Scream 1996 [Male reader insert]

October 15, 1996: Part II

TW: mention of suicide

music intended to be listened to for Sid & Tatum's discussion

"Is someone there?"

Sidney entered the bathroom, head hung low. Her left hand wiped her forehead as she approached one of the sinks. She grabbed her backpack strap and laid down the backpack on the corner of the sink, reaching into it.

"She was never attacked. I think she made it all up," A girl in one of the stalls spoke. Sid turned to look at the stalls, no longer focused on collecting herself.

"Why would she lie about it?" The girl in the next stall over asked.

"For attention! The girl has some serious issues." The toilet flushed. "I mean, how could Sidney have been the only one attacked when her brother was also in the house? It doesn't make any sense."

Unwilling to face the girl who said those things, Sid took her bag and entered one of the stalls.

A blonde cheerleader left the stall and stood in front of the bathroom mirrors. "What if she did it? What if Sidney killed Casey and Steve?"

The other toilet flushed. "Why would she do that?"

"Maybe she had the hots for Steve and killed them both in a jealous rage."

"What would Sidney want with Steve?" The cheerleader's brunette-haired friend leaves the stall, "She has her own bubble-butt boyfriend, Billy." She placed her bag on the sink as the blonde re-applied lipstick and stuck her finger in her mouth to get off excess product.

The cheerleader raised her eyebrows, "Maybe she's a slut just like her mother."

"You're evil."

Sidney scrunched her face, resisting the urge to cry.

"Please, it's a common fact. Her mother was a tramp."

"Cut some slack. She watched her mother get butchered," Her friend tried to give Sid the benefit of the doubt.

"And it fucked her up, royally. Think about it. Her mother's death leaves her disturbed and hostile. In a cruel and inhumane world, she's delusional. Where's God, etcetera?" Even the cheerleader's friend made a disgusted face at her remarks. "Completely suicidal, one day she snaps. She wants to kill herself, but she realizes that teen suicide is out this year, and homicide is a much healthier, therapeutic expression."

"Where do you get this shit?" The brunette asked.

"Ricki Lake."

Her friend scoffed, "You are pathetic."

The two teenage girls walked out of the bathroom together.

Sidney timidly left the stall, placing her backpack on the same sink as before. She sniffled, wiping her nose and looking at her reflection. "Pathetic."

She riffled through her bag until she heard a voice whisper her name. She froze and turned around, crouching on the floor and scanning the bottom of each stall. After not seeing anybody's legs or feet, she stood up to look at the noisy air vent.

She went back to searching through her backpack but heard her name being whispered again. Her hands stopped, and she turned to face the stalls again, slightly alarmed.

"Is someone there?" A noise echoed from one of the stalls, so Sidney got down to the ground to check again. The stalls were seemingly empty. Sidney got up again with squinting eyes.

In the stall nearest to the exit, two legs emerged. They lowered their 'Father Death' costume, letting it cover their dark wash jeans and most of their black boots. The stall unlocked, and Sidney ditched her backpack, running for the exit. She glided on the ground as the copycat went to tackle her. They crashed into the sink as Sid stood back up to get away from them.