Stiles threw his pillow at her, "You kept this from me! Are you kidding?"
"I was just seeing if anything would happen-"
"This isn't funny. Or the time to sit and wait. You were bitten by an Alpha." Stiles saw incredibly upset with her and right before he was about to fall asleep too, "That's why your leg hurts so much? Paige... Your leg still hurts?"
"Yeah, it didn't heal like Scott's did." Paige admits to him while lifting the fabric of her shorts to reveal the bandage and then she ripped it off. "I think... whatever I am might be stopping me from changing, like I'm immune or something."
Stiles gagged and raised his hand up, "Gross, cover that up. It's disgusting."
"Jee, thanks." She mumbles while moving her shorts down a bit to cover the injury, "I know it's gross, I have been dealing with it for a while now. I just... I think Peter might have known more about me than he was saying. And now my closest lead is dead."
"Well-" Stiles scratched the back of his neck while rolling over in the bed, he wanted to get a little bit of sleep even if he was worrying about Lydia, "Your aunt knew him... so your closest lead would be her."
"But she won't talk to me." Paige pulled the blanket over the both of them while plopping her head down on the pillow next to his, "All she does is say I can't stay here forever and I'll eventually have to come back. No apologies. No saying she has more for me. Just... nothing."
"Hey-" Stiles whispers tiredly with a small frown on his face, "You can definitely stay here forever if you want. As long as you let me sleep before morning practice."
Paige only gave him a smile and nodded, "Alright. We should both get some kind of sleep."
She noticed how Stiles had instantly passed out after she said that. Paige couldn't blame him, he was really out searching for Lydia. And she knew how much he genuinely liked her since she was also beginning to like her as well- as a friend at least. Paige was originally going to go out and help search but of course she got sidetracked by this weird supernatural connection she has to Derek. Who absolutely pissed her off because he was so willing to use her crush as a means of manipulation.
Standing in the hall of the school, Paige tilted her head in a feeling of tranquility as she listened to a beautiful melody. She knew the instrument because she had always had a knack for musical instruments. Paige played the cello and piano growing up, but she stopped at some point in middle school. And this was a cello playing. It was Ellen's Chants, D. 839 III. Ave Maria. She learned how to play that song when she was about nine years old.
She remembered her aunt saying it was so weird that that was the song that clicked for Paige. She played it pretty flawlessly for someone who only started to learn the cello a few years prior. And it was weird for such a young girl to know how to play the cello, but for some reason Paige just picked onto it. After she turned ten, Paige refused to play that song and then went on to learn to play piano instead.
Paige followed the tune, knowing that it had to be coming from the music room. She remembered the music teacher, Mr. Robinson, asked if she'd join the class due to her prior knowledge with instruments but Paige refused.
Feeling a weird chill, Paige turned around but didn't see anyone down the bluely lit hallway. She took in the scenery of the hall before turning back to the music. She never really thought of this song in a long time and it was genuinely nice to hear suddenly.
She did not have to push the door open. All she did was stand at the door frame. A teenager sat in the room and stared blankly ahead as though he was listening to the music as well. Paige leaned against the door frame and stared at the board as she listened to the music. And suddenly, the sound of the cello's string snapping filled the room.
"Who are you?"
Flustered, she walked further in, "Uh, I'm Paige."
"No, you're not."
"I think I'd know my own name." She countered while approaching the teen, she watched as his face dropped and he looked back to the front of the classroom, "There can be girls with the same name."
"Not with her." He whispered, "I miss her."
"I'm sorry." Paige mumbles while taking a seat beside him with her hands dropping to her lap instantly, "I'd change my name if I could."
"Sometimes I wish you would."
Paige furrowed her brow and gave him a confused look, "I'm sorry?"
"I can't say your name to you." This teen admitted as he continued to look ahead with a broken look in his eyes, "Because I feel like I'm betraying her with you."
"I don't understand?"
