"Okay, so you promised not to laugh," Allison said as I looked around her garage. I grinned, not looking at her.
"I pro- HOLY-!" I swore, jumping at least three feet into the air when I saw the bow she was aiming at me. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"
Allison chuckled, lowering the bow. "It's a bow. And I'm pretty sure it takes an arrow to be lethal," she added.
I shook my head in disbelief. "So... you're into archery. That... that's nice," I muttered, glancing behind me uneasily.
Allison's cheeks turned pink. "Are you laughing? 'Cause you promised not to laugh," she added, grinning.
I smiled at her. "I assure you, Mademoiselle Argent, I am not laughing," I told her.
She giggled, putting the crossbow away. "Nice accent," she commented.
My brow furrowed as I saw something behind her. "Argent's French. Hey, is it safe to have all those guns out in the open?" I asked, nodding at the gun rack behind her.
Allison glanced over her shoulder, shrugging. "Dunno. My dad's into sales," she explained, smiling innocently at me. "Wanna watch a movie?"
And that was how we ended up on the couch, The Goonies playing, our Chemistry textbooks balanced precariously on our knees.
"Why do they call it chemistry? Why not call it... unicornitaryism... or... something," I frowned, cocking my head. "Is unicornitaryism a thing?"
Allison glanced up at me, genuine confusion in her dark eyes. "I don't know. Don't think so- where'd you even come up with that, anyway?" She asked.
I grinned. "I didn't. Stiles did. Speaking of Stiles, if you ever have him over, child-proof your garage."
Allison giggled, shaking her head. "Speaking of Stiles-" "Oh my God. Al- I love you," I told her, my eyes wide.
"I really do. But I am not going to sit here and giggle about my brother with you. But I will tell you that he loves Batman, and if you really need to, I will let you borrow my Batman t-shirt," I added. My friend grinned, suddenly hugging me.
"You're a good friend, Hale," she murmured, resting her chin on my shoulder.
I smiled softly, wrapping my arms around her. "I've never really had a friend before, so that... that means more than I care to admit," I added.
Someone cleared their throat.
Allison jumped up, her cheeks pink.
I narrowed my eyes when I saw the man standing there, his arms crossed.
It was her dad.
"Allison, isn't this your friend from the game?" Mr. Argent asked, raising his eyebrows at me.
Allison scratched the back of her neck, her cheeks still tinted pink. "Um, Dad, you remember Sawyer, right? She was studying with me," she nodded to the man, who grimaced at me.
"Nice to see you again, Sawyer. Heading home soon?" He asked, but there was an underlying threat in his voice. A get-out-of-my-house-before-I-cut-you-in-half threat.
"Chris, are we scaring Allison's friend?"
My eyes narrowed when I saw Kate Argent, a light haired psychopath who had this annoying smirk that made me want to rip her throat out with my teeth.
She gave me that annoying smirk when she saw, crossing my arms. "Well, look what we have here. Sawyer Hale. How's your brother?" She asked, her brown eyes mocking me.
I curled my fingers into fists, quickly hiding them behind my back. "He's fine," I said cooly, raising my chin. "Both of them are fine."
Allison put a hand on my shoulder. "Dad, would it be okay if Sawyer stayed for-" "No, I... I think Sawyer should be getting home. It's late," Mr. Argent said, walking forward to put a hand between my shoulder blades and half-lead, half-push me towards the front door.
Al's face fell, and I gave her a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, at school," I assured her, letting Argent push me towards the door.
My friend lit up. "You forgot your backpack! I'll be right back!" She chirped, before darting up the stairs.
Kate stepped a little closer to me, pinching a strand of my hair between her thumb and pointer finger. "Pretty hair. You don't get that from your mother, do you?" She taunted, still smirking.
I didn't say anything, refusing to acknowledge how angry that made me.
Kate sighed. "Pity you can't stay for our family dinner- I mean, you don't have much of that these days," she sneered, twisting the lock of hair around her finger, tugging to bring my face closer to hers.
I winced at the slight pain, before glaring at her. "And who's fault would that be?" I gritted out, letting my mind wander to Scott so I wouldn't kill her.
Kate chuckled, letting go of my hair. Chris pulled me back from her, giving the woman a pointed look.
"Here! I'll see you tomor- hey, is everything okay?" Allison asked, noticing the angry look on my face.
I smiled at her. "Yeah. Yeah, everything's good."
•••