Mae and Stiles parted ways after reaching the office and once she got her class schedule, she was able to find her way around pretty well. It was almost like she had an internal GPS when it came to this place because she seemed to know exactly where everything was even though she'd never stepped foot there before. "One high school is like all the rest," she said to herself with a bit of an eye-roll as she opened up her locker before lunch period. Mae was starting to get annoyed with that so-called reason for her weird dejavu feelings, but she kept using it because she wasn't in the head-space to deal with anything else.
Mae moved some hair behind her ear when she heard some girls talking down the hall about her. They were whispering to one another but Mae could hear it plain as day - Gotta love super-hearing sometimes.
"That's her," one girl stated.
"The one who lives in the burned down house?" the other asked.
"It's not burned down anymore. They fixed it up," the third added in and at that moment the three of them went over to Mae. "You're the new girl, right?"
Mae turned to face them with one hand in her locker. "Is it that obvious?" she gasped. "I was trying so hard to blend in."
The first girl ignored her sarcastic tone and said, "You live in the old Hale House, right? Be grateful that psycho Argent lady isn't around anymore to burn it down again."
"Is it weird for you?" the second girl asked her. "Living in that house where all those people died?"
"Not at all," Mae answered, deciding to have a little fun with this preppy trio. "I'm used to death. My family is always doing some sort of ritual or...sacrifice." She smiled as she looked at them. "You know, you guys should come over after school. I could give you a grand tour."
The three girls looked white as ghosts after hearing what Mae had to say. "I – I don't think so," one of them replied before they hurried off down the hall.
Mae called out, "Awww, was it something I said?" as they darted off. She couldn't contain her laughter any longer and let it out as she put her books away before going to lunch.
Mae was just closing the locker when she heard Stiles' voice mention her name. Thankfully he didn't see her when she quickly went off in the opposite direction and went straight to the music room – her safe haven.
Once the music room's door closed behind her she let out a heavy sigh of relief that soon turned into an 'oh crap' feeling when she heard a woman's voice ask, "Can I help you?"
Mae turned around to find a woman (who appeared to be in her fifties or so) standing in the middle of the room with sheet music in her hand. She was clearly the music teacher. "Can I hide out here until after lunch?" Mae asked in reply.
The music teacher stood there looking stunned, almost as if she had seen a ghost. Mae noticed this and raised her brow a bit. "Something wrong?"
The music teacher, Ms Hollis, replied "What? Oh, no, I'm sorry you just...you bear a striking resemblance to a former student of mine." If she didn't know any better she'd have sworn that her favorite cellist, Paige Krasikeva, was standing right in front of her. Of course that was impossible. Pulling herself from her shock she said, "Feel free to spend lunch period here," then went back to her work.
"Thanks," Mae replied, ignoring the comment about resembling a former student. Everyone had a look-alike somewhere. Since there wasn't enough time to practice anything, Mae just walked around the room. She had stopped by earlier to drop off her cello, but no one was there then so she was pleased to see it still safely placed in the corner.
Mae had played the cello since the first time she touched one so she never bothered to try and learn anything else. Her cello was almost like an extension of herself which was partly why she was so protective of it and being able to play it. Mae had no idea why Damon was so set against her playing but that didn't stop her. She just had to work her way around him and his rules about it.
When Mae's eyes met a musical Triangle on the shelf she found herself smiling but didn't know why. There was just something about that particular instrument. She couldn't place what it was for the life of her but it made her smile nonetheless.
Mae was pulled from her thoughts when she heard Ms Hollis ask, "Is that yours?" Mae turned around to see the teacher pointing to the cello case in the corner. "Yeah," she replied, "that's mine. No one was here earlier so I just put it there for safekeeping."
"You play the cello?" Ms Hollis asked, almost in disbelief.
"For as long as I can remember," she chuckled. Just then the bell rang indicating that lunch period was over. "Time flies."
Ms Hollis nodded before saying, "I'm not normally here after school but if you would ever like to use the music room to practice, that is alright. If anyone gives you any trouble about it, just tell them Ms Hollis gave you permission."
Mae genuinely smiled upon hearing that. "Thanks, Teach. I'll be taking you up on that offer."
Ms Hollis watch her leave with a slight shake to her head. She couldn't get the similarities off her mind. "So uncanny," she said to herself then laughed, "Well, this is Beacon Hills."
After school Mae did take the offer to practice her cello, even though she knew that would make her late getting out to the parking lot to meet Ty for a ride home. Oh well, he'd just have to wait. It wouldn't be the first time.
Once the music room was cleared out, Mae went right in and got set up. Mae got settled into the seat in the middle of the room, shook her head back a little to center herself, then placed her hand upon the strings with one hand and pulled the bow across with the other. The notes of her favorite song, Ave Maria, filled the room.
