Crescent Moon:
Intention, hopes, and wishes
I frowned as I settled into a seat beside Scott. He had waved me over when he had seen me hovering by the door looking for Matt. It was rare that we ever hung out just the two of us and I would have be lying if I said I wasn't a tiny bit grateful when he told me Stiles would be joining us in a moment. According to Scott the skittish boy was currently trying to acquire the keys to the local skate rink. Before I could ask why he need them the boy in question returned. A set of ordinary looking keys in one hand and a smug smile on his face. "Didn't take you for an ice skater, I'm picturing Bambi on Adderall." Scott snorted into his drink, clearly picturing the same image as I was.
"Nope," Stiles popped the p and shook his head at me, "even you can't bring me down right now, we're going on a date." His voice trailed off at the end of the sentence as his eyes glazed over.
His thoughts elsewhere for the moment.
My heart leapt in my chest, "we're?" Did he mean? Surely he didn't mean we're as in me and him? Did he…
"Me and Lydia," Oh. My face feel as his words sunk in. He clearly miss interpreted my expression as he was quick he defend himself, "what? Okay, Scott and Allison are going on a date and me and Lydia happen to be going with them, don't give me that look." I'm not sure what look I was giving him but he was not reading it right. I felt Scott's knee bump into mine but I refused to meet his eye. My mind replaying the question he asked on the way to the formal. 'Do you like him?' my stomach churned, he knew. Scott McCall had figured out my predicament before I had even realised what was happening!
Luckily for me Scott's attention was pulled away from me as Erica entered the Canteen. I had never been close to the girl but I knew of her, hell we had all seen the video of her that had made the rounds last year. She was, no she had been, a mess with wild fizzy hair and baggy stained clothes. However now as the entire hall watched her it was clear nobody could call her a mess anymore. Perfect curls, tight short skirt and a leather jacket that mirrored my own. Lydia had joined us as we stared open mouthed at the girl's transformation. She clearly wasn't impressed with Erica getting the attention she still deemed hers. Leaning down beside me she glared across the tables at the blonde, "did the pair of you go shopping?"
"Did you not get the invite?" I tried no to sneer back, it wasn't her fault Stiles was obsessed with her. Though if the look he was giving Erica was anything to go by perhaps Lydia wasn't going to be my only issue.
My mood didn't improve as the day progressed. All I could think about was the four of them going to the rink later that evening. It was such a nauseating image, I tried to convince myself I was annoyed at not being invited by my friends. Though I knew deep down that wasn't the real issue. Allison had invited me as the day draw to a close but by that point I had already pictured Stiles fawning over Lydia multiple times, I had decided there was no need join them. Besides nobody likes being a fifth wheel. In my annoyance I had flicked through my phone book and arranged a spontaneous night out with an old flame.
By the time I had arrived home I was beginning to regret messaging Thomas, we had dated briefly back in freshmen year and it hadn't ended well. He had spent the time during our short relationship showering me with gifts and compliments. Lovely in theory but I had only approached him because I needed help in maths. From the get go it had been clear that the relationship was incredibly one sided and when I had ended it he hadn't taken it well. Matt would often laugh at the gifts that would appear in my locker or the late night messages. As I pulled an outfit from my wardrobe I contemplated whether or not to cancel, if I was a better person I probably would have. However, I wanted something to remove the look of ecstasy Stiles had given me as he left school. His fingers had pointed franticly between himself and Lydia's car before giving me a thumbs up. As if I should be as happy as he was. And since gauging my eyes out wasn't an option, I needed to go out. I peered at my reflection in the mirror that hung haphazardly on the back of my bedroom door. If I was going out was going to need to apply more makeup, the heavy bags that circled my eyes had begun to show under the fading concealer.
Reaching into my makeup bag I rummaged around trying to find the glass bottle. It wasn't there, frowning I strolled toward the bathroom knowing that was the only other place it could be. Pushing the door I was greeted by a loud yelp, "crap, wait don't come in!" Josh's panicked cries escaped through the barely open door, followed quickly by the sound of something smashing. I ignored his warnings and continued to enter, only stopping once I had opened the door and could see the mess he had created. Well at least I knew where my concealer was. The shattered glass bottle lay broken on the floor its thick creamy insides oozed out over the black tiles and droplets feel from Josh's dripping hands. "It's not, I didn't mean to, I'll buy you another one," he gushed hurriedly not turning to face me. His voice becoming softer and his head tilting further away with each step I took toward him.
