_____<•>_____
They all saw it.
The evidence was undeniable.
Lydia didn't even flinch once the crystal was in her mouth. When the venom seeped down her throat, she ate the rest like a greedy child in a candy store.
Aspen's mind was in a buzz. She kept hearing a white noise like a voice telling her how stupid she was. Derek's words continued rolling in her mind, telling her what needed to be done to protect the ones she loves.
You need to learn control.
She knew that. Of course, she did. She was just too stubborn to admit it. It was like the first time she had to go to therapy from her odd dream about her mother.
Granda Sam swore it wasn't necessary, but Melissa had insisted. Melissa was the first person Sam called after the accident, and she remembered holding little Aspen when she woke up in the hospital. She was underwater for too long. Melissa knew Aspen should have died. It was a miracle. That's why every day when Melissa saw Aspen, she nearly wanted to cry, knowing she was close to feeling death's kiss.
"It was really cold." Aspen had said as she sat in miss Jane's office. She had gone to school with Aspen's father. She cried for a week hearing the news of his passing. They were high school sweethearts.
Jane nodded. "I bet you wish sweaters worked in water, huh?" she scrunched her nose playfully and had to hold in her shock when Aspen laughed.
How could a child smile so quickly after experiencing what she had? It's only been a month.
"Yeah," Aspen wiggles her feet on the velvety chair she sat on. Her feet didn't even reach the ground. "My floaty popped. Grandpa filled it too much."
Jane paused her movement as she was about to jot down a note. She looked at Aspen, her eyes glued to the glass coffee table between them. A glass jar of jellybeans. She had been waiting for the whole session to be polite enough and ask for one. "Floaty?" Jane asked gently, trying to catch the little girl's eyes.
Her brown hair bounced as she nodded and fought a laugh. " I was under for fifteen seconds! Pa said I was a big girl for holding my breath so long." Aspen tilted her head. "I like how you talk."
"I was raised in Puerto Rico."
Aspen gaped, and Jane nodded as if saying, I know, right.
Jane hummed to herself. She wondered if she was already trying to fill the tragedy with a sweet memory. Her eyes strayed down to Aspen's hands, closing again on themselves. Suppression.
"You know I always wanted straight hair like yours, Aspen," Jane said, bringing back a smile. "Mine is too curly to braid." she pulled on a tight coil of hair before letting go to let it bounce.
"Mommy would always do my hair," Aspen said.
"I remember. Anytime you walked into work with your dad, I loved how it looked on you. Did dad ever try to give it a go?"
Aspen laughed, "Yeah, but he wasn't any good. Mommy always read me poems when she did my hair."
Jane tilted her head, "Poems? What kinds?"
She shrugged with a pouty lip. "I didn't understand what she was saying. She sounded funny."
"And mommy sang to you in the car? When the accident happened?"
Aspen wrinkled her nose like a putrid stench entered the room. She finally met Jane's eyes. She stared for a while like her brain was trying to find the correct answer. "What accident?"
Jane drew in a sharp breath and closed her notebook. "I know you don't like the memory cariño, but I need you to tell me what happened that day so we can talk to Stiles' dad."
Aspen's big eyes began to water, and she shook her head as if fending off the memory of the tragedy. The girl's breathing was uneven. Then, a rattling sound brought Jane to look down at the table. The jellybeans in the jar began floating. The colorful candy reflected on the glass table, spinning gently but trembling like it would burst any moment.
"Jellybean?"
The rattling stopped. Aspen's eyes were flushed when she looked up, sniffling her nose. When Jane tipped her chin to the candy, Aspen nodded shyly. She jumped from the chair and dug her dainty finger to pick one.
"We're actually done for today. You can take it home if you would like."
Aspen beamed. "You mean it?"
Jane winked, and Aspen greedily cupped the jar and shuffled away toward the door.
Jane stood up and walked to her desk when Aspen spoke. She froze entirely and turned her head to the small girl staring toward her. It was like seeing Aspen's father again, trapped in the shell of his daughter.
"What did you say?"
"Youll mox somnum," Aspen repeated, not butchering a word. "Mommy always said that before bedtime when I had nightmares."
Aspen skipped out the door, thanking her again for the jellybeans.
Jane quickly mumbled something under her breath and the door locked on its own.
She pulled out her phone, searching urgently for the number. She pressed the phone to her ear and looked out the window. Aspen climbed into her grandfather's Volkswagen, showing off her jar of jellybeans.
"Beacon Hills Animal Clinic, how can I help you?"
"si si hablas español?" Jane said.
"claro, Qué pasó?"
"¿Alan Deaton trabaja allí?"
