formality
With just two days left until the winter formal Kinsey knew it was crunch time if she was going to win her deal against Stiles, so as she walked towards the school she prepared herself with a deep breath and a slight prayer that whoever the first person she laid her eyes on when she walked in wasn't a jock or some creepy person who could easily pass as a stalker. And in her moments of a few deep breaths, she thought back to her deal with Stiles wondering how his end was going, whether he would actually build up the nerves to ask the girl she knew he'd had a crush on for years. And then it came to her. The most perfect loophole that ever had existed. Stiles had specifically said she had to ask a stranger, not that they had to agree to attend the formal with her. So her plan to go alone would remain intact, all she had to do was ask someone. After this deal, she knew she'd have to teach Stiles how to be slightly more accurate when wording his side of the deal, otherwise loopholes like this one would be found. So as she walked into the school as late as she usually was Kinsey found herself beaming and proud that she had managed to catch Stiles out in that small loophole. Due to her lateness, the hallways of the school lacked many potential dates to the formal, the only person who stood in her line of view being a fellow late-attender who frantically shoved his belongings into his locker before he would run to class.
"Hi." Kinsey beamed as she leaned against the brunette boy's locker.
"H- Hey. Kinsey, right?" He awkwardly stammered as he looked the girl up and down questioning her sanity for the mere fact she was speaking to him. Especially when she was known as a popular girl, even if she didn't know that herself.
Wasting no time, particularly because she wanted this over and done with and not the fact she was already fifteen minutes late to her first class the blonde asked the question that was bound to take any stranger back after she'd only spoken one word to him . "Would you like to go formal with me on Friday?"
"Me? Me. You're asking me? To go to the formal. With you?" He nervously stammered.
"Oh, you can't? That's really unfortunate, I was really looking forward to it." Kinsey blurted out quickly trying to stop the boy from having the chance to provide her with an actual answer as well as an actual date to the dance. Neither of which she wanted. "Well, it was nice meeting you but I'm late for chemistry." She quickly said before walking towards her class where she was able to rub it in Stiles's face that her end of the deal had been properly sealed and loopholed.
"We already met!" Matt shouted down the hall to the girl.
Kinsey spent the entirety of chemistry rubbing her loophole in Stiles's face while he sat there with a straight face questioning how he had missed that, as well as how he had lacked the detail of what would have happened if she hadn't asked whoever the stranger was. Unfortunately for him he still hadn't asked Lydia to go to the formal with him, though he had equipped a helping hand in that department to ensure that Lydia couldn't say no to him. Maybe that was his own loophole within this deal, Kinsey never said that he couldn't get help from Allison and Scott. But he thought he would leave her unbeknownst to that little revelation, it would only make her reaction that much more enjoyable when she finally realized what had happened when she went dress shopping with Allison and Lydia after school today. Where it was all going down.
In the meantime he had to help Scott arrange a date for Allison who wasn't him, he didn't quite understand why Scott wanted Jackson of all people to take the brunette to the dance. Surely any other of the jocks in this town would have been able to protect Allison by keeping her on her feet all night. Why did it have to be Jackson Whittemore? After threatening Jackson in the locker room after practice the boy practically ran to Allison's locked dripping with sweat and nerves as he confirmed their plans to attend the formal with one another, certainly an enjoyable experience for Scott and Stiles to watch from afar. Though there was one standing question left. Allison's date was arranged. His own date was on the way to being arranged. Kinsey had chosen to go solo once again. Jackson was with Allison. Which left Scott. Dateless, ticketless, and banned from even attending the dance which he still was adamant he'd be attending no matter what.
"So let me get this straight. You're gonna ride your bike to a dance that you're not even allowed to go to without a date, a suit, or a way in with werewolves and werewolf hunters all out to kick your little werewolf ass?" Stiles asked again as the two stood in the middle of the school halls. Even though he already knew all of this information he wanted to make sure that he really had heard his best friend correctly and question whether the wolf was that stupid.
"Yeah. You gonna help me?'
