*EDITED*
A/N: Okay so yea, there are a couple things I'm gonna address here. So someone kindly pointed out to me that Mr. Harris died back in 3A, so I will definitely be changing the name to some other substitute teacher.
Also I would like to clarify that this takes place in season 3B, but it won't exactly be the same plot. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy
CHAPTER TWO:
a broken promise
"Teddy, please...this isn't you. Don't you remember me?"
The voice grated against Teddy's ear similar to how nails dragged across a chalkboard as she walked amongst the deep, dark, forest. It was annoying. She wanted to get rid of it promptly so she could continue on peacefully.
"You promised! You said you wouldn't be like him!"
The voice continued on, causing Teddy's eye to twitch. Why didn't the voice know when to shut up? All she wanted to do was walk through the woods. She liked the way the leaves crunched under her feet with every step she took. The chilling air kissed upon her cheeks, and made her feel as if she was exactly where she was supposed to be.
"Teddy...Teddy don't go there."
But Teddy didn't listen. She continued to travel deeper and deeper into the eerie forest, the moonlight glistening on her creamy skin, one foot following after the other. Right, left, right, left.
"Teddy..."
Right, left, right, left...
"Teddy stop!"
Right, left...
"TEDDY—"
Teddy's hand shot out to the side, gripping the neck of the voice that had been calling out to her so desperately. After minutes of squeezing, the person's words had turned into in audible squeaks before fading away into nothingness. Finally, she thought. She could continue her progress. But first, she had to see who the voice belonged to.
Her eyes turned in the direction of where her arm was extended and followed it until she was able to see the person's face. Through the moonlight, she was met with a lifeless familiar pair of dark brown eyes, beautiful dark skin, and curly dark hair that looked like cotton candy. As Teddy studied stared harder she made was able to deduce two things from her observations. One, it was a female.
And two. It was her mom.
Teddy shot up from her bed, out of breath as if she had run a marathon forward and back. She wasn't sure what she expected when she opened her eyes, but she was relieved when her vision was met with the pure white sheets of her bed instead of the dark forest that her mind had ventured into.
She slowly brought her small hands to her attention, holding them out in front of her eyes. They were shaking uncontrollably but thankfully hadn't looked like she just strangled the life out of someone. It was just a dream.
She took a deep breath before throwing her head back onto the abundance of pillows beneath her, but she dared not shut her eyes to go back to sleep.
Along with the sudden episodes of panic attacks, for the past couple of weeks, she had been having dreams every now and then, all of them including her walking through a forest at night. With each and every time the dream visited her, it felt as if she was getting closer and closer to something. But it was the first time that she had seen and killed someone. And that someone was her mother.
The dream felt so real that if Teddy hadn't caught a whiff of the delicious smelling scent that was coming from the kitchen, she would have believed that her mother was actually rotting away in the forest somewhere.
Shaking the gruesome image from her mind, she decided to brush off the chill in her spine and get dressed for school.
Ten minutes later she was entering the kitchen with a large gray Bruins overhead hoodie that she purchased from the thrift shop some days ago, and another pair of skinny jeans. As she spotted her mom doing the finishing touches on breakfast, Teddy couldn't help but feel a wave of relief wash over her.
Theresa Bryard looked like a darker version of Teddy though with a lot more curves and kinkier hair. She also had an overall much more approachable aura. Her motherly smile welcomed anyone in her direction. Her dazzling personality attracted the hearts of many. Teddy believed she was nothing like her.
"Oh, Teddy!" She exclaimed as she placed a finished plate on the counter. "I was just about to wonder if you were playing hooky."
Teddy gave off a dry chuckle as she stuffed her hands into her sweater pockets. "I think in order to play hooky you would have to have something way more exciting than school to participate in."
Theresa gave her daughter a knowing look before finishing pouring them both a glass of orange juice. "Okay Missy, I forgot that you claim to have a boring a life. Anyways, I'm gonna be working until eleven tonight, so you could either wait up for me and I'll bring back some dinner, or you can cook something yourself."
"Well actually, I might be a little busy tonight," Teddy responded as she stood against the counter and began to dig into her breakfast. Their kitchen was too small to fit a table.
"Really?" Theresa's eyes shot up as she copied her daughter's gestures. "Liliana didn't let me know you two were doing anything tonight."
"Because it's not Liliana this time," Teddy explained.
Theresa paused in taking a bite out of the masterpiece that was her golden eggs, tilting her head sideways to peer at her daughter. "Oh? Then what's happening?"
"Um," Teddy began as she tucked a curl behind her ear. She wasn't sure how her mother would take this information. "Well, a couple days ago I was assigned to pair up with Stiles for this Chemistry project, and I wanted to get it out of the way tonight."
