I forget how much happens in this season sometimes.
Question of the Chapter: Would you want to be worth the most, or the least on the Deadpool? Keeping in mind that being the least would make you an easy target, but being the most would put you at the top of a lot of people's hit list.
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✧*:･ﾟStiles･ﾟ:*✧
Lydia had finally been able to unlock the last third of the Deadpool. It would have been some sort of relief, if the cipher code hadn't been Derek's name.
Considering that the last two were Allison and Aiden, who were currently dead, my expectations for Derek to survive the Benefactor were slimming.
But none of that had me on edge as much as my fight with Riley. It was pretty one-sided, and rightfully so. She was right, I should have told her. And now she was God knows where.
"Hey, I messaged Riley but she hasn't responded. I didn't think she would. I just kinda hoped, you know?" Scott said as we sat on the floor of his bedroom. Apparently he had something important to show me that couldn't wait until morning.
Which was fine, because I needed to show him the Deadpool anyway.
I chewed on my lip anxiously as I twisted my hands, "She's not coming."
Scott's brows furrowed as he looked at me. "But she went to the station with you guys this morning, didn't she?"
"Yeah, well she still hates us right now," I informed him, trying to laugh as if it were a joke. I wish it was. "I was going to tell her. And then she got the real Deadpool."
"I told you not to give her a fake, man," he sighed.
"Well, I needed to do something until I figured out how to break it to her. Believe it or not, this wasn't what I had planned."
"She can't hate us forever. And you guys will work it out, I know you will."
I scoffed, "Says the one who told me that me and her would never happen."
"That was back when we were in elementary school," he defended quickly.
We had a small laugh, as I ran a hand through my hair. "Things were easier back then."
Scott gave me a small look of pity, before he fell serious. "Look, we'll figure this out. But, right now-"
He dragged a lacrosse bag out from under his bed, unzipping it slowly. Inside, was wads upon wads of different notes. Shakily, I reached a hand in. I half expected it to be an illusion, shocked when my fingers touched the money.
I stared at it for a moment longer, before retracting my hand. "You counted it yet?"
"No," he replied, staring down at the money. He looked so conflicted about it. I didn't blame him either. Without even counting it, I could already tell there was so much in there. Thousands.
"We should probably count it."
He nodded, not saying a word. We both grabbed a side of the bag, before pouring its contents out onto Scott's bedroom floor.
We were about to start counting, when we both noticed a small clattering sound; one that wouldn't be caused by notes hitting floorboards.
Amongst all of the notes was a tape. Scott held it up, turning it slowly in his hands. Written on the side in black marker were the words 'PLAY ME'.
♧♤♢♡
✧･ﾟ:*Riley*:･ﾟ✧
A few days had passed since I last spoke to Scott, Stiles and Lydia. They seemed to be respecting my choice for space, which I appreciated.
Part of me wished that Stiles wouldn't have listened and came knocking at my door, but I don't think I could've moved on if he had done that.
The time without them had given me the chance to think over what Charlotte had said about me projecting my emotions from my mother onto them. She had a point in saying that I couldn't forgive her and my father but not my friends.
Over the weekend, I had spent most of my time with Charlotte, Malia and Iris. The Sylph was still in our guest room, more than happy to wait to meet Scott. I told her I would introduce her the day after the PSATs, when we all didn't have so much to stress about.
So, throughout, she had been showing me a few tricks with our abilities. I hadn't really used them since the Nogistune, so I was overly hesitant to try them. Iris managed to make me feel safe in using them though, something I hadn't felt in a while.
Since I hadn't had anyone to show me how to use them, she took me back to basics, starting with control and focus. It was actually really helpful.
The rest of my week was spent studying for the PSATs with Malia, who had spent a couple of nights at our house. It was now Saturday, the morning of the PSATs.
"How are you feeling?" Malia asked from my desk. The werecoyote had three books open before her, a highlighter in each hand.
"Like I really don't want to do the PSATs," I groaned. "I'm so proud of you though, Malia. You've studied so hard for this."
"I'm still so nervous," she grumbled as she glared at her book.
"You're going to do great," I reassured her.
We both got dressed and grabbed some pencils - which was all we were allowed to bring into the room - and our phones, before heading out of my room.
Charlotte and Iris had pancakes plated when we got to the kitchen. "I thought you girls might need something to help with those nerves," she said with a small smile.
