Chapter Thirty-Five

The tip of an eyeliner pencil presses down on the pale skin of Lydia's forearm where the mark left by the mysterious Girl has begun to fade. I looked down at their skin, Allison and Lydia. I was sitting in passenger seat while Allison drives and Lydia sat in the middle in the back, tracing her skin.

With Allison driving, Lydia finishes going over the bruise. She raises her arm to Allison's, connecting the strangely patterned contusions into an odd symbol. "I don't know. Doesn't look like much to me." Lydia shrugged.

"It's a pattern. It means something." Allison insisted. "Paige?" She glanced at me. "What's your thoughts?"

"I'm open to anything, really. I mean, it's not that hard to believe it's a pattern..." I pursed my lips together. "Espically what we've been through. But, I don't know why you're so cut about it."

Allison purses her lips together, starring ahead as she drives. "You really think Scott's going to know?" Lydia questioned from the back.

"No. But he might know something." Allison spoke.

"How are you so sure it means anything at all?" I looked at her.

"Because that girl wasn't just looking for Scott. It's like she needed to find him. Like she had to. And that means something."

⇉

After speaking to Scott last night, the next day, we were in a classroom with Derek speaking about the symbol on their arms.

"I don't see anything." Derek had his arms crossed.

"Look again." Scott tells Derek, who was in denial about the whole thing.

"How is a bruise gonna tell me where Boyd and Erica are?" Derek questioned.

"It's the same." Scott pointed out. "On both sides. Exactly the same."

"It's nothing." Derek snapped.

"Pareidola." Lydia spoke smartly. "Seeing patterns that aren't there. It's a subset of apophenia."

"They're trying to help." Scott whispered. Stiles and I watched on the sidelines, sitting on different desks.

"These two? This one who used me to resurrect my psychotic uncle. Thank you. And this one who shot about thirty arrows into me and my pack?" Derek pointed at the two girls in front of him.

"Hey, okay, alright no one died." Stiles spoke up. "There might have been some maiming. A little mangling. But no death. I call that an important distinction."

"My mother died." Allison whispered, almost glaring at Derek.

"Your family's little honour code killed your mother." Derek also pointed out. "Not me."

"That girl is looking for Scott." Allison continued. "I'm here to help him, not you."

"You wanna help?" Derek leans in a little. "Find something real."

Derek turns to leave, but Scott stop him on the way out. "Give her a chance. Okay, they're on our side now."

"Well, then maybe you should tell her what her mother was actually trying to do that night." Derek whispered harshly, and with that, Derek leaves.

The others leave, leaving Stiles and I behind. I bite the inside of my cheek. "This whole thing, doesn't sit right with me anymore." I murmur.

"Same." Stiles sighed. "Hey—I told you about the Alpha pack, right?" Stiles turns to look at me. I shake my head.

"No."

"Oh. Uh, there's an Alpha pack in town." Stiles explained and my eyes widen.

"Like... A pack of Alphas?" I asked, frowning. Stiles nodded. "Well, Beacon Hills definitely just got scarier."

⇉

A book slams down on the teacher's desk, jolting the class to attention. Coach Finstock eyes the students with his standard disdain. "The stock market is based on two principles. What are they?" Coach questioned. Half the class raised their hands, including me. "Yes, McCall, you can go to the bathroom." I turn to look at Scott raising his hand. I smiled. "Anybody else?"

"Coach, I know the answer." Scott tells him.

"You serious?" Coach gives him a bewildered look. Coach was hysterically laughing.

"It's risk and reward." Scott answered and I lowered my hand, grinning. I felt proud of Scott. He's actually trying and studying.

"Who are you and what have you done with McCall? Don't answer that. I like you better. I like you better." Coach grinned. "Anyone have a quarter?"

Stiles reaches into his pocket and pulls one out. Along with an XXL condom. Horrified, he watches the condom fall to the floor. Coach picks it up. My mouth dropped in surprise. "Stilinski, I believe you dropped this. And... congratulations." Coach gives him the condom back.

A giant blush consumed Stiles' cheeks, and he looks at me for a moment, him and I make eye contact. I looked away, my heart pounding, trying not to put too much thought into it.

Taking the quarter, Coach returns to his desk. He grabs his COACH RULES MUG and sets it on the floor. Stepping back a few paces, he bounces the quarter right into the mug. "Risk and reward. Put the quarter in the mug and you win the reward." Coach explained.

Coach retrieves the quarter from the mug and places it on Danny's desk. "What's the reward?" Danny asked.

"You don't have to take the pop quiz tomorrow." Coach says. I try to make a mental note that there was a pop quix tomorrow.

"Coach, it's not a pop quiz if you tell us about it." Danny informed him.

"Danny, you know, I really expect more from you at this point." Coach glares at him. "Really. McCall." He places the quarter on Scott's table. "Risk, reward? The risk, if you don't put that quarter in the mug, you have to take the pop... The quiz. And you have write essay. Risk, more work. Reward, no work at all. Or, choose not to play."

"But isn't this just chance?" Scott asked.

"No." Coach shakes his head. "You know your abilities, your coordination, your focus, past exrpeince. All factors affecting te outcome. So, what's it gonna be, McCall? More work, no work, or choose not to play?" Scott holds up the coin, eyeing it. He places it down on the table in front of him. "No play. Okay. Who's next? Who wants the quarter?"

