Perennial

Chapter 5

Tessa walked out of class with Liam and Mason, discussing the history test they had next week. Liam stopped mid conversation, looking up at something. Mason and Tessa stopped as well, sharing a confused glance before following Liam's gaze.

He was looking at Kira Yukimura, a junior who was friends with Scott and Stiles. She was walking down the stairs in all her beautiful glory while making intense eye contact with Liam.

What the hell? Tessa mouthed to Mason who just shrugged.

And then, the spell was broken as Kira tripped and was sent tumbling down the last few steps.

Relatable.

Liam rushed forward to help the girl, leaving Mason and Tessa to follow behind him.

"Are you okay?" Liam asked.

Kira recovered quickly, brushing her hair back and leaning her head against her hand.

"Yeah, fine. You wanna go to a party tonight?" she asked cheerfully.

What?

Liam looked surprised but he nodded. "Sure."

"You too, Tessa. There's someone I want you to meet," she smiled at the girl.

It seemed suspicious but Tessa didn't know what to say. "Umm, I guess," she answered skeptically.

~~~

Kira picked Liam and Tessa up in her car that night. Liam took shotgun while Tessa sat in the back. No one spoke as they drove through the woods towards the party.

Liam seemed to be having an attack of something so Tessa reached forward and placed her hand on his shoulder. 

"It's Lydia Martin's lake house." Kira told them. "Actually, its her grandmother's lake house. But she's dead so it's okay."

Kira seemed to realize what she had just said.

"I mean, it's not okay that she's dead. Unless she was in pain." Kira laughed awkwardly.

"Can you turn the music down?" Liam yelled.

Tessa frowned, the music wasn't even that loud. And why was he yelling? She could hear Kira perfectly from the back seat and she hadn't been yelling at all.

"You want me to turn the music up?" Kira misunderstood.

She cranked the quiet music up a tiny bit louder as Liam's phone buzzed. Tessa leaned back in the seat, closing her eyes. She really didn't want to go to a party right now. Her wound was still bleeding occasionally and any movement was painful. But somehow she had ended up here and there was no turning back now.

They finally arrived. The driveway of the lake house seemed suspiciously empty but Tessa followed her brother and Kira out of the car anyway. 

"Where is everyone?" Liam asked.

"They're here," Kira smiled. "It's a small party."

"You said everyone was coming," Tessa said suspiciously as they slowly followed Kira towards the door.

"They are. They're late. And we're early. So we better hurry!"

Tessa shared a look with Liam, gripping onto the sleeve of his jacket as they approached the strangely silent house.

"Yay! Party!" Kira cheered awkwardly as she pulled them into the house.