Dark Red | Tara Carpenter

04

01/17/2016

"Guys..." Sofia muttered in a shaky voice. "Do we really have to watch horror movies ?"

She and Mindy Amber were at Tara's house for a sleepover.

The four girls were wrapped up in the countless blankets and cushions placed all over the couch. Mindy on the far left, Amber on her right, and Tara between Amber and Sofia.

"We're in a democracy." Mindy said in a serious tone, waving the remote in her hand. "And we voted for Stab."

Sofia was already starting to miss her afternoons watching Monte Carlo or Mean Girls with Chad, spending the majority of the movie talking. "I'm just, I don't feel safe watching that considering..."

"Considering...?" Amber trailed off with an raised eyebrow.

"Considering that we live in Woodsboro..." She whispered in a worried voice as she looked around.

"Oh." Amber seemed to think about it for a moment. "Well, you won't be the first to die since Mindy is black-"

"Hey !"

"And that Tara has asthma." She continued, shrugging her shoulders.

Sofia felt a weight in her chest at the thought of Tara being hurt and swallowed hard. "I'm still not reassured. Maybe we should just-"

Tara, who had gone to get some popcorn, interrupted Sofia in spite of herself. "I told you guys to start without me, why isn't the movie playing ?"

"We were just getting there." Mindy replied, pressing the play button.

Sofia sighed before shifting uncomfortably.

Tara, who got back under the covers, turned towards her with a confused and worried frown. She leaned into her friend's ear as the phone ringing in the film echoed and then whispered. "Is everything okay ?"

Sofia turned to Tara with a little sheepish smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."

She especially didn't want to hurt the brunette's feelings. She was the one who came up with the idea for Stab in the first place. So Sofia took all the courage she had left after watching Coraline who had really traumatized her and turned to the screen again.

But as she jumped of fear slightly for the first time, a small, warm, clammy hand slipped into hers.

Tara's hand.

Sofia tried to ignore the millions of butterflies that seemed to invade her stomach as she clumsily intertwined their fingers under the covers.

"You can squeeze my hand tighter...if you're scared." She whispered in an understanding tone.

Sofia had done exactly as Tara had told her. Because she was terrified by the Ghostface mask. Every time he would appeared on screen, she would squeezed Tara's hand like her life depended on it, her heart racing like nothing she had ever experienced in her life.

Then when the third act came, Tara's hand was no longer enough, so Sofia held on to her arm with her free hand. Her nails digging deeper into the latina skin every time Billy Lommis would raise his voice.

Eventually when the credits started, Sofia let out an internal sigh of relief.

"See." Amber giggled as she threw a popcorn at Sofia. "It wasn't that scary !"

"The fake blood wasn't even a little but of a success." Mindy added, nudging Amber knowingly.

Tara turned to her with an amused smile. "Don't listen to them, you're really brave Sofia."