the tell

Alone time. Kinsey's favorite pastime, even though she didn't get to experience it often. Living in a house with your cousin whose also your best friend and having an overbearing aunt who checks up on you every five minutes to make sure you aren't out causing trouble meant that alone time was a rarity. Or in tonight's case, when you had a redhead best friend who thrived on dragging you out to the third wheel on dates with her occasionally obnoxious boyfriend. Once again Allison had managed to escape that, yes, she was at home grounded but the important part was that once again Kinsey had been left to third wheel when she needed alone time now more than ever. But instead, she was in the company of Jackson in a video store with the only thing to bond them together being their strong, shared hatred towards The Notebook and Lydia forcing them to watch it. The redhead herself was probably sat outside with a smug grin across her face knowing that she had managed to force the two alone in hopes that their shared hatred would be the thing to end their little feud that she was extremely fed up with after all of Kinsey's complaining about having two spend time with Jackson. Kinsey thought that Lydia was being a bit dramatic, yes, she complained about the blonde but she didn't think she complained that much. Despite their attempts to get out of spending time with each other looking for the unbearable movie, the two of them found themselves walking around the video store in silence knowing that they had nothing in common to talk about, both just wanted to find the movie and get this night over with. Whether that was because they were being forced into watching a movie they were both sure they could now recite word-for-word (thanks to Lydia and Allison who both loved it) or because of each other's company neither were sure. But they wanted it over with. Immediately. Which was now a third thing the two had in common. Though Kinsey was physically at the video store, spending the night with her best friend and her frenemy her mind was in a completely different place. She still found herself overwhelmed by the secret that had been revealed to her, but she was slightly calmer after spending the whole of her free period asking Scott and Stiles every question that popped into her head. And for the most part, she received answers that she was somewhat satisfied with, apart from the question that plagued her the most. The only that only really mattered. The only question that Scott and Stiles found themselves unable to answer no matter how much they wanted to comfort her.

Would knowing this secret get her killed?

Jackson stopped in his tracks, turning to look at the girl who followed him with her stare on the ground beneath her. "What's wrong with you?" He asked, stopping the girl as she looked up.

"What? Nothing." She shook her head in disbelief as she looked at the movies around her wondering if he had stopped because he had managed to find the romance section without her. But at a first glance, the first title she noticed was The Human Centipede confirming that Jackson hadn't found the movie they were looking for, nor were they going to find it in this aisle.

As the brunette prepared to move around Jackson to find the romance section the blonde moved in front of her again, stopping her in her tracks. "You have that look again."

"That look?" She questioned with a furrowed brow. "What look?"

"Well, at first I thought it was the look of when you were thinking about your mom cause Lydia told me she's in town. But I'm starting to think it's a look when you've got something on your mind that you can't shake." He explained with Kinsey looking up at him nervously knowing that he had managed to read her like a book, yet again. "Not that I care... But what's up?"

"Can we just find this movie, please?" Kinsey asked with an exasperated sigh as she moved around him again, but rather than blocking her again he allowed her to walk out of the aisle freely as he stood by her side. They may not have much in common, nor did they talk about their problems but both were very much aware of what happened in the other's personal lives. With or without the help of Lydia's mouth that couldn't help but gossip and share secrets. Like Jackson knew what the look on Kinsey's face meant and what she really felt towards her mother, Kinsey was very aware of the questions that plagued Jackson like how her question about werewolves plagued her. And after she had found out the truth about Jackson she knew that if she found herself in that position then she too would have the same question. Who were his birth parents? All she knew is not ever tell Lydia a secret- she would blurt it out to the entire world if she could.

While Kinsey resorted back to silence and looking down at the ground again Jackson opted for shouting across the store for assistance in finding The Notebook to end both of their tortures in watching it and the somewhat awkward situation he had put them in with his question. The store fell silent as anyone failed to reply to his relentless shouting leave them on their own to find a movie that neither particularly cared about finding, they could always pretend that they didn't own The Notebook and rent another film. That seemed like a good plan B.

As the two walked out of the aisle Jackson placed his arm out, stopping the girl once again as she walked into it. For a split second, she was confused as to why he had stopped in the middle of the store but it took a single glance down the long middle aisle to see behind his reasoning. On the opposite side of the store, barely tucked into one of the left aisles lay a pair of shoes. Completely still. As two teenagers who were well aware of what was happening in this town lately, one more so than the other, both of their minds went straight to a body, whether it was how the shoes were placed or because they knew it was strange that shoes would be placed in an aisle would be too random even for this town. Both had the feeling that they were about to find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. They considered quickly turning around and leaving but their minds were too curious to just up and leave when they were just a few feet away from what could be a dead body that might be claimed as the latest murder of Beacon Hills. The third death in just a few weeks. The girl in the woods which she now knew to be Derek's older sister, Laura Hale, the bus driver who had eventually died in the hospital and now the potentially dead person that lay in the video store just outside of town only to be found by two teenagers who had come in to find The Notebook. A romance. Not a horror.

Kinsey and Jackson shared a fearful look before nodding at one another to confirm that they were the two stupid teens at the beginning of every horror movie who were stupid enough to stay a place they should ever so clearly run from. As the two stepped closer, slowly, Kinsey found herself gripping onto the sleeve of his leather jacket for comfort as he continued to place his arm in front of the girl stopping her from straying too far away from him. The closer the two got to the aisle the more both felt a churning in their stomach dreading the sight they were about to be met with, part of them hoping this was just some severely messed up joke that the employees do to young teenagers when they get bored in the middle of their night shifts. Their grips tightened as they took the last step before the aisle, swallowing the large lump in their throats before daring to peek around the corner but nothing would have prepared them for this sight.

A man lay with his eyes wide open with horror, his neck clearly slashes with claw marks still engraved into the man's skin. His clothes were drenched with his blood, tainted with death more horrific than either teen was imagining as they began stumbling back in fear barely able to keep their footings, both much more focused on keeping their grip on the other. They didn't stop moving backward until their backs collided with the cold metal of an abandoned ladder that their touch had knocked over, a ceiling light falling along with it. Jackson quickly pulled Kinsey even tighter into his grip as he pulled them both to the ground shielding her head to protect her from the light that swung for their heads, the whole store falling into darkness as it hit the ground beside them. If this didn't already feel like a horror movie the red lights that kicked in with the generator surely set that scene for those two teenagers who appeared at the beginning of every existing horror film before they met their end at the hands of the town murderer. There was no denying it anymore, everything was leading to them being those people.

Both climbed up from the ground breathing heavily with hands intertwined as the red lights flashed around them, barely allowing them to focus as they looked at one another through the intervals of light and dark. But as both stood still a low growling came from behind them, Kinsey didn't even have to question what growling like that belonged to now she knew a lot more about the town that she lived in. Even knowing what she knew Kinsey, as well as Jackson, still dared to turn around and meet the eyes of their torturer. Potentially their murderer.

Crouched on all fours, lurking in the darkness a large beast with eyes as red as the lights hanging above their heads. Its growling becoming stronger as it met the blue and green eyes of Kinsey and Jackson who subconsciously held their breaths at this moment, ready for the creature to pounce and end their lives within a millisecond as it had with the man they had just seen. Though Kinsey wanted an answer to her question of whether knowing Scott's secret would get her killed, she had hoped she wouldn't have to actually die in order to receive the answer that she craved. As the beast released another large, much louder growl that revealed its large canines the two teenagers began breathing again long enough for Jackson to pull them into the closest aisle for cover with his arms still tightly wrapped around her as a shield. Though neither quite expected that a jock's arms would be enough to protect them from canines as large as that wolves.

"We need to get out of here," Kinsey whispered as Jackson shook his head, covering her mouth before she was able to mutter another word that could get them caught but one thing she refused to do was go down quietly. Or tonight, go down at all. "Jackson, we need to run."

"Against that thing? We can't outrun that." Jackson objected in a hushed tone.

Kinsey took a moment to think of a better plan. Just a single moment. "You can. Outrun it, I mean."

"And what about you? Leave you here to end up like that guy?"

"No. I can hide, outlast that thing long enough for you and Lydia to get out of here and get help. Jackson, it's our best plan. It's our only plan."

The boy shook his head in strong disagreement. "Our plan is not for me to leave you here to get killed. That's a stupid plan."

