"So you didn't get in trouble but you're still sulking." Her arms crossed over her chest as she looked at her 'date' his face scrunched up at her attitude because apparently she was supposed to be in the wrong here.
"I didn't get in trouble because I told the coach that I got a bloody nose and I'm sulking because you said you'd wash it." Rory's eyes narrowed; they had been having this argument for the better part of the day and she didn't exactly appreciate the tip in the balance of power.
Wasn't she supposed to be mad at him? The jackass who forced her to have a supposed vision this morning. He, who, decided that she had to be a seer and that Werewolf were real. She was supposed to be the one sulking here. She was supposed to be the one with a scrunched up face and a chip on her shoulder.
"You know your high strung right. It's a jersey-" His eyes bulged and his brows raised, his nose scrunching like he had to sneeze. It would have looked funny if his honey eyes weren't narrowed at her.
"It's my Jersey that you bled all over and then told me you were gonna wash it!"
Sure she had completely forgotten about the bloody jersey, the same one he asked about after some convoluted bullshit apology. She had forgotten all about it and they had been making jabs at each other since last period.
"And I would have if you hadn't snatched it away from me."
"I needed it washed last night for practice today."
"You're too high strung ."
Dark brown eyes flickered away from him almost childishly instead looking forward toward his lean friend who looked like he was making a silent prayer to some kind of deity to grant him the blessing of knocking down just one pin. She watched leaning forward as the ball seemed to coast into the middle up until the last moment when it veered off making a straight shot to the jutter. She cringed her body recoiling away from her irritation evaporating for a moment as she pressed her forehead on the collarbone, the object of said irritation.
"Oo That was just embarrassing." She hissed not even needing to hear the jackass taunting to know it was probably brutal.
Stilinski's shoulder jumped at her touch, obviously not used to her hot and cold personality. She had been told was a bit too abrasive. 'Yeah' was all her partner could mutter without breaking the bro code and she couldn't help but laugh. Even after being told to 'aim for the middle" he hadn't even been able to knock one pin. It was even more depressing than Lydia's overly dramatized 'failure'
"Well guess that means it's my turn." She sighed raising to her feet her finger tips pressing into Scotts shoulder as she gave him a crooked grin. "I suck at this shit so." She paused taking a deep almost dramatic breath. "You're probably gonna get second place and hey that's better than nothing huh!"
"Huh!" Her smile widened at the strangled noise that came from her partner's throat. "Wh- no. No Rory you can't just.. give up like that were only on the first round!"
Examining the pretty purple marble ball that Allsion had kindly picked out for her she shrugged again looking back with wide almost arguably innocent eyes. "Why try when I know I suck. Besides you got 9 pins you should be proud." Her words came out a bit more sarcastic than she had meant but covered the blunder by ignoring it.
Stepping up to the lane she eyed the pins, her fingers pressing into the holes as she tried to copy the stance that Allsion took readied the ball then she let it go watching as it went a bit too fast before swerving straight into the gutter like it was a long lost lover. Rory could only lean back slight at a crossroad between being annoyed or playing it off as overly confident.
She refused to let embarrassment anywhere near her.
Spinning fluidly on her heels she only felt a little bit of traction from the stupid clown shoes she had to wear a shit eating grin on her face.
"So who's next!" She asked, clapping her hands together almost too proud of herself.
The faces in front of her ranged from the exasperated look of her own partner to the bemused brow raise of Lydia.
"You actually, you get two tries." Allsion laughed a bit at her antics but whether it was to cover the second hand embarrassment or to just be helpful Rory couldn't tell.
"Thank you could help me?" She asked, turning the brunette. "if you haven't noticed I kind of suck."
The girl nodded, placing her hand on either side of her chair about to stand when Lydia's voice cut in. "Uh no. You can't get help from people on different teams."
"Oh." She frowned as the ball came rolling back through the machine and she took a few steps to pick it up and flashing her partner a smile that worked well enough to gain a groan she spun again. Her irritation was lost on the other players, refusing to let them see that she hated losing. Instead she only let them see a smile akin to that of the Cheshire as she turned from the lane before the ball could finish zooming down the gutter. It didn't budge even after Stilinki rounded on her his face looking more annoyed than angry
"Why didn't you tell me you weren't even going to take this seriously!"
"What it's just bowling. And besides I asked for help. It's not my fault Lydia stopped me." Shaking her head with her words she watched in amusement as his hand dragged down his face.
"I could have helped you!" He turned to her animated wildly licking his lips, his entire hand pointing at his chest.
"To chiche." She shrugged her shoulders, keeping her eyes forward as Jackson stepped up her eyes cast down her grey painted nails far more interesting then the cocky ass. "And I don't want to add anything else to my growing list of cliches. Besides."
Looking back at him she propped her elbow on the back of the plastic chair and leaning her head into her hand basking in the gobsmacked look, his squinted eyes and twisted lips really it was a sight to behold. "I wanted to be on Allison's team anyway." Her hand covered her mouth as bewildered anger burst through his features and he gaped like a fish to the sound of pins being violently knocked over.
"You have got to be kidding me. Seriously, why are you like this? Look I get that you don't want to be here but you don't have to be so childish about it!." Her smile melted but her hand stayed clamped in its position. He was scolding her seriously, scolding her for what? Not trying her best at something as stupid as bowling?
She wanted to do many things, some involved placing her foot in many different areas, some involved placing the ball into the gutter herself, taking away any hope of the purple marble even being able to touch a pin. Her eyes were narrowing and she let them because if that were narrowed they wouldn't be wide they wouldn't look childish.
She wasn't childish. She wasn't a baby or a deer in headlights, she wasn't a damn bunny with wide terrified eyes.
She resisted the urge to just headbutt him and walk away cause that would look more childish than just doing the latter. So instead she just stared at him silently cursing him and wondering what the hell an adult should do in this situation.
"I'm not punishing you, I'm just not interested in this." She said finally her body turning away from him and her arms coming to cross over her chest. Was that adult enough? Was that a good enough response? It better of been or she would just leave for the arcade that looked ten times more fun despite how bare it was.
"If your not interested then why did you come." It was obvious that he wasn't thinking before he asked because she had told him before that she was here because of Lydia. Because Lydia had something on her and she needed that phone back and damn it the strawberry blonde shouldn't even have that phone in the first place it wasn't hers and she didn't deserve it. Rory mentally kicked herself how could she have left something so precious in a bathtub to rot and decay and break away.
Furthermore how did she let someone find it and then use it against her as a form of blackmail.
"Cause Lydia obviously." Her eyes flickered to him before she added. "isn't that why you're here?"
"I'm here because you asked me to be." He said almost too quickly and too snappy for her to believe it.
"What is this a real date now? Cause we're not even friends?" She asked watching Allsion earn her team another strike. Her eyes flickered to the scoreboard, her brow ticking in amusement and she hummed at the sight of Allison one upping Jackson even if it was by a few pins.
"Eh.. no it's not a date but I mean.. were not.. look im just saying I'm helping you out you know as an apology for this morning…" her brow raised at his obvious lie.
"No. No you're not, you're just here cause Lydia wanted you here." It was like he completely forgot that he agreed yesterday hours before he pissed her off that morning. He didn't seem to want to answer her because he quickly stood making a few strides to his ball before picking it up and she rolled her eyes.
Standing she moved behind Al's bench murmuring a lie about going to get a drink and walking off before she could offer to join her. Wandering around she found the small arcade framed by a simple skeeball game. Venturing in further she stared at the colorful flashing lights and the becoming previews of Pac Man and various shooter games. There was one dance dance revolution that she stared at for a second longer before the machine next to it drew her attention.
A claw machine.
It was filled with toys and stuffed animal that she noticed weren't packed together like most of the machines at home here. In fact these seemed loose and there were grips on each claw like they actually wanted you to win something.
