OTSEGO, Mich. — It's like a movie script come to life.
Row K, seats 2 and 3 inside Theater 1 at M-89 Cinema in Otsego. That's where this feel-good fairy tale takes place.
“We have a great time, don't we, buddy?" said Nancy Zyzelewski, speaking to Alex Northrup.
Zyzelewski is a special education teacher at Otsego High School. She used to teach at Dix Street Elementary, where Northrup was one of her students.
"He said a couple of weeks ago, 'We're best friends.'"
"Right," Northrup replied.
Zyzelewski and Northrup first met in her classroom in 2004.
Northrup was 9 years old at the time. Zyzelewski called him a fun kid of few words.
“Alex started to get more comfortable and feel more safe with me as his teacher," she said. "That's really when our relationship started to blossom.”
All good plots include a turning point. Theirs came when Northrup's parents were leaving town.
Northrup wanted to stay with Zyzelewski, but his mother, Tina, explained why that might not be appropriate.
“Alex was upset with me," Zyzelewski said. "He drew a picture of a cat attacking me. I said to Alex, 'What is this a picture of?' He said, 'Well, you won't let me come.' I said, ‘What do you mean?'"
“I called Tina. We talked about it. I said, 'What do you mean I can't take him? I will take him.' I don't even remember what it was for or where they went, but [Alex and I] went to the movie. That was our outing. We went and saw Cars. That's where our story begins."
Year after year. Movie after movie.
The more comfortable Northrup felt, the more often he would take responsibility for making the plans.
"Alex lets me know when it's time to go to the movie," Zyzelewski said. "I'll get a message on Messenger that says, 'How about Spider-Man Sunday?' Then we coordinate what day is going to work out for all of us. He communicates all of that with Tina. He takes care of all of the planning behind the scenes.”
The first movie they saw together was in 2006. Northrup has documented their entire journey in his movie journal.
“After the movie is done, you give them a rating. What kind of rating do you give them?" Zyzelewski asked him.
"A good tomato," he said.
Northrup is autistic, so Zyzelewski keeps the movie theater sequence as structured as possible. They always go to the same counter, order the same snack (popcorn) and pour the same drink (Diet Coke).
In one week, they will celebrate hitting the cinema century mark — 100 movies together over 17 years.
“It's a pretty special gift," Zyzelewski said. "I get a little emotional that I'm able to have this time with Alex and that we're best friends. This is what we do.”
It's a gift they never planned to keep on giving, unwrapped every time at M-89 Cinema.
They've given owner Scott Moore a front-row seat to something bigger than the big screen.
“That story is incredible," he said. "I mean, to go from a 9, 10-year-old kid that needed a little bit of an outlet, and for a teacher like Nancy to go above and beyond is just incredible.”
That 100th movie will come on June 15th. Zyzelewski and Northrup will see Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
Moore spread the word about their movie milestone, and Paramount Pictures responded with a care package.
Zyzelewski and Northrup have a private theater waiting for them at M-89 Cinema for the big event.
“We've invited our immediate family members and some close friends of ours to join us on that awesome, epic milestone," Zyzelewski said.
They both made it clear — that moment won't mark the end of their story. It'll just be another chapter of their timeless tradition, from Row K, seats 2 and 3.