Out of the Ashes

by LydiaofNarnia

In the middle of high school, Rebecca Crosser's main concerns are getting ahead of her dyslexia, keeping up with her best friend, and taking care of her dysfunctional father. She never asked to meet a mysterious, fascinating boy named Isaac Lahey. She never asked to become wrapped up in a world where the supernatural is real. But she has, and now she knows- there's no way out.

7. Friends

My lips press to his again and he pulls me in closer, his hands on my waist as he kisses me more forcefully. I press myself to him and we move together as one, our bodies moving almost unconsciously to the music we really couldn't care less about. I wrap one arm around his neck and tangle my other in his dark hair. I smile into the kiss and he sighs, his body warm as he pulls me tighter against his chest.

I feel his hands slide up my shirt to grope at my chest, and I bite down at his lips. He lets out a soft groan, and I feel satisfied to have elicited such a reaction from his. His muscles are tense and wound under my touch- like a cat waiting to pounce.

We pull apart momentarily for air and his warm breath hits my face. I crinkle my nose as the sharp smell of alcohol registers in my mind- he's drunk. "How are you-" I begin to ask, but he cuts me off with another kiss, his hands slowly wandering down to my waist. I press him back against the wall, content in the knowledge that the sanctuary of the bleachers is concealing most of our antics, and he laughs softly against my mouth.

I'm not there anymore. I'm nowhere. Where am I?

No, I am somewhere. I'm outside. I can feel the cool February night air against my bare arms as I make my way across the lacrosse field, and I rub my hands over them. My arms are covered in goosebumps and I shiver again, although something in the back of my mind tells me that it isn't just from the cold. Where is he? I've got to find him- where did he go?

I call out his name again, and there isn't any reply. He's got to be out here- I saw him leave, I know he left. I've got to find him. Where is he? "Jackson!"

Suddenly I'm blinded as one of the floodlights flickers on, bathing one section of the formerly dark field in bright light. It is quickly followed by a second, then a third, and a forth, and they continue to flicker on all around me until I'm surrounded by a ring of light. I spin around in confusion, squinting at the brightness. This couldn't be Jackson. Why would Jackson do this?

This is someone else, I realize, and a cold jolt of dread shoots through me.

I spin around, my breathing slightly ragged. I don't know why I feel so afraid, but all of a sudden I'd like nothing more than to take off and never come back to that field again. "Jackson?" I say again, my voice coming out much smaller than I would like it to. I know it isn't Jackson.

But it is someone; I can see a figure slowly emerging out of the darkness from between two of the lights, and I squint to make out the identity of the man. "Jackson, is that you?"

It isn't Jackson. The frame is too big and he's wearing a long coat. I don't know who it is, but he's coming towards me and I want to run but I feel frozen in place, my eyes locked on the ominous figure slowly approaching me. "Jackson," I say again, wanting so desperately for it to just be my boyfriend- ex-boyfriend- for this all to be just some sort of an elaborate prank. But I know that it isn't. "Is that you?"

I've got to run. I've got to get away. But I can't.

"Lydia!"

It's the sudden cry of my voice that breaks the spell, and I spin around to see Stiles sprinting full-force across the field towards me. "Run!" he shouts, his bid coming out as a strangled roar that's full of pure terror, and I spin around to find myself face to face with the figure that had been emerging from the darkness.

It isn't Jackson. It isn't even human.

The last thing I see before I'm hit with a blinding wave of pain and fall back into total darkness is a long, needle-sharp row of monstrous fangs in the mouth of my attacker as he opens his jaw wide in an animalistic roar. And then I know nothing more except pain and darkness.

But I wake up again. No- I was never asleep. It's hot. It's so hot, and I need to go outside. I push away from him, leaving him slouched behind the bleachers in a daze, and make my way outside.

I stand outside the school, amidst the array of glowing stars projected onto the building, and inhale a deep breath. The night is cool and I'm relieved; the gym was so warm that it feels good to be out, away from the mass of people. Maybe I'll just stay out here for the rest of the night- I can still hear the music and there's much more room to dance-

A scream. Someone is screaming.

It's Jackson Whittemore, I realize, sprinting towards the school with someone cradled in his arms as if he were holding a baby. I can't tell who it is, but I'm immediately concerned. Did someone pass out? Did someone fall? Jackson sounds like he's crying.

And then I spot the blood covering the girl's silvery dress, and someone else screams, a shrill sound that pierces the night air. I want to scream- maybe I am, I can't tell if I am or not. It's Lydia. It's Lydia Martin, and she's covered in blood.

She passes me and as she does it hits me, nearly knocking me down. She's hurt. She's hurt, and it hurts so badly, and she's scared, so scared-

Help me. Help me, please.

She's so scared!

Help me.

She's afraid!

Please!

I know that I'm screaming, but I don't know who I am anymore. I don't know anything.

xXxXxXxXx

I'm jolted out of my sleep by screaming, and for a moment I'm sure that it's me- it has to be me, how could I not be screaming after a dream like that. But it isn't me- it's Jade.

"Jade, Jade, it's okay! I'm here, it's okay!" I'm comforting her before I really know where I am- before I actually know who I am. As her screams die down and she sobs into my arms, it all slowly comes back to me again; I'm me, I'm Rebecca, and I'm staying over at Jade's house tonight. Lydia Martin was attacked tonight at the dance. Not me. Lydia Martin. I wasn't even at the dance tonight.

As Jade weeps, I cast a sideways glance at the clock on her bedside table- it reads a bit past three in the morning. "Shh... shh... Jade, Jadey, it's alright. It's okay, you're okay. Calm down," I soothe, patting her back gently. She hiccups and goes limp against my shoulder, one hand entangled in my blonde hair. I can feel her nails digging into my scalp, but I don't care. If I'm helping Jade, then that's all that matters.

"I know," I whisper, my voice soft and calming, "I know. I had a nightmare too."

