"Come on Walton! You can kick higher than that!"

Lily huffed in annoyance, blowing a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. If she'd known that joining the cheerleading team would've been this hard, she would've stayed hidden away. However, she definetly didn't mind watching the football captain work out on the field with the other football players. She caught said boy's eye, waving shyly at him as he grinned cheekily back, openly checking her out in her newly fitted uniform.

"Walton!" the cheerleading captain snapped, "You can stare at the boys all you like later, but for now, I want to see that leg in the air."

Lily gasped as she awoke from her dream, hands shaking as she gripped the sheets below her.

It was the first time since her release from Eichen that she'd had a dream that wasn't necessarily a night terror. It was unsettling, the feeling of an old life ghosting over her. She didn't necessarily remember the context of the dream, or if it was even true, but it shook her awake nonetheless.

Her first day in Beacon Hills had been a disaster. Not only did she barely make any friends (because she seriously doubted that bonding over finding a dead body was Danny's idea of friendship), but she'd also found aforementioned dead body on school grounds. Seriously, she needed a break already.

But no, she wasn't allowed, because just an hour later, she was once again being dropped off at the entrance of Beacon Hills High.

Once again, she kept her head down as she entered the school, opting to find her locker this time. She kept her eyes on her trainers, barely visible over the dark wide legged jeans pooling at her feet. She wore a long-sleeved dark orange top this time, with no jewellery. She hadn't been allowed it in Eichen House, and she didn't feel quite right wearing any yet.

She found her locker with ease, remembering the directions from the day before. The lock opened with no issue, and she was just stuffing her spare books into it when an unfamiliar voice startled her.

"Hi!" The girl spoke, making Lily jump, "You're Lily, right?"

Lily nodded slowly, looking at the two girls curiously, "Uh, yes?"

"I'm Lydia," the first spoke, "And this is Kira. We just wanted to give you a proper welcome to the school. Love the jeans, by the way. Where did you get them from?"

Lily blinked awkwardly, "Oh, um. I borrowed them from my… Guardian."

"Your guardian?" Lydia pressed, "Do you mean your mum?"

Lily felt herself flush, fiddling with her sleeve, "No, uh… My mums dead."

The two girls looked incredibly awkward, but Lydia quickly shook it off, "Oh, sorry to hear that. Is that why you moved?"

"Not quite," Lily breathed, sighing in relief as the bell rang, "I, uh, should go. Nice to meet you?"

And with that, Lily slammed her locked shut and rushed off.

"Well, that went well," Kira mused.

"You could've helped me!"

"But you were doing so well on your own," Kira teased, "Come on, we'll try again later. Maybe don't bring up any deceased relatives next time, yeah?"

Lydia huffed, but followed her friend to class.

Meanwhile, Lily was stressed. She hadn't expected to be approached by people so quickly. Weren't teenagers meant to be loners? Why were people so keen to get to know her around here?

She was so preoccupied in her own thoughts that she didn't watch where she was going, which is how she ended up walking straight into something - or well, someone.

"Watch out-"

She didn't look up in time, because the next thing she knew, she was lying on the floor with her books splayed around her, students dodging her with huffs as they rushed to their own class.

"Shoot," she muttered to herself, rubbing her head before looking up to the other person, "I'm so sorry."

Suddenly, crystal blue met honey brown.

"Are you okay?" the boy with the brown eyes immediately asked, rubbing his own head awkwardly.

Lily's breath caught in her throat from embarrassment before she finally managed to stutter out, "Me? No, yeah I'm fine. No help needed here. All fine. It was my fault anyway!"

The boy laughed, collecting her books and standing up.

"You, uh, need a hand?" he asked awkwardly as he extended his arm to Lily.

Lily hesitated for a few seconds. She didn't particularly like touching other people, so she shook her head, getting herself up. He gave the books back to her, looking at her curiously.

"I-"

"Thanks, and sorry again," Lily said timidly, stepping back from the boy, "I should get going."

"Wait-" the boy began, stopping Lily in her tracks, "You're Lily, right? You found the body yesterday?"

Lily winced, "Is that my identifying factor now?"

"No, I mean-" the boy rubbed his head, "I guess, uh - are you okay, you know, after that?"

Lily blinked, thinking. Was she okay? No, not really.

"I'm fine," Lily nodded, "I mean, a little shaken up, but I'm more worried about his family."

The boy nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah, and I think he had a girlfriend too, right? They must've been close."

Lily furrowed her eyebrows, "Uh, I guess? I mean, I didn't know either of them or anything so…"

"They were probably pretty serious," the boy continued, ignoring Lily's confused look, "Serious enough to maybe, I don't know… Take the next step?"

