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chapter 1: ( high school sweethearts )
❝ life's alright in devil town ❞
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Shadyside, Ohio. Aka, the "Killer Capital" of the United States. Impressive, right? The town was beset with one of the worst murder rates in America, so you could only imagine how the residents of Shadyside felt with that reputation on their backs. Especially when it came to their neighboring friendly town, Sunnyvale. More like Sunnyshits. Nothing but prissy, stuck up bitches that think they're better than everyone with daddy or mommy's money. None of that mattered to Beckham though, because the heart of her happiness belonged in Shadyside.
Beckham sat at the wooden round table with her father beside her, the usual morning paper in hand and a cup of bitter black coffee. The teenage girl had, what people said, the perfect life. She had loving parents, two lifelong best friends, and a boyfriend she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Of course, she goes through the typical teenage angst shit, but right now, she was happy where she was at. Everything was normal.
"There's a football game tonight at Sunnyvale, so I'll be home late," Beckham informed.
There came a faint scoff from Jane-Anne as she managed the stove with two over-easy eggs. "Nothing good ever comes from over there. They say we're the problem when they have to be the first to open their big mouths." The woman let it be well known how much she despised Sunnyvalers. From what little Beckham was told, her mother had a history with one of the residents.
"Oh, trust me, we'll be ready to come pick you and your friends up if anything happens." Joseph sighed loudly while setting his paper beside his plate and sitting up straight. "Just be careful."
"I always am," retorted Beckham. She set her dishes in the sink as her mother claimed the unoccupied chair. Swiftly picking up her bag, she kissed both of her parents' cheeks. "Bye, love you."
There was a faint bye as Beckham walked out to her car, a gray BMW, a gift from her father. Joseph was practically made out of big bucks that he could probably buy and sell Sunnyvale. He might be the first person to voluntarily move to Shadyside, but that was most likely her mother's doing. Joseph wasn't her biological father, he had met her during one of his business trips and called it "love at first sight". Beckham didn't know her real dad and didn't want to know him. He chose to abandon them both, end of story. At least now, they were all happy.
And that feeling expanded as she pulled up to the Kalivoda residence and honked her horn twice. A few seconds later, out stumbled her boyfriend of three years, Simon. The two met during elementary school and eventually started dating the summer before high school. Now in their senior year, they had big plans for the future.
Simon entered the car, immediately placing a kiss upon Beckham's cherry flavored lips. "Good morning, my fair lady."
"And to you, kind sir." Their hands met in the middle to lay on the armrest as she proceeded towards school. "What's on the agenda today?"
"Besides going to that lame football game, nothing." He leaned back boredly before tilting his head towards her, his eyes moving to their intertwined hands. A small smile ghosted his lips as he toyed with the promise ring on her finger. "You should repaint my nails later."
"Why should I? Can't you do it yourself," she teased.
"Because when I do it, it looks like shit. You're a perfectionist at this."
Rolling her eyes playfully, Beckham glanced at Simon and back at the road. "How about during lunch, since we have to leave right after school."
"Sounds like a plan." Simon grinned widely and reached forward to turn up the volume of the radio.
The tune of 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' blasted through the speakers, Simon air-drumming while singing along to the lyrics and looking at the girl. She laughed while occasionally joining in, but kept focus on driving. He did this ever so often and Beckham constantly told him that one day they'd end up in a car crash because of it. He would respond that he didn't care, as long as they died together. How overdramatic.
Eventually arriving to school, the couple exited the car and walked in together, hearing the loud chatter of students from every direction. Simon accompanied Beckham to her locker, having his arm around her shoulder to keep them close together as the rambunctious teens ran up and down the halls.
"Kate said she wanted to talk to me about something, but I'll find you later," he said. Beckham nodded as she opened her locker.
His arm moved towards her waist to pull her closer, if possible, and pressed his lips against hers, her arm immediately moving to wrap around his neck. She smiled into the kiss as her fingers threaded through the wisps of his hair and lightly stood on her tippy toes. She was the first to pull away, knowing that they could continue for who knows how long if they didn't stop now.
"Go. I'll see you in homeroom." Beckham shoved his shoulder before turning her attention to grabbing her textbooks. She felt him slap her butt gently but quickly scurried away before she could say anything.
A small chuckle left her mouth as she exchanged the notebooks in her bag into her locker. Like everyone else, the inside of her locker was decorated to her liking. Nothing too special, just a few polaroids of her closest friends along with the cheerleading squad. Every day she looked at them and couldn't help the warm content that spread throughout her.
While walking down the hall, she passed by Heather Watkins' locker, seeing the sticky notes filled with heartfelt messages. Unfortunately, Heather was a recent victim of another murder at the Shadyside Mall. Her and Beckham were lab partners. It was sad to see another young spirit leave so soon.