The toys were cheap and the animals where strang colleges of pink horse donkey hybrid type things and strange monster shaped stuffies that she would have begged for when she was younger. Then she saw something that stare back at her past those small hard black eyes.
'Ariel look! Look! It's that fox, it's still here. Do you want me to get it for you?" Her voice echoed somewhere in the corner where she stored those memories.
Her sister had muttered something that she didn't quite catch but at the time she had smiled and taken it as a yes and she remembered that feeling of digging into her pant pockets and pulling out a crumpled up dollar that she snatched from her mother's bag. She didn't think she would need it. She would be going back to work tomorrow anyway so she shouldn't miss it if she was just going to make more.
it was like the old arcade had crafted itself around her right down to the smell of pizza and salad dressings coming flooding her nose again. She could see herself getting on her tiptoes to put one of the dollars into the machine and get some quarters because it's all the claw machine could take. She had taken the coins greedily and without thought put them into the machine not really thinking about why she had taken the money in the first place.
But why would she think of that when Ariel said that she wanted the fox.
Sure it was a one off comment that she had thrown out into the air when they left the parlor but she had said it all the same.
Aurora watched herself almost in a daze she she made her first attempt and the small animal only made it halfway across the way before dropping in the middle.
She wanted to place her hand on the little girls shoulder and remind her that it was okay. That her face didn't need to break they way it was just because she hadn't gotten on the first try. But she couldn't do that; she could only watch as the younger version of herself put her arm into the machine attempting to capture the fox before letting out a frustrated cry.
Digging back into her pocket she pulled another dollar from the small bundle and went back to the machine and then she watched the small blond do it again and again and again. Until the small bundle was gone and finally the little fox dropped down and she completely forgot about her stolen loot in favor of the new gift she could give to her sister.
She examined it almost as if she was ensuring it was perfect. It wasn't red like a normal fox it had more of a raspberry color and it's snout was strange and to long but in the end she grinned running off waving the toy and proclaiming that she got it.
A smile curved on her lips as she remembered the sweet victory of getting something that her sister wanted… As her surroundings faded she wondered briefly whatever happened to that fox.. because she didn't remember it? It wasn't in the apartment she would have remembered that weird color and those hard plastic eyes.
She tried to think about it thinking maybe it had gotten torn up or maybe forgotten and left behind at some point? She didn't know but.. it bugged her. It bugged her because surely Ariel would have cherished something that she had given her? Even if it was just some ratty off colored fox from a claw machine?
Aurora did. She had almost every gift the girl had ever given her including the script that Ariel dug out of the bin. Well no.. that want true she didn't have everything not anymore… it was all burned.. and she didn't have anything left.
"Oh yeah? You want it?" The voice was high and suddenly she wasn't in the arcade not the one at the pizza place or the bowling alley she was standing on the wooden floors of her old apartment a tooth brush in hand in her old bathroom. The wall where thinner there since it only had a single sink and toilet she could hear almost everything from her room which was right next to it.
"Seriously?" There was a pause and she recognized the voice as Holly Piper. "Yeah I don't care."
"That's great my little cousin. She loves this color and she's getting really into cats, it's perfect! I mean I know mom asked me to get her something but It just slipped my mind and seriously you'll let me give it to her."
"Yeah tell her you won it in a claw machine it will make it more impressive."
Her stomach seemed to plummet and she felt.. hollow… because she never thought.. she couldn't even tell how old she was at the moment but because her body kept moving. It just kept brushing her teeth mechanically. She could feel her eyelids droop that bored expression she was so used to feeling new on her face as if it was trying to adapt. Spitting into the sink she turned the water on and then off again completely robotic in the action before she left the bathroom. From the corner of her eye she could see Avey coming down the hall with multiple cups of fizzing ice cream and root beer in her arms.
The dark hair girl passed her without so much of a glance before announcing to the girls that she got the drinks and Rory settled into her spot on the couch. Ignoring the movie she was watching and instead picking up the not so worn book that was to her side.
Looking down at the words they seemed fuzzy as the sounds of the giggle as the girls in the next room played telephone like it was a drinking game almost haunted her until she felt like she was in her own body again. It was hunched over the joystick of the claw machine and she could feel each beat in her chest. Her skin felt hot and cold at the same time as she took in the memory… It sucked.
Why.. why did it suck so much.. why did it make her chest heave and her breath hitch? Why did rack her body so harshly and uncomfortably?
Had Ariel really just give her gift away as a second hand gift? Did she hear it right or was she just giving something else away… she must of been it had to be something else it had to be.
It had to be.
It had to be.
It. Had. To. Be.
She refused to believe it any other way she refused to acknowledge the ache that was spreading and the way her bones felt heavy against her muscles like they suddenly weighed a ton and she just couldn't support them anymore. Her breath came out in heaves as her hands gripped the sides of the control panel.
Why wasn't she ever invited to there sleepovers? Why didn't they even consider making her a drink or inviting her into the game?
More questions came after that her hands came up to her face shakily, her hand cold against her flamed cheeks, her pinky extending so it could be caught between her teeth as she realized that she was being ridiculous.
They didn't.. they didn't invite her because she didn't want to be invited… They were Ariel's friends after all, not hers. She was more than happy to have her movie nights in the living room. Why would she want anything to do with that when she hated ice cream and the telephone. She could just sit on the couch with her own box of pizza and snacks that she likes and watch horror movies. It was a dream come true really the only time that she got the luxury of complete peace.
They weren't excluding her, they just weren't disturbing her.
Ariel had… Ariel had said so herself.
The words felt small even in her own head. They felt tiny and whispered… like betrayal.
"There you are! What are you doing its your turn." The voice was haughty as the words hung in the air and she felt her nails sink into the thin skin under her eyes.
"I don't." She started her voice coming out meek and somber and she blanched at the awful sound.. to think it was coming from her… was she going to let delusion take over her when the bastard was badgering at her every night about it being her fate.
No.
She wouldn't. She couldn't.
Straightening she let her hands fall before turning to Lydia but her face.. oh god her face wouldn't do as told instead of the broad smile and sarcastic command that sat on the back of her tongue was suddenly nowhere in sight she could only stare at the girl with what she assumed was the face of a battered and hollow girl.
Lydia's brow ticked but it was obvious that she didn't want to push.. because pushing would mean attempting to get past walls and they weren't exactly ready for that.. they never are. So instead the strawberry blonde optented of a tilted head giving an almost rude 'what's up with you?"
"Nothing. Let's just go." Was what she was trying to say but the words that fell out were the ultimate form of betrayal.
"Her friends.. what did they.. what did they say about me?" She asked eyes hitting the black carpet tracing the colored shapes and patterns.
"What did they say? Aurora you were there you heard them? I mean you were kind of attacked, remember." The blond did not in fact remember she didn't remember it even a little and her memory seemed to shit it out with each passing day.
"Who attacked me, Avey?" She suddenly asked, her humor was as dry as a desert.
"The little dark haired girl? Yeah you apparently got too close to a college they made and she did not want you near it.. what do you not remember? She kind of went off at you and you left.." Green eyes studied the freckled face of the other girl as she seemed to come to the understanding that she didn't.
"You marched back to the hotel?" Silence. "You started the bath and then threw yourself into bed and didn't come back out for three days. Rory, you missed the actual funeral."
The blonde couldn't pull any memory of any of that it was like she had put it in a small little box and then threw that box through a pair of doors, locked it then chained it up for good measure.
"No i- I really can't remember it." She looked Lydia in the eye this time as if to convey that she really wants lieng and the other girl only hummed in thought.
"It doesn't matter. I don't really want to talk about It and obviously you don't either thats what your shrink is for isn't it?" Her words were almost as encouraging as they were condescending.
"Yeah I don't really think I'd discuss it with him, either." Lydia could only raise her sculpted brow at her before she decided it would be better if she just dropped it.
