She didn't allow the thoughts about her brother's mess up, Dani's offer, or having seen Noa sneak inside one of the classrooms with Shawn dampen her mood. Joey tucked them away and accepted Bennett's request of returning to the party and giving him that dance he asked for earlier in the day.
His hands were respectfully placed at her hips as hers were wrapped around his neck, moving to the slow beat of the song. Bennett was leaned down a little as he told her the story of how him and Shawn met, the largest grin on his face as he reminisced the day. He told her all of it and in return, Joey explained how she and Noa met a year ago in their freshman year of high school when they got partnered up together for an English project.
During one of the slow songs, Joey caught Tabby's eye who was motioning over to where Imogen was standing by herself, appearing to still be looking for Karen and not enjoying the dance whatsoever. She got all the girls, including Joey, to go over to Imogen who smiled broadly at their attempts to get her to dance.
"May we have this dance?" Tabby asked, as she extended her hand over to the pregnant girl.
Imogen accepted her hand and the girls led her over to the dance floor as an up beat song began playing. They danced around each other, the girls smiling at one another as they enjoyed their time at the dance instead of worrying about finding Karen. She grabbed Bennett's hand to pull him into the dance circle and noticed how Shawn got comfortable enough to join in as well.
At some point during the night, their dancing was cut short and the music was lowered down so Principal Clanton could walk up to the stage and reveal which student was voted as Spirit Queen.
"Good evening." He greeted cheerfully, tapping the mic to make sure it was loud enough for the crowd. "May I have your attention, please? The time has come to announce Millwood High's Spirit Queen!"
The crowd roared, clapping loudly for him to continue. "That's right!" He shouted, smiling at his student as he continued on. "So, without further ado, let's welcome her to the stage. . . Imogen Adams!"
The girls went wild beside her, along with the rest of their classmates. There was a bright spot light that focused in on Imogen as her name was called out.
"There she is! Come on up!"
Joey clapped her hands as Imogen got up on the stage and watched proudly as Principal Clanton placed the crown on her head. Their classmates cheered her on, clapping their own hands and yelling excitedly for the winner. She felt a bump against her shoulder and turned to look at Tabby who was staring up at the rafters. She followed her frightened gaze and noticed there was someone up there.
Karen Beasley was planning to pull a Carrie on Imogen whilst she was up on the stage in front of everyone. The blonde held a menacing grin on her face as she scooted the bucket of paint closer to the edge, but right behind Karen there was a shadowy figure.
Joey's breath was knocked right out of her lungs when she realized there was someone else up there with her — the same guy in the mask she had seen outside her bedroom. The blonde girl must have noticed the fear on all of their faces because she turned around hesitantly and tried pushing the man back to get away from him, but it was too late, she was pushed over the edge and landed with a devastating crushing sound right on the stage beside Imogen.
Joey shot a hand over her mouth, concealing her gasp or scream — she stopped whatever the fuck was on its way out as she watched blood quickly spread throughout the floor on the stage, Karen's limb body rested at the very center of it. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and realized the other girl got a text message too because they were pulling their deceives out along with her.
Unknown: To thine own self be true. One bully down. Six more to go. Keep quiet about me or you're next.
-A
Their gazes traveled up towards the rafters where A was peering down at them. He tilted his head in a threatening manner and turned to walk away, quickly disappearing from above. And then her eyes traveled back down to Karen. Because Karen was now dead. And she was lying there with no thoughts behind those eyes of hers. She was just gone. There was nothing left of her except for her body and the blood coming out of it.
Her slightly clouded mind of alcohol brought out this sense of drowsiness inside her thoughts that had her locked in on Karen's body. But then she felt a hand on her shoulder, snapping her out of her frozen state of shock that she had been in and over to brown soft eyes.
The loud blaring noises that was echoing throughout the large gym because of all the screaming and shouting incoherently hit Joey all at once, sending a pulsing pain to her head.
"Hey, come on, Jo!" Noa shouted, her voice loud enough to hear over the crowd. "We need to get out of here!"
Joey felt the hand that was currently placed on her shoulder swiftly move down towards her hand, interlocking their fingers as they rushed out of the gym with the rest of the girls following close behind.
"That did not just happen." Tabby shook her head, speed walking out into the hall.
"I've never even seen a dead body before, except online." Mouse rambled, eyes wide.