Gripping his chin I pulled his face toward me. My eyebrows rose as I assessed his face. He had clearly been trying to use the cream to cover the nasty purple bruise that had begun to develop around his eye. Sighing heavily I plucked a cotton pad of the counter and dipped it into some of the coloured liquid on his hands. His eyes following my hand as I raised it toward his face. He barely cringed as I worked on smoothing out the crude circle he had created around his injured eye. "Do I want to know?" I asked knowing he would want to talk, he was always the one who wanted to share and discus things.
"Well, don't judge me, but, well, you see, there was this guy, and well," I quirked an eyebrow at him hoping he would get the hint to hurry up. "Sorry, we had gone to the shops on the way home from school and this guy was tying up his dog. I didn't really think anything of it. I mean loads of people leave their dogs outside shops but he wasn't going inside! He tied the dog up and got back in his car!" Josh's eyes had begun to shimmer as they filled with tears. "You can't just walk away from stuff like that! He should have stayed!" as the words tumbled out I wondered if he was still referring to the dog. None of us had mentioned dad much since he had walked out. I know I hadn't really given him much thought, my mind focused more on the supernatural than family dynamics. Mum had dealt with it all in her own way, she drank, she cursed, then she wrote a new book. Josh had, well I don't know what he had done. He had seemed fine, though I guess he wasn't.
"How does this link to that?" I question softly, pointing at his eye. Guilt had begun to swell in my chest as I looked at the young boy in front of me. I knew I wasn't going to win any prizes sister of the year but I hadn't realised I was this bad at it.
Josh looked away sheepishly, "Well I kind of threw my shoe at his car." I let the words sink in as a smile spread across my lips, "I know it was stupid but I wanted him to come back for the dog. Well he came back alright, my friends all ran off and he punched me before I could say anything!"
"…and the dog?" he raised his hand and pointed at the bathtub behind me. How I had missed the rhythmic movement of a tail moving the shower curtain back and forth I'll never know. With a groan I pulled the fish covered fabric back to reveal a scruffy looking mongrel. "Brilliant plan kid, quick question though what are you going to do with it now?" He grinned childishly at me and I knew what he was thinking, "nope. It can't stay here." Mum had a strict no pets rules. It had started after I got attacked and for years I was happy keep all creatures out of the house. Until recently I hadn't been keen on being in the same room as an animal. Mum had even been forced to collect me once when I had freaked out on a school trip to the zoo. The only reason I wasn't walking out of the room right now was because in the last few months I had seen much worst then this little monster.
"We could hide him from mum," he suggested as if I was going to change my mind.
"Yeah? Oh, we could feed him our leftovers from dinner and take turns to smuggle him out the house for walks," I added. Josh nodded back keen to agree if it meant he could keep the animal. It took a few moments of silence for him to realise I wasn't being serious. Pouting he scooped the dog into his arms and nuzzled his face into its matted fur. I took a step back as he moved forward trying to thrust the puppy into my arm, "how about we take it to the animal clinic, Scott has mentioned strays being handed in before." Josh's eyes lit up at the idea.
It wasn't hard to get the dog past our oblivious mother and Josh had merrily spent the majority of the drive gushing sweetly at Max, the puppy. I could see his arms tightening around the tiny creature as we entered the clinic, he was going to try to keep it. My hand brushed the wooden desk and I noticed a peculiar effect in the grain. It almost looked like it was coated in a grey grain. Frowning my eyes scanned the rows of trinkets on the shelves around us and I wasn't overly surprised to see a variety of supernatural ornaments dotted between the jars of treats. If we were going to find an adult with links to the supernatural world of course it would be Scott's boss. That just seemed to be the werewolf's luck. As the man entered the room his eyes following my gaze which was on an intricate wall hanging. A wooden hand had been shaped from a plank of wood with elaborate carving covering its front, it was the lightly painted eye in its open palm that had caught my attention, "It's a hamsa," he told us.
"For luck or protection?" I question him making sure he saw my eyes scan each of the trinkets on display. He shot me a knowing look before turning to my brother, now complete focused on the animal in his arms.
"And who do we have here?" Dr Deaton, according to his nag tag, had been very kind to Josh and spent a good 20 minutes reassuring my soft hearted brother that Max would be okay. Better than okay even. I had only managed to drag Josh way with the promise of bringing him back to see the dog while it was still in the care of the animal clinic. Josh had been sullen and quiet the entire journey home, I knew he was upset but leaving the dog with Deaton had been the sensible thing to do. He would come to see that.
As we pulled up to the house I paused, "you know this isn't the same as leaving him alone."
"Feels like it. You didn't seem to have a problem abandoning him there," his tone held a bitter edge I had never expected from him. He sounded older. Snapping his head round to glare at me he bit out a resentful, "guess you take after dad." He slammed the car door and stomped toward the house, and Matt called me dramatic.
