ADELINE LAHEY
Sammy and Stiles had just dropped me off to my classroom in a hurry and ran off, saying they needed to do something. And since I was seven minutes early, I decided to color in my coloring book until my teacher showed up.
I was halfway done coloring in the pretty flower design when I felt someone staring at me. I looked up to find Isaac watching me through the doorway with a hopeful look on his face. Memories of the last time I'd seen him went through my mind, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
When I opened them again, he was gone. Maybe I had imagined him.
SAMANTHA STILINSKI
"So now you're telling me that you didn't see Isaac and his father arguing before the murder?" Dad asked Jackson from the principal's office.
Before practice, this morning, Stiles and I had overheard Jackson tell the principal that he needed to restate the statement he had given earlier. And by restate I mean completely change his whole statement. Now he was telling Dad that what happened with Isaac's father didn't actually happen. And telling by his fidgety manner, I knew Derek, Isaac, and the others had somehow put him up to this so that Isaac wouldn't be a fugitive anymore.
"Not exactly," Jackson responded.
"Not exactly - or no? Because when it comes to law, there's a fairly large divide between not exactly and no. Like, if "not exactly" were sitting in this chair, then "no" would be somewhere in the middle of the Pacific ocean, drowning next to my career. So what's it gonna be, huh? Not exactly or no?" Dad asked.
"No," Jackson responded curtly.
Realizing it was no use, we decided to run to class to tell Scott that Isaac was back.
While we were running, I decided I needed to talk to Isaac. Rae had tried, and now it was my turn. I had to at least try to talk some sense into him. I knew that he was a good guy at heart and I was determined to bring that out in him once again.
Stiles rushed into class and told Scott, "Dude, I've got really terrible, horrible, very, very bad news."
"Uh, Stiles?" I poked him and he looked up to see where I was looking. "I think he already knows."
Isaac was sitting a few desks in front of us and he was smirking. Very not Isaac-like at all. Or at least the Isaac I knew. It was time to make my move.
"I'm gonna try to talk to him."
"Are you sure that's such a bright idea?" Stiles asked. "He's been kind of a dick lately and I don't want you to get hurt."
"He's a good guy, Stiles," I told him. "At least deep down he is, I know it. He's just lost and confused."
"Sammy, maybe you're too nice. People will take advantage of that," Scott told me.
I rolled my eyes and turned to walk towards Isaac. I hesitantly took the seat next to him and planned out what I was going to say.
"Hello, Sammy," he smiled. But it wasn't one of his usual warm, gentle smiles. It was a psychotic one. "How have you been?"
"I-I actually wanted to talk to you about everything that's been going on," I stuttered.
"Nah. How about you tell me why you broke up with me instead? I'm more interested in that," His tone was casual, but his eyes held icy fury.
"Y-You should know I feel really bad about that," I told him.
"Then at least tell me why."
"I think you know the reason, Isaac," I told him, instantly thinking of how he looked at Rae at the formal. "It was for the best!"
"What does that even mean?" He looked ready to snap, but schooled his features back to neutral at the last second. "You know Sammy, you act all nice and sincere. But you're just a cold-hearted bitch."
I dug my nails into my palms to keep calm.
"I care about you, Isaac. Listen, I've heard about everything you've been through and I just want to help you. You know why? Because I see how Adeline looks up to you and I remember all the conversations we used to have when I tutored you. You were such a sweet, sensible, genuinely good guy. But this Isaac and that one aren't the same. I just want what's best for you and Adeline," I told him.
"You know, everything between me and Adeline would've been fine if you didn't take her to that ice rink!"
"I took her there because she missed you and she wanted to know where her big brother was!" I defended myself. "I thought you would change when you saw her!"
"Can you just stop pretending to care about me and my sister?" he glared. "Because we all know that you're amazing at pretending to be someone you're not."
"Isaac-" I winced.
I was trying my best not to cry.
