#484

"He had an image to maintain, Dean. He had to fit the role of the high school stereotype. He was a jock and that meant he should be seen with a certain type of girl. But that's not the kind of girl he liked." She smiled, and it was colder than the night. "He liked his girls damaged, as if they'd been through Hell and returned with tales to tell, as if they had scars to prove they were tough and ready for anything. The Barbie doll type made him sick." Dean shuddered, jammed his hands into the pockets of his coat, wished he'd brought the knife. "I was his girl," she said, a truth that wrenched his guts surer than any blade. "No one knew because he still had his pride. Why do you think he hit Greer for trying to fuck me? That was going one step too far. 'Course that dumbass Greer knew nothing about it and still doesn't." Dean stared, his body trembling, his hands clenched so tight the scars on his arms must surely rip open and bleed anew. A joke. It was all a joke. "We didn't think you'd freak out like you did and beat seven shades of shit out of Freddy. Christ. You nearly killed him, you asshole." But Dean didn't hear her. An evil laugh filtered through the speakers, followed by a hellish voice that asked: "Where's my pretty little girl?" And then a scream that would make Fay Wray proud. Where's my pretty little girl? "How..." Dean began, before pausing to clear his throat. "How did you...?" He indicated his own mangled face with a trembling forefinger. "Surgery," she said airily. "It's why I'm still working in this fucking dump. My mother refuses to help me pay for it. Too busy buying shit she doesn't need on the Shopping Channel. Of course, when I lost the scars, I lost Freddy too. I was tired of him anyway." The sound of unpleasant death, of skin rending, gurgling screams, and bones snapping, filled the air. "Hey," Stephanie said with a shrug. "it's all in the past, right? No hard feelings?" Look at you now, shithead. Dean nodded, licked his lips. "Yeah. Right. No hard feelings." Stephanie nodded her satisfaction. "Good, so are you going to watch your movie, or what?" Look at you now.