"Si, he's our primary doctor."
"I must speak with him, quickly. Ahora por favor."
"I'm afraid he's busy--"
"Now!"
__
Aspen shifted in place as she leaned back on Coach's desk. Her thumbnail was wedged between her teeth, eyebrows pulled into a worried knot. As soon as class was dismissed, Scott led them to Flinstock's office. Charlie went to calm Danny down. Aspen knew she screwed up. Bad.
"Derek's outside waiting for Lydia," Scott said, closing the door to the office.
"Waiting to kill her." Allison voiced what everyone was too afraid to say.
"If she thinks she's the kanima, then yes," Allison huffed, sliding closer to Aspen for comfort, "especially after what happened at the pool."
"It's not her," Stiles said firmly.
"Stiles, she didn't pass the test, man. Nothing happened."
"How do we know she's not something else?" Aspen asked. "we can't think werewolves and kanimas are the only supernaturals in this town. We saw the bestiary. There's got to be some answers there."
"I know, but werewolves and kanima's is all we know right now, and we don't have time to look up what she can possibly be."
"No, it can't be her," Stiles repeated. He was desperate.
"It doesn't matter because Derek thinks it's her," Allison said slowly, "so either--either we can convince him that he's wrong, or we've got to figure out a way to protect her."
"He's a menacing asshole. He doesn't know how to have an adult conversation." Aspen murmured, her eyes never leaving the dirty smear on the ground.
'Well, I really don't think he's gonna do anything here, not at school." Scott assured, but Allison gave him a look. They couldn't be too sure.
'What about after school?" Allison said. Scott was clearly not thinking that far. Allison huffed in agitation and looked down at her feet for a moment before facing everyone again. "Okay, well... what if we can prove that Derek is wrong?"
"By three o'clock?" Stiles scoffed, cocking his head toward her.
"Like I said," Aspen said, standing up from the desk and immediately feeling dizzy. Scott laid his hand on her back in case her knees gave out. "There could be something in the bestiary."
"Oh, you guys mean the 900-page book written in archaic Latin that none of us can read? Good luck with that." Stiles rose his voice. Aspen understood and wished she could do more to comfort him.
"Actually, I think I know someone who might be able to translate it," Allison said hopefully.
"Uh, I can talk to Derek. Maybe convince him to give us a chance to prove that it's not her." Stiles looks skeptical of Scott's idea. "But if anything, you guys let me handle it, okay?"
Aspen and Stiles rolled their eyes. The hero act again.
"What does that mean?" Allison said softly.
"It means you can't heal like I do." his words generally aimed toward Stiles and Allison, but he kept her eyes on her. He knew Aspen could heal too, but he was already drained. Allison stared at him blankly, quirking a brow. her stare was deadly, and she hated this speech. "I just don't want you getting hurt."
The school bell rang when Allison rummaged through her bag, rather roughing, and pulled out a mini crossbow. She unhinged it and showed it off for Scott to see. "I can protect myself."
Aspen held in a laugh at Scott's expression. He was falling more in love with her by the minute. Aspen swerved around the two to stand next to stiles.
"Did something else happen?" Allison asked him softly.
Scott only stared at her, stepping closer, so their noses nearly touched. Aspen thought it was too intimate to watch, but she couldn't tear her eyes away.
"I just don't want you getting hurt." Scott repeated with more affirmation, "Seriously if something goes wrong, you call me, okay? I-I don't care if your dad finds out. Call, text, scream, yell, whatever. I'll hear you, and I'll find you as fast as I can. We have until three."
The two held eye contact and said a few more words Aspen didn't care to catch. Her heart sank, and she longed for the person she can hardly call a friend.
Isaac didn't care if Derek found out that night. She was all that mattered to him at that moment.
"June, check it out," Stiles pulled her attention as he grinned, grabbing Allison's crossbow.
She breathed out a laugh, "Hey, careful, bro."
Stiles laughed and tried to strike a pose when an arrow got loose. Aspen gasped before Scott spun around and caught the arrow before it could pierce his skull.
Stiles hissed, and Allison annoyingly snatched it from his grasp with a scowl. He mumbled an apology and something about the loose trigger. Aspen bit her lip to keep from laughing as they filed out of the office.
__
Aspen thought this was the most stupid plan. She constantly replayed the words in her head. She was currently shuffling down the hall alongside Stiles. She kept her head down, feeling as if people were watching her. She lost her cool in the classroom, something she swore she wouldn't do. She thought after breaking all the marbles, she could handle it. Now she unconsciously dipped her fingers in her pocket, hoping to feel her nail tap agast the cool white orbs. But they were gone. Aspen knew the risk. It was to deal with the alpha. Her godfather. Now she had to lay in the bed she made for herself.
