|| A Little Upset
The Sheriff Station bustled with life in the early morning hours, cases thrown about and officers pawing for any caffeine they could get their hands on.
"How's the case?" Jack asked as she waved to Haigh with two fingers, weaving through the cluster of deputy desks. Balancing a coffee in each hand, she stopped at Parrish's before offering one out.
Jordan eyed the maroon cups. "Is that Stella's?"
"Absolutely," Jacy said with a smile, handing off one of the two.
"You're the best." Jordan stood up, kissing Jacy's cheek as he went to the fax machine. "Thank you so much."
"I know the station's stuff isn't best and I had time before school." Jacy took Jordan's chair, glancing over the papers laid out.
"How do you have time in the morning before school?" Jordan asked as he looked over his shoulder to Jacy, pulling documents from the machine.
"Not everyone waits until 5 minutes before school starts to wake up." Jacy grinned when Parrish shot her a look. "I just like being awake. Plus, Stella's does coffee deals before eight."
"I see why you bought me coffee." Jordan grabbed Jacy's hand, pulling her up from his chair and taking his spot back.
"Cheap date, huh, Parrish?" Deputy Haigh mused, laughing with Jacy.
"You have no idea," Jacy teased, sipping on straight black coffee.
"I can make you leave, you know," Jordan warned, pulling up a picture on his computer but quickly minimizing it.
"What was that?" Jacy furrowed her eyebrows, only catching a glimpse of blue. "Jordan?"
"Jacy, leave it alone."
"Jordan." Jacy's expression fell. "What are you not showing me?" She pushed his hand out of the way, taking the mouse and bringing up what he'd hidden.
It was a picture of Stiles' wrecked Jeep.
He shouldn't have survived in a crash that twisted his car like that.
"Investigating?" Jacy couldn't take her eyes off of the blue hunk of metal. It didn't look that bad when she found him, but it was dark. "It was an accident, wasn't it?"
"It's the Sheriff's son, J. He wants us to look more into it," Jordan assured. "It's nothing, okay? We're just going to check out the scene and then the Jeep."
"You know Stilinski's kid, Jacy?" Haigh asked, leaning back in his chair.
"Sort of." Jacy glanced to Haigh and then back to Jordan. "Just an inspection?"
"That's all." Parrish nodded. "I'll tell you if Haigh or I find something."
Jacy thoughtfully took a drink, still looking at the Jeep. "I, uh, I have to go to school."
"Need a ride?" Jordan set down his coffee, angling his chair towards her.
"I have my car, I'm fine." Jacy brushed Jordan's shoulder. "See you later."
"Dinner next week, right?" Parrish asked as he absently tapped his pen on the edge of his desk.
Jacy agreed with a nod, "Of course, yeah." She waved, "Later, Haigh."
Deputy Haigh lifted his hand. "Bye Jacy."
Jacy furrowed her eyebrows as she left the police station, confusion lined in every feature.
Stiles' wreck was an accident, wasn't it?
| |
Jacy dropped her car keys, the ring clattering on the tile floor of the high school. She was utterly distracted and there was no hiding it. She grumbled under her breath, crouching down to reach them.
"You okay, Jacy?" Scott asked, holding the straps of his backpack as he walked towards her in the half empty hall.
Jacy picked up her keys before standing up, running a hand through her hair with a huff. "I'm fine."
"It may be easy for you to keep a steady heartbeat, but you seem a little off."
Jacy rose an eyebrow, returning to her locker. "I don't seem off to you, Scott. I smell anxious."
"I didn't want to put it that way, but, uh, yeah." Scott nodded lightly, "So, what's got you worked up?"
"They're doing a last scope of Stiles' Jeep and the scene today. And I know it was an accident but I keep thinking that they might find something. Stiles told me about how there's always a quiet time before another bad guy shows up. What if that time ended when the Jeep flipped, but-"
"Jacy, it was an accident. It was nearly two weeks ago. Whoever or whatever you're thinking might've done it would've tried something else by now."
"What if they're waiting? Waiting for this. Like if Parrish and Haigh find something and then a person gets kidnapped?" Jacy was rarely optimistic and it was even harder to be in this town.
"That won't happen. Don't think about that, all right?" Scott squeezed Jacy's shoulder comfortingly. "Think about how Wednesday is our last day of school and that winter break is three weeks long here."
Jacy hesitated, "Three weeks?"
"And right, two weeks plus a couple days, but still." Scott shrugged with a smile. "Jacy, it's going to be okay."
"You're probably right." Jacy let go of a sigh, turning to reach for her jacket.
"Are you leaving?" Scott furrowed his eyebrows. "What about lunch? You can come sit with me."
"I, uh, I don't want to sit with Lydia and Kira."
"Makes sense," Scott said. "The crap they pulled at Derek's was way too much."
"It's not that," replied Jacy. They didn't tell you and I'm not surprised."
"Did something happen?"
Jacy sarcastically laughed, "Well, they assumed they were right about me being someone I'm not when they had false information. They thought I was the bad guy again even after the night at Derek's."
Scott shut his eyes, sighing before opening them. "I'm so sorry. They know better now though, I promise."
Jacy shut her locker after a minute of thought, leaving her coat and keys inside.
"Hey, is Stiles with you or..." Scott asked, glancing around the hall in case his best friend was there.
"Not now, no." Jacy pulled her phone from the back pocket of her skinny jeans. She put it away when she saw there wasn't anything from Jordan. "He's been with his dad for most of the day I think."