"The sound, it wasn't like in the movies. Her bones—"
Joey grimaced uncomfortably, feeling disgusted by all the talking and reminders of how Karen's body sounded when it hit the floor, the way it fell from the top of the rafters, the way she looked when she landed on the hard surface. It was all so freshly engraved in her memory that she could see it replaying over and over again. It was like someone was going back on a scene of a movie trying to watch the clip all over again.
There was a small squeeze from Noa's hand, and the shorter girl leaned into her to keep Joey from spiraling. Neither one of them had ever seen a dead body before and they didn't think the school dance they technically weren't even supposed to be in would be their first.
"Imogen, what the hell happened?" Faran cut in, stopping them in their tracks and turning around hastily. "What did you see?"
"I don't know, um," Imogen stammered, her breaths coming out uneven as she tried to gather up her thoughts. "I saw Karen up in the rafters.
"So did we." Mouse mentioned.
"She had— had a bucket." Imogen continued, stuttering slightly.
"Like in Carrie?"
"And there was someone else — up there with her, a man in a mask. He — he pushed her." Imogen rambled.
"A mask like from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre?" Tabby asked shockingly, having some recognition of seeing that guy before.
"I've seen that dude." Noa blurted out.
"So have I." Joey gasped.
"Same."
"The text we all got. . . from A." Faran spoke softly, sounding fearful.
"One bully down." Tabby quoted, realization striking down on her. "Karen. It has to be."
"She didn't fall." Imogen said, her tone uneven and scared. "She was murdered."
This situation they were in was getting worse by the day. More dangerous. Joey didn't need more things pilling on top of each other and making her feel so scared to be living. She already had to worry about Marco coming for her ass because of Carter — and now she had someone named A terrorizing them because of... what exactly?
With everything that happened, they agreed it was best to go on home where they would be safely tucked away from danger. Joey offered to take Noa back to her apartment — well, truth be told, she didn't really give her a choice on the matter. In no world was Joey going to leave her alone whilst there was a killer out there!
"You sure you don't want to stay over?" Noa asked once they were outside her apartment complex. She opened the door and exited the car, looking back in as she awaited for an answer.
"I'm not sure that's a good idea." Joey answered, not confident if her being there when her mom was too would be a disaster. "Look, nothings gonna happen to you here. Your mom's home, right? So, you're not gonna be alone. Just, uh, give me a call if you need anything, okay?"
"Yeah, of course." Noa exhales, hand gripping the door to the car. "Thanks for the ride."
She stayed outside in the parking lot afterwards, just to make sure everything was fine and that Noa got inside safely. She received a text a few minutes later from the girl telling her that she was in. With that in mind, she turned the car back on, turning up the stereo a little to listen to whatever was playing on the radio.
However, before Joey could back out of her parking spot and head on home, she saw Marjorie Olivar coming out of the apartment complex in her nursing uniform. Fuck! Why did this shit always happen to her? Joey dropped her head down against the wheel softly, letting out a groan as she removed the keys from her ignition.
She wouldn't be able to sleep knowing Noa was alone. It would be this constant stress looming over her shoulder like a fucking parasite. Why did Majorie have to go back on call?
Whatever, it was fine.
She could stay over one night.
Joey had her ankle monitor off for the rest of the day so there was no need to go back home. And it also served her as a day away from her brother before she blew up on him for losing half a kilo of cocaine. Joey locked the vehicle and entered the apartment complex before heading straight to the Olivar's home. She knocked on it gently, sighing as she waited for the door to open.
"What happened to this not being a good idea?" Noa asked jokingly after she saw that it was only Joey. She arched a brow as she extended the door and stepped aside.
Joey rolled her eyes. "I still don't think it is, but I saw your mom leave so it might not be such a big issue any more. And besides, it didn't feel right to leave you by yourself."
"Fair enough." Noa sighed, closing the door after the girl was in. "I can take the couch and you can take—"
"I won't be taking your bed." Joey said firmly, halting by the edge of the kitchen table. "If I'm staying over it's 'cause I'd be worried something's wrong over here — but I know how hard it is for you to sleep, and doing so on a couch, will like, for sure, keep you up the entire night."
"Even if I sleep in my own bed, I don't think I'm gonna be able to sleep." Noa admitted with a shrug, settling down onto one of the kitchen seats. "Every time I close my eyes — I see Karen. So, please, just take the bed."