Eventually, Jade glances up at me guiltily, swiping at her tear-streaked face with her sleeve a few times before sitting up, her back against the side of her bed. "I'm sorry," she whispers. "I just... it felt so real. Like- like I was there with her. She was scared, Bec- she must have been so scared."

"I know," I say quietly, my mind wandering back to my own dream, and the fear I had felt as Lydia as I stood all alone on that lacrosse field. "I know."

Jade falls silent, and it seems to take her a moment before she's able to speak again. "Do you think they'll be able to find the guy that did it?"

I shrug, not meeting her eye. "I hope so."

She exhales heavily, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them again. "I'm sorry for waking you. You can go back to sleep now, I'll be fine."

"What about you?"

"I... I'd really rather not go back to sleep right now, if that's alright," she says, opening a drawer in her bedside table and pulling out a hard-covered book that I can't see the title of. "I'll just read for a little while. I won't turn on the light. That okay?"

I shrug. "Your life. But how will you see?"

"I can see fine," she replies, her eyes still glistening with tears, but her face remains placid. "The moon's bright tonight."

"Alright, then," I sigh, turning over so that my back is to her. I can hear her soft but somewhat ragged breaths, and I can feel her breathing right next to me. Despite how worried I am about her, I'm reminded of what I felt yesterday night with Isaac; how I had listened to the combination of our breaths, how I had likened them to a song, how peaceful that moment had been- how happy I had felt.

Isaac fills my thoughts until I fall back asleep, and for the rest of that night I dream about him as well; dreams about the two of us in my bedroom, about what would have happened if one of us had just leaned in a little closer when I so wanted to in that short moment. I would have felt his lips on mine; I would have touched his hair; his hands would have been on my back. Not like the boy from my other dream; that was rough and passionate and not romantic in the slightest, there was no actual feeling behind it. If I had kissed Isaac, it would have been different. I dream about other things, too- like the light in his eyes when he laughs, or the nervous, flustered way he had invited me to the formal, or even vanilla ice cream cones while radio blares throughout the car. Those are the things I dream about, and I have good dreams that night.

xXxXxXxXx

My weekend is primarily spent trying, along with Julie, to ensure that Jade doesn't lapse into a complete nervous breakdown over the events of the formal. By Saturday morning she's still quite traumatized, and she stays that way for the rest of the day. Julie and I try our best to humor her, but eventually I'm just tired and only want to go home. By Sunday, however, she does seem far more recovered, and the relief in Julie's voice when she informs me of this over the phone Sunday morning is even greater than my own. When I speak to her later that night, Jade assures me briskly that she's fine, everything is fine, and resumes her gossiping about the latest breaking news in Beacon Hills, regarding the psycho lady who apparently set the Hale house on fire a bunch of years back, killing eight people- her moments of weakness the night before seemingly forgotten entirely.

However, I have another worry on my mind that weekend, besides Jade; Isaac. By Sunday night I've called him three times and texted him five- and still, he won't reply. I'm not sure if he's purposefully ignoring me or if he simply can't answer. As much as I want to give him the benefit of the doubt- his phone could be dead, he could have lost it- it is difficult when I remember the look he had on his face Friday afternoon when I rejected him.

Monday morning dawns as brightly as ever, but I'm barely able to pull myself out of bed.

I hate Mondays. Have I mentioned that I hate Mondays? Well, I really hate Mondays.

On the bus ride to school I even catch myself falling asleep a couple times, and the girl sitting next to me has to stick me with her pencil more than once to wake me up. This, combined with not having breakfast this morning, basically sets me up for a pretty poor day at school.

Before homeroom, Jade is by our lockers as usual, and as soon as I get there she begins chirping away about nothing in particular. Content as I often am to simply listen to her talk, I can't help but take in her appearance- her face is as bright as usual, but she's wearing more jewelry than she usually is. That's odd for her- usually Jade doesn't go overboard with jewelry. She's also wearing extremely bright clothing; a pretty silk top of pale mint green fabric that, while it looks absolutely gorgeous on her, can't help but give off the appearance- to me, at least- that she's trying too hard to pretend that everything is exactly as it should be. She's putting a great deal of effort into pretending that things at school are completely normal, so I choose to play along- for her sake.

However, things aren't completely normal, and after what Averie tells us a few minutes later we know that there isn't any use pretending that they are.

It's Kayla Denham who gets our attention first as she runs up to us, with Averie trailing close behind her- her bright red hair would be awfully hard to miss. "You guys," she gasps, clutching her chest. She looks as if she's just run a very long distance- and no wonder, her locker is halfway across the school. "You've heard, right? About Lydia?"

My heart sinks to my stomach. My first thought is that Lydia is dead. That would be the only way to explain the crazed and somewhat bloodthirsty glint in Averie's eye- or am I just imagining that?

Jade's face goes an ashy grey color. She looks sick, no doubt thinking along the exact same lines as I am. "What about Lydia?"

"She went missing from the hospital last night." Averie says it so quickly, like it's something wonderful that's happened. I'm in shock. Lydia Martin is missing. How could she be missing? How can someone go missing from a hospital? Averie continues: "She was in the shower last night, and all of a sudden they heard a scream- and she was gone. She just vanished."

"Completely naked," Kayla adds, her green eyes wide. "She didn't grab a towel, even! They don't know where she is!"

"Oh my god..." Jade murmurs, and she leans against me a bit for support. The two girls begin chittering excitedly to each other before they spot someone behind us and dart off to tell them the news as well. I grit my teeth in disgust, my disdainful gaze following them as they pass me.

"Gossipy hens," I mutter, narrowing my eyes at them. "If a girl's missing, that isn't something you find delight in."

"How... how can Lydia be missing? Just gone like that? How- how does that even- how does that happen?"

I glance over at Jade, and I can see that her hands are shaking slightly. "Hey," I say softly, grabbing her hands again and steadying them in my own. "Don't do that. Not now, okay? Not here. It's going to be okay. The police are going to find Lydia- don't cry, Jade, look at me."

Jade does look at me- reluctantly, furiously blinking back tears from her eyes. "I'm fine," she whispers firmly, more for her own benefit than mine. "Totally fine. I'm okay."