Lily looked baffled, "Excuse me? Are you asking me if I thought they'd had sex? As in, the dead guy that I found yesterday and his very much grieving girlfriend?"

The boy paled at her words, "No- I, uh, just wondered-"

"Right," Lily muttered, readjusting her books in her arms, "Thanks again for picking these up for me. But I have to go."

"Wait-"

Lily didn't turn back towards the odd boy. Instead, she strutted straight to homeroom, hoping everyone would just leave her alone.

No one left her alone.

After that morning, it was like a dam had opened. First had been Lydia attempting to rope her into a group outing during maths; she politely declined, even after Lydia's second, third and fourth attempt. Then Kira had complemented her outfits (which was suspicious in itself) and offered a few mall trips with her and Lydia. Again, she declined.

She'd seen Danny between classes, exchanging a few polite words with him but declining his invitation to sit with his friends for lunch. A boy named Scott had tried talking to her during English, but she'd shut down his puppy dog eyes by saying she had to focus on the class.

And finally, there had been Isaac.

Now, she had to admire his confidence. Not everyone would have the balls to strut up to a new girl in the corridor and ask for her number so blatantly, especially the day after she'd found a dead body.

"So, what do you think?" Isaac asked, "Me, you, some dinner? Maybe a film?"

"I'm good," Lily declined, "But, uh, nice confidence I guess?"

With that, Lily shut her locker and made her way to the bathroom, leaving him standing alone, embarrassed.

"There is no way she's involved," Isaac announced as he sat himself at the picnic table.

"What makes you say that?" Kira asked, eyes glued to her phone as she furiously typed something.

"To be fair, she's been blowing us two off all day," Lydia contributed, "We both asked if she wanted to hang out, and she declined."

"She barely spoke to me," Scott agreed.

"I kind of made things really awkward this morning," Stiles supplied, "I, uh, basically asked her if she thought he'd been a virgin."

Lydia groaned, rolling her eyes, "So she thinks we're all weirdos."

"That must be it," Isaac nodded seriously, "I mean, I asked her out and she said no."

All eyes turned to Isaac in silence. Even Kira glanced up, frowning.

"You did what?" Lydia asked calmly.

"Well, I asked if she wanted to go for dinner and a film, and she walked away," Isaac shrugged, pointing his fork at Lydia, "And I don't know about you, but if I was running around committing murders, I'd be jumping on any opportunity to get anyone alone to commit another murder."

"His logic is deeply flawed," Lydia huffed, "…But he has a point."

"Well, theres definitely something weird about her," Kira added, shaking her phone at the others, "She has no social media accounts. Nothing comes up when you search her up."

"Okay, so she's a loner," Isaac added, "What do we do now?"

"Somethings still not right," Lydia mused, "I've got a strange feeling about her."

"She probably has a strange feeling about all of us right now," Scott pointed out.

Lydia sighed, "So we're no closer to finding out what's actually happening, right?"

"I'd put money on the twins having something to do with it," Isaac mused, tossing his apple in the air and grabbing it easily.

"Then lets do something about it," Kira pressed.

"I'm going to call Derek," Scott decided, "He might know something we don't, or we're overlooking."

"Maybe we should've done that before we all embarrassed ourselves with the new girl," Stiles pointed out, "Could've saved me hell of a lot of embarrassment, dude."

Isaac snorted, "I think that one was all on you, man."

"So Lily," Mrs Morrell began, "How have you been settling into Beacon Hills?"

Mrs Morrell was the school's councillor. From what Lily understood, she was also being screened to work at Eichen House full time. Lily had been one of her 'trial patients' as it seemed.. She'd never been in charge of Lily's treatment, but Lily assumed she knew enough by Eichen's standards to be able to council the supernatural. At least, thats what they used to call her there. Perhaps thats why she was being considered for the job.

"I could lie and say it's been great, but I don't think either of us want that," Lily answered honestly, picking at the skin on her thumb.

"Can you expand on that?" Mrs Morrell pressed, seemingly unfazed.

Lily furrowed her eyebrows, "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Let me see," Lily began, listing things off with her fingers, "Within hours of entering the school, I had to banish a ghost out of existence. I found a dead body before the day was over. I missed a chemistry test because of aforementioned body, so the teacher is now considering sending me back a grade because he 'doesn't know my skill level'. Oh, and my plan for laying low and getting through high school has blown up in my face because of all of the above."

Mrs Morrell, once again, seemed unfazed, "And how has all of this made you feel?"