"Hell, yeah. And I have the solution to all of those problems." Stiles agreed as he wrapped his arm around the wolf's shoulder proudly before the two headed to the mall. For him, it was to make sure that his arrangements with Lydia were going as planned, as well as to see Kinsey's reaction when she realized he had acquired help. And for Scott, it was an excuse to keep a close eye on the brunette like he'd been doing for the past few days. To the point where he had been sitting on her roof for all hours of the night to make sure nobody attacked her in her sleep.
As the three girls stepped onto the escalator leading up to Macy's it hadn't gone unnoticed that Allison wasn't in her usual perky mood, her mouth pulled into a thin line and her shoulders hunched over as she stared down at the escalators under her feet. Kinsey and Lydia had both made their fair share of jokes to try and lighten the mood, even to the point where Kinsey had told them about the deal and her experience with the stranger she asked to formal this morning. An exchange she felt guilty about now she looked back on her behavior, how blunt she had been. The poor boy had looked as though he'd never had a real conversation with a girl before and now he would be traumatized to talk to another because of her. But she didn't know his name, she barely remembered the details of his face, his only noticeable feature had been the dark hair on his head, and in a town like this that wasn't exactly a detail that stood out amongst the rest.
"Okay." Kinsey sighed, it was coherent nothing was cheering Allison up. "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothings wrong, I just have a lot on my mind." She answered simply, unconvincingly.
"You could smile at least." Lydia teased. "Ever heard of the saying 'Never frown. Someone could be falling in love with your smile'. Smile, Allison. I'm buying you both a dress." The reason behind Lydia buying a dress for the two girls differed, for the older brunette it acted as an apology for her poor treatment as a best friend. An apology that Allison tried to refused, but inevitably failed. And for Kinsey, the reasoning was nothing else other than pity for the girl who had been through so much lately, and after their phone call last night she felt guiltier than ever for Kinsey. She had been discreet in explaining what happened with her mother but the simple details had been that she practically told Kate to get out of her life, that was enough for Lydia to feel guilty. It was an offer Kinsey had also tried to refuse, but she was put up against a Martin, nobody won that battle. And if Lydia buying her dress wasn't enough she was under strict orders of what her dress could look like. In Lydia's word her dress had to be sexy but not slutty and couldn't wash out her already fairly ivory skin, that was another thing the redhead classed as social suicide. As though Kinsey arriving alone to the formal wasn't painful enough to hear.
"Have to admit as far as apologies go, that's more than I expected," Allison admitted timidly. "But not as much as I'm going to ask." She added, confusing the redhead. Unbeknownst to Stiles, Kinsey had been in on this little plan as much as the brunette did, after all the brunette had asked for her assistance in making sure that today would pan out exactly how Stiles had hoped it to. But Kinsey had been sworn to secrecy. Stiles wasn't allowed to know Allison involved her.
"What? What's that supposed to mean? What have the two of you done?"
"Nothing you haven't done to me, Lyds," Kinsey said with a smile.
"It means your going to cancel on whatever dumb, roided-up jock you said yes to and you're going to go with somebody else," Allison instructed as the three of them stepped off the escalator. Kinsey had never been prouder of the brunette than she had after that sentence had come out of her mouth, one that she had definitely stolen from her but in this instance, she didn't mind if Allison was copying her phrases. Especially if it was to slam the roided-up jocks.
"Who?" Lydia reluctantly asked.
Allison and Kinsey shared a smile before saying 'him' and looking straight over to the boy stood at the perfume counter, all three of them catching him in the moment where he'd accidentally sprayed one of them directly into his mouth causing him to not only choke on the scent but to sneeze repeatedly. Not exactly the impression he had planned out for this afternoon, and not exactly the date the popular redhead had expected for herself. But she needed to be grounded after dating Jackson for so long she had been brainwashed, forgotten that she was actually a normal sixteen-year-old girl with the bonus of being popular. And not in fact a royal.
"Don't frown, Lydia. Someone could be falling in love with your smile." Allison teased.
