cgi/set?id=98092219

The Tell:

I was walking down the hallway at school with my arm linked through Allie's as we made our way towards her locker. My Pleaser Shoes Gorgeous-28 Sophisticated Black Satin Concealed Platform pumps clacked against the tiles as I walked in my A|Wear Coral Lace Pleated Blouse, Boohoo Jules Leather Look Skater Skirt and my long dark brown hair pulled up in a ponytail.

"So, then my Aunt Kate starts taunting Scott into giving up whatever it was that he assumedly stole from her bag." Allison recounted to me what had happened when Scott had been forced to stay at her house for dinner with her family. I started chuckling lightly as she pouted prettily and shook her head at the memory.

"So, then what happened?" I asked her curiously with a huge grin on my lips. My cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling so hard but it was a good change of pace from the worried frown I had been sporting all morning. The night before, Jackson and Lydia had been involved in an 'animal attack' at the video store. I knew that in reality it hadn't been a mountain lion that attacked my friends but the Alpha.

"I stop her interrogation by telling her that it was me going through her bag." Allison admitted sheepishly as she looked down at the ground and I gasped in surprise as I gripped her arm harder.

"I am so proud of you. Stealing, lying. You are coming along nicely. Another week and I'll have you committing armed robbery." I joked lightly as we continued to her locker and she chuckled at my comment.

"If you think that's good, wait until you hear what I stole…" she trailed off teasingly with a slyly smile and then hurried her pace so that she was in front of me. I paused in my steps for a second before I jogged in my heels to catch up to her.

"You can't just say things like that and then just take off!" I scolded the other brunette girl when I caught up to her and linked my arm back through hers. She smiled at me warmly as I shook my head at her but returned her smile equally as bright.

"Well, I may have stolen a condom from her bag." She told me quietly as we reached her locker and I stopped in my tracks to gawk at her with an open mouth. She glanced at me self-consciously and I made myself close my mouth and smile at her in understanding.

"That is the most awkward thing ever." I stated matter-of-factly as I leaned against the locker next to hers.

"No, the awkward part was when I pulled it out in front of Scott, my Aunt Kate and my dad." She corrected me darkly and I couldn't help but laugh loudly at her unfortunate luck. Allison scowled at me as she looked around to see that some of the other students were staring at us now so I turned to them with my best popular girl face plastered on.

"What are you all looking at? Disperse." I ordered them in my best imitation of Lydia's attitude as I waved a hand dismissively and the onlooking students scattered quickly. I shook my head at them as I turned back to Allison who was looking at me with an eyebrow raised questioningly. "What?"

"Nothing." She replied quickly as she turned back to her unopened locker. "Regina George." She muttered under her breath jokingly as she turned the dial on her locker and I laughed at the nickname. She opened the locker door and she was instantly assault by an onslaught of multi-coloured balloons and I giggled as she jumped back in surprise. She turned to look at me with wide eyes but I just shrugged my shoulders.

"Lydia." I stated as it was obvious and she groaned out loud as she tried to stuff all the balloons back into her locker. "Does that mean you don't want your birthday present?" I asked her innocently as I pulled a small light blue jewellery box seemingly out of nowhere and held it out to her. She turned to look at me in surprise but I just smiled at her and held out the box to her. She smiled slightly back at me and gingerly took the box from my hands. She opened the box slowly while I held my breath as I waited impatiently for her to open it. I smiled brightly when Allison gasped in shocked delight at what was inside the box.

"Sophie…" she started to say to me softly as she looked up from the box to me with huge deep brown eyes.

"If you it's inappropriate, I understand. It's just that even though you only been here for a few weeks, you're already one of my best friends and I thought that since you moved around before you might not have had the chance to get one." I interrupted her to explain quickly and then took a deep breath once I finished as Allie laughed at me lightly.

"I love it!" she told me honestly and I smiled at her in relief as she pulled out the slim sliver chain with a ring on the end and I reached down my top to pull out the matching gold one. "Put it on me?" she asked timidly as she held out the necklace for me to take so I smiled warmly at her and gestured for her to turn around. I linked the necklace together behind her long neck and tapped her shoulder to turn around. I pulled her into the hug as she whispered 'thank you' in my ear. She pulled back from me to continue to get the wayward balloons into her locker while I leaned on the locker next to hers and watched in amusement.

