Not for the first time, Josie debated if it would be worth it to kill herself over her English homework.
Suicide was one of her preferred ways to go. The last thing Josie wanted was to die in some gruesome way that forced a closed-casket funeral. If she was going to be forever fifteen, then she wanted to look good doing it. A bottle of her old painkillers would leave a pretty corpse.
Her morbidity wasn't anything new. By age ten, Josie had already planned everything she wanted for her funeral. When she proudly presented her mother with her plan, Melati just smiled. She ran a hand over her daughter's inky hair and pulled her close. She whispered into the crown of Josie's head, "You have some time before you die, my little ghost."
One day, during an art therapy session in Road to Recovery's sunroom, Josie asked Bea if she would, hypothetically, come to her funeral. After having Josie repeat the question, her therapist just shook her head and claimed she 'refused to dignify that with an answer.'
Josie still wrote down Bea's name on her funeral guest list when she was discharged. Though the faded pink paper from her elementary school diary was filled with crossed-out names in scrawled handwriting, there was just enough space at the bottom corner.
Just as Josie was on the precipice of starting to work on her funeral plans again, Allison threw herself against the locker next to her. Resisting the urge to flinch, Josie took a deep breath and looked away from the inside of her locker to meet Allison's large eyes.
"Tell me I can keep ignoring Scott." The pleading note in Allison's voice made the side of Josie's mouth twitch up. "I know he deserves it, but he keeps looking at me all sad."
"He deserves it." Josie confirmed. "He left you stranded at a party where you knew almost no one."
"And I know that!" Allison looked over her shoulder. "But…"
Resting her head on the bank of metal lockers, Josie raised her eyebrows.
On Saturday, Allison had been full of righteous anger that didn't leave her until Josie suggested she scream into her pillow. It had only taken a few minutes before Allison's parents were knocking on her door concerned by the sound of loud giggles and muffled screams.
On Sunday, Allison had been adamant in the plan to ignore Scott. While Lydia wanted to make the boy squirm for a few days, Allison's anger was already fading. Over text, the two decided on a day of ignoring him before hearing his apology.
Josie, who was fully prepared to advocate for Lydia's idea, was unable to participate. Just as the texts started to roll in, Josie's nail appointment began. She could only watch helplessly as unread messages and calls began to flash on her screen. Her twitching fingers only got her bloody cuticles and reprimands from the nail technician.
"But…" Josie urged.
"How am I supposed to stay mad at those eyes? It's unfair!" Allison whined, shoulders slumping and eyes scrunching shut.
"Stay strong." Josie encouraged. She tapped the toe of her black combat boot on the dirty floor tile next to Allison's bag. "You made it through our first period, and that's probably the worst it's gonna get."
"The worst what's going to get?" Lydia appeared at Allison's side with a raised eyebrow. With her strawberry blonde curls falling artfully over her shoulders and her freshly-applied lipgloss, Josie could almost believe Lydia had missed lunch to work on homework. They all fully knew she was making out with Jackson in the library-Josie because she was actually working on homework and Allison because Josie told her. "The Scott thing?"
Josie nodded seriously as Allison reluctantly opened her eyes.
Lydia sighed impatiently. She shoved her books into Josie's arms and placed her hands on her hips. "If you fold now, you're just giving him permission to do this again."
Awkwardly trying to accommodate Lydia's book with her own, Josie nodded emphatically. "Seriously. It's your choice to give him a second chance at all, but you gotta show you won't just brush this off."
"I know that you guys are right, but I feel so bad." Allison said.
"Think with your head, not your vagina." Lydia suggested casually.
"Says the one who ditched me at lunch to make out with her boyfriend!" Allison accused, dramatically pointing a finger in Lydia's direction.
Lydia's mouth opened and closed silently before her head whipped around to stare at Josie. Lydia's green eyes narrowed as she hissed, "You little Judas bitch."
Josie shrugged her shoulders innocently. "Don't make out in public places if you don't want me snitching. I was scarred for life, like, I didn't know someone's tongue could go that far down another person's throat."
As Allison choked on air and Lydia smacked Josie on the arm, the bell rang to signal the end of their lunch period. The hallway began to flood with people. Allison reluctantly picked up her bag, eyes dimming at the prospect of seeing Scott.
"Allison, it'll be okay." Josie smiled encouragingly at the taller girl before turning away. "Lydia, take your shit."
Lydia listened with an angelic smile and scooped her books from Josie's hands. "So, how'd you like the nail place?"