"Also, has it ever occurred to you that it's your fault that me and my sister are in this mess in the first place? Because if you weren't such an insecure little drama queen we'd actually be happy together! I would never had run away if I knew I had you, I felt so alone! And my dad would be alive right now if it weren't for you, too!"
"I'm just trying to help," I whimpered.
"Well, stop. All you do is make things worse," he sneered.
I couldn't believe he had said all of those things. I had told him about my insecurities and why I changed myself in confidence. I had never thought he'd use them against me. He was right, though. About everything he'd said. He had a valid argument.
I got up to see Stiles glaring at Isaac and Scott looking at me with concern. I didn't need to feel more pathetic than I already was. I tried to give them a convincing smile and went to the back of the classroom to sit next to Lydia. I needed her right now.
"You okay?" she asked. "Looked like things were getting pretty heated with your ex."
"I don't even know anymore," I said, wiping my tears away.
"All right, listen up," Coach started the class. "A quick warning before we begin our review. Some of you, like McCall, might want to start their own study groups, because tomorrow's midterm is so profoundly difficult - I'm not even too sure I could pass it."
I saw Scott roll his eyes when Coach called him out.
"Okay, I need a volunteer at the board to answer the first question. Who's got it, huh?" Coach asked.
Lydia raised her hand.
"Come on, let's go, buddy," he said, giving her the chalk.
Once Lydia got to the board, I zoned out. I couldn't help but be jealous of Rae. She doesn't even have to try and guys fall for her. I know Isaac thinks he wants me right now, but he wants Rae more, even if he doesn't know it. And I can't be with someone who doesn't have eyes for only me. Regardless, I wanted them to be together because they would be perfect together. I just had to get Rae to fall for him. And I know it's going to be hard. It's not that it's hard to fall for Isaac (well besides at the moment) it's that Rae's a hard egg to crack. She hates men and has told me on multiple occasions that she'd rather poke her eyeball out with a fork than fall in love. But I know that's just her tough exterior. On the inside, she's just as fragile as the rest of us. Isaac and I were clearly a terrible couple and we wouldn't work out together. So I'm just going to step back, because in a way it would somehow make up for what I did to both of them.
Laughing interrupted my thoughts. I looked up to the board to find Lydia sobbing with a piece of chalk in her hand and gibberish written all over the board behind her.
Lydia ran out of the classroom. Without a second thought, I ran after her and followed her into the bathroom.
"You okay?" I asked, locking the bathroom door behind me so that we wouldn't get interrupted.
"I'm literally going crazy!" she sobbed. "I see people, Sammy. I know you may not believe me, but it's driving me out of my mind."
"Hey," I said, putting my hands on her shoulders. "I believe you."
"I just want my normal life back," she cried. "Everything was so simple."
"I feel the same way," I sighed.
For a few minutes we sat there in silence, with my arms around her.
"Do you remember our first class with Coach in freshman year?" I asked, trying to distract her.
"How could I forget?" she laughed. "He was like forty minutes late to class."
"We were singing the cringiest songs ever at the top of our lungs!" I chuckled.
"Hey! 'A Thousand Miles' is a classic!" she smiled.
"He gave us detention that day because he was terrified of our singing voices," I laughed, thinking of the sheer horror on his face.
"Those were the days!"
"We should have a sing-a-long night!" I smiled. "Like the old days."
"We should!" Lydia smiled. "Can I tell you something?"
"Anything."
"I wish the world was just us two."
"I do, too," I pulled her in for a hug. "Let's head back to class before Coach gives us detention."
||Teen Wolf||
We got back to class right before the bell rung and we parted ways. Then Scott and Stiles caught up with me in the hallway.
"Are you okay?" Scott asked.
"I'm fine," I lied.
"Is Lydia okay?" Stiles asked and I nodded. "Did you see what she wrote on the board?"
I shrugged, "It looked like gibberish to me."
Stiles pulled up a picture on his phone of what Lydia had written on the board and showed me. I was about to comment that it still looked like gibberish when Stiles flipped the picture and my heart dropped.
All over the green chalkboard Lydia had written 'Someone help me' over and over again.
