OLD FACED SHE DIDN'T WANT TO SEE
( chapter 2 — hospital + bar )

   TARA AND LOTTIE SAT IN THEIR HOSPITAL BEDS, both in the same room but both in different conditions. Tara wanted to speak, but she couldn't; she had no one to speak to; instead, she sat in silence. Charlotte, on the other hand, didn't want to speak at all; her mother was sitting on a chair beside her bed, attempting to get her to talk (though eventually fell asleep). Though the girl hadn't spoken a word, Every few moments, Lottie would let out a cough and Tara a small sob; other than that, all that could be heard were the sounds of the machines.

   Lottie couldn't help but let a few tears run down her face. Her mother was asleep, so it was okay for her to cry (otherwise her mom would make a fuss). Her attention was brought away as the hospital door clicked open, reminding the girl of how Tara's front door clicked open, resulting in the Carpenter girl getting stabbed. For Lottie, memories could be hazy; she would always forget things. Though things are different, this attack was all she could remember, and it played out in her mind the same way it happened.

   Realizing the visitors had arrived, Charlotte turned herself over; she already knew that she would be facing her former friends at some point. "Are you guys alright?" A female's voice asked; it seemed she didn't know what to say. Both of the injured girls could easily recognize the voice; it belonged to Lottie's ex-girlfriend, the girl who broke her heart, Amber Freeman. Along with Amber, the rest of the group rushed into the room; they wanted to know everything that happened.

   Tara let out a small smile, realizing she finally had someone to talk to. "I'm okay." Tara informed them. She basically was okay, she was drugged up and could barely feel her injuries. The group (including Tara) peered over at the Becker girl. "The painkillers are helping us, though I don't think Lotties feels good." She explained, in fact, Lottie felt worse than good; she felt horrible.

   "Have you had any visitors yet?" Amber questioned.

   Tara shook her head, then looked at Abigail. "Only Abi and Nichole, but they came to visit Lottie; I've had no one," Tara informed them. They all just stared at Charlotte and her mother (who were still asleep); they didn't know what to say in the situation. "And I called my mom for 10 minutes," she explained. (Her mother couldn't care less.) Both of the injured girls were actually shocked that Nichole Becker cared. She seemed to be caring too much.

The group all looked up in shock. "10 minutes, that's not much..." Amber started to speak, though, trailed off, knowing Tara didn't need this right now. All she wanted was her family—her sister, mother, and father. None of them were there. Her sister left 5 years ago, her father left 7 years ago, and her mother was just never home.

Another voice spoke. "Can I sit here?" The voice asked, and Lottie looked over and saw that it belonged to her old friend, her cousin's best friend, Wes Hicks (though he looked different with bleached blonde hair). Lottie silently and slowly nodded her head; he saw it; he knew she didn't want to talk, so he just gave her a small smile, then sat down on the edge of her bed. Lottie ended up sitting back up; she wanted to listen to the conversation which was going on between the group and Tara, but that was until she caught eyes with her cousin.

As much as she loved her cousin, Abigail wasn't always nice. On the outside, Abi looked like the softest, innocentest, and nicest girl, though when it came to the people she loved (Amber and Wes), she could be a real bitch to anyone else. The girl was trying hard to look after and care for Lottie, even after she took Amber's side in the breakup.

Abigail walked in front of Lottie's bed, blocking her view. "Take this; your mom forgot to give it to you." She spoke to her cousin softly. In one hand, she held one of Charlotte's pills, and in the other, she held a cup of water. Lottie could feel everyone's eyes on her as she grabbed the pill from her cousin.

Lottie held the pill in her hand; she didn't want to take them until everyone looked away. "Fuck off." Lottie mumbled, and immediately everyone's eyes darted off to different places in the room, looking anywhere but at Lottie. The only people who kept eye contact were Amber and Abigail. Although everyone looked away, Charlotte just wanted everyone to leave. The twins were making themselves comfortable on two chairs in between the injured girl's bed. Wes still sat at the end of Lottie's bed; Amber was crouched next to Tara's bed; and lastly, Abigail stood in front of Lottie's. It looked like no one was going to be leaving any time soon.

"Please just take your meds." Abigail spoke, watching as her cousin sat in her bed, one pill in hand and a cup of water in the other. She had yet to move or take the pill. What was she waiting for? Lottie's eyes landed on Abi almost immediately, as if she heard something else.

"W- What?" Lottie stuttered in confusion.

