𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝙰 𝚂𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖, 𝙱𝚊𝚋𝚢

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙵𝚘𝚞𝚛

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song of the chapter: hotel california by the eagles

"such a lovely place. such a lovely face."

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       I took a running start, leaping onto an unsuspecting Randys back in the narrow hallway on my way to Spanish class.

"What are you doing?" Randy laughed, catching me. He bounced me up higher so she could get better support under my thighs.

"Did you see the kids running down the hall dressed as the killer?" I queried, pressing my lips in annoyance.

"Yeah. I heard Principal Himbry gave them hell for that," Randy assured me, shaking his head with a slight laugh.

"I can imagine. It was super insensitive of them," I started.

My words were cut off by Sidney, dashing out of the bathroom, her shoulders hunched. Randy set me down as we exchanged a frown.

"Sidney!" I yelled, hurrying after her. She barely flinched as she continued racing down the hall, not even turning back.

"Sid," I heard Randy bark from behind me.

We followed her down the stairs as nimbly as we possibly could, shouting out to her desperately. She showed no recognition of her name.

"Sidney!" I gasped, finally catching up to her. I doubled over, panting, entirely out of breath from the running. "What happened?"

"The killer-he-he was in-in the bathroom!" Sidney cried, fiddling with her hands.

"What?" Randy asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"He was there, Bronwyn, he was there," Sidney sobbed, her small hands squeezed into fists. I grabbed her shoulders, pulling the trembling girl into a comforting embrace.

"It was probably a kid messing around, Sid," I reassured her, shooting Randy a worried glance over her shoulder.

"No, this was him. It was him, Bronwyn," Sidney told me, shaking in my arms. She seemed so sure of it; it almost scared me. Almost.

"Okay, Im gonna take you over to Principal Himbry," I consoled her, rubbing her back.

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Randy knocked on the wooden door three times. Principal Himbry answered, seemingly quite stressed. He had dark circles under his blue eyes.

"Is something wrong?" Principal Himbry questioned, concern etched all over his wrinkled face.

"Sid, well, she . . . I dont know what happened. Can you tell him, Sid?" I wondered, squinting at her with a blank expression. She nodded slowly, staring straight ahead. "Okay, Randy and I will wait outside."

She paced into his office, closing, the heavy door slamming behind her with a bang. I sighed, biting the inside of my cheek.

"Are you worried?" I inquired as Randys arm wrapped around my shoulder.

"No," Randy replied, shaking his head confidently. "Like you said, probably just a kid messing around."

"That sounds about right," I sighed. But, unfortunately, the words didn't sound quite right in my mouth.

"What time do we have to be at the video store today?" Randy quizzed, glancing at me through a dark gaze. I rolled my eyes at his forgetfulness.

"Four o'clock. Just like always," I reminded him, fidgeting with my watch nervously.