Saw 3 Chapter 4
On Friday morning, Maya brought a Tupperware container with brownies and cookies inside. As they walked up to the group, they found thier new cirlce of friends surrounded. Sitting at a table, Lucas had his hand placed on the surface while another studnets used a shapened pencil to move across his hand.
"Well if it isn't the little ditchers," Ava said as Maya and Amelia walked up to them in the quad.
Thier game soon ended with some cheering and high fiving. The crowd quickly descended.
"Quiet Ava," Lucas said. "Are those the pot brownies?"
"And cookies," Maya said.
"All is forgiven," Veronica said. She reached her hands for the container.
"Do you want them now or at lunch?" Maya asked them.
"Now," Nick said quickly.
Maya opened the container and watched as each member of the group took a brownie or a cookie and consumed it.
"Did you make these yourself?" Lucas asked.
"The brownies, yes, but we bought the cookies." Amelia said.
"So what all does a cannabis store sell?" Nick asked.
"What? Cookies aren't enough for you?" Veronica asked.
"I'm just curious. Like, is there candy? Drinks?" Nick asked.
"Why would you want to drink pot?" Sabrina asked.
"It's just a question." Nick said.
"A stupid one," Sabrina said.
The warning bell rang.
"Okay, you two can fight on your way to class." Lucas teased.
"See ya at lunch," Sabrina called, walking off with Nick.
Ava and Amelia left in separate directions.
Veronica walked a few feet behind Lucas and Maya on their way to history class.
"Maya," Lucas said. He walked beside her.
"Yeah?" Maya asked.
"Uh... Thanks for the brownies." He said.
"Yeah. Probably should have shared them after school. Your pupils are really big right now." Maya said.
"I'll be fine. Not my first time. And it was only one brownie." Lucas said. His phone buzzed. He glanced at it and looked back at Veronica.
She made a gesture to him. Her eyes widened and she held her hands out as if to say, "Come on!" Or "get on with it!"
Lucas turned back to Maya as they walked up into their class. "Do you have any plans this weekend-"
"Voices off when you walk in," the teacher said. "We have a quiz today."
Lucas sighed as Maya got further away from him, going to her seat. Lucas sat in his assigned seat, next to Veronica. When Lucas and Veronica finished their quiz rather quickly, Maya remembered what Amelia told her about Lucas looking at the answers. They were both cheaters.
Amelia took a bathroom break during her English class. During which, she made two discoveries about the group. One about Nick and another about Ava.
Amelia spotted Nick kissing another girl by a tree. It was near their chemistry class. He was on the other side of the tree with this girl, out of sight from their class. Amelia tried to get a closer look. The girl was tan and had a yellow pendant necklace.
While in the bathroom, Amelia noticed a pair of blue sneakers in one closed stall. Amelia used the stall next to them and heard a bouncing sound effect coming the stall next to her. Amelia sat on the toilet quietly. Another silly sound effect went off. They're playing games on their phone!
Amelia rolled her eyes. Not a big deal.
But then she heard YouTube videos playing in the other stall. Amelia took her time, spending about 10 minutes in the bathroom, realizing the person in the stall wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon. They're ditching class.
In PE, one classmate pulled Maya aside in the locker rooms.
"What the hell Coty?" Maya asked.
"I saw you with Sabrina and them," Coty said.
"Okay? Look I don't really know you-" Maya said.
"You don't know them either. It's better to get out now before anything happens." Coty said.
Maya sighed, "What are you talking about?" The locker room started to clear out. The girls headed for the gym for warm ups. "We're gonna be late."
Coty checked the nearby aisles. Empty. "They are dangerous. You can't trust any of them." Coty said.
"Why not?" Maya asked. She looked at Coty seriously.
Coty took a deep breath.
"If there's something important I should know, please tell me," Maya said.
"They had another friend. A member of their group. Before Ava came along. Mallory." Coty said.
"What happened to her-" Maya asked.
"Hey you two," the female PE teacher said, standing at the end of their aisle, "get to the gym. Now." She blew her whistle.
Amelia caught Maya staring down at Ava's shoes during lunch. Blue sneakers. Amelia nudged her and made an "I know" face.
Lucas cleared his throat. "So," he looked at Maya, "Do you have any plans this weekend?"
"No," Ava answered. "I'm completely free."
"Baseball game tonight," Nick said.
"Yeah," Sabrina said. She sounded annoyed.
"You're coming right?" Nick asked Sabrina.
"Of course. What choice do I have?" Sabrina said.
"You're welcome to come too," Lucas said to Maya.
"Please, your baseball games are so boring," Ava said.
"We're busy anyway this weekend," Amelia said.
"You guys are the only popular kids in school and you don't any plans this weekend?" Maya asked. "No trips to the mall? No parties? No movie plans?"
"There's nothing out in January," Veronica said.
"Plus, some of us are taking AP classes and will be busy doing homework this weekend," Sabrina said.
"It's one AP class," Nick said.
"It's English. We have an essay due on Monday." Sabrina said. She made a face at Nick.
"Looks like another disappointing weekend," Lucas sighed.
