Two Hearts, One Lie

Chapter 4

"What do you mean you don't want to go? No, Charlotte, you have to. It's Halloween." Gracie sighs, grabbing my arm and pulling me into a clothing store. Gracie and Holly collectively decided that we were going to dress up for Halloween as the Heathers months ago. I didn't think they were actually serious. And with everything going on, I wasn't sure Halloween was still a possibility.

"Gracie, I-"

"Oh my gosh! Guys, these are perfect!" Holly screams from another aisle. Gracie leaves my side, screaming a few seconds later, repeating Holly's words.

I rub my eyes, hoping I can make the soreness magically disappear. I got a better night's sleep than I have in a while. I don't get nightmares every night, but I either sleep enough to get nightmares or I spend so much time scared to get one that I don't sleep at all. It's a vicious cycle. But last night. After I fell back asleep, my heartbeat felt lighter, normal even. I just remember waking up to see James next to me, asleep with his arm around me. It was a strange sight to see.

I walk to where Gracie and Holly have gotten their shoes stuck, in the perfect aisle to get our costumes ready. "Guys," I start. "Are we sure we still want to do Halloween? I mean, shouldn't we be careful?"

They both turn to look at me, worry in their eyes. "Lottie, is there a reason why you don't want to do Halloween? I mean, aside from the murder thing." Holly says softly.

"Look, can you just be honest with me?" Gracie whispers, moving closer to me. "It's because of the nightmares, right? They're getting worse?"

"Can we actually not do this here?"

"Charlotte." Gracie and Holly state in unison.

"Yes. Maybe. I-I don't know. All I know is that if we choose to celebrate Halloween, we need to be careful." I haven't told anyone about the texts and I probably won't. This is a situation I need to deal with myself. I know it. "It's fine. We can celebrate Halloween. I just don't want to...mess anything up."

"Lottie, don't worry. We're right here with you. You won't mess anything up if we celebrate Halloween. You're going to be a great Veronica Sawyer." She pulls out a cropped navy blue blazer, putting it over my chest and stepping back. "See? That looks great. Holly, doesn't it look great?"

"Yes, we're going to have the best Heathers costumes."

"Wait, aren't there 3 Heathers? Why am I the only one who isn't a Heather?" I ask, confused, considering I've seen the movie at least twice.

"Charlotte," Gracie sighs. "The last Heather,"

"The lone wolf," Holly adds.

"Heather McNamara isn't that important of a character. She has maybe 3 lines, and you are not a background character, you're going to be Veronica.

"And Veronica is literally the main character." Holly finishes.

Sighing, I relent. I don't see a way out of this. With both of their personalities combined, the stubbornness is out the roof. "What else do I need to be Veronica?"

"Well, we need to buy Corn Nuts, but you need a cherry Slurpee, a croquet mallet, and JD," Holly says, finishing with a teasing tone.

"Ooh, yeah, you need a JD. Hmm, I wonder who it could be?" Gracie chuckles.

"No, no, no. I don't need a JD." I state, walking to the register with the baskets of clothes Gracie and Holly filled.

"Well, it seems like you already have one."

"What are you talking about?" I ask, confused.

"Let's just say, we know you slept pretty comfortably last night," Holly says, giggling.