I hope you are all enjoying this so far!
Hale Fire Beacon Hills California
These five words were all that Vivi could think about ever since her run-in with Derek the other day. None of this was any of her business and she really should just leave the subject alone. And she will.
After she does a little research.
Vivi figured she had enough time to kill in the morning at work since all of the preorders were completed and ready to be picked up. This was one of the rarer times where Vivi decided to step away from her mixer and piping bags to sit at her desk and scour through the internet. She typed in those five words into the search bar to see what information she could dig up about this unfortunate event that took place years ago.
Much to her dismay, there wasn't a lot that Vivi found on Google that she already didn't know. All it really said was that the fire took place six years ago, right before Vivi and Cat moved away with their parents, and that everyone with the exception of the person who was in the house died. That one person who did survive was Peter Hale, but has been in a coma due to severe burns. So he might as well be dead too.
There were still no reports on how the fire started. It was an ongoing case with no signs of it being solved anytime soon. Derek must drive himself mad not knowing what truly happened with his family. So sad…
Tommy walked into kitchen. "Hey, Sheriff Stilinski just called and said he was on his way to pick up that cake."
"Okay, great," Vivi said, not looking up from her computer, "Hey, do you remember that Hale fire from six years ago?"
"Yeah, a little," Tommy nodded, "I think I was away at college when it happened so I've only heard bits and pieces about it."
"It's such a horrible story. Six years and no one has been convicted yet. I wonder if they're even still searching for who did it…"
Arms crossed and eyebrow quirked up, Tommy strode over to his best friend and leaned against her desk. "V? What're you doing?"
Vivi shrugged. "Nothing." She felt her best friend's eyes on her and looked up to see him giving her a look that said to not bullshit him. That look always made her feel like a kid who caught stealing from the cookie jar. "I'm not doing anything! I'm simply just… touching up on some Beacon Hills history."
"Uh huh. And I'm married to the hottest millionaire in all of California." Vivi rolled her eyes at Tommy's sarcasm. "V, come on. We've been through this before. You obsess over these cases and go all 'Nancy Drew' just to try to save the day. In the end, you always drive yourself crazy for not solving them."
"I know. But I want to help if I can. I mean, what good are these stupid abilities if I can't even use them?"
"We can't all play God. I'm just glad you aren't nosediving into the case of the dead body found in the woods the other night." Silence filled the air, which was louder than whatever lie Vivi could've spewed out. Tommy noticed her lips pressed together tightly and placed his hands on his hips. "Viviana…"
Saved by a knock on the opened door to the kitchen, the two young adults turned when one of their employees entered.
"Sheriff Stilinski's out in the front."
"Thanks, PJ," Vivi said as she shot up from her chair, "Tell him I'll be right out." She went to retrieve the vanilla cake decorated with donuts in her cake refrigerator. The entire time she felt Tommy's eyes burning a hole in the back of her head. Before she exited the kitchen, she looked back at him, shooting a smile she hoped appeared more confident than she felt. "We'll discuss this later."
By later, Tommy was pretty sure that she probably meant never. What was he going to do with this girl?
The smile on Vivi's fair face was much more genuine when she led Tommy out of the kitchen to greet Sheriff Stilinski and Stiles at the front counter. Sheriff Stilinski was one of her favorite customers, if not her favorite, so it wasn't hard for her to be happy to see him.
"Good morning, Sheriff," Vivi chirped, "And good morning to you, Stiles."
"Good morning, Viviana," Sheriff Stilinski smiled back. That smile only stretched wider across his face when he saw the cake in Vivi's hands, "Wow, look at that! You've truly outdone yourself once again. Tara's gonna love this."
"And what's a cake without accompanying cupcakes?" Tommy injected, bringing over a dozen matching cupcakes. Sheriff Stilinski could've died and gone to heaven.
"These are on the house," Vivi told the sheriff, "Consider it a gift from Spellbound Sweets."
"You guys are the best," Sheriff Stilinski said.
Just as he went to open the cupcake box, Stiles was quicker and snatched it out of his hands. "Nope. You already had your egg whites and granola bar for breakfast. You don't get a cupcake until later at the station where somebody can make sure you only take one."
Sheriff Stilinski was about to strangle his son. "Why must you suck the life out of everything?"
"To try to prolong yours, Daddy-o." Stiles clasped his dad's shoulder then immediately drew it back when he received the death stare.
He looked back at Vivi and Tommy who were watching the father-son exchange in amusement. "See what I have to deal with? Anyway, thanks again for doing this, Viviana. And I'm sorry that it was so last minute."
