A/N: i have a funny story for y'all. okay so i kinda forgot to eat like all day- don't ask how- i just did. and i told my coach because i felt hella dizzy but that stupid bitch didn't give two shits and still made me train and then... i got hit in the head with my ball and blacked out 🧍♀️
_
"Max, get your ass down here right now!"
The brunette girl groaned after having to hear some form of that sentence over and and over again within the last hour.
Reluctantly, she groaned as she dragged herself out of her comfy bed and stumbled down the stairs.
"What?" she mumbled hazily as she plopped onto the couch.
"How many times have I told you to put the dishes in the sink?" Jack sighed as he dramatically picked up the dishes and gestured towards the sink.
"About a 100," she shrugged as she began searching for the tv remote.
"It was a rhetorical question, smart ass," he teased, "Also you better start getting ready soon."
Max scrunched her nose at this as she popped her head up from looking under the couch,
"For what?"
"Some event thing one of your mom's friends are hosting."
"are they special friends or...?"
"The Hale family." Marisol answered as she stepped into the kitchen, giving her husband a small kiss.
Marisol resembled Max quite a bit with her similar tan skin and dark curls. Except hers flowed out nicely down her back whilst Max preferred her hair short.
"Talia is one of my dearest friends and in honour of us moving to Beacon hills, she's decided to host a small event,"
"Define small." Max asked with a raised brow.
"It's a ball, Andromeda. Now before you make some sort of remark; Yes, you have to go and Yes, they have children around your age."
Max groaned as she slumped into the couch with a pout, " A ball ? Mom, this isn't the 1950's."
"No, it most certainly isn't but she has a daughter around your age... Cora, i believe and an older son, who's a few years older."
"So what are they? Like are they gonna have fangs and shit?"
"Woah, language." Jack scolded as a joke in which Marisol rolled her eyes.
"They're a very powerful and well-respected family of werewolves. So for once if you could please try to not piss them off, that would be much appreciated." the older woman smiled as she poured herself a cup of brewed coffee.
"Fine. What time is it at?" she asked as she turned on the tvd and began scrolling through the guide channel.
"6'o clock. sharp." Marisol stated as she walked over and grabbed the remote out of Max's hand.
"But that's..." Max had begun to protest until her eyes trailed to the clock hung on the wall, which read nearly 3.
"Holy shit, it's already three?"
"Yes, Andromeda. You sleep more than the dead."
"Dead people don't sleep though. They're dead." The younger mage deadpanned with a confused expression.
"It's a figure of speech darling, now go try on the dress I left in your room and let me know if i need to make any alterations." Marisol exasperated as effortlessly used her magic to pull Max off the couch and directed her towards the hallway.
Max mumbled some form of cuss words under her breath as she stalked back up to her bedroom. Surprisingly she found a dress she'd actually consider wearing, waiting for her.
It was a long dark violet gown with a strapless top which a few butterflies on the corset of the same color.
"Woah." she murmured as she lifted it up to get a better look.
The last time she dressed up for anything for her middle school graduation in which she wore her dad's suit and tie.
Marisol most certainly did not approve.
"It was your grandmother's." Marisol said softly from the doorway as she walked in, "I found it in the storage and I thought you might like it."
"It's so pretty but are you sure I can wear this? What if i spill something on myself?" Max asked, untrusting her clumsy nature.
"I'm quite sure. It matches your eyes," she insisted as she lifted it up in the sun beaming through the blinds.
"You mean these ugly caca eyes?" Max asked pointing at her eyes, but then accidentally poking herself.
"Your other eyes."
"Right..." Max muttered as her mother passed the dress back to her.
A small awkward silence fell between them before Marisol cleared her throat and spoke up,
"Well then, your father and I will begin getting ready as well. Let me know if you need any help."
And with that, Max watched her mother stroll out of her bedroom, rolling her eyes at her unnecessary formality. She began getting ready as instructed but tried to enjoy herself while doing so.
It's not everyday you get to attend a ball in such a modern world.
After multiple attempts of eyeliner, Max had finally come to the realization that some people were simply not meant to carry the art of makeup and ultimately gave up. Instead, she decided to add a little bit of purple eyeshadow in the corners of her eyes whilst wearing a thin coat of mascara.
