I know, like, 75% were just waiting for that chapter where she and Isaac were together
Anyone else watching Shadow and Bone? I'm completely in love with Kaz, Jesper and Inej. Six of Crows is on my shelf - I really need to read it
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"So, how are things going with Isaac?" Lydia asked as we walked towards the school.
I felt a blush reach my cheeks as I smiled, "They're going really good."
"Remind me, why did you break up with him the first time? We weren't friends back then, so I never got the rundown."
Laughing lightly, I shook my head. "No, we weren't. Um, he was keeping secrets from me and even though it was something that I understand why he kept secret, it began to affect our relationship and I just couldn't handle it.
"Things are different now, though. He's different. Ever since his dad died, he was bitten, and he moved in with Scott and Melissa, he's become a better person. Is that selfish? To only get back together with him after all of that?"
Lydia interlocked her arm with mine, pulling me closer. "I don't think so. I think back then when you first got together, you were in two different places. But now there are no secrets and you have more in common than you did before. And most importantly, you trust each other."
"I trust you. It's Isaac I don't trust."
I almost tripped over my own feet at the sound of the voice. Glancing over my shoulder, I figured there was going to be someone standing there, but there wasn't.
My blood ran cold in my veins as my breathing slowed. Maybe I was being haunted. Weirder things had happened in Beacon Hills.
"Ri, are you alright?" Lydia asked, concerned by how I was acting.
I tried to nod, but my body felt cold. "I- I don't know."
Who was it I was hearing? And why wouldn't they trust Isaac - a boy I trusted with my life?
Lydia grabbed my arm to keep me steady - apparently I had been falling. I couldn't understand what was happening.
"I think I'm going crazy, Lyds," I said with a humourless laugh.
My friend looked concerned to say the very least. Tightening her grip on my, she walked me over so that we could sit on one of the benches outside of the school. "Talk to me."
I felt a migraine coming on, which was strange since I wasn't supposed to get sick. My mind was aching, like it was begging me to focus, but no matter how hard I tried, nothing happened.
"Something is missing," I mumbled as I bent over, putting my face in my hands. "I keep hearing this voice, and I don't know who it is or why I'm hearing it."
"Are you sure you're not just picking up on conversations with you're ability?"
I shook my head immediately. "That's not it. I look around and no one's there. It's coming from inside my head, Lydia."
"Okay," she said calmly. "Well, you said it felt like something was missing; maybe that voice is the missing something."
"So, what do I do?"
"I'm not sure right now. Maybe you should go home," she suggested.
I shook my head, sitting up straight and attempting a smile, "It's not that bad, I'm fine."
He brows raised as she looked at me with doubt on her face. "Riley, you just told me you thought you were going crazy."
"It's Beacon Hills. Who isn't?"
Lydia sighed, "Ri-"
"I can't go home, Lydia. If I go home, then I'll see everything, and that voice will just keep coming back," I explained in one big mouthful.
The strawberry blonde pursed her lips, "Would that be the worst thing?"
"Yes. Because I don't know what this is, and the last time I had a voice in my head, I got possessed by an evil spirit. . ."
My voice trailed for a moment, eyes blinking in thought.
"Okay, but-"
"The voice."
"What?"
"The voice," I repeated. "I think it's someone I know."
Lydia's features softened at my words, seeing how much not being able to figure this out was bothering me. "You can't avoid it, Ri. If this is someone you know, maybe you need to face it head on."
"Not right now."
When I saw she was about to argue, I rose a hand, "Please, Lydia. I don't want to face it right this second."
She looked hesiant, but nodded either way. "Okay. For now."
After a moment of quiet, I remembered where I was headed when we first arrived at school. "Do you want to come watch the lacrosse try-outs?"
Lydia pursed her lips, "As entertaining as that sounds, I've got some studying to finish before class later. Call me if it gets worse, okay?"
"Yeah, of course."
The strawberry blonde hugged me for a moment, before heading towards the library. The way she looked at me made me think she thought I really was crazy. Hell, maybe I was.
I had been hearing this same voice for the past few days, and every time there was never anyone around. I was a Sylph, not a Banshee, so why was I the one hearing voices? And why did it sound familiar?
Pushing the thought aside, I made my way out to the lacrosse field. I could figure out the whole 'hearing voices' thing later. Try-outs were well underway when I arrived, Coach yelling and running drills.
Heading over to the bleachers, Isaac gave a small wave when he realised I was here. Jogging over, he removed his helmet in one smooth movement, dropping his lacrosse stick to grab my hip.
Pulling me up against him, he leaned down and kissed me. I heard the faint sound of his helmet hitting the grass as his other hand found my other hip. He had a way of making me forget my problems.
"Lahey, ass back on the field!" Coach shouted from the other side of the field. "And Winters, stop distracting my players!"
I pulled away from Isaac somewhat, giggling as I detached my lips from his. "You should go."