"Well feel free to enlighten me on a better plan than hiding behind a freakin' shelf, Whittemore." Kinsey snapped, still whispering which severely took away from the irritation she was hoping to show that he had shut down their only plan. Her plan was more so to call Scott and Derek as her backup while she hid rather than stay in here and 'outlast' the Alpha like she had claimed she could do, of course, she couldn't outlast that beast. Their whispered argument was cut off with the shelves shaking, knocking a string of movies onto their heads as they returned back to being quiet knowing from past arguments that if they argued now they guaranteed getting caught.

Jackson began slowly moving to look out of the aisle before Kinsey pulled him back, shouting at him with her expressions and frantic waving of her hands to question what the hell he thought he was doing to which Jackson retorted with. They weren't sure how they understood each other shouting through facial expressions and frantic waving of hands but Jackson got the point that Kinsey was shouting at him for trying to find out where the Alpha was and Kinsey understood that he wasn't going to listen to her objections any more than she would have his. So through their mutual silence, the two agreed to look together as they slowly moved their heads out of the aisle hoping to catch a glimpse of the animal tormenting them, but neither managed to catch that glimpse before the sound of shelves banging against one another as they took a domino effect. Kinsey quickly pulled Jackson back into the hiding of the shelves giving him a nod that signaled they would need to jump out of the way. But that was just another thing the two never got to. Just as the shelf behind them began to fall over their heads Jackson grabbed Kinsey, throwing her out of its way before attempting to jump himself. But only she made it out.

An involuntary, spine-chilling scream slipped from Jackson's mouth as the shelf collapsed on his legs and he hit his head off the hard ground beneath him. Much like how Kinsey's head had hit the shelf behind her when he had thrown her out of the way until both were practically lifeless on the floor looking at one another helplessly. Just a few inches away from one another. She could feel her blood slowly dripping down her face as she tried to move towards Jackson's aid, but her legs felt as trapped as Jacksons as she found herself struggling to move through the fuzzy feeling that had formed in her head. Clearly identifiable as a concussion. The two froze as a dark shadow loomed over them alerting them of the Alpha's presence as they both silently squirmed, Jackson unable to see the large beast that towered over him as he lay on his stomach trapped. Unfortunately for Kinsey, she got all too much of a look at the large beast as he extracted large claws that slowly edged closer to Jackson, strengthening that churning feeling in her stomach.

It gently caressed the blonde boy's neck making him squirm even more as he tried not to scream with fear before it harshly removed its claw from his skin as though it was disgusted by him, or even scared. Then those beady red eyes looked up from the trapped blonde boy and straight to the brunette girl who couldn't take her eyes off of him as her blood dripped down her face as well as a few tears that had managed to escape her from the fear that suffocated her. The heavy, unsteady breaths she was breathing she sharply inhaled as he loomed over her fear-ridden body prepared to evaluate her like it had Jackson. Kinsey tightly shut her eyes as his claws grazed across her cheek, collecting a few drops of her blood with it as she too tried not to scream at its touch. As the feeling of its claw was removed from her cheek Kinsey dared to open her eyes hoping that the beast was gone, but he remained leaning over the girl's body as though it was waiting for her to do something. His large claw moved from her cheek to the necklace that hung around her neck where it paused for a moment looking at it with curiosity while she lay shaking with fear. Its glowing red eyes eventually met her terrified as normal, human, brown ones. A single look from the girl had struck fear in the large beast, fear large enough for him to slowly back away until he sped up and escaped through one of the glass windows. Unlike Kinsey and Jackson, Lydia hadn't been able to contain her scream where she saw the beast crash through the glass.

Her scream echoing from outside was the last thing Kinsey heard before she fell unconscious.

Kinsey wasn't sure how long she had been unconscious for when the EMTs and deputies had shown up, nor was she sure how they'd come to be here but she assumed that Lydia had called them once she had stopped screaming. She'd woken up to Jackson and an EMT leaning over her with a bright light being shined in her eyes, the first string of words she was able to make out was the man confirming that she had gained a concussion and would need stitches. And that only meant one thing for her- Victoria was never going to let her out of the house again unless it was with an escort. Which would probably be Allison. Or who knows, maybe it would be her potentially psychotic aunt or mother who'd carry some automatic weapons with them to protect her because apparently, that was the norm for an Argent these days. The process of her being transported from the floor of the video store to the back of the ambulance had been a blur, she hadn't snapped out of her delusional state until she'd heard Jackson yelling at anyone. That was when she realized she was in the back of the ambulance leaning on Lydia's shoulder with the blonde boy's jacket wrapped around her, not Lydia who was shivering beside her. If not for her shivering and shaking hands the redhead would have been completely frozen with fear. As soon as Kinsey had noticed she moved closer to her best friend wrapping the jacket around both of them instead to which Lydia gave her a faint, clearly fake but grateful smile.

The brunette looked around to see that, thankfully, none of her family were around. With all of the commotion, she assumed nobody had gotten around to contacting the family of the three teenagers but it was bound to come. And Kinsey felt nothing but dread as she waited around for that moment. She assumed that when she had seen Sheriff Stilinski approaching them that that time was closer than she'd hoped, out of everyone here was bound to call their parents, as a parent himself it was obvious that he would want to know if something happened to his own child. And for that, he was bound to call Mrs. Martin, Mr. Whittemore, and Kinsey's uncle.

"Why the hell can't I just go home? I'm fine." Jackson continued to argue.

"I hear ya, but the EMT says you both hit your heads pretty hard." Sheriff Stilinski sympathized with the blonde. "They just want to make sure you don't have a concussion too."

"What part of "I'm fine" are you having trouble grasping? Okay, I wanna go home."

"And I understand that."

"No, you don't understand, which kind of blows my mind since it should be a pretty basic concept to grasp for a minimum-wage rent-a-cop like you!" Jackson continued to yell in the man's face, and Kinsey was just about ready to snap at that point. Her head was pounding and her tolerance for the blonde boy had reached its maximum and she assumed Lydia could tell as the redhead grabbed a hold of her hand as though she was warning her to stay calm and not snap. But she couldn't do it. Maybe it's because she was sick of Jackson or maybe it was because of the fact that it was Stiles's dad that was receiving the mouthful from the boy.

"Jackson!" Kinsey yelled as she stood up, finally snapping. "That's enough! Maybe if you quit being a jackass for, like, a minute and let an EMT check you out we would have been home by now. So stop being an entitled pain in the ass and go make sure you don't have a concussion before I give you one myself." Her yelling continued until she was out of breath and ready to collapse which was which she took as her sign to stop, there were plenty more things that she would have liked to say and maybe she would get the chance when she wasn't concussed but for now she had to draw breath.

Jackson didn't speak another word, instead, he swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded at one of the EMTs to show that he was finally ready to comply leaving Kinsey to stand in front of Sheriff Stilinski who had a slight grin across his face that happened to match the one on Lydia's face. Although it was her boyfriend who had been yelled at, it was also her best friend who had yelled at him and put him in his place. Something she'd never seen anyone do before. As the Sheriff walked away to handle more urgent matters such as another murder in his town Kinsey looked to see Stiles leaning against his dad's cruiser watching her with a smirk equally as smug as his dad and the redhead's. The brunette couldn't help herself but to wander over to him rather than stay put at the ambulance like she probably should have but right now the larger the distance between her and Jackson seemed to be for the better. Stiles clapped sarcastically as she walked over, Kinsey took this opportunity to take a bow for the show she'd put on before leaning against the cruiser beside him. She should have known that he'd jump on the chance to come to the scene of a homicide with his dad, it was the things he lived for. And more so, it was his life now. Now she wondered whether it was appropriate to mention what she had seen in there, but she couldn't find the words. The guts. Because saying it aloud would be accepting it.

"You okay?" Stiles asked, noticing the brunette looking at the floor.

"Yeah, my head hurts that's all." Kinsey nodded deciding that she wasn't going to tell him.

"I called Allison, by the way."

Kinsey pulled herself off of the cruiser to look at the boy with a scowl which he knew meant he was going to be in trouble, he'd seen that scowl on her face just a few moments ago when she'd been giving Jackson his lecture. Which meant there was a chance he'd be getting one too.

"You called her? Why did you call her? Oh, my God, Stiles she's going to freak out. Allison is like my mom. She's never going to let me out of her sight. I'm going to be wrapped in bubble wrap for the rest of my life. Oh, my God. I'm going to be 21 with my cousin babysitting me."

"Okay, I think you might be overreacting a little."

