Chapter Two
Misplaced

     LOOKING over her shoulder feverishly wasn't a good look for Jia, but she found she didn't have much choice.  Deep down she had to admit, she was still scared Ghostface was going to pop out from around a corner, which made her feel like a scared little girl.  She wasn't liking that look for her, either.

     If she thought she felt out of place being at school, Jia was in for a surprise when she stepped foot into the hospital.  She ducked and shuddered when she passed the ICU unit.  It was hard to believe Tara had just been there fighting for her life.  Thankfully, Tara had been moved to a slightly better room, where she'd have more privacy and space to recover.  As far as Jia understood, Tara had multiple stab wounds.  She knew Ghostface — whoever it was this time — had carved Tara up like a fall pumpkin.  It was still hard to say how or why Tara survived though.

     Jia didn't realize she was lingering in the doorway, fingertips grazing the cool metal of the lock as she stared on until Tara said something to her.

     "You came."

     Jia shrugged, digging her hands into her pockets.  As she put the weight into her slightly oversized pants, the hem shoved lower and revealed the waistband of her Calvin Klein's.  "You called."

     She could have sworn she saw a flicker of a smile pass by Tara's lips, but just as quickly as it came, it went.  Before she could say any more, she seemed to have a pain in her stomach and quickly pressed her palm to her abdomen as she wiggled in the bed covered with light blue and white blankets.  Tara herself was hooked up to many things Jia didn't understand, like the "clippy thingy that goes on your finger", but she did take notice of the oxygen tubes tucked into Tara's perfect nose.

     Part of the reason Jia felt so out of place was that she knew she did not look anything like Tara, Liv, or even Amber for that matter.  Every person in their odd squad was nicely put together and good-looking, leaving her feeling like the Shaggy to their Mystery Inc.  If Shaggy had an arc where he became a paranoid drug addict with hardly any real friends anyway.

     "I don't wanna crowd you," Jia waved a hand, taking a step back out of the room.  "I'll just wait for Sam.  I, uh... haven't seen her in forever anyway."

     Amber, Chad, Mindy, and Wes watched as Jia dodged any sign of genuine emotion from entering or leaving her body, but they were used to that.  What they weren't used to, however, was the dancing of Jia and Tara's eyes as they followed each other.

     "Don't be ridiculous," Chad stood from his chair.  "Come sit.  I'm going to go use the bathroom."

     Well, there was no way out of it now.  She wanted so desperately to be able to sit near Tara, to be with her, but she was afraid of throwing up or saying something she'd later regret.  She wasn't sure how she could possibly make this situation any worse, but so far, that had been her specialty.  If Jia had a place in this world, it was being the rock in the heel of someone's sneaker.  The joker in someone's poker game.  The background character in someone else's movie.

     Jia couldn't hide her shaky hands as she found herself gravitating to Tara's side.  She thought Tara would be so visibly upset with her and would refuse to see her, but this just proved that Tara had a large and forgiving heart.  Which made Jia feel even worse.

     Thankfully, Jia could be a little relieved from her own hypersensitivity after a couple of minutes of the group struggling with small talk to try and lighten the atmosphere.  Nothing was really working, everyone wanted to continue talking about Ghostface and Tara's attack which was evident.  Tara took notice of Jia continuously bouncing her leg and slid her weak hand into Jia's closed fists, which instantly relaxed her.

     She hummed quietly to herself as Mindy, Chad, Wes, and Amber continued talking.  It was ironic, Tara was the one who needed comforting right now, not herself.  Despite the guilt in the pit of her stomach, she couldn't find it in herself to change a single thing.  She couldn't remember the last time she was sitting so close to Tara, much less holding onto each other, and she wanted to relish in the comforting feeling it brought her for as long as she could.

     The door slowly opened, shutting up the group quickly and leaving them in a thick silence.  Wes, Mindy, Chad, and Amber rose to their feet as Tara's sister peaked around the door, but Jia stayed in her seat as Sam walked in.

     "How are you feeling?" Sam softly asked.

     Tara seemed overwhelmed by the support she was getting, even just from visitors in the hospital.  "You came," she said, which made Jia grateful suddenly.

     "Of course I came," Sam said.  "This is my boyfriend, Richie."

     "It's so nice to meet you," the boyfriend, Richie, walked into the room bent over slightly and speaking just as low as Sam was.  "I'm so sorry if I'm intruding."

