"Everyone's competing for a
love they won't receive."
— WORD COUNT: 4.2K
"This is the one I was telling you about. I got it from a rare book dealer in Germany, cost me two hundred bucks but was totally worth it," Mason spoke like his life depended on it, trying to tell his friends about his recent discovery before they reached their history class and he would have to drag the conversation up again later.
"You're still reading about this?" Liam asked tiredly, sharing a short-lived knowing glance with Nathan. Over the summer, the trio had become closer— even with Mason being in the dark about the supernatural world. All three teens loved video games just as much as any other fifteen-year-old, their friendship mainly being formed on snacks and games at the Lawless' apartment.
Liam had seen with his own two eyes that Nathan had been on the dead pool, but he wasn't any closer to figuring out what kind of a supernatural creature he was. He didn't seem to howl at the moon or have magic like his sister and his eyes hadn't changed colour once. Hell, even Nathan himself didn't seem to realise he had been on the damn list!
"I was attacked by an armour-plated giant wearing a bear skull. It leaves an impression," Mason's eyes were as wide as saucers as he explained the situation to his best friends for the hundredth time in the last six months. While the others had been travelling to Mexico to save Scott, both Mason and Lydia had been attacked in the school. "Look, look, have you ever seen anything like this?" he pointed to a sketch of a berserker, impatiently waiting for an answer.
"For the love of god, slow down, I can't understand you," Nathan signed as he spoke, laughing lightly as he poked his head between the boys to get a better look at the drawing. Liam and Mason had both been accommodating when it came to him being deaf, making sure to face him so he could lip read and even going so far as to carry a couple of spare batteries in their bags in case his cochlear implant died.
"And then there's this whole section about the Nagual. Have you ever heard of the name Tez— tec"
"Tezcatlipoca," Liam corrected, the name rolling off his tongue with flawless pronunciation. "Nope, I've never heard of him."
Nathan rolled his eyes, slamming his history book onto a spare desk. If there was one word to describe Liam, it would one thousand per cent, without a doubt, not be subtle. "He was a god. The bringer of good and evil, the embodiment of change through conflict." He glanced up, the tips of his ears burning red at the attention of his best friends. "What? I like to read."
"Nathan. Nathan!" Liam hissed after a few seconds, slapping his friend about the back of the head, ignoring the kick in the shin that was returned his way. "Swap seats with me."
"Liam. You're not gonna just stand there, are you?" Mr Yukimura asked, folding his arms neatly across his chest. He couldn't deny that he was fond of Scott and his pack, but he really needed to get his lesson going without any interruptions. It was going to be a long year if this was the kind of start he was being met with.
"Maybe."
"The whole semester?"
"Maybe."
"Liam, have a seat."
Nathan swivelled around in his own chair, trying to tell Liam— who looked as if he was unwillingly being dragged to his death— that he would swap so long as they did it before class started. Mr Yukimura's eyes flickered to the scene, not seeming to mind the hassle, so long as it was quick and done without too much noise. "You can take your chair with you," he grimaced at the bubble gum that was now covering Liam's trousers, the girl next to him smirking in triumph.
After dragging his chair painfully loudly across the floorboards, Nathan toppled his supplies onto the table, sorting through them with furrowed brows. His art homework was completed in his history hardback, but that would be a problem for future him to deal with. The bubblegum girl's stare was burning through him, the glint of sneakiness that she had presented with Liam vanishing.
"Hayden," she lifted a hand lamely, cringing and resisting the urge to smash her head into the wooden table. Her honey-brown eyes sparkled with just the right mixture of playfulness and kindness. Flipping her dark, thick curls over her shoulder, her floral perfume wafted in nearby directions.
"Nathan," he grinned, tugging at the beaded bracelet on his wrist. He was confident; everyone knew it— it was hard to miss when he pranced about like he was constantly walking on air. Although, for some reason, he felt quite small when speaking to this girl. Blair would say it was because he liked her, but he would settle with the conclusion that her cheekbones simply looked like they made a living out of cutting through glass.
"You can pull a jumper down to cover the mark or I think I saw a lost and found box near reception," a soft-spoken voice sounded from beside Liam, her chestnut eyes firmly on the front of the class, winged lashes blinking as she anxiously chewed on her pen. Her cool brown complexion shone in the sunlight from the window as she glanced over at him, making sure her voice had been loud enough to hear. A nude lipgloss made her lips shimmer and smoky blends of eyeshadow made her highlight pop.
"Thanks," he muttered, face immensely brightening in embarrassment. He could always trust Hayden Romero to make him want to slam his head into any available surface. Technically speaking, he couldn't blame her— not after what had happened in the sixth grade, whether it had been an accident or not. He could only hope Scott and the others were having an easier first day than him.
