You woke up in an empty house, which wasn't very shocking. Your mother was off today, and it was normal for her to take Emily off to go shopping or eat out when she had a free day from all the work. She hardly ever took you, mainly because you would reject the invitation because of all your work you had to catch up on.

You release a sigh as you pull yourself out of the bed, scooting over to the dresser and pulling on a causal outfit to lounge around the house in. You moved downstairs to the kitchen and started to heat up some leftovers from Emily's dinner last night- just some chicken strips and mashed potatoes- but you weren't bothered.

After your meal you moved back upstairs to get your schoolwork together and spend the rest of the morning on that. Admittedly, it was a waste of a a perfectly good day. It was warm outside, the perfect weather for almost anything. You knew all the work you had piled up would take you till at least 4, and by then your mother would drop off Emily and you'd go back to taking care of her.

And it was around 4:15 when you finally finished all your work. You piled everything into your book bag and let yourself fall into your bed, snuggling your body into the blankets "Hm..." You let out a groan as you finally allow your body to relax. Your peace however, was quickly destroyed by shrill noise of the home phone ringing downstairs. You groan and pull yourself off the bed and head downstairs to answer the call.

You lift the phone from it's spot on the side table in the living room and you click the answer button "Hello, are you looking for (M/n)? She's out right now. I can send her your message though." It was pretty normal to get calls from your mother's coworkers. You were always told to deliver her news about her shift change or any new updates about an issue in her department.

"No, I'm not looking for her... Who is this?" A deep voice asked on the line. They sounded young but not familiar to you in the slightest.

"Oh, I'm sorry- Um... I'm (Y/n), who is this?" You said relaxing yourself on the sofa.

"(Y/n), huh? Well, I guess I have the wrong number." He said with a small chuckle "My bad."

You grin a small bit "Oh, it's all good. No need for apologies. Bye," You say clicking off and setting the phone down. Not even a moment later you hear the familiar tone of the phone once again ringing out. You shift yourself to the phone and once again pick up the line "Hello?"

"You hung up on me." The man whined "I wanted to talk to you."

You scoff a small bit "You said it yourself, this was the wrong number. Why would you want to talk to me? I'm a complete stranger."

"We might have a lot in common. I wanted to speak to a girl from my class but... You sound familiar... Do you go to Woodsboro?" They asked.

You bite your lip a bit, should you really give this information to a stranger? Well, it's not like he knew who you were... so what's the harm in it?

"Yes, I just so happen to go to that school. Do I know you?"

"How about this," They say "If I don't let you know who I am... You don't have to tell me who you are. It's like... having a pen pal. We have no idea who the other is."

You blink and curl further into the seat "Oh? Why would we do that?"

"So I can actually talk to someone. Don't you ever feel like you need to hide yourself in front of people you know? I feel like I'm always trying to say the right thing all the time." He says with a small sigh "Hey, maybe we are already friends in school."

"Doubt it, I don't really have those." You say "I help people with homework sometimes, if that counts. Everyone really thinks of me as a friend."

"Everyone thinks of you as a friend, but you don't feel the same way?" He questioned

"Well... No, not at all. They have no idea what I'm like. They just think I'm smart and hard working, is all. They call me their friend, but I don't really know them." You say "It all feels so fake."

"I feel you there. I have a huge friend group, but none of them really know anything about my life." He responds "But it's really hard to bring up stuff like that to anyone but a counselor."

"Oh, god." You groan "Don't even go into that. I fucking hate the school counselors."

He chuckles a bit "Oh, boy, that's a lot rage. What did they do to you?"

"More like 'what they didn't do to me'." You began the rant "They sat me down in the office for like, an hour every week to 'help' me through my parents divorce freshman year. Needless to say, they made me feel like shit about it all. The one time I opened up to them about it they went straight to my dad- who wanted absolutely nothing to do with me, especially back then."

"Jesus, this school fucking sucks. They never gave a shit about me and my dad when my mom left. But hearing your story, I'm glad they didn't." He chuckles.

"They only cared because I'm a 'promising scholar' and they were scared my grades would drop with all the drama in my life. But I was more than happy about it all, my dad put so much stress on me." You vent as you lay back into the couch.

"Really? It was all really bad when my mom left, my dad was a mess- then again, it was really all his fault. School doesn't care about the troubled kids, though."

"It's a double-sided system. If you seem promising they have their eyes on you and if you don't..."

"You can go fuck yourself?" He finished, causing you to giggle a bit.

"Exactly that." You glance out the window "I can't wait to graduate. It's like... My life might finally start. I can't imagine what it's going to be like to leave my sister with my mom, though. She doesn't really have the time to take care of her."