In the search for a dress, the four had been separated, or more so the three. While Allison headed towards the section of color that stood out to her the most Lydia filed through every possible rack collecting a large pile of potential dresses that she shoved in Stiles's arms. Making him as useful as a boy like him could be in this kind of situation. Kinsey on the other hand followed the strict instructions that Lydia had given her and took her suggestions of opting for a blue dress to compliment her skin. That was a suggestion that Kinsey wasn't opposed to, in fact, a blue dress would have been her first option with it being her favorite color. Though she had the color chosen she was still left with the style of dress, sexy but not slutty as she had been advised by the redhead. Idly she traced her fingers against the selection of dressers, all short considering the occasion and the weather in California at this time of year. On the off chance that Kinsey had looked up and directly into the mirror, she noticed the lurking of a man all too familiar to her, immediately sending a chill down her spine as her finger that had trailed across the dresses fell beside her.
"You have quite the taste, Kinsey," Peter commented as he pulled out one of the blue dresses.
"I prefer Kins, actually." She corrected.
"Right, kids these days don't do formality." He scoffed. Kinsey swallowed the lump in her throat as Peter held up a royal blue dress against her, analyzing how it complimented her olive skin. And as much as she hated to admit as she nervously stared into the mirror it was perfect. It met all of Lydia's criteria, and it wasn't completely unbearable as far as formal dresses go. "See? It perfectly compliments your skin. And you do have lovely skin, Kinsey. Trust me, I have a unique perspective on the subject." He laughed slightly though Kinsey remained unamused. He stared for another moment longer making that lump in her throat grow unbearable as she awaited his next comment, though she would have preferred if the man just disappeared without another word being spoken between them. "Beautiful brown eyes, too. From your father?"
"Grandmother, actually." Kinsey corrected. "Can I go now or is your little profile on me not complete?"
"Just making friendly conversation, Kinsey. Don't be so cynical. Every girl needs some guidance in choosing the right dress for the dance. You should be thanking me."
"Do you expect me to take fashion advice from a man who thinks a long black trench coat suits every outfit? Because trust me I have a unique perspective on the subject, and it doesn't."
Peter smirked as he caressed her cheek gently with his knuckle. Just like he had with his long werewolf claws back at the video store when she was seconds away from death, enough to make the hairs on her arms stand up. The cold she felt on her skin was worse than all of those times she had sat on the bleachers watching a lacrosse game during the cold winter. Much worse. "Beautiful and funny. Aren't you a catch?" He smiled in admiration.
"Kinsey" A familiar, comforting voice spoke up causing both of them to turn their heads to see Scott stood with folded arms. This had been the second time within ten minutes he had had to come in between Peter and the girl he had chosen to harass, the first being Allison who'd received similar fashion advice from the older werewolf. Until Scott had asked for the announcement that her car had been towed to sound through the store, that had managed to get Allison away from what was clearly a terrifying conversation between her and Peter. But now that it was Kinsey, he could face the man for himself as he helped pull the brunette out of her own terrifying exchange with the spine-chilling man. Kinsey wasted no time walking towards the boy, taking the dress that Peter had chosen with her as she made her hasty exit. "Are you okay?"
"I am now." She nodded, refusing to turn back and give Peter the parting glance he craved.
-☽○☾-
With just an hour till the dance Kinsey approached the house wearing her royal blue dress, she would have been lying if she didn't feel a tinge of nausea when she had put it on. Something about tonight didn't feel like it was supposed to. It didn't feel like she was a teenage girl about to go to the winter formal, she wasn't happy like she was supposed to be. She had a feeling that tonight wasn't just a dance. Something was going to happen tonight. It was a feeling she had tried to subside as Lydia had curled her hair and placed sapphires inside of the graceful curls when she had looked at herself in the mirror wearing the royal blue dress that tightly hugged her figure before it flowed out at her waist, stopping just above her mid-thigh. It was a nerve-racking feeling that she simply couldn't escape. No dance was going to distract her from that. If that hadn't been nerve-racking enough what she was stood doing now was, she knew she shouldn't have been nervous given the situation but underneath the tough exterior she tried to put on she still found even the littlest of things nerve-racking. Even just asking her best friend to attend the dance with her rather than going solo as she had originally planned. Scott had opened the door with a look of confusion immediately passing over his face as he looked the brunette up and down. Whether it was because he'd never seen the brunette dressed up like she was now or the fact she was even here in the first place. And Kinsey was just as shocked to see Scott wearing only part of his suit. He stood wearing his shirt and tie, but the bottom half of the wolf stood in his boxers which he hadn't thought to cover up upon answering his front door. When he realized his mistake he'd quickly covered up, but he'd never been so glad to see Kinsey at his door.