She could feel the wave of awkwardness come over them and she realized that they didn't talk about her problems. Not unless Lydia was balling them up and throwing them in her face in fact they hardly talked about anything together that wasn't deemed necessary to get what the other wanted, whether it was just a demand or to win an argument. When they weren't arguing they were dancing around each other to caught up in there own life's too care about the other.
"Was Tracy really trying to come with you tonight?" She asked suddenly and knew immediately from the way that Lydia's eyes flashed that she seemed like she was looking for a fight.
"Why do you ask?" Lydia answered with a hum giving the blonde all she needed to know. Lydia was preparing not saying a definite yes or no just in case Rory heard something that would say otherwise.
She was a lot like Nat that way. Overly cautious and prepared. It showed how closed off she was to the world.
"They've just been ignoring you a lot, haven't they? I don't know, I was thinking about what you said after the game, did you guys have a falling out?" She hadn't actually, she hasn't put any thought into it , only focusing on what she said about Ariel and the dirt that she somehow got on her.
Lydia straightened at this, her spine going more ramrod straight then Rory thought was possible but here they were. She sniffed but her arms hung at her sides instead of crossing over her chest and she watched them swing slightly like she was trying to and they just weren't listening.
"There.." she paused almost recoiling at the words she seemed to have stuck in her throat before she cleared it. Her mouth opened and then she shut it again and Rory realized that a part of her wanted to talk, wanted to let out how it all made her feel but those walls the one that were made of bricks of snark and pettiness, wouldn't let her.
"I get it." Rory started standing straight and taking the few steps it took to stride past her. "it's none of my business but I just have to ask." Her hand found the still limp crook of the girl's elbow. "Are you okay with losing them?"
The girl was stiff under her touch and her eyes shut as if she was trying to reign in the emotion that threatened to escape and it made Rory wonder. Were people like Tracy and Dia really that important to Lydia? Did she really see them as more than just her little dogs to keep on a leash close to her if she needed to look like she had supporting hands lifting her up.
The two had been with Lydia almost the entirety of winter break. The three went out on the small town as easily as she stayed in her room under her covers. They thrived together and yet here and now it was like they were miles apart.
What could have happened?
She didn't really care to watch Lydia flounder with her emotions instead she gently pulled the girl back to the group and she allowed it. The girl was almost on autopilot as she put herself back together again.
There was so much she didn't feel like she could say and Rory decided that it may never come out. Was this what she was used to? Fixing her problems by herself despite being surrounded by people?
She guessed that maybe it was because the people didn't care or just weren't trustworthy enough to break down in front of. And the blonde Lydia was one of those. But wasn't that how she liked it that distance that was only connected by a thin thread that kept the two connected by circumstance.
Her hand came to the other girl's wrist and this time she didn't shake her away. She guessed it would okay but she probably wouldn't ever be as close to the girl then just holding her wrist. They were different and really did they even need anything from the other?
What Lydia could do for Rory and what Rory could do for Lydia didn't really amount to much.
Her eyes flickered to the board and she felt her brows raise at the two rather then the usual one strike.
"What did Scott get game while I was gone for those 0.2 seconds?" She announced and found the beaming smile from Allsion who pulled her shoulders up in an almost innocent gesture. Of course Stilinski looked annoyed but whether it was because she walked away or Scott obviously did something supernatural to give himself a boost she couldn't tell.
Of course his furrowed brow had nothing on Jackson who was like Lydia trying to pull himself together muttering 'lucky shot'. She felt the moment Lydia pulled away going straight to her boyfriend putting a comforting hand on his chest.
She missed the warmth but she was a leech and she could find that anywhere even in her own partner who jumped when she placed her hands on his shoulder dipping down to level with him.
"So what do you think he used his Wolfy powers?" She teased as he scoffed his own arms crossing over his chest as he gave her a sarcastic obviously.
"We're gonna lose." He grumbled, sounding more childish than her at the moment.
"Hey freeloader, it's your turn since we can't skip you, you should just get it over with." Her hands fisted into the Stilinski jacket gathering and twisting more fabric then she had expected it would.
"Just have 911 on standby. The talentless cause the most casualties." She smiled despite the iron grip she still had on her partner's jacket. "You know." She continued taking a long stride to the ball dispenser thing. "Until the so-called prodigies are upstaged then I think they're a bit more dangerous." She smiled black eyes connecting with darkening blue as she picked up the ball. "Don't you?"
"I think you should get this over with already." He hissed not breaking eye contact and she only let her smile stretch wider before her entire face fell turning back into that bored expression she had worn so we'll.
Turning to the lane she centered her ball and threw it watching as it only hit a single pin before straying for the gutter.
…
They lost brutally but really it was inevitable. It was a chain of events really with Scott sudden expert playing coming from nowhere Lydia decided she was done playing games and that losing was not for her. She had taken her team to the next level but never outshined Jackson as he got more and more irritated by Scott. And while Stilinki was good her shit skills brought the team down expentally to the point where he just started begging to take her place and by the end of the game she let him.
For as long as Lydia would allow that is. Surprisingly it was Jackson who had mercy on them in his own twisted way. He was more than happy to rub the failure in someone's face and it ended up being hers.
Running her hand under the water she smiled at the scalding heat.
Lydia had gone home with Jackson so she had the house and more importantly the house's hot water all to herself.
It was good to wash away the shame of defeat down the drain but at least Al left with that cat that caught the canary grin.
Bending her hand met her lifted foot as she tried to keep balance to take off her socks. She had a pair of black and white knee highs waiting which were way more comfier than the plain small black ones she's been sporting all day. She tried to think about when she started wearing knee highs to bed since they were related with kinks most of the time and the mortified look that crossed Nats face when she plopped a 5 pairs into the buggy still made her laugh.
Maybe she started because they were warm and she just couldn't commit to pajama pants? Or maybe she did it because Her mother told her that she didn't need the pair of Cheshire cat socks because she would never use them.. yeah that was proabably it. She wore those socks for weeks ensure to…
"That was cute." The words came from nowhere and she straightened her eyes looking for the voice, her body not ready for the sudden jerk began to tilt before she could stop it and she saw the lip of the toilet before it collided with her temple and the colors around her faded.
Gone where the muted grey's whites and black and now the world was shades of blues greys and black.
She thought she had blacked out from the pain that was spouting from her temple but she could hair the pained groaning and.. weak moaning? Her body seized at it and she thought maybe Lydia had brought Jackson home but this was too wheezy to pain. And there was too much.. growling.
The colors shifted from yellow to blue to… to red and she felt faint and nauseous.
She didn't know how long she had been on the ground but by the small pool of blood that was sliding from.. somewhere her head probably and dripping to the ground she guessed it had been too long. She rose a bit one hand going to her head the other going to the counter as she felt around for a towel.
The broken skin in her head was hot from the blood that was pulling there and from the tenderness she guessed it would bruise.
Tap.
And if it bruised and people as questions? What would she say?
Tap. Tap.
Probably, she mused that she fell and hit her head most likely going up the..
Tap. Tap. Tap. Thud.
Her musing where interupted by the sound coming from outside of her bathroom and since she hadn't expected any visitors she stilled. Who the hell could get on her roof?
"Hey.. uh Rory? A-are you in there can i.. I know this is super weird but can I come in. could you.. could you open the window?" Pushing herself up she moved to stand her hand still covering her head towel abandoned as she recognized the voice.
Making her way to the window on the opposite side of her room she tried not to stagger. Ignoring the slickness that was forming in her hand
"Scott? What the hell are you?" She started as she pryed the window open preparing a comment on how he should probably take his talent of scaling houses to Allison's when he started talking. Talking a whirlwind of words as he raised his hand coming to settle into the puffiness in his hair.
"Scott Scott slow down! Slow down!" She hissed staggering to the vanity bench before lowering herself to the seat. "You're gonna give me a headache." Really that wasn't fair because she had already started getting one before he started his excessive tap tapping. So she stood again walking past him for the bathroom where her beloved tylonals stayed.. maybe a muscle relaxer? Did she have any? Hopefully.