Beckham was walking towards the bathroom when she swore she heard the familiar voice of her self-sufficient friend since middle school.
"There's no angry dead witch who made him go postal. The only thing that made him go crazy is this town!"
After Deena's rant, their heads turned at the sound of the door opening. Beckham walked in with an eyebrow quirked up at the sight of Simon in the bathroom. A common occurrence at this point.
"Sorry to interrupt Sad Breakfast Club. I couldn't help but hear the, oh, so, majestic voice of our dear friend from the hallway. So, what are you three hens gossiping about?" Even from the tense conversation beforehand, they couldn't help but snicker at their friend.
Since she was of arm's reach, Simon pulled her closer by her cheerleading skirt, having her back up against his chest with his hands rested on her waist. "Just the usual Shadyside bullshit. Witchcraft." He whispered the last word in her ear as a shiver went down her spine. "Seems like maybe you got a little witch in you."
Deena scoffed. "Dude, why are you even in here? This is the girls' bathroom."
As Simon retreated back into the stalls, Beckham moved forward towards the mirror between Deena and Kate. She had met Deena in 7th grade after the 'letting the snake out of its tank' incident. The two were suspended since Deena was the one who let out the snake and Beckham tried to take it home. Since then, the two were bit of a troublesome duo. They didn't always see eye to eye, but still cared for each other.
She had met Kate during freshman year at cheerleading tryouts. Beckham couldn't help but mutter comments about every little thing being taught as Kate snickered under her breath and added onto it. They became gradually closer after making the squad and were quite protective of each other, like sisters.
"You know your hair's supposed to be in a ponytail," Kate noted. "Coach will get mad if she sees it down again and will probably bench you."
"But I look hotter with it down," Beckham boasted, running her hands through her long locks. "I'll put it up before she sees. Besides, I doubt she'll bench the head cheerleader before the game." Kate shook her head with a fond smile at the girl's fortitude.
Simon had reached into the vents above the stall and pulled out a white box, a sly grin on his face. "Candy store."
"You know we don't believe this witch shit, right," Kate snorted while fixing her hair. "It's just, like, fucked up Santa Claus or something."
"I beg to differ, hair model of the damned," Beckham objected. She separated from the two and bent down beside Simon who was rummaging through the box. "Hope you're not using any of this."
Simon turned to look at her. "Not without you, of course." She sarcastically smiled, paying no attention to the conversation happening behind her about Deena's ex, Samantha.
Little traitor hauled her ass to Sunnyvale and was welcomed with open arms. Beckham didn't associate much with Sam before, only upholding a few conversations since Deena always stole her away. But she wasn't going to be one to get mixed up into their drama that clearly still effected her. If Deena had a bit of bad blood with Sam, then so did everyone else. Friend code, or something like that.
Kate took the box from the couple with a smirk directed at Deena. "I've got something that'll give you the balls to talk to Sam." She opened the box to reveal the multiple bottles of pills along with stacks of money rolled up and a Shadyside sweatshirt on top.
Deena's mouth gaped. "What? You're dealing again? I thought you stopped after this dingus' brother OD'd." She gestured to Simon.
He stood back up, using his arm to prop himself up against the stall, the other around Beckham's waist. "Timothy?"
"Timmy wasn't a real OD," Kate stuttered out. "He didn't actually die. They brought him back." She turned towards Simon who acted out cardioversion.
"You three are morons," Deena stated, but had a small smile.
"Excuse me? Which one of us is valedictorian, again? President of every club this shithole has to offer."
"That's our girl." Beckham nudged Kate's shoulder before leading the group out. She checked that no one in the hall was paying attention before pulling Simon out quickly with the other two following.
"I'm getting out of here. Off to claim my place among the stars, bitch," Kate concluded.
There was a faint yell from from the opposite end of the hall. Everyone moved aside as a student ran by, dragging a dummy behind him. "Woo! The witch lives! Long live Sarah Fier!"
"Yeah," Simon cheered as Beckham and Kate laughed.
The brunette noticed Deena shake her head in annoyance. "Hey. Head up, buttercup. You know what my two favorite words are? Luxury and weekend. I suggest we have a little get away from this sad life of ours and actually feel like we're worth more than just scum from Shadyside." Deena did like the sound of that, and Beckham was always one to reward her friends with an unnecessary amount of gifts.
"God, that sounds amazing," Kate perked up before deflating. "Wait, I forgot I'm supposed to babysit this weekend."
"There's always next weekend. Just the four of us at the finest establishment, far from Shadyside and Sunnyvale."
"Oh, I didn't know I was included during girls' trip," Simon spoke up.
"Well, you're already like one, so..." Deena trailed off sarcastically.
Simon feigned a hurt expression while placing his hand over his heart. The bell rang just as Beckham let out a small giggle before grabbing his arm to walk to class, Kate doing the same with Deena.