Aspen and Stiles agreed to separate for the time being. She would wait in the library for Stiles to retrieve Lydia while Scott tried to negotiate peace with Derek. Would it work? Well, she hadn't really thought that far yet.
With her head dipped down, she leisurely walked down the aisle, her nail grazing the worn spines of books. She dragged her feet on the frayed rug, her overused leather boots overused from night running from things you only hear from children's stories. Werewolves, she got used to. Rampage lizard? Giant reptiles made her break into a cold sweat.
Aspen takes a turn out from the aisle but lets out a yelp when she staggered back from a forceful impact.
"Woah Woah--" Matt says, his hand flying to Aspen's shoulders. They pause for a moment, Matt's lips lifting in a small smile. Aspen's smile is fleeting before she takes a step back, flicking her hair over her shoulder.
"Sorry about that," Aspen says, her voice barely audible to her ears as her mind is somewhere else. Her eyes wander over Matt's shoulder, not noticing his cheeks flushing pink like the book in Aspen's hand. She didn't even notice herself grab it.
"No, you're good," Matt laughs, straitening his flannel. His eyes suddenly stray to the book in her hand, and he lifts a questioning brow. "Didn't know you were in anatomy.' he points out, tossing his hand in reference to the book.
Aspen had to do a double-take at her hand before she gaped at the Gynecology for Dummies book in her hand.
Aspen laughed mildly, sloppily slipping the book back in an open spot on the shelf. "I just grabbed it for some light reading." she shrugged, suddenly feeling her own face redden. "The more ya know, yeah?"
"Right."
The silence was pressing in on them, and Aspen wished for nothing more than for the kanima to walk in and bite her head off.
"Are you free--"
"I gotta--"
Matt pressed his lips together, his hand that he lifted now balling into a fist. Aspen wrinkled her nose in apology. "Sorry," she breathed, shaking her head, "You first."
Matt smiled, sighing through his nose as if he was preparing for a grand performance. Aspen recalled Charlie saying he had a thing for her, but she's been too caught up with her power, a giant lizard, and a blue-eyed asshole that she couldn't get out of her head to notice the crush he had on her.
"So I know we don't often talk--well at all, really. But I don't know, maybe if you're interested there's a party...."
Aspen knew where this was leading, and she was quickly thinking of all the excuses she could use to say no.
A simple no would suffice, but she didn't want to see the hope dim in his eyes. Maybe she could just walk away, act as if someone called her. She could say she was already hating herself enough for liking a boy she couldn't be near without her heart almost breaking through her chest. Couldn't get the image of how his lips would feel. His hands. How her heart dropped anytime she opened her closet to see the crimson sweater he once gifted her. Or the weight of the pink and red beaded bracelet around her wrist they had made together one night during her recovery from the alpha
Aspen held the thin translucent string between her finger, the tip she wet with her tongue edging the opening of the bead.
Thirteen.
It had taken thirteen attempts for her to get to this point without slipping. Why did they have to make the hole so tiny anyway? The box Isaac had bought said for children seven and up. She was up. Most definitely up and couldn't even get the first bead on yet. It was circular and pink. It was never her favorite color, but Isaac blindly picked it for her. Just like she had with his black one. But she secretly thought the color looked good on him. Isaac was lenient enough to let her add red to her bracelet.
A smile touches Aspen's lips; her tongue poked out to wet her lips.
Isaac had been gazing at her across the other side of the bed, one of his long legs hanging off the bed while the other was propped up in front of him. At first, he was watching, hoping to mess her up as he was finishing his bracelet. But the curve of her lips was too distracting. The way she inclined her head as she raised it to the ceiling light. She couldn't have known the way her hair was braided back exposed the whole length of her neck. He couldn't get the image of her crimson cheeks burning when he offered to braid her hair back since it hurt to angle her arms in that way because of the sore scratches on her back.
It took an estimate of twenty minutes for him to finally get it right. He fought the urge to shove Aspen off the bed for scolding him so many times, but he finally accomplished it. But now that he looked at her long enough, he could see the strand already coming loose from her braid. Her hair was too incredibly soft to be held back. He wanted to feel it at that moment. Her strands carding through his fingers. Maybe pull her hair slightly to angle her face upward toward him--
Aspen sat up straight so quick it broke Isaac from his stupor. She got the bead on the string. But before she could celebrate her minor victory, Isaac slightly lifted himself from the bed and bounced. Aspen yelp, her hand letting go of the bracelet, and watched as the bead slipped off.
