𝑯𝑶𝑻 𝑰𝑵 𝑷𝑺𝒀𝑪𝑯𝑶𝑻𝑰𝑪// 𝑬𝑻𝑯𝑨𝑵 𝑳𝑨𝑵𝑫𝑹𝒀

𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦

☆★☆

I was getting ready for my morning classes when I heard my phone ring and I felt my heart sink to my stomach but was overcome with relief when I saw it was just Ethan calling me, I grabbed my phone and accepted his call before bringing it to my ear. "Hey, what's up?" I say

"Hey, I heard about what happened to Tara and Sam and I just wanted to know if you were okay?" He says in a sweet tone "Yea, I'm all good just a little shaken," I reply while looking at myself in the mirror a bit

"I just want you to stay safe, really keep a knife or some form or defensive weapon on you at all times, and if anyone comes at you with a Ghostface mask on hurt them a bit," He says chuckling "Well since it's clear it's someone in our friend group might as well stab them all," I say and he laughs

"Just not me though," He says softly "You're too sweet to be a raging killer," I say laughing but he stays silent "Do you wanna hang out later? I really don't feel like fourth wheeling all night with Anika, Mindy, Chad, and Tara," I say falling back onto my bed

"I wish I could but I have econ later so I really should study for that," He says quickly and I roll my eyes, he is too dedicated to his schooling "Okay, fine," I say in a pretend disappointed voice

"If I didn't have an import test then I totally would," He says and I shake my head and say "It's okay, schools more important," and he laughs

"Okay, well I should go," He says "Okay, bye Ethan," I say before he hangs up. I throw my phone to the side and let out a big sigh of air, I hate all of this stupid Ghostface shit. It keeps bringing up old memories that I've tried really hard to suppress

☆★☆

"Okay nerds listen up," Mindy says as we all sit on benches outside campus "As terrifying as this all is, I'm actually glad I get a chance to redeem myself for not... calling the killers but it's fine. The way I see it, someone is out to make a sequel to the requal," Mindy says and we all look at each other

"Um, what's a requal?" Anika asks and Mindy smiles "You're beautiful sweety, let's hold questions to the end," Mindy says and Anika smiles

"Stab one took place in Woodsboro, Stan two took place in college," Sam says and I bit the inside of my lip "Do we think the killer is tryna recopy the movies?" Tara asks

"That is one possibility. Hero's now in college, check. Suspicious new character brought in to round out the suspect list and or body count, check, check, and check," Mindy says pointing to Quinn, Anika, and then Ethan "I don't like this," Ethan says under his breath

"And it can't just be about Stab two," Mindy says "Why not?" Tara asks confused "It would make sense if this were just a sequel but were not in a sequel because nobody just makes sequels anymore," Mindy says while walking around in front of us

"We're in a franchise and there are certain rules to a continuing franchise," Mindy says and I shift uncomfortably next to Ethan "I had a feeling," Sam sighs and moves back in her seat a bit

"Rule one, everything is bigger than the last time, bigger budget, bigger cast, bigger body count, longer chases, shoot-outs, beheading, gotta top what came before to keep people coming back," Mindy says quickly "Beheading?" Chad asks "Beheading," Mindy answers

"Rule two, whatever happened last time expect the opposite, franchises only survive by sabirding expectations. If the killers last time were whiny, snowflake, film nerds with a letterbox instead of personality, you can bet the opposite will be the case," Mindy says and Ethan rolls his eyes

"Rule three, No one is safe. Legacy characters can't end further at this point. Usually brought back only to be killed off in some cheap bid for nostalgia. It's not looking too good for Gale and Kirby," Mindy says shrugging "Ugh, and that's not even the worst part,"

"This is the part where she tells us the worst part," Chad says not taking his eyes off his notebook "The worst part is franchises are just a bunch of installments to boost IP which means main characters are completely expendable now too," She says and I look at Sam

"Lori Strode, Nancy Thompson, Ellen Ripley, Sally Hardesty, Jigsaw, Tony Stark, James Bind, I mean even Luke Skywalker all died so their franchises could live on. That means it's not just the friend group any of us could go at any time, especially Sam and Tara," Mindy says and Sam and Tara look at each other

"Wait, wait, any of us?" Ethan asks scared "Yeah," Mindy replies "Does, am I in the friend group? Am I one of the targets?" Ethan asks "Mhm," Mindy nods

"What are you gonna die a virgin?" Chad asks and I cough from almost choking on my water "Uh, well, no," Ethan says looking down at me "What?!" Chad says and I can't tell if he's shocked or disgusted "You and Lex?" Tara says confused

"It happened once like a month ago," I say shrugging "It was after that frat party," Ethan says and everyone is just staring at us "That was a weird overshare, but it brings us to our current suspect, Ethan," Mindy says walking closer to Ethan

"The shy, dorky guy who no one suspects because he's so shy and dorky," Mindy says and I shake my head from left to right "Okay, what? Why am I on the suspect list because I'm randomly chad's roommate?" He asks

"Roommate lotteries can be jucked, you could've fixed it to get next to us," Mindy says then Ethan rolls his eyes and Mindy walks away and toward "Quinn, the slutty roommate, a horror movie classic," Mindy says making a kissing noise

"Sex-positive but thank you?" Quinn says a bit confused "Mhm, how did you come to live with Sam, Lex, and Tara?" Mindy asks then Tara and I look at each other "I answered their ad online," Quinn says and I nod my head

"Oh okay, say no more you've already implicated yourself enough," Mindy says shrugging "It was an anonymous ad, Mindy," I say trying to defend Quinn "And you know we vetted her, plus her dads a cop," Tara says

"And that makes it more likey she's the killer because having a cop dad is a great cover, do you not remember how this works guys!" Mindy says raising her voice a bit "Is she always like this?" I hear Quinn ask Sam

"And finally, Anika," Mindy says while Anika blows her a kiss "Never trust the love interest," Mindy says and Anika's face drops

"Okay so we have our rules and we have our suspects," Sam says looking back from Anika to Ethan "Wait, wait, wait, what about you guys?" He says while looking at Chad, Tara, Sam, Mindy, and I

"I mean I think it's pretty safe to rule out the five of us who went through this in Woodsboro," Mindy says and I nod my head in agreement, "Agreed," Chad says looking at her

"Um not agree, what if the trauma you all went through caused one or more of you to snap?" Quinn asks "Yea or the things you got from the killings made you thirsty for more. I mean, to be honest, here, some of the theories online about Sam are..." Ethan trails off

"Don't you fucking dare," Tara says aggressively then Ethan's eyes widen and he looks away "Okay she's right though, I mean it face the facts if we're all suspects, your all suspects," Anika says and we all look at each other in suspicion

"Well I don't want to talk about this anymore, bad vibes," I say standing up and truly not wanting to hear any more of this Ghostface bullshit "You're making yourself look guilty," Mindy yells as I walk away and I move my arm to behind my back to flip her off

She has never liked me or my sister, the second Liv and Chad started dating she was trying to find every possible way to break them up, I got so sick of it I snapped at her and ever since then we haven't always been the closest. But I guess after the killings we both kinda got over that hate and got a bit closer