"Mason, what's the big deal about the bonfire tonight, anyways?"

"Everyone's gonna be there, Riley. Besides, it's going to be fun. And isn't your cousin going?"

Another day, another time for school. The events from last night had not made its way to school, thankfully. No one knows about Scott's near-death experience, so it isn't a topic of discussion today. Sure, I'm still a bit scared after my own cousin could've died, and the fact that I faced Kate who I learned is extremely dangerous, but I'm doing fine.

It's still early in the morning as I now talk with Mason about the upcoming bonfire that would take place tonight. I had also almost forgotten about the fact that the entire lacrosse team would be there, and Scott, being the captain, shouldn't miss it. That doesn't mean he won't, though.

"Well, I'm actually not sure if he'll come," I admit, taking some books out of my locker.

"Oh. But I bet there'll be a lot of people you know!"

I think of Lacy and Stella. Maybe they would come. Lacy seems more like the type to socialize since she's very approachable. Stella, on the other hand, might not tag along, meaning Lacy would probably hang out with some other girls. I don't know for sure, though.

"Yeah. Maybe."

"So, would your parents allow you to come?"

"If I tell them all the details and update them every waking moment, then yes, most probably," I answer my friend, shutting my locker door close.

Mason chuckles and starts to walk. "Good. I don't want to be alone tonight."

We stop talking about the event momentarily as we walk in the halls of Beacon Hills High School. As we near the entrance, we spot Liam entering, swinging his backpack over one shoulder.

"Liam!" Mason calls out.

"Hey," I say happily. Oddly enough, Liam looks very startled, even jumping a bit at our voices. I don't think Mason notices though, or he just doesn't think much of that. I narrow my eyes slightly at Liam's actions.

"Are we gonna see you at the bonfire tonight?" asks Mason.

"You're both going?" Liam questions but sounds distracted.

"I am, but Riley still has to ask."

"Well, uh, I'm thinking about skipping it," he finally answers.

"What?" I ask in mild surprise.

"You're not skipping it," Mason says firmly.

"Why not?"

"Because you're on the lacrosse team. Don't you have to go?"

"I don't..." Liam pauses, looking down the hall to his right. I curiously glance quickly, but don't see anything out of the ordinary. Just the usual students chatting. "I... I don't think I can make it."

"You're coming," Mason insists. And we're gonna find you a nice girl that you can embarrass yourself in front of, and find me a lacrosse player. Because statistically speaking, someone on your team has gotta be on my team. Alright?"

The thought of Liam finding a girl sounded... different to me. I don't dwell on it for long, though, since I laugh heartily at the last few things Mason told Liam. My laughter slowly quiets down because Liam continues to not seem to be listening to us. It's like he's just there, staring at something, looking even a bit anxious. What was making him like this? I didn't think his amusing attitude from last night after all the tiring events could change into this overnight.

"Liam?" says Mason.

"You okay there?" I ask in concern.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." He nods a few times at me, then faces Mason. "Okay. I'll be there."

Without another word, Liam turns on his heel and leaves Mason and I in the middle of the hall. Whereas I find him acting a little weird today, Mason is oblivious. He continues to talk about finding a hot lacrosse player, preferably on the school's team, but he claims that he doesn't mind if it's a guy from another school. By the time first period almost begins, I fish my phone out of my pocket and decide to ask Scott about the bonfire.

To: Scott the Hot 🐺
R u coming to the bonfire tonight?
Sent 7:48

From: Scott the Hot 🐺
Yeah. Finstock told me to make sure no one gets too drunk
Sent 7:50

I laugh a little, attracting Mason's attention as he was blabbing.

"What?"

"Nothing much. It's just that I texted Scott if he's coming to the bonfire, and he said he has to because he has to make sure no one gets wasted," I explain.

Mason chuckles and nods in understanding. "Ah, I see."

A moment later, I receive yet another message from my cousin.

From: Scott the Hot 🐺
Liam was acting weird in the locker rooms. Text me if u know anything
Sent 7:51

I furrow my eyebrows. So I wasn't just imagining things when I noticed that Liam seems slightly off today.