While her mother wasn't particularly a fan of wearing bright colours on eye lids, Max was beyond proud of her small efforts.
After being satisfied with her makeup, she moved to her hair until she realized their wasn't much she could actually do with it. She never was a fan of longer hair, it tended to get in her way more or less so she always kept it at her shoulders.
If it wasn't for her mom, she probably would have just shaved her entire head.
She ended up running her fingers through it so her tangled curls became messy waves and left it at that. She finally had managed to change into her dress, just as her mom came by, already fully dressed.
Marisol wore a simple royal blue dress that ran down to her ankles with two thin straps. She had pinned her long hair up into a neat bun. She walked in, pinching the sides of the dress on Max to check for any needed alterations.
"I think it's alright...We may need to pin it back a little." she muttered.
"Uh mom? I think it may be a little small." Max insisted, gesturing to her chest with was far too revealing then she would have liked, "I know you said to make a good impression but I'm not trying to flash everyone there."
"Andromeda, stop being so silly. That's how all dresses are supposed to look. There's nothing even remotely showing." Marisol hushed, shaking her head.
"Hey, shouldn't we get going?" Jack called out as she walked by, adjusting the sleeves of his dress shirt, "Wow. You look great, sweet pea."
"This is so freaking weird." Max mumbled, in which her mother shot her a look.
"What? I said freaking, not fuc-"
"Alright then," Marisol cut her off as she pulled away, giving the dress one last look, "it's good to go."
"Yeah, I think we better be heading out too, it's already 6." Jack stated, causing his wife's eyes to go wide.
"Alright, alright. We need to leave now." she instructed as she hurried out, "Max, please wear some decent shoes!"
Max waited until both her parents were out before reaching under her bed and grabbing her dirty sneakers. After putting them on, she stood up, running a test to make sure they weren't visible before heading on out with her parents.
_
song: tchaikovsky's swan lake op.20
"Now please remember. Be kind to everyone. I couldn't care less if you think they're a-... a douche or whatever it is you say but do not call them out for it. Simply smile and carry on, got it?" Marisol instructed as the three walked up to the Hale house which already had a line of people walking in.
"Unless they're being an absolute dick then you can feel free to throw them down the stairs." Jack laughed as he nudged Max on the arm, playfully.
"Jack!" the older mage scolded as they walked up the stairs to the lively home where loud waltz music could be heard playing.
"Ah Talia," Marisol greeted as the two women exchanged brief hugs, "It's been so long."
"It has, hasn't it? You look gorgeous as always, as do you Jack and...oh my- you must be Andromeda."
Max awkwardly smiled at her, finding this far worse than family reunions.
"She's grown so much and she's such a beautiful girl." Talia exclaimed as she nudged forward, engulfing Max into a hug.
"Your boobs are in my face." Max mumbled in which her father snorted and her mother pinched her nose with her two fingers out of disbelief.
Much to their surprise, Talia laughed at this as she pulled away with a smile, "Ah well forgive me, last I saw you was when you were a mere child. I highly doubt you'd remember that encounter though."
"Anyways, come in, come in!"
Max followed in suite, her eyes instantly trailing up to brightly lit glass chandelier on the ceiling. The whole house seemed far larger on the inside than it did out. There were tons of guests dressed equally as fancy as they all socialized briefly.
Before she realized what was happening, someone had grabbed her by the arm and was yanking her away from the large crowd in the entrance. Much to Max's surprise, it was a girl about her age, with long brown hair and fair features.
They came to a halt towards the back of the room where no one really was except for another boy who had dark hair and bright green eyes. He leaned against the wall with a look of boredom and he circled his beverage in his cup.
"This is what me and my brother like to call rush hour so be glad I got you out in time." Cora sighed as she copied her brother's actions.
"Thanks?" Max said suggestively, "I'm-"
"-Max, we know. I'm Cora and this is Derek. Say "hi" Derek."
"Uh hi." Max smiled with a slight wave towards Derek who gave her a small glance before walking away entirely.
"What's wrong with him?"
"He hates these events cause our mom always makes him go. Trust me, he'd rather be locked away in his room." Cora explained as she passed a glass of champagne to Max.