"I only need the one Paige. She was beautiful and I loved her. And you're beautiful too. I can't have you taking that place in my heart."
"Uh..." Paige wasn't really sure who he was or what he was talking about but she nodded her head, "Well, no one could ever replace someone. You love that person forever even when they're gone. Like my parents, they're dead and I didn't know them, but I love them. I didn't just replace my parents with my aunt. I love them equally. You can love other people, everyone is capable of that. Whatever happened to your... Paige, I'm sorry that she's gone. But you can't use her as a reason to not let people in because I'm sure that's not what she would have wanted for you."
There was a long moment of silence before he sighed, "I guess you're not as annoying as I'd hoped."
"Get the frick up!" Stiles snaps while dropping a pillow on Paige's face.
She gasped loudly and swung her arm, slapping him across the stomach and making him groan. Paige threw the pillow off of her, "You donkey!"
"Oh, it's a donkey now?" Stiles demanded as he dodged the pillow she threw at him, "Get ready for school, we've got practice."
"I'm getting up. I'm getting up." Paige repeated while watching him flee the room so she could get ready and probably to bug his father on any leads on Lydia.
She sat up in the bed and rubbed the side of her head. That was probably by the far the bizarrest dream she'd ever had and now she had the urge to pick up the cello again. Paige just ignored the feeling and got ready for her day. It was easy to ignore the feeling now that Stiles knew and helped keep her as grounded as possible.
Scott had only paused in disgust and horror after Stiles told them what he learned, "She ate the liver?"
"No, I didn't say she ate it." Stiles defended quickly, "I just said it was missing. And you know what? Even if she did, so what? It's the most nutritious part of the body."
Paige only slowly turned her head to stare off in concern, "I know you love her. But if she really did steal a liver and ate it... Wouldn't you be like... at least a little more concerned? Cause I'm kind of concerned since that's really disgusting."
Scott shivered and agreed with Paige, "Yeah, I mean... I never ate anyone's liver."
"Yeah, right, 'cause when it comes to werewolves, you're a real model of self-control." Stiles halted and stopped Scott entirely, "Actually, wait- hold on. You're the test case for this, so we should be going over what happened to you."
"I guess that's true." Paige offered in agreement to Stiles, which made Scott look pretty shocked for a moment. "Scott, can you tell us what was going through your head during the turn? What were you drawn to? What was-"
"Allison."
Stiles shot him a look of displeasure at the very non-shocking answer, "Okay, nothing else? Seriously?"
"Nothing else mattered." Scott shrugged his shoulders, "But, no, that's good though, right? 'Cause the night that Lydia was bit, she was with you."
"Her date was Stiles-" Paige pointed at him and then slowly turned her attention to the school, "But she was trying to find Jackson."
"Meaning she could have gone looking for him last night."
Paige had already put on her lacrosse uniform while she sat on the bleachers with a frappe in her hand. She slurped in amusement while Jackson avoided the crap out of them the entire time. The boys almost got to him when Coach called for everyone's attention. And then, Paige looked at the door as Isaac came stumbling into the room. Slowly, Paige brought her drink's straw from her lips.
"Let's go! I have an announcement. Gather round. Quicker! Danny, put a shirt on. Stilinski and Mercier, that means you! Let's go, gather round. Listen up. Police are asking for help on a missing child advisory. It's a sick girl, roaming around, totally naked. Now, it's supposed to get below 40 degrees tonight. I don't know about you, but the last time it was that cold and I was running around naked- I lost a testicle to exposure. Now, I don't want the same thing happening to some innocent girl. So police are organizing search parties for tonight. Sign up, find the missing girl, you get an automatic 'A' in my classes."
Paige got up from her bench and sent a look to Stiles while Scott approached Jackson, "Does Coach have to bring up his missing testicle all of the time?"
Stiles followed Scott to Jackson and didn't really hear what Scott said to him but knew it was about Lydia as he went, "I think it makes him feel stronger."