"Is today your birthday?" I heard Scott ask from behind me and turned to smile warmly at me twin brother. Allison paused and glanced at him in panic before she tried even harder to get the balloons to stay in the locker.

"No, no. Uh, no. I mean, yes. Please don't tell anybody. I don't even know how Lydia found out. Or Sophie for that matter." She said as she looked at me in confusion and I lolled my head back on the locker door.

"I'm Sophie. I know everything." I commented with a shrug of my shoulders and they both laughed at me but didn't deny it.

"Why wouldn't you tell me?" Scott asked Allison as she looked down shyly and brushed some of her loose wavy hair behind her ear.

"Because I don't want people to know. Because - I'm 17." She whispered so that we could barely hear her at all. I nodded in understanding because I already knew that little fact about Allison due to my digging around for her birthday but Scott's deep brown eyes looked as if they were going to pop out of his head.

"You're 17?" He repeated her in shock and I rolled my eyes at his smooth delivery.

"That's the reaction I'm trying to avoid." Allison pointed out as she turned back to her locker and started gathering her books for class.

"Why? I mean, I - I totally get it. Uh, you had to repeat a year because of all the moving around, right?" Scott assumed out loud correctly and Allison paused to look at him with wide eyes before moving forward and kissing him soundly on the lips. I grimaced at the sight of them and turned my head to the side so I didn't see my best friend mauling my twin brother. "What was that for?"

"For - literally being the first person to ever make the correct assumption. Everybody's always like, 'What - Did you get held back?' 'Did you ride the short bus?' Uh, 'Did you have a baby?'"

"That last one was me." I joked lightly as I looked back at the couple and they both laughed at my joke. "And, by the way, you never answered me."

"Shut it." Allison growled at me playfully as she slapped my arm lightly and I chuckled at her.

"That's what you hear on your birthday?" Scott asked her but I zoned out when I saw a familiar head appear down the row of lockers.

"Hey, I'll see you guys later. Happy birthday, Allie!" I called out to them as I ran passed on my way to find the person I was looking for. "Hey, Danny!" I greeted him as I approached his locker where he was getting his books for class.

"Hey, Soph." he greeted me warmly as he have me hug and I smiled as I hugged him back.

"Have you seen Jack today? I talked to Lydia earlier but Jackson isn't answering his phone." I explained to him but he just frowned at me before shaking his head.

"Sorry." He said to me with a worried frown but I waved my hand dismissively and continued to talk to him about happier subjects until we had to walk to homeroom.

I sat in Chemistry later that day at a table by myself because I usually sat with Jackson but he hadn't appeared in school yet. I highlighted my chemistry textbook even though I had already read it and had it memorised as I listened to Mr Harris drone on.

"Just a friendly reminder - Parent/teacher conferences are tonight. Students below a "C" average are required to attend. I won't name you, because the shame and self - disgust should be more than enough punishment. Has anyone seen Scott McCall?" the teacher asked and my head shot up at the sound of my brother's name. I looked around the classroom for him but he wasn't in his usual seat next to Stiles so I frowned until I realised that Allie wasn't there either. The sound of the classroom door opening made everyone in the class' head pop up like a meerkat as they watched in silence as Jackson walked into the room. I smiled in relief at the sight of him and kicked out the chair next to me so that he could sit down on it. He gave me a small smile that was nothing like his normal 100 watt smile as he sat down on the stool next to me. Mr Harris wandered over to our station and clasped his hand on Jack's shoulder. "Hey, Jackson. If you need to leave early for any reason, you let me know." He offered almost nicely and my eyebrows rose automatically because even though I knew Harris favoured the popular crowd, he never was genuinely nice to anyone. Jackson just nodded numbly at him and then gave me a wide eyed, freaked out look once he turned away. I chuckled at the face Jack made but otherwise didn't say anything. "Everyone, start reading Chapter Nine. Mr Stilinski. Try putting the highlighter down between paragraphs. It's chemistry, not a colouring book." Harris scolded Stiles and I chuckled lightly as I shook my head at him before turning back to my text book.

