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CHAPTER NINE OF ??

❝ the time three floridians walked in on a funeral ❞

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THIRD-PERSON POV. THE JANUARY OF 2005, AMBROSE, LOUISIANA.

THE WALK TO AMBROSE FROM THE WASHED-OUT ROAD WAS A FEW MINUTES. Give or take. (Name) scornfully looked at Carly as she talked about Lester in a rude manner. Hannibal Lecter once said "eat the rude", and she didn't blame him for that. She hated rude people. With a burning passion. Years of childhood bullying would do that to you.

The sounds of Lester's truck leaving in the distance were present as they approach Ambrose. The town of Ambrose looked dated, giving a frozen-in-time sort of vibe. (Name) eyed the sign, which read: AMBROSE POPULATION 352. Talk about a small town. It was surrounded by woodland and just seemed perfect. Too perfect. 

There was something odd and sinister about this place. Cars were parked outside buildings on the sidewalk. There was chatter coming from inside buildings and (Name) hear the old-fashioned ringing of a rotary phone. Carly and Wade walked a few paces ahead, laughing and joking. "Miss Ambrose," Wade said, reading a poster for a Beauty Pageant, "I wonder how many teeth you have to win that one,".

Wade and Carly held hands as (Name) took in the small town. She eyed a sign at the gas station. It was $1.19 for gas. Her eyes widened. With the gas prices, she was convinced to basically live there. Her eyes looked over towards a pet store and gasped. "A pet store!" (Name) gasped happily, turning and racing over to the pet store, grinning like a child on Christmas, while Wade and Carly followed.

There were a bunch of sleeping brown and white puppies on the windowsill, a few wagging their tails in their sleep. (Name) cooed and smiled at the puppies, as Carly did the same whilst Wade deadpanned. "Cute, adorable," Wade commented, dragging (Name) and Carly away from the window, "Maybe next time. (Name) you can't even keep a houseplant alive,", to which (Name) glared at him. 

The three of them walked towards the gas station, trying to find the man "Bo" who Lester mentioned, the apparent owner of the gas station. (Name) and Wade looked through the windows, whilst Carly got a phone call from Paige. "Hello?" (Name) called, opening the door to the gas station, the bell overhead tinkling, as she looked around. 

Wade looked through the glass windows to the door of the garage part of the gas station, before (Name) exited the gas station as she huffed, squinting her eyes at the bright, midday sun blazing in the sky. The Louisiana heat was milder in January. "You see anyone?" Wade asked.

"Nope," (Name) mused, adjusting her hoodie and denim jacket. Carly talked on the phone with Paige, who informed her that she and the others were going back due to traffic. (Name) looked around, "Dude, I'm so pissed that I lost my iPod. I just downloaded, like, thirty new songs onto it,".

 As the trio walked up to find a sign of life, (Name) spotted a curtain being drawn back in one of the houses, spying an old woman in the house, before the curtain was shut. (Name)'s head turned to the movie theatre, which was playing Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (a horror movie from the 1960s). Carly gave Paige the instructions on how to reach Ambrose over the phone, before hanging up.

"Hey," Wade said, gesturing to a large building with the words 'House of Wax' above the door, as (Name) and Carly both looked over at it, "There's that House of Wax,". Wade's intentions on going into the House of Wax were clear, as the trio stopped, standing not far from the entrance of a Church, which had faint organ music coming from inside. "Wade," Carly sharply said, looking at her boyfriend, "What about the fanbelt?".

"Yeah," (Name) piped up, rocking back and forth on her heels, "You were the one who didn't want your car to get stolen by the guy from last night,". Wade sheepishly looked at the two girls. "Well, there's no one at the station," Wade pointed out, as (Name) facepalmed a little.

Carly eyed the church, as (Name) began to try to persuade her not to go into the church. "Why don't we ask someone in the Church?" Carly questioned, as (Name) quickly shook her head, as Carly ignored her protests. 

"Carly, no," (Name) deadpanned, "There's organ music. What if it's someone's funeral or wedding or baptism in there?". Carly and Wade ignored (Name) and began to walk over to the church doors. "Yep, ignore my logic and common sense. That'd get you guys killed off in a horror movie. Fucking geniuses,". 

(Name) sighed, turning on her heels to follow the two, persistently begging them not to go into the church. The doors were pushed open, revealing Wade, Carly and (Name) at the entrance to the church. "Let us bow our heads and say a prayer for our beloved, deceased friend," (Name) had heard.

"Oh no," (Name) murmured, hearing cries from the mourners and a man kneeling by a half-open coffin in prayer. They'd just walked in on a funeral. Wade's jaw had dropped in shock realising what they'd done and Carly just stood, uncaring. The man knelt by the casket and turned his head to look at them. Wow. (Name) had thought. He's hot.

The priest looked at the three of them, judging them. "Out," (Name) hissed to Carly and Wade, pushing them out the door, "Get out! Quick!". As Carly and Wade were pushed out of the church by (Name), she turned to look at the man, sadly half-smiling. "Sorry,". (Name) exited the church and stepped outside, shutting the door behind her. 

She turned to look at Carly and Wade with an angry look."You complete and utter idiots!" (Name) lowly hissed, pacing, as they nervously looked at her, "I told you not to go into that church, in case there was something like a funeral going on! And what do you guys go and do? Walk in, ignoring my protests!".

Wade was in disbelief as he walked down the church steps, followed by Carly and (Name). "So, what do we do?" Carly dismissively asked, "Just wait out here?". (Name) scoffed at how dismissive and uncaring Carly was being. 

