Rise of the Requels

Talking with Tara (and Sam)

Tara was hiding from Sam. That much was obvious. What was also obvious was that no one wanted to be around to receive Sam's building anger or deal with her growing sadness. No one but Tanner, of course. He found her sitting on the fire escape outside the living room window of her apartment, staring through one of the windows of the building across the alleyway. When Sam finally noticed Tanner, he grinned and arched an eyebrow, "See something you like over there, huh?"

"No, I- I'm just thinking," Sam deflected, "It really sucks, you know? To be hated this much."

"I'm sure it does," Tanner agreed, sitting down next to Sam, "If I'm honest, I don't really know much about that, but I do know that you have people who love you. And that's all that really matters in the end. You have Tara and Chad and Mindy and Randy and me. We're all here for you, whenever you need us."

"Thanks," Sam said, leaning back against the wall. She still seemed pretty down, though, so Tanner thought of something to cheer her up, "You wanna hear something pretty embarrassing about me?"

"Huh?" Sam over at him, confused. Tanner sighed, "You seem pretty down, so I thought I might tell you something embarrassing about me to cheer you up."

"Um, okay," Sam turned her entire body around to face Tanner, "What is it?"

"I hate riding in cars," Tanner stated, "Absolutely hate it. It is one of my least favorite things to do."

"Why?"

"It's been something I was scared of since I was little," the grin slipped off Tanner's face, "You know my mom and dad adopted me, right?"

"I figured," Sam admitted, "You're too old to be their kid after all."

"Yeah," Tanner nodded, "I was born around the same time you were. My birth dad died less than a year later. He was one of the officers protecting Mom from Ghostface, back when she went to Windsor College. He was killed in a car crash caused by Ghostface."

"Seriously?" Sam asked, thinking back to her knowledge of the real-life events that had inspired Stab 2, "Which one was your birth dad?"

"He was on the front of the car, trying to stop Ghostface from getting away with my mom trapped in the backseat," Tanner explained, "The killer lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a construction site. Pieces of rebar went through my birth dad and- Well, let's just say it was a closed-casket funeral."

"Wow," Sam was at a loss for words, "And your birth mom?"

"She died from cancer when I was fifteen," Tanner said, "Mom and Dad adopted me after that. I guess they felt kind of guilty. But, since then, they've raised me like their own kid, and I'm really grateful for that."

"That's nice," Sam said, not really knowing what else to say. Tanner snorted, "Sorry. I was trying to cheer you up but all I did was make things worse."

"I can make fun of you for being afraid of cars, if you like," Sam offered, "It is kind of funny, honestly."

"Wow, making fun of my trauma like that. Bold move," Tanner joked, "I respect it."

"Yeah, I'm allowed to do that with you adopted types," Sam responded playfully. Tanner grinned, "Careful, not all of us "adopted types" are as nice as I am."

"Give me one example."

"Ryan," Tanner said, "He was adopted by his parents. Might explain why he was such a psycho but they are- or were- super nice."

"Were?" Sam asked, "As in past-tense?"

"Yeah," Tanner seemed somewhat mollified as he answered her question, "I mean, I know Ryan was insane and a serial killer and all, but he was still their son. And they never saw him like that. They only saw the nice, polite facade he put up. Since he died, they've kind of become recluses in town, according to my parents. Mom and Dad try to do stuff for them, but... they don't respond too well.