The moment the Center for Disease Control stepped inside the halls of Beacon Hills High, clad in their yellow bio-hazard suits, everyone grew a little more panicked at the thought of being infected by the virus. Sydney was the first to be escorted out of the classroom by one of the doctors to bring her to quarantine in another part of the school, soon followed by a couple of other students who potentially showed signs of being infected.
It wasn't long after they left the room with Ms. Martin and Scott, who claimed he needed to use the bathroom, but intended on following the rest to quarantine to find more information out about everything when more workers in yellow suits covered the windows in the classroom with plastic.
This was a very serious matter and that's what scared me most of all.
Only twenty or so students remained in the classroom with Simon, the PSAT instructor, who seemed oddly calm, despite the panic sweeping through the halls and classroom of Beacon Hills High. He simply sat behind the teacher's desk with a magazine held in his hands on his laps, acting like this happening every time he was sent to a school for the exam. The PSAT booklets were taken back by him with the obvious announcement they would be rescheduled for another day when a potentially deadly virus was infecting the students.
My fear of the virus wasn't directed toward myself, but toward Stiles instead. He was the only human of the group. This virus-- whatever it may be-- had the chance of affecting Stiles like it did to the other students. Sure, I was a hybrid, giving me a very slim chance of being infected, but being a werewolf should overall protect me from the virus.
"Hey," Stiles whispered and placed his hand on my knee to stop my leg from bouncing up and down. He gently squeezed my leg.
I released a small sigh, willing myself to become in control of my emotions. My eyes shifted down to his hand on my leg from where I sat on top of a desk with my sneakers propped on the seat. The rest of our friends stood in the makeshift circle, in the middle of a conversation about what they thought was happening and didn't pay any attention to either of us.
"Everything's going to be fine," he reassured me.
I bit down on the inside of my cheek, refusing to tell him how worried I was about his safety. If students were already feeling the side effects of the virus, how long would it take until Stiles began to feel them as well? We didn't know anything about this virus. It could be a simple virus that only needed a vaccination they had on hand nearby or it could be something deadly.
I wouldn't know what to do with myself if some were to happen to Stiles.
Isaac leaned against the desk beside me, gently bumping his hand against my shin. There was a look in his eyes like he understood exactly what I was thinking. He knew I was secretly terrified of what was to come if the virus turned out to be something dangerous.
My right hand wrapped around the back of Stiles' hand where it laid on top of my knee, desperately needing a sense of comfort from him. I pressed my lips together and willed the lump in my throat not to rise any higher.
"I bet they're just thinking smallpox," Stiles added to the conversation with a simple shrug of his shoulder.
Malia turned away from the window at the sound of his voice, instantly noticing our hands on my knees. A pensive expression formed on her face and her head tilted to the side, listening to our heartbeats. My face began to pale as I realized what she was doing. Both of us heard the way my heart skipped a beat a few seconds later from the worry of her realizing we were dating. We knew we wanted to tell our friends, but we didn't see it as being the right time to do so with so much going on.
Her gaze trailed upward until we locked eyes with each other. A few moments of silence passed between us.
Malia knew.
"Not likely," Simon spoke up from behind the desk.
We broke eye contact as we turned toward his voice along with everyone else.
"Smallpox was eradicated worldwide in 1979. We've only managed to completely eradicate two viruses in history. The other was rinderpest. It killed cows."
I frowned at the information. Who knew those random facts off the top of their head? Aiden looked away from the older man with a raised brow like he was questioning the same thing.
"So, we should be comforted by that, right?" Stiles asked, nodding his head at the older man. "He kept his hand in place, sensing I needed to hold his hand with everything going on.
"Unless it something worse," Simon responded in the same calm, monotone voice.
"Oh, well, thank you for that," I muttered, sarcastically under my breath. I heaved a large sigh and leaned the side of my head on my brother's shoulder.
There was a part of me that couldn't help but wonder if all of this was done on purpose. What was the chance of a virus hitting Beacon Hills High at the same time as a deadpool landing in the hands of assassins? Viruses were able to be transferred and trained assassins were roaming free in Beacon Hills with the intent to kill off the supernatural. If someone saw this as an attempt to kill people from the deadpool, they were drastically failing and needed to be told that we weren't affected the same way as humans were.
"Why are you so calm about all of this?" Isaac questioned Simon and crossed his arms over his chest, narrowing his blue eyes, suspiciously.
Simon held my brother's gaze. "I see no reason to panic."
"The CDC was called and we're on lockdown in the school. How is that not a good reason to panic?" I demanded, feeling my body grown warm with anxiety. I squeezed the back of Stiles' hand tighter, subconsciously. "Don't you think your family is worried about you?"
"I don't have a family. It's just me and my work."
His work? What work did a PSAT instructor have?
"Whatever it is," Malia brought the attention on herself. A concentrated look present on her face. "They're taking it pretty seriously. There's a lot of cars and trucks out there."