Allison jumped out of her car without even turning off the ignition as she pushed through the crowd acting as more of a barricade than the crime scene tape itself, nobody dared to get in her way as she yelled through the crowd shouting Kinsey's name. Her eyes darting to where the ambulances were parked hoping that she wouldn't see her cousin on a gurney, Stiles had been vague with the details that he'd given her. All she knew was that something had happened at the video store and that Kinsey was hurt and needed picking up before he'd ended the phone call. Of course, she was freaking out after that. She hadn't even had time to coordinate her shoes because of the rush she had been in, which explained why one of her shoes was a black boot and the other was a white converse that didn't even belong to her but Kinsey. She scanned the parking lot until she finally saw Kinsey and Stiles, the brunette girl now sat in the cruiser rather than leaning against it because once again she'd become dizzy from the concussion. Allison had argued her way past the police tape until she was rushing over to Kinsey and Stiles.

"Overreacting? I'm overreacting?" Kinsey questioned as they entered the tenth minute of their debate about whether she was being dramatic. "If I'm overreacting then please tell me why my cousin is running over to us at full speed with mismatched shoes. One of which being mine."

After Allison had calmed down and Kinsey and Stiles had managed to convince her that the younger brunette wasn't going to die from a bang on the head and a little bit of blood dripping from her wound the older brunette had been the one to take Kinsey to get her stitches. At that time Kinsey had had to break the news to her mother, Chris, and Victoria about what happened, with as vague detail as possible, so that maybe they wouldn't be so dramatic when she got back. Of course, she'd already experienced some of the dramatics over the phone when Kate asked a million questions and Victoria had called Allison at the same time to ask a million of her own questions. But Kinsey had struck lucky by convincing them that they didn't need to come to the hospital while she got her stitches. Though it had come with the consequence of not going out of the house again any time soon, she had intentions to negotiate that condition.

The two had spent an hour in the hospital waiting to get the stitches in her head, she was sure it had healed on its own by the time that she had actually been called into the room. Allison had been freaking out more about the stitches than Kinsey had, and she was the one with a needle being threaded through her skin. What made the entire situation of Allison freaking out in front of the nurse had been when the woman introduced herself after realizing that two teenage girls who look alike and with the names Allison and Kinsey were too much of a coincidence not to be the two girls that her son kept talking about. With how busy the hospital had been tonight she had failed to look at the last name on Kinsey's forms but when she had she realized that the taller girl in front of her was none other than her son's girlfriend. That hadn't been the first impression Allison had hoped to make on Scott's mom, Melissa, but it had made the experience somewhat easier. She didn't have to deal with the nerves leading up to meeting her, she just had to concentrate on not fainting in front of the woman during their first conversation.

It took a while for everyone to settle down with the questions when the two girls had first got home. Victoria had already prepared soup and a hot water bottle for Kinsey as though she was dying from some kind of fever and hadn't just hit her head on a wooden shelf, though Kinsey had been grateful for it she couldn't help but laugh at her aunt's flair for the dramatics. Chris and Kate had stuck to normal questions at first, letting Kinsey truly process what happened tonight before they started asking what they really wanted to. The questions that Kinsey knew would come at some point in the weekend. It had begun with asking if she was okay, how she felt and how Lydia and Jackson had handled the whole thing. Kate had added the odd question about the man's body and how he looked into that mix, simply blaming it on her interest in crime, not the fact that she wanted to know whether it was a werewolf who had killed a man.

Chris and Kate had taken their opportunity to initiate the true interrogating when the brunette had been put to bed by Allison who refused to leave her side for the rest of the weekend unless it was to fetch the other brunette snacks. She had barely stepped out of the room before Kate and Chris had slid in giving their daughter/niece a weary smile as they sat down on the bed. While her uncle sat at the edge of the bed beside her leg Kate hadn't hesitated to jump in beside her which certainly added to the pressure she was feeling. She could feel that it was coming.

"So." Chris began as he cleared his throat. "What did you really see tonight, Kinny?"

Kinsey laughed nervously. "What?"

"We know you aren't telling us everything, Kins. You don't have to be scared. We just want to know what you saw tonight. We can't help if you don't." Kate added as she slowly moved closer to her daughter which made the brunette sweat as she looked between them helplessly.

"I told you all everything. We were looking for The Notebook, we saw the shoes hanging out of the aisle, we walked backward and fell over a set of ladders, and then we must have knocked the shelf. Jackson managed to throw me out of the way before it fell on me but he wasn't quick enough to get himself out. I hit my head and passed out. When I woke up the EMT was there. That's it. There's nothing else to tell you." Kinsey explained. She had been practicing that story the entire ride home as well as when she had been sat in the waiting room. Though she had hoped then that it would have come out a lot smoother than it had now.

"Then why do you seem so nervous?" Chris asked with a piercing look.

"Maybe it's because my family are interrogating me rather than letting me rest in bed with my pounding head like the doctor told me to do?"

"And you can't remember anything else?" Kate said with a raised brow.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"You know neither of you are really helping me feel any better right now. If there's some specific answer your both looking for then feel free to ask me what you are really getting at because-"

Before Kinsey could finish her small irritated rant at the two of them Allison had walked back in with Victoria behind her, both of them carrying a tray full of things to help the brunette feel better. With all of the supplies, they'd brought there would be no need for her to get out of bed at all this weekend unless it was for the toilet, but she wouldn't have been surprised if one of them dug out some kind of bed pan so she wasn't even allowed to do that alone. Chris and Kate both smiled nervously at the two as they walked in before giving Kinsey a quick 'hope you feel better soon' and 'if there's anything you need' hoping to disguise what their real conversation had been from Allison. And maybe even Victoria. Kinsey hadn't quite figured out if Victoria was involved in the whole hunter thing or whether she had been just in the dark as she and Allison.

-☽○☾-

January 31st.
Allison's birthday. As usual, the brunette had woken up with a big smile across her face, but for the first time since moving here she had a legitimate reason to, of course, there was Scott but that didn't seem enough to smile as much as Allison did. Although Allison hated parties she adored birthdays. She loved going all out for someone and giving people personalized gifts from the heart, and even more when people went out their way to do the same for her. That was one of Kinsey's areas of expertise, she and Allison always managed to get each other the perfect gifts every year. Whether it was the photo album of all the photos from their childhood that Allison had always said she wanted to make but never got the time. Or the silver ring engraved with 'Argent' that Allison had gotten Kinsey for her sixteenth last month. The two knew each other better than anyone else. And that was what made birthdays so enjoyable for them both. This year Kinsey had gone different. Her present wasn't technically physical but Kinsey knew that she'd enjoy it once she had gotten past the stress it was going to cause her. She had arranged for Scott to convince Allison to skip school, the other brunette needed to loosen up and she and her wolf boyfriend needed a date that he didn't ditch and wasn't at a bowling alley with four other people. So that was exactly what Kinsey decided to give her. Plus, she was already grounded so it didn't matter if Chris and Victoria found out that she skived, they couldn't re-ground her. And Allison had become sneaky enough to disobey them and sneak out anyway. Her gifts for Allison seemed to have a recurring theme of causing trouble for her anyway, the gift of a box of condoms that she gave her last year for her sixteenth had been the very reason that Allison found herself grounded now. Granted Kinsey hadn't made her pull one of them out in front of Chris and Kate, but she had been the one to give her the condoms in the first place, thus planting the thought of sex in Allison's once innocent, pure mind. So she'd take the credit.

"I can't believe you're going back to school already," Allison said as she grabbed a pen from her desk to put in her bag for school before turning back to put one in Kinsey's bag as well.

"I can't believe you're going to school on your birthday."

"You know I don't do the whole skipping school thing. My parents would kill me. Besides, I'm trying not to draw attention to the fact it's my birthday you know what comes with that." Allison explained as she shoved her books into her bag. "But seriously, I don't think you should be going back today. It's only been two days, Kins. You haven't even been checked up since the stitches."

"Okay, well, you know that I'd cover for you if you did decide to skip. Second of all, who cares how old you are? They are all going to be seventeen at one point too. And finally, I'm fine and I don't need constant supervision so whatever arrangement you've made with Stiles to babysit me I suggest that you cancel it now."

"He told you?"

"No. I was joking. You seriously set up a plan with Stiles to babysit me? Come on, Allison. It's just school not a hike up Mount Vesuvius. Trust me. I'm fine."