"Yeah well, honestly I would too." Max mumbled as she took a whiff of the Champagne before taking a sip. Much to her surprise, it tasted like shit so she instantly spat it back into the cup and left it on the counter.
"Not much of a drinker?"
"Nope."
Cora had opened her mouth to say something but instead a small gruff came out.
"What? What's wrong?" Max questioned, trying to look at whatever the young hale girl was looking at.
"The cops are here. I swear if Derek didn't get the permits like we told him to-" she rambled, "Sorry, I'll be right back."
Sheriff Stilinski stood in the doorway already talking to Talia as Cora made her way over.
Max remembered listening to him and her dad talk the first day they had moved but that was all she knew of him.
She leaned against the back wall out of boredom until something -or rather someone- caught her eye.
While the sheriff and the Hales were wrapped up in their conversation, Max watched as a boy - perhaps her age- stumbled in, attempting to keep a low profile but failing to do so.
He was a bright eyed boy with a buzzcut. She could see parts of his red flannel peaking out of his suit, as he casually walked over into the party.
Max obviously knew he didn't belong here but that didn't stop her from wanting to talk with him. As she began to approach him, Derek beat her to him as he grabbed the boy roughly by the jacket.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Watch it, I just had that ironed!" Stiles complained as Derek clenched the fabric tighter in his hands.
"Yeah? Well maybe you should have thought about that before gate crashing."
Stiles was about to make some sort of protest but Max had already spoken up,
"I know him- he's my cousin...Diego? " She lied, trying to keep her voice as steady as possible, knowing his abilities.
Stiles glanced between the two unsure of why Max was lying for him but nevertheless went with it.
"Yep! Yep. Cousin Diego... That's me." he insisted, pulling Derek's hand off of him and brushing himself off. He shot Derek a look before strutting towards Max with a false confidence.
"Oh yeah? Then what's her name?" Derek questioned with a cocky grin as he crossed his arms and lifted his chin up.
Stiles side-eyed Max, half expecting to suddenly know her name.
"Uh well her name would happen- to be...Dora?" he suggested with a slight wince at the last part.
"HA. HA. HA. Diego. You're SO funny!" Max laughed out loud awkwardly, before grabbing Stiles by the arm and giving him a discreet pinch in which he yelped.
"OW!"
"Let's go dance...Diego."
"Sure thing...Dora." he gulped nervously, all whilst grinning at Derek who seemed far beyond this whole issue.
"Bye Derek!" she called out as she pulled the boy by his arm towards the dance floor.
"Wait- are we actually going to dance?" Stiles asked.
"Shh, be quiet!" Max scolded as she glanced over at Derek who still kept tabs on the two,
"Why? It's not like he can hear us."
"Yeah well, you're still talking like really loud." Max lied, knowing full well of Derek's abilities, "And sure I guess...But only if you want to."
"I'd have to be crazy to deny a dance with such a pretty girl." Stiles laughed as he dramatically bowed, extending his hand in which Max took.
"So if I wasn't pretty, you would have said no?" she questioned with a slight bitter tone, "The only way women have value in this society is if they're 'pretty'."
Stiles looked a lit scared of Max, unsure of what else to say as he hesitantly placed him hands on her waist.
"Well then, I supposed every women would have value. I don't think I've ever looked at a girl before and thought she was ugly." he answered truthfully as they two fell into a dancing rhythm.
"Good answer." she complimented with a proud smile.
"Oh thank god, I was so scared you were gonna start yelling at me in front of everyone for being a misogynistic dick or something."
"Well it's a good thing you're not...Diego."
"Okay well, believe it or not, Diego isn't actually my real name. It's Stiles." he admitted reluctantly.
"What kind of a name is 'Stiles'?"
"It's more of a nickname but that's whole other story. What about you?"
"Max, but let's just say that's more of a nickname as well." she answered with a sly grin, "So what are you doing here, Stiles?"
He moved to spin her around, despite not having the slightest clue how to and as max turned back towards him, she found herself face to face with Stiles except this wasn't her Stiles.
"You know I'm not much of a party person, but I do enjoy bit of...chaos now and then." Void chuckled, as he pulled her in closer and continued to dance.
"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Max asked, as she grew slightly uncomfortable at his touch.
"Stop lying to herself, Max. You know damn well, none of this is real."
