—
"Do you think Lydia will say anything?"
"No."
Romona sighs, "What you did was very rude, Ryder."
"I didn't do anything." The teen slouched in her seat, resting her head against the window.
Sure, maybe she was a bit harsh with the name calling. And the gloating. And the exaggerated movements of victory. But they wouldn't have had to endure the embarrassment of being wrong had they just listened to her in the first place.
From the start, Ryder had tried to explain to them that Lydia wasn't the kanima and that it was, in fact, Jackson. But everyone either brushed her off or pretended that they were on her side.
She was completely used to Scott and Stiles ignoring what she had said, they've done it plenty of times before and they were proved wrong.
But for some reason, she felt the slightest bit betrayed by Austin.
It blew her mind how she would rant on and on about how no one cared to listen to her. And the one person she thought was listening and agreeing with her, turned out to just be telling her what she wanted to hear.
She wasn't really upset with Austin.
If she were in his position, she too would probably be swayed to think that the only person who disagreed was wrong.
And on top of that, there was no solid proof that Jackson was the kanima.
"Your name calling—"
"Mom, please." She shook her head, "Last thing i need is a lecture on how i should treat people who didn't treat me any better."
"Things are different, Ryder. This not about who abandoned you, or who miss treated you. This is the supernatural. You need to put all animosity aside and act like an adult."
The girl clenches her jaw, unbuckling her seat belt as they pulled into their driveway, "I'm sixteen, mom. Nowhere near an adult."
"I know how you feel—"
"No, you don't."
•••
Austin laid stomach down on his bed, cuddling his pillow with an unintentional pout on his face.
He had texted Ryder a few minutes ago, strongly hoping that she would respond. He knew it was a long shot, as the girl never responded to texts or calls, but he wanted to apologize to her.
He knew he technically wasn't in the wrong, but he was also aware how Ryder was.
They had known each other for a while now and he could practically read the girls mind. He knew that the moment he hesitated in agreeing he wasn't doing something right.
He saw the way her face dropped, and that alone was enough to make his heart shatter.
His mom had been walking by his room every couple of minutes, asking if Ryder had texted him back. Every time he would respond with no, the less her eagerness would be when she asked again.
He had noticed that after his fathers death, his moms mood would depend on how he was feeling.
If Austin sad, so was Jenn. If he was happy, Jenn was happy.
It didn't matter how he felt, Jennifer would just copy and paste how he was feeling onto herself.
In a way, it was sweet, but at the same time, he didn't want his mom to feel like she had to be upset just because he was.
"Did she respond?"
His head lifted, his blue eyes meeting his moms matching ones.
"No-"
He's cut off by the sound of his phone vibrating. His heart races with excitement, assuming that the message he got was from Ryder.
Unfortunately, it was actually from Stiles.
He didn't know how the Stilinski got his number, then again, he didn't know how he got a key to Scott's house.
"Hey, mom? Is it okay if i go out with some friends?"
•••
"What do we do now?"
Scott ran towards Stiles and Austin, "Holy cr—"
"Wha - sorry, I'm sorry. Did you see where he went?"
"I lost him."
Austin frowns, "What? You couldn't catch his scent?"
"I don't think he has one." The McCall shrugs, his face showing pure confusion.
"All right, any clue where he's going?"
"Probably to kill someone. But that's just a thought." Austin raises his hand in defense upon noticing the glare he received from Stiles.
"Ah. That explains the claws, and the fangs, and all that. Good. Makes perfect sense now. What?" He scoffs, "Scott, come on. I'm 147 pounds of pale skin and fragile bone, okay? Sarcasm is my only defense."
"Just help me find it." Scott groans.
"Not "it." Jackson."
"It isn't Jackson right now. We don't even know if he knows it's him." The blue eyed teen reminds him.
"You've got to stop hanging out with Ryder, your slick comments aren't needed." Stiles rolls his eyes dramatically at the George teen.
"Did anybody else see him back at your house?"
Scott shrugs, "I mean, I don't think so, but he already passed Derek's test anyway."
"Yeah, but that's just the thing. How did he pass the test?"
Austin's mind went to what Ryder had said. About how the supernatural isn't the same as the real world.
"Maybe it's like an either - or thing. I mean, Derek said that a snake can't be poisoned by its own venom, right? When's the kanima not the kanima?"
"When it's Jackson."
"Uh - guys. See that?"
Scott nods his head, "He's inside."
"I could've told you that." Austin mutters.
"What's he gonna do in there?"
"I know who he's after."
"What, how? How? Did you smell something?"
"Give him a minute to respond." Austin cuts him off.
"I'm starting to regret asking you to come." The Stilinski admits, his eyes boring into the side of Austin's face.
"Well, you did, so get over it."
"Armani."
The three boys walk towards the doors. They soon come to the realization that the doors were locked.
"Aw, come on. All right, maybe there's, like, a, uh - like, a window we could climb through, or some kind of-"
Stiles is cut off by his friend ripping the locks off by hand. Austin wanted to voice how he could have gotten in serious trouble for doing that, but he knew the teen wouldn't care.
"—Handle that we could rip off with supernatural strength. How'd I not think of that one?"
Walking in, Austin grew unexpectedly uncomfortable as he was pulled to the side by a group of guys.
"Dude, everyone in here's a dude. I think we're in a gay club."
"Man, nothing gets past those keen werewolf senses, huh, Scott?"
Austin gulped nervous, "Excuse me."
He tried following Stiles actions and push them off as gently as possible. He didn't have as much luck as he was only pulled into another group.
He feels a hand caress the side of his face, "Hey, are you single?"
"Uhm—no. I-no, i'm sorry." He stammered, looking at the men with wide eyes.
"You—"
"I like women!"