"Stiles?" Her mom repeated as if she had never heard the name before. "Stiles, as in the Sheriff's son Stiles? As in the Stilinski's who live right next to us Stiles?"
Teddy snorted. "I'm not sure there's anyone else that calls himself Stiles in Beacon Hills. Or the world, actually."
"Alright, alright, no need for sass miss." Theresa retorted as she took a bite out of her toast. "I'm just surprised that's all. You and Stiles haven't talked in awhile so for you to be hanging out with him...I mean I'm glad you're starting to rekindle your friendship. You guys always seemed like you would be good friends."
"Okay chill mom, it's just a project." Teddy reiterated. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and using her free hand she reached in to see that it was Liliana who had texted her. "Anyways, I think Lil is her. Have a great day at work."
"Have a great day at school sweetie."
—
Teddy wished that seeing her mother alive and well earlier that morning would cause the churning in her stomach to come to an end. But instead, she felt that it grew with every minute that passed.
She decided that she would keep to herself for the rest of the day, even more so than she usually did. Joshua wouldn't hear any smart remarks from her today. The teachers would have to count on some other smart kid to answer the question in class. Even Liliana was included in straying away from.
She wasn't sure why, but ever since Stiles had broken down in front of her a couple days ago, she felt as if the uneasiness she experienced from the weeks that had passed returned to her, and the dream was just the icing on the cake. She hadn't even dared walk in his direction since that day, and she even considered canceling on their plans of doing the research together and doing it herself.
But, let's face it, it wasn't completely all his fault that this was happening to her. In fact, it probably had nothing to do with him at all. It's just that she made a promise to herself long ago, but her self-control was beginning to waiver.
Even so, she felt that she had to put a little of the blame on him. She could at least claim that she thought she was getting better until she decided to talk to him. That was enough reasoning to avoid him for now.
But sadly, that plan had only lasted until currently.
This was what made her hate having the same lunch period as a majority of the juniors. As she made her way across the school yard for lunch, large brandless over head headphones covering each ear, she wasn't able to catch that in the corner of her eye sat Stiles, who had spotted her immediately despite having an in depth conversations with his group of friends about their current situation.
"U-Uh, hold on a sec guys, I'll be right back." He stuttered, his eyes still following the honey haired girl making her way to an empty bench.
He was halfway off of the bench before he felt his elbow being gripped. When he looked back, he was met with a concerned look by Scott, who only influenced Lydia, Allison, Isaac—well, not so much Isaac, he was too engrossed by his lunch—to do the same.
"Dude," Scott commented. "We were just in the middle of talking about being halfway dead. What's got your attention all of sudden?"
Stiles gulped. Maybe his actions did look a little suspicious. But he didn't feel like explaining to his friends yet again that he had had another panic attack. "I just have to ask this girl a question real quick."
Before any more questions were asked, Stiles had escaped out of Scott's grasp and was making his way over to Teddy.
By this time, Teddy was too submerged in both her music and her Pre-Calculus homework to see the spastic teen approaching her, so she was a little surprised when a hand tapped on her shoulder.
Her heart sank a little when her eyes were met with Stiles's. So much for trying to avoid him.
"Hey," He said, or at least that's what she guessed seeing as she couldn't hear anything. He then gestured that she removed her headphones.
Inwardly sighing to herself, she reluctantly removed the large headphones and clicked the pause button on her phone to stop her music. She figured that she couldn't stay out of his way forever so she might as well listen to what he had to say.
"Hey, so um," Stiles began, shifting from one foot to another. She could tell he hadn't really planned on what he was to say. "I, uh, texted you the other day. You didn't answer back."
"I know I didn't." She replied without missing a beat. Her response caused Stiles's eyes to shoot up in surprise. Shit, she thought. Was that the wrong way for her to reply?
"O-Okay, thanks for the brutal honesty. Anyways, I just wanted to thank you, for the other day ya know? For not freaking out about me basically going insane in front of you." He explained as he ran a hand through his hair. The action caused Teddy to recall when he had a buzzcut instead of the boyband style he had currently.
"Yea," She nodded, looking up to him. "It's fine. No judging here."
"Well that's great," Stiles responded. He paused for a few seconds, wracking his brain for what else he could say. "So, about this project...do you still want to work on it today? Or did I already completely weird you out?"
At his question, Teddy couldn't help a bubble of laughter leave her mouth. Did he really think that was her reasoning for not wanting to talk to him?
"Don't worry Stiles," She said in between laughs. "I've seen weirder. We could meet at my house later tonight okay?"
"Cool," He responded simply before stuffing his hands in his pants pocket. "Well then, I'll see you later."
