goner {stiles stilinski}

in-between state

As the day progressed it somehow managed to keep getting weirder. My mind kept replaying the conversation I had overheard earlier, giving me a slight headache from not being able to understand it.

Since I hadn't found anybody to talk to, not that I was looking for a friend, I tried to figure out what was going on.

The way Stiles had acted in Economics had me even more confused. He kept scribbling hastily on his notebook. Coach approached him and blew his whistle as close as he could to Stiles, which made him jump back to reality.

"Stilinski! I asked you a question." Coach said loudly, staring at him.

"Uh, sorry, Coach," Stiles said, trying to understand what was happening. "What was it?"

"It was, Stilinski, are you paying attention back there,?" He was glaring at him now.

"Oh. Well, I am now."

"Stilinski, stop reminding me why I drink." He stood up, about to turn back around to the front of the class. "Every night."

I couldn't help but chuckle at that, my hand flying up to cover my mouth instantly. I cleared my throat instead, pretending I had a cough. Yeah, good save there. Both Scott and Stiles glanced in my direction and then back at each other. I heard Stiles telling Scott that he was okay, that he only fell asleep for a second.

Scott looked at him, a worried expression on his face. "Dude, you weren't asleep." He looked down at the notepad, Stiles following his gaze.

I wasn't the only one confused. Maybe I should stop listening in on their conversations. It was none of my business and I didn't understand half of it anyway.

-

Later on, I made my way outside to the outdoor lunch area. I noticed Kira sitting by herself and decided to at least introduce myself, I didn't feel like sitting all alone.

"Hi, it's Kira, right?" I asked as I walked up to her, a small smile on my face. "I'm Aspen."

"Oh, hi!" She said, surprised that I was talking to her. She motioned for me to sit down and I did. "You're also new here, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I moved here recently with my dad. He thought it would be good for us to get out of San Francisco and go somewhere less all over the place." She chuckled.

"And of course you didn't have much say in the matter, right?"

"Not even a little bit." I grinned back at her.

"Well, at least you won't be new alone!" We both stopped and turned our attention to the table on our right. I couldn't seem to stay away from them and yet again, I couldn't help to overhear them.

"Okay, so what happens to a person who has a near-death experience and comes out of it seeing things?" Scott said in a low voice.

"And is unable to tell what's real or not?" Stiles continued.

"And is being haunted by demonic visions of dead relatives?" Said the brunette I had seen earlier this morning outside the school. What the hell were they talking about? Why were they asking these questions?

"They're all locked up because they're insane." A boy with curly hair and deep-set blue eyes said which earned him a glare from Stiles along with a sarcastic chuckle, telling him to at least try to be helpful.

"I think I actually might know what they're talking about." I turned to look at Kira as she spoke.

"You understood that?" She turned to look at me with a smile on her face. "Enlighten me, please."

"Bardo." Was all she said. She stood up and made her way over to the group, I followed behind.

"Hi, hi, sorry. I couldn't help but overhear what you guys were talking about. There's a Tibetan word for it. It's called 'Bardo'. It literally means 'in-between state.'" She said all at once.

The redhead turned to look up at her, slightly annoyed. "And what do they call you?"

"Kira." Scott chimed in, making Kira smile. "She's in our History class."

"So, are you talking Bardo in Tibetan Buddhism or Indian?" The redhead asked.

"Either, I guess. But all that stuff you were just saying, all that happens in Bardo. There are different progressive states where you can have hallucinations. Some you see, some you just hear. And you can be visited by peaceful and wrathful deities." How she managed to get all that out in one breath and also remember all of it was amazing.

"Wrathful deities?" The boy with the curly hair asked confused. "What are those?"

"Like demons," I said without thinking. They all turned their heads in my direction, as if only now realizing I was standing there.

"Demons. Why not?" Stiles said as if that made all the sense in the world. The sarcasm could be heard loudly in his voice. I almost let out a laugh. He seemed to have noticed that, looking down with a small smile on his face.

"Hold on," I said looking at Kira. "If there are different progressive states, then what's the last one?"

Before she opened her mouth to answer, I could almost feel what she was about to say. "Death. You die."

"Oh. Cool. Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool." I said. Stiles looked up at me with a grin on his face.

The sarcasm was rubbing off on me.

-

I was standing in the parking lot all by my lonesome, waiting for my father to answer his phone so he could come to pick me up, watching as more students made their way outside. Some getting in their cars, others taking their bikes.

Come on, pick up. I thought as I tried calling him again, for the third time in a row. This is why I wanted my own car. I sighed and hung up the phone.

"Everything okay?" Kira asked as she came up behind me, a smile on her face.

"My dad was supposed to pick me up, but now he's not answering his stupid phone," I said, annoyed.

"Parents." She said, rolling her eyes. "C'mon, I'll give you a ride home."

"You don't have to do that!" Before I had the chance to say anything else, she shushed me and linked her arm with mine.

"What are friends for?" A huge grin appeared on my face and we started walking towards her car.

I might like it here a lot more than I thought.