Chapter 2 1.02 Again and Again

"I think many of us, maybe the entire town... had been hoping against hope... that somehow the remaining player in the football team that hasn't been found dead is alive, so they can tell the real story, to what happened to them that day inside that tunnel, the day that will mark in Huntsville history.

But that was before the undeniable, irrevocable fact...just happening this morning, another body has been found, it was the bulldog team Captain, and the son of the wealthiest family in Huntsville, Nathan Prescott... his body was found by the town scout group, lead by Mike Sinclair.

But this time, Nathan's body was found with a bullet hole in his forehead...the missing case of Huntsville's very own football team's captain has evolved into a murder case,

The only way to solve these terrible and mysterious secrete, that could only be revealed is by the cold steel blade of a coroner's autopsy scalpel...or the telltale beating of a guilty heart."

Back at the Sinclair house, in bed, a sweating chest Mike Sinclair, had a bad night, rolling in his bed, running a hand through his hair, thinking to the day when he go scouting with his friend before came across Nathan's body floating down the Huntsville river.

He can't handle the picture he just saw that morning, he grabs his cell phone from a nightstand, and composes a text to Sadie Mayfield that reads" R U up? can we talk?".

Back in Betty's bedroom, a phone in a mint green case buzzes on a bedside table. Betty hears the phone buzz, so she decides to take a break from the book she read and grabs her phone on the bedside table to check her messages, It's Mike's message, to which she replied: "NO..and No".

Setting down the phone, she rests back on her bed pillow, resting her hand on top of her head. When Mike received back Betty's messages that said: "NO..and No". Mike gets out of his bed, and walks around his room while sending another text to Sadie that said"Please".

Sadie goes to her bedroom window, and sits on it, looking at the full beautiful moon while texting Back"The answer is still No.. Stop bothering me." it read, and turns off her phone.

Mike grabbed a pair of black shorts that sitting on the edge of his bed and put them on, Moment later he run shirtless in the middle of the night to Ted's house, one of his scout team friends.

Mike stops for a minute, scanning everything around him, then hurries to the front door, Pounding hard on the door, his friend comes out and opens it.

"Mike, what are you doing? You can't be here?" Ted says as he leans past his friend to look around, to see if someone follows Mike to his house or not.

"I know, Ted, but I need someone to talk to, about that day, I'm pretty sure it wasn't a firework, it was a gunshot we heard that day." Said Mike as his face was completely covered in his sweat.

"Dude, you can't come to my house like that in the middle of the night, it makes us look suspicious."

"Ted, listen, That shot we heard, probably the one that killed Nathan Prescott."

"Mike, Com'on, we know exactly what the police and the rest of the scout team know, that a gun was fired, that a boy was shot, but we don't know by whom, so we stick with "it was a firework." statement."

"But we know when it was fired. That's something the police still don't know but we do, Ted."

"They're performing an autopsy right now, Mike, there is nothing we can do."

"But, Ted, we can call them anonymously."

"This is not a negotiation, buddy, everyone in the scout team that day agreed on this, and the cherry on top is, I'm not supposed to be there with your guys, if anybody knows that I was there, hanging around with the scout team, I could lose my spot in the Bulldog team."

They stare at each other for a whole minute in Ted's kitchen, and finally, Charlie decides to leave the house and go back to his.

The next morning, at Mike's house, Fred, Mike's father, feed the dog, while Mike slowly walked down the stair and joined them in the kitchen.

"Morning, Dad," Mike says.

"Hey, Bud, where did you sneak off to last night?"

"You, Uh---? Heard that last night?"

"Son, I've been hearing you sneaking out since the day you turn 10, going to Ted's basement."

Mike poured milk and prepare his breakfast before school, while his dad talked.

"I couldn't sleep, dad, I went for a jog to tire myself out," Mike explains as he pulls a chair out to put his bag on.

"All right, bud, got something on your mind?" said Fred, while his sipping his morning coffee.

"Nothing really, Dad, just all this stuff with the football team and Nathan." Said Mike as he finished his breakfast and take one last sip of his hot coffee.

"Yeah, I been meaning to talk to you about that, no more midnight runs until the police catch whoever it was that shot that poor kid or the group that kidnapped and kill the football team, I swear to god, This town." Fred shook his head, still can't believe what has been happening in his small little town.

Meanwhile, in Sadie's room, she prepares her stuff for school, while her parent comes into her bedroom and talk to her about their late-night date.

"Hey, Sadie girl, we just wanted you to know, it's gonna be a bit of a late-night for us, it gonna be a lot of late-night for us, your mom and I."

