The room had vague chatter between people dressed in complete black attire. Sarah had went to the snack table to get Audrey some snacks. They had an array of foods from pigs in a blanket to marshmallow muffins, all foods Rachel loved to eat. Sarah took a small white paper-plate and put two pieces of toasted bread and two pigs in a blanket. She turned to Audrey, about to walk to her best friend when she was no longer standing the the corner Sarah left her in.
Sarah sighed and put the plate down onto the long table with the rest of the snacks. She licked her chapped lips and turned towards the staircase that led to Rachel's room. She flattened out her black dress and clicked her heels towards the stairs to Rachel's bedroom. She looked into different rooms, unsure of which one was Rachel's. Audrey had earlier said she wanted to see Rachel's room one last time, and so she found the chance when Sarah has left her for a mere three minutes.
Sarah finally found Rachel's room at the end of the hallway. She saw a shadow of someone standing on the bed and so she ran. Her heels clicked heavily against the wooden floor until she reached Rachel's room where Audrey was sliding her head through a belt tied to the ceiling fan. "Audrey!" She grabbed her friend from the waist and pushed her down so she landed on top of her best friend, and so her best friend was away from the belt she attempted to hang herself with.
"Sarah, get off of me. Hey!" Audrey groaned, trying to push the petite brunette off her body. Sarah stared at her best friend as she laid atop of her.
"What the hell, Audrey? Were you really about to commit suicide?" Sarah whined, her eyes brimming with tears and her mouth trembling at the thought. "How could you even contemplate doing it? Audrey, if I lost you... I don't know what I'd do."
"Sarah, beam off." Audrey groaned. Sarah lessened her weight on Audrey and sat on the edge of the bed now. "I wasn't going to do it... I was just testing to see if it was possible, okay?"
"Still, Audrey... Never, ever, ever do anything like that again, alright? Not even as some joke or whatever." Audrey gulped at her best friend as she nodded. Sarah brought Audrey into her arms, hugging her tightly against her chest. Sarah had a few tears drifting down her cheeks.
"I miss her..." Audrey muttered to herself, her body quaking slightly in Sarah's arms.
"I know, D. I know." Sarah whispered.
"Hey..." Emma quietly said as she entered Rachel's room.
"Emma, what are you doing here? This is Rachel's wake." Audrey growled, wiping her tears from her eyes and sitting up next to Sarah again.
Sarah looked down. "I invited her."
"You what?"
"I felt really guilty about everything and Sarah told me about today and I thought I would come to pay my respects to Rachel's family...but then I found out something that I think you really need to know." Emma looked between the two girls. Sarah rose from her seat, as did Audrey. The two girls now stood adjacent to one another staring at the blonde girl ahead of them.
"Rachel didn't kill herself."
"What?" Audrey and Sarah both said in unison.
"My mom found something in the autopsy. The sheriff's opening a murder investigation." Emma explained looking between Sarah and Audrey. Sarah's mouth parted slightly, shock ringing her body... and confusion.
"I knew it. I knew Rachel wouldn't just kill herself." Audrey added.
"You did?" Sarah questioned.
"I mean, I had a feeling it wasn't possible... which was why I tested it out."
"You what?" Emma commented.
"Look, forget about that, guys. Who would want to kill Rachel?" Audrey said exasperatedly by the fact that now her girlfriend was dead not because of what everyone thinks happen (a suicide), but by the same exact person who decided to nearly slice Nina's head off.
"I... I have no clue." Sarah stated, furrowing her eyebrows.
"I'm so sorry, but I've got to go. I just wanted you to hear it from me." Emma smiled a considerate smile, one that wasn't taunting but was her way of feeling bad but trying to still be friendly.
"Seriously? Emma, you just did your hair twirl thing." Audrey noted Emma's shadiness.
"What's really happening, Em?" Sarah asked.
"We can't talk about this here. Later?" Emma nodded quickly, licking her lips and accepting the nods from both Sarah and Audrey before rushing out. The two girls looked at one another and rose an eyebrow before looking down at the clean-carpeted floor in Rachel's bedroom. Sarah gulped.