"Hmm," He says "Can't relate there. My dad just sorta put up with me until I was old enough to make pasta. Can I ask... if it isn't too personal... what happened with the divorce?"

You feel your breath hitch in your chest "That might... not be a good idea to tell you. I mean, I don't really know you and-"

"My dad cheated on my mom with... some fucking bitch. She packed up everything and went off to start a new life and left me behind with him. She didn't want anything that reminded her of that sorry fuck- so here I am." He vents with you.

You frown a bit "My dad he... Found a cute girl on a trip to New York with some of his buddies. Apparently she was 'easier to manage' than my mom and all of us. I was only 14, and my sister could hardly talk- my brother was 10 but... I haven't seen him since Dad packed up his shit and they went off in a Uhaul truck. He took so much when he left. Ruined us financially for a few years so I had to start working as soon as possible." You sighed "I... I had to give up the rest of my childhood because of him. And I know Emily misses her dad sometimes but I don't have the heart to tell her he was a piece of shit."

"Your father didn't deserve a daughter like you. From what I can gather; you're a scholar student who is always working, but still making time for her sister. You had to give up everything to make life easier for others." He says "You're incredible, by definition."

You let out a small giggle, releasing the anxiety you didn't know was built up inside of you "I don't think you're a troubled kid, like the school thinks." You say "You don't trouble me in the slightest. In fact, you're one of the best things that has happened to me in the last month."

"Really?" His tone lightens a bit "That's good to hear. I really thought I was starting to get on your nerves."

You laugh a bit "What? No way, I haven't had a normal human conversation since... well, when I was at work I was talking with these two dorks from school and that was really nice, but nothing like this."

"I'm glad." He says "I might have to go soon but um... we can talk again soon, right?"

You nod "Yes, totally- wait, um... would you rather have my personal phone number? This is um, my house phone."

"Yeah totally, just throw it at me." He says chuckling a bit.

"Okay, my number is..."

⇜-⇝

"Well, if you aren't in a good mood." Randy said coming up to the counter you were sitting by "What's the special occasion?"

You shake your head a small bit "I've just been sleeping well, is all."

"Lies! You never come to work this happy. Spill it." He accuses you with a hard stare "Are we not close enough coworkers?"

You shake your head "All you need to know is... I got a very lovely phone call the other day and for the last couple of days I've been chatting with them..."

He almost did a double take before painting his face with a smirk "Oh? You're talking to someone?" He asked with a small eyebrow wiggle and a nudge.

You scoff "Hardly, we are just... friends. Really good friends. But that's about all I'm sharing with you." You giggle at the small look of disappointment on his face "What? Why should I tell you about my personal business?"

"I just wanted to know why you were so happy. You seem a lot better than usual." He says "But I guess I'll leave ya be about it, if you're going to be so stubborn."

"Daw, Randy don't be like that. It's just really weird, and new, and I'm really happy. I feel a lot better because of it, you know?" You try to explain without giving away too much. You think Randy is a pretty cool dude, but it didn't feel right to open up to him about it all. It hardly felt right to open up to your strange friend on the phone.

"Ah, okay, it's nice to see you happy then." He says.

You giggle a bit "Thanks, Randy, I knew you'd understand."

⇜-⇝

"She's talking to someone?" Sidney mumbles as she munches on some grapes "Good for her. What's with you all and her personal business, though? You do know we could invite her to hang out with us instead of picking details from her life to talk about in conversation."

Randy shrugs "I tried to invite her places, she always has work to do. Always. And the sad part is, I know she isn't lying about it. Have you seen the work she has to do for those advanced classes? For the clubs she's in? If I had to do that much work I'd die instantly."

"Yeah, she's gonna lose her mind by the end of the semester." Billy half jokes as he messes with a twig in his hand "Hey, we should ask her when she's free. There's gotta be some time where she doesn't have a pile of work."

"Probably the time she saves for drama club, or book club, or the volunteer hours-" Tatum lectures "I swear, she's too cliche to exist."

"Well if one of us could find a way to talk to her we could find out what her schedule is, right?" Stu spoke up.

"You guys are obsessed with her, I swear to god." Tatum laughs "You guys to remember you're dating me and Sid, right?"

"I'm not dating either of you, do you all think (Y/n) would settle for a guy like me?" Randy sighs hopefully.

Billy only snorts and shakes his head "She hardly settles for working with you."

⇜-⇝

"Hang out... with you and your friends?" You asked as you wiped down the windows "Would they really wanna hang out with a girl like me?"

