Genie sat curled on the couch late Monday night, staring at one of the photos on the mantel with something akin to longing, her eyes unable to move as she gazed up at the elegant woman framed in black. It was an old photo, the edges ripped and frail looking, but the woman in it was anything but.
"You always did love that picture."
Looking to her left, she saw her mother leaning on the divide into the room, a gentle smile on her face. Mrs. Cary brushed a piece of her short-cropped hair from her eyes, snatching the frame from the mantel. Her mother folded herself into Genie's side, holding out the frame for the both of them to see. With a sad smile, Genie turned her eyes from the picture and up to her mother.
"You told me so many stories about Gran Annaliese. I wish I could have known her," she mumbled wistfully, sighing and leaning into her mom's chest. Her mother tutted, running a hand through Genie's hair comfortingly.
"You and she are so alike, honey. You have no idea," her mother replied. The woman in the photo looked no older than Genie's own mother at the time, her posture perfect as she sat in a decorative chair. Her dark hair was pinned back, but plain, as was her dress. Her face, however, was on open display. She wasn't focused on the camera at all. Instead, her head was tilted back and to her right so that she could look at the tall man standing with a hand on the chair. The smile on her lips couldn't be contained, and her eyes seemed to shine as she looked up at him, absolute devotion in her every feature. The man, handsome and dressed in a dark suit, was looking down at her with a fond exasperation. Genie couldn't help but grin, outlining the woman's face with a light touch.
"You have her nose. It's a little turned up, but it's cute like a button. And her mouth. I definitely got a little more of my father's mouth and chin, but you look just like your great grandmother," her mother whispered, almost reverently.
There was a low wave of pride at the fact that she was like her great grandmother, though she wasn't quite sure if she believed it herself. "You used to tell me stories about her when I was little so I would go to sleep," she reminded, snuggling into her mother's side. With a laugh and a pat to her head, her mom nodded. Her mother had had a wealth of stories for her, ranging from underwater cities and daring quests across foreign countries, but no stories had made Genie so happy as the ones about her great grandmother.
"Mmm… You reminded me so much of her even when you were little. She was such a gentle woman, but she wasn't afraid to fight for what or who she loved. Oh! I always thought you were too young for me to tell you this one, but I think you're old enough now. Did I ever tell you how she died?" her mother asked, a wide smile breaking onto her face. Genie's own grin dropped as she looked up at her mother in confusion.
"Why are you smiling about that?" she hissed, reaching up to cover her mom's mouth as the woman began to giggle. Mrs. Cary pushed her hands away, shaking her head and fighting against her smile.
"Oh, it's a good story. It was after your great grandfather James died, so she was living in their cottage up in Maine by herself. She refused to leave, to come and live with your granmother Anouk, my mother. Gran Annaliese was furious at the suggestion that she move out of her house, so we moved to live close to her for a time," she recounted, a faint smile across her lips. Genie still had a sour frown on her face, her arms crossed in front of her to steel herself for wherever the story was going. "Well, one night, there was a break in at Gran Annaliese's. We didn't hear until the next morning that it had happened, when the police came. She had been murdered, and-"
"Mom! This is not a happy story to add to the ones from my childhood," Genie protested loudly, her mouth wide open in shock as she shook her head. She could feel her stomach twist at the thought of her family member being murdered, immediately thinking about the family that had been murdered in the town that week. Her mother only shushed her in response.
"The suspects had been caught, however, because they had never left the house..."
Genie took in the silence for a moment, narrowing her eyes at her mother. "They… never left the house?" she asked cautiously. Her mother began to giggle again.
"Nope. All three of the men practically had nervous breakdowns right after she died. What they told the police, though, was the best part. It's the reason I'm telling you this, honey, and it's worth it, I promise. Bear with me," her mother begged, eyes tearing up as she continued to smile wider. Genie pulled back from her mother's arms to look at her head on. "They had broken into the house and were confronted by an eighty-nine year old woman with her hair in curlers in a lilac nighty brandishing a kitchen knife, who promptly starting singing at the top of her lungs and chasing them towards the door. They all said it was the most terrifying thing that they had ever seen. When she died, they all felt suddenly ill and sat down in the kitchen, not bothering to try and hide the body or their attempted robbery."
Genie blinked stupidly at her mother as if in a trance, her mouth opening and closing soundlessly and her hands fallen uselessly in her lap. She couldn't keep the tiny hysterical sound from bursting out of her, her giggling joining her mother's as they doubled over in laughter. Wiping tears from her eyes, she sat up and tried to talk through the noise. "Are you- are you telling me my great grandmother turned into a vengeful Viking lady when she was threatened in her own home?" she cried, her voice shaky as she burst into another fit at her mother's frantic nodding. Genie shoved her palm over her mouth, trying to keep quiet so she wouldn't wake Paul upstairs.