She staggered again and cured her hand using his chest as a wall when.. "are you bleeding?" She asked if it wasn't the red staining his shirt, it was the three slashes ripped into it. Her hand moved quickly gripped his forearm and she steamrolled him into the dense heavy steam of her bathroom.
She'd have to remember to turn off the water.
"How did you even get that? Allsions dad works with guns not knives.. maybe her mother?" She remembered the Argent kitchen having an impressive arsenal of knives bit no this was to jagged?
"No.., that 's what I've been trying to tell you!" He puffed out as she pushed him down on the toilet that she just got assaulted by.. or had she assaulted it? Well she was the one with blood on the floor so maybe..
"Hey. Can you listen to me please!" His voice came out again more strained than before.
"What?"
"It's not Derek the alpha it's not him his eyes where blue and he told me it wasn't him but his eyes weren't red so I knew it wasn't him. But now that means we have a new problem because if it's not him." Her clean hand clamped over his mouth, squashing his rambling.
"Scott, you're not breathing. You need to breathe." She could feel the heat from the blood on her temple but she ignored it in favor of the sheer terror in his eyes.
"There's another one and he said it's stronger than him."
"Yeah I already guessed that take off you shirt." She began moving to the tub and turning of the water. Her frown deepened as she leaned forward mourning the perfumed soapy water as she pulled the plug. Standing straight again she rolled her eyes at the wide puppy eyes that stair back at her.
"Come on, take it off, I need to see the damage." She didn't exactly know why she needed to see the damage rather she should be pissed that not only was her water draining her entire plan for the night was thrown off by his arrival.
"I'm fine, I heal fast." He was muttering now his eyes casting to the tiled floor head head going between his knees. "Besides, you're worse off than me. What happened? Did I scare you?" His voice was low and slightly alarmed as he eyed the small blood pool. Her hand reached up touching her wound before she scoffed, dipping back down to the draining water to rub away the blood.
"No, I felll. Now back to you, you know just because you have healing powers doesn't mean you should rely on them, honestly." She hissed, moving back to him crouching down to look through the holes of the shirt. Of course they were more akin to something an angry dog would make. "What are you doing picking a fight with a more experienced werewolf anyway?" Standing again she moved from the bathroom to her closet though she was pretty sure there wouldn't be anything that fit him correctly it would still be funny to offer it up. See if he takes it.
"Mr. Myers is dead. Stiles got a call on the way home and I.. went to confront Derek I was sure he had something to do with it." There was a timidness to his voice but something else to.
Throwing open her closet door she tried to figure it out as she ruffled through the oversized thermals she used as night shirts. They were all too new , not old enough or used enough to be worn down and broken in and so she picked a wool navy sweater and started the process of trying to manually stretch it out.
Her shoulder slumped as she thought about the man and wondered selfishly if his wife would still sell concessions at the games after the loss.
"So you went to face the big bad werewolf? Was that really the best idea?" She was still reserved about the idea but he was miraculously healing right before her eyes.
But was that enough? Was this her shocking turning point? Probably not, she was apparently an expert in the art of denial so she was going to have to see some claws and fangs before she was a believer. Besides being good at athletics,
getting the girl and pro bowling skills seemed more genie then werewolf.
"I.. no. Look I know it wasn't but lately I've been getting these impulses and I have to act on them I can't control it."
"Like coming to a girl's window in the middle of the night?" Her arms were starting to get tired of all the stretching so she decided if it didn't fit she could just wear it tonight and hang the other one up.
"Yeah sorry I don't know why I just caught your scent and I followed it. Sorry." He sighed, taking the sweater that she was extending almost absently. "Oh wait no I could just zip my jacket up it's fine."
"Just put it on I'll throw that shirt away your mom probably doesn't need to wonder what kind of stuff you get up to when you sneak out at night, right." It was an attempt at a joke but it was obvious that he didn't find it all too funny. "So his eyes were blue then he's a beta and hes not exactly an omega; they get a violet color when they lose their Alpha apparently."
"But he said I'm a beta and my eyes aren't blue."
"Has Stilinki really not given you the rundown about all this? Like at all?" She asked her hip bumbing the counter as she leaned against it.
"I haven't really been asking a whole lot of questions. I don't want to be like this." He hadn't moved to take off his shirt and just stared at the blue wool in his hands mournfully.
"If you don't want to put it on it's fine I'm not gonna force you or anythin'. Just here come on, are you thirsty? I'm sure getting your ass handed to you would make you thirsty."
"I could eat." He said finally giving her a small smile and she nodded. "I can kind of cook."
"So you want over there accused the man of killing Mr. Myers and his own sister and you didn't once think maybe this isn't a good idea?" She asked haphazardly, pouring the milk into the cheese sauce.
"Like I said, sometimes I get this feeling and I just can't stop myself. It's why.. it's why I freaked out in the hall yesterday. I really thought I hurt someone. I went to see Derek then too. Are you sure you didn't want me to help you with that" His hands were wrapped around the chocolate milk that he had asked for and she rolled her eyes.
"You're changing the subject again, it's fine. What I'm interested in is why you can't seem to slow down. Have you always been impulsive?"
"No. It's like I said earlier I was just so angry and I took off. I didn't even stop to think."
"Then you're lucky that Derek wasn't the alpha. I mean look what they did to Laura and she was an alpha imagine what they would have done to you?" She almost laughed when he flinched his eyes flicking away from her uncomfortably.
"That's another thing he said that they used Laura as bait to catch him." His voice was apologetic like he was trying to apologize on the alphas behalf. "But why would they want to lure him back."
"Bait? Wait did he say the alpha tried to lure him back or did he say they specifically?" The question seemed to catch him off guard and his dark brows furrowed in thought.
"He just said that she was bait. He didn't say who exactly."
"So what if he wasn't talking about the alpha?" She asked turning away from him to pour the sauce over the noodles, not willing to look back. She knew what she was implying but she wasn't sure if he would accept it.
"No."
"No?" Still looking away from him she went to the drawer to grab a spoon.
"It's not them. I-it can't be they came a month before the attack even happened." His words faded and crumbled before he changed the subject all together. "You can you talk to her, you can do that right? Stiles said you could talk to Laura."
"Well I would love to." Turning on her heels she set the entire pot in front of him. "if she was coming around."
"What, like you don't see her anymore?" He took the spoon but didn't attempt to dig in.
"Exactly, and before you start getting your hopes up I'm only entraining this." Her hands gesture between them. "I don't want to be a seer and I still haven't seen mutton chops so this is all speculations got it."
She felt like she needed to say it. To put her walls up because everything felt like it was all coming too fast like a meteor shower and she just wanted it to slow. To have time to run if she thought she was about to get crushed.
"Wait, you still don't believe me? But you saw me heal! What else do I need to do."
"Claws and mutton chops. I want to see yellow eyes." The spoon thunked against the pot as he closed his eyes, seemingly determined to get her to believe him. It made her wonder if this seer ability was that important to him. If having someone constantly watching him to ensure he doesn't fuck up was his idea of a trump card.
"Then why are you even.." His eyes opened and he seemed to puff up a bit looking up at her like she had wounded him. He looked like a wounded puppy and she was starting to feel bad.
Maybe she shouldn't have entertained him.
Maybe she should have stayed as far away from this thing as she could rather than let herself get sucked in while making thin walls.
"I don't know." Her voice was calm but her hands felt cold, that frosty feeling that came and went and haunted her.
"Why can't you just believe me? I told you that I saw your eyes and you saw me." His hand rested on his chest with that same look of betrayal.
"I don't want it to be real. I mean I do a part of me, but if it's real and then what if it's all real." Walking to the island she rested her elbows on the marble leaning forward.
He stared at her waiting for her to continue but she snapped her mouth shut, eyes darting down to her cold hands. She couldn't exactly tell him that she didn't want her dear old fucker to be right so she just shook her head before meeting those to wide to brown ernist eyes.