"Don't even worry about it, sir," Vivi reassured him, "I was happy to do it."
"And her workaholic habits cease to fade," Tommy teased.
Now it was Vivi's turn to shoot a death stare. "Just box this up." She practically shoves the cake at Tommy's chest, resisting the urge to stick her middle finger up at him.
Wow. Now Vivi sees where Cat gets it from.
"So, is there any update on that body that was found in the woods the other night?" the young woman asked. She tried to ignore Tommy's judgmental eyes on her.
Sheriff Stilinski shook his head. "Unfortunately, not yet. We're still waiting to hear back from a lab in LA for a fiber analysis so hopefully soon." His phone rang. "Excuse me, I gotta go take this real quick." He held the phone up to his ear and stepped away from the counter. "Hello?"
"Hey, Vivi," Stiles said as he dug through his backpack to get his wallet, "do you think I can get a cinnamon roll to go?"
"Sure." Vivi grabbed a freshly baked pastry from the display case. "Aren't you supposed to be at school soon? Cutting it real close to home room, don't you think?"
"Eh, I'll be fine," Stiles waved it off, "Besides, I wanted to make sure the old man doesn't eat anything that's gonna spike up his blood sugar." He took a monstrous bite of the cinnamon roll he was given.
Tommy raised his eyebrows. "Glad to know that applies to only one of you."
"Wolf hairs? But there aren't any wolves in California. Are you sure that's right?"
Hearing this caught the attention of both Vivi and Stiles, each for different reasons. For Stiles, what started off as a joke (you know, about his best friend turning into a creature of the night) might be turning into something a little more serious. And frightening. Very frightening. Even more frightening knowing what tonight was- a full moon.
As for Vivi, what she was fearing might actually be coming true. Sure, those hairs might have actually come from a wolf. But based off experience, Vivi knew it couldn't be a coincidence. Nothing was ever that easy.
Something fishy was going on in Beacon Hills. And Vivi was conflicted about how involved she really wanted to be in it.
Only the first week back in school and Cat was already sent to the principal's office? Man, that's got to be a personal best.
Although nobody else found this to be quite the achievement like she did. At least according to the exhausted scowl that the principal was wearing as he read through Cat's file. He probably wasn't expecting to see the girl this early on within the semester.
Sorry to dash your dreams there, boss man.
"Miss Luca," he addressed her, "would you care to explain why you're in my office today?"
"What, he didn't tell you?" Cat asked, pointing at Coach Finstock, who happened to be standing right next to the principal.
"I'd rather hear it from you first."
Cat sighed. "Well, I was in economics. Coach was having us come up one by one to solve problems on the board. He called my name and as I was walking up, Greenberg meowed and then smacked my ass. So naturally I-" She mimicked a punch. "Right in the honker."
"Uh huh," the principal refrained from pinching the bridge of his nose, "And you thought this was the appropriate response?"
"He meowed at me and smacked my ass," Cat emphasized, "What would you have done?"
"Personally I think any pain inflicted on Greenberg is hilarious," Coach said, "but as an educator, my hands were tied."
At least one person was on Cat's side. Sort of. But it wasn't enough the sway the principal on whatever he was about to inflict on Cat.
He crossed his arms. "Look, Miss Luca. While what Mr. Greenberg did was highly offensive and he will be receiving his own punishment, you know there's a huge no violence policy. And I would've expected you to know better after last semester. This could result in suspension. I might even have to call your sister."
Great. One call to Vivi and Cat would be dead meat. She might even get baked into a pie like they do in Sweeney Todd.
"Is that even necessary?" she asked, "I was clearly defending myself from sexual harassment. Besides, my sister's got enough on her plate with her bakery. I really don't think she should be bothered with this. I'll do anything. Absolutely anything."
"Here's an idea," Coach spoke up. Cat had almost forgotten he was there. "Our last water boy bailed on us during the last practice. How about for the rest of the season, you fill in and be our new water boy?" Cat raised her eyebrows. "Or girl, what have you."
"That actually doesn't seem like such a bad idea," the principal nodded, "What do you say, Miss Luca?"
This is what she gets for saying she would do 'absolutely anything'. "I'm assuming death isn't an option isn't it?"
Both men shook their head. Figures.
"Okay, fine. Water girl, it is."
"Excellent," the principal smiled, "You'll start at today's lacrosse practice. Meet Coach Finstock up at the field in fifteen."
