The Art Of Drowning ― 𝐒. 𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐊𝐈

five.

"Yeah, I was running late," Nel rolled her eyes as she remembered her brother. "Max screamed in the shower because of a spider and then slipped. He decided to drop me off today."

Lydia laughed and shook her head. "Oh, that boy. . .is he all right?"

"He says so, but I think otherwise," Nel said a little more seriously, because she was concerned for her brother. "He looked like he was in pain on the way here."

Lydia opened her mouth to say something, but Mr. Harris walked in. She turned to Nel and whispered, "we'll talk later."

The brunette girl nodded and looked at Harris as he began speaking. "Einstein once said, 'Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe.' I myself have encountered infinite stupidity. So to combat the plague of ignorance in my class, you're going to combine efforts through a round of group experiments. Let's see if two heads are indeed better than one."

He looked around. "Or in Mr. Stilinski's case, less than one. Erica, you take the first station. You'll start with-"

Almost all the boys in the room raised their hands with hopeful looks on their faces. Harris chuckled.

"Put your hormonal little hands down," he said. "Start with Mr. McCall. All right, next two."

Once the pairs were sitting with each other, Nel found herself next to Allison, who smiled brightly at her and Nel did the same. They began the experiment and Nel noticed Erica's hand on Scott's thigh.

Nel nudged the girl, and jerked her chin towards what was going on.

"You never get jealous?" Nel asked.

"Why would l?" Allison retorted, raising a brow.

"Because of that thing happening over there," Nel stated. "That requires some jealousy."

The bell dinged and Harris said, "Switch."

Nel found herself next to Isaac now, and she sent him a small smile which he returned shyly. "You're Danielle, right? Lydia's best friend?"

"Yeah," Nel nodded, the kind smile still on her face. "But just call me Nel. And you are. . ."

"Isaac."

"Isaac," Nel finished, showing off her teeth as she grinned. "Nice name."

"Thanks," he said, smiling to himself.

"You seem. . .angry," Nel noticed.

He sighed. "Not angry. Just frustrated."

Nel snorted. "What, sexually?"

He grinned. The pair continued to work on the project and for a moment, Nel looked around, only to find Stiles Stilinski looking at Isaac and her with a glare, his grip on the equipment tight.

Confused, Nel looked forward and heard Harris say, "Switch."

Now Nel was with Lydia. As they continued with the project, they caught up on their previous conversation.

"So, about Max, is he okay?" Lydia questioned.

"Yeah, I guess," Nel sighed, glancing at the girl. "He's just being stupid."

"I don't think he's stupid."

"What?"

"He has great grades and hasn't missed a single class last year. Or any this year, I guess," Lydia shrugged.

"That's the reason why he's so stupid."

"And time," Harris announced. "If you've catalyzed the reaction correctly, you should now be looking at a crystal. Now for the part of that last experiment I'm sure you'll all enjoy, you can eat it."

Nel gave Lydia the sweet crystals and heard Scott McCall yell, "Lydia!"

But she had already licked the crystals. She turned around to Scott. "What?"

"N-Nothing," he stammered.

Nel looked around the room and sensed something was most definitely wrong. She looked at Lydia and pat her shoulder. "Can I have some?"

"Sure," Lydia handed it over and Nel gave her a smile.

"Nel!" Isaac yelled, but then again, Nel was already sucking on the crystals and while she did, she turned around rose an eyebrow.

"Nothing. . ."

▪▪▪

"IF WE'RE DOING A STUDY GROUP, why didn't we just stay in the library?" Nel asked as she and Lydia was being dragged away by Stiles Stilinski.

"Because we're meeting up with somebody else," he replied.

"Well, why don't they just meet us in the library?" Nel questioned.

"Oh, that would've been a great idea," Stiles rolled his eyes and scowled at the girl. "Too late. Just shut up and walk."

The trio reached a familiar house, and Nel recognized it to be Scott's house. She raised a brow and looked at Stiles. "If we're studying at Scott's house, then where's Scott?"

Once they got in, Stiles shut the door and looked at her. "Meeting us here, I think. I hope."

Nel remained confused as he turned around and began locking every lock he could find on the door. Upon seeing Nel and Lydia's faces, he said, "There's been a few break-ins around the neighborhood."

He took a nearby chair and placed it below the doorknob. "And a murder. Yeah, it was bad."

"Lydia, follow me," Jackson said and led her upstairs. "I need to talk to you for a minute."

"Seriously? What is going on with everyone?" Lydia murmured, following him.

Nel turned to Stiles and rose a brow. "So? Where are we studying?"

"Um," he stretched the word, pursing his lips. "Up-Upstairs."

"Okay!" Nel yelled, slamming her hand on the table. "What the Hell is going on here?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean-"

"Just go upstairs," Allison sighed. "Please, Nel?"

The girl rolled her eyes before grabbing her bag and walking towards the front door. Stiles stood in front of her, a little too close and he immediately stepped back. "You can't go."

"Yes, I can."

"No, you can't."

"Why?"

"Because!" He sighed exasperatedly. "You can't, okay? Please, just. . ."

"Look, Stilinski. I get to do what I want, all right? I can just walk home and-"

She stopped talking as they heard glass shatter behind them and Stiles immediately covered the girl and pushed her to the stairs. "Someone's broke in, okay? Just go!"

And she did. She ran upstairs to find Lydia with tears streaking her cheeks and no sign of Jackson. After spending a couple minutes with Lydia and comforting her, the pair decided to leave.

The two rushed downstairs and walked right out the door and Nel was shocked to see Boyd dragging Erica and Isaac, who were both unconscious. And also, Derek.

Lydia finally spoke up, "Can somebody please tell us what the Hell is going on?"

When everyone stared up in horror, both Lydia and Nel also looked up, only to see a lizard-like creature that Nel had seen before.

The thing hissed at them before running away.

"It's Jackson," Scott whispered.

▪▪▪