DAMSEL IN DISTRESS [SCREAM 1996]

3. My Girl

"He got you good," Casey says and sighs sadly. "God, I hate him so much."

Cassandra shrugs lightly. She was sitting on the ground while Casey applies makeup to the cut under her eye. If only to cover it up for a little longer. Cassandra had cheer practice and the two had snuck under the bleachers to touch up on the disguise.

"I screwed up," Cassandra recalls. "Just.. it's bullshit that his wedding ring is what caught me."

Casey frowns. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Slowly, Cassandra shakes her head. She thinks about how Casey is the only person she trusts. The only person to know the ins and outs of Cassandra's life. Then, she nods.

"Was it a spell again? Those hallucinations?"

"My hands were covered in blood," Cassandra confirms. "It felt real."

"It wasn't," Casey says, if only to remind her best friend. "And don't you dare start that spiritual shit again about your hands being bloody because you think you caused it."

Cassandra leans her head against the bleachers and scoffs. "Am I that opaque?"

"You never could've imagined she'd do that. I mean.. things were normal and then she got a knife and locked herself in the bathroom. You couldn't have guessed what she was doing in there. Don't you dare blame yourself again."

"If it helps.. I blame him more than I blame me."

"He's the only one to blame."

Casey hands Cassandra a mirror and she looks at the makeup around her cheekbone- now covering the cut from her father's wedding ring.

"I blame her for this," Cassandra admits, closing the mirror and resting her hands in her lap. "She knew what kind of person he was and she just left me with him."

Casey sighs and sits down beside Cassandra, pulling her in a side hug. 

"Now I have to fight both our battles against him. He's still so mad over her. And I get the brunt of it every time."

"I wish we could just disappear. I'd take you on the road with Steve and me.. we'd travel the world together. Safe. Happy."

"Ah, so now I'm a third wheel," Cassandra tries to joke.

Casey laughs and kisses Cassandra's temple softly. "If anything, Steve is the third wheel."

Cassandra relaxes in Casey's arms and sighs. "It would be cool.. Ditch Woodsboro. Move to a big city and travel."

"You and Steve could work for the same team. You'd still be his cheerleader and he'd still be our football star," Casey notes with a giggle.

"And what would you do?"

"I wouldn't mind being a homemaker. My mom is my best friend.. I want to be that for my kids."

"You're a better mom to me than my own," Cassandra agrees. "You'd be good at it. You're nurturing. Strong."

"Plus, some mini-me and mini-Steves would be literally so adorable."

The sun peers through the bleachers and lays in raggedy lines across the girls' skin. They just hold each other for a bit, finding solace in one another that only they could bring to the table.

"I think I'm gonna invite Steve over for family movie night," Casey decides. "Let him meet my parents.. I want this to be serious."

Cassandra smiles. "God, I'm such a good matchmaker."

"You should come, too."

"No. No, I shouldn't," Cassandra denies. "You deserve some family time and Steve to settle in. Plus, practice is gonna last awhile, so I'm tied up, anyway."