Holding On and Letting Go – Chapter 1
Skylar took a deep breath as she stepped up on to her front porch. It had been over a year since she'd seen her home.
With her suitcases in hand she opened the door and walked in.
It felt so strange to finally be back in her family's house after spending 14 months in a drug treatment and rehab facility.
"Scott is that you?" She heard her mom call from the kitchen.
Melissa walked into the living room as she put her earrings in and got ready for work.
"Oh my god… Skylar!" She gasped in surprise at seeing her 16 year old daughter.
Skylar glanced around wondering where her twin brother Scott was.
"Hey mom." She managed to say mustering a confident smile.
Melissa continued to stare at her in shock.
"Why do you look so shocked?" She finally asked her mom.
"What are you doing here?" Her mom managed to stutter out.
A hurt expression flooded her face as Skylar said, "Did you really forget I was coming home today? The court ordered rehab time is up."
Her mom was silent for a minute before she rushed forward and pulled her daughter in for a tight hug.
"Honey, I'm so sorry. I had to skip the home phone bill this month, I guess that's why I never got a phone call. I'm so happy you're home though." She said.
Skylar swallowed hard and nodded, she knew her mom had been doing the best she could since their dad had left and was working all the time to pay bills.
"It's okay, mom." Skylar said, knowing part of the reason her mom had to pick up extra shifts was to pay for her stay in the rehab facility.
"How are you?" Melissa asked as she stood back to get a better look at her.
"I'm doing good." She answered.
"I know I hadn't gotten around to seeing you in almost a year, but the car kept breaking down and…" Her voice trailed off when she saw Skylar shaking her head back and forth.
"I know, it's okay." She said, knowing the treatment facility she'd been in was a good 3-4 hour drive from Beacon Hills.
"How could I have not known it was today." Melissa said as she pulled her in for another hug.
After apologizing a few more times her mom left for work and Skylar carried her bags up to her room, she knew school started the next day and because of the schooling she'd done at the facility she would be able to start the year as a sophomore.
It was close to an hour later that she heard noises coming from downstairs, opening her door she saw Scott as he reached the top of the stairs.
"Hey." She called out, happy to see her brother.
They were inseparable when they were younger, but once they'd reached their teens they'd grown apart; especially after she'd became friends with Lydia Martin.
"Skylar?" He said with the same shocked expression her mom gave given her.
"I thought you weren't coming home till next month!" He said as he hugged her.
She smiled and was thankful to be home as she said, "Yeah, mom was surprised too."
"Well, how are you doing? How are you?" He asked, as he looked her over.
"I'm okay… just happy to be home." She admitted as she tucked some of her dark, wavy hair behind her ear.
Her dark brown eyes met his and she could tell what he wanted to ask her.
Sighing she said, "And still sober… going on 14 months now."
"I wasn't… going to say anything." He said, awkwardly.
"But you wanted too." She argued, immediately feeling judged.
"I… I'm sorry." He apologized to her.
"Don't worry about it." She tried to shrug it off.
He opened his mouth to say something but she cut him off.
"I'm going to just take a shower and head to bed." She said, feeling sick to her stomach.
"You don't wanna go get dinner or something?" He asked.
"No, it was a long trip home… I just want to sleep." She admitted as she turned and started to walk away.
"I'm right down the hallway if you need anything." He said.
"Yeah, I know." She said over her shoulder before she walked into her room and shut the door.
Once the door was shut and she heard his footsteps heading in the opposite direction she ran her hands through her hair and choked back tears.
Her hands shook as she thought about how she'd have to go back to school and face everyone the next day.
Staying true to what she'd told her brother, she showered and went to bed.
She was already sound asleep by the time Stiles came to get Scott to help him search the woods for a dead body.
It wasn't long before her sleep became restless and nightmare filled.
~(Dream/Flashback)~
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Skylar asked her best friend Lydia, as she tugged on the hemline of her skirt.
"It's a party, clam down." Lydia said with a slight hint of annoyance in her voice as the two 14 year olds started up the walkway towards the crowded house.
"It's a high school party, they're going to know we're not in high school." Skylar argued as she looked to several guys in the front yard drinking from red plastic cups.
"We'll be in high school next year, and besides Sky… if you play it cool, they'll already think we're in high school." Lydia reminded her as she opened the front door to the house and walked in like she owned the place.
Nodding and letting some of her anxiety go she held her head high and walked in the party with the same attitude as her best friend.
"Now we're talking." Lydia said to her as an older guy walked past and pushed a cup into both of their hands.
"Wait, we don't even know what all is in this." Skylar said grabbing her friends arm.