Taking that as her cue to leave, Cat picked up her backpack from the floor and got up. She didn't even get to turn the door handle when she heard her name again.
"Oh, and Catalina?" What now? "Please try to behave the rest of the semester. I know you're a good kid deep down. You're a straight A student and I truly do see potential in you. But if you end up back in my office for any reason, I'll have no choice but to suspend you. Now you're excused."
Cat almost wanted to laugh. Who did this man think he was, trying to get through to her as if he were some person of authority? Okay, maybe he was a person of authority, but he still didn't know the first thing about Cat. He didn't know what she had been through and what she had seen. If he did, maybe he would understand why she was the way she was. But why bother explaining herself? It's not like he really cared.
So she chose not to respond, biting the inside of her cheek. She just walked out of the office.
Before she started to head towards the field, Cat made a quick stop at her locker to grab whatever books she needed for her homework over the weekend. A slam of a locker startled her and she looked around to see who was around.
"Alright, little man. How 'bout you tell me where you're getting your juice."
Jackson was nearby. Awesome. Groaning internally, Cat closed her locker and peaked around the corner of the hall. She could only see the back of him but sure enough, it was Jackson and he seemed to be harassing Scott at his locker.
"What?" Scott blinked.
"Where. Are you. Getting. Your juice?" Jackson spelled out.
Scott blinked a couple times. "My mom does all the grocery shopping." Cat had to stifle a laugh.
"Now, listen, McCall," Jackson said, "You're gonna tell me exactly what it is and who you're buying it from, because there's no way in hell you're out there kicking ass on the field like that without some sort of chemical boost."
It finally clicked. "Oh, you mean steroids." Oh, Scott, you adorable little moron. "Are you on steroids?"
"What the hell is going on with you, McCall?" Jackson demanded, shoving Scott against the lockers.
"What's going on with me? You really wanna know? Well, so would I! Because I can see, hear, and smell things that I shouldn't be able to see, hear, and smell. I do things that should be impossible, I'm sleepwalking three miles into the middle of the woods, and I'm pretty much convinced that I'm totally out of my freaking mind!" Scott let out a huge sigh.
Whoa. Cat sure wasn't expecting an outburst like that. But it definitely got her thinking. There was that weird instance at the animal clinic when his supposed injury magically healed. Then the time where he got the dog to calm down pretty quickly. Let's not forget how he turned into a damn superstar out on the field.
Maybe Jackson did have a right to be suspicious. From the sound of it all, it really was unbelievable.
The jock chuckled humorlessly. "You think you're funny. Don't you, McCall? I know you're hiding something. I'm gonna find out what it is. I don't care how long it takes." He banged his fist on the locker next to Scott's head and walked in Cat's direction. He sneered at her when he passed by. "What are you looking at, Luca?"
She flipped him off, a signature move of hers at this point. When she looked back at Scott, his back was still pressed against the lockers. He looked pretty distressed and Cat didn't blame him.
"What the hell is wrong with me?"
Pity washing over her, Cat walked over to Scott. His eyes were closed so he didn't see her walking up to him, so he flinched when she placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Sorry," she apologized, "You alright?"
"Huh?" Scott breathed out, "Oh, yeah, I'm good. Just another pleasant one-on-one with my team caption as always."
"It sure looked like it," Cat said. Scott was clearly still in his head from what she could unexplainably hear. "Ignore Jackson. He's just an asshole who probably has a dick the size of his pinky." That made Scott chuckle, which was a good start. "You played great the other day. That's all that matters. You'll be fine."
"You always have such a way with words," Scott joked. At least he was joking now.
Cat shrugged. "I try."
"Thanks. You really are a good friend."
'Friend'. Ugh. Why not just rip Cat's heart out? But hey, it was a step above 'co-worker'. She'll take it.
"Are you going to watch the practice?" Scott asked.
"I'll be doing more than watching," Cat told him, "You're looking at your new water girl."
"Water girl?" Scott echoed, leading the way to the lacrosse field, "How did that happen?"
"Long story short, I punched Greenberg in the nose so it was either get suspended or being forced to attend to every lacrosse event."
"Nice. Now I know to never get on your bad side."
Eight minutes into this new job and Cat already wanted to kill herself.
Coach went over the basics of what the duties of being a water girl entails. The tasks themselves didn't seem so difficult. Basically it's just filling the water and Gatorade coolers, pouring the drinks in the cheap paper cups, and passing them out to the team. Not so hard, right?
Apparently very much so.
