The Riley Curse | Ethan Landry

11. New Place, New Rules

The three of them walked down the sidewalk trying to push through all of the reporters standing in their way. That is until one reporter caught Tatum's attention. She tried to ignore her, but she walked behind them while introducing herself into her microphone. "Gale Weathers, Channel 4," She said and the three of them turned around.

"Do you ladies think you're the reason the Ghostface killer has come to the Big Apple?" Gale asked and Sam scoffed before trying to punch Gale, but she dodged it. "Nice try, sweetie, but I've done this dance before," Gale said and Tatum punched her. Ever since Gale wrote her new book, Tatum hasn't been speaking to her mom. She's been bottling up her anger and betrayal.

"Stay away from us," Tara said and they started to walk towards a cab.

"Are you still mad at me?" Gale asked.

"Mad doesn't even describe how I feel about you. You told us you wouldn't write a book about what happened. You did it anyway," Tatum said and Sam and Tara shared a look, knowing that Tatum has been waiting to yell at her mom about this. "Someone was gonna write about it! It's what I do," Gale said.

"I heard you couldn't sell the movie rights," Tara said.

"It's all about true-crime limited series these days," Gale said and Tatum shook her head. "What would Dad think?" Tatum asked.

"That's a low blow," Gale said.

"So was your book. You called Sam 'unstable' and a 'born killer,'" Tatum said.

"That's taken out of context," Gale said.

"That's literally a quote! Do you really think that what you wrote doesn't have something to do with these killings? Sam is being targeted every day because of what you wrote in your stupid book and now we are all targets for another psychopath in a mask with a vendetta against her. I'm not even going to get into what you said about me," Tatum said.

"Come on," Sam said and lightly grabbed her arm to pull her to the cab. "Hey. I talked to Sidney," Gale said and all three of the girls stopped. "She's not coming here, is she?" Tara asked.

"No. She sends her love, but she's taking Mark and the kids someplace safe. She deserves to have her happy ending," Gale said.

"At least we agree on that," Tatum said and she started to get into the car. "Hey, I want to catch this fucker as much as you do!" Gale said and Tatum ignored her and got into the cab. "Maybe. Or maybe you're just afraid that without Ghostface in your life, you're gonna fade away," Tara said as she got into the car.

She closed the door and the cab started driving away. "Are you okay?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tatum said and Sam gave her a skeptical look. "She called me childish and impulsive. She said that I was too invested in my trauma," Tatum said.

"What a bitch," Tara said and Tatum shrugged. "That's my mom for you. Didn't even come here to check if her own daughter was okay, just here to get the story before someone else does," Tatum said.

—

The three of them approached the courtyard of their college where all their friends sat around waiting for them. "Where have you guys been?" Victoria asked.

"Have you not seen the news?" Tatum asked still in a relatively bad mood. "Ghostface attacked us last night," Sam said.

"Is that why she's grumpy?" Victoria asked and Tatum rolled her eyes as she sat down between Chad and Ethan. "No, that's because we ran into her mom," Tara said as she sat down next to Chad. "Who's your mom?" Ethan asked, confused by the collective hostility towards the name.