Chapter Thirty-Four

I sat in the back of Lydia Martin's car after we had picked up Allison from the airport. For the entire break, she had disappeared off to France, with barely any notice.

While Allison was away, I had grown a lot closer with Lydia now that she knows everything about the Supernatural going around Beacon Hills. I don't know why we didn't tell her sooner, but she knows now. Every single day, me and Lydia would hang out. At first, it was because of the whole Jackson situation. He had moved to London and Lydia was alone. Being the friend I am, I offered to hang out with her and we didn't stop. We had sleepovers, weather it was at my house, or hers.

It feels great being closer to Lydia again.

Me and Allison? I once considered her my best friend, but my views on her had changed a little bit ever since she tried to kill all of us. I was having a hard time believing the events that had happened, and due to that, Allison and I had distances ourselves from each other. Especially when she went to France.

My gaze was out the window while Allison and Lydia talked in the background, catching up on everything she did. I wat hed the the houses, trees, and lamps go by in a flash.

"It's not a double date. It's just a group thing." I tuned back into Lydia and Allison's conversation.

"Do they know it's a group thing? Because I told you I'm not ready to get back out there." Allison questioned worriedly. "And why isn't Paige coming?"

"Because... She's dealing with her own problems." Lydia glanced at me. I gave her a tight smile, before looking out the front window again. She knows about me having a crush on Stiles, and I haven't told Allison this yet. But I assume she knows. "And besides, you were in France and you didn't do any dating? For four months?"

"Did you?" Allison asked in the back middle seat. "I mean after—"

"Do not mention his name." Lydia cuts her off.

"Is he okay? I mean, did everything work out?" Allison continued to question .

"The doctors looked like idiots when he turned up alive, but everyone got over it. And yes, Derek taught him the Werewolf 101. Like how not to randomly kill people during a full moon." Lydia explained.

"So you've talked to him?" Allison looks at her.

Lydia purses her lips together. "Not since he left for London."

"You mean since his Dad moved him to London." I added, deciding to look down at my nails. I needed another set of false nails, these are three weeks old and they're beginning to fall off. Recently, I've been obsessed with false nails. Lydia and I go to the nail salon almost every second week.

"Whatever." She said sharply. "He left. And seriously? An american werewolf in London? Like that's not going to be a disaster."

"Then you're totally over him?" Allison questioned.

"Would I be going on a double-date if I wasn't?" Lydia snapped. She turns to notice Allison's satisfied smile. "Okay, it's a double-date. Not an orgy. You'll live."

She brakes at the red light that was coming up. Neither of the two girls noticed a certain Jeep pulling up beside us. I knew Scott was getting a tattoo, but I didn't expect them to be right beside us.

"Oh my God, oh my God, I can't see him. Not yet—" Allison noticed, sinking into her seat, trying to disappear from view. "Lydia, go—please, go, please—"

"But the light—" Lydia tried to reason with her.

"Lyds, there are no cars coming, you're fine." I assured her. I turned to see her reaction, she looked conflicted. Lydia then floors it. "You all right?" I looked back at Allison. Allison shakes her head.

"Lydia, stop. I need to go back. I need to talk to him." Allison decided a second later. Lydia stops her car. We all glanced at the review mirror, seeing the Jeep had stopped a few metres behind us, too.

"They stopped too." I noticed.

"Why would they stop?" Allison questioned.

"It's Stiles and Scott. You really want to try applying logic to those two—" Lydia was cut off by an animal charging right towards us. Antlers smashed through the window, causing all of us to yell in surprise.

We all jumped out of the car in a hurry. Scott and Stiles made there way to us in no time, Stiles coming straight towards me, concern in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" Scott asked, looking at Allison.

"It came out of nowhere—" Lydia trembled.

"Are you hurt?" Stiles asked me, checking me all over for injuries.

I shake my head at him. "Besides, I'd heal."

Stiles shook his head at me, but he seemed relieved that I was okay as he held me by my forearms, keeping me close to him. Which I did not mind at all.

"It ran right into us." Lydia finished.

"—I'm okay, I'm all right." Allison assured Scott.

"Well, I'm not okay. I'm completely freaked out. Why the hell did it do that?" Lydia freaked out. Letting Allison go, Scott cautiously approaches the deer now lying still over the crumpled hood of Lydia's car. "I saw its eyes right before it hit us. It's like—like it was crazy."

"No. It was scared." Scott informed us. He places a gentle hand on the animal's body. "Actually... terrified."

⇉

A knock could be heard from my bedroom door the next morning at 6.45 AM. I ignored it the first time, wanting to do absolutely nothing today.