Cat used to always think she was decently strong, but she was proven wrong when she tried pulling the coolers up the field from the equipment room. They were both just so damn heavy! Together they had to weigh more than Cat and she wasn't very petite. Perhaps next time, she needed to take Tommy's offer and go to the gym with him. Sweat beaded on her forehead, even in the cold weather as she dragged the coolers up the damn hill. Cat was so close to making it.
Until she was bumped by a stampede of lacrosse players and ended up knocking over one of the coolers. All of the contents inside spilled out, including the bottles of Gatorade, ice, and cups. Cat sucked her teeth.
"Cool. Love this for me."
Curse words were muttered as she bent down to start picking up the mess. To her surprise, she saw a couple hands helping her out. She couldn't tell who he was since he had his lacrosse helmet and mask on, but Cat appreciated an extra pair of hands nonetheless. The only thing she could see were blue eyes that rivaled hers looking up at her. They were actually quite nice.
"Thanks," Cat said.
"Rough first day?" the guy asked.
"What gave it away?" He chuckled at Cat's sarcasm. "I swear, I wouldn't be surprised if all of them were dropped on their heads as babies."
"If it makes you feel any better, at least you don't have to share a locker room with them. I don't know what's more gross, the smell or them going into detail about them having sex with their girlfriends."
Just thought made the raven-colored haired girl shudder. "Glad I have that image imbedded in my brain now."
They managed to get everything back in the cooler minus the ice, which, tough break. The lacrosse players now get lukewarm Gatorade now. Serves them right. Cat went to grab the cooler but the guy took the matter in his own hands and hauled them both up the hill. Show off. Cat was just hoping having someone else do the heavy duty work wouldn't get her into anymore trouble. Oh, well. She followed him to the field where onlookers were already waiting for practice to start and players on the sidelines. The guy dropped the coolers next to the bench.
"That should do it," he said to Cat, "You think you got it from here or will pouring water into cups be too much for you too?"
Cat detected a smirk from behind his mask. She scoffed. "And here you had me fooled into thinking you were a gentleman."
"Don't worry- chivalry is alive and well," the guy laughed. Coach blew his whistle, signaling the team to come join him on the field. "See you later." He jogged away to meet the rest of the team.
Well, that was… something.
Shrugging off the random interaction, Cat began to set up the water station. The table for everything was already set up, thank God. Now all Cat had to do was take everything out of the cooler and arrange the station as Coach gave one of his infamous motivational speeches to his team. Something about cream cheese, Cat heard.
It didn't take long to place everything on the table. Coach was still yapping away so surely it wouldn't be a problem if the water girl had a sip. She filled a cup up and took a drink. If only this had alcohol in it. That would've made this whole thing tolerable. Even watching Scott and Allison, who was back in the stands with Lydia, making googly eyes at each other. Gross.
Cat's eyes fell onto her cup and her finger tapped along the side. But the longer she stared at it, something crazy started happening.
Ripples began to appear within her water as if the cup was shaking. But it wasn't and there certainly wasn't an earthquake that was causing this. The ripples only grew stronger, like waves crashing in the ocean. Cat's eyes widened as the water rose within her cup, threatening to shoot up as if it were a water fountain. It was getting higher… and higher… and higher-
The whistle blew to start the practice.
The loud sound made Cat jump and squeeze her eyes shut. When she opened them up after trying to slow her heartbeat down, she looked back down at her cup of water. The water was still as if it wasn't about to blast off just a second ago. Cat dumped it out onto the grass. Clearly it had to have been laced with something if she was seeing shit.
Nothing abnormal was going on when the scrimmage started. Scott was playing first elimination, hoping to live out his dream of making first line. So far he was looking promising. Except for when dumb jerk-face Jackson body-slammed him into the grass. Cat could just see that shit-eating grin on his face when he stood over Scott.
"I'll show him."
This seemed to light a fire within Cat's crush from what she saw… and heard. He bounced back up and met Jackson at the halfway point. Both of their lacrosse sticks were pointed at the ground, itching to snag the ball in between them. The referee blew his whistle and Scott was quick to scoop up the ball before Jackson could blink. It was all going by so fast. Scott was dodging and jumping around anyone who was in his way as he raced towards the goal. Holy shit, was this kid actually going to make it?
Nothing could stop Scott. Not even the three players that attempted to block him from reaching the goal. Just when Cat thought he was going to get knocked down again, Scott legitimately flipped over the three of them. Cat's jaw dropped at the sight. You would think that he was applying for a job in the circus! And as soon as he landed on his feet, Scott slung the ball past the goalie and into the goal. Everyone cheered him on, shooting up out of their seats as they applauded at the underdog.
