Lindsey's P.O.V. ~
I walk down the stairs of the house that I live in with my twin sister, Sidney, and my father. My mother was killed almost a year ago at the hands of a guy by the name of Cotton Weary. Well my sister and I were both home, but she said she ID'd Cotton. I said it looked like someone else. No one believed me though since Sidney ID'd him.
My father is away on a business trip for the rest of the week, and would be home on Sunday but we're going to stay at our best friend Tatum's house. I walk into the kitchen to see my sister sitting at the table.
"Sid, we gotta go or we'll miss the bus." I say, catching her attention.
She looks up at me before quickly putting her bowl into the sink. She grabs her bag and we run out of the house, catching the bus just in time. About 20 minutes later, we get off the bus to something that seems oddly familiar. There's six police cars and four new vans around the campus. Sid and I look at each other.
This feels too much like mom. We start walking toward the school when Tatum runs over to us.
"Do you believe this shit?" She says.
"What happened?" Sidney asks, curiously.
"Oh God! You guys don't know?" We both shake our heads. "Casey Becker and Steve Orth were killed last night."
My eyes widen. Killed?
"No way!" I say, shocked.
"Not just killed, Linds. We're talkin' splatter movie killed - split open, end to end." She says, making hand gestures.
"Casey Becker? She sits next to me in English." Sidney says, realizing who Tatum was talking about.
"Not anymore. Her parents found her hanging from a tree. Her insides on the outside." Tatum explains.
"Do they know who did it?" I ask, biting my lip.
"Fucking clueless - they're interrogating the entire school! Teachers, students, staff, janitors…" Tatum says.
"They think it's school-related?" I ask, confused.
"They don't know. Dewey said this is the worst crime they've ever seen. Even worse than…" Tatum stops. "Well, it's bad. They're bringing in the feds. This is big!"
I look away slightly. It's bigger than my moms murder. A few classes go by and I'm sitting in my Math class, watching the teacher do a math problem on the board when a boy walks into the classroom. He hands the teacher a paper before walking out. The teacher looks at the paper before turning around.
"Lindsey? It's your turn."
I nod and stand up, grabbing my stuff. I walk to the principal's office and knock on his door. One of the cops opens the door, letting me in. I walk over and sit down. Sheriff Burke is the first to speak.
"Hi, Lindsey."
I smile slightly, "Sheriff Burke. Deputy Riley."
Dewey nods in appreciation. I'm the only one in my friend group that takes his job seriously.
"How is everything?" Burke asks me.
"Good." I smile.
"We'll be brief, Lindsey. The police have a few questions they'd like to ask you." Principal Himbry says.
I nod.
"Where were you last night?" Burke asks.
"I was at home, doing homework." I answer.
"Anyone there?"
"My sister and my dad." I answer.
He nods. "Didn't you get into a fight with a," He pauses, looks at some papers in front of him. "Gale Weathers last year?"
I look away and nod. "She was telling lies about my mother. We got into an argument and I punched her."
"Do you like to hunt?" Burke asks, looking up from his clipboard.
Dewey looks over at Burke with wide eyes.
"No, sir. I'm the type to stay inside." I answer, honestly.
Burke nods before asking a few more questions.
"You can get your sister, Lindsey."
I nod and stand up, waving to Dewey before leaving. About an hour later, it's lunch time so I go to the water fountain that the gang and I eat at. I walk over and sit down next to Randy Meeks. He's the witty jokester of the group. Sitting next to him is Tatum with her boyfriend Stu Macher. He's the funny asshole of the group.
Next to them is my sister and her boyfriend Billy Loomis, laying behind her. He's...the QB type of guy. Handsome and popular, but mysterious.
"Hunt? Why would they ask if you liked to hunt?" Tatum asks.
I open my lunchbag, grabbing my sandwich.
"I don't know, they just did." Stu says.
"Because their bodies were gutted." Randy says, eating a chip.
I see my sister flinch.
"Thanks, Randy." Billy says, sticking up for Sidney.
"They didn't ask me if I like to hunt." Tatum asks.
"Because there's no way a girl could have killed them." Stu says, stupidly.
"That is so sexist! The killer could easily be female - Basic Instinct." Tatum says, eating a grape.
"Not the same thing, Tatum, but they asked me if I like to hunt." I say, finally speaking up.
They all look over at me.
"It's because you have a violent record." Randy says.