The killer couldn't have struck again... right? The killer should be in the police's custody by now, that is if they were doing their job right. She was terrified. She didn't want to be next. She couldn't be next. Who was she kidding thinking about herself so selfishly, she couldn't let anyone she cared about be next. That would be just as bad as the killer killing herself.
And Sarah would rather die than watch someone she loves die right in front of her very eyes.
>>>><<<<
Sarah sat in the centre of the classroom, her eyes looking between Jake and Noah. She was still conflicted. On the one hand, Jake liked her back and had been really good to her lately. On the other hand, Noah had been her best friend for a year now and she liked him a lot, but he didn't like her in return. But there was also her less frequent gazes at Emma sitting next to her. Emma had admitted to both Audrey and Sarah that she was getting creepy messages from some stalker dude who apparently knew a lot more about her than he led on. It was creepy, and made shivers crawl down Sarah's back. Everything seemed to be doing that these days.
Boys, murderers, school; everything that stressed a regular teenager and was now affecting her, just as bad.
"You see, Aristotle asked, "Why are we here? What is the meaning of life in the face of death?"" Mr. Branson taught as he wandered his classroom, looking at every knick-knack and cranny. Almost like he was looking for something, which made Sarah laugh because he chose to multitask while teaching a class.
"Bet Tyler's wondering the same thing right about now." Jake commented.
"Thank you, Jake." Branson sarcastically retorted. Sarah hiccuped a giggle, but covered her mouth before it fully came out and anyone could hear. That wasn't normal of her. She didn't giggle, at least not like a little girl. The action infuriated her, yet she found herself feeling like she needed to giggle at Jake's response. "See, Aristotle also understood that volatile relationships, well, they can lead to tragedy."
"Looking for something, Mr. B?" Brooke seductively asked Branson, resulting in him looking at her like a deer in headlights. Sarah furrowed her eyebrows, a small smile on her face from Brooke kidding around with Branson. He wasn't one to joke around with. He always seemed like he had a stick up his ass, which made it even funnier when he was caught off guard when someone says something about him or his actions.
"We're all looking for something, Brooke." He muttered to himself, turning to the blackboard. "See, desire, that's at the heart of drama." Sarah immediately found herself turning slightly to Jake, who had confessed he loved her two days before but she had brushed it off. The two hadn't spoken since then, neither had she and Noah. She did speak to Audrey about what happened. Audrey laughed at her best friend and called her a home wrecker. It was a natural conversation between the two girls on a daily basis. "Desire for love, power, money. I'm talking about Jason and Medea; Antony and Cleopatra; I'm talkin' about Emma and Kieran."
Everyone's ears perked up, especially Emma's. "Excuse me?" She innocently responded.
"I'm splitting you all into pairs. You and your partner will choose a dramatic scene to perform in class. Now, let's not just limit ourselves. We can choose something contemporary, like movies, Audrey and Will."
Audrey rolled her eyes to the back of her head and turned to the blonde boy. "If you suggest the pool scene from Wild Things, I will end you." Sarah chuckled, putting her hand back at Audrey to high five. She shook her head and looked back to the front of the classroom.
"Or if that's too much for your attention span, pick a favourite TV show: Riley and Noah." As his name was called out, Sarah couldn't help but squirm in her seat. She had always been paired with Noah on projects, always. She had never not worked with Noah on a paired project. This was new to her. This wasn't the way she liked things, and she wasn't just being bitter because she had feelings for the dorky boy. "I'll even allow popular fiction, Jake and... Sarah." Branson continued. Sarah licked the inside of her cheek, squinting to Mr. B, quietly cursing at him.
Jake spun in his chair to Sarah, a highly smug grin expressed on his face. "How about Fifty Shades of Grey?" He asked, smirking to her and looking at her chest to her brown eyes staring directly into his own.
"Only if you're the Anastasia to my Christian." Sarah grimaced, staring at the boy with the strange smile on his face. The class laughed while Jake stuck his tongue out at Sarah and turned back to Branson as he begun to speak again.