To: Scott the Hot 🐺
Okay no prob
Sent 7:52

That's all I could text him because the first bell rings, and some people start to enter the classrooms for first period, while some stay outside to wait for the second bell, I guess. I'm one of the few who get in earlier, so I separate with Mason as we head to different classes for the morning.

It's only during first period that I get to see Liam again, and it's because I went out for a bathroom break. When I walk down the area away from the girls' bathroom, I see him, but he's not alone. He's with Scott, and they look serious.

"Scott? Liam?" I question.

"Riley," says Scott while Liam glances at me.

"Is something wrong?" I begin to ask, but stop when I see that they're both holding pieces of paper. Upon closer inspection, I find out that they're names from the dead pool.

"Check it out," Liam tells me, handing me a paper. I scan the names, but besides them actually being in a list to be killed, I don't see anything unusual. I open my mouth to speak, but Scott hands me the paper he was holding, and I finally notice something.

"See the difference?" Liam presses on.

"That name... Derek. Derek Hale," I start, then point to the second list given to me. "He's not on this list anymore."

"Exactly," Scott says.

"He's that, uh, werewolf friend of yours, right?" I'm still not sure what to make of him.

"Yes. The one who knows a lot about Beacon Hills, and a lot about supernatural creatures. Recently, Kate did something to him."

"Oh, it's bad isn't it?"

"Yeah. Derek's been losing his powers."

Despite the fact that I don't know Derek besides hearing him mentioned a few times- once, I even saw him speaking to Scott outside the school but we were never formally introduced- I can't help but feel worried for him. What does Kate have to be able to do something like this to a werewolf whom I heard is pretty strong? Not to mention he's connected to Peter Hale, whom Scott briefly described him as 'a dangerous werewolf who's done terrible things,' and when he was talked about, Stiles plainly said 'danger, danger, don't go near him.'

"So what's gonna happen now?"

→ → →

Shouting, cheering, and whooping everywhere. That's all I first noticed when I arrived at the school grounds, the location of the start-of-the-season bonfire held by the lacrosse players. I came in just I time for the fire to be lit. It blazed and danced around madly, which is what caused the crowd to go wild in the first place. There is also a stage set up somewhere with a DJ playing music, which is blaring loudly through the the speakers and setting the mood for tonight. People by the stage danced around happily, some already holding bottles of alcohol.

"This is insane," I say to Scott. I don't even know if I mean insane as a good or bad thing.

"I know," he agrees. He's wearing a black button up long sleeved shirt; safe and simple, but it's a good choice. I myself am also wearing black. I wear a black tank top that hangs comfortably on me. It has fringes on the ends, showing off a little skin, but it's not too revealing. Today, I chose to wear jeans. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to wear, but I suppose this outfit is acceptable. It's not too flashy at all.

"Do you mind me tagging along for a while?" I ask my cousin a bit sheepishly. "I don't know where Mason is."

"Of course not, you can stay with me as long as you like," he reassures, making me smile gratefully. "All I'm doing anyways is keeping an eye out for... anything."

I sigh. I know that he has a lot weighing on his shoulders, but I feel that since he's in high school, a junior to be exact, and the captain of the lacrosse team that's hosting this bonfire, he should have a little fun. Talk to someone here and there and maybe have one drink, or simply dance madly.

"You should join in on the fun. That doesn't mean you have to down every drink you see or make out with some random person," I say jokingly. "You can just drink a little or party."

He chuckles lightly. "Thanks, Riles, but I think I'll really just keep watch for now. Oh, and my kind can't get drunk."

"Woah, seriously?"

He smiles widely at my reaction. "Yes, really. I think it has something to do with my healing, but I've tried and I couldn't feel anything."

Suddenly, he spins around and stares at something. A small grin comes over his face, and he gestures for me to keep up with him as he starts to walk. I follow curiously, only to find out that he's just happy to see one of his friends having fun.

Malia's dancing around near some other students, holding a drink with one hand. Now that I think about it, I haven't heard from her in a while even though we're not close.

As we approach, I quickly say to Scott, "It's like we haven't seen her in a while."

"Yeah. It's 'cause we all sort of had an issue with keeping a secret from her," he says, looking slightly guilty.

"Hold on, what secret?"

