I'm not the only one in my reflection.

Part thirty-one

Katherine was looking around, moving away from her father's display case and did not know which of her friends to approach next. She noticed that Tara was visibly tense, even with her arms wrapped around her shoulders, but it seemed that Samantha needed her more, her gaze lost as she examined the items that had belonged to Billy.

— Hey, I'm here, Sammy. But he's not here. — Macher whispered to Carpenter, and took her hand, squeezing her fingers tightly, giving her the support she so desperately needed.

— He's started harassing me again, destroying everything.

The former redhead would have liked to give her lover some good advice. But her own situation with Stu was different from Sam's with Billy, for obvious reasons. The older girl was afraid of becoming like her father, who had terrorized her by urging her to kill someone to protect her friends, while the younger girl had come to terms with her uncle's presence and learned to completely shut him out when she didn't need him.

— I could say something, but I prefer action. Here's what we'll do, every time you see Billy, you'll squeeze my hand and I'll distract you, okay?

Tara's sister nodded in relief, giving her lover a light peck on the lips as a sign of gratitude and appreciation for her help, but then she looked worriedly into the blue eyes opposite.

— I could do the same for you. If your uncle bothers you.

— Don't. I can put Stu on 'off' mode when I don't want to hear him.

— And Jill?

— What about Jill? She hasn't been around since 2022, and I'm happy about that. You know, I've got one crazy teenager, and I don't need another one. — Leslie's daughter grumbled, and she smiled widely when she saw Billy's daughter chuckling quietly.

The grip on her hand was weak.

The younger Carpenter, who had been standing next to Chad, Mindy, and Kirby, took a few steps towards her sister and her best friend. She fidgeted with her fingers, unsure if this was the right time to mention that the four of them had found a booth dedicated to Sidney Prescott and her family. She saw the two girls embracing each other, and she didn't want to disrupt their moment, so she decided to keep quiet.

Because there was something on Sidney's stand that could ruin her niece's mood for the rest of the day.

When Weathers began to talk about the mannequins standing on the stage, dressed in costumes but without masks, Samantha pulled her lover's hand towards them. Her grip tightened slightly when she realized that the mannequin standing in the center, under the glass, was, of course, her father.

Katherine pressed her fingertips against Sam's side with her free hand, while using her other hand to hold Sam's hand in hers and stroke the skin on the back of her hand with her thumb. She saw her taller girlfriend raise her head, looking at the glass door as if she were personally insulting her, so she pulled her slightly away from Billy's costume and his "ghost".

When everyone started discussing the Stab movies in their usual way, Tara became even more tense, and after exchanging glances with her sister and best friend, she left the stage and went to a corner to gather her thoughts.

Carpenter, looking helplessly at Macher, gently pulled her hand from the other's and followed her sister, and the girl followed them, but kept her distance so as not to get in the way. She was ready to step in if it was needed.

And of course, when the younger sister cut her older sister off and walked away, the brunette followed her, already thinking of what she could say to calm her friend down. As she was leaving, she noticed in her peripheral vision that her girlfriend was talking to Gale, and she mentally marked it as a plus that she should also finally sort out her relationship with the writer.