Another knock is heard and I groaned in annoyance. "What?" I mumbled, dragging myself out of bed. I walked over to the door and opened it, surprised to see Stiles standing there with a grin.

"Morning!" He chirps.

"Why do you sound so happy at 6.45 in the morning?" I narrow my eyes at him.

"In case you've forgotten... School starts today." Stiles reminded me and my eyes widened. I looked down at what I was wearing, my PJs. I slammed the door in his face. "Hey!"

"I'll be out in a minute!" I called, rushing to my wardrobe and chucking on an outfit. I quickly pulled on a skirt and a cute crop top t-shirt, along with some black boots. I went straight to my makeup kit, staring at myself in the mirror. The bags under my eyes made it so obvious I didn't get any sleep last night.

Or ever.

"Paige, come on." Stiles groaned outside my door. "Don't be like this, man."

"Are we late?" I called back, reaching for my moisturiser to cover my face before grabbing my brush and foundation.

"We will be if you don't put make up on." Stiles remarks and I rolled my eyes. "What's the deal with that, anyways?" He called behind the door. "Two years ago you would never even touch make up."

"Stiles, shut up." I answered, quickly doing my make up routine. Once I put on the powder after concealer, I put on bronzer, blush, and highlight. Then I did my eyes, starting with eyebrows. Then, I did my eyeshadow.

"Can I come in at least?" Stiles questioned.

"No!" I shouted, quickly dabbing on the brown eyeshadow. Then, after I was satisfied with that, I put on eyeliner, and finally, mascara, fake eyelashes, and lipstick.

And my final step: setting spray.

"Paige, it's 7.30 now!" Stiles calls. "We're gonna be late!" I rushed over to the door, grabbing my Nike bag on the way out and I smiled at him. "Aren't you forgetting something?" He pointed at my hair and I groaned, shutting the door again. "Hey!"

"I'll be a minute!" I snapped, my heart pounding. Stiles can't see me like that, not anymore. I pulled my hair back into a pony tail, making it perfect, which is what I needed. At least my hair has volume. I opened the door again. Then, I put on my signature perfume. "Okay, we can go now."

"Finally." Stiles mumbled. "You know, you're lucky I woke you up this morning, otherwise your ass would be late."

I rolled my eyes, but smiled. "Thank you."

⇉

I met up with Allison and Lydia at our lockers. Surprisingly, we had our lockers close by each other. "Finally!" Lydia turned to me. "You missed all my calls. I thought you were gonna be late."

I smiled. "Sorry, I didn't get a good sleep last night. Stiles ended up waking me up a little later."

"Stiles?" Allison raised an eyebrow.

Lydia smirked. "You two have gotten rather close."

I blushed deeply, rolling my eyes. "Shut up."

"Wait—Do you like Stiles yet?" Allison asked eagerly, her eyes lightning up. I blushed some more, turning my gaze away from her. "Oh, my God. Finally! I've been trying to get you guys together since day one."

"Allie!" I sushed her.

"She's developed some feelings over break." Lydia teased. "It's digustingly cute with the way they act with each other."

Allison grinned. "I can't believe it's finally happening."

"Nothing's happening, he doesn't like me like that." I denied, shaking my head. "If he does, he would've said something by now. I've given him hints, have I not?"

"Yeah, but boys are clueless." Lydia shrugged. I sighed, shaking my head. "Speaking of boys—Freshman. Tons, and tons, of fresh-man."

I rolled my eyes at her. "You mean fresh boys." I tell her. "Lyds, they're fourteen."

"Some are mature than others." Lydia shrugged.

"You know it's okay to be single. Focus on yourself for a little while. Work on becoming a better person." Allison tells her.

"Allison, I love you. So if you need to do the thing where we talk about me and pretend like we're not actually talking about you, that's totally fine. But I don't want a boyfriend. I want a distraction." Lydia's gazes goes down the hall, spotting something. "Like that..." Allison, Lydia, and I peer through the oncoming crowd where a two students join the crowd, looking undeniably hot. They both held black motorcycle helmets, strolling through like they own the world.

"Brothers?" I asked, cocking my head.

"Twins." Lydia smirks.

⇉

Allison, Lydia, and I walked into class. I took my seat beside Stiles, and Lydia took a seat in front of me. I watched as Allison shyly walked over to Scott. It was the only seat available, after all.

"Hey... Is anyone—" Allison gestured towards the seat.

"No, no one. It's all you. All yours. Totally... vacant." Scott assures her. She sits down and I take out note pad book, beginning to doodle.