"Most of the stories I told you about your Gran Annaliese were about how kind she was, and how generous she was, and how in love she and your Gran James were, but she was also a completely wild woman, unafraid to fight and stubborn to a fault," her mother supplied, dabbing at her eyes and grinning at Genie. "You are just as sweet and gentle and loving as your grandmother, but never forget that you're a fierce little thing too. You've got her spirit in you, her song." Leaning forward, Mrs. Cary hugged Genie tightly and pulled away to rub their noses together. Genie scrunched up her face and giggled, drawing back to wipe at her eyes.
"Mom, I don't think I could ever pull a knife on intruders and sing them into shock," she teased.
Her mother scoffed, swatting at Genie's head playfully. "If there are ever intruders, please don't pull a Gran Annaliese. Just call the police," her mother begged, snickering as Genie nodded in agreement. "Now… What's going on with you today? You've been quieter than usual, and you're already quiet, so what I mean is that you've been silent."
With a sigh, Genie squirmed in her mother's arms until she was cushioned against the woman's chest, listening to the soothing thump of her heartbeat. Her mother didn't question her further, instead running her hands through her daughter's hair. A few minutes passed before Genie sighed again and pulled away, shrugging noncommittally.
"A little drama at school. Everything's alright now, but I'm just tired," she evaded, letting her eyes drift down to her hands in her lap. Her mother released a sigh of her own before standing and moving to put the picture back on the mantel. Mrs. Cary turned to Genie and reached out her hands to help pull her off of the couch, slinging an arm over her daughter's slim shoulders and guiding her towards the stairs.
"Alright, but you'll let me know if things aren't okay? After everything that happened at Jefferson, I just want to know that my baby is alright," her mother admitted, leading them up the stairs. Genie gave a quiet hum in agreement, loud enough to satisfy her mom. As they reached the top of the stairs, Genie's mom pulled her close to press a kiss against her forehead before prodding her in the direction of her bedroom.
ooo
The last thing Genie was expecting when she arrived at school the following day was for Lydia to be waiting impatiently at her locker, a small brown bag curled in her hand. When she saw Genie, she held the bag out to her, a slightly-too-wide smile stretching across her lips.
"Morning. I got an extra cinnamon roll at the bakery today," Lydia explained, handing the bag over and leaning on the locker next to her as Genie began to sort out her books for the morning.
"Thanks, Lydia," she intoned quietly, looking up and shooting the girl a small, sincere smile. The slightly nervous edge to Lydia's smile subsided into her normal dazzling grin. Genie shut her locker as quietly as possible, leaning next to Lydia and taking out the cinnamon roll to munch on. She nearly groaned, rolling her eyes up and putting more weight against the locker. "Christ on a bicycle, this is amazing."
"Bicycles didn't exist back then, Genie," Lydia chided, pushing away from the locker and tugging Genie to follow her down the hall. Genie huffed, bumping her hip against Lydia's and smiling to herself when the girl stumbled in her heels and shot her a baleful glare. The first warning bell rang loud overhead, Genie's mouth tugging into a frown at the shrill sound.
"I'll see you at study," Genie called as she turned down another hall towards her homeroom. Lydia waved without a word, but the thankful look on her face was enough to tell Genie that the girl had been worrying she wouldn't show.
When Genie showed up to first period, Malia didn't seem as worried as Lydia had been. It would have been strange to have her apologize and ask if they were on good terms, though. She couldn't help a small smile when Malia waited after class to tell her she didn't think there was anything wrong with Genie after all. That was as close to an apology as she was going to get from the other girl, and she'd take it if it meant Malia would stop insinuating she was severely unhinged.
Study hall was an entirely different beast to tackle. Genie felt nervous the entire period before, picking at her nails absentmindedly as she tried to calm herself down. She was already alright with Lydia and Malia, but Scott and Stiles had last seen her fleeing from the lunch table the day before. No doubt they all knew why she had freaked out on them, but she couldn't help the rising embarrassment as she signed into study. The table was empty when she got there and she sank into her usual seat with a sigh, setting down her head in her arms and trying to squash out her anxiety as she heard a pair of heels clicking in her direction.
"Oh, don't think you can just sleep through the period, Genie. Remember, we have to plan out your social moves for the next few weeks," a clipped voice called, the sound of multiple chairs being pulled out following Lydia's statement. Genie lifted her head with a groan, narrowing her eyes at Lydia and slumping back and away from the girl. Her appreciation for the cinnamon roll gift this morning disappeared in an instant. Lydia was seated to her right, and Malia to her left at the head of the table, while Stiles and Scott sat across from her. With wide, pleading eyes, Genie turned to Malia, only for the girl to scoff and pull out her books.