"Peter Hale is her dad- hey!"

I'm pretty sure he called Malia's attention just so that I wouldn't make a comment about what he jus told me. I'm mildly shocked about this news, but it makes sense how it would make her distance herself. This Peter person is one bad guy, based on the little I heard, but that's all they could say about him: he's a bad person.

Before Scott can continue talking to Malia, I say, "I'm gonna look for my friends."

"Oh, alright. Stay safe, Riles."

I roll my eyes and smile slightly. "Always am," I reply, then walk to some other direction to find the boys.

It takes me only a few seconds to find them because all I do is walk around the crowd near Malia and I finally see them. Liam wears his Beacon Hills jersey just like some other team members, and it suits him well. He doesn't seem to talk much as he sits on a log, pouring a lot of alcohol into his cup. Mason wears a purple polo and sits on the ground, actually next to Lacey. Her unmistakeable blond hair is styled a bit differently today; it looks more edgy, and she wears a slightly more revealing outfit than she usually does.

"You made it!" Mason says excitedly.

I grin at Mason and jog over to them. "I did," I say triumphantly.

"Yes, Riley's here!" Lacey pumps her fist. "I kept going around to talk with some random people but I got bored and eventually stayed with your friends over here."

"Stella didn't want to come?" I ask.

"She never does, but it doesn't matter. We're tight," she says funnily, so I laugh a bit. "Hey, I'm gonna go get more drinks and dance a little. Wanna come?"

"Maybe later."

"Alright. See you there, Riley!" She takes off and disappears into the crowd, so I face the remaining two people next to me.

"Here." Mason now hands a bottle and a red cup to me. I take the bottle and pour some of the alcohol into the cup, then hand it back to him. I take my first sip. It burns and the taste is alright, but it's not something I necessarily enjoy. I shrug and sip a bit more, plopping down next to Liam. I send him a smile, and weirdly enough, I am unsure how to start a conversation with him. The boy smiles back and raises his glass, downing more of the alcohol. Even though Scott just told me that werewolves can't get drunk, I am quite impressed at how much Liam is actually drinking.

Mason intently watches Liam as he drinks. When Liam notices, he glances at the two of us, saying, "Not gonna tell me to slow down?"

The corner of Mason's lips curve upwards. "Actually, I was gonna say, 'keep drinking.'

"Me too," I say, but it's probably for a different reason. I kind of want him to figure out by himself that he can't get wasted, but I also want to tell him now.

"I think you should get drunk. And I mean stumbling down, fall on your ass, passed out with your face in the toilet drunk."

"Why?" Liam asks Mason in amusement.

"Maybe then, when I ask you what's going on, you'll be too drunk to lie."

Suddenly, it's quiet among us. The music keeps playing, the people keep shouting, but we don't say a word to each other. Just when I though that Mason was so ignorant of everything happening around him, it turns out that he's been paying close attention the whole time. I was just planning to talk about Mason's search for a lacrosse player, but I can't now. Not when there's this tension in the air.

"I'm not asking this because I want to know," Mason breaks the silence. "I'm asking because I want to help."

Liam looks off into the distance, somewhere to my left. I don't turn around, though, and watch as Mason continues to talk.

"Don't tell me you don't notice anything, Riley."

I'm silent for a few seconds after he directs the topic to me. Technically, I know what's been going on recently. But Mason's words hit me, and I think about how I notice how Liam's been acting odd the whole day since that night at the hospital. It's different because I think Mason has noticed Liam being secretive, and I just took note of his actions this morning. Either way, I do notice things, so I answer Mason.

"Yeah, I do," I say, but look directly at Liam. Does he know that I've seen that he's not being himself lately, even if that's just today?

"I'm gonna get another drink," he just says, getting up. "Yeah..." He throws the bottle down onto the grass. "I'm getting drunk."

He walks away and I sigh, facing Mason. "I'm gonna get more, too."

The boy nods but looks like he's not satisfied with his talk with Liam. "Alright. Get me one too."

"Got it."

I run up to catch up with Liam, who's pretty quick even in just walking. He finds a table nearby and grabs three bottles, handing me one before I can fully make my way to him.

