cw: gore, slurs

these warnings won't be included in most chapters unless it's a possibly very harmful chapter, but considering it's only the second chapter and some people may have skipped the intro, here is your warning

Arabella had never seen a movie theater so loud. The snack table near the screen was stacked with bowls of popcorn, cookies, glass bottles of Coca Cola, and other assorted food and drinks that Arabella couldn't make out from where she stood. Groups of kids were scattered all around the theater, some of them wearing "Scream" brand merchandise, and others completely missing the memo and wearing non-school event attire.

The biggest impression the whole thing made on her was just how well it was all put together, and how much thought was put into it. There was no way the school was profiting off of the whole thing. Sure, it cost 20 dollars per ticket, but renting a theater was expensive. The banners reading "SCREAM 2" in huge capital letters weren't free, and neither was the literal chocolate fondue machine. If this is the party the principal of their school hosted whenever her daughter booked a role as an extra in a film, what would her Oscar after party look like?

Arabella raised her camera to her eyes. It took a lot of convincing for the usher to let her into the theater with a camera, which involved a lot of panicked stuttering from Arabella, who despite not being a bootlegger, wasn't a fan of the confrontation. As long as she put it away for the movie, she was sure not to get in trouble. Surely.

"Bella?" an excited sound chirped from behind her. Arabella spun around, barely catching her camera before it soared to the ground. Elisabeth Summers was squinting in her direction, and waving desperately once she presumably saw her. Her light pink cardigan and purple shirt underneath it sharply contrasted all the black and "edgy" outfits around them. That and the way her and her ginger curls bounced up and down when she walked.

Before saying another word, Elisa stumbled over an empty tub of popcorn by her feet. She stuck her middle finger up towards the popcorn, which made Arabella's brain spin. What was the point of that if the popcorn didn't have feelings? "I did not expect to see you here!" Her voice was difficult to hear over not only the sound of other students talking, but the blaring movie trailers in the background.

Arabella grinned in her direction. "Yearbook," she said simply, holding up her camera.

"That's right!" Elisa's lips stretched even further. Arabella was sure her mouth was hurting, but Elisa showed no sign of pain. "I wish I had the courage to join the yearbook team." What courage required one to join a club like yearbook? "Want to take some photos of me? Would that help?"

It would be too rude to say no, so Arabella raised her camera. "Wait, hold on, let me act natural," interrupted Elisa. She looked around her surroundings, and grabbed the girl a few people away. Her appearance was exactly why Elisa's was so striking. She had curls as well, but she walked in a way that made them glide across her shoulder rather than bounce, and her outfit was exactly what you would expect from a horror movie screening: a plaid black and white skirt, shark tooth necklace, and chain earrings. Arabella even thought she saw a bit of glitter on her eyelids alongside her black liner.

"You look absolutely stunning!" Elisa complimented over the noise of the next movie trailer playing.

"Thank you!" the girl replied simply.

"No, seriously, I will marry you right here on the spot!"

"Think we should get on a first name basis first?"

"That's a bit formal." The girl laughed. How could people talk about such intimate things in a casual manner? Elisa pointed at Arabella. "She's taking photos, is that okay?"

The girl whipped his head to Arabella. "As long as you credit me! Sasha Mcknight, junior. Got it?"

Arabella nodded quickly. Sasha turned back to Elisa and the two started talking. Sasha mentioned how she had never seen a slasher film before, which Elisa was clearly offended by. She gave her a quick rundown, and Sasha reacted with cartoonish reactions to every sentence, eyes nearly popping out of their sockets and mouth close enough to the poor she could likely taste the abandoned snacks. Arabella did her best to capture the moments, occasionally rubbing the front lens to make sure it was clean. The two shared facts about one another, Sasha mentioning her boyfriend that couldn't come today.

"I guess that kind of throws off the whole marriage thing, then," said Elisa with a laugh.

"He doesn't have to know," said Sasha with a wink. She blew Elisa and rejoined the group she was with before.

Elisa spun back towards Arabella. "Can we check out the photos, then?"

Arabella nodded and pulled them up, quickly skipping over any that she thought turned out lackluster. However, that didn't stop Elisa from asking her to go back because "it was a great one, really!"

After going through all two-hundred photos Arabella took so far that night, Elisa guided her back to a seat alongside a few other people that Arabella had never met before. In fact, most of the people around her she had never seen before. There was a couple a few rows in front of them who were either really close or hated each other, judging by how many times they made snide remarks and threw popcorn in response. There was a boy, Julian Newmont, near her that she had seen in some of her classes before. He was wearing a suit, and even though she had seen it on him before, it still struck her as odd that he always dressed fancy. Then there was Sasha, who sat right by the screen with a large group of people she couldn't make out.

She had photos of every single one of these people, and she knew less than 5 of their names.

***

That movie was absolutely the dumbest thing to come out of modern cinema.

Julian hadn't really needed to use the bathroom, of course. But walking out of a movie theater without a reasonable excuse was considered rude, and since he cared so much about peoples' feelings, he made one up. He used the last bit of soap left in the container to wash the minimal amount of dirt on his fingertips.