"You got yourself into this mess," she blamed, raising a reproachful eyebrow and tucking a green highlighter behind her ear. A yellow one sat behind her other ear already, and there was a pen sticking out of her messy bun. Genie couldn't help the stray thought of wonderment that Malia didn't have to buy new supplies every week.
"You're the one who introduced us, Malia," Genie groaned, glancing warily at Lydia as she pulled out a notebook and wrote Genie's name at the top of a sheet of paper in large letters. She blanched at the growing outline format that Lydia was creating, week by week. "You've got to be kidding me. I have friends. Isn't that enough?" Her eyes shot to Scott and Stiles, only to see both of them pointedly looking down at their own work. "Seriously?"
Scott looked up to meet her eyes, but he didn't seem entirely focused on the present situation. His lips were set in a firm frown and his eyebrows drawn together. He looked almost liked a kicked puppy, and Genie's gut twisted at the look, knowing exactly why he was giving it to her. With her heart wavering a little as her embarrassment swelled again, Genie looked down at her hands quickly as if she was burned by the look he had been giving her.
"So, who do you have your eyes on? You were squirrely in the car last night. I'm getting an answer out of you."
Someone sputtered from across the table, but she couldn't bring herself to look back over at the boys. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she snapped her gaze to Lydia instead, the girl sitting perfectly straight in her chair and her hair pulled back into an almost clinically professional ponytail. She looked like a woman on a mission, the fire in her eyes only scaring Genie more as it was coupled with a shark-like smile.
"Wha- I- No. Lydia, come on," Genie begged, running a hand over her face as she felt herself turn red. The pleased noise Lydia made at the change made Genie cringe, sighing when the girl leaned closer. Genie couldn't lean any farther away without falling out of her chair, instead choosing to look away from the ever persistent Lydia and start picking at her nails. With a slap, Lydia stopped her nervous habit and tried to get her to focus again.
"Oh, please. You're blushing. There's someone you think is cute, and I'm going to find out one way or another, so you may as well just tell me," Lydia reasoned, a prim little huff accompanying her statement as she leaned back to observe Genie. The pointing out of her embarrassment only made Genie flush deeper, eyes flickering away from Lydia to see that Malia was looking at her with barely-contained interest. She took a small breath, trying to stop the flood of nervousness in her veins.
"There's no one!" Genie repeated, her voice wavering as she shook her head quickly, hoping her hair would hide her face enough so that she could disappear altogether. Her heart thumped in her chest at the word and she tried to calm the way her stomach suddenly clenched.
"Lie."
Genie's jaw popped open as she looked up at Scott, meeting his eyes and shooting him a betrayed look. He looked guilty for a moment before he leaned forward, looking honestly curious as Lydia began to laugh. It was a surprise to Genie when the only person who seemed to come to her defense was Stiles. When Scott had spoken, he looked up at the other boy with a scandalized look, narrowing his eyes at him and frowning.
"That's not cool, man. You can't- There's- Reasons, Scott. You can't for reasons," he accused, shooting the other boy another disapproving look before turning his skeptical eyes to Genie. The look that crossed his face was similar to the one Scott had just given her, only a little more distrustful, and she felt her stomach drop even farther. "Okay, but like, who is it then?"
"Do you have classes with him? I need details, Genie. Otherwise, I'm going to hook you up with Marshall Harlow, and-"
"You're not hooking me up with anyone. Please!" Genie entreated, her eyes wide in disbelief and her heart beating quickly. She swallowed uneasily, groaning when Lydia raised an unimpressed eyebrow at her. "I don't think anyone is cute! No one here is cute. Everyone in Beacon Hills is ugly and I plan on dying single!"
"Also a lie."
"Scott!" Stiles groaned, looking at the boy as if he had been personally wounded by his words. He turned back to Genie quickly however, his mouth moving a mile a minute as he spoke. "But yeah, that was a lie. I know it was a lie because I happen to be very cute, like the cutest. Cuter than Scott, and Lydia- Maybe not Lydia, but I am cute! Even gay guys say so."
"You never got an answer on that one," Genie grumbled, the bite in her tone just a little teasing. The moment it was out of her mouth, she regretted it. She groaned and smacked her head down onto the table in front of her, avoiding Stiles's scandalized look. His mouth had popped open immediately to let out a small scoff in protest as he glared at her. Next to him, Scott guffawed loudly and thumped him on the back repeatedly. Even Lydia and Malia seemed shocked at the jab, the former trying to hold back a smile while the latter was smirking openly.
