_____<•>_____
Aspen always questioned the appeal of overloads of makeup and a dress that was too tight to maneuver. Even in the short silver spaghetti strap dress she had randomly decided to buy, she thought it was a little too much. The only thing she enjoyed was picking the silk material between her fingers and the hidden pockets where she could tuck away her remaining marbles. Aspen didn't know the first thing about makeup or hair design. So when Melissa McCall offered a hand, she didn't think twice to accept. Since Isaac didn't have a car, they agreed to just meet at the school, and Aspen would have Stiles take her and Lydia.
"You know it's a shame that this Isaac character couldn't pick you up," Melissa mumbled with a pin in her mouth, pushing in another one to hold in the styled low bun in Aspen's hair. They were currently standing in the McCall driveway, waiting for her grand chariot, Stiles' jeep. But Melissa continued finding an excuse to fuss with her hair, claiming it might come loose during a dance, which Aspen doubted she would partake in. Since she arrived at Melissa's house, she had messaged Isaac multiply times but no reply. She feared it was his father's doing. "I bought a new camera, could've gotten some shots of you two."
Aspen leaned away from her quick hands, tucking a stray curl behind her ear and watching as Melissa's eyes bug out with her movement. "I don't really mind, Melissa. And we already agreed to meet there. It's just convenient for the both of us." Aspen assured with a light laugh. For as long as she's known Melissa, rarely anything went over her head, so considering Scott had hidden most of his nighttime getaways was beyond her. But right now, the woman was slowly narrowing her eyes as if reading Aspen's expression. "What? What did I do?"
"Oh, nothing," Melissa shrugged casually, her eyes looking the teenager up and down. "I just happen to notice you were fiddling with your dress this entire night, and while I was doing your hair and makeup inside, I may have seen your multiple unread texts to Isaac."
Aspen clicked her tongue and quit touching her dress. "That's an invasion of privacy, Melissa."
"Is it really? I mean, you were at my house."
"Still my phone."
Melissa let her hands flop against her thighs, surrendering her case. A light began to shine on the road behind them, and Stiles jeep came to a skidding stop. Aspen choked back a laugh as she heard Lydia snap at Stiles for stopping to hard. "Alright, have fun or at least try to," Melissa informed, taking one last look at Aspen with a warm smile and something hidden behind her eyes, which Aspen quickly caught onto.
"Oh, please don't cry," Aspen whined quietly.
"I'm sorry I'm sorry," Melissa fanned the tears building up in her eyes before wiping them away with the sleeve of her cardigan. "You're just so beautiful and grown-up now. If this Isaac guy doesn't work out, I can arrange something with Scott."
A laugh cut through Aspen's throat, the woman's idea amusing yet disturbing. She pulled Melissa into a tight hug, which was cut short from Lydia's shrieking squeal upon seeing Aspen. "Look at you!" she called out with pursed lips. Stiles poked his head around her, not expecting much, but his jaw slacked immediately, seeing his friend of eight years in a dress for the first time.
Before exchanging a goodbye, Melissa insisted on a few photos of the three. Thanks to Lydia's many poses and references, they too longer than needed but were on the road in no time. Snuggled in the back seat, Aspen was slumped, staring at her phone, waiting for Isaac to answer the messages. Her head was whirling, wondering if he had bailed.
An intrusive snap of fingers yanked Aspen from her thoughts and focused her gaze on Lydia, her face occasionally lighting up from the other lane's oncoming headlights. "Will you stop frowning? You're creasing your forehead, and your makeup will leave lines," Lydia instructed with a glare. "And sit up, you're too pretty just to wrinkle your dress. Which, by the way, is killer."
Aspen dipped her head, hiding her blush as she sat up and dropped her phone in her lap. "Thanks, it was a random pick, and I wasn't even sure if it was my size," Aspen briefly glanced at Stiles before motioning Lydia to come closer to her. "I think it's squeezing my boobs up too much," she whispered.
It seemed Lydia didn't catch onto her reason for whispering. "What do you mean? Your boobs look great in that. Very defined." Lydia smacked Stiles' arm, and the spastic boy jumped from the sudden contact. "Don't her boobs look nice?"
"I--ah uh. I don't--maybe--" Stiles, red in the face, slightly tried turning his head around but was only met with Aspen's hand forcefully turning his face around back to the road ahead of him.
"Don't think about it." Aspen snapped, quickly lifting on the loose material around her chest.
Lydia smirked toward Stiles before turning back to Aspen, her features softened. "You look great, Aspen."
Aspen laughed softly, genuinely surprises by her comment that wasn't backed up by a quip. "Thanks, Lyds." Stiles didn't have to say anything. Aspen caught his eyes in the rearview mirror, and her face became warm when he passed her a wink.
