Tatum, the only daughter of Gale Weathers and Dewey Riley, couldn't wait to leave the horrors of Woodsboro behind and set out for New York City with her surviving friends.
Despite her hopes of starting anew, Tate soon finds herself face to face wit...
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ETHAN SIGHED AS HE TRIED TO FOCUS ON HIS CARDBOARD CREATION. It was supposed to be a knight costume for the party, but he couldn't fucking focus. Ther was a suffocating weight on his shoulders, pressing down, and he didn't know how much longer he could keep up the charade.
He glanced at the clock on his desk and realized that Chad would be arriving any minute. He groaned inwardly, not wanting to face the party scene with all its noise and chaos. But he had to keep up appearances, and that meant putting on a brave face and pretending to be someone he wasn't. Quinn and Wayne would kill him if he fucked this up.
As he continued to work on his costume, his thoughts drifted to his family. He had always felt like an outsider in his own home, pushed aside and ignored by his father and sister. He had never been close with Richie, either.
Ethan had never understood the fascination with being Ghostface, but he couldn't deny that his dad and Quinn had never been nicer to him, especially the moment he seemed to fall into Chad's good graces. It was a twisted way to try and earn love, but he felt like he had no other choice.
Quinn had played her part perfectly, setting up Ethan to be Chad's roommate and making sure he fit in with the group. He had to pretend to be the shy, sweet, geeky guy, but it was exhausting keeping up the act all the time.
And then there was Tatum. The girl he had never met but felt drawn to for some reason. The girl who had survived Richie's attack and come back from the brink of death. He couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for her, even though he knew he had played a part in her trauma.
He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Chad burst into the room, dressed in a ridiculous cowboy outfit.
Chad smirked. "Damn, Ethan, that knight costume is looking sick! You could win the costume contest for sure."
Ethan scoffed, the tips of his fingers all glued together. Fuck off, Chad. ''You think it's that bad?''
''Nah, nah,'' Chad shrugged. ''You're still a snack. My costume is still better, though. I'm going for a sexy cowboy look. What do you think?''
Ethan rolled his eyes. "You're not even wearing a shirt. You're going to freeze outside."
Chad shrugged. "Eh, it's worth it if it means I look good. Plus, I can always warm up with some shots at the party," he shot Ethan a wink. ''Oh, yeah, almost forgot, we have a quick stop before the party, cool?''
Ethan nodded, trying to put on a smile and act excited for the night ahead. But deep down, he felt like he was drowning in a sea of lies and secrets, and he didn't know how much longer he could keep his head above water.
Ethan followed Chad out of the dorm room and into the chilly night air. They walked across the campus, past groups of students laughing and shouting as they made their way to various parties. Ethan's mind was racing with thoughts of Tatum, the girl he never met, and the secrets he was hiding from everyone. He couldn't help but feel like a fraud, pretending to be someone he wasn't just to fit in with Chad and his friends.
Chad wouldn't stop talking about this stupid fucking movie he'd watched last weekend with his twin sister, Mindy, and Ethan found himself getting more and more anxious. He wanted nothing more than to go back to his dorm room and crawl into bed, but he knew that wasn't an option. He was stuck there, pretending to be someone he wasn't, and he didn't know how much longer he could keep it up.
After a few minutes walk, Chad now still excitedly talking about the potential hookups he might have at the party (God, did Chad ever shut the fuck up?), while Ethan quietly listened, his mind elsewhere. He was starting to feel uneasy about their little detour, wondering where Chad was taking him and what kind of trouble he might be getting into.
Chad noticed Ethan's lack of enthusiasm and slapped him on the back. "Come on, man, let's live a little! It's Halloween, after all!"
Ethan forced a smile and replied, "Sorry, just wondering if you were taking me to a crack house or something."
Chad sighed. ''Or something.''
Ethan recognized the building as soon as it hit his line of vision. He had never been inside before, but had the whole plant memorized, still.
"Are you sure this is the right place?" he asked Chad, his voice trembling a bit.
"Yeah, trust me, bro," Chad replied, patting Ethan on the back. "My friends live here. They're all cool, you'll see."
Quinn definitely wasn't cool. Sam was a murderer. Tara was a victim.
What was Tatum?
Would she like him? Chad did, but the others mostly just pretended he didn't exist. Quinn told him she figured that would happen, since he's just so fucking unlikeable. Ethan hoped Tatum liked him. He could use someone else on his corner besides Chad, once people started pointing fingers.
What if she could see through his shy, geeky persona and realized what he truly was? From what Quinn had said, Tatum was difficult. Closed off. Jumpy. Smart.
Ethan tried to calm himself down, taking deep breaths as they made their way up the stairs to the apartment. When they arrived at the door, Chad knocked twice, waited a second, knocked three more times, and then entered without waiting for a response.
He had a fucking key?
"Yo, it's me!" Chad called out, walking into the living room.
The door had a crazy amount of locks. Growing up, Richie was always a source of fear and pain for Ethan, and it was clear that even after death, he continued to be that to a whole different group of people. Ethan always felt like he was walking on eggshells around him, but it's not like Wayne or Quinn cared. They favored Richie. Smarter, stronger, better. Ethan was the spare, the outsider.
Sam Carpenter ended up becoming a shocking and brutal end to Richie's life, but Ethan couldn't bring himself to mourn him. Wayne and Quinn mourned enough for the whole family.
Ethan followed close behind Chad, looking around the room nervously. Only his sister seemed to be home, body spread out on the couch.
"Where's Tatum?" Chad asked, scanning the room.
"She's in her room," Quinn replied, looking up from her book. She didn't even steal a glance Ethan's way.
"I'm gonna go get her" Chad said, already heading towards the hallway.
"For the party?" Quinn asked, going back to her reading. ''Good luck, dude.''
Ethan couldn't tell whether the wish of good luck was meant for Chad or himself.
