#14

Everyone at school was excited about the formal and all they were talking about was who they'll be going with, what they'll be wearing, or what music they wanted. Elie wasn't in the mood at all with what was going with the alpha, and besides…there was no one she wanted to go with. Well, more correctly, there was someone but she was pretty sure that he would never EVER go to a school dance with a sixteen year old. So you know, she wasn't in the mood.

She had initially planned to skip the formal, but Stiles and Scott insisted on staying together and they had to keep their eyes on Allison so she had to go. She wanted to keep her eyes on the boys too, so in the end, she agreed to go which meant that now she had to go shopping for a dress. Elie sighed as she frustratingly rummaged around rack full of dresses at Macy's.

"I've never bought a dress before! I have no idea what to get!"

"How about this one? Blue is sooo your colour!"

"Shut up Stiles, I'm serious! I really don't know what to wear!"

"Just pick one. How about that one?"

"What are you doing here anyway? Where's Scott?"

Stiles shrugged as he looked through the dresses.

"Where's Jessie? or Hannah? May be they could help."

"Jessie's baby-sitting and Hannah's on the formal committee so she's swamped. I don't want to waste their time…this is so stupid. I feel so stupid."

"Here, try this on." Stiles handed Elie a silver metallic mini dress. Elie glance at the price tag and put it back immediately.

"Did you see the price tag? This is insane! How can something with so little fabric cost so much?!"

"Well then, how about this one? This one's under a hundred…"

Elie grabbed the white dress Stiles handed her and headed for the changing room.

Elie couldn't remember the last time she wore a dress. She has to wear a dress when she's working at the diner but that didn't count. She really couldn't remember the last time she wore a skirt or a dress that wasn't a uniform. After getting out of her T-shirt and jeans, she slipped into the little white dress. It felt weird to feel the breeze between her legs and she felt so….so exposed. She looked at her own reflection in the mirror. I feel so stupid. May be I should just wear my normal clothes? Wearing this in front of the boys and everyone at school is so embarrassing because this is so not me….

"Hey, Elie, are you done yet?" Suddenly, Stiles popped his head through the curtain.

"STILES!" Even though Elie was fully dressed, she yelled and pushed away Stiles' head and angrily closed the curtain. To Elie's surprise, Stiles complemented her from behind the curtains.

"Hey, you look good!"

"…..I do?"

"Yeah…are you gonna go with that one?"

"Um…I think so."

"If that's the case, I um…can I go? I just need to get something… so meet you down at the car park in like 15 minutes?"

"Okay."

#

After paying for the dress, Elie quickly headed towards the car park. She was just checking her messages on her phone while leaning on the Jeep, when she suddenly heard footsteps and she felt her hair stand on the back of her neck. Her heart began pounding. She hugged her shopping bag and looked around the empty car park. She wondered if she should walk back into the shops. The elevator was only about 20 feet away but she was reluctant to move as she realised that someone, or something could jump out from behind one of the cars. Elie grabbed her phone and tried calling Stiles but it went straight to voice mail. Damn it, Stiles! Where are you? She shoved the phone back in her jeans pocket and frantically looked around. She couldn't see anybody or anything. She began to think she was imagining things. Maybe she was a little spooked from the other night at the hospital.

Before making the dash towards the elevator, Elie slowly knelt down on her fours and scanned the car park floor, just to make sure. When she didn't see anything suspicious, she decided that she was being too paranoid. As she stood up (feeling stupid for over-reacting), she heard a chuckle from behind her which made her freeze on the spot. Her heart was pounding as footsteps got closer and closer, until she could almost feel his breath on the back of her neck.

"What do you want from me?" Elie whispered as without turning around.

"Nothing. I just wanted to say hi," The alpha whispered from behind. He continued, as he gently stroked Elie's shoulder.

"If Scott wasn't in love with Allison, you'd be the perfect target because you're like his sister right?"

"We're not going to let you hurt Allison or Melissa." She had no idea how to stop him, and wondered why the hell she was provoking a homicidal werewolf.

"Well, if Scott joined the pack, I wouldn't have to hurt anyone." The alpha answered in a calm tone.

"If he keeps saying no, you're just going to kill everyone?" Elie's voice began to shake at the thought of losing Scott, Melissa, Stiles and her dad.

"That's the plan, my dear." Keep him talking, keep him talking, Elie thought to herself. At any moment, someone would be coming down to get their car, right? If she stalled him for long enough, may be she can see her family and friends again.

"…what did you do to Derek?" When Elie suddenly brought up Derek, Peter was momentarily taken back but quickly replied,

"Do? I'm a concerned uncle looking for his nephew."