"Hey." Jackson said softly to get my attention and I turned slightly in my seat to face him expectantly. "I'm sorry I didn't answer your calls earlier."

"Jackson, its fine." I replied with scoff as I took one of his hands in mine comfortably. "You had other stuff going on. I understand."

"You're not going to ask if I'm okay?" he asked me with a half smirk on his lips and I couldn't help but noticed how pale he looked compared to normal.

"No." I answered him bluntly as I looked him straight in the eye and he looked taken back by my response. "Obviously you're not alright. Even if you weren't act by a savage mountain lion, you saw a dead guy."

"Yeah, mountain lion." He repeated to me and I tilted my head to the side curiously when I saw his finger twitch once on the table, a sure sign that he was lying to me. Thank you for not asking. Everyone has been on me to give them details and it's nice not to have someone pressuring me for answers. Especially, when I don't have any." He replied to me with a sincerely smile as he squeezed my hand that was still holding his. I smiled back at him before I pressed a kiss to his cheek and turned back to my textbook. We continued the rest of the lesson in silence expect for the ticking of the of the clock on the wall. As soon as the bell rang for next period, Mr Harris was the first one out the door while everyone slowly followed suit. I waited until everyone else had left the room before I took out my phone and dialled a number by memory.

"Hello?" the familiar male voice answer after the second ring and I took a deep breath to calm down my rapid heartbeat.

"You need to question Jackson, Derek." I told him as I slowly stood up and started closing my chemistry textbook.

"Why do I need to do that?" Derek asked curiously and I rolled my eyes at him because I knew that he was planning on doing it anyway.

"Don't pretend like you weren't going to do it anyway. He just told me it was a mountain lion that attacked him and Lydia at the video store but he was lying. You have to find out what he knows."

"Why can't you do it?"

"I'm his best friend! I can't just go up to him and start questioning him about it. Especially without revealing that I know what's going on. So, get your furry werewolf ass down to the high school and question Jackson. Oh, and try not to kill him." I ordered into the phone before ending the call and strutting out of the classroom with my head held high.

During lunch I decided to go over to the Hale House and ask Derek what Jackson had said about the Alpha attack at the video store. I parked my car around the back of the house like I did the other day when I showed up unannounced and looked at the house in front of me. I took a deep breath and blocked out the part of me that screamed that this wasn't a good idea. I opened the driver's side door and climbed out gracefully as I could. I walked into the house through the front door and walked inside timidly without knocking still he knew I was there anyway. My heels clacked on the hardwood floor as I walked further into the house and looked around for Derek. I stopped where I was when I saw him in the doorway to the rundown living room doing pull ups shirtless. I had a perfect view of the triskelion tattooed in between his shoulder blades and I bit my lower lip to stop the moan that threatened to escape. Sweat glistened off his sculpted back as he moved up and down repeatedly.

"You knew I was here." I stated carefully as I straightened up and walked towards the living room. He didn't stop his work out as I moved closer to him and watched appreciatively as his muscles tightened and relaxed again. I stopped at the doorway and leaned on the edge of it so that I was only a few inches away from Derek.

"You're the one that showed up unannounced." He counted breathlessly without looking at me and I quirked an eyebrow at him as I crossed my ankles.

"I just wanted to know with Jack saw anything." I told him innocently as I cocked my head to the side and followed his body's movements with my eyes.

"I talked to him." He replied shortly as I dropped to the floor and stood up straight. He turned to face me in the doorway and my gaze was brought back to his handsome face instead of his taught body. "You're staring."