     Tara shyly smiled, and could barely bring her free hand up to give him a wave, she was that weak.  She was weak, and Jia knew it, which made Jia even more thankful for her taking the energy to hold her own hand.  Each time Jia thought she was surprised by Tara, she just kept surprising her.  "Nice to meet you, too."

     Sam carefully went around the room taking turns handing out hugs to the other kids as Jia watched with less droopy eyes than usual.  "Thank you for calling," Jia heard her tell Wes as she rested her chin on his shoulder.

     "Of course."

     "Look at your hair!  I like it.  These are Chad and Mindy, the twins.  And Wes," Sam motioned to the brother and sister duo sitting together as well as the boy with bleached blonde hair.  "And there's Jia in the chair over there.  I used to babysit them all."

     Jia's ears perked up at the mention of her name, which also rendered her speechless.  Thankfully, Wes had something to say to fill in the void.  He was always good with things like that, something that Jia had come to envy him for.  "Which is always how I like to be introduced," Wes snickered softly.

     "And Amber.  Hey."

     "Hi," Amber mustered up a small smile, which Jia knew must have been hard for her.  "Nice to see you."

     "Hi, I'm Richie," Sam's boyfriend repeated himself again.

     "Hi."

     "Where's Mom?" Sam asked.

     "She's stuck at a conference in London, she called me earlier," Tara explained.

     "Yeah, for all of ten minutes," Amber said, never one to shy away from honesty or spare someone the details.  Jia always took her for someone who would do anything or say anything if it meant she came first, but it was just a hunch.  It wasn't like anyone would believe her about it anyway.  "Look, guys, Tara's really tired," she continued.  "Maybe we should just give her some space."

     "Yeah..." everyone agreed in various ways, both by nodding along and vocalizing their concern.  You could hear it in each of Tara's friends' voices just how much they were concerned for her.

     "I'll be... I'll be back soon," Jia pointed over her shoulder as Tara offered her a tight-lipped smile.  It hurt to loosen her grasp on Tara's hand because in some twisted way it felt like she had just gotten her back.

     "Not you, Sam," Tara vocalized.  "I want you to stay."

     Everyone froze and anticipated Sam's next actions as she hesitantly nodded.  "Okay."

     "But the rest..." Chad started speaking, looking back at his twin sister for confirmation, which he got by her nodding.  As she did, her dark curls bounced freely.  Yet another thing Jia was jealous of.

     "Yeah," Mindy, Wes, and Jia all said.

     "If it's okay with you, I could sleep here tonight," Jia heard Sam saying as she shuffled out of the room. 

     "I'd really like that," Tara said.  Jia then locked eyes with Amber and nodded for her to come along.  She furrowed her eyebrows as a thought quickly passed by.  She wasn't sure why Amber would scooch everyone out of the room just for herself to stay behind.

     Amber reluctantly nodded.  "Do you have your extra inhaler?" she asked Tara, leaning down and placing a hand on her forearm.

     Sam turned to Jia, the two sharing a brief but intricate glance.  Sam hadn't known Amber for long, and Jia couldn't really say she did either, but there were some things you could just pick up in passing from a person.  And for one, Jia was glad she wasn't the only one sensing the aura around Amber.

     "Yeah, I'll be fine," Tara confirmed with Amber, who finally then left her side.  Jia held the door open wider so the dark-haired girl could walk right by her, and then she followed her, trying her best not to glance back at Tara.  She failed, of course.

     "So what is she like, the sister?" Liv asked the friend group as they sat around a pool table, taking turns knocking the balls.  Jia didn't really know how to play, which always made Chad watch her a little harder for cheating purposes, but today didn't call for the usual crude pool game.

     "Sam?" Chad asked.  "Sam is so cool."

     "You only say that because she let you wear Pokemon onesies to bed for a year," Mindy said.

     Jia brought her blue e-cigarette away from her lips, releasing the vapor into the air for a minute as she chuckles at the memory.  She leaned up against the pool table next to them, side by side with Wes, who was never one to care for Jia's drug habits either, but today he wasn't going to say anything except fan the air in front of him where blueberry scent filled the air.  "I never even knew what Pokemon was, but I knew I wanted a onesie after I saw Chad wear his so much."

     "That's true," Chad laughed.  "That's a true statement."

     "No, trust me, Sam is not cool," Amber cut in.  "Her dad left her mom.  Walks right out when Tara's eight, Sam's 13."  Amber starts a story that instantly brings the mood down.  Wes is squinting his eyes in suspicion and Jia starts combing the ends of her braid as she listens to Amber in confusion.  "Sam started acting out, getting in trouble with the cops.  And then, on Sam's 18th birthday, she leaves.  Ghosts them all.  Maybe Sam's changed... I just don't want to see Tara hurt again."