Josie fell into step with Lydia and Allison trailed despondently behind them. "I loved it! They did amazing and I will forever trust your recommendations. I was going to go for a black but the nail tech convinced me to go for this blue."
Putting her hand on display in front of them, Josie wiggled her fingers softly to display the color. The dark blue looked black at first glance but reflected a deep blue-green in the light.
Lydia gave a hum of approval and Allison peeked her head over their shoulders in interest. A soft 'ooh' left the taller girl's mouth and she watched in fascination.
"How do you manage to get your nails that long?" Allison wondered aloud. Her eyebrows were knit together.
Both girls in front of Allison turned to her in tandem. While Josie struggled to keep an eye on the hallway in front of her, Lydia was content to give her full attention to Allison, confident that people would for her.
"Oh, they're not." Josie flexed her hand and wiggled her fingers in Allison's face. "All plastic."
Lydia shook her head. "Acrylic nails are made out of an acrylic polymer mixed with a liquid monomer." At Josie's blank look and Allison's incredulous stare, she gave a strained laugh. "That's plastic, right?"
"No clue," Josie answered. "Either way, I'd never get my actual nails this long. I used to bite them."
"That's disgusting." Lydia gave an affronted look to Josie before slipping into the classroom. She led the trio to their usual spots at the back of the room.
"Most definitely." Josie followed. "That's the whole reason I started getting them."
Allison pouted. "I was never allowed to have fun nails. I always did too many sports."
"Well, unless you're planning on joining the lacrosse team, I think that we can fix that." Lydia and Allison had barely settled into their seats before Lydia reached over the aisle and snatched one of Allison's hands.
Allison made a brief noise of protest but otherwise seemed content enough for Lydia to criticize her nails.
Josie settled into the seat behind Allison and nodded along as Lydia explained a design that she thought would look good on Allison's short nails. She wasn't truly listening to Lydia's explanation of what colors would go with Allison's undertones.
Instead, she was watching Scott stumble dully into the room. He looked worse than he did in their morning English class and Josie couldn't help but feel a stab of sympathy for him. He looked genuinely heartbroken at Allison's lack of reaction to him walking in the room.
Then, Josie remembered the devastated look on Allison's face and the tears in her eyes after Scott left her at Lydia's party. Her sympathy disappeared.
In a move of clear desperation, Scott made eye contact with Josie from across the room. He raised his eyebrows and widened his eyes in a plea for help.
Startled that a teenage boy was trying to puppy-dog eyes on her, Josie's face went slack in confusion. She shook her head subtly. Once Scott started to shake his hands in prayer at her from where he was slumped in his seat, Josie rolled her eyes and shifted her body away from him.
"Is he looking?" Allison went to peer over her shoulder, but Lydia yanked at her hand roughly.
"It doesn't matter." Lydia said sharply.
"He totally is." Josie shrugged at Lydia's indignant look. "She's gonna talk to him in like two hours. I think Romeo and Juliet can survive that."
Lydia just dropped Allison's hand and opened her notebook primly.
For the rest of class, Josie couldn't help but watch Scott shoot increasingly despairing looks at Allison. Knowing that Allison was going to inevitably forgive him, Josie could enjoy the soap opera playing out in front of her.
As soon as the bell rang, Lydia was pulling Allison into the hall.
"Don't look at me," Josie said as Scott sullenly fell into step with her. "You're the one that ditched her."
"Is she ever going to forgive me?" Scott asked, tugging on his backpack straps.
Yeah, in about an hour and a half.
"You haven't even properly apologized to her." Josie reminded him. As Scott opened his mouth to interject, Josie shot him a stern look. "Text apologies don't count. Just don't lie to her or make some shitty excuse, and you should be fine."
"Thanks, Josie." Scott smiled brightly.
Josie gave a small smile in return and turned down the hallway to her next class. She always felt like she was performing charity by talking to her friends' boyfriends-or almost boyfriends. While it may not feel pleasant in the moment, it always made her feel better about herself around an hour later.
Once she started down the hallway, it took exactly five seconds for someone to grab onto Josie's exposed forearm.
It took exactly three seconds of white noise in her brain before Josie wrenched her arm away.
The feeling of a calloused hand wrapping around her forearm sent Josie spinning. The hallway suddenly rose in temperature as humidity prickled up the back of her neck. On the edges of her hearing, Josie could hear waves hitting the shore.
