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“Couldn’t have picked a place with a bit more of a clear view?”
Despite the protests- this one from Mickey- the group of Windsor college students settled down. It’d been quite a long hike, mostly with the group messing around but long nonetheless, and no one wished to pester Derek enough into finding a new spot.
“The fireworks will be above the trees” Derek insisted, setting up the fold out chair for Sidney “It’ll be an absolutely gorgeous view.”
Randy hadn’t said much, which he even admitted to himself was uncharacteristic. In his own defense, he hadn’t really wanted to come in the first place!and he felt Sidney only invited him out of pity. She said he needed to “get out more”. If it was anyone else he’d snap and say he got out just fine. He went to parties, had a job, and on the side had started filming his own passion project.
However, he wasn’t going to blow her off like an asshole. Maybe she was projecting- if something wasn’t on the campus she tended to make an excuse not to go with. This was likely the first time she left in months, and they weren’t far as the woods they were in were connected to the dorm area.
(He wasn’t blaming her— she was afraid their happy ending was faux. To say that line of thinking didn’t keep him up in the darkest of nights would be a lie.)
So he hiked through the woods (bad idea- Blair Witch Project anyone? Mickey had even been filming as if he was wanting it to be found footage), got bitten by dozens of mosquitoes (at least they didn’t encounter mass amounts of flies, roaches, or vultures circling), and was now going to “enjoy” an evening of “celebration” where he was only looking forward to the alcohol they brought along.
“Randy- you want to sit with Derek and I?” Sidney smiled at him and despite him hating the third wheel position he was put in he nodded.
She didn’t see it like that; she didn’t understand how her boyfriend annoyed him to hell and back. He was no Billy Loomis- but he could still be irritated by the man.
Muscles. Handsome. Good smile. Has a major that is utterly Humanitarian. Voice of an Angel.
He swallowed the jealousy down and couldn’t wait to be able to drink it down with a beer (or two. Or three. Or more).
*
Randy was holding onto that beer now, gripping it tightly every time Derek leaned over and whispered into Sidney’s ear and she erupted in laughter. Every time Mickey made some kind of flirting mark toward Hallie.
It was just like in Woodsboro- when Tatum wasn’t clinging to Stu and Billy wasn’t up Sidney’s ass it was like they’d switch it up. Sid and Tatum were inseparable while Stu and Billy were practicing conjoined.
He was fifth wheeling. Like always.
He was an afterthought. He was supposed to drive. Grab the beers. Bring the movies. Wait until everyone finished sucking face to even speak with anybody.
Same shit. Different group. (Same girl he was head over heels with)
“There was a time when it was just Sid and you” His mind provided, “She’d only really talk to you”
“ Yeah,” He replied to his own thoughts “Cause everyone fucking died . Tatum was murdered. Billy and Stu showed their true colors. I was the only one left.”
“And will these people live? What if they were to just—“
Randy grabbed another drink. Drowning it all out. These thoughts weren’t “his”. They were brought from a mix of anxiety, jealousy, and the fact he’d only drank enough to stir up his emotions, not enough to turn them off.
He was not a homicidal maniac. He was just depressed and paranoid. Maybe upset. Definitely traumatized.
To further distract him he saw the first fireworks shoot up into the sky. Green and yellow filled the group’s line of sight, stretching out over and through the trees.
His companions reacted accordingly- a gasp, a squeal, and a hand holding.
He watched as several more colors shot up into the sky. His eyes stuck, a moth to flame.
When the first bang broke into his ears- light and sound slightly off due to not traveling at the same time- he could feel the vibrations deep in his chest.
He hadn’t realized that the reason this spot was chosen was due to the fact they were rather close to the site where the fireworks were set off.
Like the best place in the theater- he could feel and hear every noise reverberated through him.
This was exciting to normal people. Splendid. An absolute delight.
He started to choke on old memories.
He saw the smirk of Billy’s lips as he turned the gun toward him.
“We all go a little mad sometimes.” And the gun went off.
He’d already begun his fall into the glass table before he heard the bang and the ringing that followed.
He was finding it difficult to breathe.
It was probably due to the bullet lodged in his shoulder. Or the fact glass had pierced his body. How he tasted the blood curdling up in his mouth.
“Randy?” When did Sidney get so close to him?
Better yet why did he have beer spilled all over himself? Wasn’t he bleeding?
Wasn’t he dying?
“Randy- Randy, come on. Let’s go to the car. It’s going to be alright.”
She placed a hand on his chest, a gentle gesture, and while there was pain in her eyes it wasn’t the physical kind.
He’d gotten up from his chair (chair- no glass shards) and she was leading him away from the rest of the group. Alarms were going off in his head that someone was going to take advantage of their departure from the group and attack but he had no way of expressing his concern.
Every time he attempted to speak it instead came out as exasperated gasps. His chest tightening up prevented any explanation that wasn’t unintelligible.
