With the acceptance of Lydia, Josie was suddenly surrounded by people at school. It had pushed off her plan of laying low until the school year ended. Even though it was only Friday, Josie was thoroughly exhausted of having to deal with people. Once the queen of the school had accepted them, everyone followed along.

Bea was thrilled. Even as Josie complained for the entirety of their session, Bea was practically glowing. She had raved about what big steps Josie was making—even though Josie didn't feel like she had done anything. Bea ended their video session with a reminder to have fun at the upcoming party.

The fact that Bea mentioned it was the only reason Josie still entertained the thought of going. After Allison's excited rambling about how loverboy (now known as Scott) had asked her to the party as a date, she had also begged Josie to act as support while there. The sudden pressure of helping Allison, along with how drained she was emotionally, left Josie wanting to sleep all weekend.

Josie pushed a piece of leftover pasta around the container as the lunchroom talked around her. Everyone at her table was talking about lacrosse. Even after sitting through multiple practices, Josie had no clue how the game was played.

To entertain herself, she had taken to making shapes with her pasta before eating it.

Lydia was busy holding court while Allison texted Scott from the seat next to Josie. The girl seemed to sense that Josie wasn't in the mood for conversation. Allison just let her sit in silence as she ironed out the details of her date.

Baba knew that Josie was having one of her bad days, so she packed a special lunch. Josie had been halfway out of the door when Baba handed her the lunch box. It ended up being leftover pasta, two brownies, garlic bread, and a juice pouch.

As a chronic eater of the cafeteria food, Josie felt a little silly. In the end, the comfort food had gone to great lengths to improve her mood. While she wasn't feeling like herself, Josie also didn't feel like screaming at everyone to shut up.

As an apology for her silence and sullen mood, Josie carefully broke off a piece of brownie and placed it on Allison's tray.

"Aw, you're sweet." Allison cooed, a grin overtaking her features. She flipped her phone over with a flourish and turned her body to face Josie. "Want to help me go through outfit choices for my date?"

"You know where my heart is." Josie managed half a smile. She angled her body towards Allison, crossing her legs to avoid hitting the other girl, and tore off a piece of garlic bread.

As Allison started explaining her outfit ideas, hands moving rapidly, Lydia seemed to pick up on the fact that there was a conversation she wasn't a part of. From her spot across from Josie, Lydia tossed her hair behind her shoulder and cleared her throat.

"I heard the word date." Lydia placed her elbows on the table and leaned in. "Say more."

Allison looked startled by the interruption, but she just smiled. "The lacrosse player from my English class? He asked me to the party tonight."

Lydia's eyes narrowed. "What about family night?"

"Cancelled." Allison lied smoothly. She and Josie had decided that lying to Lydia was the best option. They didn't think she would take well to Allison's original plan of avoiding her party. A white lie was better than the risk of alienating Lydia. "Mom got sick so…"

As Lydia's eyes narrowed further, Josie nodded enthusiastically. It may have been a bit overzealous for her usual demeanor, but Allison's smile was becoming strained. "Good! At least I'll get to watch you two be awkward while I drink alone."

Lydia brightened at the prospect of her party. She had been planning it for weeks and had excitedly divulged every detail to Allison and Josie. Even with her hesitation to go, Josie had to admit that it sounded amazing. Lydia's attention to detail, and the promise of introducing Josie to her dog, was seriously swaying the scales in her favor.

Lydia's focus had switched completely to Josie and the other girl felt vaguely like prey. "Oh, no you don't, missy. You are being introduced to all the eligible boys tonight."

What little energy she mustered drained out of her body. Josie slumped down in her chair and whined, "Do I have to?"

"Um, yes." Lydia pointed a manicured finger across the table at Josie. At Allison's laugh, Lydia flicked it over to her. "Allison is already interested in someone—against my judgment—so that leaves you. No one associated with me is drinking alone."

Josie mimicked the other girl's pose, pointing half of her garlic bread at her. "I planned to drink alone."

"Plan changed." Lydia declared. "I can't seem to sway Allison from her choice in boyfriends…"

Allison nodded her head in confirmation. Her mouth was full of brownie, but she seemed highly amused by the current argument.

"But I can make sure you make the right choice." Lydia continued.

"The right choice is for me to focus on getting through the party, Lydia." Josie pulled at a piece of her hair that escaped from her ponytail. Lydia's insistence was oddly sweet (in the domineering way that Josie was beginning to associate with her) but it wasn't enough to snuff out Josie's annoyance. "The last thing I want to deal with is a guy."