When they arrived in the parking lot, Stiles nearly fell from the front seat to jog around the car to open the passenger door for Lydia and Aspen. But seeing Jackson and Allison getting out from the vehicle in front of them, the strawberry blonde promptly straightened out her dress and fixed her posture.
"Jackson," Lydia said in feign surprise, gripping her handbag in front of her as the boy approached with Allison in hand. "You look handsome."
They both paused, Jackson already growing a smug look. "Obviously. It's Hugo Boss," he smirked, referring to his fit suit. They moved to walk past them when Jackson quickly sized Aspen up from the corner of his eye, bringing the girl to scowl in his direction. Allison was able to slip in a small smile toward her with a little thumbs up in approval of her dress.
Lydia stood still with fire dancing in her eyes as she drowned in seething annoyance. Standing on either side of her, Aspen and Sties swapped a nervous glance. "I don't care," Lydia told herself, "I don't want compliments. I will not fall prey to society's desire to turn girls into emotional, insecure neurotics who pull up their dresses at the first flattering remark."
"Well, I think you look beautiful," Stiles said without missing a beat, causing Lydia to snap her neck toward him with softened eyes. Aspen bit down on her bottom lip, smiling down at her black heels. Stiles has always adored and cared for Lydia, and it was time for the girl to realize that.
"Really?" Lydia smiled. Stiles responded with a side smirk and offered his arm. With her nose in the air and a pompous attitude running through her veins, she linked her arm with Stiles and began strutting toward the school entrance.
Aspen went to follow when she felt her phone vibrate in her hands. When she saw the caller ID to be Isaac, butterflies broke through her ribcage. "Hey, I'll meet you inside. I've gotta take this." Aspen called out to Lydia and Stiles, waving her lit up screen.
"I'll save you a dance!" Lydia chimed before pulling Stiles into the crowd of students.
"Hey," Aspen spoke into the phone, pressing against her other ear to block out the music from inside.
"Hey, so I've... I got bad news." Isaac started quietly as if hiding the fact that he was on the phone.
Aspen felt her heart sink as she squeezes her eyes shut. "What happened?"
"My dad found out I bought a suit, and he said it was a waste of money, I guess."
"Did you tell him what it was for? I can pick you up now--"
"Don't. He already gave me a reason not to come."
Aspen's mind wandered to the possibility that his father had hit him again, and she felt her eyes water. But for the sake of Melissa's hard work, she kept them concealed. "Did uh...did he--"
"In the eye, yea." hearing his faint sniffles was enough for a familiar cooling sensation to circle her wrist.
"I can pick you up, and we can go to sheriff Stilinski."
"And ruin the dance for you? We've already talked about this."
"I didn't want to come in the first place, Isaac, so it wouldn't be a loss. You won't have to worry about him anymore--"
"He's my dad Aspen. He's still my dad." he rose his voice ever so slightly.
If she could abandon the dance, she would just to be with Isaac. But she would only be met with disappointment in his eyes that she didn't listen to him.
She sighed, "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I'm sorry for bailing," he mumbled.
"Don't ever apologize for something you have no control over. Besides, this isn't the only school dance."
She could hear a muffled out voice of annoyance, most likely his father. "I've gotta go. See you at school."
Aspen opened her mouth to try again, but he hung up before she got the chance. She stared out into the faint twinkling stars and the moon—the moon which she's grown to hate. She knew Isaac would want her to have fun and smile. And that's when the great Lydia Martin's words trailed into her head.
Never frown. Someone could be falling in love with your smile.
<•>
Once the booming music shook the ground, it was a whirlwind of greetings from Allison, Lydia, Stiles, and Danny. Aspen's mood had somewhat risen because of the adrenaline and being surrounded by friends. Before Sophmore year, she wouldn't have seen herself dancing with Lydia Martin and Allison Argent, embarrassing themselves with uncoordinated dance moves. Jackson was playing nice in honor of his promise to Scott to take care of Allison. Aspen's would occasionally stray around the area past the mass of students, hoping to see Isaac, but it never happened. It had taken some convincing for Lydia to comply and dance with Stiles, and as much as she tried to hide it, her wide grin was glowing her features. Danny had caught Aspen in the crowd and shared a dance with her as he promised.
"So, he bailed on you?" Danny asked, the music almost drowning out their conversation.
Aspen inched closer to Danny's ear. "His excuse was valid. Because you know...the thing, you told me?"
Danny nodded with a slight frown before shaking his head. "It sucks that he can't see you now. You look beautiful."
With a quick twirl, Aspen was in a fit of giggles, trying to hide her blush from the lights twirling around the gym. When a slow song filtered through the gym, Aspen made her way to the punch bowl that was likely spiked by the lacrosse boys. Luckily for her, it was exactly what she needs. Serving her self, she was about to take a sip before she saw a flash of red from behind the transparent sparkling blue curtain behind the refreshment table. Fear was no longer an option in her decision as she set the cup down and marched behind the curtain to come face to face with Peter.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Aspen snapped.
