FOURTEEN
"Idioms, analogies, metaphors, and smiles, all tools the writer uses to tell their story," Ms. Blake spoke in English class, I sat in between Stiles and Lydia. Stiles had pushed his chair against mine so that under the table, he can hold my hands, and play with them. "Lydia, I wasn't so aware you had so many hidden talents."
"You and every guy I dated." I turn my head and saw Lydia looking up at Ms. Blake, who looks down at her. I glance down and saw that she had stretched a tree. Lydia had said that with so much sass.
"Oh, well, that was an idiom, by the way," Ms. Blake adds, smiling down at Lydia. Ms. Blake continued to walk down the row. "Idioms are something of a secret to the people who know the language or the culture." Ms. Blake stops at Stiles table, and he looked up at her. "They're phrases that only make sense if you know keywords. Saying jump the gun, is meaningful only if you know about the starting gun in a race, or a phrase seeing the whole board."
"Like chess." Stiles spoke. I squeezed his hand.
"That's right, Stiles. Do you play?" Ms. Blake asks, looking down at Stiles.
"No, my father does." I smile.
"Now, when does an idiom become a cliche?" Ms. Blake asked.
"I think I can get to Ethan," Scott told me and Stiles leaning towards us. "I'm pretty sure I can make him talk."
"What do you want him to do that for?" Stiles asked, in his low voice.
"The druids are emissaries, right? So what if the Darach was an emissary to Alphas?" Scott asked.
"Okay, first of all, I cannot believe that we've gotten to the point where a sentence, like, what if the Darach was an emissary to the Alphas? Actually makes sense to me." Stiles told us. "And second of all, we're gonna have a huge problem getting to Ethan."
"What's that?"
I roll my eyes at my brother's stupidy.
I lean forward. "Going through Aiden."
"Ever since he's been back at school, they're always together," Stiles told Scott.
"Like you two." Scott scoffed, and I rolled my eyes.
"We have not." I protest.
"You guys are literally holding hands right now," Stiles and I glance at each other before pulling our hands away.
"Anway, how are we going to separate them again?" Stiles asked. We all then turn to Lydia, who looked so pure drawing.
She then looked up at us. "What now?"
✢
"Why are you even talking to me? I helped kill your friend." I was lean against the wall, Ethan standing opposite me, Stiles, and Scott. My arms were crossed. "How do you know I'm not going to kill another?"
I notice Ethan looking at me. "Is he looking at Stacey?" Stiles stepped forward, going all protective mode. "Are you threatening her? You know what I'm going to do? I'm gonna break off an extra-large branch of Mountian Ash, wrap it in wolfsbane, roll it in mistletoe, and shove it up your freaking...-"
"Stiles, okay, we get it." I pull Stiles back. "Thank you," I mumble to him, but I didn't stop Stiles glaring at Ethan.
"We're talking to you because I know that you didn't want to kill Boyd," Scott said, continuing. "And I think that if something like that happened now, you wouldn't do it again."
"You don't know what we owe them," Ethan started, looking at Scott. "Especially Deucalion. We weren't like Kali and Ennis when we met him. We weren't Alphas."
"What were you?" Scott pressed further.
"Omegas," Ethan said. "And actual wolf packs, Omegas are the scapegoat, the last to eat, the one who has to take the abuse from the rest of the pack."
"So, you and your brother were, like, the bitches of the pack?" Stiles asked, his arms crossed, but still standing in front of me, slightly.
"Something like that," Ethan replied.
"What happen?" Scott urges. I dropped my cross arms, and let them rest aside me, so did Stiles, and he intertwined our hands.
Comfort thing.
"They were killers," Ethan breathes out. "I mean, people talk about us as monsters. Well, they were the ones who gave us the reputation. And our Alpha was the worst of them."
"Why didn't you guys just fight back?" I felt a light squeeze on my hand. "Form Voltron Wolf, you know? Kick everyone's asses?"
"We couldn't." Ethan snapped. "We didn't know how to control it back then."
"Deucalion taught you." Scott realized.
"And then, we fought." Ethan continued. "We took down the whole pack, one-by-one. And by the time we got to our Alpha, he was begging for his life. And we tore him apart. Literally,"
"What about your emissary?" Scott asked. "They're all dead? Kali and Ennis', too?"
"All of them expect for Deucalion's," Ethan informed us.
"You mean Morell?" I asked. Ethan then gasps, and looked down at his chest.
"What? What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Scott quickly asked Ethan.
"Not me. My brother," Ethan breathes out, holding his chest.
✢
My eyes widen as I see Cora on the ground next to Lydia, and Aiden with a weightlifter, held high. Ethan and Scott took care of him while I skid down on my knees next to Cora, and placed her head on my lap.
I hear the heavy metal drop on the floor, and I looked over at the boys. "Aiden, you can't do this!" Ethan yells at his brother.
"She came at me!" Aidne defended.
"It doesn't matter! Kali gave Derek until the next full moon. You can't touch him or her." Lydia looked up at Ethan, fear in her eyes. Cora groans and I rub my hand over her forehead worriedly, Stiles was bent down next to me.
Ethan and Aiden both leave us. "Hey, guys, I think she's pretty hurt," I inform them, looking down at the Hale girl. Blood drips from her forehead.
✢
"You okay?" I ask Cora with my arms crossed as Cora whips the blood off her forehead with a tissue. Scott, Stiles, Lydia and I stand around her in the boy's locker room mirror.
"She doesn't look okay," Lydia said, looking over at me. I roll my eyes a little.
"I'll heal." Cora informs, dropping the tissue. Cora stepped back, and she stumbled a little, and Stiles quickly catches her.
"Whoa." Stiles steaded her.
"I said I'm fine." Cora snapped.
"Do you realize how suicidally crazy that was?" Stiles asked her. "What were you thinking when you were going after them?"
"I did it for Boyd." Cora spat. She then turned to Scott. "None of you were doing anything."
"We're trying." Scott softly said.
"And you're failing." Anger grew inside me, and I took a step forward, but Stiles took a step forward in front of me, telling me to back off. He quickly grabbed my hand and pulls me towards him more. "You're just a bunch of stupid teenagers running around, thinking that you can stop people from getting killed. But all you do is show up late." Scott glanced over at us. "All you really do is find the bodies."
She then walked off. I forgot that she was a Hale. "She's definitely a Hale," I mumble.
"I'll make sure she gets home." Stiles then looked down at me, and briefly kissed my cheek. "Bye," I wave and he walked off, leaving me, Scott, and Lydia. My mind then clicked. I'm not letting Cora alone with Stiles.
"Wait, I'm coming with you." Stiles turns around just as he was about to walk out, a held out my hand as I ran towards him and we instantly intertwine out hands and left the building.