"So Lydia's the kanima?" I asked, afraid for my best friend.
"No," Stiles answered, bluntly.
"How do you know it's not her?" Scott asked.
"Because I looked into the eyes of that thing, okay? And what I saw was pure evil. And when I look into Lydia's eyes, I only see fifty percent evil. All right, maybe sixty. You know, but no more than forty on a good day."
"Stiles, that's not a very good argument."
"I'm aware of that, but I swear it's not her. It can't be, all right? Lydia's fine."
I nodded in agreement.
"Alright, well Derek is not gonna kill her without proof," Scott said as we made our way to our next class.
"What kind of proof?" I ask, suspiciously.
"In class, Jackson told us Derek's pack kidnapped him this morning and forced kanima venom down his throat. Kanimas can't get poisoned by their own venom. And he became paralyzed, so it's not him."
"All right, so he tests her like he did with Jackson, right? But when and where?" Stiles asks as we enter our classroom and freeze in our tracks.
"I think here and now," Scott answers as the three of us eye Erica and Isaac, who were at the back of the classroom.
RAEGAN MCCALL
I was sitting in chemistry, frowning at my chipped red nail polish, when I heard a commotion and looked up. Scott, Stiles, and Sammy were at the front entrance of the class and Isaac and Erica had just come through the back entrance. They eyed each other, and then Lydia (who was sitting in front of me) and lunged towards her.
I watched in amusement as Scott ended up sitting next to her, with Stiles on the other side (even though it's a table for two). Sammy sits next to me, and Erica and Isaac find other seats. Allison comes in with a confused look on her face and sits with a random kid.
I raise an eyebrow at Sammy. "What was all that about?"
She fills me in real quick, "Erica and Isaac think Lydia's the kanima so they're going to test her like they tested Jackson this morning, by putting kanima venom in her mouth. Kanimas can't be poisoned by their own venom, so if Lydia doesn't get paralyzed, it means she's the kanima. We can't let that happen."
Before I can comment, Harris starts speaking, "Einstein once said, "Two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity; And I'm not sure about the universe." I myself have encountered infinite stupidity," he patted Stiles' shoulder and I tried to contain my laughter. "So to combat the plague of ignorance in my class, you're going to combine efforts through a round of group experiments. Let's see if two heads are indeed better than one. Or in Mr. Stilinski's case, less than one."
Man, Harris was a real dick. Funny, though.
"Erica, you take the first station. You'll start with-" before Harris could finish, most of the male, and even a couple female, hands in the room shot up. "I didn't ask for volunteers. Put your hormonal little hands down. Start with… Mr. McCall. Alright, next two…"
|| Teen Wolf ||
Since I was partnered up with Sammy, neither of us had to move.
"Do you know what you're doing? Because I have no idea," I said as I was about to put a random blue liquid into the beaker.
"No, no, no," she took the vial away from me, laughing. "Here, just let me do it. You're gonna end up blowing the roof off the school."
"Probably," I laughed. "You're smarter than me anyways."
"Never? You never get jealous?" Lydia asked Allison from the table in front of us.
"Why would I?" Allison smiled.
"Because of that thing happening over there," Lydia pointed at Scott's table. "That requires some jealousy."
The four of us turned to watch as Erica's hand slowly slid up Scott's thigh. I wanted to puke.
"Man, I'm not even Allison and I'm jealous," Sammy muttered.
Scott pushed Erica's hand off and Erica got threateningly close to him, her eyes flashing yellow.
I was about to do something, when I heard Harris' bell 'ding'. "Switch!" he called.
Before Allison got up, she told Lydia, "Listen to me, okay? Don't talk to Erica or Isaac."
"Why?" she asked.
"Just don't."
"Let's go, girls," Harris called. "Next station."
"Trust me, all right?" Allison said, then got up and moved to another table.
Sammy moved to take her seat, next to Lydia, and Isaac came to sit next to me.
"What's shakin', bacon?" I grinned as he sat down.
"Nothing much," he smiled.