I tuned in to the commotion happening outside of the school. I rose a brow at the mass amount of vehicles and authoritative voices surrounding the school, surprised. Several voices mixed together until the one I was searching for broke through the chaos.
"-- we're doing the best we can."
I momentarily frowned at the lack of his words toward the situation before I felt relief crashing through me, knowing Mr. Stilinski was on the outside working to get to the bottom of everything.
"Your dad's with them," Malia and I stated in unison.
We shared a surprised look with each other.
A small nudge in my back from Aiden's arm forced me to pay attention to Stiles' obsessive scratching over his chest by his free hand underneath his jacket. Panic crept in every crevice of my body at the sight. With him busy talking with Kira and Malia, I slyly flipped his hand over on my leg to check if he had a rash on his arm. Luckily, his pale arm was clear of any rashes or redness.
Stiles' head snapped up to peer at the blocked out windows on the other side of the room like he was thinking of how his dad was on the other side. "Yeah, I should probably call him," he realized. His hand removed from my knee to cross the room, searching through the box of envelopes for his phone.
"Don't bother," Simon stated without looking away from his magazine. "They would have shut off any access to all outside communication by now." He shrugged his shoulders, nonchalantly. "No cell service, no WiFi. No one starting a panic."
I worriedly glanced at Isaac and Aiden. Aiden met my gaze for a second before he glanced back at Simon with an unknown look in his eyes.
Simon licked his finger and flipped a page over. "Looks like we're all just going to have to wait and see what happens."
Isaac suddenly grabbed ahold of my wrists and flipped them over, examining my arms like I just did to Stiles a few seconds ago. His blue eyes swept over my forearms.
"What are you doing?" I frowned, confused.
"You're a hybrid, Chloe," Isaac lowered his voice to keep anyone from overhearing, especially Simon. "There's a part of you that's still human."
I peered down at my arms, grateful to see my normal, pale skin. "But I'm also part werewolf," I reminded him. "I shouldn't be affected by it."
Aiden moved to step closer to me, replacing the spot where Stiles originally stood. "Let us know if you feel any different."
"I will. I promise--"
The classroom door abruptly opened. A silence filled the room at the sound of the door opening as everyone turned toward the door, expecting to see another CDC worker in a hazmat suit. Mr. Yukimura popped his dark-haired head in the doorway, scanning the room until he found Stiles with his phone in hand near the front desk.
"Stiles, come with me, please." He opened the door further and briefly nodded at Simon before he looked back at my boyfriend. "Now."
I jumped down from the desk, troubled by the distressed micro-expressions on Mr. Yukimura's face. He barely glanced at his own daughter, solely focused on Stiles and getting him where he needed to be. Why the hell would he only need Stiles?
Stiles shoved his phone in his pocket and quickly glanced at the rest of our group for a fleeting second before he followed Mr. Yukimura out of the classroom.
"Go with me," I instructed Aiden by shoving him forward with my hand. "Do not leave his side."
Aiden sneakily slipped out of the door without being caught by Simon before it closed with a soft click. I leaned back against the desk, sighing. My eyes shut as I focused on their heartbeats and shoes against the linoleum floor through the hallway, hoping they would be okay wherever they were going.
X
Malia cleared her throat once the rest of the students were back out in the hallway, lined up against the lockers while we waited for everyone to get their blood drawn by a CDC doctor. "So," she began, purposely stepping behind Isaac to keep a wall between Kira and the two of us. "How long?"
I sighed at her question, pursing my lips. My head lightly shook before I answered her, "It hasn't even been a week yet."
She nodded once, taking the information in. "Who knows?"
"Just you," I replied with a wave of my hand at her. "And Isaac and Aiden. They were kind of there when it happened." I smiled at the memory of that night, thinking back on our first kiss.
"Why haven't you told anyone?"
A look of surprise crossed my face at her curiosity. Malia wasn't one to pry into the lives of others when it didn't concern her. This conversation with her seemed odd, yet kind of nice at the same time. Malia and I were good friends, but I would never consider us to be best friends like I was with Lydia.
"We haven't really seen the right time to do so with everything going on," I told her, earnestly. I crossed my arms over my chest and watched the line move forward as the next student held their arm out.
Malia stepped backward to keep up with the line. "It's not like everyone doesn't already know you two are into each other. You could kiss in front of everyone and no one would bat an eye."
I chuckled softly at her response. I peered down at my shoes, eyes slightly narrowing as a thought crossed my mind that I hadn't thought about in a long time. Slowly, I lifted my head back up to glance at Malia. "Hey, uh, can I ask you a question?"
"I feel like you would still ask me even if I said no," she replied.
"Uh, probably."
She waved her hands out in front of her body, gesturing for me to continue.
I nervously shifted on my feet, eager to finally get the answer to the question I always wondered about. "Do you remember the day you turned back to a human?"
"Vividly and unfortunately."
"When I was chasing after you, my ankle got caught in a bear trap and you stopped running to come up to me. I honestly thought you were going to kill me, but you just rubbed your nose against my hand." I reminded her of that day. I nervously fiddled with my fingers. "Why didn't you attack?"