"I just don't want it to be real."
"I don't either but.. but I can't stop it." Her eyes wanted to narrow but the earnestness in his eyes were so potent. "I don't want to be like this.. and I'm scared that I'm never going to be normal again."
"Well I thought you liked it. I mean, isn't the wolfy power what you used tonight?" His face twisted like he didn't regret it but he wanted to.
"I mean yeah but then I fought Derek and I was reminded what I am. I mean he said the alpha made his pet! I don't want to be a pet?"
Her brow raised and she quickly asked if he ment pet or 'pack'.
"Pack whatever I mean what if he calls me again? I don't want to hurt anyone. I mean my mom's a nurse, she's always at the hospital helping people and I always thought she was amazing for it. Did you know Mr. Myers was her patient? She was there when he died. I did that. I did that to her." He paused his eyes glued to the pasta that he still hadn't touched.
"What? No you didn't." She scoffed straightening trying to escape the shame that was washing over her like the tide rolling in. "The alpha did that to her. You were trying to save him, remember." Her words clawed out like they needed to be said like he needed to be shielded, protected.
"He's still dead." She took a step back then another; it was like his emotions were eating into her skin. It wasn't like the heat of his anger, this was misery and self loathing, a feeling that punched you on the gut when you were too late to save someone that you knew was suffering.
There was a stone cold island between them and yet she could feel everything.
"Eat your food. I made it for you." Her hands balled as she watched him do as told without arguing like he wanted to make someone happy.
He ate in silence but he wasn't forcing anything down. Instead he seemed to shovel the noodles into his mouth like he hadn't eaten in days.
"You know you're just a teenager right?" She made sure to ask the question after he had ate most of his food, afraid he might choke if she didn't.
"Yeah I know." The innocent in his words made her heart clench.
"Then why worry about the whole alpha thing anyway just let Derek handle it." She felt like she was testing him. Trying to gauge if he had that main character hero complex that was installed into people thrown into a life they never asked for.
"He said he needs me cause I have a connection to the Alpha."
"So?" She shrugged nonchalantly and his eyes widened like his post was obvious.
"If there's something I can do to stop him I have to do it."
"Hmm, why?"
"Because he's gonna keep hurting people like he did to Mr. Myers."
"What if they turn someone else? What are you gonna do then?" There was horror now in those big brown eyes and she came to the realization that he never even considered it.
"Do you.. do you think he's going to?" His voice dropped like they were sharing secrets.
"Well the more betas increase the strength of an Alpha so theoretically he'll feel inclined to have more then just one in his pack. Think of it like a pirate crew just having the caption and the first mate doesn't really make a crew."
"So you think that.. You said that Derek's eyes should be purple what did you mean by that?"
"Well.. okay so think of it like a pyramid we have Alphas and betas." She touched the marble making a triangle. "On the top are of course Alphas and everything after that are Betas. Whether the Betas have their own rank is up to the alpha but anyway you're kind of right here." He pointed to a spot right under the first spot hoping he'd understand without her having to physically draw it out.
"If Derek had really been made into an omega by losing his current alpha then he would be over here." She shrugged pointing far away from her makeshift diagram. "But you said his eyes are blue, omega eyes are either violet or orange. They don't do blue."
"So what does that mean?"
"I'm not actually sure?" She trailed off her lips pressing tightly as she attempted to make some kind of sense of it.
"Do you think he would know?"
"I'm not sure about that either." She stood stighter her arms wrapping over her chest. She knew that Laura had actively vetoed any werewolf talk when it came to just about everything so she couldn't exactly be sure if she had talked to her brother about it.
"Maybe? But maybe Laura just didn't teach him. Think about it she was next in line so Derek didn't have a reason to learn everything right? She probably didn't want to burden him."
"Oh man." Scott hissed as he groaned his hands running through his hair. "Are you sure you can't talk to Laura? She might be able to help."
"I'm not a miracle worker, I don't control her. I don't know where she went."
"Well I just wish she'd come back."
"Yeah? Me too." They sat in silence as she let him process everything he seemed the type that needed that time. She didn't bother watching him; she just picked up her supplies and washed the flour off the counter.
"I shouldn't.. I really shouldn't have come here. I don't really know why I did, I just panicked and I'm really sorry." He seemed to come to some kind of conclusion and that confusion made Rory roll her eyes.
"I don't care if you come over just as long as you clean the pot. I'm not even complaining that you threw the rest of my night off. So what was it like?" She asked, deciding to quickly change the subject.
"What was it like?"
"Fighting someone like you? Not having to hold back for the first time? How did it feel?" His face morphed into many different expressions as he thought it through before finally he decided.
"I didn't actually think about that but to be honest I wasn't really fighting him for anyone? Not my mom or Mr. Myers even, we just got into a fight and he treated it like it was normal."
"Maybe it is normal, maybe werewolf's fight often. He might have just been fighting to get you to listen."
"So you don't believe me but your still willing to make theories that doesn't make sense."
"That's fine, I like stories and making theories. Just because I don't want to believe it doesnt mean I have to. I can always just make up wild assumptions." Shrugging she wondered when he was going to leave before looking back at the now empty pot.
"Wash that and then go home you need to sleep. If you want I can give you one of my pills." She smiled knowing that it would just be a tylenol pm since she wasn't going to give him anything else but the grimace that took his face caught her off guard.
"No.. no way I am not going back to your bathroom it smells like chemicals. I think I'll be fine." Shrugging, she was suddenly glad that she didn't take the werewolf from him. If her pills repulsed her, what good were they?
"Suit yourself."
…
…
Rory's body straightened in her bed, jerking her out of her dreamy haze of a four eyed man with butterfly wings as the echo of howling still rang in her ears. Her hands gripped the edge of her covers before she could even realize her striped covered feet were slipping on the flats that laid next to the bed. She was racing out of the room next not caring about the time or the fact that Nat had gotten back a few hours later.
No she couldn't think of any of that as she opened the door as quickly as she closed it. She felt.. not summoned but needed. Like someone needed her right now at this very moment or they were going to get very very stupidly hurt.
She walked to the end of the property passing the pool in a brisk kind of march as she flew open the back gate that she knew Prada used on a daily. The tree lines that were the main view of her window looked much taller up close, a kind of intimidation that she honestly didn't have time for.
She didn't really know where she was going she didn't know who exactly needed her. She didn't even know why despite her legs trying to take steps forward she was stagnant.
"No you are not doing this! I will not let you get grounded and ruin the sleepover tomorrow Aurora." Lydia's voice hissed in her ear and she felt herself sink into the girl as the urgency to move slowly died down. It was like the girl's hold was weighing down the bones and stopping the contraction of muscle.
It was like being embraced by death.
She let herself slump allowing the other girl to drag her past the gate and the pool and through the door.
…
Her smile was absolutely shit eating as she walked almost too trumpiently down the aisle of her English class.. Rory Lovette was vibrating down to her very core as she found the pale boy took one look at her and instantly gave her a look of incredulous and defeat.
When she finally reached him her hand found the back of his seat and the other slammed on his desk caging him. Honey clashed with black before his gaze darted away and she knew that he knew.
"I was right." Her voice was a whimsical singsong of arrogance, something that would make a siren proud. "Derek's a beta." Stiles' eyes couldn't seem to hold her gaze for even a moment and she basked in it. He couldn't blatantly refuse to acknowledge what she had been slamming down on the table for days now.
"He didn't turn Scott, he couldn't because his eyes." She paused dramatically, both hands coming to cage his face gently anglinging it so he would have to look at her. "Are blue."
Her hair fell around them a fitting curtain for their combined insanity for investing in the whole thing but whether she or they were off their rockers didn't matter.
She was right.
Her cold hands clashed with the heat that was rising up his cheeks and her lungs burned from the sudden furrow in his slightly squished face.