"Gross."
"If Lydia wants to take a naked hike in the woods, why should I care?"
"Because we have a pretty good idea that she might be-" Scott leaned forward a little bit in a hushed voice, "-you know, turning."
"Turning?"
"Yeah." Scott confirmed, "Turning."
"Into..."
Stiles rolled his eyes in irritation, "A unicorn. What do you think, dumbass?"
Jackson sent the trio a dirty look, "Well, I think that if Lydia's turning, she's not the one that's gonna need help."
Paige tilted her head to the side in confusion, "Uh... What-what do you mean?"
"Oh, God, you've got it all backwards." Jackson brushed off the extreme concern on her face as he leaned in with a smirk, "When I was with Lydia, you should have seen the scratch marks she left on me. What do you think she's gonna do with a set of real claws?"
Paige and Stiles shut their eyes at the same time while Jackson walked away from them, "I don't think I'm ever going to not have that visual in my head..."
Now here she was, sitting in the library with a book of sheet music in front of her. She spoke to the music teacher about possibly practicing the cello again and that was all the teacher needed to hear. And now here she was trying to find that specific song.
Getting up from her spot in the library, Paige threw her backpack over her shoulder and went walking out. She was supposed to take a test with Stiles and Scott but that turned into her taking it during her free period just so she could get out of Harris' to do this.
"Miss Mercier." Mr. Robinson smiled up to her, "Have you found it?"
"I did." She raised the book that had a little string hanging from the inside of it, "I was wondering if I had time to play?"
"I was about to go down to the student center to do some printing but-" Mr. Robinson pointed to the back where the extra instruments were that students were allowed to borrow, "That's a donated piece from a dear student of mine and I'm sure you'd do her justice. I'll be back."
"Okay." Paige brought one of the stands over and placed the sheet music on stand before moving to the back and picking the case up. She pulled the cello out and stared at it. It was incredibly beautiful and so incredibly clean. As though it hadn't been used for years.
Inhaling deeply, Paige stared down at the sheet music and placed her hands in position with the bow. She cringed when she ran the bow along the strings, she adjusted the pegs until it was turned.
Finally, Paige started to play the song. It was slow and awkward at first but soon she fell into the rhythm as though it was like riding a bike. She shut her eyes before starting over again to hear the tune from the very beginning. She incredibly loved this song for some reason. It was such a beautiful piece and just filled her with heavy emotions.
"Paige."
Blinking, she ran the bow along the strings and messed up the tune, making it sound like a scratch. Paige turned to the doorframe and was shocked to see Derek standing there, "Wow, you came to me this time..." She set the bow down and moved the cello, "What are you doing here?"
"How's your leg?"
Paige shifted a little bit with a distrustful look in her eyes, "Why do you care?"
"Because if you do transition, you'd be a danger to yourself and your friends."
"If I was transitioning at all, you'd be the last person I'd tell." Paige admitted but her voice didn't really change nor was it bitter or harsh, "You're not exactly nice, you're pretty manipulative, and I... don't trust you because of that."
"Would you give me a chance to change that?"
Paige furrowed her brows together, "What? Why? I-" She ended up bumping into the stand which made it fall over with the sheet music, "Shoot-"
Derek moved into the room and picked it up for her. Which made Paige take a step back from him in confusion.
"Remember how I said manipulative?" Paige mumbles while eyeing him, "You-you are beginning to freak me out. Or you're having incredible mood swings due to werewolf problems. Maybe you're an Alpha with performance issues-"
"Performa-"
"Miss Mercier." Mr. Robinson cut in while eyeing Derek, "You wanted a copy of that sheet music right?"
"Uh-" Paige was confused before she nodded, "Yeah, yeah." She took it from the seat since Derek dropped it there, "Thank you."
"And Mr. Hale." Mr. Robinson said calmly, "Unauthorized adults aren't permitted on campus without a visitors pass. But it was nice of you to visit."