Cry Me A River | Book Two/Season Two

4

I watch as Scott falls from the climbing wall. Allison must've pushed him. I'll have to high five her later.

It's been a few days since the full moon. I basically spent it running through the woods and trying not to kill anything. I also still haven't seen or heard from James. That's okay though. Is it?

I haven't been able to stop thinking about how I showed up to the school covered in blood with no memory of being attacked.

"Stilinski, Erica, let's go. The wall." Coach calls them over to climb. Stiles and I haven't really spoken and as of right now we're standing on opposite sides of the crowd, not daring to see what the other's doing. I do, however, look over at him when his name is called.

He smiles as he looks to Erica and then to the wall, seemingly excited, before running over to get his harness on.

By them time Erica is a quarter of the way to the top, Stiles is already coming back down. I smile to myself, proud of him for doing it so quickly.

Soon, though, my smile fades when Erica starts to cry. I rush over, ready to catch her if she falls.

"Erica. Dizzy? Is it vertigo?" Coach asks, ignorant as always.

"Vertigo's a dysfunction of the vestibular system of the inner ear. She's just freaking out." Lydia says, pointing up to her. I roll my eyes.

"Erica, are you okay?" I ask, not moving from below her.

"I'm fine." She pushes out, her voice shaky.

"Coach, maybe it's not safe. You know she's epileptic." Allison says to Coach, earning a confused look from him.

"Why doesn't anybody tell me this stuff?" Coach rhetorically asks. "Erica, you're fine. Just kick off from the wall. There's a mat to catch you." He assures her.

"Come on, Erica. You've got this." I encourage her. She slowly eases herself down, landing on her feet on the mat. "See? You're okay." I remind her.

"Let's go. Shake it off. You're fine." Coach tries to say in an optimistic way but actually produces laughter from the crowd of students.

Erica puts her head down as she walks away from me and everyone else, trying to ignore their whispers and laughs.

I watch as she walks away, wondering if I should go say something. I feel like that would only make it worse. Knowing that it was noticeable that she was upset.

I look down at my feet and think for a moment before Coach blows his whistle, signaling that class is over.

-

"Got 'em." Stiles says as he throws a set of keys down on the lunch table. I look at the keys before looking back down at my plate, poking my food with my fork. "Pick you up right after work tonight and we'll meet at the rink, cool?" Stiles asks, only talking to Scott. That only makes me sicker to my stomach.

I can't stop thinking about Erica's seizure. How maybe if I would've gone and talked to her, she wouldn't have tried to climb the wall again, and she'd have been fine. If someone had gone and talked to her.

As if on cue, a pair of cheetah print heels click-clack their way into the cafeteria. My jaw drops as Erica struts into view, as confident as ever. She makes her way over to a boy and takes his apple off of his tray, taking a bite out of it.

"What...the holy hell...is that?" Lydia asks, leaning on our table next to Stiles. Next to Stiles. Anger rises up inside of my chest at the sight of her so close to him, but then I remember he's not mine to be jealous of.

"It's Erica." Scott answers. I look to him and to Stiles as their jaws are practically on the floor before sighing and rising from my seat with my tray, ready to get out of here. When I think Stiles and Scott might go with me, they run the other way, after Erica.