Just then the bell rings, and I give her hands one final squeeze. "You sure?"

She nods weakly. "Yeah. Of course I am. Go on, Becca, get to class. You don't want to be late."

As I scurry off to homeroom, I try to glance back at my best friend again, but she's already rushed off to her own homeroom, and is nowhere in sight.

xXxXxXxXx

As I walk into history class, I'm torn between feeling apprehensive and excited. The thought of speaking to Isaac once again makes my stomach twist into knots; but it also fills me with an odd sort of electric surge that's not entirely foreign to me. It's the same feeling I get during a swim meet, right before I'm about to dive into the water. I'm not a complete idiot- I can sort of figure out why. A boy likes me. A boy actually likes me... and I turned him down. Will that make things awkward between Isaac and I? Logic tells me yes, but I really hope that it won't prove to be so.

I choose to approach him just as normally as I would on any other day. "Hey, Isaac," I greet, sliding casually into what has become my usual seat beside him.

I seem to have jolted him out of some sort of reverie, because he jumps a bit when I speak and blinks hazily at me for a moment before responding with a rather listless "Hi." When he replies, however, he makes the mistake of turning his face fully towards me, and my frown slides off my face as my eyes widen in shock.

"Holy- is that a black eye?"

"Oh." Isaac's hand immediately darts up to his left eye, almost as if he's trying to conceal it from my view, but it's too late- I've already spotted it. Just as the bruise on his face was finally beginning to fade to a sickly looking yellow that nevertheless was still far less garish against Isaac's pale skin than the odd violet color it had been on Friday, Isaac now sports a new bruise on the opposite side of his face- a sore looking, light purple ring around his left eye. "Yeah," he says, his voice quiet but his expression mild. "Lacrosse."

I raise my eyebrows, his explanation not sitting well with me in the slightest. "Lacrosse. Over the weekend. The sport where you wear extremely heavy protective gear, notably including face masks? I mean, we are thinking of the same lacrosse here, right?"

Isaac hunches over his desk, frowning deeply. "It was an accident, okay?" He says, his voice hard and altogether un-Isaaclike. "That's all."

I draw back, stunned at eliciting such a defensive reaction from him. Isaac didn't get like that when I interrogated him about the bruise on his cheek. What's making him so closed off now? "Okay," I retort, my brow furrowing. "I'm not going to push you if you don't want to talk about it." I study his reaction carefully- the way he scowls down at his clasped hands, the minute way his eyes flicker to me quickly before looking away, as if checking to see if I'm still staring at him, and I'm once again struck by the thought that something isn't right. "Isaac..." I venture tentatively. "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Even though I bite down hard on the corner of my lip, I can't ignore the slight pang of hurt I feel at the careless tone in his words. This is about the formal. This has got to be about the formal, because I don't know what else it could be about. Why else would Isaac be acting like this?

"Okay, look, if you're acting weird because you're upset about the formal thing-" I'm all set to go off on a tangent, but cut myself off when Isaac's head whips towards me, his crystal blue eyes wide.

"What? No! No, I'm not upset about the formal."

My frown deepens. "Then what? What's wrong? You're acting as if I'm not even here- or..." I trail off, pursing my lips as I glare down at my blank notebook page.

After a long moment I almost think that I can feel a hand hovering slightly over mine before abruptly vanishing, but I don't look up until I hear Isaac's voice, quiet and apologetic.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I've just..." He frowns deeply. "I've got a lot on my mind."

"Oh," I say quietly. "Is... everything alright?"

He nods slowly, rubbing a hand against his temple, and suddenly it occurs to me exactly what it is that's been bothering me about him all class; somehow Isaac, without changing his appearance in the slightest, seems to me as if he's aged several years completely overnight. The reasons for such a solemn, pensive look to be occupying any sixteen year old boy's face seriously has me concerned about whatever thought might be running through his mind.

However, he simply nods again, more firmly this time. "Sure, yeah- everything is fine." And so I, recalling his response to being pressed earlier, simply shrug and reluctantly leave it at that.

xXxXxXx

It's almost unnerving how Averie's gaze fixes solely on me as soon as I sit down at our lunch table. No- it is unnerving, to an absurd degree. It feels like I'm a tiny field mouse who's somehow had the misfortune of attraction the attention of a hawk. A hungry hawk.

"So, Becca," she chirps as soon as I take my seat at the table next to Jade, not even bothering to wait for the rest of our table's usual occupants to join us before directly plunging into what I don't doubt has been on her mind ever since she saw me separate from Jade and head outside Friday afternoon. "We missed you Friday. Where did you go?"

I chew at my lower lip instead of my food, shrugging nonchalantly as I pretend to critically examine the bread of my sandwich. "I ate lunch with someone else."

"With Isaac Lahey?" Next to Averie, Holly offers me a tiny smile. "I saw you eating with him."

"Umm... yeah. I ate with Isaac."

Averie's grin is teasing. "So what, are you two, like, dating now or something?" My eyebrows shoot up so high that I imagine they must be nearly about to leap clean off my forehead, but I'm not given the chance to reply before little Kayla speaks up from the end of the table.

"Eww. I heard he's, like, anti-social or something."

"I know," Lee adds, a smirk on his face as he runs his hand through his thick brown hair. "He's in my Algebra class. He hardly ever speaks."

"He sure was saying a lot to Becca last week," Jade adds with a giggle, and that's when it hits me that I'm truly on my own in this. Somehow, Isaac has become the main topic of gossip for the moment, and Jade is too focused on trying to act like her "normal" self to do anything to intervene. And that's bad, because I need someone to intervene. I don't want to talk about Isaac with these, people, I really don't, because I can see that any words they say about him won't be good ones. I've have a terrible feeling that I've just set off something horrible.

"I think he's pretty," Kayla adds, chewing on a lock of her red hair, and my gaze flicks to my tightly clasped hands and stays there.

"The dude's practically scared of his own shadow," I hear Kyle add. "He doesn't have any friends."