That was a lie. Every time anyone had asked her how she was she had lied telling them the same lie of I'm fine. But unless fine meant she hadn't slept in days, her head hurt more than ever, she felt dizzy every time she stood up, and every time she closed her eyes she had flashbacks of the Alpha and his piercing red eyes staring down at her as well as still being able to feel his touch across her skin. It was burnt into her memory. It was the topic of every one of her nightmares. It was no longer whether the Alpha would kill her for knowing the secret of werewolves, he had the chance to do that night. If he wanted her dead he could have killed her and Jackson then and there. But he didn't. Whether that meant it didn't want her dead or he planned on doing it in a much better way than in a video store where he had always claimed one kill. Or was that just her undeniable paranoia settling in once again? Either way, she was determined to make sure no one found out what she was really dealing with, especially Allison, with telling her how she really felt came the possibility of having to tell her what she really saw. And she couldn't do that.

"I just want to make sure that you're safe." Allison sighed as she threw her bag over her shoulder which Kinsey took as her cue to stand up and prepare herself to actually go to school. She knew that people would look at her for what had happened, she'd already seen that everyone in town knew that she, Lydia, and Jackson had been there that night. Now it was time for the rumors.

Before the two girls could even get near Allison's bedroom door they were stopped by Kate who stood in their way with her hands behind her back. Rather than remembering that it was her cousin's birthday, her first assumption had been that behind her mother's back was some kind of rifle and that today was their initiation day to become hunters after what she had been involved in. That maybe when hunters turn seventeen that is when they begin training but because of their close age, Chris and Kate had made the mutual decision to start Kinsey on her training eleven months earlier than necessary and were using Allison's birthday to start it.

"Hey." Kate began nervously rubbed the nape of her neck. "Listen, you know I feel totally horrible about my behavior the other night, right?"

"Oh, totally forgotten." Allison insisted as she shook her head, smiling as always.

"No, not forgotten by me. Come on. Call me a horrid bitch or something."

"Horrid bitch."

"You were just being protective." Kinsey and Allison said together. Clearly, they had a different perspective on the whole situation. But then again it was Kinsey's mother and Allison wouldn't dare to say something like that to her aunt Kate.

"I was being a protective horrid bitch who is giving you your birthday present early so you'll forgive her. I know we were doing the gift-giving tonight after the parent/teacher conference but I couldn't resist." Kate smiled as she pulled two boxes from behind her back confusing the two girls immediately as they questioned why she was holding out two boxes. "What? You think that just because I wasn't here for your birthday I completely forgot about it? No. I'm sorry it's so late, sweetie, but I hope you like it." She explained as she placed the two boxes in either girl's hands.

"You didn't have to mom I'd totally forgot about that."

Another lie.

"Just open them." Kate insisted, neither of the teenage girls wasting another moment as they opened the boxes to see a pendant in both of them. It was silver and engraved with a snarling wolf and an arrow. Though Allison saw it as a gift Kinsey saw it as a clue. Her mother was trying to hint something to them, she was discreetly telling them about their legacy. "Forgiven?"

"Completely. I love it!" Allison beamed as she pulled out the pendant for a closer look.

"It really is beautiful, Mom." That hadn't been a lie. Though Kinsey knew its true meaning she couldn't deny how beautiful the pendant was for someone who was as bad as giving gifts and being there on the right birthday. But it was a beautiful gift that like the necklace she already wore around her neck she would cherish, keeping it on her at all times.

"It's a family heirloom. And you both know me, I hate and loathe all sentimental crap, but that, well, look at the symbol in the middle of the pendant. See that? You ever wanna learn a little something about your family? Look it up." Kate suggested only confirming the suspicion that Kinsey had towards her. She really was handing them a clue to their legacy, to the truth about what really lived in this world and how they were involved in that. Which meant it was only a matter of time until Allison would look it up like she had been told to do and find out the truth.

"You're gonna make us work for it?" Allison laughed.

"Some mysteries are worth the effort." She smiled as she placed the pendant over Allison's head before going to do the same to Kinsey who was attempting to unclasp the necklace already around her neck in case both together seemed to look a little too cluttered. "No, no, no. Keep it on." Kate insisted as she placed the new necklace over her Kinsey's head, the new one hanging lower than the original necklace she had been wearing.

Allison wrapped both of them in a large hug, squeezing them tightly almost not wanting to let go until Kinsey complained that she was struggling to breathe beneath her strong grip. The older brunette took that as her cue to release her aunt and cousin and head to school before she made Kinsey late on the first day back since the accident. Kinsey had never been more glad to escape her mother, not only because she'd just handed her a piece to a puzzle that she didn't ever want to be solved but because she knew that soon Chris and her mother wouldn't accept the lack of answers she had given them that night. There was only so many times she could use her concussion as an excuse to get away from participating in their interrogation.

Kinsey and Allison walked through the halls trying not to acknowledge the looks that they were receiving, more so the looks that Kinsey was receiving. Clearly, everyone had heard that she was one of the people at the video store that night, if it hadn't been for the fact gossip spread like wildfire in this town maybe the stitches on her forehead would have made that obvious. The older brunette would have been lying if she said she didn't feel slight relief in the fact all eyes were on Kinsey, it meant there was little to no chance of anyone paying attention to her and the birthday she desperately wanted to hide. But even that feeling brought her guilt, especially when she looked like Kinsey who practically turned green from the nausea that those stares had brought her. Nerves weren't typically something Allison saw on Kinsey but as of lately it was an emotion she had been seeing on the girl regularly. Even though both of them had been anticipating the stares the whole ride to school it was more intimidating than they imagined, and a lot worse than it had been on the first day. This time people did know something about her, they weren't trying to figure her out, it was all over the news, there was no hiding from it. Kinsey knew that at some point today someone would grow the balls to ask her what happened, what she had seen, to relieve the tale of finding a dead body and she was sure that the other two that were involved would be receiving the same treatment and questions from the people of Beacon Hills High. They were like the main act in the circus, nobody could peel their eyes away. Or more so the freakshow of the circus which she certainly felt like right now.

"It's not too late to turn back and go home," Allison suggested in a whisper as she leaned into the shorter brunette who shook her head. It hadn't worked in the car and it wasn't working now, it didn't matter how long she waited to come back to school, people would still look at her.

"I could say the same to you. It's not too late to turn around and skip school." Kinsey retorted, Allison, paying her the same shake of the head. Her pressuring hadn't worked in the car either, she was determined not to be the girl who skipped school, even on her birthday.

"Not going to happen, Kins."

"Yeah, you also said that about getting a boyfriend while were here. And now look at you."

Allison brushed off the comment with a laugh as she reached her locker knowing that if she were to continue entertaining the conversation that there was a strong chance Kinsey would find a way to convince her to skip school. This time she was smarter than to let that happen. No matter how many times Kinsey gave her the puppy dog eyes or made some good points she refused to let the other brunette convince her to do something rebellious again. It always ended badly. As soon as Allison had opened the door to her locker a parade of balloons came floating out leaving the two girls to fight them back into the compact space hoping that nobody had noticed them, even if Kinsey had gone against Allison to tell Scott that it was his girlfriends birthday she was still going to stick to Allison's wishes of the rest of the school not finding out that she was in fact seventeen today and not fifteen or sixteen as everyone had probably assumed she was when she came to this school. Though she explained keeping that secret was another one of her gifts for every birthday that they spent in this school. Eventually, both girls had given up fighting against helium and left the odd few balloons to stray out of the locker while Allison pulled out the card that was sellotaped to the door with glitter and sparkles plastered onto it, clearly handmade. Its decorations had been Kinsey's first clue that their redhead best friend had been the one to do all of this, she'd seen all of those supplies when they made the signs for Jackson. Allison sighed as she read the name signed at the bottom in bright pink ink- Lydia. The only thing that Kinsey wasn't sure of was how Lydia had found out about the birthday because it wasn't from her.

"Did you tell her?" Allison asked with a sigh.

"I swear I didn't." Kinsey laughed as she put up her hands defensively.

When Kinsey looked up she saw Scott heading towards the two of them, right on schedule. He signaled with a thumbs up waiting for Kinsey to nod before he spoke to Allison like they had laid out in their little plan for the other brunette's birthday. Kinsey knew that if Allison found out Scott already knew about her birthday that this plan was going to pan out like she intended it to which meant the boy had to play dumb, or at least act oblivious. None of which seemed to be too out of his range, he did have the tendency to be a little behind everyone else but it was part of his boyish charm and it was one that would work in their favor.