"Yeah? Okay and that just means that we have an unidentified alpha, beast lurking around going after people for unknown reasons." His hands came up under the blonde curtain taking her wrist and yanking her hands off his face.
"Okay yeah. That's pretty bad." She still hadn't moved away, her body still inclined toward him, her wrist still trapped in his hands.
They stared at each other as theories and possibilities ran rampant through their locked eyes. They stayed that way content with the wordless conversation until someone poked at her shoulder causing her eyes to drift away from his. Allison stood outside the pale veil, a questioning look on her face as she observed the strange position between her friend and the Stilinski boy.
"Hey Al." Straightening her perkiness didn't die down even with the new reality that they were inadvertently back at square one… maybe she should make a murder board it would at least feel like progress.
"Uh, hey what were you?" The girl seemed to cut herself off not knowing how to proceed and Rory could only smile.
"He forgot my coffee shame really but Nat' back at home and she's going grocery shopping tonight." She sang out the words excited for more of the overpriced booshi coffee. She had been nullifying herself with coffee shops and gas station coffee for too long now. "So hopefully soon I won't be in need of his services." She ignored the scoff and she turned, pulling Al by the hand to their seats.
"We're going to have everything ready but she wants to know if you have any allergies or you know preferences in general?" She had remembered the way the women lit up over the phone when she had called her letting her know that she intended on having a friend stay and she was even more happy to find out that it was for her and Lydia.
"Uh no? Not that I know of. Listen, I was wondering." The girl straightened looking at her with a broad grin and shy eyes. "My aunt Kate is coming to town for.. uh she's just visiting for a while and I was wondering if you wanted to come over for dinner or something and meet her?" Rory wondered if she should comment on the blatant redirect but she paused tilting her head at the question.
She hadn't really been over to people's houses to meet the parents other than Avey she hadn't had anyone she was willing to be so close to.
"When did you want to do that?"
"She's staying for a while so anytime really." There was a certain shyness and Rory rose a brow because it was obvious that she was staying for Allison's birthday probably. But she seemed reluctant to bring it up.
"Yeah sure I can do that but first I need to talk to you about something." She saw the floppy hair bounce as Scott straightened and her lips pressed together… had he always been listening to their conversations?
Or was eavesdropping just his new second nature?
His back straightened like he wanted to look back at her with what was probably a pleading look not to rat him out but she rolled her eyes. She almost smirked as she began her eyes training on Allison because looking at him constantly would just blow it up. So instead she looked ahead.
"Last night-" she was cut off when Scott whipped around a strained smile on his face as he meekly asked for a pen. Allsion smiled, saying something about returning the favor as she dipped down into her bag and black met puppy eye brown.
His eyes screamed a plea that almost made her snort. Did he really think that she was going to tell her friend that her crush came over to her house? Sure that was what she was alluding to but honestly how stupid did he think she was. They exchanged looks back and forth until Allison rose back up handing him the pen.
"So what were you saying?"
"Last night I hit my head and when I went to sleep I had a really stupid dream and woke up outside. So I was just going to warn you that I sleepwalk so If you hear someone outside your room that's just me. We don't have any ghost or anything I already checked."
"Oh?" Her brows scrunched together as she took her words. "I didn't know you did that."
"Sleep walk, sleep talk, sleep scream. I got a lot of unstable shit up here I guess." Shrugging she placed her elbows on the desk but leaned back. "It kind of drives Lydia crazy."
""Oh well that's okay, maybe I could help you come back inside. But wait, what do you mean by " my room?"
"Well I mean I have one of the guest bedrooms but Al you've seen the house they have more, like three more I think. Of course your getting your own room." She shrugged like it wasn't super Bazar to her too. A sleepover where multiple people don't pile into one cramped little room and end up sleeping on top of one another was unheard of to her too.
She remembers having to step over Holly and Avey just to get to Ariel's bed to tell her that breakfast was ready. Sure cooking for all of Ariel's friends was a hassle but it was easier than the cheerleader sleepover she hosted. That was god awful. It was the one and only time she got to sleep in her own room because Ariel was convinced their room was too small and needed more space.
Walking past them in the morning to the kitchen wasn't as much of a nightmare at least but it was the note Ariel handed her before she went to sleep that haunted her. Honestly people shouldn't make requests when there's thirteen of them.
One wanted walnuts in their pancakes, another wanted a crepe so she had to learn how to make them, then another wanted just a small bowl of freaking fruit, one hated bacon and the other sausage. She had to wake up early just to get it all done.
Her face must have been reflecting her feelings because Allsion was looking at her in concern.
"Hey you blanked out on me."
"Hmm?"
"I was asking what you wanted to watch. I don't actually watch tv much so I was going to leave it up to you and Lydia."
"Well there Vampire Diaries, Pretty little Liars, were going to of course be going to the movie store and rent out Heathers and Mean girls. Lydia might want to watch the Titanic but if that happens." She paused to level Allison with a dark look. "I'll throw myself out a window on the way back Kay?"
"Uh okay?"
"Or the Notebook. She can leave that torture for Jackson or something." She shivered in a lot of ways. Lydia seemed like the type that should have been a hopeless romantic simply from the sheer amount of tragic romance she enjoys.
"And If you see her even looking at My Girl I swear." She started but was quickly shut down by Al putting her hands up in mock surrender.
"Okay okay I get it you don't like sad movies. That's fine."
"What? I mean.." she trailed off as her mind connected that sad movies and phycological thrillers were very different and the revelation clamped her mouth shut. "Nevermind so there's nothing you want to watch?"
"Well?" Allsion thought for a second her brows drawing together before a wide childlike grin broke her face but her eyes were shy. "okay I'll tell you if you promise you won't laugh." Rory could only roll her eyes and the mere thought of laughing but she took the girls hands. They were warm but not the warmest.
"If I laugh it's good natured Al you need to understand that." Her hands were small compared to Al's but she covered them best she could.
"Okay I really want to watch." She paused again drawing into herself. "Grease."
"Grease?" That genuinely caught the blonde off guard; she had half expected something else like Legally blonde or something out of the park as Twilight.
"Is that weird? It's just that I've never seen it." Allsion confessed, like it was some shameful secret, shameful enough to completely pull away from her which was the only thing Rory didn't appreciate.
"Nah, not weird at all. But if we're adding in musicals we're gonna have to watch Hairspray too, there's just no other way around it." Allsion seemed to brighten like the movie was also on the tip of her tongue but she didn't know how to get it out. "Oh!" She grinned, sitting fully, her hands drumming against the desk.
"That means we can watch Sweeny Todd and Repo!" Her outburst had propelled her out her seat, a large grin on her usually listless face.
"Oh? What's that I've never heard of it before."
"You've never heard of Sweeny Todd?" Allsion shook her head at Rory's dramatic gasp but in reality she wasn't surprised despite Johnny Depp playing the main character it wasn't exactly Pirate's of the Caribbean popular. And repo the genetic opera probably wouldn't even be in the store but she wasn't going to bring that up.
"That's fine , not many have. It's not very popular but I'd love to watch it again." Allison nodded along with her words confused but playing a good sport.
"Well If I see it in the store I'll pick it up for you Kay?" Rory nodded satisfied, she had a feeling that if Allison picked it out Lydia would have less objections, maybe more glares, but less objections.
….
Rory stared down at the math homework that definitely was not a passing grade.
There seemed to be more red ink on the page than pencil and the teacher was obviously not growing fond of her doodling. There was a note next to the glaring 63 that reinforced this not to mention the snippy remark.
"This is math Ms. Lovett not art class" she muttered dryly trying to recreate his pinched features.
Really he didn't usually complain, he didn't like them but he didn't mark them out like he did now. Her eyes ran over the rough indentations the sharp pen made against the paper and she knew that his wife was annoying him as he was grading. She could almost hear the scoffing about some women she was taking care of and the lack of appreciation she got in life.
When she found herself thinking that it was just a coincidence that he had been grading her paper at the dining room table when she had come home kicking open the door and grinding her teeth, Rory paused.
