Family Ties (Heathers Reader Insert)

FIVE

Jason doesn't seem very concerned as he crouches down to look at Chandler's limp form. I stare at him, my mouth gaping open. Veronica falls to her knees, trying to shake her awake. I slap Chandler's face gently.

"Wake up! Heather? Hello?" She doesn't respond. "Oh, shit... Oh, shit...!"

"I just killed my best friend!" Veronica shrieks.

"And your worst enemy," Jason quips.

"Same difference!" She hisses.

"What are we going to do? They're gonna think it was intentional!" I say. I feel the panic start to kick in. Heather's dead. My head spins. I stumble to my feet. "We have to get out of here now! What are you waiting for? Come o-"

"Calm down," Jason says, grabbing my shoulders. "Hey! Calm down!" He shakes me a bit. "Y/n, breathe! We need to be able to think here." I take a few deep breaths.

"You're right... You're right. I'm sorry." He lets me go.

"We need to think rationally." I take a few shaky breaths. He's right. I need to keep a level head.

"... What do we do now?" I ask him. He thinks for a second, then starts to look around the room. I follow him. I can almost see the gears turning in his head. "Hey! Tell me what's going on!" He holds up a book. "Oh. Oh!"

"'The Bell Jar.' This... This is perfect." He flips through, folding a few corners before he tosses it at me. I catch it, rushing back to Chandler's body as he continues searching the room.

"What are you doing?" I glance at Veronica. It's eerie to her how efficient we are at this, I realize.

"You'll see." I position it in Chandler's hand. I grab the now empty mug, lying it down beside her. Veronica frowns, then opens her mouth.

"Oh, no." I swallow.

"Oh, yes, I'm afraid," I say. Jason rushes back to us, holding a pad of paper and a pen.

"Veronica, you can forge her handwriting. Make it look like a suicide," he says, offering the paper. I point at him, starting to nod.

"This could work," I say. She looks at us, terrified. "Come on, Veronica. I've seen your forgeries. You've done it before."

"But... I've never done anything like this."

"You can do it. Just think. What's her final message to a cold... Uncaring planet?" Jason asks. Veronica takes a few deep breaths before taking the proffered paper and pen. Jason starts to make suggestions, and soon, reluctantly, I do too.

We leave the note beside the body and Jason opens the window, beckoning for us to follow him. He closes it after we've all left. I slide down the pipe and drop to the ground. They follow. Veronica heads a different way to her house. As we jog home, I look at my brother.

"Did you mean for her to die?" I ask, forcing him to look in my eyes. He shrugs.

"I didn't think Veronica would take the mug. But she did, by accident. I didn't need to stop her." I gape at him.

"You didn't n- You can't just kill people like that!" I say.

"Look at all that shit she did to Veronica. And I know that she could have done a lot more to you," he says. I growl in frustration.

"That doesn't mean she should die!" I yell. He puts a hand over my mouth before I can cuss him out.

"It's the middle of the night. Quiet." I resist the urge to bite down on his hand. He's being unreasonable. Killing our classmates? "You hate her! Why shouldn't she have died?" I go quiet, trying to calm my breathing. I can see where he's coming from, honestly. And the fact that I can scares me.

"I... I can see your point... I guess." He smiles.

"Exactly, that's-"

"But that doesn't mean I wanted this! Just because she wasn't a good person doesn't mean she should be dead right now," I hiss, exasperated. What doesn't he understand about this? He sighs.

"Good things can come out of this, y/n," he says as he quietly pulls the front door open. "Just you wait."

I slowly stumble up to my room, shutting the door. An hour ago, I was lying in here asleep. Now I'm back. Now I'm back and wide awake because Heather Chandler is dead and it's my fault and I just helped to fake her suicide.

Yikes.

Now that I word it like that, it sounds a lot worse than what I first thought.

I walk to the window, looking out into the street. I just killed someone. Once they find her body, they'll be on our trail. And then we'll be arrested. And then our lives will be ruined because we're only seventeen and already murderers.

"Fuck me...," I whisper, falling onto my bed. I can't deal with this right now. I can't. I still can't shake the glassy, blank look that was in Chandler's eyes when I turned her over. I scowl, sitting up suddenly. Jason killed her. Probably on purpose.

Honestly, if I hadn't gotten involved with the Heathers, she'd probably be alive still. Then again, he could have done it for Veronica. Hell, for all I know, it could have just been for her.

The thing is, now I have to follow along with this. All of this. If I don't, I'm fucked.