"Are you really going to be like this all night? I thought you said you wanted to have fun." Lydia said, with an arched eyebrow.
"I do, I've just never really drank that much before." She admitted.
"No time like the present, so drink and stop whining. We're here for a good time, this isn't a middle school party, Sky and we've got to start fitting in." Lydia said as she drank half of her cup in one swallow.
Nodding Skylar drank down her entire cup in just a few swallows, and held the empty plastic cup out for her friend to see.
It was much later that night, that Lydia found her friend in the crowd dancing with a sophomore named, Patrick.
"You ready?" Lydia asked her.
"no really. I'm having fun!" Skylar exclaimed, her words a little slurred.
"Well, I'm not… I think I drank too much or something. I don't feel good." Lydia said, straining to yell over the loud music.
"Maybe have another drink?" Skylar offered with a wide smile. Not wanting to leave when she'd been having a good time with a cute, older student.
"That's the last thing either of us need, now come on." Lydia said as she grabbed her arm.
Skylar waved bye to Patrick and followed Lydia towards the door.
"Wait, I need to use the bathroom." She said.
"Can't it wait?" Lydia asked, just wanting out of the hot, crowded house.
"No, it's a long walk back to your house." She reminded her.
"It's not that long of a walk." She complained.
"I'll only a be a minute." Skylar said as she turned and headed down the hallway.
After the bathroom, Skylar looked around the house confused. She could have sworn that –that had been where she'd left her friend.
"Lydia!" Skylar called out.
"Hey, are you looking for your friend?" Patrick asked as he slid an arm around her waist.
"Yeah, she's sick." Skylar explained.
"I saw her go this way." He said as he applied pressure to her back and pushed her back down the hallway.
"Are you sure she came down here?" Skylar asked as she turned to face him, not realizing he'd led her into an empty room.
"Isn't it better in here? I couldn't hear myself think out there." He said as he locked the door knob to the room.
"Umm, I guess." She said, looking around the room for Lydia.
"I should really find my friend." She finally said as she tried to push past him.
He caught her, holding her wrists in his hands as he said, "You look really great tonight."
"Please… let me go. It's been a great party, but I need to go." She said, for the first time starting to feel panicked being alone with him.
"Go? Why would you want to leave now, the party's just getting started." He said, his voice husky as he forcefully pressed his lips against hers.
Pulling back she stared at him in shock.
"You don't understand… I need to go." She pleaded, trying to pull free of his grip.
"You don't understand. You're not going anywhere." He said, his voice almost in a growl as he pushed her back towards the bed.
~(End of dream/flashback)~
Gasping, Skylar threw herself from her bed onto the floor as she desperately kicked and swung her arms.
She didn't know where she was as she clawed at the skin of her neck with her fingers as she could feel Patrick's mouth and hands on her skin.
Finally she realized she was safe, alone in her own room.
Laying back on the hardwood floor she gasped for air and told herself she was okay.
But her entire body was still shaking from the nightmare. After a while she pulled herself back up on her bed and brushed the tears from her cheeks.
Angrily she shook her head, she'd thought the nightmares had stopped 6 months ago. But she reasoned the move back home might have set them in motion again.
After going to the bathroom and splashing some cold water on her face, she walked barefoot down the hallway to her brothers room.
She paused at the open door and frowned when she saw he wasn't in his bed.
"Scott?" She called out loudly into the empty house.
"Mom?" She yelled a few moments later, before remembering her mom was at work.
Swallowing hard she quickly ran back down the hallway to her room and shut the door behind her.
Climbing back into her bed she pulled the blanket up to her chin and tried to steady her breathing.
It took a while, but she was finally able to get herself calmed down enough to sleep.
Turning onto her side away from the window she had just started to drift off to sleep when there was an intense, sharp pain in her side.
Crying out in pain she grabbed onto her side as it continued to burn and ache.
"What the hell?" she mumbled in a strained voice as she lifted the green tank top she'd been wearing and saw her side was red in the moonlight.
After turning the light on in her room she lifted her shirt again and her breath caught in her through as she saw what looked to be a bite mark appear on her side over the red mark on her skin.
Running back to her bed she ripped the blanket off of her bed trying to find what could have made the red, teeth marks on her side; but she couldn't find any reason for it.
Lifting her shirt again she swallowed hard as she could see the bite mark, cringing she touched her fingers to it.
~(The next morning)~
Skylar changed into a pair of jeans and dark purple scoop neck sweater shirt, with a button design up the side.
After pulling on a pair of black boots she fixed her hair and make-up when there was a knock on her door.
"Come in." Skylar said.