Squeezing her eyes to fight the way her vision dipped, Josie bit the inside of her cheek as hard as she could. The blooming pain in her mouth gave her something new to focus on. Instead of dank water in her mouth, Josie could begin to distinguish the metallic taste of blood.
It could've been seconds that she stood there in the hallway, tongue probing the wound inside her mouth, or it could've been hours. By the time Josie's heart had resumed a normal pace, she could feel her blood pooling in her mouth. Swallowing a mouthful of blood, Josie opened her eyes.
Stiles stared back at her in confusion and no small amount of alarm.
Of all fucking people, it had to be him.
She didn't know what it was with Stiles but he was managing to find her at all her most vulnerable moments. Every emotional bruise felt poked at. In the week that she'd known him, Stiles had already seen her with her scar on full display, bleeding from the nose, drunk at a party, and completely undone at her house. The thought of Allison seeing her scar still made Josie want to vomit, but Stiles, someone Josie had only talked to a handful of times, had seen it.
It wasn't fair. For some reason, the universe wanted Stiles to jump over every one of Josie's boundaries and check-points; it felt like he was cheating in a game that Josie didn't know how to play.
"What the hell?" Josie snapped, pulling her arm closer to her. Though she wasn't sure how much time had passed, the hallway around them was deserted. "Don't fucking touch me."
Stiles gaped at her.
Josie harshly tugged the sleeves of her peach shirt back down over hands. Her arms crossed defensively over her chest and one hand curled around the strap of her overalls. She picked at the corduroy fabric nervously with her nail.
"Seriously, what's your deal?" Josie shifted uncomfortably.
"Are you for real? What's my deal?" Stiles threw his hands up before rubbing harshly at his face. "What the hell is your deal? I didn't even say a single word to you yet!"
"I would've preferred that over you randomly grabbing me!" Josie shot back.
"I said your name, like, a million times!"
"Not very well, apparently!"
"'Not very well…'" Stiles repeated incredulously. "What does-what does that even mean? I swear to god, it's like everyone around here is going insane."
The last part didn't seem directed at her, but Josie still narrowed her eyes at him. "It means you shouldn't go around touching people."
"Jesus, I got it." Stiles sighed and raised his hands in surrender. "I just wanted to know if you still had my jacket from this weekend."
"Yeah," Josie nodded, forcing her shoulders to relax. "I can give it to you after lacrosse practice. Jackson and Lydia are giving me a ride."
Though he seemed disgruntled at the mention of Jackson's name, Stiles nodded and attempted a smile. "Great! This time, I will make sure to throw some lacrosse balls or something at you if you don't hear me."
Because he was obviously trying to lighten the tension and get a laugh, Josie managed a tight smile. It fell flat and Stiles gave an awkward chuckle that quickly petered out.
"Okay, that was… definitely not my best work." One of Stiles's nervous hands scratched at the back of his neck. For all his awkwardness, he seemed genuine. "But, seriously, like, message received. Touching is a no-go."
Josie nodded again. "Good."
Not in the mood for more tense conversation, Josie quickly turned in the direction of her next class. Checking her phone, Josie sighed in relief. She was only ten minutes late.
Josie floated through the rest of the day. While she was aware that she answered questions in class, had a conversation with Allison, and even backtracked to ask her English teacher for an extension on her Kafka assignment, Josie couldn't recall a single word that she said.
All she knew is that one minute she was walking away from the Stiles in the hallway and the next she was sitting on cold bleachers next to Lydia. Everything in-between felt like a dream.
Lydia, who was typing intently on her phone, seemed to be content to sit in silence. Other than asking about borrowing Josie's clothes for a potential date that weekend-to which Josie reminded her that she wore a size 10 and Lydia physically couldn't fit into most of them-Lydia hadn't said a word.
Josie was grateful for Lydia's silence. It seemed the strawberry blonde had picked up on Josie's distant mood and didn't have a problem accommodating it.
Josie rested her head on her hand and let her eyes slip shut. She was always exhausted after her anger slipped away. While it lasted, anger was something akin to caffeine that sent Josie spinning. Afterwards, she felt drained.
Just as she was about to drift off, a shrill yell came from the field.
Josie cracked an eye open at the sudden excitement.
A circle of lacrosse players were surrounding someone writhing in pain on the ground. Judging by the way Lydia rocketed to her feet, Josie assumed it was Jackson. He seemed to be gripping his shoulder. Coach Finstock was crouched next to him, asking him questions with a worried expression. The coach stood up and yelled for someone named Greenberg to 'get his useless ass up and call a goddamn ambulance.'