"What?" Abi replied back, noticing her cousin was staring straight into the wall. "Lottie!" Abi raised her voice (which was not very common coming from her), snapping the girl back to reality. Abi noticed what's going on—the hesitation in her voice, the staring. Lottie was either having an episode or she would, especially if she didn't take the medication.

Although she was on the other side of the room and focused on her friends, Tara observed the situation. "Lottie, you need to take it," Tara said, Lottie wasn't planning on taking it, though after seeing her best friend's face (with sad eyes), looking at her, she put the pill in our mouth and pretended to swallow it. (She wasn't going to)

Before anyone could do anything or say anything, the door to the room clicked open once again, revealing Samantha Carpenter. Following behind was a strange-looking man. Everyone's eyes immediately locked on the woman. Everyone's except for Lottie. Instead, Lottie brought her hand up to her mouth and spat the pill into it. With the other hand, Lottie grabbed a tissue, placing the half-dissolved pill into the tissue and then chucked it into the nearby bin. The side effects were too much: drowsiness, not being able to sleep, always feeling restless, always being confused, and everything else that comes along with it. There was no way she was taking that pill.

Sam didn't bother going over to greet the teenagers she used to babysit (just yet); instead, she rushed to her sister, which was very much expected. "How are you feeling?" She questioned, bending down next to her younger sister, placing her hand on Tara's arm. (Which was bandaged up.)

Tara looked at her sister in shock; she did not expect her sister to come visit. Her mom, maybe. Her dad, no. But definitely not her Samantha. "You came?" Tara asked, observing her sister. Sam looked older (obviously she had grown); the last time Tara had seen her sister, she was high on drugs, and she was very much a mess. This Sam was different; her hair was neat, along with her outfit. She looked tired, but she definitely didn't look high anymore. She had changed, and she looked so much better.

Sam also looked at her sister in shock, surprised that her sister would even question that. Though it was understandable, they hadn't seen each other in five years. "Of course I came." Sam answered. The two girls sat looking at each other for a few moments, but that was until the older sister turned around to the strange man. "This is my boyfriend, Richie." She introduced the man.

Sam seemed to be finished watching her boyfriend and sister interact; this time she walked over to the group, beginning to greet them. She walked up to each one of them individually, giving them a hug. "These are Chad and Mindy, the twins," Sam explained, introducing the twins to her boyfriend. To greet the man, both Mindy and Chad held their hands up as a small wave (in sync). Lottie looked over at them, remembering how close the three of them used to be. "Abi and Wes," she also points out. "Oh, and Nichole, Lottie, how are you?" she asked. Lottie gave the woman a thumbs-up while rolling her eyes. "I used to babysit them all- except for Nichole" Sam explained to Richie (who is still holding onto the straps of his backpack).

"Which is always how I like to be introduced?" Wes replied with a small smirk on his face. Everyone let out a small chuckle, except Lottie.

"And Amber... hey." Sam spoke, turning her attention to the raven-haired girl who was still crouched next to Tara. The two hadn't ever gotten along, even before Sam left. Amber was extremely protective of Tara, and it was obvious she did not like Sam, and Sam just didn't know Amber very well. "Where's mom?" Sam questioned, turning her attention to her sister. Amber,  on the other hand, gave the older woman a smile (not that she meant it in any nice way).

"She is stuck at a conference in London," Tara explained, remembering how much her mother didn't care about her injuries. "She called me earlier." Tara added, not mentioning how long the call actually went for. Sam hadn't seen her mom in 5 years; she obviously wanted to see her, so it disappointed the woman that she wasn't around.

"Yeah... for all of 10 minutes." Amber interrupted, although she wasn't even there for the call, so she barely even had a say. Amber looked around the room, realizing how many people were crowding Tara. "Look guys, Tara is really tired; maybe we should give her some space." Amber suggested, hoping Tara would allow her to stay.

Everyone nodded their heads, agreeing with the freeman girl. Abi looked back as she started to walk away to leave, hoping her cousin would let her stay. Instead, Tara spoke up: "Not you, Sam." She stated, watching as her sister was about to get up and leave the room, Sam stopped and turned around. "I want you to stay." Tara informed her sister. Making Samantha smile lightly.

"But the rest?" Chad clarified; everyone nodded their heads and slowly made their way out of the room. Amber didn't; instead, she continued to talk to her best friend (as if she would be allowed to stay; Lottie definitely wouldn't want that). Lottie didn't hear, but Amber whispered something in her friend's ear, before walking out of the room, following the rest of the group. (Including Abi who was disappointed her cousin didn't want her to stay).