"Is it your birthday?" He asked as he looked up at the escaped balloons, Allison had jumped out of her skin, fighting to hide the balloons again, pathetically.

"You didn't tell him?" Kinsey asked as if she was oblivious to that fact. Scott's big reaction when she had mentioned Allison's birthday had given away that there had been no mention of the day in the time that they had been dating. Nor had Allison mentioned the small fact of her age which Kinsey would have thought was a common conversation in a relationship, but then she wasn't particularly up to date with the whole dating scene anymore. The question that still remained was if Allison hadn't wanted to mention it to Scott, nor had she mentioned it to Lydia then how exactly did the redhead manage to find out about the day with enough time to plan for it.

"No, no, no. I mean, yes." Allison panicked as she gave up the fight against the balloons again. "Please don't tell anybody. I don't even know how Lydia found out." She pleaded before turning to give her cousin a glare, she was still her main suspect for how the redhead knew about it.

"Why wouldn't you tell me?" Scott asked, his tone seemed slightly offended. She gathered that that wasn't part of his act. He probably was offended that his girlfriend didn't seem to trust him enough that she wouldn't even mention her birthday. Kinsey knew she'd be pretty offended too if her non-existent boyfriend kept something like that away from her.

"Because I don't want people to know. Because..."

"Because she's seventeen." Kinsey blurted out in hopes to hurry this process along, her little birthday gift was on a time schedule. If the two of them didn't get out of here by the time that the first bell rang the whole plan would fall to pieces. She couldn't have that.

"Kinsey!"

"What? You were about to tell him anyway."

"You're seventeen?" Scott asked, either he was a fantastic actor or he had really forgotten that Allison was a year older than them both. Maybe it was because of all the pressure that Kinsey had been putting on him to remind him about the plan, she had texted and called him at least four times a day to make sure that he had remembered it off by heart.

"That's the reaction I'm trying to avoid."

"Why?"

"Because she thinks that everyone will judge her." Kinsey blurted out again.

"Kinsey!"

"Right. I'll shut up now."

Scott laughed at the brunette who mimicked zipping her mouth shut before turning back serious again to find out why Allison really didn't want anyone to know. It had been something he had failed to ask Kinsey in the midst of creating this whole scheme to get Allison to have fun on her birthday. And now he was genuinely curious. "Okay, so why? I mean, I totally get it. Uh, you had to repeat a year because of all the moving around, right?" Even Kinsey found herself impressed with Scott. She'd been there for all of the assumptions that people had thrown Allison's way in the past when they found out she was older than them and nobody had ever come to that conclusion. That had probably been why Allison seemed so shocked too before she had planted a kiss on his lips, if Kinsey hadn't told them she would shut up she would have physically gagged at them. "What was that for?" Scott asked though he wasn't complaining.

"For literally being the first person to ever make the correct assumption. Everybodys always like "What? Did you get held back?" or "Did you ride the short bus?" Uh, "Did you have a baby?"."

"I like that one. Creative." Kinsey nodded in approval from behind Allison before she was given another evil stare from the brunette. "Sorry. I'm not even here."

"That's what you hear on your birthday?" Scott asked sympathetically.

"Yeah. All-day long." Allison nodded as she looked to the ground hoping that this topic would be over with soon. It was really dampening her love for birthdays. Her stare at the floor meant she was completely oblivious to Kinsey gesturing for Scott to suggest skipping now, he had become so caught up in talking to Allison that he forgot the entire purpose he had started talking.

"Then, what if we got out of here?"

"Skip class?" Allison questioned as she looked to Kinsey who simply shrugged.

"Yeah, the whole day. Kinsey will cover for us. Right, Kins?" He asked as both of them looked to the girl who nodded with a proud smile but it still didn't seem like Allison had caught onto them.

"Well, you're asking someone who's never skipped class to bail out the entire day, and I don't..."

"Go big or go home, I say," Kinsey said as she nudged Allison playfully.

"It's perfect," Scott said as he began trying to convince his girlfriend. Both of them knew that this wasn't going to be as straightforward as they wished it was, this was Allison they were talking about. She was quite the goody two shoes. It was no surprise with her strict parents, eagerness to please and after getting held back once she didn't want to have to repeat another year. "If you got caught they'll go easy on you."

"Well, what if you get caught?" Allison asked.

Scott thought for a moment as he looked at Kinsey, neither had considered that part of the plan. With his grades, even Kinsey covering for him wouldn't bail him out of that punishment. "Let's try not to think about that." He suggested as he began guiding Allison away from her locker. He took about two steps forward with Allison before a thought crossed his mind and he stopped Allison for a moment, turning back to the proud Kinsey. "If Allison had to skip a year because of the moving does that mean that you're seventeen too?" He asked with a furrowed brow.

"Nope, I guess I'm just the smart one." Kinsey smiled proudly. "Now go before Harris sees you."

Kinsey sat in chemistry class beside an empty seat, one that Jackson was supposed to fill. Out of the three of them, she would have thought that he'd be the one to attend school over her and Lydia. He was the one who probably had a sports scholarship to keep up, the title of captain of the lacrosse team to withhold, and frankly, he probably didn't care about being given looks like the ones that she had been given. As the class began to fill up she saw Stiles growing more and more confused about where Scott was, of course, he had looked straight to Kinsey wondering if she had any answers that she didn't. But she knew that if she told Stiles before this class ended there was a strong chance that he would end up blurting out that his best friend was skipping if Harris interrogated him. She was sure that that would come. Nobody would expect Stiles not to know where his best friend was, usually, they were inseparable. But now there was Allison. So Kinsey mouthed a simple "Ill explain late" hoping that he was patient enough to wait until then but her hopes weren't exactly high. Based on how his leg was jiggling up and down he had had way too much of his Adderall this morning and was probably going to be a pain in the ass until he was in the know. He'd already been a slight pain in the ass the past weekend asking how she was every five minutes, asking almost as many questions as her mother and uncle had been, and apparently making plans with Allison to act as her personal babysitter. Though she could understand why Stiles was so desperate to get every detail about what she had seen at the video store she just couldn't bring herself to relive that night more than she already was every time that her eyes closed. Her heart was pounding heavily just thinking about having to tell him.

"Just a friendly reminder, parent/teacher conferences are tonight," Harris announced as he stood at the back of the class. "Students below a "C" average are required to attend. I won't name you because the shame and self-disgust should be more than enough punishment." He continued to talk, a few faces dropping with guilt knowing that they were some of those who he chose not to name. Maybe that meant he was in a somewhat good mood today. And then came the question that Kinsey had been dreading. "Has anyone seen Scott McCall?" He asked as he looked down at Stiles who was paying no attention as he highlighted his textbook.

Before he could defend his best friend or retort a simple "I don't know." Heads were turned when the door opened and revealed Jackson Whittemore who looked as though he hadn't slept since... well, when he was in the womb. His skin was pale, almost grey, he had more bags under his eyes than a supermarket had but one thing remained the same- his miserable face. Jackson quickly walked to his seat beside the brunette as he ignored all of the stares he received from the class. Now they were two out of three freakshows sitting together. His behind had barely touched his chair before Harris strolled over to them, placing a hand on the boys of back as he stood behind them and leaned in close. "Hey, Jackson. If you need to leave early for any reason, let me know. That goes for you too, Kinsey." He added as he placed a hand on her back too. Generosity. He really was in a good mood today. The man walked away towards the front of the class before stopping once again in the middle of the aisle, not bothering to turn around as he spoke to them. "Everyone, start reading chapter nine. Mr. Stilinski Try putting the highlighter down between paragraphs. It's chemistry, not a coloring book."

For most of the class, Kinsey had managed to stay silent and focused on the textbook in front of her, for most of it she was able to look at the color red without going into a full-on panic attack as those flashbacks replayed in her mind once again. But there were only so many times that she could calm herself down and try to block out those images. Her shakiness must have been noticeable because she often caught Jackson looking at her through the corner of his eye until he did something that she never would have expected. The boy offered out his hand under the desk telling her to squeeze it tightly every time that she thought about it, clearly her panicked state was recognizable for someone who had been through the same events as she had. Kinsey had shaken her head at first, rejecting his offer as she flicked the page again. And then yet again she had been the color red and as if she were a bull it seemed to set off a switch inside of her, at that point, she couldn't help but to take his hand and squeeze it until he almost lost circulation to it. But it helped. She hadn't expected it to work as well as it had, but it did.