"Can we just get to the real questions please?" Lily blurted out, her nerves getting the better of her, "Y'know, the important ones about my medication? All the other stuff isn't really important."

"It is important if it's about you," Mrs Morrell argued calmly, watching in satisfaction as Lily shrunk back in her chair, "Now: how are you feeling Lily? And answer honestly."

"Honestly?" she asked, "Honestly, I'm terrified, and I would rather never have come back to highschool in the first place .I kind of wish I was back in Eichen House. I mean, it's awful in there - no offence - but all of this? It's overwhelming."

"And why is that?"

Lily frowned, "I know you have my file. You know what happened in my last school, even if I don't remember the half of it."

"I understand feeling overwhelmed in a new environment, but do remember that this was spoken about for a long time before we decided you were ready," Mr Morrell explained, "Remember when we found out all charges against you were dropped?"

Lily winced. She knew there were charges against her for violence, but she'd never remembered what exactly she had done. It had been part of the reason she was sent to a mental health institution in the first place. She also didn't know who dropped the charges; no one had been able to find out from Eichen House.

"What I know is that you were a victim and you made some mistakes," she continued calmly, "And I'm here to help you come to terms with them. How have you been feeling these past few months?"

Lily paused for a minute, "Wrong. I've just felt... Wrong. In Eichen House, it was as if every waking moment was spent telling me I was crazy. That the things I saw and did were crazy."

"You are not crazy," she replied firmly, "I've dealt with cases like yours before and I can guarantee you that you'renotcrazy."

Lily rubbed her eyes, "It's just… This thing that I can do; seeing spirits, feeling death, all of this… I wish there was a way I could understand it."

"You don't have to understand everything all the time, you know," Mrs Morrell continued, "You told me you didn't want to be someone who had charges against them in the first place. You said you wanted to live a little more - and now is your chance to."

"I told you all that while I was on a lot of medication."

"And how do you feel now?" Mrs Morrell pressed.

Lily sighed, "I don't know, okay? I'm just… I'm just trying. For the first time in a long time."

Mrs Morrell seemed satisfied with this answer, writing something in her notes, "You've got sessions with me twice a week, but please feel free to stop by any time you need to. You got that?"

"I got that," Lily nodded as the bell for third period rang, "May I go now?"

"Are you kidding me? Ghosts are definitely not real."

Lily winced at the statement, making her way down the cafeteria line. She hadn't packed lunch today, opting to brave the canteen for lunch. It just so happened, however, that the cafeteria was perhaps the loudest place she'd ever been in.

There were conversations happening all around her, none of which she wanted to be part of. The guy who'd asked her out - Isaac, she thought - was arguing with the boy who'd tried to speak to her in English. Honestly, she felt a little bad for shrugging them off so easily, but her self-preservation instincts were locked and loaded in high school.

Which is how she ended up behind them in the lunch queue, listening to yet another debate about-

"Look, where theres a myth there's at least a little truth-"

"Not about this," Isaac shook his head, "Absolutely not. I refuse to believe that every single person who has ever died is still around now as a ghost."

In a way, he was right. It wasn't everyone that became a ghost. Usually, people who had unfinished business became wandering ghosts, who passed on after a few days once they ensured their loved ones were okay. Other times it was by complete chance; someone could be stuck as a ghost and wouldn't be able to pass on, ever.

But then again, from what she could remember, Lily had spent the majority of her life thinking she was crazy, so her knowledge on the spirit world was very, very limited.

Lily tuned the rest of their conversation out, picking out her lunch. She'd gone for a simple plain sandwich and some fruit, and after paying, realised her grave mistake.

"Oh, hey Lily!"

Lily cringed internally, turning to face Scott. He had a hopefully, happy look on his face, while Isaac looked how she felt; uncomfortable. She forced a tight smile and a nod, before trying to walk past them and-

"Do you want to come sit with us?"

Lily blinked. She had no choice but to lie, "Oh, uh, I definitely would. But I, uh, hate crowds so-"

"We're sat outside," Scott insisted, softening a little, "We just don't want to see you on your own all the time, you know? And if you really hate us, you can just leave."

Lily swallowed. Really, she didn't quite know why she was keeping herself distant. Part of her was scared she'd have another… Episode. The other side of her was telling her to just do it. She'd wanted a fresh start after all, and yes sure she had some questionable abilities that could hinder that plan, but she could at least try.

"Okay," Lily nodded, "Yeah, sure. Thank you."

Scott beamed, while Isaac looked plain shocked, "Cool! Yeah, uh, we're just over outside by the patio."