As soon as they left, Lottie got a notification, and she looked down her phone to see it from the most unexpected person ever. Chad Meeks Martin, 'Hey, we really haven't spoken in a while, and we didn't talk today. I hope everything's okay, and maybe we could go back to being friends?' Lottie thought about it. Yeah. She really fucking missed her best friend; she missed all the sleepovers at the Meeks Martin household, watching their favorite movies, and doing fun things. She misses Chad and Mindy the most out of anyone. 'Yeah' she replied, almost immediately getting a reply back. 'Okayy'

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   SO WHAT IS SHE LIKE, THE SISTER?" LIV QUESTIONED THE REST OF THE GROUP. She wasn't able to make it to visit the injured girls. To some, it seemed suspicious, though Liv always had her reasons for not showing up to things (not that she shared them). Her not coming to things wasn't uncommon, she's done it before.

   The group had decided to meet up at a local bar to have some drinks and play pool. They would most likely visit Tara (and Lottie) again tomorrow. Chad looked up from his phone to reply to his girlfriend's question. Lottie just texted him back; it was a cold reply, but he doesn't care; a text is a text when it comes from his childhood crush. "Sam?" Chad clarified, and Liv nodded. "Oh, Sam is so cool!" He informed her with a smile on his face.

   "You only say that because she let you wear Pokémon onesies to bead for a year." Mindy jokingly accused him, making everyone lightly chuckle.

   "Sam! Look what I have!" Young Chad spoke with a baby voices (even though he was 11). The young boy held up a Pokémon onesie, the same one he had been wearing for a few weeks (and that Sam had been refusing to let him wear it again) Did it even get washed? "Can I wear it, please, please, please, Sam?" Chad begged with puppy dog eyes.

   Sam sighed. Her head was hurting, though she wasn't going to tell anyone about it. "Fine, I'll let you wear this onsie as much as you want; in exchange, you are going to stop picking fights with your twin sister." Sam suggested, bending down to be the same height as the younger boy.

"Fine!" Chad responded, grabbing the onesie back off Samantha before running off to get changed into it. Both Sam and Chad knew that he wouldn't be sticking to the deal.

   The group (minus Amber and Liv) recalled the memory; he literally lived in that onesie. Chad pointed his finger at his sister, moving it around. "That's true; that's a true statement!" He told them all, making them all laugh even more. He wasn't going to deny it!

   "No, trust me, Sam is not cool!" Amber interrupted to tell Liv, everyone looked over at the Freeman girl. They've all known Sam longer than Amber (everyone except Liv). They all know, for a fact, that Sam is pretty cool. "Her dad left her mom, right?" Amber started to explain. Abigail rolled her eyes, knowing this was going to lead to a long rant (which was common in this group). "Walks right out when Tara's eight, Sam's thirteen. Sam started acting out, getting in trouble with the cops. And then, on Sam's eighteenth birthday, she leaves. Ghosts them all." Amber shared, expressing all her anger toward Sam.

   Abi remembered how crushed Tara was when her dad left; things only got worse when Sam left and her mom started to drink. Lottie was the only one who actually helped Tara (because she had her own personal experience). "Maybe Sam's changed; I just don't want to see Tara hurt again." Amber added. Abigail rolled her eyes; she doesn't know what's gone on, but Amber is a lot nastier.

   Abi gave her friend a glare, which Amber dismissed (as usual), "Well, Tara is hurt, physically and mentally; she is traumatised and can barely move!" Abi snapped; she knew she shouldn't have said that but just finished talking... "I don't think being mad at Sam will help her in any way; it will only make it harder for her!" She snapped again.

   "Says the one whose cousin is like... super crazy." Amber argued with a smirk; she opened a flask (which was in her pocket) and poured it into her glass and Chad's. She offered it to Wes who shook his head and refused.

   Abigail rolled her eyes. Did Amber really have to bring this up? "How does that have to do with anything?" She asked calmly. "I mean, she can't control herself." She added.

   Amber let out a large scoff, rolling her eyes. "Since when did you care, Abi? Last time I checked, you took my side in our breakup. We broke up because she went crazy! You believed me!" Amber argued, starting to get annoyed.

   "I get that, but she can't control herself, and I don't think it's fair for you to bring that up while I'm trying to depend on Sam; Lottie has nothing to do with this." Abi defended.

   Amber scoffed again, opening her mouth to talk again, though Wes spoke, trying his best to change the conversation. "So what? You're protecting Tara from her own sister now?" Wes asked Amber, tilting his head in confusion.

