REESE

- 9 -

            "Stuart!" Tatum snapped. "Stuart Macher!"

            What had originally been a date had become... well nothing more than an infuriated Tatum sitting cross-legged on the sofa, glaring daggers at the back of Stu's head, while Stu... while poor, pathetic Stu occupied the space before the TV, his focus on the screen! Hello? Earth to Stuart. Hello? Should she stay..? Should she go..? What should she do? Biting back a sea of comments, Tatum lept to her feet and made her way to the foyer, deciding, that, if she would be ignored... she would be ignored on her own terms.

             Over a week had passed since their BFF and her roommate had been hospitalized after an encounter with Ghost Face, 6 days since school was closed, following the murder of Casey Becker and Steven Orth and... wellll... and the attacks on said roommate, Roman Bridger, said BFF, Reese-Isobel Prescott, and Sidney Prescott, and 1 day since principal Himbry was found dead in his office of multiple stab wounds, presumably a victim of Ghost Face. It was a mess. Mess. It was a mess.

             To top it, the icing on the top of this mess of a cake came in the form of Stu seemingly, seemingly becoming consumed by it all, but by Ghost Face, in general. The man in question spent most of his waking hours in front of the TV, surrounded by papers, by anything to do with Ghost Face... and Tatum had no idea how much more she could take. It was almost like Tatum, like anyone aside from Ghost Face, didn't exist anymore. Tatum wanted to scream at the top of her lungs, whenever she saw Stu, "WHY?"

               No one.

               No.

               No one.

               No.

               No one.

               I mean... it was understandable for Stu to follow the wave, but... to this degree? It was normal... right? Right? It was normal... right? Her free hand on the doorknob, Tatum took one last look at Stu before opening the door and stepping out into the bright August sunshine to God knows where, leaving Stu to his devices. It was only a matter of time before Stu came around, right? This was all just a phase -- it would go away when Ghost Face was behind bars. Stu hadn't budged. 

                 "I," Stu muttered under his breath. "guess I have to try again."

                 The paper on his lap drifted to the floor as he rose to his feet, brushed the dust from his jeans, and blinked a couple of times; eyes... were on fire. Stu couldn't believe it. How? How? How? There was no way! How? How? How? There was no way! How? How? How? It didn't make any sense to Stu. Not. At. All. What went wrong? What could've possibly went wrong? What went wrong? Stu bit his lip -- Stu must've missed something, but... What? What? What? What is it? What? What?

                *          *          *

                Perfect.

                Just.

                Perfect.

                It would, regretfully, would be another week before Reese and Roman would be able to return home, but that didn't matter to the duo, nor to their +1 at the moment.  

                Perfect.

                Just.

                Perfect.

                *          *          *