She shouldn't have known that.
She shouldn't have known that the wonky check mark came from his pure irritation when his wife came through the door.
It wasn't like the images were playing through her head showing her exactly how it went down like it did on tv. Instead she just knew.
It was so simple. Just knowing but it was also so frustrating.
Her phone chimed, her eyes cut to her phone and she saw Allison's name. Slowly she pulled out today's assignment that she hadn't completed yet she used the other hand to open the text.
'Lydia is freaking me out.'
That's it.
That's all the text read but Rory didn't need an explanation she had been talking about it all through the lunch seemingly flip flopping from bold and courageous to meek and mild. It was obvious that she didn't want to disappoint but she didn't think she was ready for sex yet.
Luckily Rory had been able to get her to change the topic to her idea of changing schedules. Among the uncertainty the brunette wanted a different free period but there was of course a problem with that.
"She said wrap it up, that's some pretty solid advice if you ask me." Despite knowing her friend couldn't see her she shrugged anyway.
Speaking of Lydia. She sighed moving out of Allisons chat to Lydia's where a single message had been left for the day by her of course.
"Failing math big time need help." The words were short and simple and she wasn't going to beg, not over the phone at least, that was too easily accessible.
Of course her cousin had not responded and she was left with a hollow feeling. She wasn't failing exactly; her grade in math stayed on the fine line of 70 but she didn't want to tip the balance. Not when there was a parent teacher meeting happening in a week.
Her fingers drummed against the table top black eyes roaming over the new sheet. There was no way in hell she was going to that conference if she had to sit in the same room as Nat and Harrison then she might as well pack her bags now. Not that them being alone was any better; he probably had a well organized list on her at this point which made sense due to all the time they spent together.
Gathering her bag she thought that maybe she could talk to Mr. Wife's a gossip, maybe ask for a way to at least get at least a 75 before next week. Really it was a miracle that math was her only failing subject but it had always been like that. A natural at English she found she could easily bullshit her way through history and science; it's just math that stumped her.
Opening the door to the school she blew out a sigh as she looked over the empty sheet. It was like I could already see the red ink littering the page and then she paused. Stopping in her tracks she realized that the ink wasn't over anything she might have tried to put down. This wasn't even her hand writing the sevens didn't have the usual strike in the middle and the ones were fully formed and not just a quick line. This was someone else's handwriting on what was just a blank page…
Stopping, she slammed the page to the wall writing quickly over the numbers and even adding the equations that followed. After several minutes she realized that she was looking at a complete page.
She straightened, examining the answers that she had jotted down in her own script and she knew they were right; she just knew it. But that wasn't the problem where the answer came from.
She… tried to think about the image, it looked like someone else's paper but she couldn't be sure of that. The name hadn't even been scribbled on the top and she couldn't tell who she had just cheated off of.
Maybe she should still go to the math room and ask about it. If she could see if at least some of the answers were right she would be free of home work for the night and maybe most of it was wrong maybe she just had a lapse in judgement.
Trucking down the hall she thought bitterly about how it seemed her mind as of late was just a huge lapse of judgment.
Like last night when she almost ruined everything by sleepwalking into the back garden and Lydia had to be the one to drag her inside. She had made it blatantly clear that she wasn't happy with her almost destroying tomorrow's sleepover. Rory couldn't exactly see Natile doing considering how thrilled she was with normal human interaction but Lydia was convinced and Lydia's her actual daughter.
It was starting to become extremely clear just how important this sleepover was to her cousin as the passive aggressive comments in the kitchen turned to aggravated threats in the car. It didn't make much since Natile had been in almost too good of a mood when she pushed her meds to her and set a coffee down with a hum. So why was Lydia on a rollercoaster of emotion?
Why did she go from giving her a catty side eye to freaking out in the car to silence?
Stopping, she pressed the paper to the wall and took a picture before adding it to her other unopened text. If she looked over it she would be able to tell if the answers were right or wrong or completely insane.
Why did she sleep walk last night?
The question started to haunt her after free period and she hadn't been able to think of much else since.
Her mind was on audio pilot as she pulled on her sweatpants for gym. The question had bogged her brain up to the point that she couldn't even tell what Allsion was going on about but there was a coyness to her smile.
"Rory?" Allsion started grabbing her wrist. "Hey did you hear anything I just said?"
"Uh no not really?" She was surprised to see Allsion's grin only get bigger despite the blatant honesty.
"I was talking about Scott coming over today Lydia's just getting to me. I mean we kissed last night but I don't know." She trailed off the coy smile diminishing into a small tilt at the corner of her lips.
"My advice, just study and tease him. Your parents are going to be home so there's no reason to push it." Slamming her locker shut she turned to give the girl her full attention as it should be.
The coy smile came again and her brow ticked telling Rory all she needed to know. "Or not?"
"There going grocery shopping after school so I'm going to try to sneak him in."
"They dont know?"
"No! I told Kate and my mom that I'm having a friend over to study. They just might have assumed it was you."
"You minx! I didn't take you for the type." Leaving the last part vage she suppressed a grin as Allison worked to clear her image.
"What? I didn't lie I just said a friend which Scott is.. you know a friend."
"That you kiss?"
"Hey! I saw you with Stiles this morning sharing a moment!" She paused and Al took the opportunity to playfully bump into her shoulder. Her brows knitted together as she turned to look at her dark haired friend.
"I don't see him forgetting my coffee as a moment." She snarked, waving off the idea.
"Really?"
"Yeah really."
"Rory." She started taking the girls shoulders and giving her a much softer smile this time. "He did have a coffee. It was next to his bag. He threw it away at the end of class." If she hadn't been caught completely off guard she would have groaned , thrown her head back in a dramatic display and just spat up the truth.
But they weren't having a moment and she wasn't complaining about the lack of coffee. She was gloating and he was annoyed. Then they were just theorizing. About werewolves and beast and that murder board she needed to set up but she really couldn't tell Allison that after all Allison had the alleged werewolf hunting family.
"Well then maybe he should have given it to me. Maybe I wouldn't have had to chew him out, petty bastard." She answered as dryly as possible before quickly changing the subject. "Did you say your aunt came in last night?"
"Uh yeah my dad had to go help cause she.. well he said she had a flat tire but she said something else?" There was a hesitation in her voice and her eyes dragged away from the blonde.
"Think they're lying about something?" She asked almost absentmindedly, her brain clicking together her sleep walking and the arrival of Allison's aunt. It was crazy and most likely unrelated.
"I don't know I don't want them to. But I mean this isn't exactly the first time, it's kind of been happening my whole life. They'll whisper about stuff in other rooms or completely change the subject when they realize I'm home. But it's not something I want now. After moving me around so much I just want them to be honest with me, I just want them to be my constant?" She nodded despite not really knowing or understanding.
Her mother had always been frank about her work being the number 1 priority and the bastard couldn't exactly hide his mental illness with all the pills and his blatant refusal to take them. She grew up knowing just about everything her parents had to offer which wasn't much, until now. The whole seer thing that kept popping up uninvited.
"I don't know, maybe I'm reading too much-." Quickly Rory put her hand up stopping the brunette.
"Al I say this with love but always question everything. Even your parents. Actually, especially your parents, sometimes you never know what they are really capable of." She didn't know if she was saying this because of her own bastard father or because Allison could potentially have psycho werewolf hunting parents. Regardless the girl nodded silently after a moment probably taking into account the blonde's own tragic backstory.
"Okay got it."
They were running and it was hell.
Gym ment thing she tried to avoid changing clothes doing physical things because some tells you about the possibility of going outside.
Right now as her running shoes hit the track she was hit with a concoction of all three at once.
Hell.
Allison of course was ahead of her. She had offered to hang back but it was obvious that the girl who had three years of gymnastics would be more athletic so she let her go. Right now though she was closer to Lydia who was doing a light jog and keeping more of a distance from her friends then usual.