   The freeman girl looked at the boy aggressively, taking a small sip of her drink. "Well, someone has to," Amber explained with an aggressive tone.

   "Oh, so no guys are good enough for her, and now her family's off limits too?" Wes asked in an angry tone, Abigail got that he was just trying to protect his friend, though she started to feel jealous. Tara had known Wes longer than Abigail had. What if he liked her? It definitely seemed like she liked it; he texted her heaps, and they hung out a lot.

   Mindy's eyes widened, and she started to seem excited. "motive!" She shouted out, causing everyone to go silent stare at her. "If I can't have her, no one can." Mindy spoke, explaining Wes' motive. Abi slammed her cup onto the pool table and stormed out of the room. She didn't mean to be aggressive, though everything was starting to get too much. First, her and Wes's relationship was a secret, which she didn't really want it to be; this was starting to make her really jealous. Second, her cousin (which she used to not be close with), got attacked and her bestfriend is mad that she cared!

   "What's up with her?" Amber asked, watching her best friend storm out of the room. The Freeman girl let out a light chuckle, once again taking another sip out of her cup. "She's probably crazy, just like Lottie." Amber told them all, thinking it was some sort of joke. Wow, such a great best friend.

   Chad frowned at the girl. How did she think that was funny? "Lottie is mentally ill; I think you shouldn't keep joking about it." He stated, gaining a glare from Amber, she had always hated when people don't take her side. Especially when they used to agree with her in the past.

   Wes looked around the table; there was a lot going on, and they had yet to even start the game of pool (they were too busy talking). "I'm going to find Abi." Wes informed them, walking to the bathroom (which was the same direction Abi went), and as soon as he arrived outside the bathrooms, he was quickly pushed against a wall. Fear waved through him as he started to think he was going to die. He started to calm down when lips pressed against his; it's just Abi; she wouldn't hurt him.

   "Abi," he breathed out in between kisses, noticing him talking. Abigail moved away, pulling out of the kiss. Wes took a look at her face and saw that she had been crying. He brought his hand up to her face and wiped away the tears. "What's wrong?" he questioned her, looking at her with a worried face.

   "I'm really worried about Lottie; she is refusing to take her meds, and everyone is calling her insane. She went through a huge operation after being fucking attacked. I know I've never seemed too care much for her, but I do, I really do!" Abigail admitted it, wiping away more tears that were falling down her cheeks. "And you... do you like Tara?"

   Wes looked at her with worry on his face (just as before). "I know Abi, but she will be ok; she is a strong person; and she has us again and no, I don't like Tara in any romantic way." He stated, gripping her head gently with her hands.

   It didn't really seem like Charlotte had them; at the hospital, they barely spoke to her. "We didn't even care about her until she almost died." Abi snapped, annoyed at how the group had treated the girl. "I'm scared I will lose her; she was all I had left after my mom died. I didn't care either, but deep down, even after the shit with Amber, she's still my cousin, and I can't lose her." She breathed, remembering how she had to move in with Lottie and her aunt after her mom died from cancer.

   Before Wes could reply again, Mindy walked into the hallway, right outside the bathroom. "Chad got us kicked out; we have to go." She stated, smirking at how close the two are to each other . They both roll their eyes, following the curly-haired girl to the exit.

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   THEY WHERE ON THE WAY HOME WHEN WES' MOM CALLED, REQUESTING THE GROUP AT THE POLICE STATION. It had appeared that Vince (with whom Chad had a fight) was murdered, shortly after they had left the bar. Mostly everyone left separately; it could have been anyone. Wes and Abigail went together, Amber went alone, Liv went alone, and the twins went together.

   Abigail sat in the waiting room in the police station. Everyone in the group was called to the station, meaning they were all there, along with the bartender who witnessed the fight between Chad and Vince. It wasn't looking too good for Chad. Mindy was the one being questioned; everyone else had either gone home or was waiting for someone else. It was just Wes, Liv, and Abigail left.

   It came to Abi's mind that she should have been visiting Lottie (especially so Nichole could be able to go home for a while), so instead she texted the girl, 'Hey Lottie, I just wanted to let you know I won't be there for a bit.' Almost immediately, she got a reply back. 'Alright, Sam got attacked. She is OK. Amber is here, and my mom is going to stay over again tonight, but I'm just stressed.' Reading the message, Abi replied back. 'holy shit, Are you alright? Have you taken your medications?' She checked back multiple times, getting no reply, until eventually 'read' popped up.

