Save Your Tears | Chad Meeks-Martin

5

gotta let it go so your heart don't break

The shock that flooded Willa's body was almost unbearable, and she didn't know how to respond. She stood there, frozen, staring into the black sockets of the Ghostface mask as tears began to flood her waterline.

Her hands shook, fingers trembling as she dropped what she'd been holding. She completely forgot what she was doing, who she was, and where she stood. Her eyes stayed put on the Ghostface standing in front of her, a mixture of emotions flowing through her like a dam that just broke loose.

Then, the sound of laughing was heard. Loud, obnoxious laughing, the kind you hear only when you're at school - not by someone you'd genuinely be around for longer than need be.

Willa looked in shock as the Ghostface standing in front of her pulled the mask off of their head, revealing it to be none other than Chelsea Rosemary. Her blonde hair fell perfectly back to where it previously sat, a knowing smirk on her face as she stared at Willa with a mocking look.

"I knew it'd be easy, but I didn't think it'd be that easy." She laughed, the sound coming out as more like a dolphin than anything else. "Seriously, Willa Hicks? You've got to be smarter than that. Had I actually been Ghostface, you'd be dead on the floor right now."

Willa moved to speak but felt frozen in her spot. Her chest moved up and down quickly, seeming to be unable to find the words to speak. Even though it was someone as harmless as Chelsea - if you could call her that - she couldn't get out of that phase of feeling as if her life were about to end.

"Seriously, Willa, the joke's over stop acting like such a crybaby, yeah?" Chelsea's smirk fell from her face, growing bored of the reaction.

"Pick on someone your own size, Chelsea." A familiar voice spat. The voice came from the doorway, a voice that managed to knock Willa out of whatever trance she'd been in.

Christian stood next to Alice, another girl who'd been in Wes' friend group. Willa talked to Christian more than she had Alice, only really speaking to the girl whenever they came over to hang out with her brother. She was still grateful, however, having not found the right words to say when Chelsea revealed her prank.

Chelsea rolled her eyes, picking at the Ghostface mask in her hand. "I guess you're right, she is a little bigger than me, huh?"

"You always gotta be a bitch, Chelsea?" Alice snapped. Almost as if she realized the words had left her mouth, she quickly covered it with her hand.

"Chill, lesbo, I was just paying my dear little friend Willa a visit on my way home." She side-glanced at Willa.

Willa stood behind the counter, taking deep breaths. She watched the scene unfold, feeling useless as she had no idea what to do or say about the situation.

"You had your fun, now go home." Christian stepped to the side, pulling Alice with him. "You're not wanted everywhere the way you think you are."

Chelsea scoffed as she pushed her hair over her shoulder. She tossed the Ghostface mask on the counter, causing Willa to jump. "Pathetic, all of you."

Nobody said anything as she exited the movie theater, leaving the room in silence when she was gone. 

"Proud of you, Al." Christian wrapped an arm around the other girl, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "What a snob."

They walked further into the theater and up to the counter, where Willa was recovering from everything that had just happened. Her eyes stayed glued to the mask, the tears never leaving her waterline as she just stayed frozen in shock.

"Don't worry about her, Willa." Christian said as he saw the state she was in, "Chelsea does anything she can to ruin everyone's day."

"What a snob," Alice mumbled under her breath, looking out the door the blonde had just exited from.

Clearing her throat, Willa brought herself out of the trance she was in. She wiped her hands on her pants before tossing the Ghostface mask into the trash under the counter. "How can I help you guys?" She acted as if nothing had just happened, covering her previously worried look with a fake smile she used for most customers.

"Just hanging out," Christian responded.

"You're not seeing a movie?" Willa asked, looking from him to Alice, then back to him.

"Nah. Wes had asked us to stop by and make sure you weren't alone until Jo got here. Speaking of, how late is he? We were already late as is, he's like... super late." Christian explained as he hopped on the counter.

Alice sent a shy smile to Willa before walking over and sitting on the cushioned bench in the waiting area, her big blue eyes focused on some of the arcade games that were left untouched most of the time.

"You guys didn't need to put off your plans to babysit me. I'm not a child," Willa spoke as she continued to do her job, which was what she had been attempting to do before Chelsea's scare.

Christian watched her movements carefully as she replaced the popcorn. Afterward, she began to clean, keeping her hands moving as if to distract herself from the world around her.

"Will, you good?" Christian asked. He watched as she scrubbed the countertop as hard as she could with the scrubby in her hand, not seeming to notice how shiny and clean it already was. He reached forward and touched the top of her hand, halting any aggressive movements she'd been making.

"S-sorry," She stuttered, shutting her eyes for a moment. She opened them to look at the boy sitting on the counter next to her. He stared at her with a look of expectance, as if he were waiting for her to open up to him about what was going on.

But Willa knew better. She was already a very cautious person when it came to admitting things to people, not to mention she was in the middle of work where anyone could publicly hear her complaining about her life. She knew it could be worse, that Chelsea picking on her so much was just something that's always been this way - for as long as she could remember. She also knew that Christian wasn't even one of her closest friends and that the only reason he and Alice were sitting in the theater right now was because they were very close with Wes and Wes had asked a favor from them. 

That was it, plain and simple.

 Willa opened her mouth to say something, but before anything could come out the sound of the bell at the door caught her attention. She looked to see Jo walking in, his hair a mess from rushing to get to work.

He stopped as he noticed eyes on him, his eyes connecting with Christian's before Willa's.

"What'd I miss?"

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Very short chapter. Hope you still enjoyed nonetheless <3 These chapters may be shorter in the beginning because it's just the introduction chapters, trying to get to know the characters.