"Shouldn't you already be on your way to the dance?" Scott asked with a raised brow.
"Yes. But I heard that you needed a date... And a ride." Kinsey smiled as she nodded to the car parked at the bottom of his driveway, Allison's car. "Is there a reason your not wearing pants?"
"Scott! Whose at the door?" Melissa shouted as she rushed down the stairs with the boy's pants folded over her arm, her quick steps coming to a sharp halt as she reached the doorway where her expression began to reach that of her sons. That shocked expression she couldn't quite get used to, even after three times of receiving it within the past thirty minutes, each one more and more embarrassing than the previous. "Oh, my God. Kinsey you look..."
"Amazing." Scott finished.
"Well don't leave the poor girl standing out there. Kinsey, you can help me fix Scott's pants." Melissa urged as she guided the girl upstairs with Scott following behind realizing just how much of a time crunch they were in as his eyes glanced past the clock hanging on the wall in the foyer. Kinsey sat beside Melissa on Scott's bed as she helped assist the woman in sewing up the tear in his tux trousers while he stood impatiently in front of them watching the watch on his wrist. "So, are the two of you meeting your dates there, or are they coming here?"
"Actually we're going stag. Together." Scott retorted, immediately realizing how complicated that had sounded but he trusted that his mother would understand what he meant.
"You're both going alone?"
"Stag." Scott corrected with offense. "There's a difference."
"Kind of," Kinsey added with a nod as she tried to ease just how sad their situation sounded.
"I'm sorry, I'm just a little, you know, surprised that, you know, you don't have anyone else to ask other than Allison and that nobody asked you," Melissa said as she looked between them. The truth was Kinsey had been asked and had rejected them all, she wasn't interested in going along with someone to the dance. Of course, her situation with Scott was a lot different. She knew that he was his last chance to get into the dance without being caught, and she didn't want to see him pull up to the formal ready to win Allison back while riding a bike.
"There are no other girls besides Allison." Scott sighed.
"You really feel that way?"
"Can you just please keep sewing?"
"No, no, no, no. You have time for just one question. Well, two, because you get one question too. Come here." Melissa instructed the boy, both of them filled with dread at the thought of her asking them each one question. Especially when it was obviously going to involve relationships. "Do you really feel that way?" She asked Scott again as she continued to sew.
"I can't help it. I mean, every time I look at her, I get this... This hollow feeling in my chest, and it's like. It's like someone literally took a shovel and dug a hole in me, and it's the worst feeling I've ever had in my life, and I didn't... I didn't know anyone could actually ever feel this bad."
"I know." Melissa retorted softly. "Everyone knows eventually."
And she was right. Because Kinsey would too feel that feeling one day. Not yet, but one day. And just like Melissa had said it did go away, it took a long time. But it went away eventually. It would for Scott too. Eventually.
"I don't want it to." Scott shook his head.
"Have you told her how you feel?" Kinsey asked curiously. Lately, Allison hadn't talked about Scott which meant she was completely up to date with how their relationship stood right now. With everything going on talking wasn't something Kinsey nor Allison were completely up to, and with Kate's revelation, a wedge had been shoved between them.
"She knows."
Melissa immediately smacked the boy on the forehead on behalf of herself, Kinsey, and every other girl who had a pulse in this world and had to deal with the stupidity of the male species. "Come on, "She knows." She knows? Listen, dumbass, I'm gonna let you in on a secret that most guys don't even have a clue about and Kinsey can vouch for me on this one, all right? You ready?" She asked while Mia eagerly waited to hear the revelation. "Women love words."