Primly placing her containers back into the lunchbox, which would be shoved into her locker at the first opportunity, Josie couldn't shake the feeling that the party wouldn't be a good idea. It wasn't just her recently acquired aversion to parties. Josie had been feeling odd for most of the week. With her imagination going haywire, Josie couldn't help but connect it back to the party.

She was so lost in her own thoughts that she almost didn't hear Lydia.

"What? No boyfriend back in Summerville?"

Her stomach dropped at the familiar name. For a second, Josie couldn't get her bearings and she shut her eyes to offset the sudden nausea. Her eyelids were a swirling mix of black and blue—too much like lake water, too much like ambulance lights, too much like flashes of metal, just too much.

Shoving herself to her feet, Josie's chair scraped behind her loudly. Everything in the cafeteria was suddenly turned up all the way. Everyone at their table was staring at her and the scar on Josie's left shoulder started itching. Even though she knew it wasn't visible under her thick sweater, Josie had to resist the urge to cover it up.

Allison had her eyebrows furrowed together in worry, but Lydia just smiled across the table innocently. It was clear that she was expecting a reaction and Josie had delivered.

"Are you okay?" Allison reached a hand out cautiously before deciding against it and letting the hand fall limp. "Josie?"

"I'm fine." Her voice was slightly shaky, but Josie couldn't bring herself to care. "Lydia, you'll come to the bathroom with me, right?"

Josie reached down to grab her bag, eager to get away from the prying eyes.

Allison, with obvious concern in her eyes, grabbed the strap that Josie was going for. "I got it, don't worry."

With a tight smile at the other girl, Josie stalked out of the cafeteria with Lydia on her heels. The only reason she knew that Lydia was following was the clicks of her heels on the tile. Heat moved sluggishly through Josie's veins at the idea of Lydia knowing about Summerville. She had moved away specifically for anonymity.

As the bathroom door swung shut behind them, Josie clicked the deadbolt into place.

Lydia's eyes widened slightly before returning to their faux innocence. She leaned casually against the bathroom's counter and crossed her arms. "What's wrong, Josie?"

"What's your play?" Josie threw her hands up into the air. The faint jingling of her charm bracelet was the only noise in the silent bathroom. Any strength she had in her voice previously faded out. If she wasn't so annoyed, she'd be embarrassed at how much it shook. "I don't get it."

"I have zero clue what you're talking about." Lydia claimed before turning around to look at herself in the dirty mirror. She wrinkled her nose at the water spots delicately. "You really need to calm down."

Josie's leg was bouncing furiously. She gave a harsh laugh as Lydia began to dig through her purse. She moved behind the other girl to catch her attention. "Stop playing dumb, for once. How do you know about Summerville?"

Lydia carefully removed a tube of lip gloss from her bag and began reapplying it. In between swipes, she made eye contact with Josie in the mirror. "You mentioned it, remember?"

Josie didn't blink. "No, I didn't. I've never said that name before."

Shrugging, Lydia went back to her lip gloss. Her nonchalance was too forced to be real and it reassured Josie that she wasn't making it up. "Whatever."

To bring herself back into focus, Josie tugged her ponytail out and began scraping her hair back into place. The slight pain soothed the heat that was building in the pit of her stomach. Josie didn't want to deal with any more anger than the slight annoyance she already felt. Her worry was already big enough without adding more emotions to it.

Her hair tie snapped into place loud enough to draw Lydia's eyes.

"I'm not looking for a fight. Seriously, it is the last thing I want." Josie stepped closer and watched mirror-Lydia straighten up. The other girl put the lip gloss away and finally turned around.

Lydia raised a light eyebrow and gestured her hand in front of her. "Then what do you want? Because I don't get that either." At Josie's blank look, Lydia laughed airily. "You act like you couldn't give a shit, but you drag me in here to talk in the most obvious way possible. If you want Summerville to be a secret, you aren't doing a good job at it."

"How'd you even find out about it?"

"You're so cagey about your past, so I looked you up." Lydia shrugged unapologetically. "I found your high school and it wasn't hard to find the memorial pages from there."

Josie shook her head. "Those don't have my name."

"You're in every single picture with the victims." Lydia paused when Josie's face twitched at the word victims. Her expression seemed to loosen, and she unfurled her arms from across her chest. "It wasn't that hard to put it together."

Biting down hard on the inside of her cheek, Josie shut her eyes briefly. She opened them to see Lydia staring intently. "Don't tell anyone."

"Why would I do that?" Lydia seemed genuinely confused. Her head was cocked to the side in confusion. "I have absolutely nothing to gain from it. I like you and I don't want to be associated with something like Summerville, anyways."