"I'm appreciating." I corrected him softly as my voice subconsciously went huskier at his proximity. He took a small step closer to me and the felt the air around us change. The surrounding area turned thick with tension as my gaze automatically flicked down to his lips and then back up to his green grey eyes. Under his intense gaze, I felt bare, like he could see my thoughts and feelings just by looking at me. Our chests were only a few inches away from each other as I bit my lower lip seductively and I saw his eyes follow the movement. He took another step closer to me so that we were nearly touching and I pushed off the doorframe so that my shirt grazed his bare chest. Even in my high heels, I had to crane my head just a little bit so that I could look him straight in the eye. I tilted my head up as he brush a strain of hair that had fallen out of my ponytail behind ear. As his fingers grazed my cheek, shivered electrocuted my slightly and I shivered uncontrollably. Suddenly, he still in his movements and his head popped up to look out the window of the run down house. I followed his gaze but couldn't see anything from where I was but I trusted that Derek knew what he was doing.

"Come on." He ordered me as he grabbed my hand and pulled me into a hidden room off the living room. I pressed my lips together in a tight line to stop myself from questioning Derek as to what we were doing.

"No one home." I heard an unfamiliar male voice say from near the front of the house and I stilled immediately.

"Oh, he's here. He's just not feeling particularly hospitable." Another voice answered him, this time it was a female voice that rang with authority. Derek froze as her voice rang around the house and I peeked up at him to see expression harden in hatred for the newcomer.

"Maybe he's out burying a bone in the backyard."

"Really? A dog joke? We're going there, and that's the best you got? If you wanna provoke him, say something like, "Too bad your sister 'bit it' before she had her first litter." Too bad she howled like a bitch when we cut her in half!" the female voice taunted him and I closed my eyes in sympathy. When I opened them up again Derek was gone and I heard the unmistakable sounds of a fight in the front of the house. I stayed where I was in hiding because I knew that I was only a liability in a fight, especially against a hunter who was who I am assumed was in the living room. "This one grew up in all the right places. I don't know whether to kill it or - lick it." The female voice said as the sounds of the fight faded. "900,000 volts. You never were good with electricity, were you? Or fire. Which is why I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. And, well, maybe we can help each other out. Yes, your sister was severed into pieces and used as bait to try to catch you. Unpleasant, and frankly, a little too Texas chainsaw massacre for my taste, but quite true. Now, here's the part that might really kick you in your new balls - We didn't kill her. You think I'm lying?"

"Wouldn't be the first time." Derek said to her and I could hear the pain his voice from where I was.

"Tsk, sweetie - Well - Why don't you just listen to my heart and tell me if I am. Okay? We - didn't - kill - your - sister. Do you hear that? There's no blips or upticks. Just the steady beat of the cold, hard truth. Found bite marks on your sister's body, Derek. What do you think did that? A mountain lion? Why aren't we helping each other out? You might as well admit what you've been guessing all along, which is - The Alpha killed your sister. And all you have to do is tell us who he is, and we'll take care of it for you. Problem solved, everybody goes home happy. Unless - You don't know who he is either. Wow. Guess who just became totally useless?" the woman said in a cold voice as I looked around the room and saw a door. I slowly walked over to the door, careful not to make any noise that would draw attention to me and put my hand on the handle. I opened the door slowly and saw that it led to the backyard so I sneaked out quietly. I breathed a sigh of relief but that was almost immediately replaced with worry for Derek. I looked back at the house once before I made a decision and ran to my car.

I pulled my car to a stop next to the familiar silver Porsche that was parked on the abandoned field with its headlights on. I turned off my car and watched sadly as he held a lacrosse stick in one hand and a bottle of something in the other. He took a swig of the bottle before putting a ball in the net of the lacrosse stick and hurdling it at the tin paint can set up on a tree yards away. The ball missed it by an inch and he screamed in frustration. I climbed out of the car slowly and made my way closer to him. I approached him slowly as if he was a frightened animal that I didn't want to scare away from me. I saw the tears silently running down his cheeks as he fell to his knees on the grass and I picked up speed. I fell to my knees next to him and silently wrapped my arms around him as he leaned into my touch immediately. I knew that I was the only one that he allowed to see him like this and I closed my eyes as he sobbed into my shirt and wrapped his arms around my waist securely. The nearly empty bottle fell to the ground forgotten as I made soothing sounds to him.

"Why didn't they want me?" he sobbed into my stomach and I felt my heart break at my friends words. "Why wasn't I enough?"

"I don't know, Jack. I don't know." I whispered to him as I tried to stop the tears that threatened to fall from my own eyes.