     Jia turns to the side to inhale from her Juul again, but she's really hiding a massive eye roll from Amber.  "So what, you're protecting Tara from her own sister now?" Wes asks first.

     "Well, someone has to," Amber says with a nod.

     Jia shakes her head, blowing out another array of smoke from her mouth which travels pretty far.  "I don't think Sam had anything to do with this... whatever this is."

     "And of course you would come to her defense," Amber says.

     "What's that supposed to mean?" Jia shrugs, honestly confused.

     "Oh nothing," Amber takes a step back, putting her hands up in mock surrender.  "Don't get all crazy on me now."

     "I'm not—" Jia starts a little strong, raising her voice louder than she usually does, but as Wes pulls on her left elbow, she's pulled back into reality.  And the reality she has to face is that her friends (plus Amber) are all looking at her like she is crazy.  She knew she couldn't deter them from what they were already thinking, so she decided to at least try and act calmer.  "I'm not getting crazy.  I just wanted to understand what you were saying."

     "Okay, so no guys are good enough for her and now her family's off-limits, too?  And questioning every single person who's involved in her life?" Wes asked, allowing his hand to slip from gripping Jia, but he stepped closer to her.  Jia didn't know if he did it on purpose or not, but she still appreciated it.

     "Mm, motive," Mindy calls him out first.  "If I can't have her, no one can."

     "What?" Wes asks.

     "We all know you have a crush on Tara," she leans forward, 

     "Okay, come on, Mindy," Wes says.  It's at that moment exactly, as she's looking up at him, that Jia decides he's not the killer.  Not the guy she grew up with, not the guy who knew about her struggles with depression and drugs, not the guy she claimed was her best friend.  It couldn't be him.

     "But we're all suspects," Mindy says, looking around the table.  Wes looks on seriously as Jia takes yet another hit and Chad raises his glass with a smile as if there was something to be cheering about.  "Except maybe Liv."

     "Thank you," Liv says sweetly.

     "You're way too boring to be a psycho," Mindy bites.

     "Harsh," Jia says in a low voice as smoke flows softly from behind her parted lips.  Everyone at the table is now aware of the tone set for the millionth time of the day.

     "Yo, Liv," a deeper voice from a man cut their conversation off, bringing all their attention to Vince who was approaching their area.  "You want a real drink?  Or are you happy sitting at this kids' table?" he asks, rubbing his hands together.

     "Listen up, Uglier Michael Myers," Chad leaves their section and approaches Vince by himself.  "It was a summer fling, it meant nothing."

     With everyone distracted by the scene they are causing, Jia sneaks her hand around Chad's glass and brings it to her lips, savoring the taste as it burns down her throat.  It wasn't always the greatest idea to chase your high with even more of a high, but she couldn't help it.

     "Was I talking to you?" Vince asks, which really gets on Chad's nerves.

     "I don't care who you're talking to," Chad starts raising his voice.

     "Liv, let's go."

     "Don't talk to her!" Chad raises his voice as Liv clutches onto Jia, who is nearest to her, but Liv isn't aware of Jia's state of mind at all.  Matter of fact, Jia is by far the one who is most scared.  At that moment, anyway.

     "I don't want to hear your voice," Vince says.

     "Shut your mouth!"

     "Better shut the fuck up," Vince threatens.  Jia didn't know if it really had been that long of a day, or if it was a byproduct of everything she inhaled, but she swore she saw him take out a pocket knife.

     "Hey!" a woman behind the counter yelled.  "Get out of here or I'm calling the cops.  Go!"

     "I'll see you soon, sweetheart," Vince says.

     "In my nightmares, maybe," Jia mutters to herself.

     "Hey, man, fuck you," Chad says in a low voice, intently watching as Vince backs up and walks away.  Jia squints, thinking more a moment that she remembers that cockiness, the mocking, the way he is backing up.

     "You kids, too!  Let's go!" the lady instructs.

     The group gets their things and collects themselves as they leave the pool table, but not before Jia downs the last of Chad's drink.  He is so pissed and sees tunnel vision that he doesn't even notice, fortunately for her.  "Did you see that shit?"

     Jia nods, swinging her arm around his shoulders awkwardly since he is so much taller than her.  "Yup."

     "Fuck this bar, man."

     "Yup," she says again as they leave the bar, Jia stumbling more than they notice.