"Huh?" Both of them mumbled in unison.
"You need to tell her how you feel. Just say it. Say it again. Say it differently. Learn how to say it better. Learn how to sing it." Melissa began to list with a smile growing on Scott and Kinsey's faces.
"Please don't sing it." Kinsey interrupted. "At least not at the dance."
"Or you could write it in a poem. In a letter attached to flowers. Carve it in a tree, on a sidewalk with cement. Tattoo on your arm."
"Really?" Scott asked enthusiastically.
"No. Not really." Melissa deadpanned, almost ready to slap her son for his stupidity again if it wasn't for both of her hands been occupied by a needle and thread. "Just... Tell her the truth. Tell her anything and everything you want."
His brows raised. "Everything?" He asked as he looked at them, more so at the blonde who knew what everything meant for a person in his situation. Tonight had been the first time he had truly considered telling Allison everything after his mother's words. And now he needed confirmation from someone who truly knew how much everything was to someone in his position.
"Everything." Kinsey nodded with a reassuring, faint smile. It was time.
"But when you do I'd keep that buttoned," Melissa asked as she pointed to the boy's tux before handing him the pants she had sewed back to perfection. The woman prepared to walk out of the door before stopping in her tracks realizing that she hadn't asked Kinsey that one question that she was sure they still had time to squeeze in, right when Kinsey thought she had managed to get away from it all. But then she realized that Kinsey didn't need a question, but she did know something that would provide equal benefit to the girl. "And Kinsey... Keep waiting. You'll know when he's the right person for you. And it will scare you. That's how you know he's right for you."
-☽○☾-
Kinsey arrived at the dance after dropping of Scott just at the entrance of the parking lot allowing him to find his alternative route into the dance without getting caught by Coach and the other teenagers who would be looking out for any other teenagers on academic probation. She parked up beside the familiar blue Jeep and silver Porsche that had brought her three best friends and Jackson who was already stood outside of his car taking a sip from his flask, he had the right idea for tonight. That was certainly something she would be asking to borrow from him later. It had taken the same amount of time for Kinsey to build up the courage to step out of the car as it had Allison who still managed to keep an upbeat smile across her face despite who she was attending with, that had been something she only now realized was a huge mistake. After assisting Lydia out of his Jeep Stiles had caught a glimpse of the girl in blue, not recognizing her at a first glance until he chose to take a longer one. Only then realizing exactly who it was.
"I told her she should let me style her more often" Lydia smiled as she too admired Kinsey who was fixing her dress unbeknownst to the looks that she received. "She looks good, doesn't she?"
"That's one word for it," Stiles mumbled as Kinsey walked up to the two of them with a smile.
"Jackson, you look handsome." The redhead complimented the boy as he and Allison walked past them with their arms connected, though he looked prouder than the brunette.
"Obviously. It's Hugo Boss." Jackson scoffed before strutting off with Allison who mouthed a simple apology on behalf of her date. This was what Kinsey meant when she had told her he had two different personalities- this was the horrid one she hadn't often seen on him.
"I don't care. I don't want compliments. I will not fall prey to society's desire to turn girls into emotionally insecure neurotics who pull up their dresses as the first flattering remark." Lydia ranted to the two who stood watching her not knowing what to say to a girl who did in fact care about what people thought, especially Jackson. No matter how much she didn't want to.
"Well, I think you look beautiful," Stiles spoke up. His words being the exact thing Lydia needed to hear as her eyes lit up with joy and a smile grew across her face. He held out his arm for the redhead who gladly took it now she had had her confidence boost before he held out his arm for Kinsey who unlike Lydia hesitated to do so. After all, he was Lydia's date tonight. "Come on, Kins. You cant walk in alone when you look like that." Stiles said with a raised brow making Kinsey sigh as she gave in and took his arm ready to walk into the dance she'd been dreading.