His calculation on that one was poorly misjudged, the teens that were sat in AP biology wishing to be anywhere else. It wasn't that they hated the class; in fact, they counted themselves lucky to be in an advanced placement lesson! It was just too early in the morning to function, especially for the first class of the semester.
Blowing up the entire light supply in school and surrounding areas the previous night had left Jade surprisingly tired. Perhaps it had been the socialising from the senior scribe or the inner argument that had left her awake for hours on end. Three cups of coffee, an energy bar and a stack of waffles hadn't done the trick, proving to only make her more irritable to anyone who dared to speak to her.
Her day wasn't off to a good start in the slightest; her hair had gotten caught in her curlers and set her back by twenty minutes as she tried to untangle the mess, and a freshman had taken her car park space— she may or may not have used her key to leave a special design on the paintwork, but it couldn't be proven in the court of law!
Scott seemed oblivious to his girlfriend and Lydia having a silent conversation with their eyes, arguing over who would be the one to confront him about the ever-growing elephant in the room.
"For the love of god, they want to know if you're in the right class or not," Jade snapped, leaning across her desk and getting slapped in the face with Lydia's hair, the redhead shooting her a glare for her ability to be insensitive. She, on the other hand, had noticed their not-so-hidden head movements, finding it to be incredibly annoying.
"AP biology," Scott shrugged, nodding confidently. Kira and Lydia's lack of faith made him want to shrink in his seat, scanning the brightly highlighted pages of his textbook for some last-minute revision. Although Jade wasn't really capable of feeling things at the current moment in time, he was grateful that she hadn't doubted his place in the class. Intentional or not, it did make him feel better about himself.
Their teacher slammed the door closed behind her, making a few students at the back of the room jump at the noise. "Welcome to AP biology, let's see who's awake. Can somebody tell me what plasmids are?" Mrs Finch sat on the edge of her desk, waiting for someone self-assured enough to answer.
"Circular, self-replicating DNA molecules. They're often used in cloning proteins." It was nice to see Lydia embracing her smartness, a change from their sophomore year when she dumbed herself down for her idiotic boyfriend. She was destined to do great things after high school, it was a known fact to everyone in the school. People she didn't know were still certain that she would go on to become a doctor or a surgeon, perhaps a college professor and rake in enough money to become a billionaire at some point before her thirties.
"Correct. Now, can you tell me what vitamin is absorbed in the stomach via parietal cell production of a glycoprotein?" Mrs Finch countered, raising a brow when the strawberry blonde hesitated on the answer.
"B-12," Jade cut in, doodling over the first blank page of her copy in a daze. She would do anything for it to be the summer holidays again, having enough free time to organise her apartment to her liking.
"Correct. Mr McCall, did you know the answer?" she asked, eyes set firmly on the boy who hadn't been giving his full, divided attention since the beginning of the lesson.
"Um... no."
"It's a common test question. What's your number one college pick?"
"Um—"
"Stop saying um."
"Sorry. UC Davis," he sat up straighter in his chair, clearing his throat. While he had spent most of his summer working at the animal clinic and searching for Max in his spare time, he still found the time to research as many colleges as possible, including the classes he needed to take and the points he needed.
"Good choice. It's the best school on the West Coast for biological and physical sciences. You're in the right class, if that's what you're hoping for. Who else thinks they're in the right class?" she pursed her lips, having expected more than one student to put up their hand. More hands flew up, one all they had needed to boost their confidence, almost as if they had thought she was asking a trick question. "Good. Then you should all be ready for tomorrow's test. Don't be so disappointed, this test is to help you determine whether or not you should be in my class. You have two weeks to drop. Tomorrow's test will just weed out the ones who shouldn't be here— that could be any of you."
A knock sounded on the door, students snatching the chance to talk to their lab partners about study plans or what they thought would come up on the test.
"Could I have Jade Pierce, please? She won't be back for the rest of the lesson," Blair Lawless scanned the class for the young teen, a bright smile lighting up her features.
Jade sighed, carelessly tossing her books into her school bag. Anything was better than being forced to listen to that for forty minutes, even if it meant she sat silently in the psychologist's office, flipping a sand timer around over and over again. She was hoping to beat her record of a hundred and forty times.
She was thankful that Blair never attempted to make small talk on the way to her office, letting her stir with her thoughts for the remaining few minutes of peace. She quite liked Blair, the woman reminding her of her mother in some ways— without the evil of all devils and murdering, that was.
Blair was sunshine rolled into a person, her warmth radiating to everyone within a mile. Her cheeks must have hurt from having a permanent smile.