"Yea," She confirmed with a small smile. "Looking forward to it, Stilinski."
—
She was so not looking forward to it.
Let's face it, Teddy was a wallflower. The only person that she had ever let into her house willingly without a second thought was Liliana, and even that took awhile for her to do. What's worse, her mother wasn't there to be the man in the middle. Teddy was basically all on her own to face someone that wasn't her mom or Liliana in a couple of minutes.
She was pacing back and forth in her room. It was around eight at night, meaning Stiles would be knocking at her door soon. She gnawed away at the extra skin peeling from her cuticles. Put her reservations she had about him with the panic attack aside, she just wasn't a people person, which is why when it came to partner work she always took the liberty of doing it herself. So why didn't she do the same with Stiles again?
Maybe she should cancel. Yeah, she should definitely cancel.
Before she could reach her phone that was sitting on her dresser, however, her doorbell rang.
"Ah, shit." She muttered. So much for canceling.
She took a deep breath. All she could do now was gather her thoughts and try to at least act like a normal person. She kept this mantra in mind before exiting her bedroom and running up the stairs. Once she made it to the door, she tipped on her toes to look through the tiny peephole. On the other side of it she wasn't surprised to see Stiles waiting patiently with his school bag in hand.
Teddy debated pretending like she wasn't home. He would definitely give up and walk back home and leave her at peace. But she went against the devil on her shoulder and opened the door.
"Hey," She said with a small smile. Too late to turn back now.
"Hey," Stiles repeated as he stepped through the doorway. As Teddy locked up behind him, he glanced around the area. It was a very small, modest home. "Oh, is Ms. Bryard home?"
"Nah, she's at work. She won't be home 'till around eleven. So it's just us until then." Teddy explained. "My rooms downstairs, come on."
"Oh, wait, does she still work at that diner on the edge of town?" Stiles questioned from behind as they made their way towards the basement. "What was it called again? Midnight in...Midnight in...Texas?"
Teddy rolled his eyes at his guess in amusement. "Close, but no. Midnight In NY, and I'm very surprised that you remember. I think I only told you that once."
"Yea, my mind kind of holds onto things," Stiles admitted bashfully.
"Guess we have one thing in common," Teddy mumbled more to herself, part of her hoping he hadn't heard her.
The two of them bounded down the basement stairs and came into a small area which had two doors, one of them which was the laundry room and the other, Teddy's bedroom.
Stiles followed behind her as she opened the door. Once he stepped in, he immediately took notice of the small, yet spacious room. It had mint green walls with all white furniture, including a bed, a dresser and a TV stand that also had some drawers. There was one basement window that allowed moonlight to shy into the space, and the carpet was a tan color. There was another door across her bed, and Stiles guessed that it was the bathroom. Everything was neat and there was not one thing that didn't have a placement. It made Stiles's room look like a junk yard.
The two of them sat on the floor and took out their respective laptops to begin their research.
Thirty minutes passed since then, and besides calling out who was looking up and writing what, there were no other words exchanged. Personally, Teddy was completely fine with this. She didn't mind the silence because she really wanted to avoid talking. But Stiles however, was not.
He bounced his uncomfortably crossed legs, continuously glancing back and forth from his Windows laptop screen to Teddy who's features were focused on her own Macbook. Unlike Teddy, the silence made him feel extremely uneasy because he felt as if he continued to stare at the computer screen, the words would begin to fall off the page any minute...
"So!" He exclaimed suddenly, causing Teddy to jump out of her skin, not that he noticed. "How does it feel to be a sophomore taking all junior classes? Well, I guess not all, because technically that wouldn't make you a sophomore right?"
The words poured out of his mouth like water, and Teddy was little caught off guard by the sudden spew of questions. She was hoping that the awkward silence would continue until they had finished their work. Apparently, that wasn't going to happen.
She sighed deeply as she raised her attention from her laptop screen. She may as well entertain his questions before he began reach unnecessary topics. "Yeah, well I still take gym with the sophomores. But next year I don't need to take it anymore, so that would technically make me senior I guess."
"Really?" Stiles questioned as he spun his pen around in his fingers. "That's awesome! I think you're the only person to skip a grade in Beacon Hills High. That must mean you're ridiculously smart."
"Not really." Teddy shrugged, not really appealed by his words. "I just have nothing better to do than to study. Being socially inept does that to you I guess."
Before she could stop herself from saying it, the words were already out there. Even so, she still clasped her hand on her mouth in shock. How did she manage to let that personal fact go so easily? She immediately glanced to see that Stiles had paused in twirling his pen, and was staring at her with his mouth slightly parted in shock. She seriously wanted to hide between her laptop at that point.
