Dots and Dashes | Billy Loomis, Stu Macher; Scream 1996

One

Ophelia let out a sigh as she browsed the horror section of the video place. There were so many good options, but she had no idea what she wanted. She sat in the middle of the aisle, fidgetting with her nails and listening to the faint clicks they made as they ran against each other.
    Ophelia could feel eyes on her, but she tried to brush it off, feeling like it was justifiable. It had been a good five minutes of her walking up and down the aisle, hoping to find something that sparked her interest. Ophelia had her favorites, sure, but she was indecisive. She always had been; it could be a tiny decision like this one, and she would sit and overthink or think nothing at all, despite Psycho and The Lost Boys being right in front of her. She meaninglessly looked to the store's entrance and then back to the movies.
    She sat there. Not knowing what she wanted was messing with her, but she wasn't about to ask Randy for help. The idea was tempting, but Ophelia knew they'd get off-topic, and he wouldn't be any help.
    A sudden arm around her shoulders made her jump. "A penny for your thoughts, sunshine?"
    Ophelia let out a breath of relief. It wasn't a stranger. "I wanted to get a jump on tomorrow's movie night, but I'm failing." Ophelia laughed at herself quietly, leaning her head on the shoulder of Stu Macher, one of her best friends and the one with his arm around her. "I can't seem to make up my mind. I can't even pick for myself, let alone tomorrow." Stu laughed next to her, looking over what Ophelia was looking over. "See, this is why I think you and Billy are crazy for not just picking the movies yourselves. We all like the same ones." Ophelia nearly whined.
    "Almost all the same ones, Ophelia." Stu corrected. "I have no idea why you like The Lost Boys." He poked her nose, causing Ophelia to snort in amusement.
    Ophelia turned away from the movies in front of her to look at Stu. "I don't know," she shrugged. "It makes me laugh, especially the train scene."
    Stu playfully rolled his eyes. "We know, weirdo."
    "'We'?" Ophelia questioned, tilting her head slightly.
    "Boo!" Ophelia jumped out of her skin with a clipped scream, whipping her head around to see the second person to scare her in the last few minutes.
    "How do horror movies not phase you when you're this jumpy in real life?" Billy asked through his and Stu's loud laughter. The infectious sounds pulled Ophelia in, the three of them laughing like children in the horror section of Blockbuster.
    "You guys suck!" She insulted through her giggles, punching Billy in the shoulder.
    Ophelia didn't have it in her to be mad at the boys, not for something as small as scaring her for a laugh. In the years they'd been friends, Ophelia wasn't sure there had been a time when she was angry at them. If she could help it, there wouldn't ever be a time when she was upset with them or vice versa. Ophelia wouldn't even let that happen over her dead body.
    "Any thoughts on what we should watch, boys?" Ophelia looked between the two, fully prepared to use her doe eyes. If the universe wanted her to pick what they were going to watch, she would have decided by now.
    Stu pulled away from Ophelia, moving to browse the aisles for a moment, scanning the options. They had seen everything in this section of Blockbuster at least twice. Instead of deciding on anything, Stu winked at Ophelia and turned to bother Randy, who was at the counter. Ophelia's lips pulled themselves into a pout. If Stu saw Ophelia's avoidance, then Billy had the moment he walked in.
    Ophelia's eyes left Stu and Randy and moved toward Billy, wrapping his pinky up with hers. Something about him seemed so far away at that moment. His eyes were staring blankly ahead, but his body was tense. She didn't question it, but she comfortingly squeezed his pinky.
    "Anything looking good?" She asked softly. Ophelia needed to ask something, and as much as she wanted to know if he was okay, she knew that the less personal question would be the less damaging option.
    "I don't know yet." Something in the tone of Billy's answer made her want to laugh. "I can see why you were havin' trouble now." He mumbled. "Kinda shocked you didn't just grab Psycho."
    Ophelia shrugged with a roll of her eyes. She glanced over her shoulder to check on Stu for a moment. Leaving Stu Macher to his own devices could be scary. "I guess I just worry that you guys will get bored of it." Or bored of me, she wanted to add.
    Ophelia Wells was the definition of a creature of habit. If she liked something and was comfortable with something, it stuck. Unfortunately for her, it left her mind reeling. Ophelia often worried that she would become too predictable and that her loved ones would get bored of her. She hated that there was even the slightest possibility of her being alone.
    "Nuh-uh." Billy shook his head, putting his arm around Ophelia's shoulder, pulling her into him. Ophelia's mind was full of confusion and thoughts of how much she loved being held onto by him.
Ophelia's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Her eyes followed his hand as it took Psycho off of the shelf. "What?"
    "No thinking like that, pretty girl. You forget that the three of us practically think the same." Ophelia let out an amused huff at Billy's reasoning. It proved Billy's point with how similar it was to Stu's reasoning about the movies before.
    "Right." Ophelia relented, letting herself relax a little. Something in her wanted to argue with him, but she couldn't. Billy was right, and even then, Ophelia could never win when it came to the boys trying to make her feel better. They always seemed to overpower whatever negative thing went through her head.
    Out of the corner of her eyes, Ophelia looked at Billy. She couldn't name it, but she felt like something was up with him. The boy didn't have a tell when something was wrong or when he was upset, but Ophelia had gotten good at trusting her gut with him. "You okay?" She finally asked.
    "I will be." Billy cryptically answered. Ophelia wanted to push a bit more for an answer, but Billy shot her a reassuring smile, and she immediately decided against it.