Max swallowed hard at this but only continued to further deny the truth, shaking her head and taking a deep breath.
"Leave me alone." she muttered as multiple couples had joined them on the dance floor, starting the next routine.
They both moved their hands to the star position as they began circling around. Void kept his eyes planted on Max with a menacing grin whilst she looked straight forward, much aware of where his eyes rested.
"Why would I do that when I can spend the rest of eternity dancing with you?" he asked, but his tone was genuine, surprising both him and Max.
"Haven't you tortured me enough? Stabbing and killing me in more ways I can imagine?"
Void's eyes trailed up the glass chandelier and the scones along the wall which all briefly flickered at Max's raising tone.
"I'm trying to help you." he explained, cautiously. "You need to wake up."
"I don't need to do anything. I'm finally happy. Why are you trying to take that away from me?" Max fumed but her voice cracked under the tears threatening to pour out.
"Because you need to understand that every moment you spend here, you're slowly killing yourself in the real world. You keep this up, you're never gonna wake up again." he insisted, eyeing the chandelier every now and then.
"I said. Leave me alone. I won't ask again."
"Max, please. I'm trying to-"
"-I said leave me alone!" she screamed as she jerked her hand forwards pushing roughly against his chest, just as a bright flash blurred her vision.
"Are you okay...?"
Max shook her head and squinted her eyes as she looked at the boy with a buzzcut and scattered moles once more.
"What?"
"You like totally zoned out for the last five minutes."
"Never been better." she smiled as the last few thoughts of Void trailed out of her mind.
_
"What's wrong with her? What'd you do to her?" Corey asked from his crouched position, moving away the stray hairs that had stuck to the sweat of her face.
He had to admit that the guilt of betraying Max was eating at him. He wasn't like Tracy or Theo, he felt remorse, like a part of him knew it was wrong.
Max stared up at the ceiling without a movement or any sort of reaction as the bags under her eyes proceeded to grow worse.
"Something to keep her out of the way. Something a little more permanent this time." Theo smirked.
"If you want something permanent, you should just let me kill her." Tracy insisted, revealing her lethal claws in a threatening matter.
"No-" Hayden protested before immediately regretting it as they all turned to face her, with menacing glares.
"I mean, she saved my life before... and she tried to save you guys." the Romero girl tried to justify, not wanting them to grow suspicious of where her loyalty's truly laid.
"Hayden's right. She did try to save each of you but that's not why she still's alive. If we want to beat Scott's pack, we're gonna need her."
"Why? She can't even move." Josh protested.
"We don't need her conscious for what's coming next. We just need her alive."
_
Scott and Stile's sat under the tunnels in a comfortable silence. The last few days had been unbearable for both of them.
Their pack had fallen apart and their friends had gone their separate ways. They barely stood a chance against Theo's growing pack, especially after their recent encounter which was exactly what left them in this position.
Stiles struggled to move his fingers, which were slowly gaining their movement again after getting scratched by Tracy, whilst Scott sat next to him; his mind elsewhere.
"We need help. If Theo's got his own pack now, then we need ours. We have to get the others back." Scott finally spoke up, looking at Stiles with a serious expression.
Stiles scoffed at this, looking at Scott as if the boy had lost his mind.
"The others? You mean Kira, who's currently battling a homicidal Fox spirit inside of her? Malia, who isn't even speaking to either of us? Lydia, who's stuck in Eichen House? Liam, who tried to kill you? And Max, who's gone completely MIA?"
"Also known as our best friends." Scott shrugged with a weak smile in which Stiles sighed knowing he was right.
"Okay. How?"
"One by one." Scott smiled as he used his fingers to draw a small circle within the sand and glanced over at Stiles who shot him a confused expression before realizing what he wanted him to do.
"You're not seriously going to make me do it...?" he groaned.
"You're part of the pack, right?"
Stiles dramatically sighed before folding his mouth into a tight line and drawing a bigger circle over Scott's.
"Okay. We need to find Kira." Scott instructs firmly before reaching down and grabbing his best friend's hand and pulling him up.
Wrapping his arm around the tan boy for support, the two walked out with a set mission in mind.
" I still hate that tattoo." Stiles spoke up after a while.
"I know."