Sabrina leaned over to Amelia. "See those girls over there?"
Amelia turned match what Sabrina was looking at. A group of cheerleaders were walking in a huddle nearby. One carried Pom Poms in her hands. One was practicing a cheer. They all wore their uniforms.
"What about them?" Amelia asked.
"They all think they're better than us. With their uniforms and their pep." Sabrina said. She handed Amelia a brownie.
"I'm full, thanks." Amelia said.
"No, it's not for you. It's for them." Sabrina said, looking at the cheerleaders.
Amelia tilted her head.
Sabrina rolled her eyes. "Geez, it's to smear into their perky uniforms."
"Why me?" Amelia asked.
Sabrina raised her eyebrow and got close to Amelia's face. "Because I chose you. Now do it."
The other members of the group eyed Amelia. Everyone expects this. They accept this. This is normal. To be bullied by your so called friend into humiliating someone else. Does Sabrina do this to them to? Does she publicly humiliate Veronica or Nick? Is this some sort of initiation into the group?
Amelia stood up strait and walked over to the cheerleaders. Amelia held the pot brownie and smushed it on of the cheerleaders' uniforms. The girl screams and cried. "It's ruined! Oh, how could you!?"
"Why would you do that?" Another cheerleader asked.
"What is that smell?" Asked another.
Amelia turned away from the cheerleader and walked back to her seat. Amelia tried not to show how upset she was. Upset that Sabrina made it seem like she had to do it. Upset that the group was just okay with it. No objections. Upset that she had to be the bully.
Later that day, in the warehouse, Amelia ranted about Sabrina and the group while building a trap. It was a tall contraption with a drill attached to the middle of it. "They just all looked at me with blank faces. Like this is normal to shove drugged desserts all over people. Whatever Sabrina says goes." Amelia hit the trap with a wrench.
Samuel listened nearby, drawing the blueprints for tiger trap on each floor. "Easy. Don't break it."
"I hate Sabrina. The others aren't as bad as her. They're all terrible but Sabrina's the one... Dad, I have a new idea for our next trap." Amelia said.
Maya went online after finishing her homework to look up the name Coty told her about. She typed "Mallory - Richfield High School" into the search engine. The first thing that showed up was an article about "the tragedy are Richfield." She clicked on the article and began reading. Maya checked other related articles and looked at photos that showed up. Mallory with Sabrina. Mallory with the group (minus Ava). Mallory at baseball games. Mallory's social media account. Mallory in a cheerleading uniform. Vigils.
"It's Friday night." Amelia called from the elevator as the doors opened. She walked up to Maya as she said, "We should go out and do something fun. Even if it's just a Target run." Amelia lied on the bed next to Maya. "Watcha looking at?"
"These articles about Mallory Jacobs." Maya said.
"The girl who used be in the group?" Amelia asked. "What did my little sleuth find out?"
"Mallory died." Maya said. "She jumped off a bridge."
"Oh God," Amelia said. "Suicide?"
"She spent so much time with the group. All her social media pics have at least one of them in it." Maya said.
"She wasn't alone... so why did she do it?" Amelia wondered aloud. She made a suspicious expression.
"What are you thinking?" Maya asked.
"I'm thinking they drove her to it. Or worse, forced her to." Amelia said. She grabbed the laptop and started typing away.
Twenty minutes later, Amelia has her "aha!" moment, but Maya fell asleep. Amelia put the laptop away and nudged Maya. "Hey. Let's go out."
Maya groaned and rolled over on her bed.
"Come on. Anywhere you want. The bookstore? The game store?" Amelia gasped and added, "There's a jigsaw puzzle store nearby."
Maya sat up. "Of course that would get you excited."
"It could be fun. It could be... enlightening." Amelia said.
"Are we gonna start carving a jigsaw piece on our victims?" Maya asked.
"You'll just have to come with me and see." Amelia said.
"Isn't Samuel busy right now?" Maya asked.
"Don't you drive?" Amelia winked at Maya.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Amelia help on to the dashboard of the car. "Woah. You're driving skills have not improved." Amelia said.
"Yet you still trust me to drive." Maya said.
As the turned a corner, the material in the back of the fan sloshed around.
Driving up a hill, they felt the vibrations of loud music playing. The more they drove uphill, the louder the music got. Several teenagers walked by them and ran across the street.
Maya slammed on the breaks, almost hitting a few of them. "Wait. Is that... they go to our school."
"Must be some party," Amelia said.
As they drove by the house, Amelia and Maya's humor left. This enormous, three story house with a double door entrance, lawn fountain, and lights changing in accordance to songs, had a large sign over it: "Ava's Party."
"Well that's ambitious," Amelia said.
"Those bitches," Maya said. "They didn't invite us! They said they didn't have any plans this weekend!"
"It could be a different Ava." Amelia said.
"Another Ava who has a huge house and throws parties and wouldn't invite us?" Maya said. Maya parked the car on the curb around the corner. "Amy." Maya said.
"Yeah?" Amelia asked.
Maya put the car in park and looked at Amelia seriously, "they're the ones."