Mixtapes & Polaroids | Sam x Deena

13

"You did what?"

Kate was practically exploding, standing in front of Simon and Deena who sat on the couch like a bunch of kids being scolded. The whole ride home, Deena was unusually quiet. Dodging every question thrown her way and keeping her eyes on the road as she drove back. She just needed time to think, to lay it all out in her head because she knew Kate was going to freak out, she just needed some clarity before filling them in.

"Not gonna lie, that's kind of a smart move." Simon hums, giving Deena a little nudge as Kate shakes her head in disbelief.

"No— no! Absolutely not! Don't tolerate this!" Kate yells at the boy, who immediately scoots away from Deena with his hands up in surrender.

"And you? What in the holy hell made you think it would be a great idea to lie to a cop?" Kate turns to Deena, eyes wide as she tried so desperately to understand what went on in her friend's brain.

"I was trying to fix it, Kate! You'll be captain again and your record—"

"Deena don't you get it? I don't care about any of that! You're playing with fire here, Paul isn't just some dumb jock anymore. He's an actual criminal who will literally murder you." Kate cuts her off, pacing as she brings her hands up to massage her throbbing temple.

"I'm going to Sheriff Goode tonight, okay? Once we pick up Sam and see that Anna did her part, it'll all be okay." Deena tries to reason to a very stressed Kate, who drops her arms with a huff.

"How is any of this okay? First, you lie to us, then you lie about Paul and you seem to run off whenever wherever—" Kate begins angrily, her frustration slipping from her lips sharply as Deena promptly shuts her down.

"It's not like I wanted this!" Deena exclaims, shooting up to her feet.

"Okay, guys we should take it down—" Simon tries to cut in, standing up as well in a shy attempt at diffusing the rising tension between the girls.

"It's not like we did either!" Kate fires back, instantly regretting her words the moment she says them.

Truthfully, even Simon is stunned. He immediately looks to Deena, hurt prominent in her eyes as her face drains of all emotion. It was like a switch, a click and everything was just gone, wiped out, and it was terrifying for the boy to watch the chilling transition because there it is.

Deena's greatest fear come to life, floating through the air into existence. All her guilt, all the weight, all her screaming thoughts solidified into words that fell from Kate's mouth and Deena feels like the ground beneath her feet had disappeared. Like she was on the brink of falling into an endless void, because all she had thought of herself somehow, became true.

"Deena, don't." Simon whispers, because he knew what she does, what she might do and he really wasn't up for watching two of the most important people in his life fall apart.

"Deena, I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it. I'm just... it's crazy, you know that don't you?" Kate treads closer, but Deena only steps away and Simon wires his eyes shut amidst a hushed curse.

"Deena, don't do this." Kate breathes softly, pleading as she reaches out for the girl.

"Get out." Deena quietly mutters.

"Come on, please." Simon tries to reason, but Deena doesn't even look at him.

"Get out." Deena repeats, going to storm into her room but Kate wasn't having it. She was not about to let Deena walk away from her like that.

She rushes after Deena, pressing a foot in between the door and the frame to block it from closing and using all her might to push inside. Simon just slumps back into the couch, head in his hands and gut turning as he silently hoped to himself that things weren't about to fall apart.