Stiles slowly leaned forward in his seat hoping to get close enough to Danny Mahealani that he could whisper and not get caught by Harris who sat at the front of the class grading papers. "Hey, Danny. Can I ask you a question?"

"No." The boy deadpanned.

"Well, I'm going to anyway," Stiles admitted. "Um, did Lydia show up in your homeroom today?"

"No." Danny retorted again.

"Can I ask you another question?"

"Answers still no."

"Does anyone know what happened to the three of them that night?" He asked anyway. As the best friend of Jackson he assumed that if anyone were to know about what happened to Lydia, Jackson and Kinsey would be Danny. He talked to all three of them which gave him a better chance of knowing than the chance that he had himself. All he had to rely on was Kinsey who made a point of changing the conversation every time he had asked her about it.

Danny reluctantly sighed as he peered over to his blonde best friend sat across the classroom, though he had a feeling Jackson knew he was looking he didn't look back. Instead, his head turned from the book in front of him to Kinsey who looked like she was about to throw up.

"He wouldn't tell me." The boy muttered, almost sounding ashamed.

"But he's your best friend."

"And isn't Kinsey yours? Why don't you ask her?" Danny snapped.

"She wouldn't tell me either."

Eventually, the grip that Kinsey had established on Jackson had ceased to do its job, she was going into a full state of panic. The flashbacks had become too much, her breathing shaky and she had really wished that she took the drugs that the doctor had offered her for exactly this. There was nothing she wanted more than to ride it out and not have to have a panic attack in the middle of class, to just wait that extra fifteen minutes to get out of here so she could run away and not have to face the embarrassment of everyone seeing her. But it was becoming too much. Her forehead was beginning to line with beads of sweat and she could feel the tears forming in her eyes, and Jackson had noticed the second that her clammy hand had let go of his. Jackson whispered a small "Go." and she didn't feel as though she needed to be told twice, she grabbed her bag from the floor and rushed out of the classroom. All small talk and whispers had stopped in the class from the second that she had stood up, so when she had barged out of the door not even looking back of course her classmates were frozen for a moment wondering what had just happened. Stiles especially as he looked at Jackson with narrowed eyes. Kinsey stumbled through the hallways of the school trying to catch her breath as she moved with her hand on the lockers keeping her balanced, every time she closed her eyes too hard she saw it again, that plaguing image and her condition worsened every time. The memory made her feel nauseous, to think that the beast that they called the Alpha had touched her and could have killed her right there and then. How its eyes looked at her. How it had the nerve to be scared of her. Right now she thought she'd be better off dead, at least then she'd be in a permanent sleep rather than the option that she currently had of no sleep at all. Kinsey headed towards the girl's bathroom in the hopes that she would be able to have her breakdown there along with other girls who hid in the bathroom to have a mental breakdown- though there was probably because of a boy.

But, of course, this was the world of Kinsey Argent. Which meant she never made it to where she actually wanted to go. Because that would be too difficult for her life. Instead, before she was even able to react she was pulled into the darkness which was less than helpful for her state. Rather than argue with whoever had pulled her into what she assumed to be the janitors closet like she usually would she let all hell loose on herself, her knees buckling beneath her as she dropped to the ground letting the very thing she had been fighting for the past two days finally ravage her. Every tear she fought not to let out, every sob that had been clawing its way had finally got out and every ounce of fear was no longer hidden anymore. Even with her head buried into her knees that was pulled up to her chest she could tell when whoever had brought her in here and found the light switch but she couldn't bring herself to look up and see who she had just broken down in front of. She would have rather never known who it was.

"Hey, hey, hey. Kinsey, breathe." Derek said in a tone unusually soft for him as he kneeled down in front of the girl placing a hand on her knee. She recognized the tone and even though it brought her slight comfort as she listened to his demands knowing that it had been Derek that she had broken down in front of was even worse than the few people she thought it could have been like Scott, Jackson, or Stiles. Derek wasn't even on the list. Once he had seen, and heard, that the girl had calmed down after around then minutes of sitting in a somewhat disgusting janitor's closet Derek finally asked the question that would help him understand why he had been able to hear her heartbeat and breathing from outside of the school. "What did you see at the video store?"

"I- I can't." She stammered as she finally raised her head.

"You, Jackson, and Lydia are the only people who saw it. Whatever you saw might help us find out who the Alpha is. If you don't tell me we can't stop it. It's going to keep killing people."

Kinsey nodded in understanding, she knew he was right. Jackson would never talk. From what Lydia's mother had told her this morning when she checked up on the redhead she was a wreck, drugged up on prescription drugs from the doctor so that she wouldn't end up like Kinsey. It was either her or nothing. With a deep breath, Kinsey began running through the events of that night for the first time since it happened, occasionally having to stop so that she could take a deep breath. It was strange to hear how Derek seemed to be the one bringing her comfort in her time of need but she was running out of options. She couldn't turn to her family of hunters, she couldn't turn to Allison without revealing a secret that Kate was already hinting at, she didn't want to worry Scott and Stiles who already seemed to be on high alert now she knew about the whole werewolf, Alpha and hunter thing. Lydia was traumatized and Jackson... he was just him.

After the events of this morning, Kinsey had made the executive decision to give herself another day before she tried returning to school, she realized how stupid she had been for thinking that she could just go back to normal and pretend as if it had never happened. There was a reminder hiding in every corner making it impossible to escape, whether it was seeing Jackson, hearing people talk about it or even seeing the colour red- there was no forgetting. She had managed to get a single text from Allison in the time that she had been skiving school to thank her for arranging it all which meant Scott had confessed their little plan, but at least she knew that Allison wasn't going to come home and kill her for going behind her back. In the spare time, Kinsey had created for herself by leaving school for the day she tried to study so that her grades didn't suffer too much, but it hadn't lasted particularly long once Stiles had texted her fifteen times within a single minute for a so-called emergency. The details were vague, as usual. All she knew was that he was having an 'emergency' and needed her to get to his house "ASAP." Despite her lack of belief that Stiles was having a really urgent problem, the brunette decided to entertain his text anyway as she packed up her books and pens in her bag and prepared to head out of the house, at least if his emergency wasn't so urgent she could use him as her tutor for chemistry while she was there. Plus, she knew if she didn't leave with books in hand there was no chance on this Earth that her mother of Victoria would let her out of the house again. Neither of them could argue with wanting to better her own educational future by studying with Stiles.

When Kinsey got to the boy's house she was greeted by Sheriff Stilinski who asked her if she was okay after the accident at least four times before he directed her to his son's bedroom, her first thought had been how that was four more times than her own mother had asked if she was okay after those events. All Kate cared about was finding out more about the werewolves in this town, not whether her daughter was mentally scarred after finding a man's throat ripped out. Stiles hadn't noticed the girl stood at his door watching him as he sat at his desk with his head thrown back while his fingers rested on his temples, he looked almost as stressed out as she did but what he didn't look like was someone in an emergency who had texted her another twelve times during the car ride over to his house. Kinsey cleared her throat as she knocked lightly on the door but he was still startled by her presence as he jolted upright, swiping something off of his desk and into the trashcan that sat on the floor beside it as if she hadn't watched him do it.

"You know what, I'm not even going to ask." Kinsey shook her head as she moved to sit on the edge of his bed, throwing her bag behind her. With the lack of sleep, she'd had the past weekend, she didn't possess the mental capacity to handle whatever that was about. "So, what's the big emergency that I rushed over here for?"

"Rushed? Kins, it's taken you half an hour."

"You've never tried getting past my aunt Victoria. She almost gave me a full cavity search." The brunette shook her head in disbelief, there really was nobody as overbearing as Victoria, it was no surprise that Allison had been so reluctant to skip school. "So... the emergency?"

Stiles paused for a moment as he contemplated whether he actually wanted to tell her the reason he had brought her here, in the time it had taken her to get over here he had had time to think about the situation and the consequences it may hold. After noticing Lydia's absence from school we had visited the brunette hoping that he could get answers from her if not from Kinsey but he was met with a girl high on prescription drugs barely even able to remember her own name. Of course, that behavior was explained when he'd accidentally seen a video she had taken the night at the video store with the Alpha running out of the window in his beastly form, not only did that video explain Lydia's behavior but it explained Kinsey's too. The dark circles and red eyes, her restlessness all made sense now he knew what she had seen, she was clearly traumatized and couldn't bring herself to talk about it with anyone. Him included. So now as he held the possession over Lydia's phone and the video itself he hesitated whether he should put her through seeing that again. Though he needed her input on what to do with the video he knew it would require showing her what the video really was, and he couldn't do it.