We both thanked them, digging in. I had barely eaten over the weekend, so I was starving. A couple of days ago my dad, Charlotte, Malia and I had spoken about everything for a bit together after I introduced the werecoyote to them.
I think, in a way, it helped to know more. My mum had asked me not to be mad at my father and Charlotte for not telling me about Peter, and since it was basically one of the last things she asked of me, I had trouble doing so.
Malia had asked me that if I could forgive my family, why I couldn't forgive Stiles, Scott and Lydia. She sounded like Charlotte.
I explained to her what my mum mentioned in her letter about not blaming them. She had asked them not to tell me. There was nothing stopping Stiles and Scott from telling me, besides the fact that they were too afraid.
But that was what Charlotte had said, and why she thought I was being harsh on my friends. After taking the time, I couldn't help but think she was right.
"Good luck with the PSATs, girls. Iris and I are going into town. I thought I'd show her around since she's going to be here a while," Charlotte said, giving me a quick hug.
"Your sister is a saint," Iris informed me, saying goodbye to us as she grabbed her bag and headed for the door.
Something in the way Charlotte looked at Iris made me pause. I gave my sister a look, and she blushed and waved me off, before following the woman out the door.
"I think your sister likes Iris," Malia stated bluntly.
"Yeah, I think so, too," I smiled, happy that Charlotte was thinking about herself for once. Finishing off my plate, I put it in the dish washer.
"We should get going, too. We can't be late."
♧♤♢♡
As soon as Malia and I walked into the school, Scott and Stiles were right in front of me asking to talk. Malia and I looked at each other, neither of us thinking it was a great idea. But, they had been my friends since almost birth, and I wasn't going to act like a child.
"Five minutes," I told them, before turning to Malia. "I'll be back, save me a spot."
She nodded, walking over to the line to get into the classroom.
Scott nodded in thanks, leading Stiles and I behind him into an empty classroom. When he shut the door, he just stood there staring. Neither of them were saying anything, and it was becoming frustrating.
"If you're not going to say anything, then I'm going back to line up for the test," I informed him, glancing at the time on my phone. The doors were opening in less than fifteen minutes.
"You're right," Scott nodded.
"Riley, I just wanted to apologise."
"Great. Was that it?" I asked.
"Um, no. We shouldn't have lied to you, I know that. But-"
"No, Scott, you shouldn't have. Don't give me some excuse about trying to protect me. This isn't something that was for either of you or Lydia to decide whether or not I could handle it."
"Riley-"
But I wasn't done.
"I mean, my mother kept this from me for years, and I just really can't handle having more people lying to me," I told them, feeling my eyes burn with the tears I refused to cry.
Every thought I'd had over the weekend was spilling over, threatening to pass my lips as I spoke to them. On some level, I had forgiven them, but it didn't feel that easy.
"We didn't want either of you to know, because we didn't want you to go to Peter. We didn't want him to be able to twist his way into your head like he's done to so many people before. And, his name isn't on the Deadpool, which means he's either really lucky, or he's the Benefactor. Either way, he's not a good guy," Stiles spat out quickly.
"You don't think I know that, Stiles?" I almost sneered. "I thought you knew me well enough to know I would never be that stupid. And I wouldn't let Malia do that either."
"I know" he whispered.
"We're always going in circles, telling ourselves we're doing it for a reason, but that is only so we don't have to take responsibility for it. The three of you knew, and someone should have told me. One of you should have told me. You can't decide for me. Or Malia, and I should have tried harder to get you to tell her, that's on me. But, we've been friends forever, the three of us, and I thought we didn't keep secrets from each other."
Scott ran a hand through his hair in frustration, "You're right. I know we weren't supposed to decide for you, but what would you have done if the situations were reversed?"
Isaac had asked me a similar question. Charlotte had asked it in a way, too.
"I'm not going to pretend like I know, because I don't. But, I can't have you guys lying to me. Not like she did."
The boys both went silent, not knowing what to say. I think they knew I was talking about my mother, and that's what made them stop. They didn't want to say anything about my dead mother that might offend me.
"I can't believe you wanted to have this conversation right before the PSATs," I mumbled, turning to walk out of the room.
As I pulled the door open, Stiles spoke quietly. "Are you ever going to forgive us? Forgive me?"
I acted as if I needed to think, but all three of us knew the answer already. There was no way I could live without these boys in my life; but right now?
"Right now, I just want to take the PSATs."
