﹒⌗﹒Robin Chasity ⸝⸝

"Kizzool cuz Skizool izz izzout!" Stu says, popping around your group of three to distribute flowers, "Darling, I don't know what you did, Sidney, but on behalf of the entire student body we all say thank you!"

Sidney walks in between you and Tatum, and you can see the discomfort on her face. Tatum swats a hand at Stu, quietly telling him to drop it, before he cuts around your group to throw her over his shoulder.

"Improptu party at my house to celebrate this little fiesta, what do you say?" Stu asks, keeping stride with you and Sidney on the sidewalk. You roll your eyes at him.

"Are you serious?" Sidney asks, giving Stu a look.

You had to agree with the sentiment. You had just spent half the day avoiding your own friends. A party with all of them was the last thing you needed, especially considering you couldn't be sure that one of them wasn't your caller.

"Parents are out of town. If this little vixen doesn't invite the entire world, we'll be fine," Stu says, spinning Tatum around and placing her on the ground. He comes up to Sidney's right, saying, "Intimate gathering, intimate friends."

"What do you think, guys? I mean, pathos could have it's perks." Tatum says, grabbing on to Stu's hand.

"Totally protected, yo, I am so buff. I got you covered, girl." Stu says, eyes never leaving Sidney's despite maneuvering Tatum through his arms.

It's not working, though. Sidney's worried, you can tell. You, however, were downright distraught. You weren't usually this quiet around your friends, but you couldn't help but stay in your head after the last few weeks you had. You were just grateful your friends didn't seem to notice.

Of course, nothing lasts forever, because when you look up from your feet all eyes are on you. You can tell from the victorious looks on the couple's faces that Sidney agreed to go. Now it was just up to you.

"Y/N. Food, beer, company of yours truly? You in?" Stu asks, his determined and slightly begging eyes are now focused on you.

You aren't sure what to say. Honestly, you didn't even expect them to be able to convince Sidney. You smile awkwardly.

"Yeah, maybe. I'll think about it, okay?" You say, squeezing Sidney and Tatum's arms goodbye and nodding to Stu. Before they can say anything else, you turn and rush away from the sidewalk.

You don't want to go home, where your caller knew to find you, and you couldn't be around your friends right now. Without much thought to your destination, your feet are pulling you into town.

You weren't sure where you were going until the familiar ding of your favorite store's door pulled you away from your thoughts. Vinyls, cassettes, and a few CDs lined the shop. Right now, your friend Randy was probably next door sorting through tapes at the video store, but the music store was yours.

It's near empty, save for a couple wanderers who pretend to look around and then promptly leave for the much more popular store next door. You move quickly to the back of the store, picking up a new tape on the way. In the back, behind rows and shelves and hidden from view, you sit in the corner of the floor. Your Walkman in your hands, headphones on your head, and your new tape playing.

You could've sat like that for hours, pretending your life wasn't your life. It gave you space to think. If Billy was the killer, why had the police cleared him? If Billy wasn't the killer, why did everything else suggest otherwise? If it wasn't Billy, who could it be?

You weren't even sure if you wanted to know anymore. Pictures of black robes and tan hands on your body flashed through your mind and you couldn't help the chill that ran over your skin.

"Y/N," A voice says faintly through your music. You look up, and, of course, Billy stands in front of you. He's looking down at you as if he'd been searching for you. You take off your headphones just as he finishes, "Can I sit?"

You nod even though he was already lowering himself to sit in the floor next to you. Your backs are pressed against the same wall, but you are careful to keep your eyes forward despite his burning gaze on you. He clears his throat and on instinct your eyes snap to meet his.

"I know I said this earlier, but I really appreciate what you said. I mean, no one believed me. Even now I can tell they still think it was me," He says. You smile awkwardly, unsure of what else to do in this situation. "They cleared me, you know. My phone was clean. They even think I scared him away. Sid still doesn't trust me."

You don't know why he's choosing you to tell all this to. At the very least, he has Stu. It's already hard enough to determine who Billy Loomis really is without him confiding his feelings to you.

"Sidney's been through a lot. She just needs time." You say, because it was the only true advice you could give him. Sidney had been through a lot and she would come around, it's just her nature. Billy didn't strike you as a patient person, though.

'I've been through a lot, too." He says sharply, turning his head in the opposite direction. He's not looking at anything specifically, just refusing to look at you. You can't tell exactly whether you've hurt or angered him.

"Billy, I'm sorry," You sigh, not sure of what you were about to do or why you were doing it. "If you need to talk. . . I can listen."