"So let me get this straight," Stiles began, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation, "Out of every single one of my friends, the only person that has seen the entirety of Star Wars is Isaac?"

"I've seen the first one?" Kira supplied, causing Stiles to groan.

"I had better things to do with my time," Lydia shrugged, biting into an apple, "Aren't they brother and sister in it anyway?"

"It's not just that-"

"Hey guys!" Scott interrupted as he approached the table, giving everyone a very pointed look, "Lily's joining us for lunch."

Lydia, Kira and Stiles turned to look at Scott in shock, their eyes slowly dropping over to Lily, who seemed a whole foot shorter than Scott by the way she was shrinking onto herself. Isaac was on the other side of her, throwing Kira a look as if to say 'I'm just as confused as you guys'. Scott, always the optimist, kept a smile on his face as he slid into the seat next to Kira, Isaac to his side and leaving Lily to sit next to Stiles, Lydia on the end of the bench.

Stiles. She was still confused at their interaction just the day before; he'd seemed so skittish. If that was even the right word for it.

"Hey," Lily mumbled as she sat down, cringing at herself. Could she have sounded any more awkward?

There was an awkward pause at the table, Kira finally breaking it, "So how are you finding Beacon Hills? I only moved a few months ago myself. Where did you move from?"

"Jackson in Minnesota," Lily replied, tearing the corner off her sandwich in an attempt to calm her nerves, "It's uh, definitely quieter."

She didn't miss the way Isaac snorted, nor the way Lydia sharply kicked him under the table.

"Apologises for Isaacs morbid sense of humour," Lydia gritted through a smile, "He finds the amount of unsolved crimes around here fascinating, for some reason. Right, Isaac?"

"Something like that," Isaac nodded, "But I guess thats what happens when you live in a town plagued with animal attacks."

Lily raised her eyebrow, "Animal attacks?"

"Oh yeah, loads," Isaac pressed on, "Stiles, isn't your dad always up to his knees in reports? Stiles' dad is Sheriff here."

"Yeah," Stiles nodded, wide eyes fixed onto Isaac in a somewhat panic, "Real mysterious animal attacks. Loads."

Lily frowned. Her guardian was a deputy in Beacon Hills, and she'd never mentioned anything about animal attacks. She knew it was probably in line with whatever Eichen House had recommended for her course of treatment. Probably something to do with not freaking her out about her new surroundings.

"Do you have any family here?" Kira interrupted, turning back to Lily.

Lily shook her head, "No. All my family is back in Jackson-"

"That's hell of a long way to come, actually," Isaac interrupted, "Especially with no family here."

"There were things I had to do here," Lily replied calmly. She didn't like how Isaac seemed to be implying something with every statement he made about her, "Kind of a last minute situation, actually."

That didn't seem like the right thing to say. Isaac leant forwards, interest clear in his eyes, "Oh really?"

Lily frowned. This guy was seriously annoying her now, "Yes. Really."

"Isaac-"

"What kind of last minute situation?" Isaac pressed, ignoring Scott, "Because Becaon Hills is nothing special, you know. You've come a long way for a place like this."

"Star Wars!" Kira blurted out, clearly trying to keep the peace as she turned back to Lily, who was clearly becoming irritated, "We were just talking about Star Wars a minute ago! Have you watched it?"

Lily swallowed the piece of sandwich she'd broken off, pausing for a moment to think. She shook her head, "No, I don't remember watching it."

"Seriously?" Stiles looked shocked, "How can you not remember watching debatably the best movie franchise of all time?!"

"Maybe because not remembering things is quite a common side effect of amnesia," Lily spat in irritation, watching in satisfaction as the whole table fell into silence.

She sighed, exhaling as she gathered her lunch, standing up.

"Look, I appreciate you all trying to include me in your own weird ways, but I'm fine," Lily stated, sending Isaac a glare, "I don't know why you guys think interrogation is the best way of making someone feel welcome, but I'm going to save you all some time and tell you; its most definitely not. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to eat my lunch in peace."

And with that, Lily stormed away from the table filled with gaping teenagers, missing the way Kira was glaring daggers at Isaac.

Lily sighed, letting the sun beat down on her face as she took a bite of her apple, leaning back against the tree she'd decided to sit by.

This was the only place outdoors and far enough away from too many people for her to eat her lunch at in peace. There were barely any other students sat on the green, and if they were, they were far away enough for her to not have to hear their conversations. Really, this could become her favourite lunch spot.