Josie, now interested enough to open both eyes, caught movement in the peripheral of her vision. On the other side of the field, far from the action, was Stiles and Scott. Leaning over, Josie could just make out their figures past the bleachers.
Stiles was hurriedly ushering a hunched-over Scott to the locker room, his hand on Scott's back, looking back anxiously. Josie raised her eyebrows-just when she thought Stiles and Scott couldn't get any weirder, they proved her wrong.
Lydia shifted nervously on the bleacher, eyebrows knit together. She ran a hand through her curls in a haphazard way that Josie recognized as a nervous habit.
"What happened?" Josie was only vaguely interested in the health of her friend's boyfriend. She'd done her good deed for the day when she talked to Scott. "Is he hurt?"
"Well, he's not lying there for fun." Lydia snapped.
"If you wanna go find out, I can call Baba for a ride." Josie offered. Because Lydia was itching to know what was happening to Jackson and Josie was decidedly not, she gave her friend an out. "She should be done with her friend in, like, half an hour or something."
Lydia only took a second to debate the offer in her head. "Text me when you get home, so I know you didn't get into any strange cars."
"You take a ride from a random guy one time…" Josie joked. After hearing how both Allison and Josie had taken a ride from Derek Hale after her party, Lydia was appalled. She had berated both her friends for what felt like hours about the dangers of it. She had only stopped when Josie promised that they both knew the dangers of being a teenage girl.
"When you end up on Dateline, I'll make sure to give a good interview." Lydia flashed a strained smile before hurrying her way to the field. "I'll text you about Jackson later."
Josie didn't waste any time in leaving the bleachers. While she enjoyed gossip and drama as much as anyone else, Josie didn't particularly like Lydia's boyfriend. Jackson was reluctantly nice to her when Lydia was around and tended to ignore her when Lydia wasn't. Josie was content with that. Frankly, she thought he was a bitch and Lydia deserved better.
Jackson seemed to warm slightly more to Allison-meaning, he spoke to her on occasion. While Allison was willing to try and have a friendship with Lydia's dick of a boyfriend, Josie wasn't. All it meant was Allison had to listen to complaints about lacrosse season and other players while Josie didn't.
Carefully making her way to the front of the school, Josie absentmindedly hoped Jackson got a minor injury. Something like a bruised shoulder or a strained muscle would do. It would be even better if nothing was wrong; Jackson would be mortified at how he acted and Josie could gossip about his low pain tolerance. Either scenario would knock him down a couple pegs.
Josie put those dark hopes in a small corner of her brain to never speak about and texted Baba.
There wasn't much hope for her grandmother to respond quickly to her. Because Baba had long retired from her job as a secretary, she held many different hobbies and schedules that Josie could never keep up with. There was a county-wide bingo competition every week, cards at her friend Maureen's on Wednesday nights, brunch with her book club on Friday, poker tournaments being held in basements, and constant trips to see shows in the city.
Currently, Baba was having her friend Siobhan over for tea. While Josie vaguely remembered Siobhan from past childhood visits to Baba, she decided to make herself scarce and stay for lacrosse practice. Even though Baba claimed she didn't mind, Josie knew that the older woman missed her privacy and the freedom to do whatever she wanted without a teenager underfoot.
So Josie settled herself into one of the school's front benches to wait.
After losing five rounds of Tetris on her phone, Josie could see people beginning to leave practice. Josie guessed there wasn't much use in practicing while Jackson groaned in pain on the field.
A few of the more familiar lacrosse players waved to her as they crossed the parking lot to their cars. Josie raised her hand in response. As a supposed benefit of being friends with Lydia, Josie was introduced to the majority of them during her first week of school.
Thankfully, Josie's disinterest in making friends was obvious and they were happy to leave her alone. It only took a couple awkward and disjointed conversations before the rest of Lydia's friends stopped trying. The strawberry blonde informed Josie that everyone thought her 'mysterious bitch' act was equal parts intriguing and hot.
Frowning as her phone flashed a 'low battery' sign across the screen, Josie heard two people talking in low tones coming down the sidewalk behind her. Without the distraction of her phone, Josie easily decided that being nosy was her best option.
Immediately upon looking up, Josie was faced with an arguing Scott and Stiles.
