***1 year and 6 months before Ghostface returns***
Tara Carpenter wakes to the sound of her alarm.
She quickly rolls over to silence it.
Yawning as she scrolls through her phone notifications.
Multiple snapchats from Wes fill her screen.
A few messages from her friend group chat.
Oddly...no messages from her best friend, Amber Freeman.
Tara frowns when she realizes she fell asleep before answering her best friend.
She usually wakes up to a "Goodmorning" text from Amber.
She hopes Amber isn't mad at her.
Amber has a very hard exterior.
Rarely shows any cracks.
Besides irritation.
But her cracks aren't invisible to Tara.
Tara has spent years unraveling the mystery that is Amber Freeman.
Luckily, she has found some success.
If people knew how caring and sweet Amber really was...well Amber would never allow that.
But she lets Tara in.
Tara shakes her head.
If Amber is upset, she'll make it up to her.
After Tara is up and ready, she quietly walks downstairs.
She didn't want to wake her mother, Cristina.
Cristina Carpenter was a recovering alcoholic.
Recovering was just the word as of late.
Tara was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Her mother had been sober for almost 2 months, which was a win.
But Tara didn't let her hopes get up too high.
Cristina definitely had a cycle.
Sober...drunk...sober...drunk
She'd apologize and shower Tara in love.
Then she ignore her.
The situation requires more patience and compassion than most teenagers had.
But Tara tried. She didn't have any other options.
Her mother's alcoholic tendencies had started when Tara's older sister, Sam, left them.
It had been almost 5 years.
5 years of Tara having to deal with their mess of a mother alone.
Sam hadn't even given Tara an explanation for leaving.
Much less ghosting her completely.
Tara had mixed emotions when it came to Sam.
Because she missed her.
But she hated her.
This was another reason Amber was so essential to her life.
Amber had always been there to put Tara back together.
Nevertheless, Tara's heart always ached for her sister.
*****
When Tara pulled into her usual parking place, she debated on texting Amber.
Amber typically would beat her to school.
YOU ARE READING
Ghostface Deception
FanfictionThis is the companion piece to Ghostface Corruption. This is Tara's version of the story. Prequel to the events of Scream (2022). This is set 1 1/2 years before the events depicted in the movie. I do not own any of the characters. I do not own so...