✧ ೃ༄*ੈ✩
"Out of respect for last night's tragic events, Sunnyvale will hold a candlelight vigil for the victims. All player, cheer, and band attendance is mandatory."
Groans and yells of protest came from the students at the announcement. Beckham and Kate looked at each other and back at Deena who made a gun with her head, pretending to shoot herself. That was an understatement.
After the horrific announcement, Beckham went to her locker to place her bag inside. She couldn't help but look back at Heather's locker, seeing the photos and few flowers taped on. Why Heather? What did she do wrong? She was just another teenager obsessed with horror fiction and working at some half-ass job at the mall. She was normal, just like them.
Beckham jumped with a small yelp as someone grabbed her waist, but it was only Simon with a shit-eating grin.
"You okay? You looked like you were zoned out a bit," he said.
"Yeah," she answered. "Just thinking about Heather."
Simon could tell it was more than that. He could practically read her like a book. He knew that, despite what a majority of the town thought, she believed the Sarah Fier curse was real. It more had something to do with what her mother told her what happened back in 1978 during one night in summer camp. Beckham had never been able to repeat the words back to him though, but he didn't mind. He rather not hear about a bunch of kids getting slaughtered.
"Hey, you're okay," he reassured. His hands moved to cradle her face. "Talk to me. What's wrong?"
Beckham's hand set on top of his as he lightly caressed her cheek with his thumb. "Ryan was a good kid. Sure, he had a zucchini shaped nose and pulled a few pranks, but he would never...He would never kill anyone. Especially Heather."
Simon let his hands fall into hers as she leaned against the lockers. "The police caught Ryan in the act, but there's nothing to worry about. He's gone now and he can't hurt us or anyone else."
"He shouldn't have been able to hurt anyone in the first place because Ryan wouldn't have done that. What if he was..."
The boy chuckled while looking down. "Ryan Torres wasn't possessed by Sarah Fier."
"How else can you explain all these murders that go back hundreds of years?" Beckham's posture went straight as she went serious. "These are innocent people we see everyday. We see them in town, at school, at the store, they aren't murderers. People don't just snap like that overnight and there were no drugs in their system while they killed. How can people just turn away from this coincidence?"
Simon was used to this behavior by now and he's been supportive of her opinions, but he, personally, didn't believe in the curse. "Look, I know with our town's history, it'd be kind of cool to have a witch cursing our land and shit, but those people are gone now. We shouldn't let it hold us back from now. And right now, I'm glad you're not one of those names on the front page or on the news. I love you."
Beckham nodded weakly. "I love you too. I'm glad you're not one of those names either. Sorry for bringing up this witchy bitch stuff again. It just bothers me so much that it only happens to Shadysiders. I wouldn't be surprised if it was those damn Sunnyshits tampered with our town somehow, put something in the water to make us crazy."
"Trust me, I'm itching for a good fight tonight. Speaking of tonight." He pulled out the green face paint from his pocket and held it up. "Mind helping me express some school pride before the shit show goes down."
She smiled, taking the paint from his hand and leading him into the art room. Thank god that most of the school was empty. Simon first changed into his witches costume before coming back out, striking a pose. Beckham laughed from her spot on top of the desk as he walked towards her. He situated himself to stand in between her legs, his hands gripping the side of her thighs.
"This position seems familiar," he bantered. He leaned in for a kiss which she pulled away from a few seconds after.
"I'm not going to have sex with you when you're in a witches costume and I'm about to paint your face green," she countered. "Didn't know you were into role playing."
"Yeah, definitely. Hot witch student seduces sexy cheerleader."
"Sounds like a great porno to me."
She stayed silent as she concentrated on painting her boyfriend's face. She pushed his hair back while tilting his head back, using a brush to spread the cold paint around. The whole time, he couldn't keep his eyes off her. Other people saw the star cheerleader of Shadyside High, but he saw Beckham Santos. He saw the girl he's known since the first grade that offered a cookie to him after lying that his was stolen but he actually ate it. He saw the girl that he asked out to the eighth grade winter dance because he realized that she was more than just a friend. He saw the girl that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with and would protect no matter what. And he promised himself that one day, he was going to take them far away from Shadyside.
"I know I'm hot, but it looks like you haven't blinked in the last five minutes." Her voice brought him out of his trance.
"Just can't help myself, babe."
Beckham fought back rolling her eyes at the nickname, but she didn't mind when he said it. "There, you're done."
"Tell me I'm beautiful." Simon batted his eyelashes playfully as she chortled.
"You're very beautiful." She ran her fingers through his hair to fix the messy locks. Even if she couldn't see, she knew under the green paint, his face was a shade of red. "Come on, they're probably gonna board the bus soon."
Simon stepped back so she could jump down. "Do you think this is how Sarah Fier looked?"
"Yeah, along with every other five year old on Halloween."