They were far enough away that Josie couldn't make out any words, but close enough that she could see the frustrated look on Scott's face. Stiles was, naturally, talking a mile a minute as he ushered Scott along.
Scott turned away from Stiles, jostling the other boy's arm loose with an exaggerated sound of annoyance. To avoid laughing, Josie sucked in a harsh breath. Scott whipped his head around to stare at Josie with a startled face. He hesitantly waved at her.
Josie didn't have it in her to be ashamed at her blatant staring and waved back.
A grin broke out over Scott's face. Scampering over to the bench, he left Stiles standing alone with an offended look on his face. Scott stopped just short of Josie and smiled. "Allison's giving me a second chance."
"I know." Josie didn't understand how Scott thought she didn't know this. "I helped her decide how long to ignore you for. I wanted her to let you sweat a bit, but she felt bad."
"No offense, but I'm happy she didn't listen to you." Scott said. His brown hair was flopping in his face and his practice jersey was sitting oddly on his shoulder. Even with the short practice they had, Scott managed to look like he'd taken fifteen laps.
As his eyes crinkled from the force of his smile, Josie felt her heart thaw a bit. She suddenly understood why Allison found it hard to ignore him. Determined not to let Scott McCall's puppy eyes get the best of her, Josie forced her smile away. "You're still on probation."
Scott nodded earnestly. "Yes, ma'am."
"Dude, what the hell? I was in the middle of a whole thing!" Stiles had finally recovered from being abandoned by Scott and stomped his way to the bench. His arms were crossed angrily over his chest and he had an annoyed jut to his hips. Even in his practice jersey while awkwardly carrying his lacrosse bag, Stiles looked every inch an angry mom. "It's, like, super rude."
"Sorry, dude." Scott shrugged sheepishly. "I swear it was important."
Josie smiled innocently. "Or maybe I'm just more fun to talk to."
Stiles sputtered for a few seconds before rolling his eyes. "I'm not taking the bait on that one. Mainly because it's obviously not true."
"It was a bit obvious." Josie conceded. "Not my best work on starting an argument."
Before Stiles could find a way to successfully start an argument, Scott broke in. "What are you still doing here?"
Josie followed his pointed look around the deserted parking lot. At the questioning silence, and realization Stiles wasn't going to interrupt her, she answered, "I'm waiting for my grandma to come pick me up. She should be here in, like, twenty-ish minutes."
"I don't know," Scott said. He gave Stiles a look that Josie was sure he meant to be subtle. Instead, Scott raised his eyebrows purposefully and indicated with his head to the woods around them. "Is it safe for you to be waiting around by yourself? Just with all the…"
Josie raised her eyebrows as he trailed off.
"All the wildlife!" Stiles finished loudly, slapping Scott aggressively on the back. Though he was smiling, Stiles's eyes seemed slightly panicked. "Tons of dangerous wildlife around here! Can't be too careful, especially when it comes to rabies."
Utterly confused, Josie looked between the two. Scott was smiling earnestly while Stiles looked like he was about to start listing off the symptoms of rabies.
"Probably not," Josie tentatively started. "But I can't really do anything about it, so I'll just avoid animals that are foaming at the mouth?"
At her statement, the two boys looked at each other and proceeded to have a conversation through animated facial expressions. After thirty seconds, they seemed to reach an agreement. Josie, still wildly confused, had no clue what it was.
"Stiles could always take you home," Scott offered.
Put off by the odd interactions between the boys, Josie bit the inside of her cheek. They seemed harmless enough, but guys always seemed harmless until they weren't. "I can just wait for Baba."
Stiles seemed happy to take her word for it, but Scott grabbed him by the elbow. "I can't let Allison think I left you out here alone." Scott pleaded. "I'm on probation, remember?"
"Fine." Josie agreed, hoping it would end the weird conversation. She looked at Stiles. "You drive the blue Jeep, right?"
Because his car wasn't exactly inconspicuous, and was the only one still in the parking lot, Josie didn't wait for an answer. She adjusted her backpack over her shoulders, smiled a goodbye to Scott, and walked towards it.
The boys muttered a few more argued words before Josie could hear Stiles follow behind her. He was still muttering under his breath and Josie smiled at the sound of it.
It took a small hop for Josie to get into the car and she teetered for a split second as her right foot stumbled against the floor. Flopping ungracefully in the passenger seat, Josie looked over to where Stiles was staring at her. "What?"