I left the room and went to line up with Malia, who had been joined by Isaac. Scott and Stiles left the room not long after I did, rejoining Kira.
Stiles glanced over at me every now and then, but I avoided his gaze. I was afraid that his sad eyes would make me cave straight away, and I needed some time to work through things first.
We weren't standing with them, but we could still hear the conversation that Stiles, Scott and Kira were having. I wasn't sure whether Kira knew what had happened between the three of us yet. They all seemed as nervous as Malia and I about the test.
"Where's Lydia?" Kira asked, glancing up and down the hallway.
"She took it her freshman year," Stiles answered.
Malia poked my arm, whispering, "Wait, I could have taken this another time?"
I put a hand on her shoulder gently, trying to ease her nerves. "Malia, you're going to do great. You put in the work, you studied, you know what you're doing. Just get in there, and do your best."
"I saw how hard you were studying in the library. You'll do great," Isaac concurred.
She gave us both a nervous look, but nodded either way. I wasn't sure whether she believed our words, but that was up to her.
Kira had been voicing her concerns to Scott, saying how nervous she was.
Scott put on his reassuring smile he used when he was trying to seem like he had everything under control.
"We're doing this. Because, while we're trying not to die, we still need to live."
I rolled my eye at the cheesy sentiment.
"If I survive high school, I'd like to go to college. A good college."
"It's only three hours," Kira pointed out. "We can survive three hours."
I didn't have to look at Stiles to know that he was still staring at me.
♧♤♢♡
✧*:･ﾟStiles･ﾟ:*✧
Walking into the testing room without her by my side only made me more anxious. I just wanted to hold her and apologise for ever hurting her the way I did.
When we walked in, we were required to press our thumbs to an ink pad and then onto paper which had our names for identification.
Lydia's mum then gave us each a small envelope with a number tag for our phones. After handing mine over, I went and took my seat towards the back of the classroom. With a pencil behind my ear, one in my hand and another in my mouth, I tapped my foot nervously against the leg of the desk.
Out of curiosity and nervousness, I lifted the first page to read the first question.
"Please do not open the test booklet until you are instructed to do so," the instructor announced.
I let the page fall, acting as if it had never happened.
And then I heard it. The sound of her voice. She was mumbling to herself; she sounded annoyed.
I spun in my seat to see her searching her jacket pockets, biting her lip nervously. "How did I manage to forget my pencil? I swear I grabbed one," I heard her say to herself as she checked her pockets again. "I must've left it in the damn car."
I removed the pencil from behind my ear, reached over and placed it on her desk, before turning back to my desk. I didn't wait for her to say anything, not wanting her to think I was trying to win points or anything like that.
I could almost feel her eyes on me, trying to decide how to react. She was always so cautious.
"Thank you," I heard her whisper to me. I gave her a small smile over my shoulder, before focusing back on the man standing at the front of the classroom.
He clicked a stop watch on his desk, before addressing us all, "You may now open your test booklets and begin."
I immediately opened the booklet and got stuck into the test. All was going well, until the pencil literally dropped out of my mouth reading some of the questions; those were not in the study guideline.
The room was filled only with the noise of grey lead scribbling against test sheets. So when Sydney fell out of her chair, I almost jumped in shock.
Ms. Martin came rushing to her aid, helping her to her feet.
"Sydney, how long have you had this?"
I stretched in my seat to see what she was talking about. There was a strange rash or something on the girl's wrist.
Sydney's eyes widened as she shook her head, "I don't know."
"Ms. Martin, do I need to stop the test?" The administrator asked.
The woman took a moment, "No, um, it's fine."
She got Sydney to sit down, before she went to the front of the classroom. "Everybody stay in your seats. I'll, um, be back in a minute."
She then left the room, closing the door behind her.
The look on her face and the fact that she took her phone with her gave me cause for concern. We all tried to focus back on the test, since we were still on the clock; but there was no way everyone was going to just move past the look on the woman's face.
"Get back! No! Do not come inside! Get back outside!" We all heard Ms. Martin scream from outside the classroom.
Half the class was up from their seats and rushing to the halls to see what was happening. I walked out just in time to see Ms. Martin lock the school door and rest against it.
"Back to your seats. Now. Please."
Scott and I gave each other a look, before heading back into the classroom, closing the door behind us.
As we sat back down, I found myself looking over my shoulder to Riley. When I met her eyes, I found that she had already been looking at me.
Something was going on at the school; we all knew it.