She didn't dress like a teacher, either, earning brownie points from the students in the school. Different shades of blue dungarees were always accompanied by jeans and pastel shirts, drawing attention to her silver jewellery, the long earrings that hung down, the bunches of necklaces that didn't seem to entangle together. Although some of the other teachers looked down on the woman, whether it was because of her age, her carefree manner or the way she dressed, it didn't stop her from making friends with whatever teachers she could.
"So, we're gonna switch it up a bit today!" Blair clapped her hands together excitedly, sitting behind her desk. "None of that reminiscing on the past— no, today, we're gonna look forward to the future and what it offers us."
She knew from their many sessions that Jade would happily sit in silence for the full-time period, just like the stubborn young witch she was. Blair was quite content to sit and talk about the notes she had already gathered, occasionally getting a response. Once she had gotten the tiniest bit of openness, she was happy to change to a subject that seemed more comfortable. Yet today was different, and she was willing to push a bit more, because the clock was ticking and she refused to let the girl throw away her future due to the rough patch she was going through.
Jade raised a brow at the optimism, already knowing and hating where the conversation was going. It was the only thing any senior could talk about, the thing she had tried to put to the back of her mind.
"Colleges."
She rolled her eyes to the sky, kicking her boots up onto the footrest in front of her. Even though she may or may not have had a tiny, small look online at courses she was interested in, there was no point in thinking about it. She couldn't exactly see herself living more than ten years longer, not when she was becoming so obsessed with revenge, so there wasn't a point in browsing. It was false hope.
"Have you thought about what you want to do after school?" Blair asked, ankle boot clicking against the floor. She already had a rough idea of what thoughts were running through the girl's head, the ones that more often than not plagued people with depression. Some just tried to get through the day, having no interest in what would happen later on down the line.
For others, it was more complex than that. Take Jade, for example. She was heading down the path of self-destruction, becoming reckless with her own life and others by the day, not having a plan for the future. But Blair had hope— she always did. Some people didn't understand that evil was taught, not born and even then it wasn't as simple as that. There was always a way to unteach things, to help someone see the light that the future held. Some people didn't have the best upbringing, leading them to do rash things that nobody else understood, things that seemed absurd if you hadn't lived through it. Maybe they had grown up around drugs, leading them to abuse substances themselves as they grew older. Maybe they had lost a loved one and completely shut themselves off.
Jade Pierce was a seventeen-year-old that had been through more than most adults combined. While it didn't give her an excuse for some of the things she had done in the past, she was doing the best she could with the coping mechanisms she had been given. To outsiders, it seemed completely crazy to turn off your emotions altogether! But to Jade, it was the only source of comfort she knew. Growing up in a household that didn't express emotions very well hadn't helped. So, turning her emotions off, feeling nothing, was the only way she knew how to cope with drowning grief. It was understandable, in a way.
Mental illnesses and mental health issues played a big part in people's lives if they weren't treated— hell, when they were treated people still struggled. Underneath all of the rubble and barricades was an incredibly depressed, anxious and bitter young girl who didn't know how to cope with those big feelings. A girl who was bitter about how life could be so cruel and strip everything she loved away from her. It was unsurprising for her to not have many plans for the future.
"Nothing? Come on, you must have something in mind."
Jade hesitated, slightly uncomfortable with the topic she had avoided for so long. There was something... "It's stupid, you'll laugh at me."
"No, I won't! I bet you ten dollars it's not stupid," Blair smiled gently, tapping her ringed fingers on the desk to show her interest. Hey, it was more than what she had been expecting!
"A lawyer. See, I said it was stupid."
"That is not stupid! That's a great idea! Give me one good reason why you can't be a lawyer."
"Hm, let me think," she feigned a sarcastic look of thoughtfulness, arching a tinted brow. "I don't think anyone's gonna want a quote-on-quote 'psychotic killer' who can't get her murderous tendencies under control to represent them in a courtroom."
Blair sighed, brunette hair swaying with the motion of shaking her head. "I think you're just the right person to represent them." She laughed lightly at the surprise on the girl's face.
"Now, I haven't known you for very long but from what you and your friends have told me, I think a lawyer would be the perfect job for you. Confidence? Check. Patience? Check. People skills, attention to detail, a strong sense of justice? Check, check, check. I think this would be an amazing opportunity for you to channel your feelings and opinions into doing something good." She leant forward, lowering her voice to a whisper. "Besides, none of that is on your record, so no one need ever know."
She could tell that Jade wasn't convinced or biting the bait, but there was a chance she was fighting with her human nature again, trying not to allow herself to feel hope because then that meant she would feel everything. "Just think about it, okay?"
"Are we done here?"
⌜ • ° + ° • ⌝
Lilith leant against a locker in boredom, waiting for Theo Raeken to start the conversation. Stiles and Scott didn't seem to be particularly happy with them tagging along on their super secret mission, but she never cared about anyone's opinions— especially not the pack's— and that wasn't going to change now.