Stiles pats on his desk exctidetly, and Coach grinned as Stiles stands up. "There you go! There's a gambling man! Come on! Step up, step up." Coach hands Stiles the quarter and Stiles goes to stand at a few mtres away from the cup. "All right, Stilinski."

Stiles goes to line up his shot, he doesn't know his father, Noah coming in. "Stiles." Noah announces, but, Stiles doesn't recgoninse his voice.

"Yeah, Coach, I got it." Stiles informed him.

"Stiles." Noah spoke firmly and Stiles looked at his father, relisation dawn on him. He leaves with Stiles and they stood out the door way, Scott and I immediately listening in on their conversation.

"I couldn't find her." I tune into their conversation. "I just figured she'd hooked up with her other friends. Has no one really seen her since last night?"

"No." Noah answered. "We put on an APB, but... Stiles, all her friends say you were the last person who saw her."

"Me?" Stiles sounded surprised.

"We hope that it's just a series of bas decisions based on too much to drink." Noah informs. "But if you rememeber anything else, you call me. All right?"

A coin clinks, and I looked over, seeing Danny getting the coin into the cup. "Yes! Reward! Okay, who's next? Greenburg, put your hand down. You don't have a chance." I immediately put up my hand. "Madden! There you go!" I grinned and jumped up. I would do anything to get out of a quiz.

⇉

"Hey! Sorry I'm late." I rushed into the library, spotting my best friends who saved me a seat in the library, in a corner. Allison was sketching out the bruise print with her laptop open, and books are surrounding the desks.

I sat my cup of coffee down on the table. "Isn't that your third one today?" Lydia looked at me skepitcally.

I shrugged. "I didn't get much sleep last night." That wasn't a lie, I have been having trouble sleeping. Especially recently.

"You haven't been sleeping?" Allison asked, looking at me from her sketch. I frowned at her. "Well, it's just, you mentioned yesterday you didn't sleep. Are you okay?"

I pressed a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine." I lied, taking out some books. "Just been... Stressed."

Allison nodded. "Okay... But if you need to talk about something, you know you've got—"

"I know, I know." I cut her off hurriedly. I didn't want to talk about me in this moment. "I'm fine, I promise, Allie. Thank you." She smiled. "Are you still on that?"

She looked down at her sketch. "Yeah, but—"

"I want one." Lydia cuts her off and I turn my head to see the new set of guy twins walking in. I frowned. Something seemed different about them, I couldn't explain why. They just are.

I bring out my books from my bag. "Which one?" Allison asked, glancing a quick look before turning her attention back to Lydia.

"The straight one, obviously," Lydia rolled her eyes. I glanced back, seeing that one of them looking at Danny as he comes in. Danny bumps into someone, as he was looking at one of the twins. I put my coffee down. Allison turns the coffee logo and picks it up.

"Hey," I pout.

"I'm not taking it away..." Allison trails off, in a train of thought. "What if it's not a symbol? What if it's actually a logo?" We looked up to see Lydia gone. I looked over to see her talking to one of the twins.

I shrugged. "At least she's getting over Jackson. And she needs a distraction, someone who is not fourteen."

Allison smiled, giggling. "Yeah." Her smiling turned into a frown as she pulled her laptop closer. She clicked out of the symbols page she was on and onto a new tab, typing in Beacon Hills business logos. "Bring out your laptop, we could find it faster."

"Yeah." I nodded, bringing out my laptop from my bag and opening it up. I stare at my screensaver, a pciture of Scott, Stiles, and I from when we were younger saved on there.

Allison looked over and smiled. "Awe, you guys are so cute. I didn't realise you knew them that long."

"Yeah... Stiles and I practically grew up together, Scott was a bonus." I smiled. "Our friendship came to a halt just before intermediate. I'm not sure why though."

"Sometimes friendship can do that, but the most important thing is that you guys are back together, stronger." Allison assured me. I nodded.

I looked at Allison, smiling. "Hey, come here." I bring out my phone and she gives me a look. "Come on, I want to take a photo, I feel like we have none."

"What, freshman wasn't enough?" Allison recalled all the times we did take photos.

"I want to docoment every moment with you." I nudged her, still smiling. "Come on, please? Then I'll help you with this weird obession you have."

"It's not weird." She protested. "But, fine." I bring out my camera on my phone and held it up, taking a quick selfie with her. Or, a few. "Paige." She whined. I smirked and put my phone down, then realising something as I stare at the photos. "Oh..." My eyes are glowing, and can barely see my face. "Close your eyes, that should work?" I closed my eyes and smiled, taking one more selfie with her. "Perfect." I opened my eyes, starring down at the photo.

We both smiled at each other before I opened another tab, also typing in the search bar Beacon Hills business logos.

It taken nearly the whole period for Allison and I to find something, but, just before the bells goes and Allison was packing up her laptop, my eyes widen at the familiar logo on the screen.

"Allie." I grabbed her arm and she turned immediately. "Look." We stare at the screen.

I hear her gasp quietly and she clicked on the link. "It is a business logo. Beacon Hills old bank."

"I didn't even know we had an old bank." I tried to recall. "The new one's in town, this one's further out of town."

"I knew I wasn't going crazy," Allison whispered. She grabbed my laptop and began researching where the bank was. Then, the bell rings. She groaned quietly. "I have to go to class."

"I still have study," I assured her. "I'll look into this and tell you more about it after class, okay?" She gives me a grateful nod.

"Okay, see you." She had packed up all her things and left, and I continue to do research about this old bank we had.