And the look on Jackson's face- fuck, Cat wasn't even playing but seeing him angry made her all warm and fuzzy inside.
"McCall!" Coach hollered, "Get over here! What in God's name was that? This is a lacrosse field. What, are you trying out for the gymnastics team?"
Scott shook his head. "No, Coach."
"What the hell was that?"
"I-I don't know," Scott stammered, "I was just trying to make the shot."
"Yeah, well, you made the shot," Coach nodded frantically, "And guess what? You're startin', buddy." He smacked Scott's shoulder. "You made first line. Come on!"
Scott couldn't believe it. He did it! He really made first line! Not only that, he did it in front of the girl of his dreams. There was no hiding that ecstatic smile on Scott's crooked face. He was feeling like a freakin' rockstar.
Everyone went crazy at the news. Well, not everyone. While Cat should be happy for Scott, and she was, but she couldn't help but think back on the conversation she had stumbled upon between him and Jackson earlier. There was no chance that the boy could be on steroids, but still, none of this was making sense. The way Scott moved up and down that field was incredible. Like, there was no way that he had just become that good over Christmas break, no matter how hard he had trained.
Cat looked over at Stiles without meaning to and she could see the pure horror on his face. He was thinking the same thing as she was-
"Oh, no. This cannot be good."
After the scrimmage ended, Cat began to strike down the water station, completing her first day of her punishment. The boys ended up drinking all of the water and Gatorade so now maybe Cat could finish the day stronger than she started.
"Hey, Cat!"
Or not.
She probably should've been more irritated to see Allison and Lydia striding towards her, but if anything, Cat was more scared. Whatever they could possibly want, it couldn't be good for her.
The two girls stood in front of Cat, Allison looking hopeful and Lydia snooty as always. Neither of them spoke up at first. Then Allison lightly nudged Lydia, making the strawberry blonde roll her eyes.
"I'm having a party at my house tonight," she told Cat, "You know, to celebrate the new lacrosse season."
"Okay…" Cat drew out, not liking where this was headed.
Allison cleared her throat and Lydia looked ready to kill her. She sighed. "You should come. If you want."
Did Cat want? "Oh, I don't know. This might be hard to believe but I'm not exactly the party type."
"It's not really that hard to believe," Lydia jeered. Now the raven-colored haired girl was the one ready to kill.
"Please, Cat," Allison jumped in, "It'll be fun! And it'll give us a chance to get to know each other better… when I'm not with Scott…"
Yeah, because that's really selling it. Cat was ready to decline again but she could see the desperation in Allison's doe eyes. Damn, were those things mesmerizing. She must've been pretty nervous about her date with Scott and going to a party where she knew nobody minus the two agonizing people on earth. Now Cat might be antisocial, but she wasn't a mean person and couldn't subject a girl who has been nothing but nice to her to an uncomfortable evening.
"Sure," Cat said, "I'll be there."
"Great," Lydia fake-smiled, "It starts at eight." Her eyes scanned Cat up and down. "And make sure you dress for the occasion." Rude.
"Thank you," Allison whispered to her before following Lydia off the field.
Dear God, why in the absolute hell did you let Cat agree to this?
She wasn't lying when she told Allison and Lydia that she didn't like parties. Granted the last party she attended was a couple years ago when Vivi's ex boyfriend threw some sort of gathering at their place and Cat was hiding in her room the entire time. Besides that and the church events her family attended growing up, it was safe to say that her experiences with parties were very limited. So she was already regretting letting Allison persuade her into coming to this thing. Not that Cat put up much of a fight. Still, she wasn't happy about this one bit.
Cat put the finishing touches on her winged eyeliner, her last step in getting ready. She fluffed her black wavy hair as she observed herself in her mirror. It wasn't a fancy event and the weather was still around forty degrees, so Cat figured her distressed, oversized, red and black striped sweater, black leggings, and Doc Martens did the trick in keeping her warm and 'in style'. As long as it was enough to keep Lydia off her ass all night long. She even added a couple rings, earrings, and a long necklace with a cat charm just to add a little more pizazz. Overall, Cat thought she looked decent enough to be in public. Take that, Lydia and Jackson.
Through her vanity mirror, Cat saw Vivi come into her room and sit on the edge of her bed. Wanda didn't waste any time in taking a seat in her lap. "So, how exactly did you get talked into going to this party again?"
