How hard could it be? • LM / SS

Chapter 4

Jade breathed out a sigh of relief when she concluded that most of their classes were thankfully together. Her laminated sheet slightly crumpled in her grip, her hand having a mind of its own and refusing to loosen its hold. "Thank God."

"This is very critical of me, I'm aware, but please try to stop freaking out," Max whispered through gritted teeth, shooting a smile at a teacher that passed by.

"You're a genius. I have a switch that lets me turn my anxiety on and off. One sec. "Hey anxiety, this is kind of an inconvenient time so by any chance could you come back later, when I don't have things to do," her voice dripped heavily with sarcasm as she waved her hands about frantically.

"Oh, shut up. You're freaking out and it's making empath me panic," he explained with a hiss, ignoring the receptionist's heated glare on his back. This woman seriously needed to get a life and stop prying into private conversations.

She was about to quip back a response, her mouth falling slack when the door to the principal's office opened, two voices reaching their ears before they could put a face to it.

"Ah, you must be the Pierce twins!" the first person clapped his hands together, pulling down the handle of the door and walking towards them. His suit was neatly ironed, his dark hair slicked back. "I'm Principal Wilson," he extended a hand to the teenagers, who both awkwardly shook it in a panic.

Max dug his nails into the palm that was lying loosely by his side, trying to make his body tense. One thing about being a seer, was if there was something worth seeing about someone, he could often get visions, simply by coming into physical contact with that person. It was weird, but it was something he got used to after a while. For a few years when he was a child, he had been forced to wear gloves all the time because his visions had been that bad. Thankfully, it had gotten easier to control, and that was what he was hoping would happen with his empathy.

"You two aren't the only new students today! This is Allison Argent."

A tall girl with glossy brown hair stepped into view from the side of the principal, her lightly applied makeup shimmering in the light. The harsh glow from the lamp in the ceiling drew attention to the deep blue scarf wrapped around her neck. She was very pretty, that much was easily noticeable. She lifted a hand by her side in a pathetic attempt at a wave, to which the pair returned with a forced smile.

Jade could already tell that they were gonna be good friends. She generally prided herself on being able to get a feel for people when it came to first impressions; she could usually read them like an open book, in other words.

"I think you all have history with Mr Rossiter first period?" the principal asked, beginning the long walk down the corridors when they nodded in agreement. "Alright, so I'm just going to bring you to that class and you can introduce yourselves!" He was a very enthusiastic man, a bit too enthusiastic for this early in the morning.

Max was the closest to Principal Wilson, so he naturally got dragged into talking to him. It was just a bunch of questions about his family, if he was liking the town so far- the usual questions that struck up a conversation. He was good at talking and being polite towards adults though- better than his sister, who often had the bluntness of a dull pencil- so he would more than likely be fine. Half of the time he liked talking to adults more than people his own age. Jade didn't blame him; teenagers could be brutal.

Then there was the other sentence he had casually mentioned; icebreakers. She hated icebreakers. If she ever found out who invented them, she was going to have to curse them. Why teachers thought they were a good idea, she had no idea. Say your name and three interesting facts about yourself were the best way to put someone under pressure and make them doubt every sense of identity they had ever gotten.

"Hi," Allison whispered, her face close to the blonde's as she tried to catch her attention. She wasn't the best at starting a conversation, so it was a big step for her. The girl seemed to be in a world of her own, anyway, so it brought the anxiety down a bit.

"Hey," Jade adjusted her bag that had slipped, snapping out of her thoughts. The girl's shoulders bumped together as they strolled, trying to keep up with the quick pace of the two people in front of them. Jade coughed, getting a blast full of vanilla body spray, no doubt from the brunette beside her. It was a nice scent, just heavily overpowering. A bit like sharpies, where if you used them for too long, they started to give you a migraine and make you feel woozy.

"Are you nervous?"

"Kind of yeah. You?" Jade snickered quietly, wiping her hands into her skirt.

"Yeah, me too. What brings you to Beacon Hills?" Allison asked, trying to chit-chat with the girl, but it was coming out more embarrassing than what she had intended. She wasn't good at small talk, never fully being able to get the hang of it. Even in her other schools- too many to keep track of- she had never been able to keep friendships for longer than a year. It didn't even have to do with the fact that she was constantly moving, but more so because she was so socially awkward that it was painful.

"Max and I are staying with our aunt and cousin for a while," Jade shrugged, trying not to let the heat rush to her face. The twins had seen eye to eye that they weren't going to mention anything about their parent's death. There were too many pitiful looks and people avoiding the conversation of parents altogether that came with people knowing. Thinking about it now, they probably should let Scott and Stiles in on the agreement at some point, because they both had big mouths, although that was what made them. "What about you?"

"My family moves around a lot for my dad's job," she nodded along, trying to play it off casually. This was one of the first times she actually hoped it would work out, that they could stay in Beacon Hills this time. Maybe then she would have a chance of making some real, lasting friends. That was something that she found the most difficult. It seemed that whenever she got used to a place, they moved again.

"That's cool!" Jade replied, mentally slapping herself for the amount of excitement in her voice. God, the principal's tone was rubbing off on her. They fell quiet when they approached a yellow door, their first class.

The group entered behind Mr Wilson, the man pulling the teacher to the side to have a word. Max caught sight of Scott and Stiles, who sent him reassuring smiles.

"This is Jade and Max Pierce and Allison Argent," Mr Rossiter said, pointing at them individually and waving around a marker. "You can take a seat where ever is available."

Allison made a b-line to the seat directly behind Scott, Jade taking the vacant seat next to her new friend. Meanwhile, Max took the seat behind Stiles, who turned around and sent a thumbs up and grin his way.

The class settled soon after the interruption, only a few curious and intrigued glances sent the new students' way. They were learning about the French revolution and had already been assigned questions and notes to answer and take down, making the time fly by.

But the longer Max sat in class, the more he felt uneasy. A feeling, that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get rid of. A feeling that this was only going to end badly.

Very badly indeed.

A/N:

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