"I mean, what did you do to him to make him join you?"

"What can I say, we're family." As Peter answered in a mocking tone, he realised that Elie might have feelings for Derek and wondered how his nephew felt about that, remembering the way he growled at him to let her go in the hospital. Interesting, Peter thought.

"Then why did you kill your niece?" As soon as she said it out loud, Elie realised too late that it might just push him over the edge but the alpha was silent. May be he was too angry to answer. Frozen on the spot, Elie closed her eyes and prayed. Suddenly the elevator bell rang, which made Elie jump a little. When she turned around, she saw several girls from her school, presumably shopping for formal, get out of the elevator chatting very loudly and they walked towards their parked car without giving Elie a second glance. Elie looked around and when she realised that the alpha had disappeared, she quickly ran towards the elevator, got in and frantically pressed the buttons to close the door.

#

Elie got out of the elevator and ran towards the food court. She wanted to be where there were people. Lots of people. Normally, she hated the crowd but right now, she wanted to be surrounded by them. Her hands were shaking and she was beginning to panic about Stiles not turning up to the car park in time. Please, God let Stiles be okay. Let Stiles be okay. She repeated as she tried calling him again when she stumbled into someone.

"Ow, Sorry…Elie!?"

"Stiles! You fucking idiot! Where the hell were you? You said 15 minutes! and it's been nearly an hour! You dumb shit!" Elie began swearing at her brother half out of relief but half out of anger.

"Whoa, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry….did something happen?" Stiles repeatedly apologised in order to calm his sister down but realised that she was pale and shaking a little. He expected her to be a little pissed that he'd made her wait but she was almost hysterical.

"WHAT HAPPENED? WHAT HAPPENED WAS THAT I SAW HIM IN THE CAR PARK!"

"WHAT?! You mean the alpha?" Stiles panicked and looked around.

"YES! He turned up instead of you!" Elie yelled and smacked Stiles' arm.

"I'm so sorry, are you alright?" Stiles grabbed his sister's shoulders and looked into her face. He could see that she was trying to fight back her tears and he didn't know what to say or do so he hugged her.

"I thought I was going to die." Elie whispered and Stiles hugged her a little tighter.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Stiles swore to never let his sister out of his sight until this alpha business was over. What if Peter had actually hurt Elie in the car park? Just the thought of it made his knees weak.

In Stiles' reassuring arms, Elie felt her fears slowly drain away and she pushed him away and in a lighter tone, she demanded an answer.

"Anyway, where the hell were you?"

"Well, um…." Stiles began to grin as he remembered his encounter with Lydia and Allison and as soon as Elie saw his expression, she knew.

"It was Lydia wasn't it."

"How did you know?"

"You get that stupid-in-love kind of face."

"Well, guess who's going to the formal with Lydia?"

"Jackson?"

"Nope." Stiles continued to grin like an idiot and Elie began to put two and two together.

"….What? Seriously? You? And Lydia?"

"Yup."

"I'm sorry but are you sure that this is not going to turn into one of those Carrie type of situations? Because you know…why would she go with you?"

"Thanks, sis. Thanks for the encouragement!"

"Sorry, um….Congratulations. You, and Lydia huh?"

#

"So, you're going with Scott to the formal?" asked the sheriff as he stood in the doorway of his daughter's bedroom after Stiles left to pick up his date.

"Uh huh, but it's not a date, Dad. I have no one, and Scott…well it's complicated so we're going together as friends. " Elie explained as she checked herself in the mirror. Sandy had dropped by to put some make up on her and help her get ready since Elie was completely clueless. Sandy attempted to give her a full make over, complete with false eye lashes and contouring, but Elie outright refused. So reluctantly, Sandy gave her a more natural look. She also put Elie's hair in a bun, nothing too fancy but little more fancy than her usual messy bun.

"How do I look?" she asked sheepishly as she turned around. She was wearing a white mini dress and her black Dr. Martens boots. Sandy thought it was hilarious but it was practical since she could run around in these shoes if something happened, and besides it was already bad enough that she had to wear a dress and make up. She was not going to wear heels.

"You look beautiful, princess." The sheriff smiled and gave his daughter a kiss on her forehead.

"Thanks dad." just as Elie was giving her father a hug, she heard a car pull up in her drive way.

"I think that's Scott, so I'll see you later okay?" said Elie as she ran out of her room.

"Don't you dare say anything." Elie warned as soon as she got into Melissa's car that Scott had borrowed.