Mae closed her eyes as she allowed herself to be consumed by the music. Everything else always fell away when she played, especially this song. Normally nothing would be able to pull her focus but a 'thump, thump, thump' reached her ears. Her playing didn't stop but her eyes opened due to being pulled out of her 'trance'. Realizing she had lost her place, she grumbled and started over.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
There was that freaking sound again. It sounded like a basketball being dribbled in the hallway and it was starting to piss her off. Her eyes flashed yellow as she glared at the door and those who were undoubtedly somewhere outside.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
That was it, Mae had it. After returning her eyes to normal, she set her cello aside and went out into the hall to give whoever it was a piece of her mind. "Don't you realize that basketball is supposed to be played in the gym?!" she called out as she turned the corner. The sound had stopped and there was no one there.
Mae froze for a second because it didn't make any sense. "What?" She heard a basketball being dribbled, she was sure of it but there was no one sight and the sound wasn't being made any longer. Mae had no explanation and couldn't even attempt to think of one. "No...too weird."
She went back to the music room to keep playing but as soon as she was about to begin the dribbling sound reached her ears again. "Oh my god!" she shouted and gave up. Mae put her cello away and left because she knew if she tried tracking down whoever it was that was pissing her off that she probably wouldn't be able to keep herself in check. It was annoying her to hell and back but it was better this way.
Earlier that day Derek discussed what was needed with Scott then left. However when the time came for school to end, he found himself sitting out in the parking lot watching the students as they left for the day. Derek couldn't get the nagging feeling out of his mind. Yes, he had suppressed it but now it was back at full force. All he needed was one look at that cello girl to prove that she was not Paige and that would be the end of it.
That appeared to be easier said than done since she didn't seem to make an appearance at the end of the day. Derek didn't see her, or any girl leave with a cello for that matter. Had he imagined her existence? No, he saw her talking with Stiles so that couldn't be it. Of course the easiest thing he could do was just ask Stiles who the girl was but he really didn't want Stilinski in his business, especially when it came to this. This was something Derek would have to deal with himself.
Derek was starting to feel like a creeper as he sat in his car waiting for more students to leave. After a little while only a couple stragglers came out and no Cello Girl. At that moment he decided to take a more active approach and went inside the school.
He wasn't sure where to start looking so he just walked down a random hallway for starters. He didn't get very far before an all too familiar song reached his ears. It was one that he hadn't heard in a very long time because the last time he heard it was when Paige played it. For that reason, he couldn't bring himself to listen to it again but there it was, the music practically echoing through the halls almost as if it was calling out to him. Derek answered the call and started for the music room.
By the time he got there the music had ended and whoever was playing it was gone. This was far too unnerving for him, even more-so when a familiar scent reached his senses. This scent – Paige's scent almost made his heart stop. Her scent wasn't the only one present but one of a wolf's as well. There was more, Derek found. They weren't two separate scents...but one. "Can't be," he thought aloud. This was something he couldn't ignore so he quickly followed the trail out the other door and through the back exit of the school.
Derek practically burst through the doors just in time to see a girl put a cello case in the backseat of an SUV before getting into the front. He caught far more than a glimpse this time – it was Paige.
Derek clenched his fists because he knew it wasn't possible. Paige rejected the Bite, but more than that he was the one who had mercy-killed her. There was no way that this girl could be her but the resemblance was too much to ignore. It was Paige and yet it wasn't. One thing was certain though, if Derek didn't feel like he was going crazy before, he sure as hell did now.
Ty looked over at Mae for a moment as he drove through Beacon Hills. "How'd it go?"
"I made a group of girls think that we were sadistic people who made human sacrifices, so excellent." Mae grinned at him before facing forward.
Ty sighed when he heard this. "Damon will not be pleased if someone comes checking in because of what you said."
"I'm not a minor, Ty," she retorted. "It's not like they can call social services and have me pulled out of the house."
"True, but who's to say that they won't call the cops? There's enough already going around about us because we're living in the old Hale House. We don't need more attention, Mae." Ty really hoped she'd understand why.
"Damon should have known what he was getting himself into when he bought the place to begin with. Kids have been talking all day about the fire and how some crazy woman named Kate was the one who burned the place down with people still inside." Mae scoffed heavily. "If it's anyone's fault for having eyes on us, it's Damon's. Not mine."
Ty didn't say anything else on the matter and changed subjects. He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out Clara's credit card. Ty handed it over to Mae, "You have to go shopping before we get home."
Mae's brows almost went sky high. "Why the hell would I go shopping? My clothes are fine."
"Clara threw out anything that faded, worn, or riddled with holes." He took a jab at her as he pulled into the mall's parking lot, "So pretty much your entire wardrobe."
Mae was pissed beyond words and almost snapped the card in her hand as a result. "I hate shopping."
End Chapter 2
A/N: I want to give a special shout-out to Daystorm aka Darknightfrombeyond for making the cover art for The Return (Rewrite) Their edit captured everything perfectly and I appreciate it and them so much. Not only does Daystorm kill with edits, they have some incredible stories on here so please go and check them out. I can pretty much guarantee that you won't regret it!