July 2, 2010

Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. A trembling teenage girl dressed in a lacy black dress clutched a handful of dirt as tears freely flowed down her cheeks. She couldn't do it. She couldn't let go. Not yet. In a matter of days, Tatum Starr's life had been turned upside down. Both her parents died in a hit-and-run accident with a suspected drunk driver, her boyfriend since middle school dumped her, and in a few days she was moving to live with her aunt and cousin in Beacon Hills, California. Her cousin, dressed in a black button-up shirt and slacks stepped beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him with tears shining in her eyes.

"Tay." Scott gave her a gentle smile as he used her childhood nickname. She slowly nodded her head before she dropped the handful of dirt on top of her father's casket. Goodbye, she thought.

Tatum then turned around and stared down at the hole where mother's casket had been lowered. If saying goodbye to her father had been that hard, then saying goodbye to her mother was going to be unbearable. Her mother had been everything to her—her best friend, her partner in crime, and her biggest supporter. The woman was probably the most perfect human being on the planet and now she was gone. Tatum was now alone in this world—well, mostly alone. She had her aunt and her cousin, but still—things kinda sucked. She knew that her mother would tell her to look at it as life's new adventure, but she didn't inherit her mother's sense of optimism. If only one could turn back time and change things…but she couldn't and there was no use wishing she could do so. No, she had to move on. So, she dropped the dirt on her mother's casket before turning toward her cousin and crying on his shoulder. God, life just sucked sometimes.

The time from the cemetery back home was a blur. The only thing Tatum vaguely remembered was walking up the steps to her home practically clinging to her cousin's arm with tears streaming down her face. That was it and next thing she knew, she was home. A home that would no longer be hers. Tomorrow, this house would cease to be the Starr family home. Minnesota would no longer be her state. Life had slipped the rug out from underneath her and left her head spinning. Not only had she lost her parents, but she felt as if she were losing her identity as well.

The feeling was so overwhelming that she escaped to her boxed-up bedroom upstairs despite the group of people gathering downstairs for the wake. Tatum did a belly flop onto her bed before burying her face in the mountain of pillows and stuffed animals she had accumulated. She didn't want this. She didn't want any of this. She wanted everything to go back to normal. For her parents to pop out of the closet and tell her that she had been Punk'd. She lay still for a moment, hopeful that it could happen, but the moment never came. Instead, there was a gentle knock at her door.

Tatum rolled over to see Scott walking into her room, shoving his tie in his pocket. "That thing's a pain in the ass," Scott said about his tie as he plopped down onto her bed beside her. He situated himself for a moment to make himself comfortable. The cousins sat there for a few moments in what seemed like perfect silence. It was a comfortable silence-a nice lull in the slew of emotions from that day.

Tatum propped herself up by her elbows as she stared at her cousin whose eyes were closed as if he were about to sleep. Scott was a little over two months older than her and their mothers had been pregnant together. Tatum peeked over at her dresser for a moment to see a photograph of their pregnant mothers together. Melissa McCall and Maggie Starr had been sisters. The words had been made Tatum's heart sink as she rolled onto her back, lying beside her cousin staring up at those stupid glow-in-the-dark stars she had insisted be put up there when she was six. Scott rolled over to talk to her, but came face to face with one of her stuffed animals. He quickly picked it up and held a brief staring contest with the green plush toy before turning to his younger cousin.

"What the hell is this?" Scott asked.

"Don't listen to him Perry the Platypus," Tatum cooed as she reached over and snatched Perry from Scott's grasp. She snuggled Perry up to her face and for the first time since her parents' deaths, she actually gave her cousin a slight smile. "You should probably apologize to him."

"To a stuffed animal?"

"Sh! He can hear you, you know." Tatum placed her hands over the spot that would make sense for his ears to be. Scott chuckled and shook his head before muttering an apology to Perry the Platypus, making his cousin smile again. But her smile was quickly replaced by a solemn look. It was too soon for smiling, wasn't it? She was supposed to be in mourning. "What are you doing up here, Scott?"

"I thought you could use some company." Scott shrugged his shoulders as his cousin gave him a look that she didn't completely buy his story. He rolled his eyes before confessing, "and I didn't want to deal with all the people down there. I'm half expecting my mom to come up and tell us that we're being anti-social."