"What? I was going to say you look great," said Scott sheepishly.

"Um…thanks, you look great too." and then they looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"So how are you going to get in? I'm guessing that Finstock will be staking out at the entrance." Elie asked as they drove towards school.

"…through the roof."

"And once you get inside?"

"Just hang around at the back and keep my eyes on Allison, I guess."

"Sounds like a plan."

"I'm sorry you're stuck with me."

"What? No, I mean I was planning to just skip it."

"I thought Ethan from History asked you…"

"He did…but I said no."

"Why? Is there someone else?"

"…Um, no. I mean, I'm just going to the formal to keep my eyes on you boys, so I'd be a shitty date and it didn't seem right to say yes."

"….I'm sorry I got you involved in all this."

"It's not your fault, Scott. You're family and I'm with you all the way, and so is Stiles. We're in this together, so don't apologise okay?"

"Thanks."

When they got to school, Elie watched Scott sneak up on to the roof and then took a deep breath before walking into the hall. Once inside, she made her way through the crowd to the bleachers and climbed up towards the back and sat down. She sat there looking at groups of kids dancing around when Scott quietly sneaked up next to her.

"Can you see Allison?" Elie asked as she looked at Scott. He was frowning so she just followed his gaze and saw Allison and Jackson dancing.

"Well, at least they're not enjoying each other's company?" said Elie to lighten Scott's mood. It didn't work as he continued to growl.

"Oh. My. God. Is that Stiles with Lydia?" Elie asked when she saw Stiles walking towards the dance floor with Lydia. She and Scott looked at each other in amazement and was smiling when Finstock yelled out across the hall.

"HEY! I SEE YOU! COME HERE BUDDY!"

"Scott, Run!" said Elie but Scott was already up and running down the bleachers. From the bleachers, Elie could see Finstock making his way towards Scott by shoving away students. You can't get kicked out when we know that the alpha is planning to do something to Allison! In a split second, she made a decision and ran down the bleachers and made her way towards Finstock.

"Mr Finstock!"

"Not now!"

"But…" Elie was about to ask Finstock for a dance to distract him when he caught up with Scott.

"McCall! You're not supposed to…What the hell are you….What the hell are you doing?" Finstock asked and the hall suddenly went completely quiet and everyone's eyes were on Finstock, Scott and Danny.

"Yes, coach?" asked Scott as he put his arms tighter around Danny.

"Hold on…..ahahahah….you…..I'm just saying he's not supposed to…I mean I wasn't saying that he shouldn't….you guys don't think that I….I was just…..DANCE, EVERYBODY! DANCE! JUST DANCE! IT'S A PARTY! AHAHAHAHA…." Elie almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

When the music restarted and everyone on the dance floor paired up, Elie quietly left the hall. She was sitting outside enjoying the crisp night air, wondering what to do while the boys danced away inside, she saw Jackson staggering into the woods. For a brief moment, she wondered whether to just let him go but decided to follow him. Scott would never stop blaming himself if something happened. Even if it was Jackson.

It was dark and foggy in the woods and she didn't want to get too far from school but Jackson kept walking deeper into the woods. He was talking to himself as he walked and Elie wondered if he was drunk. As she got closer, he began to yell towards the thick fog and stumbled on to the ground.

"Come on! I wanna be like you. I wanna be one of you. Please."

When Elie heard that she was so angry that she was just about to give him a good kick for being such an idiot but she saw two red rays of lights and heard footsteps crunching the dead leaves, she hid behind one of the trees.

"Unfortunately for you Jackson, I don't think I can give you what you want."

Elie recognised that voice. It was Allison's dad. Shit! He knows Jackson isn't the beta now, so it's only a matter of time before the hunters figure out that Scott is the beta! Elie kept quiet as Allison's dad and his colleague led Jackson out of the woods and when she was sure that they wouldn't be able to hear her, she tried calling Stiles but she couldn't get through to him. Come on, come on Stiles, who are you talking to? I thought you were dancing with Lydia! She was about to try Scott instead, when she remembered that he'd lost his phone.

"Arrgghhhhhhh!" Elie screamed in frustration. What do I do? What do I do?! Her mind was racing as she ran out of the woods and into the school car park. I wish Derek was here…he'd know what to do…Think! Elie think! The hunters want Scott so they can find the alpha, and the alpha wants Scott for a full on war against the hunters…so no one is actually going to kill anyone tonight… I have to find Derek. Even if he may be working with the alpha, he might be the only one that can help us. I mean he's been helping us from the beginning!

A/N: Thank you for reading! It's nearly over! :)