Malia shrugged her shoulders like the answer was obvious. "You didn't seem like a threat and you looked like a small animal that got trapped."
I stared at her, taken aback.
"It was kind of pathetic," she deadpanned at the last second. Without another word, Malia turned back around and rejoined Kira's side in front of Isaac.
I nodded once at her response. "Progress," I mumbled under my breath to keep myself from getting offended by her words. "That's progress."
Isaac glanced down at me when he saw me step forward to stand beside him. His arms were crossed over his chest. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine," I answered him, honestly. "A little hungry, actually."
He cracked a smile, yet still managed to look concerned. I carefully watched the side profile of his face, noticing the way his eyebrows slightly furrowed together at the center of his forehead and his eyes squinting. This whole virus and the CDC is at the school made him more stressed than he was letting on.
I face forward in the line, frowning at the situation we found ourselves in. We never had a chance to relax anymore. Something always found its way into our lives, stressing our group of friends out more than high school students should be. My head found its way to the side of Isaac's bicep as I released a sigh.
There were times where I missed being a normal teenager like I used to be, but I did not miss having to deal with living at home with an abusive father and forced to cover bruises with makeup. It wasn't that I hated the life I had now. I just wished all of us were able to take a breath or even a vacation every once in a while from the supernatural world.
"Kira," Malia spoke up from where she stood in front of us in the line. She waited until the raven-haired girl spun around to face her. "Do you ever get the feeling that Scott and Stiles aren't telling you everything?"
"What do you mean?" Kira asked, not understanding.
I frowned at the back of Malia's head, intrigued by her question.
"Like they hide stuff," Malia clarified with a weird grin. She glanced over her shoulder at Isaac and me.
Kira worriedly peeked at me like she was hoping I would take control of the conversation. Her dark eyes darted back to Malia once she realized I wasn't going to speak. "I think if they did, they'd probably have a pretty good reason."
Malia sighed, frustrated by Kira's lack of helpfulness. Her head snapped back in our direction. "Do you know what they're hiding in the bag under Scott's bed?"
"How would I know what's under Scott's bed?" I asked her, purposely reverting the question back to her instead of answering the question like she wanted me to do.
On the way to the school this morning, Stiles told me how a duffel bag full of money from the Benefactor was found in Garrett's gym locker after Liam was rescued. The bag was taken back to Scott's house, where they went through the money, counted it, and found a tape with instructions of how to do a wire transfer after killing someone on the deadpool. If there was a reason Malia didn't know about the money then it was probably for a reason and I didn't want to be the one to tell her the truth.
"What? No, I've never been under Scott's bed," Kira blurted rather nervously. She wildly glanced at the three of us and stumbled over her words. "Or in it." Her eyes shifted to where I stood to lean against my brother, quickly becoming more anxious. "I haven't even been on it! Well, only one time, but I- I had clothes on and-" Kira took a deep breath as she struggled to find the right words with the worry of upsetting me. "I was the only one on the bed. Scott was standing and--"
"Oh, my God, Kira." I laughed at her, feeling the secondhand embarrassment. "I don't care."
"Kira Yukimura," The CDC doctor at the table called her name.
Kira sharply spun around, relieved.
"You feeling alright, Kira?" The doctor asked her with a warm smile and grabbed a syringe with a needle from the table. She glanced at the needle and back to Kira. "I don't like needles either. I promise it'll be fast."
The needle was placed on Kira's arm underneath a small cotton ball to stop the bleeding once the doctor pulled it out. The moment the needle attempted to penetrate Kira's skin at her elbow, a crackle of electricity connected from her arm to the needle. The doctor jumped backward in surprise, dropping the syringe. Isaac and I moved closer to Kira when the doctor examined her arm where a small wave of smoke sizzled from the yellow sleeve of the suit.
The other workers led the doctor away, urgently.
"Kira," Malia tugged on Kira's other arm.
I grabbed Kira's shoulder in my hand and forced her to turn around. "Kira!" I whisper yelled at her, careful not to draw any more attention to her.
She peered at me with wide eyes.
"Let's go!" I pulled her away from the table while grabbing Isaac's bicep with my other hand, leading the two away from the line of students and retreating CDC workers.
We had a small window of time to sneak away and we needed to act quickly. I tuned in to my advanced hearing, searching the whole school for the one voice that mattered the most.
XXXX
Well, hello, friends.
I leave for New York in almost twenty-four hours and I knew I wanted to update this story one more time before I left. I may write a bit more when I'm waiting for my flights and everything, but I do not guarantee any more updates until after I get back. Speaking of, if you know of any places I should visit when I'm there, let me know!
I've been working on this chapter for about the past three days, so I hope it's a good one. I really enjoyed writing the conversation between Malia and Chloe. I kind of want their friendship to strengthen this season. Also, Malia now knows Chloe is dating Stiles.
Question: How did you feel about this chapter?
So, yeah!