My eyes narrowed at his retreating form. I had every intention of chasing him and having my say when my phone began to buzz. I had been actively ignoring it when it had continued to go off during our visit to animal clinic. I knew who it would be. As I pulled the slim device out of my pocket I wasn't surprised to see the long list of notifications, missed calls and voice mails littered the screen. All from Thomas, who I had forgotten to tell I wasn't going to make our last minute date. I selected the last voice mail that had come through, "that's it I'm done, I thought you might have changed. I've seen you with your new friends, I thought maybe just maybe you had become a decent human being but no. It seems I was wrong as usual. I'm such an idiot, I want to hate you but I can't I just," he continued to ramble on for a good 10 minutes. By the time he had finished I had lost any fight I had in me. I wasn't upset that I had hurt him and that was what worried me. Perhaps I was more like my father than I liked to admit.
Resting my head lazily on the lunch table as Matt whined about Jackson, "can you believe he broke it, just look at the lens." I wasn't listening to him. I hadn't slept well last night and the lack of sleep was beginning to catch up with me. I already had detention later for fulling asleep in Chemistry. I had never been one to worry about how others viewed me, in fact I had at one point thrived on being seen as an outsider. But now? My eyes slide over to Stiles and Scott, I couldn't stop myself wondering what they thought of me. Did the heroic pair see me in the same negative tones that my brother and Thomas did? "Oh would you stop moping," I swatted his hand away as he tried to turn my chair to face him. He was growing impatient but I couldn't stop watching the werewolf and his friend. Why did the pair keep looking at Boyd's tables? "Just do what you usually do and get a new one, there has to be someone else in the school you haven't made out with yet."
"I've tried!" I through my hands down on the table in frustration letting my forehead rest pitifully on the table. How could I explain to any of this to Matt! "You know I almost went out with Thomas last night."
Matt gave me a hard look before chuckling at me with a shake of his head, "oh you are so screwed."
Refusing to turn my head I let out a groan, "helpful. God why did Scott and Allison even ask them to tag along."
"Wait, Scott and Allison are still dating," I hadn't intended on him hearing that last part. Though obviously he would hear anything that included Allison's name.
With an exaggerated roll of my eyes I lifted my head to glare at him, "everything I say and that is the only thing you hear. " Matt wasn't even listen to me as I criticized him. So instead I went back to watching Scott and Stiles. However, the pair had already left the canteen their half empty plates lay abandoned on the table. They had left in a rush but why? Then It clicked, I had been so focused on them I hadn't realised they had been staring at Boyd's table. His empty table, oh crap.
Leaving the hall without so much a goodbye I darted into the hall just in time to find Stiles calling out wildly, "Do you wanna just try making out for a sec? Just to see how it feels." Who the hell was he talking to?
An impish smile curled onto my lips as I spotted Scott's figure weaving its way through the crowded hall, "As tempting as that sounds…" I let the comment linger in the air as I slowed to stop beside him.
I was surprised, and a little disappointed, that he hadn't jumped at my words in his usual skittish manner. Instead he turn toward me as if he had been expecting me, "I was just talking to Scott…" he paused realising what his words sounded like. I lifted a brow at him and let my smile grow. He raised a finger to chastise me with a light warning, "don't even. You know about Boyd?"
I nodded, "I figured." At least he had finally accepted he wasn't the only one who could keep up with everything that was occurring around us, "Derek is putting the band together pretty quickly."
Stiles' lips quirked at the comment, "I know, we're trying to stop it. Because suddenly everything is our responsibility," he threw his hands into the air in protest as he strode forward. Clearly he wasn't happy about this new role Scott had placed upon them. He didn't need to tell me it was Scott who felt the need to protect everyone. It was just like the young werewolf. Glancing over his shoulder he called back to me, "you coming?" So I had been officially drafted into Scott's hero play. I doubt this was going to end well.
Shaking my head I gave him a one armed shrug, "I have detention with Harris." His disappointment was evident. Biting the inside of my check I added a reluctant, "send me an address I'll try swing by afterwards."
As promised I had driven to the address Stiles had supplied me after my excruciating hour with Harris. I'm not sure what I expected but Stile's broken jeep hadn't been it. Curiously, I inspected the broken bonnet eyeing the ripped wires carefully. How he manged to keep the duck taped beast going was beyond me. A dull moaning drew my eyes away from the car and toward a pile of black bags. Though it wasn't the black bags that held my attention. No, it was the familiar pair of trainers that had me walking toward the repugnant smell. I peered down at the motionless body of Stiles. Kicking his leg harder than necessary, I waited for the fool wake. Groggily he peered up at me clearly confused, though that didn't stop me smirking down at him, "morning sunshine."