our secret•ethan landry✓

four

ETHAN PRETTY MUCH FORCED Brielle to sit next to him on a bench in the area they had found to meet up at. She sat in between him and Tara.

His eyes were like daggers pointing towards the back of her head while she spoke to Tara. He was keeping a close eye on her, and if she messed up once, Brielle knew she was done for.

"Okay nerds, listen up! The way I see it, someone is trying to make a sequel to the requel!" Mindy said, catching everyone's attention.

"What's a requel?" Bri asked innocently, catching a glance of Ethan smirking at her once again.

"You should know this, Bri! You're Woodsboro! Let's hold questions to the end," Mindy said, smiling.

"Stab 1 took place in Woodsboro, Stab 2 took place at college," Sam explained.

"So, they're trying to reenact the movies?" Tara questioned.

"It's possible. The heroes now in college? Check. Suspicious new characters brought in to round out the suspect list or body count? Check, check, and check."

Mindy was flailing her arms around trying to emphasize her point. "Except we're not in a sequel because no one makes just sequels anymore! We're in a franchise! Which means there are new rules!"

"Anyways, rule one: everything is bigger than last time; bigger cast, bigger budget, longer chases, shootouts, beheadings. You gotta top what came before to keep people coming back."

"Beheadings?" Chad's eyes widened and he shifted uncomfortably.

His twin just nodded. "Beheadings."

Out of boredom, Brielle leaned her head onto Chad's shoulder. Chad didn't even flinch, but he smiled softly at the girl.

However, Ethan reacted. He stared at Chad for a good minute and then sneakily grabbed Brielle's hand, causing her to suddenly pick her head up.

She shoved him an amount that was unnoticeable to the rest of the group.

"Rule 2: whatever happened last time, expect the opposite. That's how franchises survive, by changing expectations. If the killers last time were whiney snowflake nerds with letterboxd accounts then expect the opposite this time. And Rule 3: no one is safe. Legacy characters? Disposable at this point. So it is not looking great for Gale or Kirby."

Brielle's heart sank. She didn't want to loose either one of them, especially Gale. Even though Gale could sometimes be a bit obnoxious, she was practically family.

"And that's not even the worst part!" Mindy exclaimed.

Chad looked up at Mindy. "This is the part where she tells us the worst part."

"The worst part is main characters are completely expendable now too. That means me or Chad! Any of us could go at anytime, especially Sam, Tara, and Brielle!"

Ethan looked panicked. "Wait any of us? Does that mean I'm in the friend group? Am I like one of the targets? ...Am I gonna die a virgin?"

Brielle wasn't sure how to respond to that, so she just didn't.

"That was a weird overshare! Moving on!" Mindy yelled.

He looked back at her in annoyance.

"Anyways, that brings us to our first suspect! Ethan! The shy dorky guy who no one suspects because he's just so shy and dorky!"

"Okay wait why am I on the suspect list? Because I'm randomly Chad's roommate?"

"Roommate lotteries can be juked. You could've fixed it to get next to us! And you're suspiciously trying to hit on one of the main characters!"

She stared at his hand which was still holding onto Brielle's. "W-what are you talking a-about?" he asked.

Bri could tell he was faking the stuttering.

"Your hands! Anyways!"

"Quinn. The slutty roommate. Horror movie classic!"

Quinn tilted her head. "Sex positive. But... thanks?"

Mindy yelled at her some more and then moved onto Anika. She only said one thing that made Anika's face drop.

"Never trust the love interest.

The same thing Ethan had said to Brielle... that's weird.

"Okay so we have our suspects," Mindy concluded.

Quinn seemed angry. "What about you guys?"

"I think it's safe to say that those of us who were in Woodsboro are safe."

Anika stayed silent, but Quinn was trying to do herself and the others justice. Brielle knew that Mindy's point was fair; they had only been introduced to the group months ago.

"What if the trauma caused one of you to snap?" she suggested.

Ethan nodded. "I mean some of the theories online about Sam are..."

Tara shut him up quickly. "Don't you dare."

Brielle did almost the same. She pulled her hand off of Ethan's and looked at him in disgust. "Sam would never."

Everyone got up. "Ethan are you sleeping at Sam and Tara's tonight with everyone else?" Chad asks as the rest of the group walked forward.

"Can't, I have Econ."

Chad gave him a thumbs up, leaving Ethan and Bri slightly behind everyone else. Brielle hoped he wouldn't say anything, but she knew he was about to.

"Do you really have Econ?" the blonde girl asked.

"No. Of course I don't."

She looked into his eyes nervously. "Then what are you really doing tonight?"

"KILLING some of your friends."

Brielle began to shift away from him in horror.

"You told me you'd leave them alone."

"Did I?"

"Then I'm telling them!" she shouted, beginning to run as fast as her legs could take her.

Ethan quickly caught onto what she was doing and began sprinting after her. "Oh, you're going to regret this, Bri!"