serendipity; (n)
finding something good without looking for it
All that could be heard was the sound of a blaring car horn as Theo Fraser sprinted down the side of the road. Following the loud noise, he was soon met with a sight that made him audibly gasp. The car that Deena and him had dropped a cooler on just minutes prior, now lay in the grass, smashed against a tree which had caused the taillights to flash and bent the hood of the car and broke the windshield along with the passenger side window. What had made Theo gasp wasnt the car however, it was the sight of his sister on the ground, panting. Theo quickly ran up to her, kneeling down beside her and grabbing both of her shoulders.
"Sam! Are you okay? Oh shit- fuck..." he mumbled as he searched Sam for any major injuries.
Deena quickly knelt down beside him, cupping Sam's face into her hands, her eyes looking watery. "I'm so... I'm sorry," Deena whispered softly.
"Stay away from her, you freak!" Peter said now with his skull mask off, bent against the steering wheel from the crash.
Theo quickly turned his attention back to Sam, gently rubbing her shoulder to try and comfort her. "Sam, it's me. I'm here. It's me and Deena."
"Did you... see?" Sam asked, her nose bleeding as she panted heavily, trying to catch her breath.
"What?" Deena asked as Theo looked behind his shoulder to see Kate and Simon walking towards the three.
Simon knelt down in front of Sam, examining her as his green painted face lit up in surprise, "Oh shit!" he exclaimed.
"Okay, we should not be down here," Kate said, standing behind Theo and observing the scene from further away.
"Shut up and help me carry her!" Deena snapped, holding one of Sam's hands while Simon still observed her closely.
"We need to leave, like ten minutes ago," Kate argued again, Deena giving her a nasty look.
"We have to clear her airway..." Simon said, moving his hands towards Sam's nose which Theo quickly slapped away.
"Quit it!" he snapped, continuing his focus on Sam, wrapping an arm around her shoulder gently.
"Hey! I got this. Chill out," Simon said calmly, turning back to Sam and holding up three fingers, "How many fingers am I holding up?"
Sam took a deep breath, looking over at Theo and back at Simon, "Three," she mumbled.
"See? She's fine-"
Before Simon could finish, Sam gagged, coughing and vomiting blood all over Simon's white shirt, some hitting Theo and Deena's shoes.
"Oh, my god!" Kate said, clapping her hand to her mouth.
"Oh. Ugh!" Simon exclaimed, backing up in disgust as he looked at his shirt, finally getting back up to his feet. "What the fuck!"
The police along with Sheriff Goode and an ambulance had now arrived which was taking away Sam on a stretcher, loading her into the back of the ambulance and away to the hospital. Theo watched as the ambulance drove away, the boy standing on the side of the road with his arms crossed, waiting for his turn to be interrogated by the Sheriff just like all the others had done previously.
As if on cue, Nick Goode walked toward Theo with a notepad and a pen, waving the boy over to his police car. Once Theo finally arrived, he huffed while leaning against the car, the blue and red lights flashing on and off his face.
"Theodore Fraser?" Goode asked, opening the notepad and writing the boys name down on the top of the paper.
"Theo's fine," he simply responded, looking down at his feet for a moment before meeting Sheriff Goode's eyes again.
"Alright, Theo. Wanna tell me what happened?" questioned Nick, looking at the boy with a stern frown.
"The car crashed if you couldn't tell," Theo said, looking into the distance, nodding towards the car that was smashed against the tree.
Nick looked at Theo with an annoyed look, finally taking a breath. "Was it pursuing you?" he asked.
"Well, it was driving behind our bus and throwing bottles at us. Does that count as pursuing?" Theo asked, looking up at the Sheriff with a raised brow.
"The driver said that before the crash someone opened the emergency exit," Goode added on, his eyes narrowing down at his notepad and back up at Theo.
"I don't remember that, sir," said Theo, fidgeting with the sleeves of his shirt.
"No?" Sheriff Goode asked. "He also saw you and Deena Johnson with the cooler."
Theo's heart sunk to his feet for a moment, but he couldn't let his guard down or else he and the others would be busted. "Did anyone else see that Mr. Goode?" he questioned.
