the chaos rising • stiles stilinski [1]

seventeen • side effects

a couple of days later, i found myself sitting in the passenger seat of stiles' jeep. things were different between us, they had been since the kiss, and i knew he felt it, too. it was just probably different than what i felt. despite the awkward feeling between us, stiles still insisted on driving me to school every morning in a way to make up for dragging me into this mess. he'd always have a reason to drive me, always fighting against me when i told him i was fine taking the school bus, even though i was secretly thanking god for it because in all honesty, i hated riding the school bus.

thankfully, scott had saved up and bought himself a bike, so stiles didn't have to drive him to school anymore, meaning i didn't have to sit in the back seats. those back seats were seriously hell, they were probably the most uncomfortable things i have ever sat in.

the ride to school was silent, the only thing being heard in the jeep was the radio playing quietly. in all honesty, i don't think stiles and i had talked much since the day we rescued his dad. it was odd, and i wasn't sure why, or how, we had gotten to this point. usually, i would find no problem in speaking to the person, bringing it up and confronting them on why they had been acting so off and weird lately but, with stiles it was different. i seemed to lack the confidence i once had, or i had often found myself rambling to him over things that probably didn't even make sense.

if anything, the main thing i would be asking him about was why he looked so tired. the bags under his eyes grew more, and more each time i saw him, and i was beginning to worry. why wasn't he getting sleep? what was he worrying about, or so stressed about?

my hands trembled in my lap, shaking uncontrollably. they had been doing this ever since we saved melissa, noah, and chris. i clasped them together in my lap, hoping to stop the shaking. i wasn't sure why it was happening. maybe it was my anxiety, the nerves i had over something bad happening again. maybe it was just too much to deal with.

"are you coming?" i snapped my head towards stiles, noticing he had now gotten out of the jeep as we had made it to school.

i nodded, ridding myself of my thoughts and reminding myself to ask him about his sleep schedule later, if i had the chance. i quickly climbed out of the jeep, following him as we walked closer to the school. my eyebrows furrowed in confusion, watching as scott rushed down the stairs sideways, looking down at his shadow.

"hey," stiles called, placing his hands on scotts shoulders and stopping the new alpha from his movement. "are you alright?" scott took a deep breath, looking at the both of us in fear, nodding his head slowly.

"well, you don't look alright, scott," i spoke up, looking at the boy with concern.

"i'm okay," he replied.

"no, you're not," stiles countered, shaking his head at his best friend. "it's happening to you, too." i looked over at stiles in confusion, his eyes not leaving scott as he spoke. "you're seeing things, aren't you?"

scotts eyebrows furrowed. "how'd you know?"

"because it's happening to all three of you," lydia said, walking up behind us with allison. i turned my body to look at the girls, lydia looking at the boys with worry in her eyes.

soon enough, we all found ourselves walking through a set of double doors into the school hallway. allison, stiles and scott were trailing behind lydia and i as we pushed open the doors.

"well, well, look who's no longer the crazy one," lydia mused, a smile forming on her lips.

"we are not crazy," allison corrected from behind us, lydia and i turning to face them.

"hallucinating, sleep paralysis," lydia listed off. "yeah, you guys are fine."

"we did die and come back to life," scott reminded, looking at the two on either side of him. "it's gotta have some side effects, right?"