Look at me | SAM x DEENA | FEAR STREET 1994 |

Chapter 54

Deena woke up the next morning a few hours before her alarm, with a dry mouth. She was so dehydrated from how much she cried and how little she drank. This just added to her general exhaustion. She got up out of bed and made her way to the kitchen, pouring herself a cold glass of water. As she was sipping the water she tried to plan the rest of her morning. It was too late to go back to sleep, and Deena didn't want to continue rotting in her bed or room. She knew that Kate called an extra practice for the cheer team that morning. She knew if nothing could cheer her up, Kate yelling at a bunch of tired mean girls would. Deena smiled to herself as she finished her cup. She washed it and got ready. When it was time, she left and drove to school.

She arrived a little after their practice started. She walked into the auditorium and waved to Kate as she saw her. Kate smiled and ran up to her

"Thank God you're here. I couldn't have taken this lot for another second" Kate told her with a big smile.

Deena smiled back at her.

"Oh also you're in luck. She isn't here this morning." Kate added before turning away.

Deena was confused for a few seconds until she remembered who she was talking about. Sam. Fuck. She completely forgot that Sam was in the cheer team. She had spent her entire morning planning her day to try and avoid Sam until she got the courage to tell her what she wanted, forgetting that she was a cheerleader. Deena could've punched herself in front of everyone. She was angry at herself, but calmed down when she remembered that Kate told her she wasn't even here this morning. Deena sighed, and walked up to the top of the bleachers. She sat and put her headphones over her ears and slid a cassette into her player. She kept one side of the headphones off and put the music low enough that she would still be able to hear Kate berating the rest of the team.

Another half hour passed, and Deena was finishing off some homework from the day before as she watched Kate force half the team to do laps because they weren't cheering well enough. Deena was happy, and she was at peace. That was until the double doors flew open, and the one person she was dedicating all her energy into avoiding walked through the doors. Sam was huffing, and ran up to Kate. Deena could faintly hear her apologising for being late. She heard something about her being up all night. Deena tried not to care and ignore her until Kate looked up at her to give her a look of concern, but this alerted Sam to the fact that Deena was there. Sam followed Kate's eyesight and also saw Deena sitting there. They made brief eye contact before Sam swiftly turned away.

Sam had spent the entirety of last night crying to herself. She was listening to the mixtape Deena left in the box she gave to her. She was so mad at Deena. She told herself she never wanted to see her again, but she knew deep down she would kill an army of men just to look into her eyes once more. She spent the entire night journaling, crying and writing. She didn't have anyone to talk to, and as a child she never learned how to process her emotions. When she learned about journaling she never looked back from that day. She has boxes upon boxes filled, cover to cover, of journal entries she took multiple times a day ranging back to when she was six years old.

She finally fell asleep somewhere around three am. She woke up to the sound of the front door being slammed shut so hard the house shook. It was almost eight. Sam stared at her alarm for a few seconds until it clicked in her mind she was already an hour late for cheer practice. She stumbled into her outfit, and packed her lunch and ran out the door. Usually her mother or Peter would drive her to school, but she refused to talk to her mother ever again, and Peter would not wake up this early for Sam.

She arrived in under twenty minutes which must have been some record. She could barely breathe when she slammed the doors open to the gym. She ran with what energy her legs had and apologised profusely to Kate. She wasn't having it. Kate had always been rigid and strict with the team, but that was the only way they could remain the best team even against Sunnyvale. Kate eventually told her to just start the choreography with everyone else, and she looked up to the bleachers. Sam was confused, and she looked as well and her stomach tightened when she saw Deena. Her heart ached and she felt her blood boil. She couldn't stand to look at her right now