A/N: Hello! Thank you to everyone who stuck with this story way back when I started it in 2013. I'm sure most of you gave up on ever getting an update out of me, but I'm working on making up for that! Updates will probably start slowing down to a few times a week instead of every day because as much as I would love to sit and write all day, I have to pay the bills somehow :P Anyways… here's chapter 4! Hope you like it! Your love and ideas are always appreciated!
Chapter 4
..Friday After School..
"Please don't tell me you are planning on wearing that to the party." Lydia looks at Malia's outfit in distain. Malia has a pair of sweats and an old crop top on and is lounging on Lydia's bed flipping through a magazine halfheartedly.
"I wasn't planning on going, actually." She says, not looking up from the fashion page she obviously has no interest in.
"Of course you're going. You talked me into throwing this party, you have to come with me." Lydia purses her lips at her friend and then turns back to the mirror, silently critiquing her own outfit.
"I literally can't get drunk. Most of the kids at school think I'm a total idiot, which I kind of am. And no guy has shown any interest in me since Stiles. So what's the point of going to a party? I just—I think I'd rather stay in." She bites her lip and tries to look like she's focusing really hard on the article in front of her.
Lydia sits on her bed and grabs the magazine away from Malia. Her voice softens and she grabs Malia's hands in her own. "You don't need to get drunk to have fun. All of your friends will be there to keep you entertained. You are not a total idiot, you've just spent the last eight years living as a coyote in the wilderness. It's going to take some time for you to catch up to the rest of us. With me as your tutor, you'll be smarter than the rest of our class in no time. And as for no guys showing interest, maybe they would if you would stop sulking around about Stiles. Now stand up, take off that awful excuse for clothing, and pick something out of my closet to wear." Lydia stands up expectantly, hands on hips. She gives Malia an encouraging smile
Malia groans, gets up and begins rummaging through her friend's almost obsessively organized closet. Lydia flinches as one designer dress after the other floats towards the floor. "Just pick one Malia." She says through clenched teeth.
"Lydia, none of these are my style. I need something a little edgier. I want to show some skin tonight." Lydia notices the glint of mischief in her friend's eyes, and laughs as she shakes her head. She steps in front of her friend and pulls down a box from the shelf and plops it on her bed. As Malia begins to dig through it, she looks back at Lydia with an amused look on her face.
"What? I went through a slutty phase one summer." Lydia smiles as Malia pulls out more clothes than she could possibly wear for the next month. "Take the whole box. I'm not going to wear any of that again. It was a pretty short lived phase and my skin is much too delicate to be that exposed."
After what seems like hours of Lydia and Malia going back and forth on almost every outfit Malia tries on, they finally come to an agreement on a lacy crop top and a pair of tight ripped up jeans. Malia looks so mismatched with Lydia's designer sun dress, causing Kira to giggle when she sees them climbing the stands at the lacrosse field.
"You two couldn't be more opposite." She says, looking them up and down.
"Look who's talking." Lydia gives her a pointed look as she examines Kira's uniform. Kira almost gets offended, but shakes it off. After the last few months of spending almost all of her time with Lydia, she's learned not to argue with her about clothing. Besides, I'm proud that I get to wear this uniform.
"Don't you have a party to set up?" She shoots back instead.
"It's being set up as we speak. I thought my presence was better served cheering on my friends." Lydia raises her eyebrow at Kira and grins, knowing Kira won't have anything snappy to say back to her about it.
Kira runs out to join Scott, Isaac, Stiles and the rest of their team, including Aiden and Ethan on the field for the first game of the season. The stands fill with their classmates, all who are probably here more to kill time before the party than to watch the game. But the team gives them a show. Their opponent is one of the more difficult teams they face every year, and the girls notice that Scott and Isaac are tapping into their wolf powers more than they should be to keep their team in the lead.
The opposing team doesn't seem to like that Kira is out on the field playing with them. She takes a hard hit from one of them, which visibly angers Scott.
