The Riley Curse | Ethan Landry

12. Following In Dad's Footsteps

"That's debatable," Sam said.

"It's extremely debatable," Tara said.

"You can't just give yourself a nickname, dingus," Mindy said.

"Of course, I can, dingus, because I just did," Chad said.

"I think it's fun," Tatum said with a smile knowing how the others would react. "Thank you, Tate," Chad said.

"Come on, Tatum. Really?" Tara said as a smile formed on her face. "What? I'm not gonna lie," Tatum said. "Core Six! Up top!" Chad said and he held his hand in front of Mindy. "No," Mindy said.

"Down low," he said to Tara. "Get that away from me," Tara said.

"Up top!" Chad said again but to Tatum this time. "Absolutely not," Tatum said.

"Please, for the love of god," Chad said as he held up his hand to Sam. "Don't do it," Mindy said.

"You know, I would like a little more respect and support from my fellow members of the Core Six," Chad said.

"Guys! What the hell?" Anika said from the living room. They walked in and saw the TV. "We're hearing from sources inside the homicide division that the prime suspect is none other than Samantha Carpenter, one of the survivors of the Woodsboro killings in 2022, seen here attacking a woman on the street last night," The reporter said and then the video of Sam played. Cutting out Tatum almost entirely.

"In the wake of the Woodsboro tragedy last year, rumors sprouted online that Carpenter was actually responsible for the killings, blaming the crimes on her boyfriend, Richie Kirsch, and teen Amber
Free-" Then the TV was shut off before he could finish. Sam walked into the dining room.

Tara followed her sister into the dining room. Tatum waited it out for a bit. Knowing the two sisters needed to talk. Tatum did hear one part of the conversation and so did Chad and Mindy. The three of them walked into the dining room and sat down to join in on reassuring Sam.

"Hey. Hey. Just a reminder, not a single person in this room hates you. Okay? We have all been through some fucked-up stuff, and we are coping with it differently. But, I mean, we moved here together for one very specific reason. We are a team," Chad said.

"We are the Core Fucking Six," Mindy said.

"Thank you very much," Chad said.

"I hate myself," Mindy said.

"That is what I'm talking about. It's the Core Six," Chad said.

"Say it," Mindy said.

"I'm not gonna say it. I mean, yes, we're a team," Tara said and Tatum smiled at the interaction. "It's got a nice ring to it," Chad said.

"I've been sleeping with Cute Boy from across the hall," Sam said and Tatum high-fived Tara. "We fucking called it!" Tatum said.

"I knew it from the day you had that hickey," Mindy said causing everyone to laugh. It's been an ongoing theory that they've talked about for six whole months.

"I feel like we should high-five or something," Tara said.

"The Core Six High Five minus one, may we, please?" Chad asked.

"Don't call it that, but we'll do the high five," Tara said and everyone put their hands on top of each other. Sam's phone started ringing and Tara grabbed it and showed the table. "Is that him?" Tatum asked not being able to see the caller ID clearly.

"No. Tara. Not right now," Sam said and Tara held it up to her ear pretending to talk on it. "Hey, what are your intentions?" Tara said causing them all to laugh. "It's fine. I'll call him back," Sam said and she declined the call. "Poor guy," Mindy joked.