The Thicket

by Noelle W. Ihli

For Nate, my high-school sweetheart twice removed.

This dedication though haha

And there are actual flies swarming across the jagged, bloody slashes near the head. He can hear them buzzing. He squints closer, wondering how they get the flies to stay. He’s maybe a foot away when he realizes that the “flies” are coming from a tiny projector in the corner of the room, its beam of light masked by the strobing of the spotlights on the carcasses.

Thats really cool

She’s always been the first to defend her brother, despite how obnoxious he can be. Brandon doesn’t have an official diagnosis, but she suspects he might be on the spectrum.

I too thought he seemed ND

He’s wearing a simple mask with deep-set eyeholes and a sharp, bulging beak. A creepy bird, maybe.

Plague doctor

couple teens peeing on the props ... bringing them up front.

Ew

The dim outline of a tiny white “Staff Only” sign. It’s almost invisible, unless you know what you’re looking for.

Which he obviously does

Staff members aren’t supposed to interact with each other in any way that might break the spell. Not in front of guests.

So hes been a staff member before then

public outcry and calls for a shutdown on the heels of the most recent tragedy. Still, some thrill-seekers have once again countered the petitions for a shutdown with petitions to keep the Thicket open.” At the mention of the counter-petitions, Taylor feels Maren shift a little beside her. Jamie’s mom frowns, and for a second Taylor is afraid she’s going to ask about the petitions.

Are those bitches seriously resposible for the petitions to keep it open??

Most of the counter-petitions have been started by students at local middle and high schools. Maren has started the one at Centennial—but nobody is supposed to know that. Especially not Jamie’s mom, who is gathering signatures for the shut-it-down side.

Thats disgusting

Taylor reluctantly signed Maren’s petition after Maren swore up and down that the only people who would ever see it would be management at the Thicket. No teachers—and god forbid not Norah or her family.

Like fuck you can keep that under wraps dickhead. People talk.

“I saw part of it. It was super sad. They asked her about the masks—and the petitions—and she just freaking lost it. Total mental breakdown on camera. Ugly crying and everything.”

Her son was murdered cunt

and white briefs that could use a good bleaching.

Yuck

Taylor’s dad was the designated cool parent in the group.

Omg imagine if he's the killer

she had solemnly announced that she and Russ had “made love” on Friday night after the dance. Maren had laughed so hard and so loud that a female teacher in the hallway heard and escorted them out into the hallway and back to class. Jamie had refused to talk to Maren for the rest of the day.

Yeah big ick. Id laugh too

Maisie’s boyfriend is trying to turn it into a pharm party. Apparently, Maisie’s going along with it. She talks about her mom’s stash of Xanax all the time.”

Ew

he’s pretty content to treat Taylor and her friends like rational—albeit standard-issue—teenage girls. It’s the unspoken agreement they’ve had since Taylor’s mom, Wendy, moved to California with her new husband. And it’s worked out fine.

Fuck Wendy

Taylor feels her cheeks go red and pretends to study some glitter lip gloss near the counter. It’s fake blood on a fake eyeball. Same as the vial in her basket. So why is her hand shaking? She wonders if Norah has seen all the memes.

Because she knows its fucking disrespectful

The Thicket is probably going to end up being totally lame. I mean, did you hear about the new ‘security protocols’?” Maren sighs and opens the lip gloss while the cashier frowns at her. “They only mention them in every single article. No masks, no backpacks, metal detectors, 3X security, we care about safety so much, blah blah blah.”

Oh no. I mean two peopleonly got slaughtered right