Howling to the Heart || Isaac Lahey

52.

"You wanna ask Derek for help? Why? Why?" Stiles asked Scott as the trio walked down the hallway in school.

Today was officially their first day of junior year, and Neriah was tired. She managed to mess up her sleeping pattern over the summer, so last night she went to bed at three am while watching Pretty Little Liars. Not a good idea.

"He's got the triskele tattooed on his back," Scott reminded him. "So there has to be a way to do it without healing, right?"

"Okay, yeah, but still, doesn't he have his hands a little full?" Stiles pointed at the missing posters of Erica and Boyd stuck up on the notice board.

"I really hope they're okay," Neriah mumbled, nervously biting her lip.

No one had heard from either of them since Stiles was locked in a basement with them the same night he got taken after the lacrosse game. A feeling told Neriah they weren't okay, but she kept hoping.

"Look, these are the applications for the career advisor. I need them sorted," a British voice came from a room next to them and they walked toward it out of curiosity. "And whatever happened to the library while I was gone, I want it cleared up." They looked down into the office to see their old principal. When did he get back? "And what the hell is this?" He lifted up Gerard's sword, making all of their eyes go wide.

Stiles looked at them and then quickly put his head down, grabbing Neriah's hand as they hurried away. "Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming," the boy mumbled.

"Please let this be our year," Neriah pleaded, looking up at the roof.

"Hey, don't worry," Stiles said, throwing an arm over her shoulder as he looked down at her with a smile, "this is our year, and it can definitely be our year when you finally say yes to being my girlfriend."

"I told you that you gotta take me on a date first," she reminded him with a pointed look.

"I'm planning one," he hummed, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as she smiled.

"You guys have English now with that new teacher, right?" Scott asked, walking beside Neriah. She almost forgot he was there while she was in her little world of Stiles.

"Yeah, Miss Blake," Neriah confirmed. "You're in our class too, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah," Scott repeated, shaking his head.

A few minutes later they walked into class and Neriah sat near the window, taking her leather jacket off as Stiles sat down beside her and Scott sat down on the other side of him.

Allison and Lydia walked in a second later and Neriah sent Stiles and Scott a pointed cough with a look to Allison as Lydia sat down in front of her, leaving only an open seat in front of Scott.

Scott twiddled his thumbs together, nervously glancing at Allison and then at his friends as Neriah silently laughed, covering her mouth.

The pair of exes awkwardly shared a few words and Neriah was cringing so hard that her face was starting to hurt.

Once Allison sat down, Scott sent them a flustered look and Stiles enthusiastically gave him a thumbs up as Neriah shook her head. A pair of idiots.

Neriah's phone vibrated in the back pocket of her jeans as other phones chimed around them and she raised her brows, pulling her phone out to see a message from an unknown number.

"'The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds and the tranquil waterway, leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed somber under an overcast sky, seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness.'" Neriah looked up to see the female voice belonging to a lady in her mid-twenties walking into class. I'll take a guess that she's Miss Blake. "This is the last line to the first book we are going to read," Miss Blake informed them, leaning back against her desk as she lifted up her phone. "It is also the last text you will receive in this class. Phones off, everyone."