Father || Teen Wolf

12 - The ones who see

The smile that was placated on Lydia's face made it more seem like she was about to murder whoever had the nerve to stand in her way rather than suddenly burst into laughter. It had been there all morning as she had walked through the corridors holding her head even higher than usual, and it was still on her lips as she stared harshly at her chemistry handbook.

She was holding her pencil with so much strength that her left hand had paled and there was now a small hole in the paper where the pencil tore it. She wouldn't have done anything differently had she been trying to dig a hole in her desk, yet her fellow classmates failed to tell her anything about it. She had the kind of reputation that prevented anyone from questioning her actions out loud or confront her regarding her highly unusual behavior.

It didn't take long for the rumors to start spreading, though. The other students remained silent but as soon as Lydia was out of earshot, they were quick to gossip about the change in Lydia's attitude and soon connected it to Jamie's absence. They had waited and waited, everyone in the classroom stealing glances at the door and at the clock, waiting to see if Jamie would show up. The suspense was high, as he hardly ever arrived on time.

After twenty minutes of intense stress for the students, and intense frustration from the teacher who had no idea why his entire class was so distracted for no apparent reason, it was decided. Jamie was no coming and Lydia's horrible mood kept degrading. Soon, everyone had put two and two together and even Allison's most clever attempts at containing the rumors failed.

The raven-haired girl sent glare after glare to those who merely glanced at Lydia with a smirk on their lips, shushed one heartless whisperer after another, and all around did everything she could to make Lydia's day better. Allison knew it was mostly pointless since the rumors were already going wild, as Lydia had pointed out multiple times, but she couldn't help but feel responsible for the current situation. Yes, she and the boys had saved Isaac, but it had been at the cost of not being there for their friends. And now Lydia was burying her feelings under a thick layer of anger and Jamie was nowhere to be found.

The mere thought of it all exhausted Allison and by the time gym class came around, she was in dire need of a distraction. Stiles took her place as Lydia's emotional support buddy (a job that basically consisted in attempting to make the girl actually smile), and Allison joined Scott on the gym mattresses.

The climbing wall towered above them all. Scott was taking in the sight of the colored grips, mapping them out in his head to try and find a safe path to the top. He was soon distracted in his task when Allison approached him. He still found it incredibly difficult to focus when Allison was near him, or at least, to focus on anything that wasn't Allison herself - his wide grin and amazed expression were proof of that.

Their attempts to spare Lydia the sight of their own happiness were noble but futile, as Scott couldn't stop looking at his girlfriend adoringly and Allison seemed incapable of preventing her hands from gently wrapping around his bicep, keeping him close. Their bond was simply too obvious to hide yet it didn't prevent Coach from calling out their names and gesture for them to take their chance at climbing. They were soon getting higher and higher, Scott heavily relying on his supernatural strength to make any sort of progress.

"Are you slowing down for me?" he asked Allison, noticing she hadn't moved in a few seconds while the next grip on her path was well in her reach.

The girl turned around and looked at him from higher up on the wall, a teasing smile on her lips. "I was waiting for you. You looked like you were struggling."

Scott tried to hold back a chuckle as the sudden movement could well make him lose his balance. With a teasing smile of his own, he replied, "Maybe I was just admiring the view."