"Did you know that his dad used to teach here?" pipes up Scarlett. Of course Scarlett would know that. it sometimes seems like Scarlett, the daughter of an Biology professor, knows everything. But why is everyone taking such an interest in Isaac? Every word makes me feel sick to my stomach.

"No way." It's Averie's voice, and I feel a pang of resentment. She started this. It was her.

"No, it's true. My dad used to talk to him in the teacher's lounge sometimes. He said he was affable enough, but he always gave me the creeps whenever I saw him."

"You know," Daniel comments, and without even looking up I can see the gleeful glint in his eye, mirrored in nearly everyone else's at the table. Isaac is fresh meat for the gossip-mongers- because of me- and there's nothing they love more. "I heard he tried to drown a kid once at his house."

"Get out! Isaac or his dad?" Averie's voice is incredulous, and I can tell she's grinning.

"His dad, I think. Who knows? Maybe it was both of them."

My head pounds. I can't listen to this any longer. I've got to get out- now.

"He had an older brother, I think," I hear Lee comment, but I'm not listening anymore. Without saying a word, I rise from my seat, dump my untouched lunch in the garbage, and without even a glance back at them I stride out of the cafeteria with my head held high and my gaze fixed straight ahead. I can feel their eyes following me as I walk away.

Halfway down the hallway, I hear the click-clack of Jade's platforms behind me, but I don't turn around. "Becca- hey!" she calls after me, and as I quicken my pace she does the same.

"Bec- hey, Rebecca!" She exclaims again, managing to catch up to me and seize my shoulder. I pull away roughly.

"Leave me alone, Jade," I say, my voice hard.

"Hey!" She intercepts me again, jumping in front of me and preventing me from taking another step. "I'm sorry, okay?" Jade's eyes are wide, and her face is a picture of earnestness. "Just come back, and-"

"No!" I exclaim, feeling a burst of hot anger surge through me. "I'm not going back! I won't go back to that table ever again!" Jade's mouth drops open slightly and she takes a few steps back, her hurt written on her face. She looks as if I've just physically struck her- and I know that to her it probably feels as if I did. But I'm not finished. "Gossips, the whole lot of you," I spit, "chirping away at some poor boy when he isn't even around to defend himself!"

"Rebecca, I'm sorry..." Jade says softly, her voice quavering slightly as I step around her and begin to walk away from her. I freeze up at the sound of her voice, suddenly unable to force myself to take another step.

I exhale heavily, not turning to look back at her, but not walking away either. "If that's the type of people you choose to be friends with then that's your choice, but I don't want any part of it."

And then, without glancing back at her once, I walk off down the hallway- and this time, Jade is the one left staring after me.

The remainder of my lunch period is spent sitting in the library at the table nearest to the window, where the sun always seems to shine down just right. I may not feel as at home amidst the towering shelves or literature as some, but the library is quiet, peaceful, and most importantly isolated; I'm able to get most of my Algebra homework done without anyone interrupting me, and I'm almost certain that if anyone tries to come looking for me then they won't find me here.

After my argument with Jade, I don't say another word for the rest of the day. Even when I notice Kayla staring at me oddly in Economics, I simply turn my back to her without saying a word. Jade tries to speak to me again after the final bell, but I simply pretend as if I can't hear her. I might feel bad for being so harsh, but all I can feel in response to her words is anger. She keeps trying to insist that it was all just a joke, that nothing they were saying was really that bad, telling me to just come back. I don't understand why she can't comprehend that I do not want to be around people who tear others apart for their own personal pleasure. Especially when it's one of my friends that they're talking about- when they gossip about others it's easy to block them out, but not when it's Isaac. Isaac isn't for them to have, he's- he's sacred, I guess, I don't know. But the idea of them getting their gossipy little claws all over him makes me feel sick.

The next day seems all set up to play out exactly like the first. Jade keeps trying to talk to me; I'm very staunchly ignoring her. By fourth period Algebra, she seems to have mostly stopped trying, but instead of feeling satisfied I just feel hollow.

Even Isaac, who has recently been serving as a bright light in the middle of my really bad days, isn't any help today. If anything, he's even worse than he was yesterday; half of the time it seems like I'm not even there, and I hardly talk to him at all in History.

However, at the end of class, just before the bell rings, he does ask me something that sticks in my mind for the rest of the day. Just as I'm placing my notebook in my bag in preparation for going to me next class, he leans over towards me, his face solemn.

"Rebecca," he begins, sounding both pensive and slightly nervous at the same time. "Who would you- what would you do if I were different?"

My eyebrows slowly raise. "Different how?"

"Different as in- different. More confident, I guess, more smart, more... better. What would you do?"

I shrug, completely bewildered. What sort of question is this? "I guess..." I reply slowly, frowning. "I guess I would just have to wonder what changed."

He looks as if he wants to carry this on more- maybe ask me whether I mean that in a good way or a bad way, or something like that- but just then the bell rings, and I'm more than a little relieved. Honestly, I have no idea exactly what I meant by my reply. But his question bothers me all day; why would Isaac be thinking of changing himself? What would be the need to? And... the question still remains, what would I think?

Honestly, I think that I'm fine with Isaac the way he is. One over-confident friend who always seems to be convinced that she's right is more than enough.

When the lunch period begins, I spot Jade waiting at the cafeteria doors. Even through my anger I still feel a pang of sympathy for her; she just looks so miserable, standing there scanning the hallway for any trace of her best friend who she knows will more than likely not show up. I'm almost tempted to go and grab her right then- to drag her to a secluded table outside where we can just chat, just the two of us, like we used to before she had to go start sitting with Kyle and Averie and the rest of them.

But instead, I turn my back on her and head off to the library again. I don't care, I tell myself the entire walk down there, and I almost manage to convince myself of it. I don't care.

xXxXxXx

"Is this seat taken?"

The soft voice completely shatters the illusion of peace that I had surrounded myself with, sitting at my little table in the library and bent over a book. It's one that I vaguely recognize, but I still don't want to look up to identify it's owner- I really don't want to see anyone right now. Still, my eyes are drawn upwards, and I find myself staring it to the thin, solemn-eyed face of Erica Reyes, a girl from my history class.

