The Last Scream (Noah Foster/ Scream Series FF)

Chapter 26

*Vex*

Arriving back into class, I saw Noah and Will looking utterly bewildered while the rest of the class continued gossiping about what had just happened. Why had the police taken Audrey? Hadn't they learned their lesson after me? Besides, Audrey wasn't a killer. She would never hurt someone close to Noah, and she would never hurt her own girlfriend. Carefully taking a seat next to Noah, I looked to Mr. Branson who was baffled.

"They just came in and- bippity boppity bam she's gone?" I asked incredulously, trying to stay calm.

"You could put it that way, but, yeah, pretty much. Why would they possibly think she was the killer?" Noah shrugged, looking down at his hands. His brows furrowed as he tried to think of a logically explanation to give me, I could see it was stressing him. Of course, this was his best friend.

"I don't know, but-" Suddenly, we were interrupted by Mr. Branson. His voice rang out around the small room, snapping us all out of the chatter we had quickly begun.

"Okay class, back to work. We will ignore this interruption, for now, just continue your class work." Looking at Noah, I grimaced a little before picking up the yellow book and opening it.

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Walking out of the classroom, I followed Noah and Emma, all of us discussing Audrey. Quickly, we came to the band room doors, all of us filing in as Noah spoke up.

"What the hell could the cops want with Audrey?" Emma looked at Noah as I stood by his side, holding his hand gently.

"I don't know, maybe they just wanted to ask her some questions about Rachel." I shook my head, stepping forward.

"No, when they took me in, they had something on me. They wouldn't take Rachel out of school just to question her on Rachel. They suspect her." Noah nodded, looking at Emma.

"She's right. That's a phone call. That's not a perp walk out of class." Noah sighed a little, looking at the door as if he suspected someone to barge through any moment. "Mr. Branson."

"What?" Me and Emma both said. 

"We found out the webcam malware came from his homework server. And he's using a fake name." 

"Wait. Mr. Branson brings his soup to school in a Thermos." Emma said, shooting me a bewildered look.

"Villains have to eat, too. Kingpin eats. The Joker eats. Bane probably doesn't because of his mask, but there's probably some, um, nutrient..." Noah's ramble was cut off by Emma, who was focused on the task at hand. Me? I was to busy processing everything.

"Hey, Noah, can we focus for one second?" Was it possible one of my best friends was a killer? No, I couldn't think like that, not now. She had believed in me when I was being blamed, I couldn't just give up on her. They continued to talk when suddenly, the door opened, allowing Mr. Branson to walk into the room. Turning towards him, I felt Noah grip my hand out of instinct.

"Mr. Branson! Hey! Hi!" Noah exclaimed, rushing over his words. "Um...Hi." I heard Emma say. I simply looked up at him.

"Emma, Vex and I were just... talking scenes." Noah tried to explain, but I could see the suspicion in Mr.B's eyes, he wasn't completely convinced.

"Well, that's actually what I wanted to discuss. And considering your propensity for speeches, I'm thinking monologue." Noah grimaced, looking over at Emma.

"Oh, I don't know. I'm kinda shy." It took everything in me not to laugh, though it was easier when it hit me that my teacher, of my favorite subject, was possibly the killer.

"Let me show you some options." Mr. Branson said, putting a hand on Noah's back as he led him out of the music room. I dropped his hand, waiting till they left before walking out with Emma on my heel as we followed, waiting outside the room as Noah talked with Mr. B. 

"What do you think is going on in there? Is he threatening him?" I asked. There was more anger in my voice than fear. Noah would not be subjected to that, not while I was here. Emma smiled over at me, causing me to scrunch my nose in confusion.

"You care about him, a lot, don't you?" Rolling my eyes, I laughed lightly, leaning against the wall.

"That obvious huh?" Emma chuckled.

"I knew you two were a thing, I could see it. I just- I didn't know how deep those feelings were. At least, not until now." Shaking my head, I looked down at the floor, a smile lighting my face.

"Yeah, well, I tried to push him away at the most. After, well, you know. I just, I didn't want to force him to move on. So, now, I think its made us stronger together, you know? We can trust the other to look out for us. I look out for him, he looks out for me- it works." Emma smiled, obviously knowing exactly what I meant. Sighing, I decided to take a leap of faith.

"What about you an Kieran? He likes you, a lot." I had seen the fleeting looks, the eye flirting. Just like on my first day, I was an observer, and I could tell there was something there. Her shrug caught me off guard though, I thought she liked him as well.

"I like him, but, I just got out of a terrible relationship; one that I didn't even know was bad. Now, I don't know." Nodding my head, I looked back at the door before turning and looking straight into Emma's eyes.

"Not all guys are bad. One may hurt you while the next may save you. Don't just assume Kieran will hurt you." She smiled softly at me before the door opened and Noah appeared.

"Noah? What happened?" Emma jumped the gun, not allowing me to ask.

"Henry The Fifth and Napoleon Dynamite. I gotta admit, Mr. Branson so gets my deep-seated hero conflict." I shook my head. 

"Cool. We were ready to call 911." Looking up at Noah, he stepped closer to us, lowering his voice.

"Maybe Audrey was right about Branson being innocent. Maybe he's not a psychopath. If Tyler loaded the malware for Nina while he was the student aide, Mr. B could just be another innocent pawn." I wanted to believe it, but what about-

"But what about his fake name?" Emma asked, completing my thoughts for me. 

"Oh, yeah, well... I actually got that covered. I asked Mr. B to input his number on my phone, in case I wanted to rap about monologues. I programmed this app to record his fingerprints." Pulling out his phone, Noah showed us the tech. Smiling up at him, I shook my head before kissing his cheek.

"Nerd." I whispered. He chuckled a little, a slight blush creeping up his cheeks from the affection in front of an audience but I just rolled my eyes, Emma continuing to talk and ignoring what had happened. 

"If we can trace the past..." Emma began.

"We can find out if our beloved Mr. White is actually Heisenberg." Noah finished, impressing me at the same time. 

"Great reference, but-" Suddenly, Emma's phone began to ring, silencing me. As she pulled it out, I saw unknown caller pop up.

"Don't answer it." Noah whispered. That wasn't a choice though, even I knew that.

"That has proven not to be an option." She said before picking up the phone.

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Okay, I'm sorry about the super short, super crappy chapter. It's been a long day here, though I hope the rest of your days are/were amazing! Hope you enjoyed what little actual writing was here and I'll try to update again ASAP.

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~Lily