A vibrtiant sound could be heard throughout the cloud, and everyone checks their phones, including me. I got my phone out of my pocket, and before I could start reading it, a voice cuts me off. "The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds..." A female spoke, Heels clicking across the floor as she enters the room, our teacher, Ms Blake entered the room. "...and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed somber under an overcast sky..." Lowering her phone, she speaks the last line from memory. "...seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness."

Everyone had their attention on her. "That is the last line to the first book we're going to read. It's also the last text you'll receive in this class. Phones off, everyone." She spoke. I frowned a little bit. Isn't it ilegal to have students phone numbers? I brushed it off hesitantly before tucking my phone into my pocket, as everyone else do.

Ms Blake had us to do some tasks and we had done so. While everyone else was doing this, I had finished within half an hour and began to draw on my book.

The Prinicpal had stepped into the room, looking a bit concerned and walked over to Ms Blake. They had hushed whispers before the Prinicpal left. Ms Blake looks in Scott's direction. "Mr. McCall?" She asks. All eyes turn to Scott as she motions for him to approach.

Scott leaves, and I tuned in on their conversation in the hallway. "I'm sure it's an emergency if your mother needs you to leave school." Ms Blake informed him. "But I'm going to give you a warning in the nicest possible way. I'm well aware of your attendance record. I don't want to see you slip back into old habits."

"I won't. It's going to be different this year." Scott promised her.

"Resolutions are only good if you stick with them, Scott." Ms Blake tells him.

"I will. I swear it won't be ephemeral." Scott spoke before I heard his feet walking away. I rolled my eyes at his choice of words before Ms Blake reneters the class.

"Back to work, everyone." She says, going to sitting down at her desk.

"Lydia, what's that? Was that from the accident?" I cranked my head slightly, to see Lydia and Stiles talking to each other.

"No, Prada bit me." Lydia informed, pursing her lips as she continues to do her work.

"Your dog?" Stiles asked.

"No, my designer handbag." She says sarcastically, with an eye roll. "Yes, my dog."

"Has it ever bit you before?" Stiles questioned her. She thinks a moment and shakes her head. "What if it's the same thing as the deer? Like how animals start acting weird right before an earthquake."

I frowned at Stiles. "Meaning what? That there's gonna be an earthquake?"

Stiles looked at me, our eyes connecting. "Or something. Maybe it means something's coming. Something bad."

"It was a deer and a dog." Lydia rolled her eyes. "What's that thing you say about threes? It's once, twice—" Thump. Something hits the window just over her shoulder. Loud enough to turn Ms. Blake from the chalkboard. The students watch her slowly approach to look out when a bird slams right into the window.

Ms Blake flinches back, a hand coming to her mouth as if to stifle a scream.

Another bird flies into the window. Then a third. Dozens of birds appear out of the sky almost instantaneously. They slam violently into the glass, one after another. I flinch every time a bird hits the window. But yet, I still felt frozen to my seat.

A crack ripples through the panes, causing students to rise from their desks. I sat perfectly still, hoping this nightmare would stop. "Get down. Everyone—" Ms Blake calls out.

I watched with wide, horrified eyes as glass shatters as birds smash through the windows, filling the room in a spectacular frenzy. Students tumble out of chairs, desks clatter amid screams and shrieks of panic.

"Paige!" Stiles rushed towards me, dragging me down underneath a desk. I let out a whimper, finally letting it register with me with what's happening. Under a desk, Stiles uses himself as a body shield to protect me from getting hurt. His arms are wrapped around my head and I snuggled into his chest, suddenly wrapping my arms around his waist as we huddled underneath the desk together.

Finally, the flapping of wings and screeching subsides. I opened my eyes that were squeezed shut, and lifted my head up to meet Stiles' gaze, who was looking down at me with soft eyes. I felt my heart hammer in that very moment, all I wanted to do was kiss him. Our faces were so incredibly close.

"Thanks." I managed to utter out, feeling my heart beat calm down a little once everything had stopped. Stiles gave me a small smile and got out from under the desk, then reached out his hands and helped me up.

He kept close to me as we watched the classroom become a mess. Dead birds and tipped over desks with other students rising. Protectively, Stiles places an arm around my waist, keeping me beside him. Which I did not mind at all. I felt safe with Stiles.

Man, sometimes I forget I'm a werewolf.

Lydia and Allison walked over to us with worried looks. "Stiles, we should call our dads." I looked over at Stiles who nodded, and hesitated to move away from me as we both pulled out our phones, dialing their numbers.