"Why did you even say it then?" Josie couldn't tell if her stomach eased up in relief or disbelief that Lydia wasn't going to spill. Either way, her worry was gone. Annoyance began to seep in and replace it.

Lydia pushed her bag onto her shoulder. Her tone was just as casual as if they'd been discussing chemistry and not Josie's dead friends. "I wanted to see how you'd react. I didn't think you'd freak out."

"Fuck you." Josie managed to snap around the tears that were building. Lydia's shocked face only fueled her anger.

Nothing came out of Lydia's mouth, even as the other girl opened and closed it blankly.

"Just keep it to yourself, okay?" Josie unlocked the bathroom door before turning back to face the other girl. Her anger had disappeared as quickly as it showed up and it left her numb. Josie's voice was soft. "I moved to get away from Summerville. What I want is to never hear about it again."

Josie attempted to blink away the wetness in her eyes as she left the bathroom. She could hear Lydia calling her name but didn't stop.

High school fucking sucked.

After avoiding Lydia for the rest of the school day, Josie had peeled out of the parking lot as soon as the final bell rang. Baba's overdue library books were stacked haphazardly in the backseat next to the stack of mail that Josie promised to drop off. Instead of doing either of those, she went on a run at the Beacon Preserve.

Changing into her old gym clothes in the cramped backseat of Baba's car wasn't ideal, but Josie still felt like she was going to crawl out of her own skin after her conversation with Lydia. In the back of her mind, Josie knew that the other girl wouldn't tell anyone. Lydia may have been intense, but she didn't seem evil.

The run had helped with her anger, and her worry, so it just left her feeling slightly bad. Josie didn't want to alienate one of the only friends she had. Her feelings about Summerville were constantly in flux—some days the mere mention of Summerville sent her spiraling while others had her willing to give up everything to try the night again. If Lydia mentioned Summerville on any other day, there was no guarantee that Josie would've reacted at all.

Instead of giving into her urge to text Lydia an apology, Josie repeated her phrases from therapy in her head. She rested her head against the steering wheel in her parking spot of the library. She had spent her time at the post office doing the same thing.

I am allowed to give space to my emotions. I am allowed to feel negative emotions.

After three minutes of repetition and mindful breathing, Josie felt like she could face the outside world. If only the outside world wasn't freezing.

The issue with exercising in the winter was the combination of cold wind and sweat. It sent Josie diving for the hoodie laying across the backseat. Judging by how faded and oversized it was, Josie guessed it was from one of Baba's late husbands.

Ignoring the fact that it probably belonged to a dead guy, Josie wrapped herself in the soft fabric. A shiver rolled violently down her spine as she wrapped the hoodie around herself to better cover her exposed stomach. Even if it didn't stop the cold, it would help stop the judgmental looks from the residents of Beacon Hills.

Her wet ponytail felt like it was freezing in place as Josie followed the sidewalk up into the building. She shifted the pile of books awkwardly as it leaned dangerously to one side. All of Baba's books were on bingo strategy; Josie had asked why the local library had so many and her grandmother confessed that she special ordered most of them.

After nodding her thanks to the woman who held the door open, Josie was hit was a rush of warmth. The Beacon Hills Library was decorated in warm reds and soft oranges with aisles of books lining either side of the help desk. Other than a woman with greying hair shelving a cart of books, most of the library seemed to be abandoned. A burst of sudden laughter came from the corner and Josie craned her head to follow it. Colorful stars pasted on the carpeting led to a kid's area covered in shiny streamers and hanging planets.

Josie was attempting to identify the planets (she had gotten Venus, Neptune, and Saturn) when someone ran into her back. The sudden force sent her careening forward into the help desk. Books went flying to the ground and Josie was left splayed over the fake wood.

A low groan sounded from behind her, and a sinking feeling began in Josie's stomach.

She turned around to see the same boy from the first day of school. He had one of his hands covering his face, fingers spread apart to peek out between them. The usual red on his cheeks had spread to his whole face and he seemed wholly terrified.

Because she wasn't a menace, Josie didn't attempt to befriend the boy that seemed oddly scared of her. He refused to look in her direction at school, even though they shared half their classes and had lockers positioned next to each other and went as far to hide behind Scott in the hallway. His face that was usually flushed in animation drained to a deathly white.

Lydia declared the reaction was deserved, but Allison had pushed for Josie to make friends with him. Lydia wasn't going to play nice, so she was relying on Josie to bridge the gap between Scott and his friends. Uninterested in any more than two friends, Josie had done her best to deny Allison.

If Josie was nicer, she would've acted like this wasn't the second time in a week that he had ran into her. She would've ignored him like she'd been doing all week and let him go on his way. Instead, Josie felt a smile slip onto her face.