"How do you- How does she know that? Which one of these traitors told you about that? Why are we trying to be friends with her?" Stiles protested, growing louder with every question. A loud 'shhh' from beyond the stacks had him snapping his mouth shut and hunching down towards the table. The rest of the table burst into quiet laughter as Genie peaked over her arms. Stiles continued to hiss from across the table, smacking at Scott when the boy wouldn't stop giggling behind his hands. Beside her, Lydia made little noise and winked at Genie, shooting her a wide, pleased grin. Of course, of course, she had chosen to annoy the person who already liked her the least. Lydia kept trying to remind her that she already had friends, but Genie truly wondered why and how it could be true.
"While this is all very amusing, I still expect a straight answer," Lydia reminded, the back of her pen nudging into Genie's arm. Genie groaned quietly, turning her head to glare at Lydia. The girl didn't seem fazed. She turned back to her planning paper and began to write under the heading Week Two. "Fine. Then I'm setting you up with Marshall Harlow. He's the co-captain of the soccer team, and-"
"Lydia," Genie whined, leaning towards the other girl and grabbing one of her hands. "I swear to God, I will make such a spectacle of myself that no one with any social prospects will ever, ever want to date me, and I will never emerge from my house again. I have been here a week, and I barely even have friends, so can you please, please cut me some slack?"
A blank look spread across Lydia's face before Genie felt a gentle squeeze against her fingers. Lydia pulled back without a word, writing again on the paper. Turning her attention downwards, Genie tilted her head to make out that Lydia had crossed out the goal of hooking her up with Marshall Harlow. The nervousness in her stomach settled when Lydia slid the paper towards her with only a single goal printed on it.
Make sure she knows she has friends, and that she's going to be invited to the next party.
She turned to give Lydia soft smile, ignoring the lost looks from the others at the table when Lydia snatched the paper back and tucked it away inside a notebook. Genie bumped shoulders with Lydia, smiling again when the girl straightened her back and gave her a pointed look.
"Next week, you're getting a love interest and you're not allowed to say no."
"Oh, I'll say no. You'll just choose to ignore it and have to buy me more cinnamon rolls," Genie compromised, raising an eyebrow challengingly in return. Lydia seemed to consider it, tilting her head to the side and studying Genie critically. Finally, she nodded. With a relieved sigh, Genie let herself sink against the table and close her eyes, blocking out the drone of conversation around her and trying to catch a few minutes of sleep. She hadn't slept well the night before, the story about her great grandmother both amusing her and making her panic at the smallest sound in the house. Her phone had been curled against her the whole night just in case someone had broken in even though Genie knew the fear was irrational.
It was Scott who shook her awake at the bell, tugging her arm until Genie raised her head and stared at him through bleary, squinted eyes. She rubbed across her face roughly, sighing and pushing herself away from the table to follow the rest of the group. Lydia and Malia powered ahead, Stiles loping along to catch up to them, as Scott walked slowly by Genie's side. Genie couldn't help glancing over at him every few seconds, watching his face slid from nervous to determined the closer they came to the cafeteria. When he stopped just around the corner from the doors, Genie turned to him, her hands curling around her backpack straps as she waited for him to speak.
"I know that Lydia already talked to you about it, and I mean, you sat with us at study so that's cool, but I just wanted to-"
"Scott, really, it's-"
"No! No, I wanted to apologize. I mean, I know it sucked and-"
Genie sighed, trying to interrupt him again, but he soldiered through her tiny pleas for him to stop apologizing.
"I wanted to help Liam and I knew I needed help to do that, but you've only been friends with us for a week, so I didn't want to- It's not that I don't trust you, okay? I mean, we barely know you," Scott explained, chest puffing up as he tried to put more conviction in his words. It still sounded like he was whining like a kicked animal at the end of his small rant. Genie's lips twitched in amusement as she looked down at her feet, nodding her head a little.
"It's alright, Scott," she assured, her smile growing when Scott seemed to slump in relief. "I know that I'm not- Lydia's pulling me into the group and I know we're… we're 'friends,' but I also know it takes time. It takes time for you guys to trust me with something like that, and I get that, so… it's okay."
Scott's answering grin made her laugh as he slung an arm around her shoulders and dragged her into the cafeteria. It seemed that the rest of the group was already at the table in the center of the cafeteria, not the one she had tried (and failed) to escape to the day before. Genie felt a spike of embarrassment shoot through her again, her pulse quickening as they approached the table. It was a silly thing to keep feeling so nervous when she knew that everything would be alright, but she couldn't help it. The arm around her squeezed once before shoving her towards her normal side. She faltered, shooting Scott a dirty look as she stumbled towards her seat. Malia was already shoving part of a sandwich in her mouth as Stiles talked to her in a hushed tone, her uninterested expression only directed at Stiles for a moment before she turned to talk to Lydia. There wasn't a space between them, where Genie usually sat, so she took the seat to Lydia's left.