   "Abigail Becker?" The officer called out for her, looking around the room. Mindy walked out; it seemed she had finished getting questioned.

   Abigail stood up, along with Chad, who had been waiting for his twin. "We're going to go, bye Liv; I'll see you tomorrow; have a great night, Abi, Wes," he said, joining Mindy's side to leave. As for Abi, she followed the officer to a hallway, entering one of the rooms at the very end. The room was empty; both the floors and walls were gray. It was furnished with two chairs and a table. It looked like an actual interrogation room. It probably was. In the room sat Judy Hicks, Wes' mom. "Abi, how are you?" She greeted the girl with a wide smile on her face. A notebook was displayed in front of her to take notes, along with photos of her very bloody body. It appears Vincent had been stabbed in the throat.

   "I'm okay, how are you?" She replied, looking at her boyfriend's mom.

   "I'm great, but this whole killing thing is a pain." The sherif complained, a wide smile still on her face. Just Hicks almost always had a smile on her face. "Now today I'm going to be asking you some simple questions about what happened tonight and the night before. I expect you to answer them truthfully and to the best of your abilities," Judy explained, clicking her pen to start writing notes. "Firstly, where were you tonight?"

   Judy was not aware of Wes and Abigail's relationship, though when you are being questioned by a sheriff, it's the sheriff, not your boyfriend's mom. It was best if she told the truth. "I was near the bathrooms with Wes; we had a small disagreement with the group and left for a while. Mindy came and got us after Chad got them kicked out; she told us what had happened." Abi explained.

   "Where were you the night before, when your cousin was attacked?" Judy questioned; a smile was still on her face. She didn't seem to care that Abi was alone with Wes. The two had been close for ages; maybe it was obvious they had a thing.

   Abigail took a deep breath, remembering what had happened that night. Her aunt wasn't home, and she was bored alone, so she called Wes and snuck into his bedroom. Shit! She was at the Hicks household, and Judy didn't even know. Abi took another deep breath. "Uh, I was at your house with Wes," she hesitated, taking a deep breath. She saw Judy's smile drop, though the sherif didn't question it; instead, she went on with the next question.

   "I'll get someone to check that with Wes. Now, do you have anyone you might suspect of attacking your cousin, Tara or Vince?" Judy asked the young girl, writing everything down as she spoke.

   "Well, everyone could have a motive for wanting to attack Lottie; I mean, none of them are friends anymore. As for Tara, everyone likes her, though for Vince, the only person I could think of wanting to kill him would be Liv or Chad," she started. Just was quickly noting everything down.

   "Could you explain why Liv McKenzie or Chad Meeks Martin could be the attacker?" Judy asked.

   "Well, for Chad, he had a fight with Vince, then shortly after he showed up dead, and along with that, his current girlfriend used to sleep with him. Though I know Chad, you know him too; he wouldn't hurt anyone," Abigail explained, taking a deep breath before continuing. "In my opinion, I think Liv should be your main suspect; she hadn't ever met Lottie, so I don't think she has a motif for that, though for Tara, the two work together, something could have happened, and obviously for Vince, she slept with him and he was stalking her. I don't think she would kill anyone, but she's been really suspicious and secretive lately." The girl finished.

   Once again, Judy continued to write everything down. When she was finished, the smile returned to her face. "Thank you so much, Abi; this has been really helpful. Have a great night." She thanked the girl. Both Judy and Abi sat up from their seats; the latter left the room. Wes promised he would take her to the hospital, though honestly, she felt tired and wanted to go home. So that's what she did.

— MAEVE'S YAPS
NEWS! so basically me and my bsf got caught staying up rlly late on call while playing Roblox. Lmfao, when I'm not calling her I'm usually staying up late writing this book. Unfortunately I won't be allowed to be on my phone at night (or I will loose my eras tour tickets) so updates will be less frequent (but I will still try to post!!)  (UPDATE: yeah so that was months ago and I now do it again... oops)

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, if definitely is not my best and I might end up rewriting it. (UPDATE: yep!) Lottie hates them all rn but they will get better. Also short chapter bc I can't write atm.

ALSOOO!! I went to the eras tour it was the BEST night of my whole life, I was lucky enough for Taylor to play MY FAVOURITE SONGS OMGG! I love come back be... here and daylight with my whole heart and she LITERALLY PLAYED A MASHUP OF THEM WHATTTT!!! I'm so lucky omgggg (UPDATE: now I have Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish tickets secured ahh, I'm so excited)

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gif by amazing softbows <33

BLEED FOR YOU / Maeve
last updated: July 2nd