"No." Joey declined, shaking her head. "I'm not letting you sleep on the couch."
"Then how about we both take the bed if you're so worked up about me not taking the couch?" Noa proposed, lifting a brow suggestively, and she noticed Joey was on point to say something, so she cut in first. "No, wait, let me guess, bad idea, right?"
Joey scoffed, but a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "Yeah, it's a bad idea."
"Why, though?" Noa inquired, licking her lips and resting her face in her hands as she gazed up at her ex girlfriend with those captivating brown eyes. "What — think you won't be able to keep your hands off me if we're in the same bed?"
Joey breathed in heavily, reaching up to loosen the tie around her neck since it was beginning to feel suffocating. Why was it so hot inside? Did they not have an AC? Joey couldn't peel her eyes away from Noa as the girl stared up at her in that way. She was all for teasing and pushing Joey to her limit, but when it came down to it, she was the one begging Joey to touch her. To fu—
Nope! Joey wasn't going there! She placed her hands on the kitchen counter, narrowing her eyes. "If I'm gonna be here, you can't do that."
"Do what?"
"You know what." Joey deadpanned, her fingertips resting on the counter. "I'm trying to be respectful."
"I don't want you to be." Noa shrugged, leaning back in the chair.
"Well you're dating someone." Joey reminded the girl, staring down her down intently. "And I'm pretty fucking sure you screwed him a while ago, so I don't get where all of this is coming from."
"Wait, what?" Noa asked, confused. "What are you talking about?"
"I was looking for you and I saw you two going into one of the classrooms. I don't think I have to go any further now, do I? " she further explained, reaching up to try to undo her tie but it was so frustrating because just as she didn't know how to tie the damn thing, her fingers couldn't undo the fucking knot. "Damn it! Can you help me out, please?"
Noa didn't say anything, but she did stand up from her spot and walked over to her, fitting right between the table and Joey's body. She reached for the tie and tried working on undoing her knot as best she could since Joey was taller than she was.
"That's not what we were doing in the classroom, Jo — I mean we were going to, I won't fucking lie to you," Noa said, noticing the slight grimace that came from the girl at her words. "But that's not what ended up happening. We just talked about some things."
"But um you can't expect me not to sleep with other people when you're not with me. And you can't get fucking mad at me for doing it either." Noa reiterated, leaving the undone tie draped around Joey's neck as she looked up. "I've made it clear where I stand, Jo. I never wanted to break up, and you keep acting like you're still in love with me, and you want to be with me, but then you do nothing about it."
"I—"
"I know you took the CD."
"What—"
"I'm not fucking stupid, Joey." Noa interrupted, narrowing her eyes as she leaned against the table, arms crossed. "I wouldn't have just lost it. You came into my car and then it was gone. Care to explain?"
"I'll give it back to you." Joey promised.
"That's not," Noa sighed in frustration, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "That's not what this is about! Why did you take it?! That's what I want to know!"
"I don't know!"
Noa lightly grabbed the loose tie resting around Joey's shoulders and stared at her, giving her enough time to back away if she really wanted to before she used it to pull her closer. Joey's body pressed up against Noa and she let her hands drop down to the side of the table, trapping Noa between the table and herself and refraining from laying them on her ex as she glanced down at her. Joey felt the light breaths Noa was taking and exhaling as the girl twirled the black tie around her fingers, her brown eyes staying focused on her.
"I think deep down in your heart you do know... and I don't understand why you're making it so damn difficult." Noa spoke softly, licking her lips as Joey's light blue eyes followed the movement with a heavy breath.
Both girls were so close to each other, body to body, brown eyes to blue, and if Joey leaned down the slightest bit she could meet Noa's lips in a kiss. She felt every rise and fall of Noa's chest as she breathed in and out, both of them looking at one another to see who would be the first one to do it. To take the next step.
Unfortunately, their phones started ringing simultaneously and they knew the girls were calling to talk about what happened at the party. Noa sighed in response— in disappointment or relief, Joey wasn't sure. The shorter girl placed her hands on Joey's chest to push her away and she backed up with her light push, watching as Noa then answered the call and told the girls she would call them back on her iPad.
She didn't say anything once she hung up, just walked inside her room and pulled up a chair to connect the call to her other device. Joey set up her phone against a vase on the kitchen table and sat down, unsure if Noa wanted her to follow her in or not and deciding that maybe it was best if they just answered separately.
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