THE SOUND OF POPCORN POPPING and That 70's Show floated throughout the apartment. I was in the kitchen waiting for all the bags of popcorn to be done, and Ethan was getting bowls from the cabinets. Mindy and Anika were sat on the couch in the living room, giggling to each other. Chad and Tara were in her room, doing God knows what. They've been getting little more close lately. Quinn and some random dude were in her room, and Sam had completely disappeared.

     The microwave buzzer went off and I opened it to get the last bag of popcorn out. The steam off the bag wafted onto my hand, making me hiss in pain. Ethan looked over at me out of concern and quickly took the bag from my hands, dropping it on the counter.

     "Thanks," I smiled at him, his doe eyes staring back at me, then momentarily flickering down to my lips. My eyes did the same to him, before we reconnected eye contact. What the fuck was that?

     "Y-Yeah, no problem," He responded, turning to face the popcorn and bowls again. I chuckled quietly, helping him begin to distribute the food. Ethan stood silent now, jumping a bit every time his arms brushed mine.

     Once we were done, Ethan and I walked into the living room where Mindy and Anika were now full blown making out. "Ew, get a fucking room!" I said, throwing a pillow at them, but Mindy caught it as they broke apart.

     "Oh, you're just jealous."

     "Yes, I am." I stuck my tongue out at her, taking a seat on the sofa. Ethan took a seat in the chair opposite of me.

     "You know, I think it's time you put yourself back out there, Malia," She spoke softly, trying not to trigger any past emotions, but she wasn't successful. My heart pounded at the thought of Wes and how he was no longer with me. He died in the hands of my best friend, all because she wanted to apart of something.

Ethan's eyebrows scrunched together at Mindys suggestion and my reaction, but it was Anika that was the one to ask what happened.

"Wait, what happened?"

"My best friend killed my boyfriend," I pressed my lips together, watching as her eyes grew wide. Ethan stayed emotionless, but when I looked over at him he gave me a sympathetic smile. "Oh well, it's over now. He's dead and she's rotting in hell."

"I'm sorry," Anika leaned over the armrest of the couch and squeezed my hand. I said a quiet thanks and turned my attention to the TV, my mood dampened.

"We'll be right back..." Mindy said after a few seconds of silence. She and Anika stood up and rushed to the bathroom, both of them in a fit of laughter the whole way there.

I could feel Ethan's eyes boring into the side of my head. I turned to look at him and he quickly looked away, clearing his throat. "Ethan."

Jumping a bit he responded, "Yeah?" He looked nervous for some reason.

"Come sit by me," I said, patting the open spot next to me. Ethan cautiously got up from his seat and made his way next to me, sitting down stiffly. "Ethan?"

He hummed, looking over at me.

I laid my head on his chest, positioning myself in the crook of his body to get comfortable. I felt him go stiff underneath me. "Is this okay?" I asked.

"Yeah. T-This is great." I smiled softly at his reply, shutting my eyes. Ethan's body began to relax and he threw an arm around my frame. He had taken his cardboard costume off when we arrived back to the apartment and I had changed into shorts and a sweatshirt that previously belonged to Wes. Now no weird fabric or item was in between our bodies from touching.

     Just as I was about to fall asleep, Chad came bursting out of Tara's room, a small smile etched on his face. My eyes flew open, but my head stayed in place, as I didn't want to move from the comfortable position I was in.

     "Dude, oh my God!" I heard Chad yell as he saw me and Ethan.

     "Shut up, dude, she's sleeping," Ethan shushed him and I had to refrain myself from giggling or else they'd know I'm not actually asleep.

     "Are you fucking kidding me?" The two quietly high-fived, Chad slapping Ethan on the back afterwards. "How did this happen?"

     "In all honesty, I have no clue," Ethan breathed out, chucking a bit. Chad took a seat on the couch Mindy and Anika was on, staring at us in awe. "She just kind of- I don't know, did it."

"Did she kiss you?" He whisper-yelled, excitement bursting out of him.

"No," Ethan responded, and I swore I could hear a hint of disappointment in his voice. "But that doesn't matter."

Chad leaned back, putting his hands behind her head. "Maybe you just need to make the first move, Landry." Ethan sucked in a breath, looking down at me, his fingers circling my hip.

"Yeah, maybe."

     The TV abruptly cut to a different channel, the News Report now taking the place of Kelso and Jackie. A news reporter stood in front of an apartment building, flashing blue and red light illuminating the scene. "The coroners have confirmed that the two young men found inside the apartment are both dead." Ethan shook me 'awake' and sat up with me.

