You clawed your way out from beneath your blankets, slowly opening your eyes to the faintest beams of sunlight coming in through your window. You reached out for your clock, finding that it was Saturday, 6:52 AM.

Deciding to get up anyways, you huffed and climbed out of bed, picking up the stuffed animals which had fallen off your bed while you slept. You unlocked and opened your bedroom door and made your way to the bathroom. Then you brushed your hair before brushing your teeth, showering, and exiting to make breakfast.

You had moved to Woodsboro over two months ago, a month and a half before school started. You were 18 and lived alone, your parents were home one week per year, and worked at the video store after school. You had two dogs to keep you company and you were content with it that way.

After eating breakfast, you roughly planned out your day. You needed to go grocery shopping today, and had work at 5:30 tonight. The video store closed at 11, so you'd be home around 11:30. You decided that shopping could wait until later today, and you could fill the time with cleaning, preparations, and movies. You wrote your plans on a large dry-erase board on the kitchen wall, and marked off today on the calendar.

You were organized, and tried very hard to stay on top of things, knowing that if you were messy and lazy, everything would fall apart. Hell, that's why you were in Woodsboro in the first place. Too close, you thought to yourself, they got too close. But it wouldn't happen again.

The day seemed to fly past — you had already gone grocery shopping and restocked both your fridge and pantry, and it was now 4:28 PM.

You liked to be ready early so that you didn't have to rush, so you went ahead and got dressed for work. A baggy sweater and some high-waisted jeans that you had cuffed up over your sneakers. You fixed your hair and sat on the couch, turning on a movie for while you waited.

You only half paid attention to The Shining as Jack Torrance talked to Grady, cringing as they spat slurs. "I could easily stay in a hotel by myself for the winter without trying to kill my wife and kid," You cooed to your Rottweiler, Cheese, who was curled up next to you. "I guess I'm just better, huh?" You continued to talk to yourself as you pet the dog. Hannibal, your German Shepherd, stared up at you expectantly, and you reached down to pet him too.

At 5:10, you made sure to feed and water your pets, as well as lock all of your doors and windows before leaving for work.

The video store was within walking distance, so you just saved the money and walked. The air was cool and the wind gently blew over you every now and then, feeling nice with the protection of your sweater.

It was about a ten minute walk to work, and you still ended up getting there after Randy Meeks. He was a total film nerd, and he took all the spare hours at the video store he could get.

"Y/n!" He smiled when he saw you, and you smiled back.

"Randy! What time did you get here?"

"I actually covered Alice's shift, so I've been here for a couple of hours already." He laughed as he checked out a customer. "$2.38 is your change, those are due in a week."

You'd never seen anyone look so happy to work in retail, but Randy loved his job. In fact, quite a few of the people who worked here loved their jobs — mostly film nerds who'd finally found their people.

You did share something with Randy, though: an avid love for horror movies. You favored slashers over all other types of horror, you were drawn to them for as long as you could remember.

Ever since you'd started working here, you had consistently seen two boys every day. Billy Loomis and Stu Macher made a point to visit you at work each day.

You didn't really know them, but Randy said he was friends with them. He said they rarely come by the video store, but they must've noticed a new face. It was about 7:45 PM when the two boys finally showed up.

There was something familiar about them, about the way they watched, surveying their surroundings. They were careful, too, like you were. You felt close to them in that sense.

Billy had a predatory sense about him, always planning and watching, like a big cat stalking prey. Stu had something similar, though less vicious.

"Billy!" You called to him.

He whipped his head around, turning away from whatever cheesy romance film he'd been pretending to look at. He scanned the store until his eyes landed on you, and his cold expression melted into a small smile.

"Y/n, I didn't know you were working today."

"Oh, like hell, Loomis, I was the first thing you looked at when you walked in." You laughed.

He furrowed his brows, joking like you didn't both know it was true. Stu rested his elbows on the counter, leaning down so that he was looking up at you, "Sooo..." He asked expectantly.

You played dumb, "What?"

He raised his eyebrows like he was hinting at a secret, but you still pretended not to get it.

"Y/n! You know what I want." He whispered, waiting for you to catch on.

"Stu, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Did you reserve a movie or somethin'?" Billy nudged him.

"Y/n knows!" He insisted.

You couldn't help it when he made those puppy eyes at you, so you grabbed his reserved copies of Natural Born Killers and Edward Scissorhands, two romantic movies that he was embarrassed about renting. You held them up, "These? I have no idea who these could possibly be for!" You smiled, sliding them over to him.

"Y/n!" He huffed like a child, and you secretly admitted that it was adorable.

Stu loved romance movies, he was a softie, but it embarrassed him. So each week you'd pick out a couple movies for him, based on what he liked or you thought he'd like, and you held them for him.

Billy smirked at the titles, only recognizing Edward Scissorhands. You could already tell he'd be making fun of him later.

Each day they continued to come in, and by September you had fully integrated into the friend group. You ate lunch with them every day, and even hung out with Sidney and Tatum outside of school (which often meant their boyfriends as well).

You had found your group, and you were content. Though you couldn't shake your habits, and you found yourself studying each of them.

Randy liked Sidney but wouldn't dare move against Billy; Stu didn't really love Tatum or anything, but he did care a little; and Sidney had some serious problems in her past.

Out of a vicious curiosity you looked into it, and found that her mother had been raped and murdered almost a year ago. It was actually nearing the one year mark, and you could tell she was aware.

You knew these people were friends with you, but you couldn't help but feel like history would repeat itself. You felt like you were performing, like it was an act — and to an extent, it was.

Laughing at Randy's jokes, listening to Sidney and Tatum gossip, it was acting. You felt like you were outside of it. Yet it was comforting all the same to at least not be completely alone.

Despite your involuntary detachment, you required people. You were a social animal, and you didn't like being alone. So even if you didn't fully care about them like a normal person would, you trusted them. You felt safe with your friends, and that alone meant the world to you.