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JOANNA FEELS as though she's floating on cloud nine, holding onto Violet's hand as they ventured back towards the house. A part of Joanna doesn't want to go back, wanting to stay at the beach for the remainder of the night. And yet, something told Joanna that they needed to go back. As if something was going on. The silence between the two girls is one that's of comfort rather than awkwardness.
They held onto each other's hand the entire time as they approached the house, occasionally sneaking glances at one another. Memories of the special moment shared between them flashed back in both of their minds. Joanna knew that it was one she'd never be able to forget either.
Suddenly, cat calls could be heard followed by strange whistling noises. Both girls looked around as they tried to figure out who was making the noise and where it was coming from.
"Hey, freak!"
The remark makes Joanna pause completely, having recognized it before. She's heard it hundreds of times and it's enough to spark anger within her. "Hey, freak, you out with your girlfriend?"
It's a new voice now and the girls realize that there was more than one. They were surrounded by a group of kids now. "Just ignore them," Violet whispered, "We're almost home." It was true, they were a short distance from the house. And honestly, Joanna had never been happy to see the place she often referred to as a prison.
"You can't ignore us, bitch," a female hissed, "You can't ignore the past."
"What are you talking about?" Joanna asked, giving in despite knowing she shouldn't have.
That was when the group emerged from the shadows, revealing kids who looked around her age. It almost seemed as though they were in costume, eager to bother someone on Halloween. And unfortunately, she and Violet were the unfortunate targets.
"What do you think? Your brother will pay for what he's done to us."
"Tate? What does Tate have to do with this?"
"He has everything to do with this."
"You protected him all this time, you're destined to join him in Hell."
"Fuck off all of you," Violet interjected, wrapping her arm around Joanna's shoulder as they then rushed back into the house. Once inside, Joanna took a deep and shaky breath as she let the others' words sink in.
"What was that all about?" Violet inquired, turning to look over at Joanna who could only shrug.
"I don't know. I've never seen them before. I... I don't know what I did," Joanna replied, shaking her head in disbelief.