"Of course," (Name) sarcastically said, still burning with fury at her so-called friends, "That's a fucking brilliant idea, Carly. Let's be fucked up weirdoes and wait outside a church for a funeral to end. Don't be so insensitive, feel bad or something! You two are by far the most insensitive little c-". 

(Name)'s rant was cut off by the squeak of the doors opening, as the man from by the coffin, clad in a full-black suit and slicked back brown hair and piercing blue eyes, closed the door behind him as he exited the church, a neutral expression on his face. He had a carton of cigarettes in hand. "Hey, man," Wade said, as Carly looked at the ground, "Sorry about walking in. We didn't k-".

The man walked past all three of them. "Shouldn't have walked in," the man said, cutting off Wade, taking a cigarette out of the carton, placing it between his lips and searching for a lighter in his blazer or trouser pockets. The tension between the four was so thick you could cut it up and serve it as cake for afternoon tea. 

Wade tensed, as (Name) silently winced, wanting the ground to open up and swallow whole from how awkward the situation was. (Name) wasn't embarrassed for herself, no, but rather having severe secondhand embarrassment for Wade. "Yeah," Wade said, "It's just that we have car troubles and we're not from this town,".

(Name) awkwardly coughed, as the man found a lighter and lit up his cigarette, exhaling a plume of white smoke from his lips. "Uh, yeah," (Name) piped up, eyeing the ground, before looking up and avoiding eye contact, like the guy did until they looked at each other briefly, "We're actually looking for a guy named Bo, I think it was. Lester, the guy who brought us here, said he owned the gas station,".

"You found him," the man, Bo, spoke in a bitter tone, flicking the lighter shut, briefly looking at (Name) with a seemingly-unpleasant look. Bo was older than all of them, between 30-35, but pulled it off well, putting the cigarette back between his lips. (Name) didn't blame how he came off, he'd lost someone recently. 

Wade put his hands on his hips. "Really?" Wade asked, awkwardly coughing, "Well, um, we need a fan belt. We were camping up the road and-". When Wade said the words 'fan belt', Bo's eyebrows raised, lowering the cigarette from his lips and letting out a dry, unamused chuckle. It was humourless. 

"A fan belt?" Bo parroted in a Southern drawl, glancing over at Wade with an unamused expression, "You walk in on a funeral for a fuckin' fan belt?". None of the trio said anything, as (Name) rejoined Carly on the steps of the church. "Well, let me just go dump the casket in the ground. I'll be right there,". Bo turned on his heels, throwing the cigarette onto the grass nearby and headed back into the church.

"Hey, we're really sorry-" (Name) tried but silenced herself when Bo gave her a steely gaze, half-scoffing as he looked at the girl, who adjust her denim jacket and her hoodie. "Yeah," Bo sarcastically muttered, returning to the church and shutting the door behind him. Carly huffed and walked away, as (Name) rolled her eyes at Carly's suddenly moody behaviour.

Carly had never acted like this in the 14 years that (Name) had known her. Wade followed behind Carly, saying something about him being an asshole. (Name) had thought to correct him but decided against it. She followed behind them, the gravel crunching beneath her lace-up shoes. They planned to just go back to the road, but the organ music in the church became less muffled as, surprisingly, Bo stepped out of the church and walked over to (Name). 

"Hey," Bo called to the (hair colour) girl in his Southern drawl, catching the trio's attention, but specifically looking at (Name) intently, as Wade and Carly just awkwardly watched, "Hey. I'm sorry, darlin'. You know, someone very special to me passed and I didn't mean to take it out on you, darlin'.".

It took every single ounce of a cell in (Name)'s body to stop her from folding from the pet name. What was it with men she met recently and giving her pet names, she wasn't complaining but she felt internally flustered. "Oh, no, no," (Name) reassured, "It's completely understandable, you have my sympathies for what happened,". Bo and (Name) exchanged another glance. 

"I reckon things will wrap up soon, darlin'," Bo said, completely immersed in (Name), disregarding the judgy glances of Carly and the awkwardness of Wade, "Why don't I meet you guys back at the station in about a half?". Bo forced himself to look away from (Name) and back to Carly and Wade, but then back to (Name).

"Yeah, that'd be perfect," (Name) mused, adjusting her denim jacket due to the slight chill in the air from the season, other than that it was warm. She didn't understand how Wade and Carly were wearing long sleeves, but then again she wore layers, "If that's okay with you?".

Bo let out a noise that was an "mhm", to which (Name) smiled gratefully. The two exchanged a brief smile, locking eyes before Bo acknowledge Carly and Wade with a brief nod. Bo turned and headed back into the church. (Name) turned with a slightly shit-eating grin on her lips. "I think that went swimmingly, don't you guys?" (Name) said, as Carly gave her a teasing look, "What?".

"Your fan club's getting bigger," Carly teased, as (Name) chuckled, as the two girls walked away from the churchyard, with Wade following behind. (Name) rolled her eyes, "You're just jealous I have a fan club," (Name) scoffed, "I think it's...five-ish members strong now? Maybe four?".

"Fan club?" Wade queried, "What fan club?". Carly laughed at her boyfriend's cluelessness, "(Name)'s fan club of admirers," Carly explained, "There's Nick, who's obviously not over you, Dalton who's been crushing on you since middle school, that Lester guy who couldn't take his eyes off you and that Bo guy, who also couldn't take his eyes off you,".

"What can I say?" (Name) chuckled, "I'm a real dude magnet,".

a/n: longest chapter so far :)