"A-Are you serious?" Stiles questioned with a raised brow.
Teddy didn't reply. Instead, she continued jotting down notes in fear of being judged. Not many things affected her, which was why she had skin thick enough to deal with Joshua, but when it came to her social anxiety, she was extremely fragile.
So what if she had an issue communicating with people? Obviously thanks to the therapy sessions she went through previously, she had made enough progress to have Liliana as a close friend, and that was all she needed. She didn't feel the need to put herself out there any more than that.
"Hey listen, I'm not judging you or anything!" Stiles exclaimed as he put out his hands in front of him in a frantic manner, realizing that she had gone silent. "It's just that, I kinda get it now. I honestly just thought you didn't like me, and that you were being cordial for like the sake of the grade on the project or something beause trust me I'm used to having people not like me."
Teddy shook her head, still a little hesitant if she should believe him or not. "Why would you think I didn't like you?"
It was Stiles's turn to go quiet. He slumped back down as he nervously fiddled with his hands. "Well, I mean we weren't that close to begin with, but you kinda distanced yourself from me back when we were kids. And I mean it wasn't all your fault. I could've tried to reach out, but I guess the we were both going through our own things, right?"
Teddy bit her lip at his words. She had to admit, his words were partially true, but not for the reason he believed. In any case, the fact that he was also admitting the part he played in their estranged friendship made her feel the slightest bit of respect for him.
To Stiles, it looked like he had upset Teddy with his words. Well of course he did, he was an idiot. He rubbed his fingers against his forehead as he took a deep breath.
"Listen," He began. "I have social anxiety too. And ADHD. So, you don't have to feel weird or anything around me. I understand."
This time, Teddy couldn't help but smile. This was him attempting to connect with her, and she kind of appreciated it. "Yea, thanks for letting me know. Anyways, it's hard to believe that you have any of those issues. The girls, and some guys too, in my grade think that you and your friend Scott are two of the hottest guys in school."
"WHAT!" Stiles exclaimed. If he had been drinking something, he would have spit it out right there and then. Scott was an obvious choice, but him? "Me? Seriously?"
"Yes, you." Teddy replied. "I don't know I guess your sexual appeal shot up from the middle of my freshmen year and they all took notice. That's why this kid named Joshua hates you."
"Joshua?" Stiles repeated, the name sounding sort of familiar to him. Then it hit him "Isn't that Jackson Whittemore's little cousin?"
"Yup. Apparently being an asshole is an inheritable trait." Teddy muttered under her breath.
Stiles laughed at her remark, and Teddy was a little surprised. She hadn't heard him laugh in a long time.
The two of them continued talking about everything. It seemed that they were slowly beginning to open up to each other and try and catch up with what has been happening in each other's lives since they were younger. Teddy slowly began to allow her walls to lower more and more, giving Stiles permission to see into her life, and she honestly didn't really mind.
A little while passed, and after a few more discoveries about each other, such as that they both enjoyed Star Wars, both had a never ending love for curly fries, but disagreed when it came to their favorite sports team—Stiles's was the Mets, Teddy's was the Bruins (they were two completely different sports, but whatever)—Teddy decided to excuse herself to the bathroom.
After she finished up and beginning to wash her hands, she couldn't help but think to herself that maybe she was overreacting about Stiles. Maybe his panic attack hadn't caused weird things to start happening to her again. Maybe there wasn't anything happening to her at all. Like her mother said, it was probably the weird events of Beacon Hills along with her school work getting to her.
She was fine. She was still her.
She washed the soap from her hands and dried them off in her shirt. She reached for the doorknob to return to her studies but decided to take one look in the mirror to make sure she still looked like a decent. Most likely she was fine, but there was no harm in double checking, right?
Boy was she wrong.
She had to rub her eyes to make sure that she wasn't seeing things. But even after she did so, nothing about the situation changed.
Looking back at her weren't the regular brown eyes she was used to seeing every time she looked at her reflection. Instead, the whites of her eyes had completely turned a blood red. Her simple chocolate brown colored irises were now pitch black, and lifeless.
The sight caused the hairs on her neck to stand, a cold sweat to overtake her back, and her knees to go weak. It couldn't be happening. She promised. She promised that she wouldn't become him.
She promised that she wouldn't become her father.
Finally finding her voice that she was beginning to think she had lost, Teddy let out a blood-curdling scream.A/N: So what do you all think of Mama Bryard?? I personally love her! And yes, just to clarify, Teddy is socially inept and has a hard time communicating with people she isn't comfortable with. Also what do you think is happening with Teddy? What do you think about her promise not to become her dad? Please remember to review + vote.