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

Two

Ophelia let out a shaky breath as she made her way to school. She was exhausted from the night before and didn't wake up on whatever side of the bed was considered the 'right one.'

    Ophelia couldn't believe that she was feeling the way she was before 7:30 AM and regarded it even less, realizing she had only been awake for an hour and a half. So much could happen in such a small amount of time that it did nothing but overwhelm her. The only thing that seemed to ground Ophelia was the warmth coming from the travel mug of coffee cupped in her hands. She wasn't sure if caffeine would solve all of her problems, but Ophelia hoped it would. Ophelia shook her head at herself. Ophelia wished she could be more optimistic, but she didn't think it was possible.

    Dread began to bubble up in Ophelia's stomach. She wanted to be able to chalk it up to senioritis, but Ophelia developed that in elementary school. Was that true? Ophelia would never know, but she was willing to swear on anything it was true.

    As the Wells girl got closer to her school, her nerves only worsened. While Ophelia thought of why that could be, she acknowledged that maybe she didn't want to know. The bubbly feeling in her stomach made it hard for her to brush any of her curiosity aside. Ophelia's negative feelings grew once she saw the school building.

    The sight in front of her was different from how it usually was. The number of students in front of the building seemed to have doubled, maybe even tripled, and there were various news vans and police vehicles where busses usually pulled in. Something was wrong, and it didn't sit well with her.

        Looking both ways before crossing the street, Ophelia made her way across. With so many reporters from different news channels, Ophelia hoped to hear something; she was sure of it. Even if Ophelia didn't hear something from a reporter or student, she knew she would learn something from Dewey Riley, the older brother of one of her long-time friends. That man took his job seriously, but he was also still like a big kid - he got excited and occasionally let details slip.

    The walk across the street wasn't long - it barely took 30 seconds at Ophelia's speed - but in that short amount of time, Ophelia felt like her nerves were beginning to settle. It was strange to her; Ophelia would have thought that being amongst the chaos would have made her feel worse, but hunger replaced her nerves. Ophelia would never admit it, but sometimes granola bars or mini muffins weren't the best breakfast plan.

    "Ophelia!" Tatum's voice came out of nowhere as she latched onto Ophelia's arm.

    "Tatum, hey!" She jumped. Ophelia straightened out her arm to link her fingers with Tatum's. Something about having Tatum with her filled Ophelia with relief that she didn't expect. Ophelia supposed that her nerves hadn't settled as much as she thought. "Have you seen Sidney or the boys?"

    The Riley girl looked ahead, nodding after a moment, and began to swing their arms together. "Sid's just up ahead," she answered, "I saw you first and knew I had to grab you."

    Ophelia nodded in response, leaving the subject there as they sped up to reach Sidney. As their surroundings sunk in, Ophelia let her mind wander to Sidney. She was sure that the crowd reminded Sidney of when her mother died. Ophelia knew that Sidney Prescott was a strong girl, but she also acknowledged that there was no way Sidney wouldn't be a bit off.

    The two girls caught up to their friend in seconds, catching Sidney by surprise. 

    She must have been lost in thought too.

    "Do you believe this shit?" Tatum asked as she tapped Sidney's shoulder once they caught up.

    Sidney turned to the two with a startled gasp. After taking a second to calm down, she asked, "What is going on?"

    "You don't know?" Tatum asked incredulously. It was as if it was all Tatum had heard about all morning. It wasn't too far-fetched, though. Tatum's brother was the town's deputy - whatever big news the town had likely was all Tatum had heard about that morning. Ophelia could only assume that whatever happened was massive enough to be classified as police business; there were a few too many emergency vehicles, and Ophelia refused to believe that all of them were school security.

    "Actually," Ophelia sheepishly interjected, "I don't know, either."

    Tatum looked between them with mild surprise on her face. "Casey Becker and Steve Orth were killed last night." She revealed as the three girls began to make their way into the school.

    Ophelia was shocked. She stopped walking with the girls for a moment, though Sidney and Tatum didn't notice. She wasn't very close with either of them, but Ophelia considered the two dead teens her friends. After sharing multiple classes and occasionally tutoring Steve, Ophelia had gotten to know them, and this sudden loss decided to hit hard. Fear then reared its head, mixing with the grief.

    Death was never something Ophelia felt comfortable with regarding the real world. She was okay with it in books, movies, and games, though she might cry a little depending on the context - it was different when it was real. The severity of the person, or people, who died never coming back didn't sit well with her. It was too final and unpredictable for her taste. If anyone were to ask Ophelia Wells about her thoughts on death and mortality, she would laugh and say she was immortal. To her, ignoring her mortality was a safer option.

    Ophelia shook herself out of her thoughts, moving to catch up with her friends. Tatum and Sidney stopped slightly ahead of her, and while Ophelia would like to think that they were waiting for her, she knew someone probably got in their way. It may have been bullshit, but Ophelia was willing to ignore it and hope for the best.

    "They think it's school related?" Sidney asked Tatum in shock. Ophelia hoped she missed the gory details in her surprised stupor. Ophelia did not want to know, but she was sure she would hear them multiple times throughout the day whether she wanted to or not.

    "They don't know." Tatum answered with a shrug. "Dewey was saying that this is the worst crime scene in years, even worse than-" Tatum cut herself off after Ophelia softly kicked her in the ankle. "It's bad." She summed up.

    The bell rang for homeroom, and Tatum immediately sped off, leaving Ophelia and Sidney where they were. Sidney's eyes followed Tatum before she looked over her shoulder to look at Gale Weathers, a well-known and potentially scandalous local reporter. Ophelia frowned sympathetically towards her friend and squeezed her hand before heading off to her class.