"Thanks," I say shortly.

He doesn't respond and just pops open his bottle, downing the alcohol.

"What's going on with you?"

My question makes him stop drinking. He slowly puts the bottle down and faces me. "What do you mean?"

"You haven't been yourself lately. I mean, I just noticed it today, but even after all that happened last night, you were fine."

"I don't know, maybe the werewolf in me is making me like this."

I roll my eyes. "I know it's not that."

Liam sighs. "Nothing really... It's just that.... nothing, okay? Let's just have fun, tonight."

I look away in defeat. I was so close to letting him tell me what was going on. I don't want to pry too much, so I plaster on a grin, turn to him, and jokingly say, "Sure. Want me to help you find a girl?"

He scoffs and shakes his head, a faint smile on his face. "I don't need to look for one anymore."

I don't think of his words much and just continue to joke around. "Oh, are you gay like Mason? 'Cause I'm fine with that, I'll just help you find a boy, then."

His smile widens as he laughs. After taking another gulp of his drink, he says, "Funny, but no. Now, come on. Let's get back to Mason."

He carries both his and Mason's drink, while I carry my own. I take little sips, not wanting to get extremely drunk tonight. All I want to do is enjoy.

Liam hands the bottle to Mason, who now sits on Liam's previous place. Because of that I sit on a bench nearby and Liam sticks to standing up. No words are said between us as we keep on drinking. The only time something interesting happens is when Liam suddenly stumbles in his place. Me, being the closest, holds onto him before I even stand up. Mason jumps up to the rescue as well and helps Liam steady himself.

I frown, puzzled. I thought werewolves couldn't get drunk? This is way too confusing. I look around for Scott to see if he knows what's going on. He's still by Malia, and surprisingly, he's helping her keep her balance. Did she actually get drunk like she planned?

"Hey, man, you alright?" Mason asks. He must think Liam is really getting drunk.

"Um, yeah." Liam shrugs it off. We make him sit down on the bench and Mason walks back to his place on the log to collect the bottles.

"Hey guys, I'm gonna go throw these away now," he informs us. We nod at him and he leaves, so I use this time to talk to Liam about what I learned from Scott.

"Scott told me werewolves can't get drunk," I murmur as quietly as possible, only for Liam to hear. I'm afraid someone else could still overhear us,

"Then what..." he starts, then looks dazed for a while, but goes on. "Then what's happening to me?"

"I don't know." I look back at where I saw Scott earlier, and he's still there. Well, this time, he's walking back to his previous spot, holding a few bottle of water. "I'm gonna go get Scott, okay? Stay here."

I leap up from my seat and head over to my cousin who sees me before I can call his attention.

"Liam's-"

"He's drunk, isn't he?" I close my mouth and just nod at his words. Of course, Scott knew already just by observing. "Give this to him." He shoves one of the water bottles into my hand, so I obey and go back to Liam, who looks like he's really not feeling well.

"Liam, here. Drink this, it's water," I say, handing it to him with one hand and using the other to place it in his shoulder as a comforting gesture. Liam gladly takes the water from me, mumbling a small 'thanks' before drinking it.

At the same time, Scott and Mason make their way towards us. Mason is now more concerned and Scott is seemingly deep in thought.

"How much has he had to drink?" my cousin asks us.

"Not enough to get him like this," answers Mason, throwing his arms up a bit.

Scott looks back and forth at Liam and Malia who are both looking more unwell by the minute. "Something's happening. We need to get them out of here. I think we're gonna have to, um..."

My eyes widen when Scott staggers backwards just a bit. He closes his eyes and opens them a few times, making it clear to me that something is wrong with him, too.

"Whoa," is all I can say as I hurry to help Scott by placing my hands on his shoulders.

"How much did you drink?" questions Mason.

Scott answers honestly. "Nothing. Not even a sip." He looks at his surroundings. Maybe he's searching for a clue, I really don't know. Mason and I just stand by the three of them, unsure of how to help.

"It's not the drinks," Scott says in realization all of a sudden. "It's the music."

"Wait, what?" Mason says in disbelief, slight humor lacing his voice.

"Yeah... I have to... I have to turn off the music. Don't let them out of your sight."