Kinsey had lasted fifteen minutes of the dance before she gave in and approached Jackson with a solo cup of punch in hand, if she was going to make it through tonight alive she was going to need at least some alcohol in her system. Even if it was his cheap, warm vodka that he had been keeping in the inside pocket of his tux since the early afternoon. Right now she'd take anything. Allison had been hanging around her date waiting for him to actually live up to that title rather than fill everyone's cup with the alcohol for his flask while Stiles and Lydia found themselves sitting at the table watching everyone dance the night away, the redhead hadn't quite received enough of a confidence boost to pull up the nerves to dance with Stiles quite yet. Kinsey had been stood taking steady sips from her cup as she kept her eyes on Coach for Scott's sake while he lingered in the shadows of the bleachers that were filled with teenagers already making out in a drunk blur that most would regret by tomorrow morning. Hence her slow sipping.
"Do you wanna dance?" Allison asked Jackson when she'd finally plucked up the courage.
"Do I have to?" He asked with his usual amount of attitude.
Kinsey rolled her eyes before approaching the couple she had been stood just an inch away from until Scott could be the date that Allison deserved tonight she would be. "No, because I will." Kinsey smiled as she held out a hand to her cousin who couldn't even try to hide the smile that grew across her face. "Have fun guarding the punch, Jackson." Kinsey spat out as she and the brunette walked onto the dance floor as Allison asked what already seemed obvious enough.
"You brought Scott here, didn't you?"
"Tonight's supposed to be a night to remember, Aly. I want to make sure you remember tonight for the right reasons. Not because you had to suffer being Jacksons' date all night." Kinsey retorted honestly before the two of them began dancing, something they'd spend most of the night doing while Jackson stared at Kinsey with piercing eyes for taking his date away from him.
Stiles sat beside Lydia watching as Kinsey and Allison danced happily in front of him, he couldn't help but smile at what she had done. He didn't have to question that she was dancing with Allison because Jackson refused to, he knew the kind of person that Kinsey was. The kind of person who was always there when people needed her to be. No matter what the situation.
"You want to dance?" Stiles asked as he turned his head around to the redhead knowing he didn't want to be another date that Kinsey had to step in because he'd neglected her.
"Pass." Lydia deadpanned.
"Okay. Let me try that again. Lydia, get off your cute little ass and dance with me." Stiles said confidently as he stood up trying to disguise how nervous he had been to ask that.
"Interesting tactic. I'm gonna stick with no." The redhead shook her head. "Why don't you just ask Kinsey to dance? One, she's already up there and two, we both know she's the one that you really want to dance with tonight." Lydia suggested leaving the boy stood with his jaw slack.
"I- I don't-"
"Come on, Stiles. I saw the way you looked at her when she got out of the car and how you've been looking at her all night. Or every other time you've ever seen her. Are you just going to sit and wait around for her to notice how you feel or are you going to man up and tell her?"
"Not tonight. I can wait a little longer to tell her how I really feel." Stiles shook his head. "So just get up, okay? You're gonna dance with me and you're going to carry on pretending like you don't really want to be here with Jackson, okay? Because I know that somewhere inside that cold, lifeless exterior there's an actual human soul. And I'm pretty sure that other than Kinsey I'm the only one who really knows how smart you are." He ranted leaving the girl stunned as she refused to say anything back that would stop him while he was already on a roll, she could tell that he'd been holding this in for a while and frankly, it was too entertaining for her to stop him now. "And that once you're done pretending to be a nitwit, you'll eventually go off and write some insane mathematical theorem that wins you the noble prize. So will you please just get up and dance with me?" He finished breathlessly.
"A Fields Medal." Lydia corrected with a smile as she stood up. "Nobel doesn't have a prize for mathematics. The Fields Medal's the one I'll be winning. And by then, you better have told her." She demanded as she grabbed a hold of the boy's hand, pulling him towards the dancefloor.
Kinsey and Allison had been in a blur of dancing with one another and the people around them when they heard Coach's voice shouting for Scott while the man himself pushed through the crowd of dancing teenagers in desperation to catch the boy. Both girls stood still for a moment as they watched Coach chase Scott around the gym while the wolf himself tried to find a way to make this whole thing seem better than it was. His first thought had been to grab Danny, he knew that if Coach caused a scene while he was dancing with the only openly gay person in the entire sophomore year that it would give the wrong impression. Leaving Coach no other choice but to back away from him and allow him to stay. It was the best plan he had ever made, and the most entertaining the opinion of Mia and Allison who stood with their hands over their mouths.