He turns back to look at you then. There's a look in his eyes that you can't place no matter how hard you dissect it. You're not sure if you'll ever understand it.

"Sid and I haven't been okay for a while. I've been through a lot, too, but. . . it doesn't really matter with someone like Sidney," He says, talking as if it's taking effort to pull the words out of him. "And now this. I'm an accused murderer and I'm pretty sure I just got dumped. We've, uh, been on and off before."

This was the first real conversation you'd had with Billy and he was being so. . honest. It unnerved you. It made you wonder how desperate he had to be to confide in a near stranger.

"Have you talked to her yet? I'm sure she feels awful about what happened." You answer, but you're not sure how true it is. You really didn't know their relationship beyond knowing Sidney.

"It doesn't matter," He says, looking down. You have a feeling he didn't really want advice, but you can tell there's a point to the conversation. You're just not sure what it is yet. "Thank you. For listening."

"No problem." You say quietly.

Maybe you're making it up, but you swear his body shifts the slightest bit towards you. Suddenly your corner of the store is too quiet, too dark, too isolated. The only sounds between the two of you are your quiet breaths. Billy's eyes roam your face. You're scared of what he's looking for. Before you can think about it, his face is only an inch or two from yours.

"Stu's throwing a party tonight," He whispers. "I'm invited, but I don't know if I'm welcome. Will you go?"

His voice is hopeful, and so are the dark brown eyes looking into yours. There it is, the point of the conversation. He didn't want to feel alone at his friend's party. The thought, why go? crosses your mind, and you immediately feel bad for it. He's a lot like Sidney, in that way. Or maybe you were weak when it came to others.

"Yeah, Billy, I'm going." You sigh, looking down.

A warm hand is placed over your hand that rests on your thigh. Your head shoots up out of instinct, and Billy is there, even closer now.

"Thank you, Y/N," He says earnestly. He stands, and when his hand doesn't leave yours you realize he's holding it. "I'll see you there?"

You nod, eyes trailing down to the hand holding yours. It's warm, and tan. It's almost familiar before it's pulled from yours. Billy turns and leaves the shop before you can say anything else.

Can you trust Billy? Can you trust anyone? This party was the last thing you needed, but it seemed like everyone you knew was counting on you to go. It was just one night. You could do it.

You eventually stand, making your way to the front counter to pay for the tape you had already unwrapped and listened to. It would be a good addition to your collection. You sit the tape on the counter, fishing out the cash from your pocket.

"Oh, you're good to go, your boyfriend already paid." The man working the desk says casually.

Your mouth opens wide, a small sound escaping before you slam your jaws shut. You grab your tape and dart through the front door. Looking around, there's still a crowd moving in and out of Bradley's Video, but you know Randy will be there.

It's much more crowded than the music store, and it takes you a moment to find Randy. He's standing with his cart in the middle of an aisle, Stu lingering around. When you get to them, Stu cuts in before you can even greet Randy.

"Y/N! Decided to come to my little shindig tonight?" Stu shouts, arms wide open.

"Duh." You answer playfully. If you're going to give in and go to the party, you might as well play the part well. Before you can stop it Stu's long arms are wrapped around you in a tight hug.

"You are not going to regret it, Y/N, this is gonna be fun!" He says, lifting you from the ground in his excitement.

He places you back on the ground, shooting you and Randy some goofy hand gesture as he runs out of the store like a maniac. You turn to Randy, who's looking at you like you've grown a second head.

"Cozy with Macher, huh?" He says in mock disgust as he turns to continue putting movies back in their spots.

"I guess so," You say, giving him a look. You start picking up tapes, looking through them for anything good. "I assume you're also going to this party tonight?"

"Wouldn't miss it." He says with a wide cartoonish smile.

"Great. You can take me. My car's still at the station." You smile back, turning to leave before he can protest.

You’re going to the party, sure, but if you can avoid your friends as much as possible tonight you can accept it. Randy was the safest option. You weren’t sure if you could sit in a car with Sidney and Tatum after what happened in the music store. Listening to Billy talk about his issues with Sidney had felt like an invasion of her privacy, maybe even a betrayal, and yet you had done it. You weren’t sure why.

You find your spot at the front counter to wait out the end of Randy's shift. Under the counter were various drawers and boxes for your snooping, and in the front of the drawer marked 'Reserved' sat an all too familiar tape.

Psycho.

If you were sure of one thing, it’s that this damn movie would haunt you for the rest of your life.