From across the table, Kira shot Genie an awkward smile and waved haltingly as Scott pecked her on the cheek. Genie raised an eyebrow and shot a sly look between the two, causing Kira to blush. 'A thing,' Kira mouthed, the smile on her face genuine and unhindered when Genie gave her a small thumbs up.
"Hey."
Her heart skipped slightly as she turned, shooting Isaac a small, hesitant smile. "Hi," she replied, looking away to unzip her bag and pull out an apple. The rest of the table continued to chatter, but Isaac stayed quiet at her side. Genie's hands clenched slightly, the pads of her fingers pressing until she could feel the apple start to give way, before she raised it to her mouth to take a bite. When she chanced to look at sideways at Isaac, he was staring at his hands, his brows furrowed. He seemed stuck in a trance for a moment, his unfocused gaze clearing as he shifted his eyes back to look at Genie. She blushed, unable to help the reaction and settling back in her chair as Isaac leaned back and scooted his chair a little closer.
The uncertain look on his face gave way to a mischievous smirk, his eyebrow raising. Genie knew that look, slumping down in her chair with a quiet groan and rolling her eyes. He was about to say something incredibly stupid.
"And I didn't even have to play lacrosse to get you to look at me," he teased, leaning over to nudge her in the side. Her head dropped back with a sigh, eyes closing as she lifted the apple to her mouth and took a blind bite.
"I'm seriously doubting my friendship choices," Genie mumbled around a mouthful of apple, ignoring the scoff from her right in favor of pretending the people on either side of her didn't exist.
"You better not be doubting your friendship choices or I'll walk over to the soccer table and tell Marshall Harlow that you want to go out on Friday night and-"
"Lydia, I swear to God," Genie grated, her eyes opening to fix Lydia with a steely glare. The girl was unaffected by the look, however, only raising an eyebrow at Genie in return.
"You want to date Hickey Harlow?" Isaac questioned through his laughter, shifting to rest his elbows against the table to give Genie a searching look. Another exasperated noise escaped Genie as she turned her glare on Isaac, frown deepening as the rest of the table began to laugh. With a huff, she raised her apple again and bit a large chunk of it off before crossing her arms defensively over her chest.
"I will rip his ears off if he even comes within five feet of me with a nickname like that," Genie hissed, her face flushing when Isaac laughed even louder, a shining grin on his face. Glancing at the rest of the laughing table, she narrowed her eyes at the group and wrinkled her nose. "I do not want to date Hickey Harlow. I do not want to date anyone. Leave me alone!"
Stiles snorted from across the table, his face lifting into a nearly maniacal sort of happiness. There was a mocking lilt in his voice when he spoke a single word. "Lie."
Both Lydia and Malia tried to stifle their giggles at the word, but Scott barely tried to contain his grin. His attempts to cover it with a sympathetic pout were laughable, but Genie could only mumble to herself and glare at the traitors around the table as her chest felt tighter. She knew her face must be bright red, just as it had been in study hall during the same conversation, but she couldn't stop it. With a frown, Genie chose to ignore the jabs little jabs and bite into her apple again. It took a few minutes for the table to settle and shift into other topics when Genie made it apparent she wouldn't rise to the bait any longer. Her heart was still beating uncomfortably fast in her chest and she clenched a hand in the fabric of her navy skirt to try and calm herself.
A nudge from her left had her shooting a sour look at Isaac again, her lips pursed and her brows furrowed. He sighed, leaning back and raising his eyebrows at her as he patted the hand that was balled in her skirt, pushing at it until she let go to rest it over her stomach. She kept her eyes narrowed at him, raising an eyebrow which he only returned with a grin. Part of her still felt on edge, but Isaac didn't have the stupid, cocky look on his face anymore, so she hoped there was no more teasing in store. Instead, she felt herself relax when he pulled a paper out of his bag and set in on the table in front of them.
"You ever finish the homework? Because I most certainly did not."
A/N: Sorry for the delay. Next chapter won't be till at least Monday night, maybe Tuesday. Taking a trip to see a friend a bit far away, but then I'll be back. Thanks, as always, to everyone who is reading along and giving me comments. I adore you guys. Fair warning: things actually start to happen next chapter. I know, I know. You're probably all like 'it's about damn time, Lila, God.' All criticism and suggestions are appreciated.