"What the fuck," I said groggily, the TV screen hurting my eyes from the brightness of it. "What happened?"

"Don't know, they haven't said yet," Ethan explained, his mouth agape at the information being reported.

"Hey, you guys might want to get your asses in here and check this out!" Chad screamed down the hallway and banged on Quinn's door for a few seconds. "Where the hell is Sam?" He sauntered out into the hallway as everybody else migrated into the living room, looking at the crime scene on the TV in wonder.

I leaned back onto Ethan once more, the latter rubbing a comforting hand down my arm. This action made everyone's heads snap over to us. Mindy and Anika smiled, while Tara and Quinn raised their eyebrows in shock. Ethan noticed all the pairs of eyes on him and gulped, looking away.

I didn't care, because right at the time he did that, the news reporter were giving out the names of the victims. Chad, a worried Sam, and a random dude entered the apartment.

"Cute boy! Nice!" Quinn exclaimed, to which 'cute boy' shot her a questioning look and Sam just shook her head at her.

"Their names have just been released by police; Jason Carvey and Greg-"

     I gasped at the mention of Jason. "Holy shit that's that chode from our film study class! The one who's obsessed with Argento." Mindy pointed to the TV. Ethan looked down at me with a worried face. I gave him one in return.

     The news reporter continued, "Also found at the crime scene were various ghost face costumes-" My blood ran cold, and I could feel my breathing start to speed up already. "The character popularized by the Stab movie franchise."

     Everyone seemed to freeze in place at the mention of Ghostface being related to this killing. Tara looked over at me with a concerned look and then to her sister; who had already went into full freak out mode.

     "Pack a bag, we leave in ten. We gotta get out of this city." She told Tara, heading straight for the kitchen to look for knives.

     "What?" Cute boy asked.

     Tara screamed her protests, following her into the kitchen. Chad grabbed Sam's guy friend by the shoulders and began to push him out of the apartment. "Thank very much, suspicious new guy, but I think we've got it from here. Have a good night and get home safe." He patted him on the shoulders before shutting the door in his face and locking it.

     I chewed anxiously on my nails, my leg bouncing up and down. Ethan took my hand away from my mouth and held it in his own hand, which also helped calm down my leg nerves.

     "I can't do this again!" I huffed, looking at Mindy. She looked at me in pity, biting on her bottom lip.

     Tara and Sam stormed back into the living room, once again arguing. "-cause this might not have anything to do with us." Tara tried to reason. I let out a scoff, highly unlikely, Tara. "What you think it has something to do with us too?" She turned to me.

     I stared back at her blankly, "No, shit I do, Tara. It's not hard to connect the pieces." She rolled her eyes at me, mad that I wasn't taking her side.

     "Are you serious?!" Sam exasperated, unable to grasp the fact that her sister was being so damn dense.

     Tara threw her arms up then back down to her sides. "It's a big city. It's Halloween, everyone's wearing masks!" Chad nodded his head.

     "Tara! Tara, this isn't a coincidence. You knew him."

     "Barley," Tara stressed.

     I got up from my seat and walked over, grabbing Tara by the shoulders. "It's not a coincidence. These kinds of things don't just happen. It's all connected, Tara."

     "No! No, you don't know that for sure." She fumed, pushing my hands off her. "We can't just jump the gun and flee the fucking state, okay? I have a future here."

     "Chad, Mindy, back me and Malia up here," Sam motioned to the twins.

     They shrugged their shoulders, "Well it is a little-" Chad started.

     "Close to home." Mindy finished.

     Tara scoffed at the two of them, in disbelief that no one is hearing her out. She turned to Quinn. "Quinn your dads a cop, right?" Quinn nodded. "Can you call him and find out what's going on? Before you make the decision to give up my whole college experience and run away, again."

     I took my seat by Ethan once again, hanging my head in my hands. He placed a comforting hand on my back, to which I gave him a weak smile for.

     "I'm calling him now," Quinn announced, pressing her ringing phone up to her ear.

     And then everyone jumped. Sam's phone started to ring.

∙◦∘༄ OLIVIA'S OUTRO!
( i am sleep deprived. but
it's ok cause i get to see my
bsf tmrw😜 NOT EDITED!!
ALSO 2 CHAPS ONE DAY-ISH?
LMFAOOOO one day to me )