"We're being anti-social with each other which is being social, right? Besides, I'm not really in the mood to socialize with people I'm probably never going to see again at a wake for my parents. All those people telling me how sorry they are for my loss—it's annoying. I mean, I'm not up to date on social etiquette as far as funerals are concerned but you and Aunt Melissa are the only ones to have gotten me a card. Grandma Starr could probably open a Hallmark with how many cards she's gotten. God, what kind of horrible person does that make me? I'm freaking jealous of my grandmother over how many cards she's gotten."

"It's weird to think of you having another family that you belong to." Tatum cocked an eyebrow at her coousin. That was what all Scott had to say about her grand confession? But she let it slide. He was probably just as tired as she was from packing everything up. He and Melissa had helped her pack up most of the house.

"If it makes you feel better, I never really felt like I fit in with the Starrs. Daddy was an oops baby, so my cousins on that side are really old. Like the closest one to my age is eight years older than me."

"Sorry."

"Yeah," Tatum sighed before things returned to silence. She was never sure exactly what to say when somebody apologized. They lay there without talking again, although it wasn't an awkward silence. It was what it was.

Tatum felt her bed vibrate and felt her person for a moment only to realize that she didn't have any pockets on her dress, so it couldn't possibly be her phone. Instead, Scott pulled his phone out of his slacks. Tatum caught a glimpse of the name Stiles which caused her to shake her head as her cousin texted his best friend back. She had met Stiles Stilinski on the few occasions she had visited Beacon Hills, but she didn't exactly like him. She didn't quite hate him—but she didn't like him. Mostly because of the stupid nickname he had come up for her. The very thought of the name made her roll her eyes.

Tatum sat up and reached across Scott for her own phone which sat on her bedside table. She was disappointed to see that no one had texted her, not even her so-called friends. Moments later Melissa was at the door with red, puffy eyes from crying. She told Scott and Tatum that they should go downstairs and mingle a bit…or at least eat some food and pretend they were socializing. At the very thought of food, Scott was on his feet and practically pulling his cousin out of her bed.

When Tatum was on her feet, Melissa walked over and tightly hugged her niece. For a moment, Tatum thought it was her mother hugging her—but reality took over and she began to softly cry on her aunt's shoulder. "I miss them so much."

"I miss them too, sweetie," Melissa whispered gently rocking Tatum before motioning with her head for Scott to head downstairs. Scott nodded his head and quickly exited the room as Melissa continued to hold onto the teenage girl she had agreed to take in. Tatum had tried so hard to hold things together, but her walls finally crashed and she couldn't explain why. It was like the dam inside her broke and there was nothing she could do about it. Melissa pushed a tendril of hair behind Tatum's ear before whispering, "We're going to get through this. I promise."

One week later…

Tatum sat on the couch in a tank top and sweatpants with her hair up in a messy bun watching TV. She really hadn't done much since moving to Beacon Hills besides watch TV or mope upstairs in her new room, which she still hadn't started unpacking. She took a swig of cream soda before she set the bottle down on the coaster on the coffee table. It was still summer break and there wasn't really anything good on TV in the daytime, but she yet she still watched whatever annoying talk show to distract herself—especially when she was alone. Aunt Melissa was working at the hospital and Scott caught an early shift at the animal clinic, leaving her alone in an empty house. She knew she should be outside soaking in the California sun, but she really had no desire to do so.

Her phone buzzed. So, she picked it up to see that Aunt Melissa had texted her to see if she was doing okay. She knew that her aunt and cousin were both trying hard to make her feel at home, both of them knowing that it wasn't going to be the same. Tatum's mother's words rang through her head about this being life's next adventure as she texted her aunt back that she was fine. She even added a smiley face for effect. The sound of the front door opening and closing echoed through the house. Tatum didn't think anything of it—she just assumed that Scott had gotten off of work early, but moments later she was proved wrong.

"Tater Tot, long time no see." Tatum didn't even have to turn to see who that annoying voice belonged to. She knew that it belonged to Stiles simply from the stupid nickname. With an evil glare on her face she turned to look at him as he stood at the end of the couch with a goofy grin on his stupid face.