How did this random guy know the couple was going to be at the cinema that night? How did nobody notice a girl getting stabbed right out in the open? How come Sidney Prescott didn't leave her hometown for college? Who in their right mind stays in the town where their mother and friends were murdered? If Julian were in that situation, he would've gunned it out of there the second Casey Becker was killed and never would've looked back.

Julian reached for the disposable towels, only to find air. He rolled his eyes and looked behind him. No air dryers either. And there was no way he was going to use his suit.

He rounded a corner, only to be met with shelving hosting all the paper towels he would ever need. As Julian reached out to grab the towel, a few voices caught his attention. Two boys it sounded like. Great. Company.

"I guess he left."

"Who?"

"The kid that I told you about at school yesterday, the kid in the suit."

"There was a kid in a suit?"

"Yeah, I wish you had seen him, man. That kid wears fancy shit every day. If it's not a suit, it's a fucking country club polo. And he's small as fuck so when's he's wearing a suit he's just like this little faggy penguin you see everywhere."

Julian gripped the towels hard enough that his knuckles turned white. He heard the guys walk out of the bathroom, the sound of a door slamming shut following them.

A few seconds later, Julian's feet found their way to the ground. He tore off a sheet of paper towels, striking it across both of his palms before dropping it to the ground and leaving the bathroom.

***

Scottie exited the theater in the large group with his arm wrapped around his girlfriend's shoulder. His other hand held a cherry slushie that, despite being most definitely empty, he continued to sip out of.

"That... wasn't horrible." Espy admitted.

"I told you!" Scottie pressed his lips against her cheek, feeling her laugh as he did so. She pushed him away playfully.

"Okay, okay, you were right! It was pretty fun."

"Boom!"

"But Titanic will still be better."

Scottie scoffed. "Oh my goodness, Espy! Just enjoy the movie!"

Espy groaned melodramatically. "So needy."

In front of them, other students leaving the theater shoved past them. Two boys in particular in front of Scottie raised their voices and screamed an incorrect version of the quote from the movie. They shoved the person in front of Scottie before laughing and running out of the door to their left.

"You're so dramatic, oh my gosh!" Scottie teased Espy. She chuckled, squeezing the hand that was gripping her shoulder.

A kid decked out in a three-piece suit turned from in front of them to meet their eye. "Alright, quit acting juvenile and give it up."

Scottie raised one eyebrow. "Excuse me?" It was hard not to laugh at the bizarre nature of his situation. Scottie felt the rest of the students walk awkwardly past them until it was just them and a few other people left in the hallway.

"You heard me. If you would like to pick on someone by shoving them, I suggest you go back to kindergarten where you can find a stupid enough kid to fight that way. But until then, choose a different target to project your insecurities onto."

Scottie felt his cheeks heat up faster than the boy could say the words he was spitting out. "I don't know what you think is going on-"

"Do not play idiot with me." Suddenly, Scottie felt a sharp pain in his left toes. He looked down, only to see the boy's foot rising from the source of his pain. The muscles on top of his foot throbbed, his toes in a position of shock that he was not sure if he would be able to move them. He bent over, biting his tongue to stop from whimpering. He felt a smooth hand on his back.

"What the fuck are you on?" Espy shouted. "Seriously, are you three years old or something?"

"I am not the one who decided to mess with a stranger."

"Fucking brat," Scottie said under his breath.

The boy narrowed his eyes further. He took a step forward, which inversely made Scottie take a step back. The boy ignored Scottie's message and kept forward until his face was right by Scottie's. "Leave. Me. Alone," he whispered.

"That wasn't m-"

The sudden stab of glass against Scottie's arm cut him off before the boy could.

Scottie flew backwards. His breathing pattern got away from him, it was hard enough to even process what just happened to him. His hand shook rapidly, and his fingertips glided up to where he had been hit. The skin was ruptured. Strings from his shirt were frayed from the impact, the remaining strings attached holding on for dear life. Blood pooled upwards like a raindrop slowly gaining size, unless Scottie's staggered breathing resulted in the pool spilling down his arms. It felt like a perverted type of tickle, teasing him with the damage that was just done.

Scottie's mind started to blank. He heard voices in the distance, but nothing intelligible. As he struggled to search for the words, he felt another impact take that idea away from him. He was shoved to the ground, not by hands but seemingly by a strong burst of wind.

He lifted his head high enough to get a view of the scene. The boy was standing a few feet away from him with a Coke bottle in his hand. He could see Espy out of the corner of his eye, her mouth wide open and screaming at something between the two boys.

The next slice went straight for his shoulder. A scream escaped from Scottie's throat. The glass dragged down his shoulder blade as if tracing a route for a map of his skin. He felt his body open up to the sour air around him, but he could not bring his hands up to stop the pain.

Espy was making eye contact with him now. Her voice broke through Scottie's ears. He thought that she was saying his name, but he couldn't be sure.

Before he could see anything else, Scottie's head was forced down, and the last thing he felt was the sharp piercing of glass through his skull.