"If you really must know," Cat began, "the new girl at school just decided that she and I were going to become friends. Why me? No clue. And of course she becomes friends with Lydia as well so that meant that I get a pity invite to the party tonight. My luck."
"Someone seems excited," Vivi teased.
"Oh, yeah. I get to go to the house of a girl who hates me where people are either dry humping over in one corner or getting high in the other. What's not to get excited over?"
Not to mention that Cat gets to watch Scott being all lovey-dovey with some other girl. Vivi didn't need to know that part though.
The oldest Luca sister rolled her eyes. "Let loose a little, would you? This is a pretty big milestone in every teenager's life. You're sixteen now. You're supposed to be meeting people, dancing, partying all the time. Responsibly, of course. And from what it sounds like, people want to be your friend. Don't resist it."
"I guess…" Cat said, knowing Vivi was slightly right. Only slightly.
Vivi removed Wanda from her lap and got up to stand behind her little sister. "Have fun tonight, okay? At least try to. And one last thing." She pulled a pink tube out of her back pocket.
Blue eyes widened. "No. No way in hell."
"Relax," Vivi said as she opened up the lipgloss, "A little color's not gonna kill you."
Cat tried to swipe the lipgloss out of her sister's hand and the two ended up wrestling for it.
"Get off of me, Viviana! This is assault! I am not afraid to call CPS on you!"
Anxiety rose within the girl as she walked through the door to Lydia's house. The party was already in full swing and the place was packed with what looked like the entire student body of Beacon Hills High. Dance music blared loudly through the speakers, which was a huge contrast to the emo rock music Cat is used to. Just as predicted, she spotted a couple of, well, couples making out in the corner of the living room. And the scent of marijuana coming from upstairs had traveled its way down and stunk up the living room.
Note to self: never accept another invitation to a party ever again.
In desperate need of fresh air, Cat pushed past the sea of bodies and made her way to the backyard. It was less crowded than the inside, but it was still pretty busy. Everyone was dancing and jumping along with the beat of the music, seeming to have the time of their lives. And there Cat was, hugging her waist and unsure what to do with herself.
"Hey, hot stuff," a random guy slurred in her ear. His breath smelled of stale beer and Cat wanted to gag. "Wanna dance?"
"I'll pass," she immediately said, stepping away from him.
"Aw, come on!" he laughed, "Why come to a party if you're not gonna dance?"
"To watch everyone else drive themselves to delusion with every sip of alcohol, which, congratulations, you're already halfway there." Cat tried to walk away but the guy grabbed her by the arm. "Get your fucking hands off of me."
"Don't be such a tease," the guy sneered, "Just one dance with me and I'm pretty sure I can convince you to join me in other activities, if you know what I mean."
Suddenly he was pushed away from Cat. A man in a leather jacket that she had never seen before and appeared way too old to be at a high school party stepped in between them. "She said to leave her alone."
The perv scoffed. "Whatever, man. You can have her. Good luck trying to get into her pants." He stumbled away.
Cat's savior (her very intimidating savior) turned to her with an arched bushy eyebrow. "You alright?"
There were no words that Cat could verbally say since her brain couldn't function, so she just nodded. The man didn't say anything either. He just gave a curt nod back and left Cat standing there feeling gobsmacked. A slight pang went through her head, making her cringe a bit. Maybe she was the one who needed some alcohol in her system.
She made a beeline to the kitchen where thankfully only a few people were in there either making drinks or laughing with their friends. Bottles on bottles of liquor scattered all over the counter and Cat went to work on creating her concoction of vodka and Red Bull. Once she got the ratio down, she took a larger drink than she should have and looked around herself. Her bright blue eyes wandered around until they fell onto a sight out the window that broke her heart.
Scott and Allison were among the cluster of people dancing in the backyard. The two were dancing as well, looking all cozy with each other. Both of them were smiling wide, arms wrapped around each other, so obviously in like. Cat shouldn't be watching, she knew. She felt like she was invading a private moment and each moment made her sadder than before. But she for some reason couldn't look away. It was just a reminder that you can't always get what you want, at least from what Mick Jagger sang. Yeah, Cat needed more vodka. Mostly to kill the headache that was starting to build up.
After downing what was left in her cup, she immediately went to work on mixing herself another drink. This time she decided to pour more vodka than Red Bull to give her an extra edge in getting through tonight. She began to chug her drink.
"Whoa. You really know how to put it all away."
Cat set down her drink and turned her head towards who had just walked in. "Stiles. Fancy seeing you here."
"Yeah, you too," Stiles said, still wide-eyed, "I don't think I've ever seen you at any of Lydia's parties before."