"Scott's not answering his phone." Stiles blurted out without thinking about the aftermath.

"That's it? That's the big emergency that you texted me nearly thirty times for?" Kinsey asked with a furrowed brow, unconvinced. But Stiles nodded anyway, stuck with his terrible lie. "Wow. I thought me and Allison had separation issues. And speaking of my darling cousin, that's why Scott isn't answering his phone. The two of them skipped school for Allison's birthday."

"It's Allison's birthday?"

"You never heard that." Kinsey deadpanned as she pointed a finger at him. If Allison wasn't going to kill her for going behind her back and telling Scott she might just kill her for dropping it out to Stiles, then it really would look like she was the one who told Lydia. "But seriously, you called me over here because Scott wouldn't pick up his phone? We couldn't have done this over text? Or even a phone call?"

He realized at that moment his excuse hadn't been flawless, there were certainly many more believable things he could have come up with if he had thought for even a second longer than he had. He'd hoped that the mention of Allison's birthday would swiftly move the conversation to a different topic so he didn't have to suffer finding a more plausible lie. That maybe it would go over the sleep-deprived girl's head and she'd forget how stupid this whole thing was.

"There's nothing wrong with a face-to-face conversation. You should really start appreciating it." Stiles scoffed with a shake of the head. "Kids these days."

"Your eight months older than me, Stiles."

When Stiles noticed a book peeking out of the bag behind the girl he found the perfect chance to change the subject once again, he had hope that maybe this one would be more successful than his last attempt. "You brought books?"

"I had a feeling that your emergency wasn't going to be as urgent as you made out, and I was right. So, you are going to help me study for chemistry instead." Kinsey insisted as she pulled out the books and patted the bed beside her. "You owe me for making me get out of bed."

Rather than arguing against a well-made point, Stiles agreed to help the brunette as he jumped into the space beside her watching as she opened her chemistry textbook that likes his, looked more like a coloring book than anything to do with science. Every page filled with either a block of color to a series of them spread out on the page leaving barely any of them blank, and for some pages, there was no highlighting at all just random doodles she'd scribbled everywhere. Kinsey pulled out the five colors from her bag, shoving the red one in her mouth knowing it would be the one she needed the most when it came to chemistry while dumping the others in Stiles's lap for the odd occasion where she would actually understand something.

"What's with all the highlighters anyway?" He asked as he fiddled with the ones she'd given him.

Kinsey flicked through the pages of her book before pulling the highlighter out of her mouth ready to give her explanation, it hadn't taken long to find a page that had every color on, for her chemistry was a very hit and miss subject. It was either came to her like riding a bike or just looked like a series of jumbled letters thrown onto a sheet of paper.

"Green is for things I understand. Yellow is I'm working on it. Blue's just pretty so I just doodle with it when I get bored." Kinsey explained as she pointed at the different colors until she got to a page where she had filled it completely with red. "And red means I have no clue."

"Most of the book is red." Stiles pointed out.

"I'm aware." Kinsey nodded, slightly embarrassed. "Which is why you're going to help me."

Kinsey flicked through the book to the first page that she'd colored in red assuming it would be best to start there while she still had her attention span which never seemed to last long, that was why Allison usually gave up trying to help the brunette after half an hour. She thought back to the question that Scott asked this morning about how she hadn't got held back while Allison had and how she had told him it was sheer luck, and clearly, it was that. It was no secret that her cousin was the more intellectually inclined while she made up for that in physical ability but she still couldn't help but think she was the one who should have been held back and not Allison.

Unlike her study sessions with Allison, Kinsey managed to study for longer than half an hour and didn't once bring up food to distract the boy so she could find a sly way to stop having to study. He seemed to explain the subject better than Allison did, he didn't use all of the big words that Allison used, and he definitely had a lot more patience than Allison. But she put that down to the two of them being related, they were bound to annoy each other at times. The two's study was uninterrupted until Sheriff Stilinski knocked on the door startling the two of them as they looked up at the man who seemed surprised to see his son with a chemistry book in his hand.

"Please tell me I'm gonna hear good news at this parent/teacher thing tonight." Sheriff Stilinski pleaded as he leaned against the door frame. Both Kinsey and Stiles looked at one another with a weary look before turning back to the man.

"Depends on how you define good news." Stiles shrugged.

"I define it as you get straight A's with no behavioral issues."

Stiles nervously rubbed the nape of his neck knowing that he could guarantee that was not what his father was going to hear, especially if Harris had anything to do with it.

"You might want to rethink that definition, Sheriff." Kinsey smiled weakly.

The man looked to his son who nodded to confirm that he most definitely needed to rethink his definition unless he wanted to be severely disappointed, though his grades were almost straight A's his behavior is where he fell short of his dad's high expectations. In fact, the only class that he didn't have an A in was gym class even though he was technically on the lacrosse team, maybe Kinsey could return the favor of him helping her study by helping him become more athletically inclined. That would probably end up a lot harder than him teaching her the periodic table.

Noah began walking away from the bedroom choosing not to talk about how tonight was going to go any longer than they already had before he turned around with a second thought. "Do you need a ride to the conference, Kinsey?" Stiles had already told the man that since Kinsey was new to the school it was a requirement for her to attend the meeting, as were Scott and Allison but whether that was going to happen was something neither of them was particularly sure of after failing to hear from either of them since this afternoon, or in Scott and Stiles's case at all.

-☽○☾-

After a pitstop at the animal clinic Kinsey arrived at the school with the Sheriff where she reunited with her uncle and aunt, of course, their first question had been whether she'd heard from Allison. There was nothing she could say that would ease this situation, their question was just the beginning of what would be many questions, they were going to find out at some point that Allison skipped school. If not today then one day. And then both of them would face the music and the wrath of Victoria. Kinsey gave the two of them a simple shrug which seemed enough to hold them off for a little while longer while she consistently called Allison, only to be met with her answering machine every time. She just hoped Allison remembered what tonight was for not only her own sake but for the sake of Scott and Kinsey too, her father already hated Scott, and finding out his daughter skipped school with him would not ease that in the slightest. By the time they were called into Ms. Lane's classroom Allison was still nowhere to be seen, Kinsey could see the growing concern in her aunt and uncle who were filling in as her 'parents' for the conference, it only made sense with Chris's legal guardianship over her. She sat in between the two of them with the free seat that was for Allison still empty, a sight that made her incredibly nauseous. But not as nauseous as remembering that both her and Allison were supposed to have Ms. Lane in French today, and of course, neither of them had been in the class.

"Kinsey Argent." Ms. Lane said with a smile. Instant relief to the two adults sat on either side of her as well as the girl herself who's stomach tightened at the mention of her name. "A delight to teach. And so incredibly smart." She begun, that part had shocked all three of them. Kinsey had bit her tongue, resisting the urge to make a comment under her breath about how Harris would have disagreed with that first comment, or how she completely disagreed with the second after the study session with Stiles. But then French was one of her strong subjects along with English. "You've settled well despite... well, everything." She said with a mumble, it was obvious that she was talking about the incident as Kinsey watched her eyes drift to the stitches on her head.

"Thank you." Kinsey smiled weakly hoping that she would take it as a cue to move onto Allison.

Ms. Lane looked down at the file at her hand struggling for something to say that would ease the tension she had just created when her face had lit up as if she'd struck gold. "Kinsey, have you considered doing any extra-curricular's? It says here that you were on the track team in your previous school. Have you thought about joining ours, I'm sure Coach Finstock would love to have you on the team." She asked, though her eyes seemed to look at Victoria rather than Kinsey herself. Even she had caught onto how overbearing Victoria was within a matter of minutes.

"I thought you said you signed up," Victoria said in a low voice, that had been enough to reiterate her point of how important she found extra-curricular's, she was the one who forced her onto the track team at the last school and clearly, she was going to do it here too.

"It slipped my mind." Kinsey chuckled nervously. "I'll get to it."

Ms. Lane cleared her throat as she swapped the file in her hand signaling that Kinsey's moment in the spotlight was finally over. "Allison Argent." She smiled. "An incredibly sweet girl. And like Kinsey, quick to adjust, despite all the moving around."