As I stare at her she glances down at the seat again, as if reminding me of her question. I'm just glad that it isn't one of them- then again, I knew that none of Averie's crew would ever look to find me in the library. Wordlessly, I shake my head and am rewarded with a tentative smile of thanks as Erica sits down and pulls out a notebook.

I don't mean to snoop, but just by looking at her I can see that the page she opens to contains several short passages of what looks like written poetry. When Erica realizes that I'm looking she hastily flips a few pages to what looks like notes from class.

"Chem quiz next period," she murmurs with a small shake of her head, as if trying to pretend that the page of peotry never even existed. "Harris is a killer. But I want the grade, so I've got to study."

"I took it today," I offer, still watching her eyen as she begins flipping more pages in her notebook, obviously looking for the right section of notes. "It's not that hard." Or, at least it probably won't be for her- I couldn't understand a third of what was on the page, so I don't really hold out high hopes for my grade.

She smiles again, glancing up at me with her wide brown eyes. "Great," she says. "Hopefully I might actually get an 'A' then."

I don't reply, instead electing to turn my attention back towards my book. She does so as well, and the next few minutes are quiet, if rather tense. I don't really know Erica, but I like her well enough- we've been in the same grade ever since her family first moved to town in seventh grade. She's always been kind of quiet, and from what I understand she- like me- doesn't really have that many friends. Erica's like me in another way too- she has a disability. Erica has epilepsy, which is a nervous system disorder that can cause seizures. I've never seen anyone have a seizure before, but from what I understand Erica once had one right in the middle of class- some sick kid filmed her, too. Erica, from what I've noticed here and there, is still kind of picked on; luckily for me, most of the bullying about my dyslexia stopped when I got into high school and started falling behind a lot less. I've always felt sort of an unconscious bond with Erica that way, that we both know what it's like to get picked on for something awful that we can't control. I'd like to say something to Erica. But there's no way I'm going to be the first one to say something, so I simply sit and pretend to read, my eyes running sightlessly over the words as I wait for her to speak- if she decides to, which I know she probably won't.

She does. "So," she says after a moment, her voice lacking some of that timidity that was present when she first spoke. "How come you're here?"

"Huh?"

"Well, you've got to be here for some reason," she replies, still staring down at her notebook. "This is the quietest place in school. Usually I come here at lunch- or whenever I just want to be alone. I come here a lot."

"Oh," I mutter. "Sorry to take your space."

"It's fine," she replies, shrugging. "It's not like I own it or anything."

I debate for a moment telling Erica exactly why it is that I'm sitting here. There's really no reason to, I know- but I feel like I want to talk to someone, and Erica actually seems willing to listen. And besides- I figure that if anyone can understand idiots, it would be Erica.

"I'm here because my friend's friends are jerks, and she's apparently decided to go right along with them," I say after a moment, and this time Erica really does look up- and her gaze is understanding, and utterly unsurprised. "They think they can just talk, talk, talk, as if their words don't get around, as if their words won't hurt anyone." I clench my fists bitterly, trying to quell the acrid burst of anger that rises up inside of me whenever I recall the group's words about Isaac.

"Of course," Erica replies, her tone dry. "That's what they do, isn't it? It's what they do best. Teenagers- people- love to talk." She smirks. "After all, they're just words, right? They can't hurt anyone. No one will ever know."

Her statement causes me to frown. It's clear, I realize, the Erica's had a lot of experience with people like Averie. I'm suddenly very glad I decided to share with her. "They make me sick," I mutter quietly. "I can't stand to hear them."

Erica nods, frowning. "They just don't understand... how words can hurt sometimes. They're sort of like kids that way- they don't understand how easy it is for words and actions to scar, even if they don't physically touch you, but they have a full comprehension of how simple it is to hurt their own delicate egos. They just don't know how easy it is... but then again, I guess you can't, until you've been there, right?" She raises an eyebrow at me, and slowly I nod. "So," she asks, absently doodling in her notebook. "Have you got a story?"

"Dyslexia," I reply. "From kindergarten to eight grade, I was the idiot who couldn't read. Kids used to call me stupid, they used to leave all these little notes on my desk with really small writing, because they knew there was no way I could read them. And they called me names... even some of the teachers."

She nods, her lips pressed into a thin line, and I realize that no matter how awful my early school experience was for me, hers must have been- and still continues to be- much worse. Suddenly, my complaints feel petty in comparison; but Erica doesn't look annoyed or mocking. She looks like she understands.

"Are you going to go back?" she asks simply, and her question gives me pause. I hadn't intended to ever go back to that table, but now that I stop and think about it- should I?

"Do you think I should?" I ask, and she shrugs.

"It depends, I guess, on how much that friendship really means to you in the first place." She looks at me, and her tone is completely serious. "If I were you, I wouldn't throw away a friendship that's lasted for a long time- but I wouldn't force myself to be around those types of people." The bell suddenly rings, startling both me and Erica, and we both hastily begins to gather up our things. Erica finishes first.

Before she leaves, however, she stops, and imparts with me one last comment. "I guess the only one who can make that choice," she says simply, "is you."

xXxXxXx

The thing about Jade is, once she's given up, she's given up. At lockers after school she doesn't meet my eye, not even when I shut my locker and lean against it, watching her as she neatly places her school books in her bag. She doesn't demonstrate it often, but Jade's got the capacity to be as stubborn as a mule when she wants to be.

It takes me finally losing my patience and slamming her locker door shut for her to finally acknowledge me, glancing up at me with wide eyes. "I don't want to fight now, Becca," she says quietly. "I really don't."

"I'm not trying to fight with you," I retort, but my words must come out too harshly because she takes a step back, looking hurt. My tone softens. "I don't want to fight either."

Jade's eyes narrow quizzically, as if she can't really process what she's hearing. "I'm not apologizing for what I said," I add hastily, "because I don't feel I need to. But I don't want to fight over something so... stupid."