She felt a little bad for snapping at the group, but she also didn't regret it. She already felt like a big enough freak coming out of Eichen House, and she didn't appreciate her past being pried into like they'd tried to. She didn't know what their problem was, but from what she observed, it made sense that the five of them kept themselves to themselves.

Lily looked around her spot on the green, frowning when she spotted someone she hadn't seen just moments before. It was a girl with dark hair, standing just a few paces away from her, watching the school wistfully. They seemed like they were the same age, but Lily could tell that this was a ghost. If not for the sickly paleness of their skin, but for the large stab wound in her stomach.

"You know," Lily started, the ghosts head snapping to her, "If anyone could see you watching them right now, you'd look hell of a lot more creepy than you already do."

The ghost gaped at her, lost for words, "Wait. Y-You can see me?!"

"No, I'm talking to myself," Lily joked, turning away and picking at her sandwich once again, "Yeah. I can see you."

Lily jumped at the sigh of relief from the girl, the ghost stepping into her field of vision once more.

"Finally,"she sighed in relief, laughter bubbling out of her mouth,"Finally someone can see me!"

"And you're lucky I'm the only one around, otherwise I'd look like a real weirdo right now," Lily joked, far more casual than someone should be from seeing a literal ghost on school grounds, "I'm guessing you haven't had many people to talk to?"

"Not at all. You're the first in a long time,"the ghost sighed,"You're new around here, right?"

"What gave it away?" Lily snorted, "The disoriented look, the sheer uncomfortableness, or the fact that I'm eating lunch alone?"

"All three," the ghost joked back, earning herself a smile from Lily. She paused, before stretching her hand out to Lily.

"I'm Allison."

"Ghosts can't touch humans," Lily replied helpfully, watching as Allison dropped her hand helplessly, "Sorry, thought I should get that out of the way. And, uh, I'm Lily."

"Lily," Allison tried, smiling, "Well, pleasure to meet you."

"You too," Lily nodded to her, watching her take a seat in front of her, "But, uh, any reason why you're the second ghost in a week that I've met on school grounds?"

Allison pursed her lips, "I guess you really haven't been around here long, have you?"

"Not at all, no."

"Beacon Hills is… Different," Allison began carefully, "It's not really my story to tell anymore."

"But you're still around, which means you probably have something left to accomplish here," Lily explained, "Anything come to mind? Any vengeful plan you haven't had a chance to finish?"

"Not exactly," Allison confessed, suddenly looking sheepish, "Sorry, I just haven't had the chance to speak to anyone for a long time."

"You and me both. Except I've resorted to speaking to ghosts and only ghosts, apparently," Lily shrugged, "Mind you, I'm going to look even weirder if anyone walks past and sees me talking to thin air."

"No one comes to this corner of the green. That's why I like it," Allison explained, looking back out towards the school, "It's peaceful out here."

"Why are you here specifically?" Lily asked, "I mean, it is a little creepy that you're watching the school."

Allison smiled sadly, clearing her throat, "I used to go here. My friends are still here, and being home and watching my father on his own is, uh… A little depressing."

Lily nodded, "I see. This might be insensitive, but did you die recently, then? If your friends are still here."

"About six months ago," Allison confirmed awkwardly, "Before summer started."

"Jeez, what's with this place?" Lily joked, "Two ghosts in a week and apparently this town is full of unexplained animal attacks."

Allison perked up at that, "Who told you that?"

"This group of students that were really, really insistent on getting to know me" Lily explained simply, "Told me this town isn't like anywhere else."

"It's not," Allison agreed, "But since you can see me… Do you know why you can see me?"

"I've always been able to see ghosts, spirits, the whole lot," Lily explained, "Or, as far as I can remember. I've kind of got amnesia right now, which is a bit of a pain."

"Ouch."

"Yeah," Lily sighed. She paused, realisation dawning on her.

This was the longest conversation she'd had with anyone since her release, and she was doing fine. Maybe it was the fact that Allison had no choice but to talk to her, but she didn't feel anxious or scared in the slightest. She'd always attributed her anxieties about being released from Eichen House to being scared to not appear normal, but she didn't have to worry about that when it came to ghosts. And Allison seemed nice enough, unlike the ghost she'd met the other day.

"Well, I'll be your friend, then," Allison decided, "Since we're both loners."

Lily laughed, "Oh, speak for yourself. I've got plenty of ghosts to talk to."

"Introduce me sometime," Allison joked, "Cause, seriously? Being a ghost kind of sucks when you can't speak to anyone."

Lily laughed, and for the first time for as long as she could remember, she felt a little bit of hope spark in her chest.