GHOSTFACE ch 3

Jennifer was awakened late the next morning by the pungent odor of something burning. The bloody-orange light coming from outside suggested that it was barely sunrise. She rolled over on her back, finding that Tyler wasn't in the bed with her. She pushed the sheets off when she remembered: she didn't have any clothes on. Even though the door was still closed, she blushingly picked up one of Tyler's shirts off the floor and pulled it on, the shirt so large on her body it hung loosely almost down to her knees, then walked downstairs and into the kitchen.

There, Tyler was standing behind the counter, dressed in a white tank top and his swim trucks he wore the night before, spreading a small slab of butter on a mostly blackened piece of toast.

"Mornin'." he said with a smile as Jennifer walked in.

"Morning." she said back as she took a seat in one of the stools in front of the counter, "I thought I smelled something burning." she remarked, gesturing to the toast in his hand.

"I like my toast a little crispy." Tyler replied with a wink and a bite of his charred bread.

"Is Heather up yet?" Jennifer asked.

"Naw," Tyler answered through a full mouth, "I checked on her and she's still out."

"She wasn't looking too good last night."

"She hasn't been doin' too good lately," Tyler said, leaning against the counter and looking down slightly, "It hit her real hard when Mom died. She's been havin' real trouble dealin' with it. It doesn't help that it was almost a year ago since it happened either."

Jennifer saw as Tyler's face hung down in a look of sorrow and a hint of guilt. She reached out a hand and gently squeezed his hand. He looked back up at her, a slight smile on his face, and leaned over the counter to kiss her on the lips. The moment they broke apart, Heather swaggered into the room, a pair of big sunglasses resting on her nose, her golden hair a curly mess on her head. She staggered slightly over to the fridge to grab the orange juice and take a big gulp straight out of the carton.

"Mornin' gorgeous." Tyler greeted her, his voice raised slightly. The loudness of his voice obviously bothered Heather; she winced at the sound of his voice as she took a seat at the nearby table.

"Shut up Tyler," she croaked, "My head is fucking splitting."

"You sure you want to go to school today?" Jennifer asked, "You don't look so good."

"No, no," Heather answered, shaking her head, "I'll just call in sick. I'm way too hung-over."

"Alright. You want me to make you something' for breakfast?" Tyler asked.

"Ugh, god no," Heather groaned, rubbing her stomach through the pink t-shirt she was wearing, "Just the thought of eating anything makes me want to puke."

"You sure?" Tyler asked, "I could scramble you up some eggs. Maybe even add in some onions in it for ya."

"Ugh fuck." Heather groaned, her hand moving to cover her mouth. She got up from her chair and she moved back towards the stairs.

"Or maybe some oatmeal," Tyler called after her, "Or some nice, greasy, fatty, oily bacon!"

All this talk of food caused Heather to gag against her hand and she sped back up the stairs and into the bathroom, all the while Jennifer is tittering at Heather illness.

"Never get tired of doin' that." Tyler sighed triumphantly, patting his hands together to wipe the toast crumbs off of his fingers.

"Well, I'm going to go take a shower." Jennifer said, getting up from her stool.

"Need a helping hand?" Tyler asked with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Jennifer merely answered with a sarcastic, "Ha ha," and continued up the stairs and into the bathroom as Heather walked out of it. Once inside, she locked the door behind her and turned on the hot water in the shower stall, allowing warm water to spray down from the shower head. Before she could peel off Tyler's shirt, she heard her cell phone ringing from inside her purse that was sitting on the bathroom counter next to the sink bowl. She quickly turned off the water and fished around in her bag until she found her phone.

Unfortunately, by the time she had gotten her phone out, the line already ended, the screen reading 'One Missed Call'. She checked the caller ID. According to it, the call came from her mom's cell phone. Another message appeared on the screen, reading 'One New Voicemail Message'. Jennifer hit the CALL button and put the phone to her ear. After a couple rings, she heard the female operator's voice. "You. Have. One. New. Voicemail. Message," she said in her pre-recorded robot voice, "If you'd like to play it, press 1 now." Jennifer did as the voice said and hit the 1 key before returning the speaker to her ear.

After the beep, the message began to play, or at least it was supposed to have. Jennifer heard nothing coming after the beep. She looked down at the screen to make sure it was actually playing, and it was. She turned up the phone's volume and put it back to her ear. Now she could hear it. Breathing. All she could hear from the other end was the caller breathing into the phone. Their breathing was low and heavy, sounding male. After a few more seconds, the line cut off. "End of message." the operator said.

Jennifer sighed irritably and hit END, tossing the phone back down on the counter before turning the water back on and stepping, naked, into it, the noise of the stream hitting her head drowning out the sound of her phone vibrating as it received a new message. 'One New Picture Message' it read.