    "Okay." She smiled back with a soft voice. She looked back to the movies. "Anything looking good?"
    Billy let out a low chuckle at her question, noting what she was doing. He looked away from the shelf and away from Ophelia, seeing Stu making his way back to them with Randy trailing close behind.
    "Let me guess." Randy laughed. "Little Miss Wells can't make a decision?" Ophelia's pout returned to her lips as Randy ruffled her hair. Ophelia stuck her tongue out in retaliation, tucking herself into Stu's side.
    "So what if I can't?" She asked with a laugh. "We go through this all the time."
    Randy Meeks was something else. He was Woodsboro's self-proclaimed "Horror Geek." Randy wasn't a bad guy, though everyone who knew him could admit that they found him annoying on occasion. He was a mystery as far as their friend group went. Billy and Stu didn't know how he weaseled his way in, and neither did the girls. It was almost as if Randy just appeared one day and stayed. Ophelia viewed it as a blessing and a curse but considered Randy a welcomed addition anyway.
    "We do," Randy agreed. "Which is why it's ridiculous because you grab the same thing every time. Especially when you're with these two." Ophelia let her frown come back, and her shoulders subtly slumped. An irritating habit of Randy's is that he never seemed to know when he went too far. She couldn't blame Randy for her hurt feelings, though. Ophelia had always been sensitive about the strangest things - however, she couldn't help but be amazed at how Randy always managed to find them.
    "So she's a creature of habit." Stu defended, an easy grin still on his lips. Something in his eyes differed from his lips - they were hardened - as though daring Randy to push on. "It's not like you don't watch the same shit on a regular basis."
    "Sure, but at least you can't tell what kind of mood I'm in based on what I rent."
    Ophelia rolled her eyes, leaning into the boys and pulling Billy closer to her and Stu. It dawned on Ophelia that Randy's stupidity leak wouldn't be ending any time soon, so Ophelia closed her eyes and took a breath, reaching a hand out towards the shelf and grabbing something random. At this point in the night, it seemed like Ophelia's best option.
    Refusing to look at the movie she grabbed, Ophelia used the same hand to tug at Stu's shirt sleeve and handed him the case. The Macher boy laughed as he took the case from her hands. "Not even gonna look at it?"
    Ophelia shook her head, letting herself smile. "Nope!" She pulled out her wallet and enough money to cover the cost and pushed that into Stu's hands.
    "I take it you want me to pay?" Stu asked with a laugh.
    "Well, I'm paying." Ophelia answered. "I'm just not having fun anymore, and I want to go home."
    Billy let out a small laugh as he watched Stu completely give in to the girl in front of him. "We'll take care of it, Phelia." He squeezed her pinky with his as he quickly agreed for their friend. "Want one of us to go with you?"
    "If you could." She answered gratefully. Billy and Stu nodded at each other, silently agreeing that Billy and Ophelia would be waiting for him outside.
    Stu ruffled Ophelia's hair with his goofy smile, soft light in his eyes as opposed to the previous steely look he gave to Randy. He turned away from the group and made his way over to the counter. It only took Stu a second of waiting before impatiently and obnoxiously tapping at its surface. Randy dramatically rolled his eyes, and Ophelia laughed as he turned away.
    Billy and Ophelia were quiet as they went outside, waiting on their third. Their pinkies stayed linked, though something in Ophelia's stomach told her to separate them. As far as she was aware, Sidney didn't have a problem with how close they were, but Ophelia still knew details about their relationship that could make their platonic PDA an issue with Sidney. Ever since her mother passed, Sidney wouldn't let Billy touch her, yet there was Ophelia, filling in any touch-starved gaps the boy had. Sex and friendly PDA are very different - Ophelia knew that - but the level of intimacy is what she let herself get stuck. Ophelia loved Sidney, and if she accidentally overstepped somehow, Ophelia didn't want Sidney to be upset.
    "So," Ophelia started, attempting to distract herself from her thoughts. "Doing anything fun tonight?" She hoped that Billy's mind would go to Sidney and Ophelia could forget her previous train of thought altogether.
    Billy just shrugged dismissively. "Not really." To Ophelia, it felt as though Billy knew what she was trying to do and silently dared her to keep going. She wouldn't, though. Not if it meant keeping him comfortable. "What about you, Phelia?"
    Ophelia shook her head to say that she didn't have anything planned for the night and looked from Billy to the stars above them.
    Ophelia's gaze went from the sky to the door of the Blockbuster, watching Stu exit with a laugh. She could only imagine what kind of reaction Randy gave to make Stu so giddy. A small part of her was also envious - she never got out of Blockbuster that quickly when Randy was working.
    "Want me to hold onto the tape since you guys are coming to mine tomorrow, or do you wanna take it with you? See what you picked and stuff?" Stu asked, clumsily twirling the bulky case between his fingers, eyes going between his friends. Something in Stu's eyes seemed to light up, but she didn't want to know why.
    Instead, Ophelia took a second to think about Stu's question. "Keep it with you." She smiled. "I'm kind of loving the suspense."
    Stu laughed. "Can't say I'm shocked. See you guys tomorrow?" At Stu's question, Billy finally untangled his pinky from Ophelia's. She hid a frown at the loss of contact, hating letting people go and being the one someone was leaving. Something felt wrong on both ends.
    "Of course! There's school tomorrow, anyways. You know I hate missing it."
    With those words, the trio said their goodbyes and parted ways, Ophelia not thinking twice about the boys going in the same direction.