Jade sucks her cheeks, her brow furrowing. "Neither do I, of course I don't. But... we didn't say anything bad, Becca. I'm sorry if you felt that way- but we didn't think it was bad. I'm sorry. Averie's sorry. We were... just having fun."

"That wasn't fun," I reply with a shake of my head. "But it shouldn't be something we fight over."

"Will you still eat lunch with us? I promise no one will talk about Isaac anymore."

I bite my lip, pondering the question for a moment. But one look at my best friend's wide-eyed, hopeful face, and I find it hard to say no. "I actually don't have any other significant lunch plans tomorrow, so... sure. Of course I will."

Jade's face breaks into a tentative smile. "So," she says, "friends then?"

"Friends," I nod, only for my word to end in a broken gasp as Jade lunges at me and wraps her arms around my shoulders, surely seeming as if she wants to crush me to death.

"Thank god," she murmurs. "I've missed you so much, and I wanted to talk to you all last night but I couldn't, and it was just so frustrating. You know, Averie was really upset after you left- she was texting me all last night to ask if I'd heard from you. And then last night I had another nightmare, would you believe it? I don't know what's wrong with me lately- I swear, it's the Lydia thing." The mention of Lydia finally makes her stop talking, and the bright expression on her face shifts into a frown. "Actually, I had an idea about that."

I raise my eyebrows, crossing my arms across my chest. "An idea? About Lydia?"

"Yeah... I just thought that maybe... well, today I heard Kyle talking about there being a bunch of volunteers going to search for Lydia tonight. I thought that it might be nice, and I kind of wanted to maybe do it." She glances up at me hopefully. "I mean, if you'd be able to. Do you think you could go with me?"

I frown. Walking around the woods at night looking for a missing naked girl certainly sounds more interesting than the way I pass most of my evenings, but I'm not really sure how good of an idea it is. Still, Jade just looks so hopeful, and I figure that this would probably be the best way to mend and residual tension between us. So, I shrug and force myself to look positive. "Sure," I say brightly. "Why not?"

Jade's face breaks into a grin. "Oh my god, great. I thought I was going to have to go alone, and I would be so freaked out walking around the woods alone at night..." She picks up her bag from the ground and the two of us begin to walk towards the exit of the school.

"We'll be with a search group," I point out. "We won't be completely alone."

"I know that," she replies, "but..."

Jade keeps talking, but I don't hear the rest of what she says. As we walk out of the school I suddenly notice Isaac standing by the doorway, his hands in his jacket pockets. He seems to be studying the ground, but looks up as we pass him. I wave to him, sending him a tiny smile, and he waves back wordlessly. The look in his eyes is the same as it's been ever since yesterday morning, and it still haunts me; whatever it is that's on his mind, it must be something terrible. If only he would just tell me what it is that's bothering him, and maybe I could help him... but I won't press. I wouldn't like him pressing me, and I know that he's a private person as a rule. If he wants to tell me, he will.

As I get on my bus, he's still standing there, and he still seems to be watching me. Even as the bus begins to drive away his eyes follow me; just as they did one week ago today when he walked me out to my bus. I stare out the window at him, and neither of us moves; we just stare at each other, our eyes locked, until the bus rounds the corner and I'm no longer able to see him.

Whatever it is that's bothering him, I do hope that he tells me soon, or at least gets whatever it is resolved. Somehow, the Isaac that walked me out of school a week ago seems different from the Isaac that I saw standing in the exact same spot today. I don't know what could have happened to cause someone to change so distinctly in such a short period of time, but it troubles me, and I think about him all the way home.

xXxXxXx

"It's freezing out," I hiss, pulling my black coat tighter around my shoulders. Even the coat isn't doing me much good- my teeth are chattering so much that I'm afraid they'll break. Even though I dressed for the occasion, I wasn't anticipating exactly how cold the woods of Beacon Hills would be tonight. This only makes me even more worried for poor Lydia- what shape will she be in running around completely naked in these conditions? Even though I'm wearing a sweatshirt and a coat, I'm still freezing. "How are you not cold?" I ask, nudging Jade with my shoulder. She's dressed neatly and elegantly, as usual, but with her red vest serving as her only protection from the elements, her outfit doesn't exactly scream 'below forty degrees'.

Jade shrugs absently, her eyes fixed on Deputy Graeme as she steps away from the deputy she'd been talking to for the last few minutes and finally turns her attention to us, the volunteer searchers. For the past ten minutes Jade and I have been sort of just milling about, waiting to be told what to do. I'm relieved to see that we weren't one of the only ones to volunteer; actually, the turnout seems pretty impressive. If I had to estimate I would say that over a hundred people are here to help search for Lydia, us included. That's a really good thing- I mean, the more people out looking for her then the most likely it is that she'll be found, right?

"Alright, everybody, listen up!" Almost all eyes turn to Deputy Graeme as she begins to speak. "First of all, I'd like to thank you for all coming out here tonight. Beacon Hills is a small town, and if one of our children is missing then it impacts us all."

Jade grabs my hand and squeezes it, and I squeeze back. "Now," the Deputy continues, "it's thirty-four degrees out here tonight, and there's a young girl wandering around alone somewhere out in these woods. She's likely to be frightened and disoriented, and probably even a little sick. You are all going to be divided into four groups. Each group will be led by a police officer. Whatever you do, whatever you see, do not separate from these groups. We already have one missing person out there- we don't need to be looking for another." Deputy Graeme holds up a clipboard. "I'm going to read out to you a list of names, and these names will be your group. When you hear your name, you walk over to your assigned officer, and he'll lead you from here. First group, go with Officer Morgan- Arbor, Cathleen; Astley, Greg..." As the deputy begins to read off a list of names, Jade and I exchange glances. We had just assumed that we would be searching together; I don't like the idea of going off into these woods without her, and I can see by the look on her face that she feels the same way.

"Crosser, Rebecca!" I'm startled when Deputy Graeme reads out my name. Jade frowns and I squeeze her hand one last time before going over to join the small circle of people forming around a young, dark haired man in a police uniform.