"McCall! You're not supposed to... What the hell are you..." Coach mumbled, everyone in the gym staring at the three of them including the band who'd stopped playing momentarily to watch the exchange. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Yes, Coach?" Scott asked as he wrapped his arms tighter around Danny.
"Okay..." The man chuckled nervously with his hands raised up in defense, Kinsey and Allison barely able to contain themselves as they kept their own hands to their mouth to muffle their laughter. "Hold on, you... I was just saying he's not supposed to... I mean, I wasn't saying that he shouldn't... You guys don't think... You don't... I... I was... Just dance, everybody. Just dance! It's a dance! It's a party!" Coach shouted in between his laughter as he slowly backed away from the two boys knowing that he couldn't dig himself out of this large embarrassing hole.
As soon as he had the chance Scott ran up to the person he really wanted to be with tonight, the brunette herself didn't give the wolf a chance to ask her to dance before she accepted his offer with a large grin leaving Kinsey to stand alone and watch them proudly along with Stiles and Lydia. She didn't care if she was alone tonight, she was surrounded by people who were happy and in love with one another and if they were happy so was she. Melissa's words repeated in her head reminding her that if she carried on waiting she would be happy like those around her, that she would get a chance at love of her own, and she was willing to wait as long as it took. Kinsey found herself outside getting some much-needed fresh air, staring out at the parking lot filled with cars but nobody else outside. Everyone else was having fun with their date or was too drunk to make their way outside, usually she would be one of the latter. But with the strange feeling she had about tonight, she knew it wasn't a time to get blackout drunk as she would on every other occasion, that gut-clenching feeling still remained lingering in her stomach, and the reminder that anything could happen hung over her head like a dark cloud. Those feelings were the joy of being a teenager in Beacon Hills who knew the secrets that it entailed. Her hands had managed to work their way to the necklace that hung around her neck, clutching it as though it brought her comfort. It was the closest she was going to get receiving comfort from her mother. When Lydia had passed her almost jogging Kinsey had to look twice to make sure she had actually just seen her best friend walk past her, the redhead was in such a hurry herself that she hadn't noticed the blonde leaning against the wall with a solo cup containing dregs of punch in hand.
"Lyds? What's going on?" Kinsey asked as she quickly followed the girl.
"I'm trying to find Jackson, I can't find him anywhere."
"Want some help? I have nothing better to do than search for the Jackass." Kinsey asked, though Lydia accepted her offer she still gave Kinsey the same piercing stare she did every other time that she threw an insult towards her now ex-boyfriend. That just proved she still loved Jackson even after he had treated her the way that he had. Maybe that was what love was.
Lydia wrapped her arm around Kinsey's for comfort as they continued to wander the perimeter of the school covering the outside after Lydia had already searched the inside areas of the school that hadn't been closed off for the dance. Eventually, the two girls found themselves heading towards the field with the presumption that Jackson wanted to let loose and throw a few balls at the lacrosse nets in order to do so. After a while, the two girls had loosened their grip on each other and opted for wrapping their arms around themselves for warmth while searching through the cold night. Neither had opted for wearing a jacket tonight after expecting the night to go in a way that would leave them hot and sweaty on the dance floor, probably intoxicated rather than how they currently found themselves. Freezing, nauseous, and in a desperate search to find a boy that wouldn't be doing the same for them if the roles were reversed. But that was Jackson.
"Jackson!" The two girls shouted as they walked onto the field consumed by darkness.
As they reached the middle of the field the floodlights began turning on one by one causing both of them to stop and look around them, it was clear that Jackson wasn't there. And that feeling of nausea that had lingered in Mia's stomach was stronger than ever. As though her body was telling her the bad thing she had felt all day was about to happen, that now she and Lydia were out here alone where nobody would hear their screams- they were in danger.
"Lydia. Lydia, we need to go. Right now." Kinsey warned as she began trying to pull her away.