Chris and Victoria looked at one another guiltily while the brunette in between them kept her head down, she knew better than to express her dislike towards the constant moving, it would only spark up one of Victoria's infamous lectures that she really wasn't in the mood for tonight or any other night. She could still hear the last one faintly in her mind.

"We know it's hard on them, but, it's a necessary evil."

"Necessary or not, I'd be prepared for some..." She paused for a moment. "How do I put this?"

"Rebelliousness?" Chris finished for the woman, glaring at his niece who sat beside him. Undoubtedly the biggest troublemaker in the family following her mother, and definitely an influence on his own daughter. He'd already seen signs of rebelliousness in Allison after the two of them had snuck out to go on the group date even after he had told them they were staying in, he wasn't sure who had suggested that but he had an incline it was Kinny.

"We appreciate the concern, but we have a great relationship with our daughter. And our niece." Victoria smiled as she placed a hand on the brunette's knee. "Very open and honest."

Kinsey couldn't help but look at her uncle Chris, the one she trusted most out of the two of them, even out of the three of them if her mother was included. He'd always been the one that she found herself closest to. This was why finding out he was a hunter hurt more than it had to find out that her mother was, like Victoria had said about their relationship, she thought that the one she had with her uncle was stronger than to be filled with lies this entire time. Kinsey couldn't help but wonder when exactly the man was planning on confiding in them about the secret if Kate was already implying their family history. Chris met the eyes of his niece, his face dropping as though he too realized that their relationship wasn't all it was made out to be, he almost looked guilt-ridden that he'd been lying to the two of them. Kinsey smiled weakly at the man hoping to throw off any suspicion that she might know something, but it stung her to do so.

"I'm happy to hear that." Ms. Lane smiled. "And I hope your both feeling better. Do let Allison know I was thinking about her in class today." The woman said to Kinsey's whose face dropped as soon as she had mentioned Allison's absence. It was just the beginning of the train wreck.

"Oh, she wasn't in class?" Chris asked as he looked at Kinsey in the corner of his eye.

"Oh, she wasn't in school." The woman corrected. "I checked with the office."

Kinsey cringed as she looked down knowing that all hell would let loose the second that they stepped out of this classroom, and she had been right. The door hadn't even shut behind them before Chris and Victoria bombarded her with questions about their daughter's whereabouts to which she acted oblivious to it, she'd been lucky in the fact neither were home when she had left with Allison this morning for school. There would have been no escape from that. Kinsey walked beside them with her head down as Victoria called Kate to see if she'd seen Allison while Chris called Allison himself only to be met with the same fate as Kinsey had- her answering machine. Eventually with the speed that the two of them picked up the brunette was left trailing behind praying for her life until she'd slowed down to the point she was almost still only to be startled when a hand was placed on her shoulder.

"I take it tonight didn't go well?" Sheriff Stilinski asked as he looked down at the girl.

"That's the understatement of the year." She laughed nervously.

"Kinny!" Chris shouted as he stopped on the stairs, placing his phone in his pocket after leaving his daughter yet another intimidating message threatening to punish her a lot more than he planned. Kinsey muttered a quick goodbye to Stiles's dad before rushing to catch up with her uncle and aunt who had a bright blue vein popping out of her head from the anger she felt.

As if matters weren't bad enough Kinsey could tell they were only about to get worse when she saw Scott's mom, Melissa, approaching them. She must have pieced together that the two who stood either side of her were Allison's parents, and with all of Chris's yelling, it probably didn't take much to figure out that she too had been missing from the conference tonight. Kinsey mumbled a small "Oh, no." as she watched Melissa walked up to the three of them, a weak smile across her face as she looked up at the woman who seemed just as nervous to speak.

"Excuse me, you're not Allison's parents, are you? I'm Scott's mom, and I hate to say it, but he's not answering his phone either."

"You're his mother," Chris said in a low tone as he looked her up and down.

"Funny how you say that like it's an accusation." Melissa scoffed.

"Well, I wouldn't claim it as a source of pride, since he basically kidnapped my daughter today."

Kinsey bit her tongue as she questioned saving Allison and Scott while throwing herself under the bus, she knew she'd end up punished either way. But she was going to get it much worse if she owned up to the whole skipping school thing being her birthday gift for Allison. There was always the option of sympathizing with her own mother to get her out of the punishment or at least ease it, but that all depended on whose side Kate would take between her brother and sister-in-law and her daughter and niece. Usually, it was her and Allison, but this time she wasn't completely confident that she'd have her mother's vote, even if it was Allison's birthday. When Melissa threw the accusation back onto Allison ready to continue the heated argument Kinsey couldn't take it anymore, she knew that it was only fair to confess to what she'd done.

"It was me." Kinsey blurted out.

"What?" Victoria scowled.

"I told Scott and Allison to skip school for her birthday. I planned it all. I pressured them both into it. It was all me." She sighed as she guiltily looked down at the floor. Kinsey's expression matched the one that Chris saw when he looked up to see his daughter walking around the car with Scott getting out the opposite side, both of them were the most guilt-ridden he'd ever seen them in their sixteen/seventeen years. He could tell from that that even if it was Kinsey's idea it wasn't done with poor intentions, and he also knew he'd still have to ground both of them. The three adults rushed over to their children while Kinsey trailed behind once again, her eyes looking straight at Allison as she mouthed an "I'm sorry." She knew this was exactly the kind of thing that Allison didn't want to happen, the entire reason that she'd never done this before.

"Girls. Get in the car." Chris ordered.

Before either of the girls could follow his orders or even object against them a scream came from across the parking lot immediately stopping their conversations as they looked around trying to figure out what was going on. Everyone but them seemed to be rushing across the parking lot, clamoring as they tried to get into their cars, or anyone's car as long as it protected them from whatever had caused the scream. Kinsey and Scott looked at one another wondering the same thing as they nodded at each other agreeing that they were going to split up and look as they slowly stepped back from everyone. Chris and Victoria hadn't noticed the girl slip away while they looked around the parking lot trying to figure out for themselves what was happening, a few more screams continuing to sound through the air. While Scott took the perimeter of the parking lot Kinsey began walking in between the rows of cars with her eyes towards the ground as she prepared herself to see something she hadn't planned on seeing again so soon. Her heart stopped in her chest when she heard a low growl and saw an animal on all fours rush past the cars a few rows away from her. After that she felt frozen, she couldn't move. She was literally frozen with fear dreading what would happen next, there was no way she was going to escape the Alpha twice. Someone killing as carelessly as that beast wouldn't let her go twice.

She could hear the commotion around her as she stood still, the beeping of car horns, car doors shutting quickly as people became desperate to protect themselves, the sound of Scott's voice as he shouted Allison across the parking lot. But she couldn't move. Even when the sound of the growling became even closer to her.

"Move! Move!" Sheriff Stilinski shouted loudly as he pushed his way through the parking lot to get towards the brunette he could see frozen still, right in the direction of where the animal was running. Kinsey hadn't zoned back in until she felt the touch of the Sheriff on her arm. He didn't say anything as he began guiding her away from the cars in a hurry, he had been so focused on where the animal was he hadn't looked as they slipped behind a car that was reversing until it was too late to form a proper reaction. He'd had just enough time to provide himself as a human barrier to the teenage girl before the car hit the two of them, knocking them to the ground harshly as yet another scream sounded through the air. Followed by a more familiar one.

"Kinsey!" Allison shouted across the parking lot as she rushed towards the two on the floor along with a few civilians who attempted to help the two of them up despite both reassuring them that they were fine. Of course, they'd both lied. They both cared more about the animal running around the parking lot than how they felt after being hit by a reversing car.

Allison had pulled Kinsey off of the ground with her grasp refusing to let her go again, it only tightened at the sound of two gunshots sounding through the air making them and everyone else on the parking lot jump. They looked down at the Sheriff expecting to see his gun raised but it was still tucked into its holder on his leg, their eyes then traveled beside them where Chris stood with his own gun raised pointing towards a now-dead animal that lay on the floor. Slowly the entire crowd seemed to edge closer to the animal curious to see what had been plaguing them tonight and possibly all of the other times that people have been hurt lately. Kinsey and Allison slowly followed along behind Chris until they'd stopped beside him, looking down at the mountain lion as it took its last breath. Kinsey watched as Allison looked at her father with a look she'd never seen her give him until now, a fear of her own father and his capabilities, and Scott had the same look too. But all Kinsey could think about was how she was one day expected to be that person, the one who shoots an animal.

Maybe this time it was a mountain lion, but how long until it wasn't?