It doesn't take too long to get to the 'N's. I hold my breath as "Narwin, Sherrie," is called over to our group, and my eyes find Jade for a moment. Her eyes are wide; she looks terrified. I'm frightened too- I don't want to go into the woods alone, and I certainly don't want her to be alone when she has to go in either.

I breathe an audible sigh of relief when Graeme reads out the next name, "Newmar, Jade," and Jade trots over to me with a bright smile on her face.

"I made the cut," she murmurs, relief clear on her face, and I smirk at her.

"What? Don't tell me you were scared?"

"I wasn't, but you sure could have fooled me. Your face was as white as a sheet."

"Yeah, that's because it's, like, twenty below out here." I shiver, zipping my red sweatshirt up to my chin. "You still aren't cold?" Jade simply grins.

However, once Officer Morgan begins leading us into the woods, we- along with the rest of the group- fall completely silent. The woods of Beacon Hills are eerie at night; eerier than I ever imagined. In the daytime they've always seemed to me, if not friendly, at least normal- now they feel like something out of a horror film. Shadows seem to press in on us, and the only light besides our flashlights is the moon above us.

Eventually Morgan instructs us to wander a bit away to begin our search, and soon the forest is filled with calls of "Lydia!", making the entire setting seem much less intimidating somehow. No one seems eager to go far, but everyone seems to be covering at least some ground. Jade and I are actually one of the few to dare to go more than twenty feet away from the rest of the group; Jade seems wary and, frankly, I am too, but we both know that a bunch of people all clustered in one place is going to do nothing for the missing girl.

After fifteen minutes of calling Lydia's name and receiving no answer in reply aside from the now increasingly far-off calls from the other searchers, Jade seems dejected.

"Well, you didn't expect we'd just come out here and find her, did you?" I demand, shining my light critically into a hole in a tree. Jade huffs beside me.

"Of course not. I just didn't think that it would be this... unproductive. I had hoped we'd at least find something; some tracks or some hair, something to lead us to her."

"Missing girls don't just leave a trail of breadcrumbs," I reply, straightening up and frowning at the ground. "If only there were some way we could just-" Suddenly I stop, every muscle in my body freezing.

"Becca?" Jade asks, and her quizzical frown only deepens when I hastily shush her.

"Quiet," I whisper, pressing a finger to my lips. "Do you hear anything?"

"I thought you just told me to be quiet."

"Jade!" I exclaim, swiping at her with my flashlight. "Seriously. Do you hear anything?"

Jade crinkles her nose, her eyes darting around the dark woods. "No, nothing. Why?"

"Exactly. I don't hear anything. I don't hear our group anymore."

"Ohh... crap."

"Yeah."

Jade shines her flashlight around wildly, as if searching for any trace of the rest of our party in the darkness. "Well, what are we going to do? We've got to get back!"

"Which way did we come?"

Jade turns to me, shrugging helplessly. "I don't know!" She exclaims, her voice coming out a few octaves higher than normal.

"You're the one with the sense of direction here, not me!"

"Well, I have no idea! Maybe- I mean-" She hesitates, staring off to our left. "I think we came east."

I frown, shaking my head. "No, no, I think we were south. Definitely north. We were heading south."

"No, we were heading west. We came east."

"North," I correct, "we came north."

Jade bites her lip, and I can see that she really has no idea where we came from. "Fine," she concedes at last. "We came north. Let's head back that way."

We walk for a long time in the darkness, neither of us venturing to say a word. After a while my old flashlight, which I had dug out from he back of my dad's supply closet, is beginning to flicker. We're both shivering now, although I'm pretty sure that Jade is more frightened than cold, and we still haven't seen or heard anything of our search party.

"You... know something?" I say after about ten minutes of complete silence. "I think we may have actually come east."

Jade sighs through her teeth, holding her head in her hands. "I don't believe this," she mutters, and her voice shakes slightly. "How could we-"

"Hey," I say suddenly, going still. "Shut up a sec."

"Excuse me?"

"Quiet!" I hiss, my eyes darting rapidly around the woods. "I think I just heard something."

Jade suddenly seems to grow animated once more, her eyes widening. "Heard something? Like what? Like, a search party something? What are you hearing?"

"No," I shoot back, waving a hand to silence her. "Not a person. It sounds more like... a wolf." I turn to her, my brow furrowed. "Can't you hear it?" Jade shakes her head, glancing around the forest nervously, and I frown.

It's almost hard for me to hear as well, but the noise is clear; the howling of a wolf, filling the night from somewhere not far from us. I can't tell exactly where it's coming from, but I can tell one thing; it's close. I've always had a bit better hearing than normal, but as the noise slowly begins to grow louder, I see Jade's expression shift from eagerness to alarm and terror, I can tell that she's heard it too.

"That... that's a wolf. I hear a wolf!" Jade vocalizes exactly what I was afraid to, and she automatically drifts closer to me, her eyes wide. "How can that be? Are there even wolves in California?"

"There are animals," I murmur, remembering the woman who was found torn in half by an animal just last year, at the beginning of sophomore year.

"We- we have to get out of here," Jade says, her voice soft, but I grab her arm as she begins to walk backwards.

"Are you kidding? We don't know where it is!"

"I don't care where it is, I want to get out of here!"

"Jade, if you go out there you might run right into it, and it could very well just tear you to-" A sudden crackle of leaves, very near us, stops my words in my throat. "Pieces..." I finish weakly, and Jade and I exchange horrified glances. The howls have stopped now... almost as if the wolf has spotted something.

And, based on the way the leaves seem to crackle in the darkness around us, the noise circling us as we spin around, desperately trying to catch a glimpse of the creature stalking us, we're the ones who've caught the wolf's eye.

In a flash I've snatched a heavy stick off the ground, dropping my own flashlight in the trust that Jade has hers, and brandish my newly acquired weapon in front of me. "What the hell will you do with that?" Jade hisses, her voice small, and I shrug.