He had ever heard so many curses leave Aspen's lips.
"That'S very unladylike of you, Veata--"
Aspen threw a handful of beads to his face.
She could still find the ones she wasn't able to spot to this day. Then they succumb to dust under her frustration. She hasn't shared with anyone that she was capable of that. She wasn't ready to begin what her real power was capable of. Lightning, macing with air, thunderstorms...
She couldn't fathom the reality.
But the way Isaac grazed her wrist that night as he tied on the bracelet. His hands on her. He was the only thing she couldn't make herself break. He was glass in her hand.
What's worse, she could still feel his hands after he finished braiding her hair. His fingers trailing down the back of her neck, his knuckle gently grazing down her spine. She let in a sharp intake of breath at the contact.
"I'm sorry," he had whispered. Though he towered over by a couple of inches, she could still feel his warm breath on her neck. "I should've been there."
"I wouldn't have wanted you to see me like that.' she replied, her voice sounding faint and far away. Like a child who has broken a vase and hid the shards under a carpet. She walked around her abilities like child's play, but the time would come when she took the wrong step and got hurt. Hurt Isaac.
"You have no idea how I see you, June."
Aspen stilled at his words and was about to ask what they meant. What the unspoken ghost of what they both felt for each other was.
But the door burst open, and Grandpa Sam, along with the aroma of red velvet cupcakes, barged in the room. "Thought you lot would want an entre before dinner!" he beamed, shuffling toward her nightstand, utterly unaware of their red faces. Or how Isaac's back nearly hit her closet to make as much distance between them as possible. As of they haven't already slept in the same bed most nights. Their hands never wandered.
But neither of them missed the gentle strokes. Isaacs hand trailing her arm as she slept. Or Aspen's nose nudging his back.
"Grandpa, it's twelve in the afternoon," Aspen said, clearing her nightstand of empty water bottles to make room for the baked goods.
"Then an early entre. LIke they say in Italiy, prendre plaisir!"
"That's French."
___
Matt's cleared his throat and laughed mildly when he noticed aspen eyes had spaced out. She furrowed her brows and her mouth opened to apologize for her not hearing a word he said.
Then she saw a red-headed girl shoving Stiles' hand off her shoulders as he tried to usher her into the library. He nearly tripped on a frayed piece of the carpet but adjusted quickly when Lydia whipped her head to look at him and scowl at his clumsiness.
"Lydia!" Aspen yelled louder than she anticipated, earning some looks that were less than pleased with her outburst. She was already sidestepping Matt as she continued to speak, "you said party, right? Just text me the information, and I'll check my work schedule." Aspen was fired last week. Over the phone. She couldn't exactly give them a good excuse for her frequent absence.
"I don't have your number," Matt said, watching her walk backward and hit her shoulder against a shelf.
"Yeah, great, see you then!"
Aspen finally spun around and let out a disgruntled sound of distress as she pressed the heel of her hand into her eyes until she saw stars.
"Aspen!"
The brunette came to a halt as Lydia, and her 5'3 self stood with her arm crossed, glaring up at her. Aspen wanted to laugh at the height difference but decided against it when Stiles' nearly crashed into her from behind as he wasn't looking where he was going.
"Are you a cavewoman now? Or did you decided to become a monk and toss your phone in the trash?" Lydia snapped, the tip of her boots impatiently tapping the floor. Aspen has only seen the irritating gesture in cartoons, but then again, Lydia was a character in herself. She could have her own movie if she wanted.
"What?" Aspen asked.
Lydia lifted her phone with one hand, tapping the screen with Aspen's caller ID with her manicured thumb. Aspen narrowed her eyes when she saw her name on her phone. June Bug Loves Lydia.
"Phone! Yes--sorry, sorry, hold on." Aspen rummaged through her backpack, the contents of her bag nearly slipping out. After a few seconds, she pulled out her phone from the pits of her bag, a triumphant smile on her lips. She looked through her missed calls and frowned and mouthed an Oh. She turned the phone dubiously to Lydia with a rueful smile and a wince. Seven missed calls. "So you called?"
"No shit." Lydia breathed with a roll of her eyes. But she recovered quickly. "That counselor lady, miss whatever-french-Canadian bitch- showed me a bunch of inked-up pictures, thinking that can help me figure out these dreams. I'm sorry, but when was the last time pictures helped with anxiety and depression? By then, anyone could be a counselor! Like I swear they were butterflies."
"I'm sure they were Lyds, but we should really go."
"Where are we even going?"
"It's a surprise."
Aspen and Stiles had to drag her out at that point.