if i could i'd change overnight, and turn into something you'd like

Willa looked at where the voice had come from, embarrassment covering her features as Tara Carpenter stood in front of the closed cafeteria doors. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she looked at Willa with what looked to be disappointment.

"What do you mean?" Willa tried to play it off, her voice pitching an octave higher. "Th-that? That was nothing."

"Don't give me that bullshit, Will." Tara sighed as she rolled her eyes, stepping closer to the blonde. "I just saw that entire exchange. Why do you let him treat you like that? He's clearly not who everyone thinks he is."

"He-he's just... upset, you know? Upset that I was stupid and inserted myself into a situation that wasn't my problem to solve." Willa tried to answer.

"Are you kidding me, Willa?" Tara asked, her voice raising slightly. She looked at her in disbelief, "You did what you always do and stuck up for what you believe in. Don't let some fuckboy asshole like Marcus Andrews prevent you from doing that and make you think you're wrong. Everything you've always done has always been for the best and has honestly made Woodsboro a better place."

"He's just- he's just looking out for me, okay? It's not usually like this." Willa continued to defend her boyfriend, messing with the straps on her backpack.

"Wes doesn't know, does he?" Tara asked anyway, ignoring her excuse. She crossed her arms again, looking at Willa with a look of concern. "Of course he doesn't. When he finds out-"

"And he won't." Willa quickly cut Tara off, grabbing her by the upper arms. "Please don't tell anyone, especially Wes. He-he'd be so-"

"Upset? If Marcus isn't doing anything wrong why are you so worried about Wes finding out?" The other girl asked, stumping Willa.

"I-" She stopped, realizing she didn't have an answer.

"Exactly. You can't answer because you know it's wrong. Even if it wasn't your business, the fight that he and Chad got into - which is totally buzzing around school already - wasn't your doing at all." Tara continued, "You have to tell Wes."

"Wes cannot know." Willa shook her head, "I've just calmed Marcus down. Please, just please don't tell anyone." She begged.

"What's going to happen when he finds out? Or-or Chad? What about Chad?" Tara asked, still in shock due to what she saw.

"You're exaggerating, T. Marcus just yelled a bit, that's it." Willa denied, "Chad and Wes cannot know. Nobody can. Please."

"Why should I keep it a secret? It's not like we're friends anymore or anything." Tara spoke quickly before thinking, regretting it almost immediately.

Willa dropped her hands from the other girl's arms, blinking as tears began to form in her eyes.

"Look, Will, I-"

"No no, you're right. We're not friends anymore. You don't have to keep any secrets for me, I know." She swallowed, stepping back. "I just- I guess I can't stop you if you choose to tell them."

Tara stared at her old friend, tears forming in her own eyes. She regretted talking to Willa the way she had, knowing she spoke too soon without thinking. She went to say something else but before she could the cafeteria doors flung open.

Liv laughed as she cuddled closer to Chad, whose smile immediately fell as he saw Tara and Willa in a serious conversation. Liv's laugh halted as she realized the tension, her eyes casting to the ground as she avoided any type of eye contact with Willa.

"Everything good out here?" Chad asked, his eyes never leaving Willa.

Willa looked from Tara to the side, trying her hardest to keep her tears from falling. Tara stared at Willa, her mind turning before she finally looked at Chad. "Nothing. Everything's fine."

"Are you sure?" Chad asked, still looking at Willa.

"Yeah. Good." Willa agreed, wiping the bottom of her nose with the back of her hand. "I gotta get to the office."

Without letting anyone else say anything, Willa walked away. She didn't look back as she quickly made her way to the office before the end of lunch, hoping the switch could be made quickly with no issues.

With the day she was having, this would be at least one good thing she could talk about during dinner if her mom asked, because as of right now - she has no idea what she'd say.

After successfully making it to the front office without any other issues or run-ins, she sighed in relief as she stopped at the desk.

"Hello Ms. Hicks, what can I do for you?" The woman - Mrs. Anthony - spoke.

"I was wondering if I could change just one class." She breathed out.

"I thought you said when we made your schedule that it was perfect?" Mrs. Anthony spoke, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, it was-" Willa stopped, her cheeks turning a light pink color. "But then I realized I'd rather not take art since art isn't really my thing and I'm very interested in sign language, and so I was hoping there'd be an open class for me to switch."

After hearing an explanation, Mrs. Anthony decided to go ahead and go through with the switch. It was finally some good, as the rest of the day hadn't really been the best besides seeing her friends and meeting Oliver. She knew it was probably not enough to make the rest of the day fly by and put her in a better mood, but it was a start.