Although Lily had to resist stabbing a high heel into Stiles' eye every time they stumbled into each other, she stuffed down the anger until they got home and was finally able to have some target practice— with a photo of the Stilinski's face in the middle as the bullseye.
What he had done to Jade and Lydia was the lowest anybody could ever stoop. No matter how mad you were, you never under any circumstances outed someone or their relationship. It was the ultimate betrayal and they couldn't blame Jade for wanting revenge.
But if she wanted to keep in the loop and have any idea what was happening in Beacon Hills, that meant ignoring their feelings and unwillingly tagging along. She hoped that it took some pressure off Jade, making it easier to control her magic without having to worry about missing out on what was happening, due to either Lily, Lydia or Liam filling her in every evening.
"I was skating in a nearby neighbour's pool, trying to do a hand plant. Nobody was home. I'm not that good of a skater, but I guess I was feeling pretty determined because I completely lost track of time. I didn't even realise it was night until the yard lights came on. As I said, I wasn't very good, and on my last try, I went down and hit hard. I was sitting there at the bottom of the pool and I realised something— I never heard the board come back down. It came at me so fast that I barely had a chance to turn around before it bit me. Right here," Theo pointed to below their ribcage, almost in the same spot Scott had been bitten during sophomore year.
Scott shook his head sadly, déjà vu hitting him. Although it was a different scenario, it was the exact same thing Peter Hale had done to him. An alpha, so desperate for power that they bit innocent humans and ruined their lives in a split second. "It wasn't an accident. He wanted to turn you."
"Right, so why aren't you a part of his pack, then? Why didn't he come back for you?" Stiles crossed his arms across his chest, trying to pick away the loose threads in Theo's plans. Ever since he had seen his former friend in the archway last night, he knew that something wasn't right. None of this was making any sense.
"Because by the time my first full moon had come around, he was dead. I met another one of his pack a couple of weeks later. Told me the alpha that bit him was killed by two of his own betas. They were twins, apparently even had some kind of hunter on their side, too."
Lilith felt their throat run dry, hands clenching into fists. Her. They were talking about Ethan, Aiden and her. When the twins had been forced to prove their loyalty to Deucalion and his pack, dropping their beta status and gaining their alpha one. Maybe it would be a good thing if they checked in with Ethan. It had only been a few days, but maybe he had found out that Theo was in Beacon Hills and was dragging up information on their past. Maybe he'd gotten rid of her, dropped the dead weight, just like everyone else did when they got bored. Maybe—
"Scott, listen to my pulse. I'm telling you the truth," Theo made an effort to breathe normally, not willing to give away their lie this early into the game. They still needed to gain the pack's trust— and with what they had been told, it wouldn't be too hard, so long as they kept their nose clean and helped whenever the opportunity surfaced. It was okay if they didn't work their way into the pack yet, because the plan was still working. Someone else could just as easily get information.
Stiles pushed off against a locker, beadily narrowing his eyes. "Right. Or you just know how to steady your heart rate while you're lying your ass off." He ignored Scott's sympathetic tilt of the head, the one that told him that everyone deserved a chance. This was different. He was right about this one. He was.
"Why would I lie?"
"Because maybe you're not who you say you are," Stiles spat back, the patronising tone that Theo was using doing them no favours of getting into his good books.
"In fourth grade, you had an inhaler, I had one too. I remember this day when I ended up in the nurse's office with a bad asthma attack. While I was waiting to be taken to the ER, you were waiting for the principal and told me what would happen when I went to the hospital for asthma. You made it sound easy, like everything would be okay. I've been by myself this whole time. Everyone knows that lone wolves, they don't make it on their own. I swear I'm the same kid from fourth grade. I was hoping you are too." The bell rang, stopping Scott from coming to a conclusion. "I better go. You're not the only ones I need to make a good first impression on."
"Good impression my ass," Lilith watched Theo strut through the door, shifting anxiously from foot to foot in thought.
"Don't even give me that look," Stiles didn't want to listen to his best friend's voice of reason, the plea that some people needed to be given the benefit of the doubt. "Not this time, all right? Something's off about them, I can feel it."
"Lydia's the psychic, not you."
Lilith bit their cheek, chancing a glance at Stiles. As much as it physically pained them to say it, for once in her life, they agreed with what the boy was saying. It was almost as if their story had been rehearsed in the mirror, constructed so that no one could pull at the things that didn't make sense. It was too put together to be true.
Something wasn't adding up. And if the two of them had to work together to figure out what it was, so be it.
A/N:
not a big fan of this chapter but i'm trying to get small introductions done and set the tone for future events :)
** just a reminder that nathan always signs when he speaks, regardless to whether or not it's written and if the person knows sign language! **