"Hey, I thought you could use a ride to school." Melissa said, still in her work scrubs from the night before.
"I actually thought I'd just walk… get some fresh air." She politely declined the offer.
"But we need to stop at the store and get you some school supplies." Melissa pushed.
"And you want to make sure I'm actually going to go to school." She said with a sigh.
"Yeah." Her mom said with a nod.
"Okay, I'll meet you downstairs in a few moments." Skylar said as she grabbed her old book bag from her closet.
Once her mom was gone she lifted her shirt and couldn't believe her eyes as she saw the bite mark was completely gone; her skin wasn't even red anymore.
As she headed down the stairs to meet her mom, she began to consider that maybe she'd never had a bite mark to begin with and she'd dreamt it.
As her mom pulled to a stop outside of the school she said, "I called Scott's boss this morning to see if he had any openings."
Skylar looked over at her mom.
"He didn't, but there is a part time evening position open on the long term care wing of the hospital. It's not very exciting; you'll mainly be passing out towels and ice water, and helping with dinner." Melissa said.
"You're, uh… you're making me get a job?" She asked, her voice soft.
"I just, I just thought things might be better if you stay busy." Melissa admitted.
"Idle hands are the devils tools and all that." Skylar mumbled.
"I talked to my supervisor and she said the position is yours." She continued.
"Okay, you're right. It's probably better if I stay busy." She said nodding as she got out of the car and headed towards the school.
Once she heard her mom drive off she turned around and headed away from the school, losing her nerve to go inside.
The whole time she was gone she'd wanted more than anything to just be back at home, but now everything felt so alien to her and she almost wished she was back in the treatment facility.
Sitting down on a bench she ran her fingers through her dark hair and took a deep breath trying to calm her nerves.
"Are you new here too?" A girl asked.
Skylar looked up startled, she hadn't realized that someone else had been sitting on the same bench.
"Kind of." Skylar admitted.
"Kind of?" the girl asked.
"I'm Allison, by the way." She said, with a friendly smile as she introduced herself.
"I'm Skylar." She responded, returning the smile.
After a pause she continued, "I was going to make something up, but it doesn't really matter because you'll find out the truth anyway. I've lived here my whole life, but the last 14 months I was away at a drug treatment and rehab facility."
Allison's dark brown eyes widened, "Wow… I, uh, definitely wasn't expecting that."
Skylar nodded, thinking she'd just scared her off.
"Well, it's a new year, a new you… right? Maybe it won't be so bad." Allison offered nodding towards the high school.
Skylar managed a surprised smile, "Maybe."
"So, I take it you're new here?" She asked.
Allison nodded, "My family moves around a lot, we just moved here from San Francisco."
"Allison Argent?" One of the school employees questioned as he walked towards them.
"Yeah." She said nodding.
"I'm sorry to keep you waiting." He apologized.
She smiled and nodded.
"Are you Skylar McCall?" He asked looking to the other teenager on the bench.
"Yeah." She replied.
"Alright, let's get you two to your first class." He said as he motioned for them to follow him.
"Maybe we're in the same class." Allison said with a smile as she nudged Skylar, who could barely return the smile as they walked in the doors of the school.
Leading them into a classroom he said, "Class, meet Allison Argent and Skylar McCall, our new students."
Both girls shifted uncomfortably and scanned the class room for empty seats, as all eyes were now on them.
Soon a hushed whisper went through the room as everyone looked at Skylar.
"And it begins." She muttered under her breath.
Allison reached over and gave her arm a small squeeze.
Allison took the empty seat behind Scott, and Skylar sat down in the empty seat behind Stiles.
"Hey, Sky.. Skylar." Stiles stuttered out as he turned around and looked at her.
"Hey." She responded with a raised eyebrow at his behavior.
"Are you still going by Sky, or do you want to be called Skylar now?" He asked.
"Stiles, you've called me Sky since we were like seven. Why would you start calling me Skylar now?" She asked him, her voice in a hushed whisper.
"I don't know you're all grown up now…" He stuttered out, he'd never felt this nervous around her before.
"What?" She asked confused.
"I'm just happy your back." He said quickly as he turned around and faced back to the front of the classroom, shaking his head at his new found inability to talk to her.
A/N- Hey everyone. Thank you for reading the first chapter of my newest Teen Wolf story. I really hope you all liked it.
On my profile is the link to my Polyvore account where I'll be making sets to go along with this and a few of my other stories. I also have 2 other Teen Wolf stories posted. ^_~
I'd really appreciate it if you'd take the time to leave a review and let me know if you've read and liked the chapter, and if you're interested in seeing the story continued. Your support and feedback means more than you know.