It took Stiles a few seconds to create an answer. He debated with himself before a mischievous smile slowly grew over his face. "Nothing. I just wasn't expecting that to be such a difficult thing to do."
Josie smiled at the poorly concealed laughter in his voice. Closing the door and buckling herself in, she resolutely didn't look at him until they were pulling out of the parking lot. "It wasn't difficult-just high. And don't start with any short jokes! 5'3" is a perfectly respectable height."
Stiles huffed a laugh and raised his hands off the wheel in a short show of surrender. "Okay, okay. I wasn't going to."
Josie nodded sarcastically. "Oh, of course not. I would never expect that from you."
Other than the crackling sound of the radio, it was mainly silent in the car. Josie shifted slightly, uncomfortably aware of how the seat creaked under her thighs, and unzipped the bag resting at her feet.
She placed the balled-up bundle of fabric gently on the dashboard as Stiles rounded a turn. "Here's your jacket. It's washed and everything, but it may smell like cherries for a while. So, sorry about that."
Stiles, who had been nodding along to Josie's words, scrunched his eyebrows together. "What? Why cherries?"
"A perfume bottle broke in the bottom of my bag a couple weeks ago." Josie refused to admit it had broken because Mango wanted to play tug of war with her bookbag. Mainly, she didn't want to admit how badly she'd lost. "The smell is mostly gone, but it's still there."
Unable to decide how he felt about it, Stiles just nodded with a confused look on his face.
"I wanted to say thank you for making sure I got home okay after the party. And for making sure Allison did, too." Josie focused her attention out the foggy window. She knew if she looked at Stiles, she wouldn't say it. "It was really nice of you. You didn't have to do it."
"Um, thank you for not dying?" Stiles's nervous voice upticked into a question.
Josie drew a star in the fog on the window. The cool condensation sent her hand back to hide under her shirt sleeve. "I'm serious. You don't really know me. I get you going to check on Allison for Scott, but you didn't have a reason to check on me. I really do appreciate it, even if I have a hard time showing it."
At the lingering silence after words, Josie risked a glance at Stiles.
His hands were clasped loosely on the wheel as his eyes darted between her and the road. A soft blush was creeping up his neck. The color only made the freckles dotting his skin stick out more.
As brown eyes met hers, Josie began to feel a blush of her own rising. To avoid eye contact, she chose to look at the pattern on the collar of his jersey. Close enough that he knew she was still talking to him, but far enough away that she couldn't meet his eyes accidentally.
"Also, I really don't care what the deal is with you and Scott, and why you guys are acting so weird, but try to keep Allison out of it." Josie could swear she saw Stiles's pulse jump.
"There-There's no deal with me and Scott! We don't act weird. We act normal for two teenage guys." Stiles defended.
"You guys really don't." Josie crossed her legs. "You're both super cagey about the weirdest things. Like, the whole 'wildlife' thing? You could've just used 'men' as an excuse. It was right there."
"Wild animals are an underrated danger!" Stiles seemed personally offended. "Once you get rabies that is it-you're screwed. There is no cure, like, you're dead from the start. Fatality rate at 100. You're done-zo."
Josie couldn't help her giggle as Stiles emphasized each sentence by hitting his hand on the steering wheel. "I think it's raccoons that are the most common carriers of rabies?"
"Really?" Stiles glanced over at Josie.
She nodded emphatically. "They're so cute that I can forgive them for it. Actually, it might be bats, but I'm not completely sure. Give me a second to look it up."
Stiles gestured for her to hurry up.
"Anyways, like I said, I don't care," Josie grabbed her phone from her pocket. She tried to hide how curious she truly was about him and Scott. She wasn't a very good liar, so she hoped driving and their discussion of rabies was enough of a distraction for Stiles. "I just don't want Allison getting hurt."
"That's the last thing Scott wants." Stiles replied. "Trust me, despite my advice, it is his number one priority."
"Good." Josie nodded. She frowned in concentration as she looked through search results. "We're in agreement."
It was only silent for a brief second.
"Ooh! I found it!" Josie couldn't help her small happy wiggle. "I was right! It is raccoons by a tiny amount."
"I could see that," Stiles agreed. From the corner of her eye, Josie could swear he was doing his best to stare at her. When she looked over, Stiles was watching the road but he still looked slightly dazed. "It's got to be all the trash eating they do, right?"
"For animals so cute, they can be so gross." Josie added another star to her collection on the window. "Their fur feels funny, too. Like a husky."