"Did you get my text?" She asked, finally coming up behind the bouncing ponytail.
She didn't answer still on her passive aggressive silent treatment trip no doubt but Rory wasn't going to let her go so easily. They had a sleepover to host tomorrow and to make it the best damn sleepover Allison would ever have in her life they needed to be talking.
"You didn't sit with us at lunch." She sighed, noticing the extra step Lydia was beginning to pick up.
"Yeah, I sat at my table."
"Right with Jackson and Danny." She paused, watching as Lydia inclined her head to the left where Tracy and Dia were talking animatedly across the track. "But not them, did you have a fight?"
"No Tracy's just bitter that I'm having a sleepover that she can't come to."
Maybe for the first time in her life Rory swallowed her tongue. If Tina came it would ruin everything dramatically but the grimace that Lydia was hiding made her blink.
"Why not? I mean the house is big enough for parties. I'm sure Nat wouldn't mind another girl." The bile rising up her throat at the idea was burning but she pressed until Lydia whipped around her hands balling In Front of her.
"She won't come because she doesn't like you." She stressed the last word and Rory groaned, throwing her head back. "Besides, she already decided to throw her own sleepover."
Rory wasn't a Lydia expert but she was sure that this was why she was actually sulking. For once she wasn't invited to one of Tina's sleepovers, not that ever went in the first place but she didn't like the idea of her friend or minion or whatever she was actively not asking her to go.
"Big deal ours is going to be better anyway we'll have someone there who is actually our friend." She didn't know if she was saying it for Lydia's benefit or her own since the concept of a non familial friend was pretty forange to her.
"That's not the," trailing off her cousin sucked in a breath her hands going to her hips as annoyed caused her brows to scrunch. "Why are you doing this?"
"Doing what? I'm making conversation, you're the one who's been ignoring me."
"No."
"No, I'm pretty sure you're the one ignoring me. Which Is pretty strange seeing as you still owe me."
"Prying, Rory, you're praying and I really don't appreciate it. And you'll get the stupid phone and just leave me alone. So stop asking questions and move along." she should have probably felt offended, even hurt that Lydia had shut her down and even started to literally run away from her but instead she couldn't feel it. This was the bed she had made, isn't the bed they both had laid out?
She really shouldn't be upset about it. Of course Lydia wouldn't want to talk to her.
The world seemed to blur, a bright swinging ponytail started to fade as a new scene filtered in.
She was still under the same overcast sky but she didn't feel her gym clothes or her cloak. She no longer felt winded from attempting to catch up with Lydia and she was not on the track.
Instead she saw a familiar sign, one that she had passed only a month back and again when they left for the funeral.
The big "Welcome to Beacon Hill" was a wooden sign not stone like the one at the school or metal like the usual entrance to a town.
It was old and slightly breaking down and she could see the cracks that went along the word Hill along with the chipped paint. Other than the old decrepit sign the road was well maintained and the woods that surrounded it were far more memorable. Low hanging branches dipped down to give the road a tunnel-like feel. The greens were neon against the dark sky that refused to rain.
But why was she seeing this? Why was she suddenly at the edge of town and why.. Why couldn't she move? Her body or whatever she was looking through didn't feel like her own instead it felt like a void. Something that wasn't hers or anyone else.
It wasn't like the arcade where she had her own physical representation of herself that wanted to place her hand on her own smaller shoulder or like being there to see Stiles' mom Claudia receive her keys. This was a completely different new experience.
There was an anticipation that she felt it bubbled under something that had been lumped on top of her weighing her down. Then her eyes pried away from the sign to the car that looked more rust than maroon. The car screeched loudly as it came to a halt right before the sign. It jerked forward cutting off the music that was blaring and a loud cry came from inside the car.
The girl that got out was bleeding. Fresh blood filled her nose like baked bread from an oven. She was wandering through a creative stream of curses as she threw open the backdoor bulling out an old duffel bag. Now a few questions were pooling in Rory's head like who the hell was this chick. Why was she seeing her now?
She looked sort of grungy.
Dark eyeliner rimmed her eyes and streaked down her pale plump cheeks. She had been crying recently. That much was obvious but why was completely unknown to her. What was obvious was that she was running away. Or trying to.
She kept towing the imaginary line that separated Beacon and the rest of the world.
In the end she screamed and the girl seemed to curse again pulling at her dark brown hair before running her hand over her face in distress. And again Rory wondered why the hell she was watching this girl go through her very private breakdown.
Then all at once the girl was back in her car and speeding away.
And then she was back. Back in her gym clothes and shoes back under her cloak and back on the track unable to understand what she just saw. Not really able to comprehend why it was important. Who was the girl, why did she want to leave so badly, what the actual hell.
"Hey Rory are you okay?"
"You have got to stop asking me that." Rory hissed as she found her footing back on the track, her eyes moving to the dark sky. "But uh what happened?"
"I don't know you kind of just spaced out I thought maybe you were." Scott looked at her ernistly before shaking his head and giving her a small smile. "Anyway, I just wanted to see if you were okay."
"Yeah." She lied hoping to mentally unplug the pool of questions and turn her attention to Scott. "I'm fine." For a moment they stood in silence before she started to live again kicking the whole bathtub to the side.
"But let's not talk about me. Let's talk about you like what exactly you were thinking."
"What?"
"You're going to Allsions tonight right? Walking into the den of your executioners is that really smart. I mean last night I tried to go into the woods but this." She didn't know what she had just seen and she couldn't put herself in the mind frame to understand it so she fell back into her usual default plan.
Harassment.
"What are you saying? I shouldn't go over there?" There was a mixture of concern in his voice like he really cared about what she had to say but also a bit of resistance like he really didn't want to know what she was about to tell him.
"I'm not saying that but I mean if it's true, think about it. They might have their house lined with wolfsbane or someone's advanced werewolf sensor that will sound an alarm the moment you walk in." Her knuckles knocked against his heart as she made a dramatic boom sound. Like a gun.
"Boom you're dead , no questions asked."
He fidgeted, knocking her hand off his chest and she let it drop with an amused smile.
"Quit it, I'm already nervous enough." His eyes shifted before he inclined his head. "Do you think that could happen? The werewolf sensor thing?"
"I don't know if it's all true then the argents have been doing this shit for years. Who knows what kind of underground technology they have for picking out your kind. I mean just think about it, they get it wrong, that's unjustifiable murder right there." The boy who hadn't seemed to break a single sweat the whole period looked nervous now and a little more damp.
"Come on, you know I'm joking right?" She let him sink into that as he gave her a friendly smile despite not appreciating her joke before she laied on thicker. "I mean it's unjustifiable if they are a werewolf or not so either way it's wrong."
They fell into a silance and she expected him to move ahead of her maybe to catch up with Allison when he stopped his hand coming to her shoulder to stop her too.
"Hey what the hell!"
"I'm just trying to ask you something." He defended himself quickly pulling his hand away.
"Okay fine just don't touch me. Okay just keep your supernatural hands to yourself okay?" It seemed the vision had still shaken her.
"I was actually wondering if you could watch me."
"Watch you?"
"Yeah tonight when where studying I don't want to do anything. You know wrong could you just watch me and I don't know call if you see something bad happening?"
"You." She paused thinking about all the advice that Allsion was receiving throughout the day and she racoiled. "no."
"Rory." There it was again that puppy dog look that was just so innocent and pleading. "no I'm not watching you get on with my friend that is not happening."
"But just being near her it.. It makes me so nervious I don't want to hurt her and I don't know. What if I make her uncomfortable? You know I'm impulsive."
"No." Her stance was firm but her voice wavered at the look in his eyes. "no." The couch blew the whistle and she thought it was her way out when his eyes bored into her again.
"Please just think about it. Were just studying but I don't want anything to go wrong."
"Yeah just studying, fucking hell." She was talking more to herself as she walked away but if he was a wolf boy he should of heard it.
"