It was odd. It was almost like the universe was shoving Jake at her.
Like everything that was happening in her life, it all somehow included Jake.
Noah used to be her right-hand man, but now Jake was.
"Like superhero fantasies, Brooke and Michael." Branson grinned and looked up at the clock ahead of his head. Brooke groaned. Michael Morre, the boy who constantly smelled like he had never been introduced to a single stick of deodorant in his entire life. Barely anyone could stand within five feet of him, but Brooke now had to... and Sarah sympathized with the poor blonde girl. "All right, everybody. Let's get going to the library, I'm gonna pair the rest of you up on the way. Get going on these selections using the resources there. Let's go."
>>>><<<<
"What do we do..." Sarah scrolled through her phone looking at a list of top-movies the two of them could reenact. She barely said a word to Jake. She didn't quite know what to say. Hey, sorry I haven't called you since you pronounced your love for me and almost kissed me. That didn't sound right, and frankly nothing did in regards to what happened.
"I'm still sticking to fifty shades." He hummed as he pursed his lips and stared at Sarah.
"I'm still sticking to no." She hummed back at him, putting her phone face down on the table. "How about we do a scene from-"
"Why haven't you talked to me since the other night after the game?" Jake leaned in close to Sarah, whispering loud enough for only her ears to hear and not Will and Audrey's, whom sat next to them in the library.
"Is that a line from Friday Night Lights?" Sarah replied, nonchalantly.
"Sarah." He deadpanned.
"Okay, fine. Look, I didn't know how I was supposed to react to it." Sarah sighed.
"We had a moment, we almost kissed and you walked away. Pretty sure you reacted pretty publicly." Jake rose his eyebrows.
"First of all, you're the one who stormed off after Noah showed up. Secondly, what was I supposed to do? Stay with you another half hour talking about the almost kiss and arguing about who rocks more?" She sarcastically responded, Mr. Branson walking by as she did so.
"Good job so far, you two. Realistic." He smiled proudly and moved on to the next table.
"Who rocks more? What?" Jake looked confused.
"It was sarcasm..."
"Look, whatever, that doesn't matter. Sarah, I really wanted to kiss you that night and then that freak came and messed it all up. I saw your face after he called your name. You looked like the most guilty person in the world, more than Tyler would look right now." Jake sighed, defeatedly.
"So?"
"So it's pretty obvious you like the guy. I don't get how, but whatever," Jake rolled his eyes and leaned back in the chair.
"Well, he doesn't like me back so forget it, okay? Let's get back to work." Sarah didn't like talking about this with Jake, especially with her semi-lingering feelings with the sweet boy.
"Okay... but answer this real quick. If we did kiss, and it turned into a hot, steamy make-out session, would you still give me a shot even if he did show up right after we had kissed?" Jake asked the girl sitting across from him.
"I don't understand."
"If you and I kissed before he interrupted us... would things be different right now?" Jake briefly explained his question. It took Sarah a minute to gather her thoughts. Maybe things would've been different. She maybe would have felt a spark with Jake and wouldn't have cared as much about Noah watching her, or maybe it would be a bust and a waste of her time... or maybe things wouldn't be different. But she knew they would be. A kiss isn't just a kiss, especially not with someone you have history with... but then again, she did have history with both guys. It was just a matter of who she kissed first and who she felt more connected to when she did kiss them.
"Probably, yeah." She dryly spoke.
"Good to know." Jake huffed. "Let's do Dirty Dancing."
"Oh my God, what?" Sarah couldn't help but have a stupid smile burst on her face.
"It's your favourite movie, right?" He cockily sat up straight in his seat, feeling successful with himself.
"I guess, yeah... how did you know?" She uncontrollably grinned with her teeth showing, which wasn't something Sarah did on the usual.
"Because your middle school graduation quote was, "Nobody puts baby in the corner."" He laughed, shaking his head disappointedly.
"It was last minute and I had to choose the quote! I didn't know what else to do!"