Nick gave a silent chuckle before nodding at the boy. "Maybe you were just, um... goofing around, things got out of hand... why don't you just tell me what happened?"
"I don't know, I guess sometimes accidents just happen," Theo finished, swaying the heal of his shoe as he waited for Sheriff Goode's answer.
"Alright," Goode said, writing down something on his notepad before ripping a page out, handing it to Theo. "Well if you do think of anything, give me a call... I'm on your side."
"Yeah, totally," Theo said before turning his back to the Sheriff and walking away, looking back at the Sheriff who was still writing in his notepad.
"My car is totaled," Theo was quickly grabbed by Peter, held in place by the jock.
"Oh well, daddy will buy you a new one," Deena said, walking up beside Theo and motioning behind them where Sheriff Goode stared at Peter.
Peter then pulled Theo into a tight, forceful hug, faking a smile as he whispered into Theo's ear. "Shittyside trash. You are all fucking... dead."
Theo then pushed the boy away, Peter finally letting go of him before walking away leaving just him and Deena.
"What a fucking night."
It was now the next night, Theo found himself in a living room sitting beside Simon as he watched the news. Kate was stuck babysitting for the night so she invited both boys over to the owners house to help her out with some chores, along with their "side business."
"Can we please watch something e-"
"Shut up, I'm trying to hear dipshit!" Theo snapped, turning the tv up so he could hear better.
"I'm here with Martin P. Franklin, Shadyside Mall Janitor. Martin, what do you know?" the female reporter asked, leaning the microphone towards the male.
"He was a normal dude. Always thought he would, like, just go home and read a comic book or whatever. He was chill, just snapped I guess," Martin explained with a shrug.
"A baffling development here as mall employee Ryan Torres has been identified as the killer. A recent graduate of Shadyside High, and ordinary guy who, as those who knew him attest, just seemed to snap,"
"Okay yeah, on that note we are switching off," Simon said, snatching the remote and changing the channel to an aquatic channel which was showing sharks. Simon instantly fell into a trance as they lured in the shark with blood.
Kate then walked into the room, standing in front of the tv and crossing her arms at both of the boys. "What happened to sorting this?" she asked, pouring out a basket full of clothes. "Lights and darks, and watch for stray socks."
"Remind me what's in it for me again?" Theo asked, looking up at the girl and pulling his yellow flannel over his Queen band shirt.
"Is spending extra time with me not enough for you, love?" Kate asked, causing Theo's cheeks to flush red.
Simon quickly jumped to his feet, unzipping his pink hoodie and throwing it to the side which revealed the bloody shirt Sam had thrown up on the previous day.
"Jesus, are you still wearing the same clothes from last night?" Theo asked, noticing the blood stain on his shirt.
"Did you wear that to the grocery store?" Kate asked, looking at the boy in disgust.
"I had to work a double shirt and this was all I had in the car. So, yes. Yes, I am," Simon replied, starting to sort through the scattered laundry.
Kates pager started beeping for the phone line, the girl picking it up and reading the name before putting it back in her pocket. "That's disgusting. You're disgusting," she said, walking into the hallway to pick up the phone.
As she walked out of the room, Simon scoffed, taking off his shirt and throwing it on the ground before walking to the kitchen with Theo shortly behind him. The boys got chips from the pantry and started to snack on them when Kate emerged from the hallway.
"Jesus! Put something on!" she scoffed, looking over at Simon who was stuffing his face with chips.
"What? Make up your mind woman!" Simon exclaimed.
Before Kate could argue back, the sound of shattering glass came from the living room. Theo, Kate, and Simon all made eye contact along with the twin girls Kate was babysitting. Somehow Kate had convinced them to sort some of their pills for them, but it wasn't the time to ask questions.
"Stay here," Kate told the girls, quickly gripping
Theo's hand as they walked down the hall and towards the living room with Simon close behind them. More glass could be heard shattering as they got closer and closer to the source of noise.
"Maybe this isn't a good id-"
"Shh!"
The three continued to creep down the hallway, eventually getting close enough to peek into the living room. Theo's jaw started to drop as he saw a hooded figure rummaging through the pile of clothes Kate had set out for Theo and Simon to sort through.