"I hope you know what to do," I motioned at the forming crystals. "Because Sammy was kind of doing all the work."
At the mention of her name, he glared at the back of her head. I kicked him and gave him a look, "Stop it."
He suddenly smiled and cupped my cheek. "You're so pretty, Rae," he said, loud enough for Sammy to hear.
I turned to her, expecting to see anger on her face. Instead, she was smiling at us. What the actual fuck?
Nonetheless, I ripped Isaac's hand off of me. "Stop trying to make Sammy jealous, you tool!" I hissed.
He just shrugged and we got to work.
"What do you plan on doing with Lydia if you find out she's the kanima, anyways?" I asked.
"We're going to kill her," he said bluntly.
I dropped the mixer I was holding. "Isaac-" I winced.
"And switch," Harris said.
Isaac got up, smiling knowingly at me, and went to sit where Sammy had just left, next to Lydia.
Some random kid came and sat next to me, and I glanced back to see the others' reactions. They were all as panicked as I was.
Stiles tried to get up from next to Scott and sit with Lydia, but Harris blocked his way with a ruler. "If you're trying to test my patience, Mr. Stilinski, I guarantee it'll be a failing grade."
The guy who was sitting with me was apparently really smart. I watched as he finished up the crystals.
"Time," Harris called out. "If you've catalyzed the reaction correctly, you should now be looking at a crystal. Now for the part of that last experiment I'm sure you'll all enjoy - You can eat it."
Oh, god. I watched nervously as Isaac handed Lydia the crystal, smirking. I saw the clear venom slowly drip from the crystal.
"Lydia!" Scott yelled as Lydia put it in her mouth.
"What?" Lydia asked, taking it back out.
"Nothing," Scott shook his head.
Half of the class (the supernatural-knowing half) watched in anticipation as Lydia chewed on the crystal… and nothing happened. No paralyzation.
Lydia was the kanima.
|| Teen Wolf ||
"Derek's outside waiting for Lydia," Scott told the five of us in Coach's office.
"Waiting to kill her?" Allison frowned.
"If he thinks she's the kanima, then yes, especially after what happened at the pool."
"It's not her," Stiles said, pacing.
"Stiles, she didn't pass the test," I shook my head. "Nothing happened."
"No, it can't be her."
"It doesn't matter, because Derek thinks it's her," Sammy said. "So either we can convince him that he's wrong, or we've got to figure out a way to protect her."
"Well, I really don't think he's gonna do anything here, not at school," I told them.
"What about after school?" Allison asked. "What if we can prove that Derek's wrong?"
"By three o'clock?" Stiles asked, doubtfully.
"There could be something in the bestiary," Allison supplied.
"Oh, you mean the nine-hundred page book written in archaic Latin that none of us can read?" Stiles yelled. "Good luck with that."
Allison thought for a second, then frowned. "Actually, I think I know someone who might be able to translate it."
"Uh, I can talk to Derek," Scott said. "Maybe convince him to give us a chance to prove that it's not her. But if anything happens, you guys let me handle it, okay?"
"What does that mean?" Allison frowned.
"That you can't heal like I do. I just don't want you to get hurt."
"I can protect myself," Allison said. To prove her point, she took her crossbow out of her backpack in a threatening manner.
"Woo!" I cheered. "Go Team Badass Humans!" Allison and I high-fived each other, grinning.
But her grin fell when she saw the glum look on Scott's face, "What? Did something else happen?"
"I just don't want any of you getting hurt. Seriously, if anything goes wrong, you call me, okay? I-I don't care if your dad finds out, Allison. Call, text, scream, yell, whatever. I'll hear you and I'll find you as fast as I can. We have until three o'clock."
Scott turned to leave, when something whizzed past our heads and Scott turned around to catch it before it hit him in the back of the head. It was a bolt from the crossbow.
"Ahh," Stiles winced and the rest of us rolled our eyes at him. "Sorry," he said as he gave Allison her crossbow back. "Sensitive trigger - on that."
I thumped him on the back of the head and he yelped.