"What ever happened between those two anyway?" Malia whispers to Lydia, not wanting to be heard over the hush of the crowd as they watch Coach talking to Kira on the ground.
"I'm not really sure. They were getting pretty hot and heavy, but then something happened. Kira didn't really want to talk about it, and I didn't push it. I think it might have had something to do with Allison, Scott's first girlfriend. But who knows."
"Allison is the one who died last year, isn't she? When Stiles had that problem?" She keeps their conversation as neutral as possible, not wanting anyone to overhear their talk of supernatural happenings.
"You know, Malia, someday I'm going to have to sit down and have a talk with you about tact." Lydia shakes her head, trying to concentrate on Kira, who is still on the ground, although she's risen to a sitting position and is shaking her head yes at Coach.
"I'll take that as a yes." Before Malia can continue the conversation, Stiles and Aiden help Kira off the field and the crowd applauds her as she takes her seat on the bench.
"I'm going to go see if she's okay." Lydia hops up and makes her way down the bleachers before Malia can ask any more questions about her dead best friend. She touches Kira's shoulder as she sits down next to her. "Are you okay?"
Kira gives her a brave smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. Coach just thinks it's probably best for me to sit out the rest of the game with a fake injury. I've already showed those guys I'm just as good as them. There's really no reason for me to get hurt over their ignorance."
"Atta girl!" Lydia grins and gets up, not really ready to make her way back up to the bleachers. "You're coming to the party tonight, right?"
"Of course. I wouldn't miss it." She smiles at Lydia and is about to turn her attention back to the game when someone catches her eye. "Oh look! Charlotte is here." Lydia follows her gaze up to where she was standing next to Malia and finds the new girl in her spot. She rolls her eyes, unaware that Kira is watching her. "Are you still not okay with her yet? I thought we talked about this. She's a great person. Hopefully tonight you'll get to know her a little better and see what we all see." She turns around to focus on the game, half irritated that her friend is still keeping up her jealousy over this girl.
Lydia sighs and takes a deep breath before making her way back up to her spot, careful to come up on Malia's other side so that she doesn't have to sit next to Charlotte. Hopefully Malia's body will be a good enough barrier to keep Charlotte from hugging me. And before she can even finish that thought, Charlotte reaches around Malia to hug her. It takes everything Lydia has not to groan out loud.
"Lydia! This is so exciting, isn't it? Malia just told me we're winning! How great is that?" She looks into Lydia's eyes expectantly, waiting for her to match her enthusiasm. Never being one to fake anything, Lydia only manages to give her a half smile.
"Yeah, it's great. You're a little late though." Lydia avoids eye contact, instead turning her eyes to the game.
"I know. I'm so bummed I missed the beginning. I was in the middle of a project at home. I did see Kira being helped off the field though. Is she okay?" Charlotte bites her lip in concern, eying Kira sitting on the bench.
"She's fine. The other team was just too intimidated by her. She decided it wasn't worth getting seriously hurt over."
"Atta girl." With that, Lydia looks over at Charlotte suspiciously. The girls watch the rest of the game without conversation, cheering on their friends as they bring in a win. They make their way down to the field to congratulate their friends.
"That was amazing! I've never had so much fun at a lacrosse game before! You guys rocked!" Charlotte makes her way around the group of guys, giving each of them a big hug.
"She sure is friendly, isn't she?" Lydia mutters under her breath.
"Lydia!" Kira gives Lydia an exasperated look before accepting a hug of her own from Charlotte.
Lydia looks down sheepishly. I guess I should cool it on the Charlotte hate for now. Especially since I'm standing in the middle of her fan club.
"Well, I guess it's time to party now! Anyone need a ride?" Lydia calls out, but no one is listening. She clears her throat and repeats herself, a little louder this time. "Anyone need a ride to Charlotte's party? It's all ready for us." Of course, everyone perks up at the mention of Charlotte, even though she is standing right in front of them.
"We have to shower, but we'll be out as soon as we're done." Scott says, motioning towards the lacrosse team.