"Really, Dad, late night? There is a murderer on the loose, I mean come on"

"I mean, an accidental drowning,.... who cares, but the sociopath son of the wealthiest family in town murdered, that a national obsession waiting to happen with a big headline."

"The kid's barely in his grave, honey."

"Can you go downstairs and wait for me there will you, Roy, I need a minute with our daughter."

Roy exited Sadie's room, Sadie's mom, Joyce, walked up, sitting on the bed facing her.

"Betty, you know what I love about you the most, Honey?"

"My make-up skill?"

"No, not that,... I love your mindset?"

"What mindset?"

"It's that you always want to see the good in people, even people like the Prescott family?"

"What did they do to you, Mom, that makes you so mad with them?"

"They act like a good helping citizen, but deep down in their dirty heart, they want to burn this down to the ground, you'll see their true color soon enough."

"I'll keep on the lookout for them, Mom, don't worry."

"From this moment on, no backsliding, that means, no Valentina, and any of her friends like Cheryl, Ziggy, and especially no..."

"No Cole, I got it, mom"

Finishing the conversation, Joyce kissed her daughter on the forehead before heading downstairs to go to work.

A moment later, Charlie's doorbell rings, He answers his front door and surprisingly sees Sadie standing there and saying the famous catchphrase to him "Walk me to school."

Now along the quiet neighborhood street on the way to school,

"I needed time to process... to separate what my mom wants, from what I want...I think I want?"

"Which is??"

"My mom says, I should never speak to you again, but i... you know, even though we haven't seen each other for three months, I just want you to know I still love you"

"But why do you ditch me and Cherly yesterday, after we see each other in the hallways."

"Uhh... sorry about that, I'm too nervous you know, I thought I never you again, and I even heard you want to move to Arcadia Bay with your dad to pursue your art career there, is that true."

"Yes that is true, I received a scholarship there, and my dad and I already packed our thing, until the last minute, Cherly show up at our front door and said I got my school scholarship back, sorry I didn't tell you sooner, Sad."

"That okay, no need to worry, I understand, and I'm still happy you're back, Charlie"

"You do!!"

"Yeah, smackhead, I do."

"Oh, I mean that really great, Sadie. Me too."

"I will be lying if I said that it didn't hurt when I first heard the news, that you moved out."

"And I'm sorry again, Sad, I should have told you first, but back then, I thought it would be better in the long run... if you didn't know, and it would be easy for me and you to move on, but now we don't need to worry about that, cause I'm here now, no more moving out."

"I'll hope it stays that way until we graduated high school together."

"Yeah me too, my Sadie"

"And oh, don't tell my mom that we're dating again, promise."

"Promise." Charlie's response as the two teen's eyes still locked into one another.

____________

Later that morning, a student comes out of the school bus and enters Huntsville high school, in the Hallway, there are photos, stuffed toys, and candles comprise a makeshift memorial for the bulldog player near Charlie's locker, as Charlie standing near the locker, Mike approaches him.

"Hey Charlie, Do you think I could use Nathan Prescott's death as an excuse to get out of PE class, Like..?

"Like what?" Charlie asks.

"Sorry coach. I'm just too depressed and freaked out right now to do pull up?"

"Don't joke about their death, Sinclair," Charlie exclaims.

"What? Sardonic humor is just my way of relating to the world."

While talking to Charlie, Mike spies something down the hall.

"Heh, Look, it's the rich kids from The Goonies." unaware of what just entered the hallway, Charlie followed his friend's gaze.

It's the new Bulldog team that Principle Parker just recruited.

"All right I'm out, your new minion is coming, Charlie."

As Anton, Reggi, and Nial headed their way... Mike tries to head out, avoiding them, Anton's shoulder punches him.

"Watch it, Monday spang."

Don't want to make a scene, Mike quietly walks away, because it always happens to him, it is like a daily routine now.

Meanwhile, Jimmy and Sadie talk to each other in the cafeteria, about Mike and Charlie.

"Now that you and Charlie are back together, I'll say it, are you hundred percent sure that Cole will be okay when he knows, you and Mikey dating when he's not around because I don't think he will be okay that you dating his best friend behind his back."

"It'll be fine, Jimmy, Charlie is a chill man, and also a forgiveness type, don't you worry about me."

"And what about Mike, are you guys done with each other."

"I broke up with Mike like two weeks ago, Jim, even before Cole come back to school,"

"So that means Mike is single now, hmm... Dy, do you think Mike, like he's straight "straight" because no straight men have that kind of body."