The boy's face morphed from frightened to confused. His head cocked to the side as his mouth opened and closed blankly. The movement only made the smile on Josie's face grow.

The same comforting feeling of not being the embarrassed one rushed over Josie. She blamed the sudden warmth on how her hoodie had slipped down, exposing her arms and stomach to the library's heater. Some of the warmth even slipped into her amused tone. "Are you okay?"

"Am I—Am I okay?" The boy pointed to himself, finger dead center in the middle of his chest. "I am so okay, right now. Are you? Cause this is, like, the second time we've collided."

"You arguably collided with me," Josie's shoulder screeched in protest as she crossed her arms over her stomach. She absentmindedly went to massage the aching scar on her left shoulder. "But I'm okay."

"Cool, cool, cool." The boy seemed to talk faster every time Josie saw him. He gave her a shaky thumbs-up. "That's cool."

Josie's eyebrows raised as the smile on her face grew. "Very cool."

The boy went to turn but Josie tapped his calf with her foot. A speck of dried mud fell onto the carpet among the piles of books and his gaze followed it. Intermixed with the bingo strategy books were ones that Josie was unfamiliar with.

Josie crouched down at the same time as the boy. She grabbed one entitled The Basics of Lycanthropy and held it out. "I'm Josie. If you keep running into me, then we should probably know each other's names."

"I know your name!" The boy defended before doubling back frantically. He snatched the book away. "Not in a stalker-ish way! You're friends with Lydia so everyone knows you now—plus I am planning on doing my best to never run into you again."

"Rude." Josie managed to swallow her giggle as she started to divide the books into two piles. The boy was too busy gesturing violently with his hands to be much help.

"Not that you're not a, uh, lovely person to run into!" After stumbling over his words for a few seconds, his hands dropped limply. After blowing a harsh breath out of his mouth, the boy hung his head. "I'm Stiles."

"You're friends with Scott." Josie nodded. At his shocked expression, Josie did let out a tiny laugh. "I'm friends with Allison, too? Plus, I've been getting dragged to lacrosse practice."

After a few seconds of staring blankly, Stiles thrust his hand forward. Josie stared at it. Instead of shaking it, she shoved the pile of his books at him. The awkwardness between them hit a crescendo and Josie sprung to her feet.

She began shoving Baba's books into the drop-off box a bit too eagerly. "You're on the team, right?"

When he didn't respond, Josie glanced up.

Stiles was staring at the skin exposed by the hoodie dangling around Josie's elbows. Unlike the slimy looks Josie felt at school, Stiles's eyeline wasn't focused on her chest. Instead, his eyes were focused on the shiny scar on Josie's left shoulder. Instead of his usual expressions shock or horror, Stiles's face was contorted in something like sympathy.

In Josie's opinion, her scar looked worse than it was. It was a thin line under the blade of her left collarbone at the junction of her shoulder and chest. Over time the scar had become hypertrophic and raised. Josie's months of rubbing in scar cream hadn't done anything to make it less angry looking. It remained a shiny pink that raised out above her skin. The itching and constant aches were worse than being stabbed.

Abruptly shoving the last books in the drop-off deposit, Josie violently tugged the hoodie up over her shoulders. Stiles's gaze finally broke to Josie's face and the expression on his face intensified. Josie swallowed thickly and focused on a spot over his shoulder.

She kept her eyes away from his. "Have fun with your werewolf books. I'll see you at the party?"

It only took a beat of silence for Stiles to respond. "Yeah, totally. Will definitely see you later…"

Even as Josie carefully brushed past him, Stiles was still stuttering over his words. She was sure he would be there for the next few minutes attempting to string a coherent sentence together.

On another day, Josie could've made an excuse for where the scar came from. But her mind was still on Lydia and Summerville and how easily the girl had figured everything out. All it took was one search of Josie's name for her to put the pieces together. Granted, she doubted that anyone one else would be as dedicated as Lydia in their search.

Josie hadn't even thought about the photos on the memorial page including her-they were all homecoming pictures, awkward selfies, and candid shots that were meant for the yearbook. Josie had most of the original copies hanging on her wall in Oregon.

When she reached Baba's house, Josie immediately made for her bedroom. Even though she was still covered in sweat, Josie dove on top of her bed and buried her face into the comforter. The last thing she wanted to do was go to a party. Her emotions were all over the place-a mixture of annoyance, guilt, and longing all echoing in the pit of her stomach.

Josie knew of one cure for all three. She grabbed her phone and sent a text to Lydia.

there better be alcohol tonight.