"It's what Belle did," I reply breathlessly. "In Beauty and the Beast," I add in response to Jade's quizzical look. "She fought the wolves off with a stick."

Jade lets out a breathy laugh, her voice still not rising over a whisper. "I can't believe this. We're about to die, and you're talking about Disney films."

"Are we really-" I stop as I hear a low growl from somewhere directly to our left of us, and spin around to face the direction from which the sound came from. Jade lets out a soft whimper, and glancing down at my own hands I can see that they're shaking, but I stand my ground. Jade's terrified, and I can't let this wolf- or whatever it is- hurt her. Not as long as I'm able to protect her.

Jade clutches at my shoulder, her fingers digging through my three layers of clothing and pressing hard into my skin, and I take a deep breath in anticipation. Any second, some beast is going to come lunging out at us from the shadows, and it's going to be up to me to protect her. Any breath I take might be my last. The only thing I can think of is how on the first morning on tenth grade, when Dad told me about the girl's body after he read about it in the paper, I had shuddered and though about what a horrible death that must have been. Now, that girl was going to be me.

Any second now... one... two... three...

Someone steps out of the shadows and Jade lets out a shrill scream, burying her face into my shoulder. But my eyes are wide, and my stick nearly slips out of my hand in shock. Because I'm not facing down a wolf, not at all- instead I'm staring at a man.

The man is tall, with a stern face, solemn eyes and light stubble on his cheeks. He regards us coldly, and I almost involuntarily shrink back. Something about this man say "business," and I'm almost immediately intimidated.

"What are you girls doing out here?" He asks, and his voice isn't angry- instead it's calm, almost quiet, and I'm even more taken aback.

"We- we were-" I splutter, and I realize that I must look like a total fool. Taking a deep breath, I collect myself before saying again, "We were part of the search party. For Lydia Martin? I- I think we lost our group."

The man regards us sternly for a moment, taking in the shaking Jade on my shoulder, the rather half-hearted way I'm now brandishing the stick out in front of me, and the no doubt terrified-out-of-our-minds expressions were both wearing, and his face seems to soften slightly.

"You've wandered pretty far from your group," he informs us, nodding his head towards our right. "Just head straight forward that way. It should take you about three minutes to get back to a main road. I'm sure you'll be able to make it back from there."

I nod weakly, trying to smile at him but failing miserably. "Yes sir," I mutter, taking Jade by the arm but not looking away from him. "Thank you, sir."

Jade breaks her gaze from him first, and gives me a pull towards the direction that he had indicated. I turn away from him, my eyes wide, and we're just starting to walk off when he speaks again. "One last thing, girls," he calls, and as we turn back we realize that he hasn't moved. "What are your names?"

"Uh- Rebecca," I say, glancing over at my friend. "This is Jade."

He nods at us. "Well, you girls be careful walking back there. You never know what type of animals might be wandering around these woods at night."

I nod my head again, squeezing Jade's hand as if my life depends on it. 'Yes, sir," I say again. "Thank you... for your help." The man nods once and turns away, walking back exactly the way he came, and Jade has to half-drag me away from where I stand.

"Well, thanks for letting me handle that on my own!" I exclaim once I'm finally able to speak again, which is a good two minutes later. "You could have helped a bit!"

"I wasn't saying a word!" Jade exclaims. "Who even was that guy?"

"I don't know. He just stepped out of the darkness like- like-"

"And what happened to the wolf?" Jade continues, her voice quavering slightly. "I mean, what, did he, like, chase it away or something?"

"I really don't know," I murmur, wrapping my arms around my shoulders as I shiver again- not entirely from the cold this time, either. We don't speak any more after that- I'm not sure I would be able to, and Jade is obviously half-scared out of her wits.

It takes us, just as the man had said, about another minute until we can suddenly see the blue, red, and white lights of police cars flashing in the distance. "Oh my god!" Jade exclaims shortly before taking off at a run towards the road, and I follow behind her. Once we reach the road- thankfully a bit behind most of the police cars, so anyone who actually notices us come flying out of the woods like the devil himself is on our tails doesn't really pay us much mind- we embrace tightly. I feel like crying, and for a moment I'm almost afraid that I might. I had been so sure... when I was prepared to put myself between Jade and that wolf I had been so sure that I would never get home to see my dad again. Now, surrounded by the safety of law enforcement, I feel an overwhelming sense of relief. Even though this definitely isn't where the search party began, we've still reached safety. I'm going to get to go home tonight.

Without warning Jade suddenly seems to shift gears, and she starts to shake me by the shoulders while angrily hissing in my ear, "You idiot! Oh my god, you idiot! Why do I ever listen to you? 'North,' you said, 'we came north.' We did not come North, you-"

Her words break off, and I can see that she's staring at something over my shoulder. She looks as if she's seeing a ghost. "What?" I ask, spinning around only to freeze in my tracks.

For there, stepping out of the woods, completely naked and shaking like a frightened animal, is none other than the honest-to-god Lydia Martin.

I don't speak. I physically can't. Actually, as almost all eyes in the party turn to the clearly traumatized girl, the only person who seems to have found his voice is Stiles Stilinski- what's he doing here?

Lydia stares back at us, her eyes shining with tears. I'm sure that she's going to break down crying right where she stands- god knows I would- but then I remember that this is Lydia Martin.

"Well," she says, her voice thick and shaky. "Is anyone going to get me a coat?"

With her words the spell seems to break, and along with the sheriff I find myself rushing forward to help her. The sheriff reaches Lydia first and wraps to coat around her shoulders, concealing her bare body, and I take her arm in mine. "Lydia, are you okay? What happened? Are you alright?"

She turns to me, her eyes wide. "I don't know," she murmurs as paramedics surround us, taking her from my arms. "I... I don't know."

AN: Super long chapter, I know, but I couldn't find a good place to split this up! In case you couldn't tell, the guy at the end- that was Argent. Also, Erica! Erica is my baby, and I love her to death. I hope you guys are all happy and smiley and content- because it's about to go down.

Have a great day!