Sadie smirks while replying back to her gay BFF.

"Speaking of bodies, have you recovered from finding Dastin's corpse floating down the Lakewood river?"

"It was more traumatizing having to explain to my dad what I was doing with Nial at the river that night, yet another perk of being Captain of the police's son"

Sadie smirked again, padding Jimmy on the shoulder while walking into the principal's office.

Back in the principal's office, "Oh, my god, those are gorgeous, are those for Betty, Mrs. Potts" said Jimmy, while looking into the beautiful bouquet of yellow roses sitting on the ledge of the front desk.

"That's why I called her, not you, Jimmy boy."

Jimmy examines the bouquet, he found a letter that reads "Dear Sadie, sorry for my behavior toward you at the party last Friday, please forgive me. XOXO M."?"

"Who the hell is M, Sadie?" Jimmy asks.

"Mason." Said both Sadie and Mason.

He enters the room with a pack of donuts in his hand.

"The yellow for friendship, I also had a donut that you love from Two Whale's dinner, because, as my mom likes to say, there's no wrong the right donut can't fix."

"Well thank you so much, Max," Sadie says with her calm and comfortable tone of voice.

"And I also buy you two VIP tickets at the twilight cinema, tonight if you want to go....with me or Jimmy......or everybody else you want to go with it's your choice, and again, I'm so sorry for my behavior at the party toward you, Sadie."

"It's okay, Max, I'm fine." Sadie smiles.

"I don't know what happen to me that night, it was such a basic-asshole move, it was like I was possessed by---" Mason shutters.

"Lord of the underworld Satan," Jimmy adds as he rolls his eyes.

Sadie turns and looks straight into Jimmy's eyes.

"Jimmy right, it like that night the "Old Maxin Mason" possessed me.....but I changed now, I will try my best to keep it that way, and I will never, ever do anything like that to you again, I swear on my mother's pearls, just--- can you please give me one more chance?"

"Okay, Maxin Mason, you got my forgiveness," Sadie says calmly.

Both Jimmy and Mason "WHAT?"

"Really, wow, I'll take it, and you won't regret it... and I'll bring the donuts to lunch so we can celebrate."

The teens share a smile and the bell start to ring, happily, Mason exits with the box of donut, and Jimmy disapproves and shakes his head.

"It's the path of least resistance, Jimmy, and I also don't want him and Cole because of me, can't look each other in the eyes while they practice for the opening season."

"But not that easy, Sad," Jimmy says, crossing his arm and leaning his body against the wall behind him.

"A week ago, he been a jerk to everyone in school, and now he tries to make amend, I think he deserved it, everyone deserved a second chance, Jay."

A moment later, through a speaker, Principle Parker has a new to deliver to his student.

"Goodmorning, Students, This is your Principle Speaking... There have been many inquiries about the upcoming pep rally, so let me state clearly... it is happening as scheduled,"

Standing with him in the office are, Valentina Prescott, and Captain Hopper

"Now on a less felicitous note if you give your attention to Captain Hopper." Said Principle Parker.

Captain Hopper leans over the mic on principal Parker's desk and speaks "Most of you already know the details...but your former classmate and former Bulldog team's captain, Nathan Prescott was found dead late Saturday night, make it the 5th body that has been found in the past 5 weeks, so as of the weekend... all of the 5th bodies that been found are now being treated as homicide cases, it is an open and ongoing investigation, and 5 more students are still treated as missing, may God bless them and bring them b---?"

nearly finishing his speech, Valentina interrupted the Captain.

"And may I interject? This is Valentina, Neither I nor my parent will rest until Nathan's death is avenged... and his cold-hearted killer is walking the Green Mile to sit in Old Sparky and fry,... and I for one have my suspicions, hashtag " Bring Nathan Justice."

Captian Hopper steps in and continues his speech.

"If you know anything that could help us find and apprehend the one responsible for the Bulldog team disappearing and Nathan's killer or anything about what happened to them in the Huntsville highway tunnel, I strongly urge you to come forward immediately, you can speak with me or Principle Parker, a tragedy crime like this wound us all."

In the hallway, Mike peered into the office, Principle Parker noticed it, but Mike step back and went straight into the bathroom while splashing the water on his face, Charlie come in,

"Sinclair," Charlie rise his ton as he approached his friends.

Mike turns back and looks up at Charlie with a little fear in his eyes.

"Weirdest thing, this Saturday we were supposed to go on a road trip, which you bailed at the last minute, is there something you wanna tell me, pal?" Said Charlie, flitch his eyebrows, looking straight dead eyes at Mike.