"Well, I'm not going to shower since I spent a whole five minutes on the field. Will you wait for me to change?" Kira looks at Lydia, who nods. Kira takes off towards the girls' locker room and Lydia turns back to the group.
"I would love a ride, if that's okay. I honestly have no idea where the party is." Charlotte beams at Lydia.
"Great." She says, trying not to sound too sarcastic. "My car is this way." She turns around and walks towards her car, not caring who is following her and who isn't. She hears two sets of footsteps and knows that Malia and Charlotte are behind her. They giggle and talk excitedly, but Lydia can't be bothered to listen.
"You can have the front seat. I'm fine in the back." Charlotte says to Malia when they get to the car.
"No way. You are the guest of honor, you sit in the front seat." Malia gestures to her before quickly stepping around her and plopping down in the backseat. Charlotte giggles and gets in, much to Lydia's disgust. She giggles an awful lot. I can't be the only one who finds that obnoxious.
A few minutes later, Kira joins them and Lydia makes her way down a windy road, turning off onto a dirt road a few miles out of town and following it through the thick forest until it thins out a little and they reach a few cars already parked between the trees. The party is already in full swing when the girls arrive in the clearing where the lake is.
Lydia did an amazing job planning everything. There is a DJ at one end of the clearing to their right, with a laid out dance floor in front of him. Strung between the trees surrounding them are hundreds of small lights, which light up the ground just enough for the perfect party. A table between them and the dance floor is packed full of all sorts of alcoholic beverages and plenty of red solo cups to go around. To their left is a raging bonfire, surrounded by hay bales covered in thick blankets. At the lake, there is an abundance of floaties, where a group of brave souls are trying to navigate the dark waters. There are already groups of people all over the place, enjoying the party.
"I've got to hand it to you, Lydia. You definitely know how to throw one hell of a party." Charlotte gives her a big grin and takes her hand as she makes her way towards the alcohol table. Everyone stops to say hi as she walks by.
"It doesn't really seem like you needed a welcoming party. I think everyone here already knows you." Lydia looks around, taking in all of these people saying hi to this girl who is dragging her around by her hand.
The four of them make it to the table and Charlotte expertly pours them a concoction, filled with more bottles than Lydia could remember. Malia looks longingly at the alcohol, then at the people in the lake who have already sampled enough of the booze to make them think that swimming in the inky water is a good idea. When Charlotte hands them their cups, she gestures for the girls to raise them up.
"To making new friends." They 'clink' their cups together and Malia downs her drink in one gulp. Kira takes it much slower, not being used to drinking at all. She isn't sure if it will affect her, so she's going to take it slow and test it out. Lydia knows she can still get drunk, so she takes a sip, impressed that the drink is actually tolerable. Charlotte takes a long swig before lowering her cup and giving them a conspiratorial grin. "Let's go dance ladies!" Before anyone can object, Charlotte has ushered them onto the now crowded dance floor, where they all move to the beat. Lydia even lets go a little, enjoying the rhythm and having fun with her friends. The bad feeling in her gut isn't gone, but a warm feeling is starting to take over, relaxing her.
When the boys arrive, Charlotte takes off and greets them, leaving the girls on the floor. After a second, they follow. But by the time they reach the guys, Charlotte has already taken off with Stiles. Scott, Isaac, Aiden and Ethan look upset, probably because Charlotte didn't take them with her.
"Where did Stiles and Charlotte go?" Lydia tries asking nonchalantly.
"I guess she wanted to talk to him for a minute. Something about thanking him for everything." Scott glares in the direction they went. Lydia starts to go after them, but something stops her. She shakes her head and decides to play host for a while, showing the guys around and getting them drinks.
Stiles and Charlotte sit in the jeep, the music from the party barely reaching them. Stiles is so nervous to be alone with her that he's shaking.
"Are you okay?" She gives him an amused look and holds his hand in both of hers.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just energized by our win, I guess. What did you need to talk to me about?"
Charlotte takes a deep breath and closes her eyes for a moment. When she opens them, her face has a serious look on it that scares Stiles a little. "I need to tell you why I'm really here."