"Jackson!" The redhead shouted as she saw a silhouette coming from the shadows, Kinsey quickly turned her head curious as to whether this was Jackson playing some fucked up prank to scare them, even as for payback for Kinsey. But when she noticed that black awful trench coat she knew that it really wasn't Jackson. And she'd underestimated the danger they were in.
"Lydia. We need to go. Now! Let's go!" Kinsey screamed at the girl as she began pushing her out of the way, with every step that Peter took to get closer Kinsey's nauseous feeling worsened until she found herself as a human barricade to her best friend who was frozen still in the middle of the field. "Lydia, please go. Get out of here and go and get help. Please Go." Kinsey whimpered quietly as she slowly walked backward, pushing Lydia with every step that she took but Peter still seemed to be getting too close for comfort. The redhead still froze behind her, though she could hear her best friend plead she couldn't find it within herself to move a muscle let alone run for her life like she knew that she should be doing. She was frozen with gut-wrenching fear.
"Run! Kinsey! Lydia! Run!" Stiles screamed as he came running across the field turning both of the girl's heads towards him. When Kinsey turned back around to see how far Peter was away from them there was no distance at all, his hands were already on Lydia and his canines were already showing as he prepared to ruin yet another life of yet another innocent teenager.
"Lydia!" Kinsey screamed at the top of her lungs, the sound piercing their ears as she dropped down beside her best friend, checking to make sure she was still alive. Seconds later Stiles had dropped down beside her though Peter had stopped him from laying a hand on Lydia as he let out a low growl. "Don't kill her. Please. Please don't kill her." Kinsey begged.
"Hmm... Of course not." Peter shook his head as he leaned over the dying body of Lydia Martin. "Just tell me how to find Derek."
"What?" Stiles stammered as his eyes darted between the Alpha and the redhead dying in her best friend's lap. Kinsey was drenched with Lydia's blood, her hands, her dress even parts of her brunette hair had traces of her best friend's blood.
"Tell me how to find Derek Hale." He deadpanned as he began tracing one of his claws across Kinsey's face, but this time she hadn't reacted under his touch. She was too concerned about the girl in her arms. Her own safety didn't matter. "Or she's next."
"I don't know that. How should I know that." Stiles shook his head, flustered.
"Because you're the clever one, aren't you? And because deception has a particularly acrid scent, Stiles. Tell me the truth or I will rip them apart."
Kinsey looked at Stiles wondering if he was being deceitful like Peter suggested, though she had been one to see Derek she had no idea where her mother had taken her to see him. The entire time she'd been sat staring down at her shaky hands listening to Allison ask questions as well as occasionally asking her own. She hadn't thought to track where they were heading in the midst of all of her panic. And she wasn't sure that Kate wouldn't have moved him since then.
"Look, I don't know, okay? I swear to God, I have no idea." Stiles pleaded.
"Tell me!" Peter roared as he shook the ground beneath them almost making Kinsey's ears bleed as she temporarily let go of Lydia to cover them from the sound coming from his mouth. She'd thought that Scott's road at the school had been loud but this one was like ten of them.
"Okay, okay, okay, look..." Stiles panicked as he tried to find the words. "I think he knew."
"Knew what?"
"Derek, I think he... I think he knew he was going to be caught."
"By the Argents?" Peter asked as he looked to Kinsey, one of them.
"Yeah."
"And?"
"When they were shot, he and Scotty... I think he took Scott's phone." Stiles continued to say in his flustered speech as he began sweating and shaking more than he thought was possible for the human body. Kinsey had been zoning in and out of the conversation as she kept a hand on Lydia's neck feeling her pulse as it weakened while the other pressed down on the site of the bite that Peter had given her. She knew that there was only so much time before it was too late but it was clear Peter wouldn't let them go until he got what he wanted. Who he wanted.
"Why?" Peter asked, clearly unable to clue together the pieces together himself.
"To track him!" Kinsey shouted in annoyance. "He took Scott's phone so that if he was taken someone could track him. There. You can find him. Now please, let us go." She begged again.