"You think?" Scott questioned as they walked to the cafeteria.
"He left while I was sleeping. He usually does and then he goes to either you or his dad." Jacy only remembered Stiles figuring out why he was a cold presence before she fell asleep.
"Hang on. How do you know that they're searching his Jeep?"
"I was with Jordan this morning." Jacy explained, catching that Scott wasn't sure who that was. "Deputy Parrish."
"Ah, that makes more sense." Scott stopped them at his own locker so he could put his backpack away. "See, they said they found out about you, but they didn't mention how they got the information. I assumed you just told them." He hesitated as he shut his locker, "Is your dad really-"
"Yeah, he is," she quickly said, the two continuing to the lunch room.
"Okay." Without a story, he pushed the door open for Jacy. "Hey, so how's Stiles been?"
"Good." Jacy nodded. "He's strong. You have to be to wake up so that's really good for his condition."
"But, Jacy," Scott pulled her to the side. "I'm not asking that. I'm asking how is he?"
"For someone in his situation, he's doing good. He talked to his mom the other day and I think she gave him more faith to wake up," Jacy told him, making a relieved expression cross Scott's face.
"That's good. God, he misses his mom so much." Scott motioned for them to walk again before continuing his questions. "Is he happy?"
"He is. At least, when he's distracted from his reality." Jacy saw Lydia and Kira at the table they were at everyday as they reached the lunch room, still hesitant about the idea.
"Do you like him?"
Jacy quickly looked back to Scott, "What?"
Scott rose an eyebrow, "I mean, you have to spend a lot of time with him. Do you guys get along?"
Jacy gave a soft shrug, "Yeah, I guess."
"Wait a second." Scott stopped Jacy again, narrowing his eyes at her. "Do you like him? Like, like him?"
"That would be an incredibly unfortunate situation to be in." Jacy glanced over her shoulder, both her and Scott keeping their voices down.
"Why is that?" Scott watched Jacy's expression with curiosity.
"Stiles may not remember his drifting."
His mouth parted, his words hesitating. "He didn't meet you until he had the accident." Scott understood, able to see why falling in love with Stiles would be bad.
Stiles may not remember Jacy when he wakes up.
"How about we just go to the table?" Jacy didn't like the look Scott was giving her. She didn't like it when people figured her out.
"Yeah, sure." Scott let go of his light grip on Jacy, walking with her to the table.
Lydia and Kira seemed startled, exchanging looks. They'd already ignored her existence in biology as well as history, but now that wasn't much of an option.
"Jacy, hi," Lydia nervously said, "How, uh, how are you?"
"I'm fine." Jacy took the spot next to Scott and across from Kira where Stiles commonly sat. "How are you guys?"
"Good," Kira agreed. "And definitely sorry."
Lydia hastily echoed, "Really sorry."
"Told you," said Scott as he glanced to Jacy.
"You were right, Jacy. We should've trusted you after the night in Derek's loft," Lydia continued over Scott.
"Which we're also sorry about," Kira put in. "And about making your hand worse, too."
Jacy glanced down to her palm, it scarred but healed thanks to the Mama McCall stitches.
A moment of silence crossed the four of them in the busy cafeteria.
"So," Boyd took the empty seat next to Jacy, "ditching us?"
"Come on, Jacy." Erica held the smirk that she gained the moment Derek turned her into a werewolf. "Leaving your ghost friends for real people?" She was lounged next to Kira, giving the kitsune an unimpressed look over. "I don't like this one. I feel like she's my replacement."
"Is it cold?" Lydia had her sleeves of a thin sweater up to her elbows and had to pull them down.
Jacy smiled lightly, "It should be."
"Is it Stiles?" Scott lifted an eyebrow, unable to get too cold like Kira.
"No." Jacy checked her cell again, nothing from Jordan.
"Don't leave me out," Allison said as she took a spot next to Boyd, grinning.
"Who is it?"
"Who isn't it?" Jacy could spot out Matt and other kids who had lost their lives in Beacon Hills many tethered to the school.
"How come I can't feel them?" Lydia asked Jacy. "Shouldn't I be able to?"
"Not in this case, no." Jacy set her phone face up on the table. "As a banshee, you feel those about to die. Ghosts are already dead so they apply to me and not to you."
"Do you just see them?" Kira asked, realizing Jacy knew even more than they thought.
"I can feel them," Jacy replied. "While ghosts can touch people, people can't touch ghosts."
"But you can," Scott guessed, "can't you?"
Jacy lightly nodded, "I can yeah."
"A ghost party?" Aiden lingered at the end of the table where Jackson would sit last year. "It's pathetic."
Out of all the causalities, Aiden was the one who didn't take his death well. He was a good guy when the Oni killed him and his anger was turning him bad again.
"Oh shut up, Aiden," Erica sharply said." Stop being so mean to Jacy."
"And what are you going to do about it, sweetheart?" Aiden asked, pushing the empty chair out, it flinging back and hitting the wall.
A few heads turned, all curious about the clatter. Soon enough, they lost interest.
Scott, Lydia and Kira automatically looked to Jacy.
"He's a little upset."
"A little?" Aiden shouted. "A little!"
"I'll take care of it." Boyd got up, getting help from Erica to take Aiden away.
"He'll get better," Allison assured. "It just takes time."
Jacy wanted to believe the huntress, but to her, she felt no one ever really got better.