The rest of her classes had gone by too slowly. She'd barely seen any of her friends, and although usually that would put her in a downward mood, she didn't mind as she really didn't feel like talking anyway. She hadn't seen Marcus, either, but that didn't mean anything as he had very different classes from her.

When the last bell finally rang, Willa shot up from her seat and booked it toward the entrance of the school. She weaved her way through the sea of students, hoping to avoid anyone she knew out of fear of another confrontation like the one too many she'd already had that day.

However, just as she thought she was in the clear, the sound of her name being called prevented her from getting too far. She turned to see who the voice belonged to, frowning as she saw Chad heading her way.

"Wills, a-are you okay?" He asked, seeming to hesitate on the question.

Willa glanced around to see if she could see Marcus or even Aaron anywhere, but failed to see either of them. She sighed as she looked at Chad, who had been staring at her the entire time. "I'm okay, Chad." She finally answered, her voice almost inaudible due to the sounds of everyone surrounding them.

"You don't seem like it." He shook his head, not believing her. "Where are you headed to?"

"I have work," She simply responded. "I should really get going."

"Where's Wes? He's going to make you late if he doesn't get here soon." Chad looked around for her brother, failing to see him.

"He's not coming. I'm going alone. I'll see you, okay?" She pushed as she began to turn away, wanting nothing more than to get off of the school property.

It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to him, she loved talking to Chad. He was probably her favorite person to talk to, even if she didn't want to admit it. But knowing Marcus, he'd find out about even just this little conversation between the two of them, and the last thing she needed right now was Marcus going on about how bad of a friend Chad was - when that just simply wasn't the truth.

"You're not going alone," Chad quickly said, reaching out to touch her arm.

She flinched back unintentionally as if he'd hurt her, the boy noticing the gesture almost immediately. "Willa?" He asked, "I'm not going to hurt you, you know that right?"

"Obviously I know that," She said quickly, brushing some hair behind her ear. "I just- I'm going to be late if I don't get going, okay?"

"Wills, wait-"

"I'm sorry, okay? Just- just find Liv or something." Of course, Willa hadn't intended for it to come out as snappy and mean as it did. But instead of backtracking and causing the conversation to go any further, she just silently scolded herself as she rushed through the parking lot toward the sidewalk.

When out of view of Chad - who hadn't bothered to follow her - she sighed in relief. She finally had a bit of time alone before putting on a fake smile to customers seeing different movies, and she knew if anything Jo would be able to cheer her up.

The theater would not be bearable without him, that's for sure.

It was silent as she made her way from the school to the theater, her backpack adding lots of weight to her back. It ached, but she ignored it as she watched her feet on the sidewalk.

She hated walking alone. Being alone in general was the worst, and as much as she made it a point to talk about how Woodsboro is nothing as it used to be - she still couldn't help but secretly fear it. Just knowing the history behind the town, the people lost and scarred - including her own mother - she just couldn't shake the feeling of something odd. She didn't exactly think she was being watched, and she didn't think it was another Ghostface ready to terrorize at any given moment, she just felt odd when it's always those moments you least expect it that something like that happens.

Realizing she was just letting the paranoia that both her mother and brother have bother her, she shook it off as she finished the walk to her job. She was just letting her emotions get the best of her, as she was already a mess before having to be alone. With the first day of senior year, everything happening with Chad and Marcus, and everything else on top of it - she's surprised she hadn't lost it just yet.

As she walked through the door, she greeted the first shift worker who worked until she got there most days. They greeted her back and waited patiently as she went into the bathroom and changed into her uniform - something she hated, but had to do - and put her things in one of the lockers in the break room.

She tied her hair back and made sure there were no flyaways in the mirror, making sure she looked presentable before going out to the counter where her coworker was. After some small talk, she was left alone to her own devices - at least until Jo would get there.

Willa looked at the list of movies playing in each theater for the night, cringing when she saw the familiar 'Stab' title on one of the rooms. They play it often - too often - despite how old it is. Despite the history behind it, despite the eerieness it gave people who watched it knowing it was based on a true story. Well, the first few movies. Willa hadn't bothered watching after the first one, knowing it hit a little too hard since some of the 'characters' that were based on real people were people she knew, or people related to people she knew. She just didn't like it.

As she was rotating the candy and restocking the empty sections, the sound of the door opening caught her attention. She let out a slight greeting without looking, finishing up what she was doing before turning to the guest. However, just as she turned around to greet them again and check them out, her heart skipped a beat at what she saw.

Standing right in front of her was Ghostface.

++

Hey <3