Kate stepped forward, not letting go of Theo's hand as she spoke. "Hey, creeper. What the f-"
The hooded person slowly turned around to reveal a skull mask, looking scary similar to the same one Ryan Torres wore the night of the slaughter in Shadyside mall.
Theo quickly pulled Kate back and pinned her against the wall so the person couldn't see her. "Are you fucking crazy?"
"It's just that Sunnyvale asshole," Kate whispered, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze before peeking the corner again. However this time, the person was gone.
The three of them walked slowly out of their hiding spot, looking around to make sure that the guy was actually gone. It seemed to look like it but, they couldn't be sure.
The trio had now walked over to one of the neighbors house known as Mrs. Lane as she introduced herself. The three had decided it would be best if the twins girls Kate was babysitting were in a more safer house, considering some asshole had just broken in only moment prior. Luckily, Mrs. Lane had gratefully accepted the offer of watching the twins which lifted a huge weight off of Theo's shoulders.
"Thank you so much," Kate said who was now standing beside Theo on the front porch of Mrs. Lane's house, the twin girls standing on both sides of Kate and him while Simon stood at the bottom of the porch.
"Oh, no. I'm so happy to have the company," Mrs. Lane said as the twins walked inside of her house.
"You're a lifesaver, Mrs. Lane," Theo said with a grateful smile towards the woman.
"I used to be a nurse," she responded, her eyes narrowing back towards Simon, her brows furrowing. "Are you... you sure everything okay?"
Both Kate and Theo turned around, looking at Simon and realizing his jacket was unzipped, the bloodstain on his shirt completely visible to Mrs. Lane. Simon then quickly zipped up his hot pink jacket.
"Totally! I just have to run out and-"
"-kill that pervert!" Kate exclaimed as she explained to Deena what all had just happened. Luckily enough, Deena happened to be next door neighbors with the kid's Kate was babysitting.
"Why would he break in there? I just don't understand what he was doing," Deena asked, pacing around her kitchen while her little brother, Josh sat at the table drinking from a juice box and Theo, Kate, and Simon all stood around the table.
"He was acting all shifty and shit, like going through the laundry," Theo explained, crossing his arms as he couldn't figure out why Peter was inside the house and how he knew that the three of them were there.
As Theo said this, Simon knelt down beside Josh who had finally finished his juice box. Simon placed a hand on his shoulder, "You need to get some groceries, man. We have an incredible sale at the store-"
"He broke into the house! He had a knife!" Kate exclaimed, rolling her eyes at Simon.
"Woah! With the kids there? That's wack!" said Josh.
"That's fucking right, Josh. It is wack," Theo said, looking over at Kate, trying to back her up.
"Thank you, Josh," Kate said, turning to Deena again, "There were kids there. Okay, and what? He thinks because he's balling Sam, he can come and prank us on our own turf?"
"Hey, you know what? You're right, fuck this!" exclaimed Deena, her anger obviously building up from her clenched fists.
"Yeah, fuck Peter!" Theo added on.
"Uh, hello? You're forgetting the most important part. Fuck Sam," Kate said, looking over at Theo who raised an eyebrow, "no offense, Theo."
"Yeah, fuck her. She needs to get her psycho boyfriend in check," said Deena who walked up to the table, swiping her keys up and running for the door.
The other three followed after Deena, Theo stopping in the doorway as he saw Josh hadn't moved a muscle. "You coming or what, man?"
The group of five had finally arrived at Shadyside's hospital, entering through the emergency room to be met with the front desk which had a woman, paying not attention as she filed her nails. Deena, who didn't have any patience at the time, rung the bell on the desk only to have a clipboard slid towards her.
"Fill these out and take a seat," the woman said, not even bothering to look up from her nails.
"No, we're just visiting," Deena replied, sliding the clipboard back.
"Visiting hours ends at nine," the woman said, clearly not caring about the situation.
Kate, whos arm was interlocked with Theo's, stepped forward with the boy, leaning in towards the woman as she cleared her throat, "Tell Nurse Beddy she has a patient," Kate said.
