Tara couldn't really remember what happened between that and when she fell asleep, all she knows is that there was a lot of her thinking about Amber.
A lot.
So much that she couldn't even spare a single thought to Chad, but she should've. He's her boyfriend after all, and she loves him more than anyone, ever. Yeah, for sure.
Tara hears a ringing in her ears and her head is pounding. Gosh, not this again... She rubs her blanket over her face a few times before picking her phone up, squinting to see the screen clearer. She scrolls on TikTok for what seems like forever while trying to get Amber out of her mind. Stupid Amber, no, stupid Tara for letting Amber invade her mind like this. Whatever, stupid existence. Stupid everything.
She basically rolls out of bed and stands up as straight as she can, walking out of her room and down the stairs like a zombie who just rose from the dead. Either way, that's what she feels like right now. Actually, screw right now. Tara always feels like this, it's just a lot more prominent today, way more prominent than any other day.
As soon as Tara gets downstairs, she walks into the living room and basically collapses onto the couch, but doing everything in slow motion. She picks the remote up and presses the red button in the top right corner that turns the TV on and off.
The TV automatically turns onto the news, and usually Tara just ignores it and puts on Netflix or whatever she wants to watch that day.
But something about this headline is different.
18-year-old senior at Woodsboro High school Chad Meeks-Martin killed by someone in a Ghostface mask
Right above that is none other than Gale Weathers at the Meeks house, reporting. Of course, wherever there's Ghostface, there's Gale Weathers.
Tara leans forward and squints at the TV for a while, believing that her eyes are tricking her until the horrible realization hits her.
Chad.
Her whole body goes numb in an instant, and it's like she disconnects from reality. A million thoughts race through her mind at a time, so many that she can't even comprehend any of them fully, just in tiny snippets that are no more than two words long.
Tara is left sitting there in shock, still maintaining the same pose as before she had the realization. Until it hits her. Really hits her this time. That Chad won't be coming back, the person who she loves more than anyone else in this world is gone forever and he's never gonna come back. Only in her dreams, which will most likely be nightmares now.
Tara lets out a choked sob as she falls onto the side, usually she would at least try to stop the tears from flowing, but she doesn't try this time. It's not like she can even if she really wants to. Chad is never coming back. He's gone. Forever. And ever. No exceptions.
She lies there for what seems like days, but in reality is less than 5 minutes, crying and letting everything out without trying to stop it.
Until she hears her phone ringing.
Tara picks up her phone and sees that the call is from 'AMBY WAMBY BOO BOO BEAR.' Tara never made that name, it was Amber who made that her own contact name. She clears her throat and hesitates, about to answer the call but then she decides not to and puts the phone down.
And then she decides to answer it and she picks her phone up, pressing the green answer button without thinking first.
And then she hears Amber's voice. It's so pretty, so soft.
"Tara, are you okay?" Amber speaks quietly and her tone is calming. She obviously knows what happened with Chad.
Tara clears her throat and wipes the tears off her face with her sleeve before answering the question. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Okay... do you want me to come over?" Amber's tone softens as she asks the question, concern in her voice as she knows that Tara isn't really fine, or whatever she tried to make Amber believe.
Tara doesn't answer the question and stays silent, but Amber can almost always tell how Tara feels without her having to say anything.
"Okay, I'll come." She says, her voice softening even more as she stands up, getting ready to go see Tara.
"Thanks..." Tara replies wearily, rubbing her eyes and sitting up. She doesn't want to look stupid, especially not in front of Amber.
"I'll be there soon, okay?" Amber replies quietly and hangs up the phone as she gets ready to go to Tara's house.
In what seems like forever, Amber finally shows up to Tara's house. They each have a key for each other's house, so Amber unlocks the door and slowly creeps up the stairs. When she reaches the top of the staircase, she slowly knocks on Tara's door.
"Tara..?" Amber turns the doorknob and opens the door slowly to see Tara swiftly getting up and walking over to her.
"Hi." Tara breathes out, tired.
Amber looks at her empathetically, which is rare. She opens her arms and without hesitating, Tara takes a step closer to Amber and wraps her arms around her neck, hugging her tightly.
"Hey... you okay?" Amber pulls away from the hug, making eye contact with the shorter girl.
Tara sighs before looking past Amber's face and turning around.
"I'll tell you when we're inside." She mumbles, absentmindedly grabbing onto Amber's hand and walking her into the house. She led the girl to the couch and they both sat down next to each other.
"Chad." Tara mutters quietly, looking up at Amber as her eyes begin to gather water in them.
When Amber sees this, she immediately tries to take action.
"No no no no... its okay..." Amber opens her arms out in an offer to hug Tara, she quickly accepts the offer and dives into Amber's arms, letting out a choked sob.
Amber sighs, her arms wrapped around the brunette girl's back. Of course she wants to comfort Tara in any way she can, but something is lingering and it won't stop bothering her. It will always be in the back of Amber's mind how much better she would treat her if she was with her, if only Tara liked her and not him.
Amber gently rocks back and forth in an attempt to calm Tara, hearing her soft cries into her chest.
Tara sighs as she pulls away, rubbing her eyes with the sweater Amber gave her.
"You wanna watch a movie?" Amber looks at the shorter girl, and when she sees her nod she picks the remote up and remembering Tara's favorite movie, she puts The Babadook on.
Tara leans into Amber slightly, of course in a friend way. She pulls the top of the sweater so it's covering all of her face except her eyes which slowly start to close.
She makes sure to breathe slowly and softly to not disturb Tara. Amber looks down at her for a second before wrapping her arm around her.