"What? You don't think Coach will patiently wait for me to rejoin the line-up?" Isaac asked, resting his forehead against mine
"Lahey!" Coach screamed.
I pecked his lips lightly, smiling, "Best not keep him waiting."
The boy sighed, before releasing my waist. "Coming, Coach!"
"Knew I should've stayed in rehab," the man mumbled to himself before blowing into his whistle and starting the next drill.
Walking over to the bleachers I took and seat and pulled my current novel out of my bag. As I began to read, I kept hearing Coach yelling at the team.
The team gathered, Liam arriving late once again. It was like he was trying to get on Coach's bad side.
Half-closing my book, I tuned in.
"Thanks to McCall's selfish desire to focus on his 'grades' and his 'graduation', we are leaderless."
Scott turned to Coach, looking insulted and confused by the insinuation. It was true, he had decided to take a step back from lacrosse this year to focus on his grades so that he would be able to get into medical school. Now he was just an assistant Coach.
When he told us what he was planning to do, I couldn't help but be surprised. Lacrosse had always been one of Scott's main focuses, and the fact that he was willing to give it up was something I couldn't have imagined back when we were juniors.
"You want to be a champion, you want to be a hero? Now's your shot," Coach told the players who were trying out for captain. They all separated, preparing to run more drills to show Coach what they were made of.
"All right, all you wannabe Captains, I wanna see you guys tear each other apart."
The drill began with Liam going first. He ran towards the other players who were his opponents in this scenario. In less than twenty seconds, he had been knocked down onto his ass.
"Definitely not captain material there, Dumb-bar," Coach announced.
"'Dunbar'," Liam corrected through a groan.
"Yeah. That's what I said."
Liam rolled over, looking up at Coach. "You said Dumb-bar."
Coach smirked as he knelt beside the boy, "And your mouth just bought you equipment duty."
Liam got up, taking his helmet off and walking off of the field in frustration. Putting my book down, I stood up and walked over to the edge of the field. "Hey, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Just Coach," he sighed.
I nodded in understanding. "He gets like that. But if you want to be captain, Liam, you need to pull it together."
The boy thanked me, before pulling his helmet back on and walking back over to the team. He had the ability to become a good team captain, he just needed to be able to see that.
♧♤♢♡
"So, did you watch me play, or were you reading the whole time?" Isaac asked as he put an arm around me as the two of us walked through the school hallway.
He had finished up training and went and changed in the locker room before meeting with me. We were now on our way to our first class of the day.
"Of course I watched you, Isaac. But I may have been more focused on my book," I admitted.
Isaac put a hand to his chest, feigning hurt. "Wow, the support from my girlfriend is touching."
Laughing, I shook my head, "Do you know how many lacrosse games and training sessions I have been to? Even when we were broken up, I still went to those things."
"Just to see me though, obviously?"
"No, for Scott and. . ." my mind blanked for a second. Who else had I gone to watch? "Not you."
Who was it? There was someone, I knew it. I just- I couldn't remember.
He stepped so he was in front of me, smiling as he put his arms around me. "Must admit, I'm really feeling the love today."
Rolling my eyes with a laugh, I moved around him. "Come on, I still have to grab something before class, or we're going to be late."
He took a few large strides to be by my side again, putting his arm around my waist. "Maybe we could just ditch school altogether."
"Yeah, right," I scoffed, stopping in front of a locker as I spoke, absentmindedly grabbing the lock and beginning to spin it. "Charlotte would kill you, and then me."
"Riley?"
"Hmm?" I hummed as I spun the lock.
"That's not your locker," Isaac stated, confusion lacing his words.
I stopped spinning the dial, blinking a couple times as I focused in on the locker. He was right. This was locker 1075. Mine was at least another ten down, and didn't have a blue lock.
"Right," I mumbled, letting go of the lock.
Isaac took my hand and lead me to my locker, still confused. "Whose locker was that?"
I glanced down at the blue lock over his shoulder, biting my lip in puzzlment. "I'm not sure. I just wasn't paying attention, I guess."
Opening the locker that was actually mine, I reached in and grabbed my book, and then we headed to class.
♧♤♢♡
As we waited for class to start, Isaac was sitting on my desk talking to me. He was telling me some story about how Scott almost fell down the stairs at the McCall home again.
"For someone with werewolf sense and reflexes, he's one of the clumsiest people I've ever met," I laughed.
"Tell me about it."
Lydia smiled as she walked past to take her seat. I smiled back, before glancing at Malia. She had a one highlighter in her mouth and another in her hand as she highlighted practically every word on the page of her textbook.
The school bell rung to signal that class was starting and then our teacher was entering the classroom, a stack of test papers in her hands.
"I'm impressed. With most of you. It really speaks to your study habits and your commitment to your own education," Ms Fleming said as she began to hand back tests. Walking our way, she gave a pointed look at my boyfriend, "Mr Lahey, please take a seat somewhere that isn't Miss Winter's desk."