Randy scoffs "They've been begging for me to invite you forever. We'd just be going to Sidney's house for some movies and a sleepover. Her dad is gonna be there, and he doesn't let us get up to anything horrible, if you're worried about that kind of stuff."

You shake your head "N-No, I mean I'd really like to... I'd just have to ask my mom if she'd be fine finding someone to take care of Emily. This weekend, right?"

"Yeah- would you really be fine coming? I mean, I know how much school work you've got on your hands all the time so if you can't it's really not an issue." Randy sends you a small worried look.

You smile softly "Thanks for worrying, but I really think it'd be fun. I never had a sleepover before, should I bring anything?"

"You've never been to a sleepover?" He asked, a hint of shock in his voice but he quickly recovers with a grin "Well, mainly just bring stuff you normally keep on you- changes of clothes, and pajamas if you actually wear those."

You grin "Sounds good, I'll ask my mom about it when I get off work today."

⇜-⇝

"She said yes?" Stu asked Billy as they both sat in his room, both of them were watching some mindless slasher film, and neither were really paying attention to it.

Billy nods a small bit "Yep, she's gonna hang with us all this weekend."

Stu smiles like an idiot "So... what are we gonna do?"

"Calm down, we can't really do anything yet." Billy says laying back against the mattress "But... we are going to be making her our best friend this weekend."

Stu chuckles a bit "And how are we going to do that?"

"Well, we already know her well," Billy says "She just doesn't know we are her little phone buddy. So we can't risk her knowing that, get it, Stu?"

Stu nods chuckling a small bit "It's gonna be a lot of fun. Do you think Tatum and Sidney are gonna be mad we want to hang out with her though?"

"Nah," Billy chuckles "Those two would hardly care if we blew up the school. They just think we are Randy's wingmen."

"Hey, would it be too much if we gave our new friend another call?" Stu asked with a small smirk on his lips "I mean, just to check up on her."

Billy grins like an idiot "Do you think she's still up?"

You snuggle into your blankets and hug your arms to your chest, slowly luring to sleep. When suddenly a phone call brings you back to reality. You grown a bit slowly reaching for the phone. Your eyes scan the caller's name, and you feel a small smile work itself onto your face.

You click answer and hold the phone to your ear "Hey there, buddy. I haven't talked to you since yesterday. How's life treating you?"

"Oh, really good. Fantastic, actually. Finally got a good grade on my chemistry test, I get to hang with my homies this weekend. We are watching some fucking movie, or something. I don't really care much, it's just nice to hang with them."

You giggle a bit "Good, good! I'm actually hanging out with some people, too. I'm going to my first ever sleepover tomorrow night, and I'm really actually excited."

"Oh, really? Hell yeah, dude. You really need that time off. Your mom's letting you do that?" He asked.

You hum a small bit "Yep, she felt really bad that I've basically been staying at home and doing nothing for four years straight, you know? She thinks I need it."

"You do need it," He chuckles "You do nothing but work all the time. You've called me at three in the morning Wednesday so you could have someone to talk to while studying for forensics. Don't you ever get tired of doing nothing but that?"

"Of course I do." You admit sadly with a helpless giggle "Sometimes I wish I was anyone else. When you talk about your friends and the mindless things you do with them, it always makes me really happy. I've always wanted to do things like that. I'm really excited for this sleepover."

"You should be, it's always good to let loose and just have fun. Who knows, you might actually make some best friends."

"That's pushing it, isn't it? Besides, they'll probably think I'm weird by the end of the night and never invite me out again. I've never done something like this, I'm bound to mess up somehow." You giggle a bit nervously.

"Oh, come on. Don't sell yourself short. I love talking to you, and I don't even get to see you." He jokes "They won't find a single reason to dislike you."

"Thanks." You giggle a bit "That makes me feel a lot better. I have to go. I read online that most people stay up late at sleepovers, so I'm really trying to get all the rest I can so I don't crash on them. I don't wanna be a loser."

"You're too much," He sighs "But goodnight. Sleep tight. Don't let CCP English classes bite."

You smile and whisper "Night." softly before clicking off your phone and setting it down on the table. You grin to yourself as you once again snuggle into the blankets, closing your eyes and allowing sleep to take over you.

"She had to look up how to go to a sleepover." Stu chuckles "Ugh, that's too cute. I can't wait till we get to keep her."

"All will come in time, Stu." Billy sighs "God, this is going to be fun."

Both boys decide to hit the sack, after all they have a long day tomorrow. Unknown to anyone but those two, a certain girl down the block would be occupying their thoughts all night, and most of tomorrow as well.