He heard Sidney wave off the others' help- that they just needed to go on a “little walk”- and then he was being guided through the woods.
Besides the sudden bursts of lights from the sky it would’ve been a perfectly dreary night for a murder. Even several.
A figure in the dark would lurk until they were far enough for no one to hear their screams- and then strike. They’d bring down their hatchet (or knife- or long pipe- or whatever else the killer had at their disposal) over his head but Sidney would get away. Yelling all the way, but she’d be quicker then any creep who could only run as fast as he could walk.
He found it ironic that thinking of the possibility of his own demise by a Jason-Michael Voorhees-Myer creep had begun to calm his nerves. Or perhaps it was the fact they were getting further and further from the vibrations.
Either way he was breathing more evenly and his head no longer spun out of control with thoughts that he’d been shot.
“Randy?” Sidney squeezed his hand and he was made all the more aware that she’d been holding it the whole time “We’re almost there. You holding up alright?”
He didn’t respond at first, lost in his own mind, but he squeezed her hand back. “It’s okay” he hoped the gesture said. “It’s better now.”
“God- if I knew going to see the fireworks was… I wouldn’t have insisted you come with me,” She took so much upon herself and more than ever he wanted to ease her.
“It’s just cause we were so close to them. It’s like I could feel it inside myself,” He took a deep breath “You know when I was a kid I wasn’t such a huge fan of them either?”
“Really?”
“Really- I was like three and I used to cover my ears and scream as loud as I could,” He chuckled to himself “When I was a bit older I’d just cover my ears and try to hum my favorite songs.”
“That’s not funny,” She said but her lips already turned to a smile.
He loved that smile- it’s what got him to actually come along. The light freckles across her nose, her chestnut eyes, and her soft lips all made his stomach turn in all the right ways. But to see her smile? It meant more than all that. Safety. Joy. Comfort.
It made him think that- even if she never saw him in the same way he did- they’d live a long life as friends.
“Yeah. When I got older they stopped bothering me… I didn’t even realize it’d affect me so much. Otherwise I’d have skipped this trip- sorry to ruin it for you guys.”
“…Randy,” She stopped in her tracks and he worried, for a moment, they’d encountered danger “You didn’t ruin anything. If either of us had known… we’ll then I’d have had us do something besides going to see fireworks.”
Of course Sidney wouldn’t blame him. She was too forgiving… well, at least to non murderers.
“I know, I-“
“I’m being serious. Don’t blame yourself.”
He looked at her, bathed in the odd green light, and she looked so much older than just nineteen. Not due to wrinkles or age lines, just from the serious look in her eyes. It was different then Hallie,Mickey, Derek, and anyone else on their campus. They’d grown prematurely.
He wondered if she saw it in his own face.
They were changed- yet he wanted nothing more to bury it. His new chance at a life, away from the ghosts of Woodsboro, meant he didn’t have to feel the pain of his old one.
She knew. He knew.
The scars were there and not just the one under his shirt.
“Don’t go blaming yourself either,” He swallowed down his next line that came to him. ‘If all goes to hell’.
He didn’t want to utter something that teetered the edge of a curse.
Her arms were now around him- comforting and soft. Squeezing him. Was this more for him or for her? Both- this was helping them both.
He closed his eyes and tried to push away the thoughts of killers and gunshots. He thought about how strong they were. He was ignoring the tears that threatened to fall -for both of them- and how he buried his face into her muffling the world.
They were in the moment.
They were caught up in their own heads.
Woodsboro was a thousand miles away.
It felt like they were still in the small town.
He took a sharp breath. The air wasn’t fresh nor clean, it had a bit of smoke to it, but as it filled his lungs he reminded himself that they lived . Nothing in the future could change that- even if others came along.
Sidney Prescott -the final girl- killed her murderous boyfriend along with his lap dog who followed. She had no mother, hadn’t for years, yet she remained on her feet. Upright. Determined. She survived.
Randy Meeks -the virgin and expert on horror- narrowly missed death. A terribly aimed gun led to his shoulder shattering but his heart stayed beating in his chest. He was faced with being smacked into a cold reality but he hadn’t given up. He survived.
“We should get to the car Randy- it’ll be ten times quieter. And we’ll still be able to see them,” She rubbed his back before letting go of their embrace.
His eyes flicked to her red puffy cheeks. He must’ve had the same.
They deserved to have a cry in a way neither would be embarrassed by an external party. It was… cathartic.
“Yeah, sounds good. And hey, we can play some music over it if we need to.”
To drown everything out.
She smiled. He returned one to her.
They were happy, amidst the pain they could find joy. Even with its iron grip; even if they'd always be reminded of the past.
Muffled, in the car, the fireworks were a dazzling display. Randy quite enjoyed himself for the rest of the night.