"Only because I punched someone in the face. Not because I've killed someone." I roll my eyes.
"No one said you did." Billy says, speaking up.
"Yeah, Casey and Steve were completely hollowed out. Takes a man to do something like that." Stu explains.
"Or a man's mentality." Tatum comments.
"How do you gut someone?" Sidney wonders, quietly.
No one says anything for a second until Stu speaks up.
"You take a knife and slit from the groin to the sternum."
Everyone rolls their eyes. Billy reaches over and smacks his shoulder.
"What? She asked!" Stu tries to explain.
"It's called tact, you fuckrag." Billy says, sternly.
"Hey, Stu? Didn't you use to date Casey?" Sid asks, looking up from her half eaten sandwich.
Stu's taken back by the question. She caught him off guard.
"For like two seconds-" Stu starts.
"Before she dumped him for Steve." Randy finishes.
Tatum's eyebrows scrunch. "I thought you dumped her for me?"
"I did." Stu glances at Tatum, before looking at Randy. "He's full of shit."
"And are the police aware that you dated the victim?" Randy smarts off.
"What are you saying?" Stu asks, offended. "That I killed her or something?"
"It would certainly improve your high school Q." Randy smirks.
"Stu was with me last night." Tatum sticks up for Stu, leaning against him.
"Oooooh...Before or after he sliced and diced?"
"Fuck you, nut case. Where were you last night?" Tatum glares at Randy.
"Working, thank you." Randy smarts off.
"I thought Blockbuster fired your sorry ass." Tatum comments.
"Twice." Randy smirks, putting a grape in his mouth.
Stu looks up. "I didn't kill anybody."
"No one said you did." Billy says, looking at him.
"Thanks, buddy." Stu says, toward him.
"You were with Tatum. You couldn't have." I glance over at him.
"See! Linds gets it."
"Besides -" Randy starts then mimics Stu. "Takes a man to do something like that."
"I'm gonna gut your ass in a second." Stu says.
Randy leans over toward Stu and Tatum before saying in a weird voice-
"Did you really put her liver in the mail? I hear they found her liver in the mailbox next to her spleen and her pancreas."
"Randy, you goon-fuck, I'm eating here." Tatum says, disgusted.
Stu nibbles at Tatum's neck, before speaking. "Yeah, Randy, she's getting mad. I think you better liver alone."
Stu starts laughing at his own joke. Sid grabs her stuff, kisses Billy quickly and starts to walk toward the building.
"Sid!" I call out.
I sigh when she keeps walking. Hours later, Sid and I are getting off the bus. I stop to grab the mail while Sid goes inside. I follow behind after putting the papers in my dad's office. I walk up to my room to pack my clothes for Tatum's this weekend. I walk to Sid's room with the bag, seeing her on the phone.
"You sure we can stay over? My dad won't be back til Sunday…Tell your mom I said thanks...Uh-huh. It's just...you know the police and reporters...It brings it all back...Thanks, Tatum." She hangs up the phone.
She looks over at me and smiles slightly. "She's gonna be here at seven."
"Great! I can finish my homework." I walk over to her. "I love you, Sid."
She smiles wider and pulls me in for a hug. I hug her back tightly. We pull away and go our separate ways. Hour or so later, Sid and I walk downstairs. I walk to the kitchen to grab a drink while she watches TV. I walk back and see her turn off the TV.
"Reporters?" I ask.
She nods and lays back on the couch. I walk over and lay down so my feet are behind her and her feet are in front of me. We lay there for a second before drifting off to sleep. Two hours later, I'm awoken by the telephone ringing. I reach over and grab it.
"Hello?"
"Practice ran late. I'm on my way." Tatum says.
I can hear her keys jingle.
"It's past seven." I tease and sit up.
"Don't worry, Linds. Casey and Steve didn't bite it till way after ten."
"I'm not worried."
"Good, 'cause I wanna swing by Blockbuster and get us a video. I was thinkin' Tom Cruise in All the Right Moves. You know, if you pause it just right you can see his penis!" She says, excitedly.
I laugh. "Whatever. Just hurry."
She says goodbye and I hang up. I go to put the phone down when it rings again. Sidney shakes her head, grabs the phone and answers.
"Tatum! Just get in the car and go." Sidney laughs.
"Hello, Sidney." I hear on the other end.
"Hi...Who is this?" Sidney asks.