𝐃𝐈𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐘𝐎𝐔 ° ethan landry

PROLOGUE

Seething rage and nothing but red, it's what she felt and what she saw.

Hot tears streamed down her cheeks as she brisk-walked back to the rental pick-up she and her friends got for the drive-in movie night. Many emotions—hell, a whirlwind of them—stirred up in the bottom pit of her stomach and spread throughout her body.

There were chants and shouts of her name as her friends tried to catch up with her without further enhancing the scene already made. But only one person still letting out a string of curse words and foul phrases aimed at the girl in question. She couldn't have just one good night, could she?

Clearly fucking not, Audrina thought to herself.

It was already uncomfortable enough for her to come see a movie that was based on her mother's book and her father's trauma. It certainly didn't make her most recent trauma lighten up. She was starting to mildly regret her agreement to this stupid move night.

"Come on, it'll be fun," Mindy said.

"David Schwimmer plays your dad, how could you not want to see that," Mindy said.

Her intentions were genuine. Audrina could sense the sympathy and the empathy rolling off of her friend in waves when she suggested that she tag along her and Anika's date night. She even invited Chad so it could be a double date. And while Audrina had no interest in Chad, she saw the effort his twin sister put into the idea. Chad was even willing to skip a real date (or what he hoped counted as one, though it probably didn't) with Tara to keep Audrina company. How could she not agree when she saw how hard they were trying to be there for her?

"Audri, wait!" Chad half sprinted until he caught up with Audrina, who was still in a consistent fast walk. He slowed the sprint down to match her movement pace, but they didn't stop until they both reached a spot near their car where they had some privacy and no prying eyes.

Once they were away from other people, she let herself cry. The feeling of shame started to creep in along with self deprecation. Her father wouldn't have wanted this for her. God, no. He wanted her to flourish and thrive, with her mother as a prime example as to everything she should be. He sat her down everyday and told her to watch that damn morning show with him, telling her that she had the potential to be as great as the woman on the screen. Yet, here she was kicking strangers and breaking noses.

Chad immediately took her in an embrace, in a complete understanding as to why she acted the way she did. He'd never judge her for something so brash and brazen, not when he knew that wasn't the kind of person she was. He's known her for all of maybe three to four years, maybe even five, but he felt like he's known her forever. Kind, humorous, wicked smart, confident, sincere, thoughtful, compassionate, energetic. Those were just attributes he saw right off the bat when he first met her. Getting to know her, he and everyone else she befriended in Woodsboro, saw that she never did anything to anyone who didn't deserve it.

"Fucking assholes," She said in broken sobs as she clutched onto the sleeves of his jacket. "Why are other people so..." She cried even harder when she couldn't find the proper words to describe them. Mean and rude couldn't begin to describe it to her.

It was so cruel and so unnecessary. What did they gain from that? Entertainment? Amusement? Confidence? She would never wish this kind of pain or trauma upon someone else, but for a mere second, it was all she wished they knew. If they were familiar with her struggles, they would have never even thought about doing what they did. They didn't even personally know her and still felt the urge to act the way they did.

To anyone else it would've been a harmless joke, but she wasn't just anyone.

"Just meet me over by the snack shack when you're done, I'm gonna get us more grub." Chad briefly ruffled up the top of Audrina's head as he left her in the line of the portable bathrooms to go stand in line for snacks.