Stiles made an unintelligible noise that still managed to sound disgusted. "Dude, what the hell? Do not tell me you've, like, petted a raccoon."
"Okay, I won't tell you."
"Josie, that is so gross! We've literally just established that they're the number one carrier of rabies! Did you just stake out the town dump or something until one wandered close enough?"
Laughing at the mental image, Josie shook her head. "When I say I'm from Washington, I mean that I lived pretty deep in the woods. Our back porch had some raccoons that hung around in the winter. They were pretty friendly." She couldn't help another laugh as Stiles gave her an affronted look. "I'm not lying!"
Josie knew she didn't look the part of someone who would happily pet a raccoon and live in the backwoods of Washington. For the most part, people assumed she lived in Seattle when she mentioned her old home. They never pictured the modern home that her parents built in the middle of the forest next to a large stream and popular hiking trail.
At Stiles's disbelieving look, Josie said, "I know, I know. I don't look the type."
She gestured down at her outfit: a peachy pink shirt covered by black corduroy overalls that Josie took in at the waist to fit her hips better, silver septum piercing that matched her shiny jewelry, and pink socks that peeked out the top of her black boots. Josie knew her soft makeup and artfully messy braids didn't help the image of her being someone who would voluntarily pet a wild animal.
Stiles shook his head adamantly. "No, no, no, it's not that! You look great-like, amazing even-but I can't imagine you with a raccoon. Or in a place with dirt."
For both their sakes, Josie ignored the compliment hidden in Stiles's fast-paced words. She felt heat rush to her face anyways. "You've seen me at Baba's, though, the night after the party. I was pretty undone then, so imagine that version of me petting a raccoon."
Face scrunched together in concentration, Stiles seemed to take Josie seriously enough to try. After a second, he shook his head. "Nah, still not working."
Shaking her head, Josie gave a secret smile to herself. It made her chest feel funny to think of Stiles imagining her how she was the night he came to Baba's-hair in messy waves, face scrubbed clean, and freckles on full display. Josie decided it was residual annoyance from her earlier argument with Stiles.
Her phone buzzed softly. Hoping it was Baba finally answering her, Josie eagerly picked it up off her lap. Instead, texts from Lydia flashed across the screen.
lyds
They think Jackson has a separated shoulder. (5:09 p.m)
Currently waiting on the world's slowest doctor to confirm (5:10 p.m)
I could get my own M.D. before this idiot shows up. (5:10 p.m)
A small traitorous noise of amusement left Josie. A separated shoulder would hopefully stop Jackson from playing in Friday's game. Of course, he would make everyone around him miserable, but he did that anyway.
"What is it?" Stiles asked. His curiosity was almost as bad as Josie's and he was worse at hiding it.
"Jackson has a separated shoulder." Josie reported. She didn't try very hard to hide the amusement in her voice.
Stiles sent her a sidelong glance. "Should I be concerned by how happy you are at your friend getting hurt?"
"Jackson isn't my friend." Josie protested before typing out a sympathetic text to Lydia. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Sadly, he's dating my friend. I am so close to offering Lydia money to dump him."
"There's issues between Jackson and Lydia?" Stiles perked up in a move that reminded Josie of Scott. His voice was undeniably excited.
Josie shot him her own confused look. "Should I be concerned by how happy you are with Lydia and Jackson having issues?"
"Oh, come on." Stiles scoffed but Josie could tell it was forced. The bright blush from earlier was back in full force. His attempts at acting casual weren't subtle and something new twisted in Josie's chest. "Jackson is a dick and everyone knows it. Lydia deserves better than that."
"Oh!" Josie's eyes widened as the dots connected in her mind. Stiles flinched at Josie's exclamation and she winced. Making sure to lower her voice slightly, Josie hit Stiles lightly on the arm. "Oh my god, you like Lydia."
"I don't like Lydia!" Stiles protested. His flushed face and wildly tapping fingers gave him away.
"So you wouldn't care if I said that she was thinking about breaking up with him?" Josie asked casually.
The car swerved as Stiles let out a high-pitched, "What?!"
Josie adjusted her seat belt from where it pulled tight against her shoulder. Slightly annoyed from Stiles's reaction, Josie faked a sympathetic voice. "It's good you don't care. Because she isn't going to break up with him."
"Dude, what the fuck?" At the heartbroken look that briefly flashed over Stiles's face, Josie felt a sliver of guilt in her gut. That sliver disappeared as Stiles rolled his eyes. "You were seriously lying?"
