Act 1 | Chapter 2

"Morning Zoey!" She called out to me from the open passenger's side window. I flashed her a smile, and climbed in, putting my school backpack between my legs on the floor. Riley was rather tall, and usually wore ripped jeans with a tank top and leather jacket, much like today. She had short black hair with purple dye on the ends.

"Good morning."

Riley stepped on the gas pedal, and started to drive, rolling up my car window as she pulled out onto the street. It was rather chilly out, even though we were only two weeks into October, but that's pretty normal here.

"So, how are you?" I tried to make conversation with her, but it was impossible to hide the tiredness in my voice. I had been up a little later than normal finishing up my homework for my second-hour class, as well as my prelim for the upcoming project.

"So, how are you?"

"I'm doing fine. What's up with you though? Not enough sleep?"

"Not really, no." I chuckled quietly and relaxed into my seat. "I was up all night working on that drawing again."

"The contest one, or whatever Mr. Mcvay gave you?" She tilted her head and glanced at me for only a second.

"Yeah, the one for the contest." I yawned, "I'm almost done with it. Just another week or two and I can start painting." She gave me a nod, and we drove together in silence for some time. I looked out the window at the passing houses as we left the neighborhoods and entered the big city of Bates County. I have lived here all my life, and have honestly never left. My family has never taken me on a vacation before, so all I know is this city. My own little world, separate from everything else that goes on outside it. Towards the city's center where several tall skyscrapers, with smaller buildings built around them. They got progressively smaller the further out from towns square you got. Bates High School was on the other end of town so that always meant a drive through the city every morning. I always liked looking out at the people as we drove by. Seeing them all waking up, and going about the start of their days. Kids running down the street to get to their own schools, and people riding their bikes to work. I never could understand how exactly people could do that in such cold weather, but I suppose it's the exercise that keeps you warm. Some of the local's stores were just starting to open, as well as several fast-food chains that we passed on the way to school. I actually work at one of them. My mom isn't a fan of fast food and grease because it 'can cause pimples to form on my skin'. So, I only work for a short two hours every Monday and Tuesday. It's not much, but money isn't something I honestly need a lot of right now. Usually, I have to take the bus from school to work on those days, then get back on it to ride home. My mom forces me to shower twice when I get back to make sure that my body is cleansed of any grease or what else I'm 'exposed' to there.

After some time of sitting in silence, I turned back to Riley and asked,

"So, what did you do last night?"

Riley glanced over at me, then back towards the road.

"Just some texting, soda, and an hour-long video of whatever I could find at twelve in the morning." She replied with a chuckle. "You should try it out, it's not as productive but it's less stressful."

"Maybe I should. But I have too much homework."

"Your already an amazing student Zoey, one or two late assignments wouldn't be that bad right?"

"I mean, I guess not?" I simply shrugged my shoulders, "But, I'm all caught up now, so I won't have any homework over the weekend at least."

Riley went quiet for a few seconds, and I turned to look at her. She had that face on her which told me that she was about to ask me something and that she already knew what the answer was going to be.

"If that's the case," She started, "There's a new horror movie coming out tonight! Wanna come watch it with me?"

"Yup, there it is." I thought. Honestly, though, I can't stand horror movies. It's not like I hate them or anything, but I'm too much of a coward to watch them. The last one I watched was that one famous shark movie, and according to Riley, that one wasn't even that scary. The film kept me up for days and gave me a fear of water for a short time.

"H- Horror movie?" I let out a long sigh, "You know I don't like those."

"I know but you gotta at least try again. Look, if you really don't like it we can walk out of the theater at any point. No strings attached."

I sat there in silence and thought about her offer. It did seem a bit unfair to me. Riley and I spend so much time together, we could practically be sisters, and I'm usually the one that drags her to the movies. Everything she wants to see is horror related because that's the kind of geek she is. You could probably ask her any question about any horror movie, and she would have multiple answers to it. Anyways, it is unfair. I always drag her to things I want to see and refuse to see the things she wants to. I feel bad about it sometimes, to be honest. After thinking about it in silence, I eventually settled on a decision. However, when I spoke, I couldn't hide the hesitation in my voice.

"I guess. What's it about?"

"It's apparently a sequel to a classic horror movie! A famous serious killer escapes the prison and returns to kill his old victims. Reviews say it's really good."

"And... I can leave at any time, right?" I asked, wanted reassurance on her response.

"You know I wouldn't force you to do anything."

"I- I know." It went silent between the two of us again, "Would you be okay if I spent the night at your place?"

"Sure," Riley replied almost like she completely understood why I'd ask. If I was going to watch a horror movie, there's no way I would be able to sleep that night. Since I didn't get any sleep last night, I could only imagine how long this one was going to be.

After some time, we made it to the school. Riley pulled into the schools parking lot and passed by the drop-off lane, which led to the front of the school. I'm sure you all know what a drop off lane is, but it's for those kids who either can't drive yet or don't have a car. Their parents drop them off in that lane and pick them up later after school. If you went left, instead of right in the parking lot, you would go along a long stretch of road past the sports field in the back of the school to the back parking lot. Now, this is where all the kids who could drive parked. The schools back entrance was a lot better looking than the front one. We had a nice courtyard, with a diamond-shaped sidewalk, leading to the back doors. In the middle of the diamond, was a straight path to cut right through to the other side, and into the parking lot directly. Benches and trees were placed around the outlines of the sidewalk, and we had a small series of flower gardens between the paths. Zoey parked in her usual spot, someplace closer to the track field, and the two of us got out of the car. I slipped the strap of my backpack over my arm, and stood up from the car, shutting the door behind me. I always found it easier to carry my backpack with one strap. It made it a bit more convenient for taking it off and putting it on. Majority of the kids here wear their backpacks with both arms through the straps, but I'm not like them. Maybe that's a reason why people think I'm weird and they never talk to me? Ah, who cares.

"So, I'll just see you after school then?" I asked Riley, turning to look at her as we both made it to the sidewalk.

"We still have lunch together." She replied with a grin, lightly tapping my shoulder with her own.

"Oh yeah, that's right." I couldn't help but slam my hand into my face. I guess I really do need to get more sleep if I'm forgetting something as daily as that. "So, I'll see you then?"

Riley gave me a nod, as the two of us walked into the schools back entrance. It led us directly into the school's cafeteria, which was a large rectangular room, with several red pillars holding the ceiling up. We had a glass roof to see the sky above, but the glass was always so dirty, and old, the only thing we could see was a blur. It did make for some interesting lighting during fall and winter though. The lunch tables had all been pushed against the walls, which was a normal thing to see every day. They didn't need to be set up yet, as lunch wasn't for another couple of hours. Just past the cafeteria was the school's main hallway, with the art room being a part of it. I waved Riley goodbye as she kept going down the hall, while I turned and made my way to the first hour.

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