Within a matter of minutes, Nurse Beddy who was already known by Theo, Kate, and Simon as one of their best customers from their "side buisness" was standing before them. The name tag on her pink nurse gowns used to read 'Eddy' but now had an B carved before it so it now read 'Beddy'
"Beddy. Long time, how you been?" Theo asked with a smile towards the woman, Kate waving from beside Theo.
"See you two are still toting around with this moron," Beddy said, leaning her head toward Simon.
"They can't quit me, Beddy I'm too pretty!" Simon said, opening his arms wide with a smile.
Beddy scoffed with a small smile as she turned back to Theo and Kate.
"Listen, we need your assistance," Kate started to explain.
"I'm sure you do, but there happens to be a new security protocol. We kept coming up short on blueberries and bananas, so now I need a special key-"
"I need to see a patient," Deena cut Beddy off, her face more serious than ever.
With a bit of convincing and bribery, Beddy finally agreed to escort Deena back to Sam's room leaving Theo, Kate, Simon and Josh out in the lobby.
"Blueberries and bananas?" Josh asked, walking up to Theo and Kate with Simon following behind him.
"Vicodin and Percocet," Theo said, turning around to face Deenas little brother with a smile.
"You guys want anything from the machine? I'm starving," Kate asked, walking down the hall and to the nearest vending machine full of candy and chips.
She observed her options, biting her lip before she decided, "Yo, Si-Money. Cash me," she said, holding out her hand towards Simon.
"Don't look at me, dude. I'm- I'm- Im broke," Simon said, shrugging his shoulder at the girl.
Kate then turned to Theo with hopeful eyes. The boy turned out his pockets, only finding one single penny, "Is a penny enough?" he asked with a sharp exhale.
Josh then stepped forward, punching in a couple numbers and letters into the machine. Suddenly, all of the coils started turning, all of the candy falling to the bottom of the machine, "What do you want?" he asked with a smile.
All four of them grabbed a handful of the candy, Theo slipping a couple bars into his pocket before they started snacking.
"Dude, where did you learn how to do this?" Theo asked, taking a bite of a crunch bar.
"Oh, a lot of people trade hacks online," Josh explained with a chuckle.
Simon coughed, "Nerd." Theo shoved him in response as Kate locked their arms together again.
Josh examined Theo and Kate who were close together now and smiled, "So, how long have you two been together?" he asked.
Theo's cheeks flushed red. "Oh- Kate and I? Well- Um-" Even though Theo Fraser had always wanted to be more than friends with Kate Schmidt he couldn't just say that to her.
Kate laughed, "Oh wow, no, no, no. He's just a dork that's all," she laughed, looking up at the boy.
However, Theo wasn't laughing or smiling, he just looked down at his feet, biting the left side of his cheek. I mean, what did he expect though? He should've seen it coming. After all, someone like Theo Fraser could never date Shadyside's pretty, sweet, overachieving cheerleader. That's just how things worked, even in Shadyside.
Theo couldn't think for long though, he was ripped away from his thoughts as screaming came from down the hallway, along with doors flying open and closed. There, Deena and Sam sprinted down the hallway and past the other four with terrified looks.
"Run!" Deena screamed as she turned the sharp corner with Sam.
The four looked at each other with confusion until Simon spoke, "Did they get back together?" he asked.
Before anyone could answer, the same hooded figure with the skull mask, carrying a bloody knife ran past the group, Kate's screams piercing Theo's ears before he quickly snatched her hand, sprinting down the hallway with Josh and Simon following behind them.
Finally making it to the exit, Kate looked around with her eyes wide, searching her pockets as Simon and Josh finally caught up.
Theo continued to hold her hand, but more gently as he spoke to her, "Where are the keys? Do you have the keys? No-" he panted.
"Come on. The ambulance!" she exclaimed, dragging him out of the exit and down towards the ambulances that were parked.
Kate jumped in the drivers seat, starting up the ambulance while Josh and Simon hopped in the back. Without wasting any time, Kate hit the gas, driving back to the entrance of the emergency room, stopping as Simon opened the back doors for Deena and Sam. Once the two girls hopped into the back with the two boys, they were off and far far away from the Shadyside hospital.
To be Continued.