⇉

School officials, parents and EMT's attend to the shocked but mostly unhurt students. Among them, Noah Stilinski and my Dad surveys the mess with a look of total bewilderment. I was at Stiles' side the entire time, not feeling like interacting with anyone else.

Stiles looked over at Ms Blake, gazing at the damage. "Ms. Blake? You okay?" Stiles questioned her as we were close by her. She nods, unaware of a feather stuck in her hair. Stiles gently plucks it out.

"Oh. Thank you." Ms Blake sent him a small smile.

I turned to look where Allison and Lydia were at. Lydia stood near by me and Stiles, while Allison was with her Dad, talking.

"Next time you feel like staying home, you stay home." I tuned onto Chris Argent's voice.

"I'm okay. But, Dad, the deer and now this. It can't be a coincidence." Allison tells her father.

"Mr. Argent, you wouldn't have any insight into this, would you?" I looked over and saw Noah and my father walking over to them.

Both Argent and Allison glance to Noah in alarm. "Me?" Argent asks.

"Yeah. All this—this bizarre animal behavior. You must have seen something like this before, right?" Noah questioned.

"Uh, I'm not sure why I would... or why you would..." Argent slightly stuttered, caught off guard.

"Sorry, I could've swore I overheard my son talking about how you were an experienced hunter." Noah informed.

Before I could listen anymore, Stiles caught my attention by placing a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?" Stiles asked me.

"Me?" I frowned. "Yeah..."

"I can tell when you're lying, Paigey." Stiles murmured the old nickname. I hate to admit, but it has grown on me. "I don't need supernatural hearing for that."

I shrugged. "I don't know... I feel uneasy about this. Like, it feels different."

Stiles nodded. "Yeah."

"Everything felt too perfect, the break I mean, and then the deer happened, and the birds, now what? What's next?" I questioned him. He shrugged, having no clue himself. "Sorry, I know you don't the answers to this."

"Yet." Stiles added, and hesitantly grabbed my hand. I couldn't help but smile, linking our hands together as I star einto his caramel eyes. "We don't know the answers to it yet."

⇉

Allison, Lydia, and I stood near our lockers, gathering our things to go home. Everything was left with the police. I was just glad to get out of there. I shoved my books into my bag, annoyed that everything was happening.

"Is it me or is Beacon Hills turning into more like Beacon For the Totally Bizarre and Supernatural?" Lydia asked, cocking her head as she shuts her locker door carefully.

"Ugh, tell me about it." I rolled my eyes. "Why can't we just have a break?"

"Can we talk about the way Stiles grabbed you and protected you under the table?" Allison gushes, shutting her locker door, too, turning to me. I blushed deeply, biting my lower lip, thinking about it. "That was cute. And when he—"

"Okay, we can stop talking about it, please." I pleaded, my heart racing at rewinding the memory of that.

"We're just saying," Lydia added. "There's no way he doesn't like you."

"He can't like me," I shake my head, still in denial. "Because..."

"Because your a werewolf?" Lydia smirked. "Oh, like he cares. His best friend is a werewolf too. Trust me... I think he likes you."

"Me too." Allison chimes, giving me too much hope.

I couldn't contain my blush and I looked away from them. A girl then comes rushing down the hallway, her eyes wide as she stops in front of us. Allison, Lydia, and I share glances towards each other curiously. I stare at the dark brunette. "Where's Scott McCall?" She gives Allison an off look. "You're Allison, right?"

"Yeah." Allison furrows her perfect eyebrows together. "How do you—"

"Where's Scott?" The girl demanded, her eyes flickering between the three of us.

"He had to leave. He was supposed to be back in class but—" Allison was cut off when the girl grabs her wrist tightly, and I clenched my jaw.

"Is he coming back?" The girl asked.

Lydia stepped in front of me first, protectively. "Hey, ease up on the physicality, sweetheart." Lydia reaches to separate them but the Girl wraps a hand around her wrist as well.

Before she could hurt them anymore as I noticed Lydia wincing, I stepped forward, seprating them apart and stood in front of my two best friends protectively. "Watch it." I snapped. The girl stares at me and licked her dried lips before turning around, leaving abruptly. I turned to my friends. "Are you guys okay?"

"Y—Yeah..." Allison mumbled, startled, clearly.

"She brusied me." Lydia grumbled and I looked down at her bruised wrists, examining them.

"They'll heal, eventually," I nodded. Then, Chris Argent approached us and him and I share a civil look. I liked Chris, I decided. After he decided to help Scott and I.

"Come on, let's get you three out of here. School can wait another day." Argent offers and I couldn't be more grateful. Lydia and I looked at each other before moving down the hallways, towards parking lot, Argent and Allison following us.