DIAMONDS ❀ SCREAM

12 | BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY

The rain eased Ava's thoughts as she watched the few droplets on her window slowly fall onto the sill. The voice of Adele merged with the sounds of the vacuum cleaner and bounced around her room. Her eyes scanned the dewy grass of her backyard, a smile playing on her lips.

"Audrey called." Her mother's voice rang out, informing her of the third call Audrey had made in the last hour. She let out a annoyed huff and dragged her finger down the wet sill, swirling the larger droplets around. The loud noises that produced from the vacuum paused as her mother let out a huff similar to Ava's. "Again."

"I'm going to go sit out onto the patio." She called out, ignoring the sharp ring of the telephone once more. She waited, listening for her mother's approval before she walked outside.

The cool air caused goosebumps to appeared over her arms, a harsh breeze forcing her cardigan to slip off her shoulders. A high pitched buzz bounced around in her head while she moved towards the large oak blowing gracefully. Multiple leave scattered around Ava and dirt splayed her ankles, but she continued on, ignoring the voice in the back of her mind urging her to halt.

Her eyes widened when she paused, her mouth agape as she watched the notorious red-head swing her legs and sit still on top of the dirty tire swing. A ghost of a smile played on Nina's lips while Ava took a step back. Her knees wobbled as she fiercely turned, only to get knocked back into the harsh bark.

"Not so fast." Nina's raspy voice almost made Ava jump out of her skin. Although she was profoundly terrified, a small part of her wanted to jump into her former best friends arms and squeeze the life out of her.

"You're supposed to be dead." Ava whispered, her head tilted away to hide her face. The rain poured down on the teens, hiding the tears that shamelessly fell from her eyes.

"Don't cry."

"What are you doing here?" Ava cleared her throat, her voice almost as raspy as Nina's. The red head rolled her eyes and say back down on the dirty swing, ignoring the small drops of rain that fell onto her surprisingly voluminous hair. She motioned for Ava to sit down onto the dewy grass as if she was her grandmother expecting her grandchild to ask questions about her past.

"What do you think?" She spat, her eyes scanning her chipped nails. "I needed a breather from all that fire bull. I couldn't spend my entire time downstairs watching Hitler motorboat a fancy brunette chick."

Ava nodded, crinkling her face in disgust as Nina explained what happened the night of her death. Her hands were intertwined with the wet grass when someone sat next to her, their body uncomfortably close to Ava's.

"Wasn't Tyler supposed to be down here?"

"He's waiting for Will's trial to end."

Ava glanced up, her eyes locking with Riley's dull brown ones. They used to shimmer with joy whenever the duo would chat in her backyard, but now, it was as if all of her emotions were wiped clean and all that was left was a dusty slate. Nina let out a noise of distance before jumping off the swing only to sit melt back into it.

"This is so boring." Nina sighed, her eyes shifting from Ava who was pulling her split bottom lip between her teeth and Riley who had diverted her focus onto the dry patch of concrete near the patio. "I should have visited Jake instead."

"I'm loosing my mind." Ava huffed, her fingers pressed tightly against her temples. The rain had paused, leaving droplets from the large tree leaves to fall to their heads rhythmically. Ava counted, focusing on the constant drips rather than the two dead girls sitting beside her with neutral expressions.

"You said it yourself." Nina hummed, her eyes narrowing as she gazed deeply into Ava's eyes. "The crazy ones are always much more fun."

"You need to learn to protect yourself." Riley spoke suddenly, her hands intertwined with Nina's as the red head moved to the ground. She focused on the greying skin that splayed on Riley's wrists before breaking the silence.

"What? Why?"

"Because your being targeted." Tyler's voice echoed beside her. His shaggy hair was slicked back and his neck had a thick scar, making Ava gasp in fear. He ignored her and continued talking, his eyes shifting from the three girls. "Brooke once told me there was a gun hidden in her dad's office."

"Take it." Nina said, her interests pushing more to the dewy grass than the four teenagers.

"Okay I-I'm not going to die and I'm clearly hallucinating." Ava spoke, her voice soft. "You- you guys are dead, I should stop taking so much pain medication."

"Can you shut up and listen to me?" Tyler said harshly, eyes narrowed at the brunette. Ava was forcing tears back as she nodded, her eyes falling onto Riley who held a hand over her bloody shirt.

"Ava we would never lie to you." She whispered after a flash of various emotions splayed on her face. "We're running out of time Tyler."

"Sneak in through Brooke's window, the key it's in her bedroom. Mayor Maddox he hides it in her jewelry box."

"I've seen that box before, and I've taken it apart millions of times, I've never seen a key in it." Ava shook her head.

"You have to find it, Ava listen to us, this is a warning."

"If you don't kill that son of a bitch, I'll come back to life just to kill you." Nina said with a blank face, her body wavering before her arms started to fade. Tears started to form in her eyes as she watched the three teens start to fade, their dull expressions turning grey.

"No please! Don't go!" She cried, trying to grasp onto Riley's arms.

"Don't cry Ava." She spoke, slowly standing up as the voice of her sister echoed in the back of her head. They all stood, backing away from the girl as Addison's voice burst through, breaking Ava's concentration on the four ghastly faces. "Big girls don't cry."

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