"There's a first time for everything," Cat shrugged. She pointed her thumb towards the window. "Scott's new squeeze kinda roped me into coming."
Stiles looked outside and chuckled. "Well, who would've thought? It looks like Scott's finally getting the girl. Good for him."
"Yeah, good for him," Cat mumbled into her cup before taking another drink, "What about you? No date tonight?"
"Uh, no, actually," Stiles said, scratching his neck, "I kinda have my eye on someone, but unfortunately, she doesn't even know I exist."
"Let me guess…"
Their eyes both fell on the couple of the hour, Lydia and Jackson, getting their mack on by a pillar outside. Blech. Those two needed to get a room. Mostly for Stiles's sake. Poor kid's had a crush on her ever since elementary school. It would've been cute if it wasn't so damn pitiful.
He clicked his tongue. "I still don't understand what she sees in him. I mean, sure, he's got the body and the hair and the 'athleticism', but other than that, what does he have that I don't have?" He held his hand up when Cat was about to open her mouth. "Don't answer that."
"Look on the bright side," Cat said, "At least you have brain. Jackson probably still gets 'you're' and 'your' confused."
"That doesn't make unrequited love suck any less," Stiles grumbled.
"Cheers to that." They both clinked their solo cups and drank in sorrow.
Before either of them could say anything else, Scott entered the house. However, he was walking funny and clutching onto his head. His face winced at each step he took.
"Yo, Scott, you good?" Stiles asked. He clearly wasn't, but Scott didn't stop to answer.
"Scott!" Cat called after him. He still didn't answer.
Stiles smiled sheepishly at the girl. "It was nice catching up with you, Cat." Then he chased after his best friend.
Shit. Cat downed what was left of her drink and ran after him. She lost Stiles, but she was still eager to reach Scott to see if he was okay. When she got to the front yard, she had just missed Scott frantically drive away, leaving Allison standing there hurt and dumbfounded.
"Allison!" Cat called. Said girl turned around. "Hey, what happened?"
"I- I don't know," Allison stammered, "We were dancing and everything was fine. Then all of a sudden he just took off. I don't know if it's anything I said or did but he was my ride here."
"Okay, okay," Cat said somewhat calmly, feeling bad for the girl even as her head began to pound, "Why don't you come with me and-"
"Allison."
Both girls spun around and Cat gulped. It was the man who had came to her rescue from that creep earlier.
"I'm a friend of Scott's," he told her, "My name's Derek. How about I give you girls a ride home?"
"No," Cat immediately answered, taking hold of Allison's wrist. Derek raised his eyebrows. "I mean, it's okay. I borrowed my sister's car so I can take Allison home." She began to pull the other girl away.
"I don't think Viviana would want you driving after you've been drinking, Cat."
Her eyes almost popped out of her skull when Derek said that. How the hell did he know her sister's name?
He smiled softly, making him appear friendlier than he looked earlier. But Cat still wasn't too convinced. "Let me take you guys home and you can pick your car up here in the morning."
Allison looked as if she was about to cave so Cat pulled her to the side. "I really don't think it's a good idea. Do you even trust what this guy says?"
"He's right though- you shouldn't drink and drive," Allison reasoned, "And if he knows your sister, then that should mean he's safe. I say let's just go."
Cat looked back over at Derek and he still had his 'nice guy' persona on. Oh, she was so gonna regret this. "Okay, fine."
Exactly as she thought, the drive to drop Allison off at her house was awkward as hell. Cat had graciously taken the backseat of the beautiful Camaro, not wanting to be that close to Derek. It was silent the entire way, which was for the best in Cat's opinion. When they got to Allison's house, she gave Cat her phone number and made her promise to text her when she got home to make sure she was safe. She made the promise but was still uncertain if she could keep it once she was alone with this guy.
Derek didn't drive right away when Allison got inside her house. He peered at Cat through his rear view mirror.
"Aren't you gonna come up front?" he asked.
"You know, I think I'm good right here. It's so nice and spacious-"
"Just get in the front seat."
"Yes, sir."
Cat scrambled out of the backseat and practically dove to the passenger's side. The last thing she wanted to do was to piss Derek off. Once he was satisfied, he began to drive out of the neighborhood.
"Where am I taking you?" he asked.
"Spellbound Sweets," Cat answered, "the bakery off of Lakewood and Avalon." Derek nodded and kept his eyes on the road. It became silent again, but not for long since Cat still needed some answers. "How do you know my sister?"
"She and I were in the same classes growing up," Derek told her.