Peter's brow perked upward, amusement lingering in his eyes. "Is it a crime to see my goddaughter at a dance?" he asked in mock hurt before his eyes observed her appearance, "hm, silver suits you more, I guess. Though that maroon was lovely."
"This is a formal with hundred of kids. You can't just show up for no reason."
Peter chuckled, poking Apsen's nose before she swatted his hand away with glaring eyes. "Oh, trust me, I have reasons. But before were go our separate ways, how was that chat with old Sam?"
"Forget the chat--"
"Did he tell you about what's coming?"
Aspen sigh, not looking the slightest bit amused, "What are you talking about?"
Peter began to saunter behind the curtain, forcing Aspen to follow behind, "Do you remember what I said that night at the hospital."
"You know you spill out a lot of crap every time we meet, so please enlighten me." Aspen snapped under her breath, knowing the werewolf could hear her clearly.
"Your names a riddle. Like your first name, the Aspen Flower. It's not that appealing to the eye, seems harmless, but if crushed up, it's a toxin to Elementalist or better known as Toxine Rouge."
Aspen came to a halt and stared off into nothing, "Red Toxin." she translated quietly and looked up to Peter, who had a small smile planted on his lips.
"So you know your french. Smart girl."
"Why are you telling me this now?"
"Now your middle name...that's the fun part," Peter continued, excitement in his tone ignoring Aspen's question, "On every full moon in the month of June, an Air Elementalist loses all it's control and goes haywire. Do you know why?"
Aspen shook her head slowly, her shaking eyes never faltering.
"It's called the Veata Moon. It's a punishment to the Elementalist who wields the wind's power. Meaning once this fun school year ends, you'll cause hell in your sleep. You won't have any control. Your mind will be fogged, and you'll be played with like a puppet. The moon will pull strings. A storm will plague the town, lightning will kill thousands, and it'll be all...your...fault."
Aspen stood stunned, not a word processing correctly. She couldn't wrap her mind around her, a young girl, causing such damage. "I won't do that. You're lying. You're just saying this to put my guard down."
"I'm saying this to show you that you need my help. I can help you control, and once the Veata Moon arrives, it will be a normal storm, and you won't hurt a soul. For now, I have business to attend to elsewhere."
Breath hitched in her throat as her eyes wandered the gym, her mind beating with the worst possibilities. As Aspen turned to speak with Peter again, he was gone. "No, no, no..." Aspen mumbled, balling her fist by her side. She was able to spot Scott and Allison making out on the dance floor, and as much as she wanted to celebrate their reunion, her thoughts were fogging with the worst possibilities. She shoved past the mass of people, a few snapping at her to say excuse me.
Her heart dropped once she made it to the gym's entrance, seeing Stiles approach Jackson, holding his phone to his ear. And Lydia was nowhere in sight.
"Guys where is--" Aspen asked a bit winded as she approached the two boys but was cut off by Stiles.
"I've been calling you. Where have you been?" Stiles asked Jackson, shoving his phone in his pocket. "Did Lydia ever find you?"
"Why was she looking for you?" Aspen looked to Jackson, the boy speechless for once in his life, like he had just seen a ghost. She felt her heart quicken. "What? What's wrong?"
Jackson's breath was shaking as he spoke in a low tone. "I--I was out behind the school, and I...I was...out..."
Stiles narrowed his eyes, becoming just as suspicious as Aspen at the jock's abnormal behavior. "What happened?"
The boy was silent, and Apsne felt like a ticking time bomb was going to go off tonight. "Jackson, what did you do?" she started slowly. Then it hit her quickly, her eyes widening as she reaches blindly for Stiles' arm. "Peter."
Stiles whipped his head around to look at Aspen, fear settling in his features. "Peter? He's here?"
Aspen was already dashing down the hallway, kicking off her heels to let the air carry her. Stiles was close behind, close to being at tow with Aspen. They burst from the back door of the school and could see the floodlights of the lacrosse filed turning on one by one. She tripped a couple of times, her desperation making her legs shake while Stiles loosened his tie to breath. But neither of them stopped.
They were so close and could see Lydia standing still on the field facing the woods. "Jackson?" she questioned as she noticed a figure immerging from the shadows, some hopefulness settling in her tone. "Jackson, is that you?"
"Lydia!" Aspen and Stiles cried out multiple times, there feet pounding on the grass to reach her on time. "Run!"
Lydia turned around, her eyes squinting because of the bright lights, but was enough to see the innocent confusion written on her features. But as the girl spun around hearing the guttural growl, Peter Hale was in front of her, his large canines sharpened and opened wide as he took a ferocious bite into Lydia's side, her horrifying screams reaching into the woods.