"I don't know, maybe some quote by Oprah or Miley Cyrus would have been more, you know, realistic?" Jake judged her from the opposite side of the table.
"Oh, I'm sorry: because "Let's shake and Jake," is so much better than Patrick Swayze!" Sarah called out Jake, waving her hands in the air to emphasize how comedic she found their current conversation. She couldn't help but find this side of Jake completely lovable. It was when he was being silly, but not rude. Cute, but not a jackass. Just him being, well, Jake.
"Of course it is! It involves me!" Jake exclaimed, waving his hands in the air the exact same manner Sarah had done just seconds ago. The two sat there, laughing about their past yearbook quotes. Somehow, whenever they argued or were beginning to get mad at each other, they would eventually end up joking around together and hanging out like friends... or almost kissing, like the other night.
Sarah found herself starting to consider Jake to be one of her best friends, and at the start of the school year, they were barely acquaintances. He was infatuated with her, she was constantly annoyed with him always pushing her buttons. But the two of them had seen something terrible, and it was always like it mended them at the hip.
The day she drove Jake home and they happened to see Nina, that was the first day Sarah liked talking to Jake... and that was the first day Sarah questioned her non-stop hatred for the black-haired boy.
"What're you doing later night?" Jake broke the brunette from her thoughts.
"My dad wanted me home for dinner, why?" She coughed after she spoke, her words tangling in her throat.
"I wanted to research the note-"
"Shhh."
"Why are you shushing me?" Jake chuckled, his eyebrows furrowing as everyone else voices collaborated and muted them from being heard.
"Because no one needs to know about that note. You saw how you reacted, just imagine everyone else finding me with it. They won't be as forgiving." Sarah unleashed a long sigh.
"Well, okay then. Can I come over to your house later?" He continued.
"I'm having dinner with my family later." Sarah repeated herself.
"What're you having for dinner?" Jake twiddled with his thumbs as he leaned forward in his seat.
"I don't know, chicken I believe." Sarah shrugged.
"Great, I love chicken. Especially the breasts." Jake stood up from the seat and gathered his books just as the bell rang. He stuffed them into his black jansport backpack.
"That wasn't an invitation...and ew!" Sarah shouted as Jake bumped into Will and the two exited together. Jake turned back slightly and smirked before exiting the library. Sarah shook her head, a smile entering her confused face. There Jake was again, being a jackass... but she had began to grow to like it.
"What is wrong with me?" Sarah quietly mumbled to herself, angrily pulling her books to her chest. She had just admitted to herself she was liking Jake more and more, and she didn't like the thought. She had grown to dislike Jake. That was how their relationship worked. They bickered, and they argued, and they walked away. But now she couldn't find herself going anywhere but to him. She found herself crushing on the boy, more than she expected, and more than she had ever hoped.
authors note;
HEY HEY!! new chapter!! It isn't as busy as my others (it's only 2k words compared to my others which are 3.5K or more...) but this chapter is really just a filler. The next few chapters get hardcore. The next chapter is where Jake and her have dinner with her mom, dad and Dylan...and also it's the beginning to the killer planning his big kill...which Sarah may or may not be apart of. There is a lot of Jarah in the next chapter, and if you guys ever watched The Amazing Spiderman, I'm stealing some scenes from the first film so theres some hints. I am really excited because slowly Sarah is figuring things out, and slowly her life just keeps going downhill, except jake who is just going up her hill ;) < WANKY (in the words of Santana Lopez)
This chapter has some major foreshadowing, and if you can point it out... A+. It's closer to the beginning, so there's that.
Thank you all for 7K reads!! I am so happy you guys are enjoying the fic so far! I promise, from here on, it is nothing but troubled waters and Jarah (some Norah) and a lot of Sarah's character development. Not gonna lie, she will be going through hell with the next few happenings in her life, but nothing the Jake can't help her with :)
Hope you all liked this chapter (and the gif I made!!) and don't forget to comment your thoughts and vote! I love reading what you guys thought about the chapter.
xo, Sam