman. “And even luckier we are having a sale today. Everything is just two dollars.”

The woman on the other side of the booth was effortlessly beautiful. Natalie had never seen her before so she figured she must be knew to town, very new. Word usually spread pretty quick through Boot Hill and she’d be surprised if this girl had been been here more than a few days without her hearing about it.

Ellie looked at the chocolate and then grinned. “Great news then. I have extra money since this town runs pretty cheap.” She said with a smile. It was true the town was much smaller than where they’ve been so far, and much cheaper than anything will be once they reach San Antonio. So she’s got cash to spare. 

Natalie smiled as she watched the third movie of the night begin to play. It was late and late night is for the lovers so it wasn’t often people came to the snack bar for anything once the movie started which meant she could sit back and read her book. Aaron was staying with James’ mother for the night so Natalie was free able to help out and work late without any worries.

She had just sat down in the lawn chair she’d set up in the box office when someone came up to the window. “Hello, How can I help you?” She asked standing up to greet them.

Ellie was bored. The van was a terrible car to try and park at a drive in. From the back she couldn’t see anything. But the girls were loving it and Ellie wasn’t about to ruin it for them. So she kept her mouth shut through the first film, and insisted on snacks for the second. Anything to get her legs moving.

MEET NATALIE,

FULL NAME › Natalie Clark AGE › twenty eight GENDER › Cis female (She/Her/Hers) FROM › Portland, Oregon RESIDENCE › Midtown neighborhood OCCUPATION › Owner of the Moonlite Drive-In Theater NOW PLAYING › You Really Got Me by the Kinks

BIOGRAPHY,

trigger/content warnings: disappearance 

Natalie was 22 when she landed in Boot Hill. Having just graduated with a degree in Business Administration from Portland State University, Natalie was traveling across country in the converted van she had built through her time in college. It had been her plans since she was a freshman and bought the van off her first girlfriend. She needed a project through school and the van proved to be the challenge she needed. It was only 6 days into her cross country journey when she fell upon Boot Hill.

She only intended to stay for a few days. Paid upfront for only 3 days at the miracle mine mobile home park. But Boot Hill had other plans for her when she bumped into James Clark. He was only a year her senior and he was Boot Hill born and raised. She met him when she stopped in to the moonlite drive-in theater which turned out to be owned by his parents. It was love at first sight, at least that’s how it felt for Natalie. She was smitten the second he walked over to her van and asked if she needed help setting up her speaker.

Natalie felt crazy at first as she continued to extend her stay at Boot Hill, taking more and more time and money away from the rest of her trip. After two weeks, Natalie had a job at The Onion Ring to pick up extra cash and buy her more time with James. When the summer ended and her trip came to a close James asked her to stay. Ask her to build a life with him there in Boot Hill. And that’s what they did.

From there, Natalie was living a happy life. She started helping James run the drive-in after his father’s death. Got married three years into dating and started to try for a baby a year after that. It was hard when she couldn’t get pregnant. Especially with how much James wanted a family. It took them 2 years but they ended up having a son, Aaron. He made everything even better and they were happy. James seemed happy.

Last year things changed. James was working late, closing up the drive-in by himself when he just never came home. Natalie was sure something must of happened to him but besides the fact his car was still parked at the drive in they couldn’t find any evidence that any crime was committed. Now a year later Natalie is still heartbroken, half convinced something went wrong and half destroyed at the idea he might have just left. Her son is now two and she pores her life into raising him and keeping the drive in up and running.

❝ i can’t sleep nights because i feel so restless. i don’t know what to do, i feel so helpless. and since you’ve been away, i cry both night and day. i don’t know why i love you but i do. ❞

CENSUS,