"Don't call me Tater Tot," Tatum said through gritted teeth which didn't really seem to affect Stiles as he plopped his butt onto the couch beside her. So she repeated herself. "I said don't call me Tater Tot."

"You're the one who had tater tots up her nose. Hence, the nickname."

"Because you're the one that shoved them up there!"

"Yeah, that was pretty awesome." Stiles shook his head at Tatum's death glare. He looked at her for a moment before trying to change the subject. He pointed to the television. "So, what are we watching? Looks riveting."

"We're not watching anything." Tatum tossed the remote in Stiles lap before she finished her bottle of cream soda and headed upstairs, not even waiting for Stiles comeback. She really didn't want anything to do with him right now…or ever if she had her way. But she knew that he was her cousin's best friend and that interacting with him was inevitable. Right now though, she didn't have to spend time with him if she didn't want to.

She heard the channel change before she opened the door to her room and did a running start for her bed. Her bed seemed to be her safe place these days and Perry the Platypus her protector. There were no picture frames of her family decorating her walls, no ribbons or medals, nothing that would remind her of her past life. Instead the boxes which she had labeled "Tatum's shit" sat stacked against the wall. She knew Aunt Melissa wanted her to put stuff away and feel more at home, but she had no motivation to do so. Like right now for example, a nap seemed to be the better option. Tatum closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep.

Sometime later, Scott actually came home to find Stiles sitting in his living room scrolling through his cousin's phone. He snatched Tatum's phone from Stiles' grasp. Stiles somewhat freaked out as Scott gave him a knowing look. Scott asked his best friend where his cousin was and the only response he got was Stiles pointing upstairs. He motioned for his friend to follow him upstairs and the boys headed up. Scott saw his cousin asleep on her bed snuggling with Perry the Platypus and chuckled as he placed her phone on her bare bedside table. He then walked back to meet Stiles who was standing, leaning against the doorframe.

"How long is Tater Tot here for?" Stiles whispered as he stared straight ahead at the girl sprawled out on her bed. He didn't know her well and it had been years since her last visit. Sure he had picked on her when they were younger, but Scott did it first—so why couldn't he?

"I thought with her parents dying it was pretty obvious," Scott whispered back to Stiles who nodded his head. Stiles had figured as much in his head, but Scott hadn't really flat-out confirmed his speculation until now.

"Well, yeah—so she'll be coming back to school with us?" Stiles knew that Tatum was in their year at school, but maybe she was going to be homeschooled or something. No such luck.

"Yeah. You think you could play nice with her? I know you two haven't always gotten along in the past, but I mean you're probably the one who would…"

"Get it. Yeah. I get it."

"So you'll do it?"

"Hey, I'll play nice if she will."

Tatum listened as the boys finished walking to Scott's room and heard the door close before she sat up. She had been listening to their entire conversation outside her room, pretending to still be asleep. What did Scott mean by Stiles would understand? What could that dweeb possibly understand?

She rolled her eyes as she picked up her phone from the table beside her bed. She mentally cursed when she saw that her lock screen was now a picture of Stiles with a duck face. That dweeb had figured out the passcode to her phone. Thankfully, he didn't change it but her wallpaper was a different picture of Stiles wearing her aviator shades, that she had left downstairs. Damnit. This guy…but the surprise wasn't over just yet. No, she had a text message from a contact named Stiles the Great that said, "You're welcome."

As Tatum changed her screens back to normal, Aunt Melissa walked through the door downstairs and called "Pizza!" She must've come home on her break to feed her two teenagers. Well, three if you counted the fact that Stiles was over. Tatum turned to see the boys running past her room before she reluctantly stood up and followed them downstairs so that she wouldn't worry her aunt. By the time she got downstairs both boys were already chowing-down on the pizza. Melissa shook her head and walked over to her niece.

"Save some for Tay, boys," Melissa gently scolded.

Stiles picked up another piece of pizza and held it out toward Tatum who gave him a disgusted look. He simply shook his head and took a bite out of it. Tatum walked over and grabbed a slice of pizza before she sat down at the table across from the boys. Melissa came over and rubbed the side of her arm. So this was going to be her new life. She definitely wasn't in Minnesota anymore—but what she didn't realize was that in six months things were going to change…again.