"Um, yeah." Josie nodded. "Just like how you were lying to me about liking Lydia."
"Fair point." Stiles nodded. "There's no point in me asking if she knows I exist, is there?"
Josie winced. "No, not really."
Stiles tried to hide the disappointment and hurt that flashed over his face. Josie shifted uncomfortably in her seat. As harsh as she was earlier with her teasing, Josie didn't want to actually hurt Stiles's feelings-not in the same way she wanted to hurt someone like Jackson's feelings. It didn't seem to matter, though. Stiles was still staring at the road with a distant look on his face.
Josie thanked any deity that was listening as Stiles turned into Baba's gravel driveway. After Josie's confirmation that Lydia had no clue who Stiles was, the easy conversation had faded.
Stiles shifted the Jeep into park and the silence hung heavy for a brief second.
Josie quickly unbuckled, determined to flee the car as quickly as she could. However, before she could even haul her bag onto her shoulders, a loud shout from the porch echoed to the car.
Baba was grinning on the front porch, barely visible behind the screens, with her long silver hair pinned on the top of her head. She was wearing a fuzzy green sweater and cradling Peaches in her arms. Balanced precariously in the crook of her elbow was a large plate, wrapped in cellophane, piled high with cookies and sweets.
As Baba inched closer to the Jeep, Josie giggled loudly. Peaches was snugly situated in a bright green sweater-the exact miniature of Baba's. She swung her door open and hopped out to take the wriggling dog into her arms.
Peaches nosed eagerly at Josie's neck. She gave a few scratches to the dog's head and the chihuahua flopped over onto his back lazily. Now holding the dog like a baby, Josie shifted her weight against the open door of the Jeep.
Baba was already talking excitedly to Stiles. The plate of sweets had been placed, and safely buckled, on the passenger seat.
Stiles nodded obediently as Baba explained each treat to him. He looked dazed as the older woman pointed to the tikvenik. His eyes flicked over her shoulder, meeting Josie's eyes, and Baba seemed to finally realize her granddaughter was standing next to her.
"Joey!" Baba's smile didn't falter as she turned. "You didn't tell me you were bringing this kind boy home again."
"Because he's just giving me a ride, Baba." Josie tried to placate her grandmother by gesturing to the plate of treats. "You're still giving him stuff. You're fulfilling your grandma duties."
"Yeah, this all looks fantastic! Especially the…uh, the…pumpkin things!" Stiles shot a desperate look at Josie. He pointed to the plate with a hopeful smile.
"The tikvenik." Josie said.
"Yeah, that one!" Stiles smiled brightly as Baba laughed.
"You're lucky I'm late or else I would be dragging you into this house for dinner." Baba said.
Josie tugged on her grandmother's coat sleeve. "Okay, stop holding the poor boy hostage. You already gave him some food and fattened him up, Baba Yaga."
Gasping dramatically at the name, Baba shot Josie an offended look. "Says the one who looks half-dead! You look so pale you could be a samodiva ready to bring about a disaster."
Josie stuck her tongue out at her grandmother. Whenever Baba brought up folktales and old myths, Josie knew she wasn't going to win any arguments. Mainly, because Baba knew more than her.
Stiles looked hopelessly confused and Josie resisted the urge to laugh.
Tugging harder on Baba's jacket, Josie waited until her grandmother turned to face her before dumping Peaches unceremoniously into her arms.
"Thanks for the ride, Stiles." Josie slammed the door shut and started walking purposely towards the house. She heard the Jeep begin to leave cautiously.
"Take the baby back." Baba shoved Peaches back into Josie's arms. Once her arms were free, Baba produced a pair of keys from the depths of her coat pocket. "I'm late for poker night at Talia's."
"I thought you were visiting with Siobhan today?" Josie shifted Peaches until the dog sighed contentedly. "And aren't cards on Wednesday?"
"Yes to both, sweetie." Baba moved to pull Josie into a hug but stopped herself. Instead, she tapped her fingers three times on Peaches's back.
Josie copied the gesture, tapping three times on her free arm.
With a quick "don't wait up," Baba was gone down the driveway and into the night.
Glancing down at the bundle of fur and fuzz in her arms, Josie pulled a face at Peaches. "Guess we're watching Jurassic Park by ourselves, huh?"
A loud bark from behind the front door and a flash of white fur at the window disagreed with Josie's statement.
"Okay, we're all watching the movie tonight."