"So you guys are friends?"
"… You could say that."
Well, that was annoyingly vague. Cat huffed and slumped in her seat. "Do you know what's happening to Scott?"
"Yes," Derek answered.
"Are you going to tell me what's happening to Scott?" Cat pressed.
"You'll find out soon enough."
"Should I be worried?"
Derek was now getting annoyed. "God, you ask so many questions."
"Can you blame me?" Cat crossed her arms. "I feel like I'm pulling your teeth out so I can get some information. And I would like to know if Scott's okay or not because he's been acting so goddamn weird this past week and-"
The car came to an abrupt stop, making Cat hit the back of her head on her seat. Oh, that did not help her headache at all. She cursed as she rubbed her head. Derek didn't seem concerned at all. What an ass.
"We're here," he gruffly said, "Now get out."
"Gladly."
Cat opened the door and almost tripped getting out of the car. She made sure to slam the door shut for good measure, no longer caring about whether Derek would get mad or not. All she wanted to do was get inside the loft as fast as possible.
"And Cat?" She turned around to see that Derek had rolled down his window. "Tonight is the full moon."
"So?"
"So I would be very careful if I were you," Derek warned her, "Instead of focusing on Scott's problems, maybe you should be focusing more on what is going on with yourself."
Wait… what?
Derek rolled up the window and sped off before Cat could ask what the hell that was supposed to mean. Shaking her head, she fished her sister's out of her wallet and unlocked the door to the bakery. She just needed to sleep off this absolute shit show of a night.
By the time Cat had entered the loft, Vivi and Tommy were in their respective rooms, most likely already asleep. Oh, well. Cat would just tell Vivi about her car in the morning. And maybe also tell her to invest in better friends. Cat went into her own bedroom so she could get ready for bed as well. She stripped out of her party clothes in exchange for an oversized Fall Out Boy t-shirt. She tied her hair up into a messy bun and rinsed off the minimal make up she had on her face. Wanda had leapt onto the bathroom sink as Cat brushed her teeth. She took a swig of water from the glass cup, swished it around her mouth, and spat it out in the sink.
Right then, the pain in her head that she had earlier came back. This time it had Cat doubling over and clutching onto the sink. It was like someone had taken a power drill and drove it into her skull. She gritted her teeth as she groaned, trying to not wake either Vivi and Tommy even though she wanted to scream out loud. Okay, Cat knew she had vodka tonight, but she definitely didn't have enough to make her want to rip her own brain out.
Her vision started to blur as she stumbled out of her bathroom to get to her bed. Once she got there, she fell onto her knees and grabbed onto her black comforter. Tears crept out of the corners of Cat's eyes and she was sweating profusely. She mustered the strength to open her eyes and was instantly met with the sight outside her window- the full moon.
That was when Wanda meowed and decided to be the asshole she was and started pushing the glass cup towards the edge of the sink. Perfect timing.
"Wanda, don't you fucking dare," Cat threatened through her pain. The Persian feline remained unbothered. She even stared down her owner as she pushed the glass out even closer to the edge. "Wanda, no." With one last push, the glass fell off the sink. "No!"
Cat didn't think twice before reaching her hand out towards the glass. Of course she knew that she couldn't grab it, but she sure as hell wasn't expecting the glass to float in the air mid fall. All of the water was hovering above it, none of it hitting the ground. Cat gawked at the bizarre sight before her. Then the glass and water suddenly flew towards her and into her outstretched hand, the water falling back into the glass during so. She yelped and she dropped the glass onto the carpet, spilling water all over.
The girl tried to make sense of what just occurred, but all she could think was that she was either losing her mind or maybe she was drunker than she thought and was now hallucinating. But then a third and stranger theory popped into her mind. Her eyes darted between her now shaking hand and the fallen glass.
No. That couldn't have been because of her… could it?
Cat's eyes landed on her shelf which held all her favorite books and comics. Swallowing down the lump in her throat, she held her hand out towards the books like she did before. Then she swiped her hand across the air and all of the books crashed onto the floor. Gasping, Cat covered her mouth in terror and pressed her back against her bed.
Too many thoughts ran through her head- the fact that she had been hearing things all week, her catching the dustpan at work, the water going crazy during lacrosse practice, her massive headache, and now this. Something scary was happening and Cat didn't know where to begin in figuring out what it was.
Derek was right- Cat had her own problems to deal with. And she was freaking the fuck out.
Review, favorite, and follow! I'll be sure to update soon! Xoxo, Maddie
