Give Me Your Best Scream

Monday, April 9, 2007 10:53 p.m.

On Monday night, Serenity was in her bed, staring at the ceiling while holding the book she was reading in her hand. For about an hour, her eyes had been glued to that book, but she took a break and tried to see if she could fall asleep.

Next to her was her cell phone that began ringing. Too tired to answer it, she ignored the call and turned off the light. Serenity put the book on her desk, climbed into bed and closed her eyes, finally getting some sleep.

The phone rang again and she answered it, hoping that whoever was on the other end would stop calling her after she got the call.

"Hello?" she whispered.

"Hey, are you awake?" her boyfriend, Aaron, was the one calling.

She still held the phone to her ear, but fell back onto the bed. "Kind of."

"Oh, you sound tired," he said. "Was it a bad time to call you?"

"No, I'm fine with you calling," she yawned. "What are you calling me for?"

"I couldn't sleep and I wanted to see if you were safe," he answered.

"Safe?" Serenity stopped whispering. "I'm safe, Aaron. Okay, what's this all about?"

"I'm just making sure because I care about you," he replied.

"Can you tell me why?" she asked. "I'm confused at why you're calling me late at night and asking me this randomly."

There was a pause before he began speaking again. "I need to go before my parents wake up. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Wait, Aaron..."

"I need to go," he repeated and hung up.

"But-" she put down her phone and stood up in the dark and sighed.

Well, goodbye to you, too.

Serenity wasn't tired anymore now that her boyfriend had made that call. She stayed awake, trying to figure out why he had worried about her and didn't bother to explain one thing.

She gave up and went to sleep, planning to get answers from him tomorrow.

When Serenity arrived at school on Tuesday, police were parked throughout the school and news vans were also around the campus. Students were waving at the camera, being interviewed and also were asked a few questions from the police.

"Here in the town of Rocklin, a teen was killed..."

"...This bloodbath has a left a poor victim murdered."

"Police are trying to find any evidence of who may have committed this crime."

"Students are currently being interrogated..."

Serenity looked around and was puzzled by all the commotion. Trying to find an answer, she looked around for her friends to see if they could to filll her in.

News reporters were everywhere and some were running around, catching up with students to catch a story or some details. Many of them were obnoxious and it annoyed Serenity to no end when those kind of people were in her face, shoving the mic into her mouth and expecting an answer. She put her hands into her pockets and avoided anyone with a camera crew.

Her friend Chrissie walked up to her. "Serenity, did you hear what happened?"

"No," Serenity shook her head. "Why are there police everywhere?"

"You seriously didn't hear?" Chrissie's eyes went wide. "Michelle Sterri was killed on Sunday."

"Holy fuck, that's horrible" Serenity gasped.

"She was found hanging, covered in blood and everything," Chrissie told her. "The house was torn apart, windows were broken, it was a total mess.

"Hanging?"

"Yeah," Chrissie nodded. "It was pretty brutal and I can't imagine her parents' faces when they found their daughter wearing guts all over her face.

"Who would do something like that?" she asked.

"Apparently someone who had a serious grudge against her," Chrissie said. "What do you think she did to make someone so pissed off?"

"I don't know," Serenity shrugged. "Possibly she broke his heart. A lot of guys seem to be in love with her anyway. Maybe it was one of her stalkers that finally went insane and decided to rip her heart out so he could keep it for himself."

"That's just what I'm saying," she added. "I mean, this never happened and maybe another victim might be next."

"And there might be another horror movie scene coming," Chrissie sighed.

Serenity felt somebody grab her from behind and she elbowed their chest to make sure they wouldn't bother her, only to realize that it was Aaron.

"Whoa, calm down," he backed away a little and held his chest. "Ah, that hurt like a bitch.

"Oh, it's you," Serenity sighed in relief and laughed. "I thought you were one of those reporters. I didn't wanna get interviewed, so I tried getting whoever was behind me away. Um, didn't know it was you."

"I don't blame you," he rubbed his chest. "These people would do anything for the camera."

"I'm sorry," she put her arms around him. "Do you feel better?"

"Much better," he smiled.

"So, is this why you were checking up on me last night?" she smirked at him. "You knew about this? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to panic," he explained. "You know, it was late at night and I kept thinking about what could happen."

"Well, you don't have to worry now because I'm still alive," she kissed him on the cheek as they headed inside.

I'm alive for now.