"Yes, ma'am," he saluted, pecking me quickly on the cheek before sitting down at the desk in front of me. Chuckles rumbled across the class and I felt a blush in my cheeks. He looked over his shoulder at me with a small smirk, before facing the front.
Continuing to hand out the tests, Ms Fleming appeared to be directing her next statement towards Malia. "Everyone else, see me for extra help."
Looking over, I saw that she had received a -D on our most recent test. The werecoyote wasn't too please with this, wrapping her hands around the edge of her desk as her claws came through.
A small growl escaped her throat, and I could hear the scraping of claws on wood.
"Mal," I hissed in warning.
Lydia, picking up on what had me panicking, was quick to get our teacher's attention before she could see what Malia was doing.
"Ms Fleming, um. . ."
"I already told you, Lydia," the woman sighed. "I don't give extra credit for alternative equations based on your own theoretical findings."
"Well, okay then."
As soon as Ms Fleming was gone, I leaned towards Malia so there was less chance of anyone else hearing me. "Malia, your claws. Put them away."
She took a deep breath, before raising her hands from beneath the desk. Her claws were gone once more and thankfully no one had seen them.
I received my test from Ms Fleming to see that I had gotten a B. Sure that was good, but usually I got better than that.
I just felt so distracted recently; between the voice I was hearing, the strange feeling and the locker - something felt off.
♧♤♢♡
Later that afternoon I sat beside Isaac on his bed, my head resting on his chest. I could hear his heart beating in his chest. He sounded at peace.
I wish I could have said the same about myself. Or at least pretended. When you have a werewolf for a boyfriend, it's hard to hide when something is bothering you.
"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Isaac asked quietly. "Or are you just going to keep pretending like you did at school?"
I lolled my head back so that I could see his face. His eyes seemed bluer than usual. I felt like I hadn't been his close to him in so long. Seen the icy blue of his eyes this close.
Part of me wanted to lie, because I knew that once I said something, it would become something. But I also knew if I didn't and he found out I lied, things would be worse.
But would it be worse than admitting to what I was thinking? That the voice I kept hearing, the feelings I kept having, were linked to someone I knew?
Someone important to me. Someone I cared about.
And this person said that they didn't trust Isaac.
But I did. And I cared about him too. And he deserved the truth.
"I keep hearing a voice recently," I began as I sat up.
"Okay," he said slowly. "Whose voice?"
I shrugged, "That's the thing. I don't know whose voice it is. All I know, is that it feels so real every time. Like I've heard it before."
"Where?"
Again, a shrug, "On the street? In a dream? In my past? I honestly don't know, Isaac. I just know it means something."
He bit on his lip gently intertwined our fingers. "Well, you know I'm not going anywhere, so we'll figure it out together. What did they sound like?"
Like a voice that filled the emptiness I had been feeling over the past few days. Like someone who made me feel whole.
"It was a boy," I told him, running my thumb over his knuckles. "He sounded around our age."
"Maybe you knew him then. I'm sure it'll come to you," he said, but even he didn't sound convinced by his words.
Hearing the sound of a door, I got up off of Isaac's bed. "I'll be back, I just need to talk to Scott."
Isaac smiled with a small nod, "I'll be waiting."
"I'd wait for you forever."
The voice again.
Clenching my jaw, I went out into the hallway and knocked on Scott's door. When he said to come in, I turned the handle and entered the room, to see him walking out of the bathroom.
"Hey, Riley, what's up?"
"Isaac said you went to see Deaton about that piece of glass we found at the Sheriff's Impound Lot," I stated, genuinely curious.
Scott looked at his feet before meeting my gaze, nodding. "Yeah, but it wasn't just about that. This mightnot make sense, but I feel like there's holes in my memory. Like this glass - can you remember why we even went in the first place?"
"Sure," I nodded. "Because. . . well. . ."
I reached for the answer, but it wasn't there. Was Scott experiencing the same thing I was?
The werewolf rose a hand, "Exactly. Deaton said that the subconscious can be a conduit for our memories."
"Scott, this has been happening to me, too. There's something there, right on the edge on my memories, and I just can't reach it."
"It's probably the same for you then, whatever this is. Like a form of phantom-limb syndrome. Deaton said the best chance at remembering is to go to sleep."
"Seriously? His big idea was sleep?" I asked, almost scoffing.
"Unless you can think of something better, I don't really see any other option."
Thinking through what he said, I nodded with a sigh.
"Alright. I guess I'll see you in the morning, then."
I went to leave, when I felt Scott's hand on my arm. "You feel it too, don't you?"
My lips pursed, before I nodded. "That whoever this is. . . they were important."
Scott put his arms around me, pulling me in close. "We'll figure this out. We'll remember what's missing."
"I hope so," I whispered against his chest.