chapter fifteen
"lydia's birthday"

"YOU, STILES STILINSKI, ARE THE most dramatic boy I know. What the hell is even in that box?"

Lynn purposely bumped her shoulder into Stiles' as he placed the huge yellow and pink wrapped gift he had gotten for Lydia's birthday onto a table that was designated for other presents. Stiles only fumbled on his own words, his cheeks glowing red in the slightest bit, and Lynn laughed to herself knowing she had managed to fluster him in the slightest way.

Currently, Scott and Lynn were softly trailing behind Stiles as they were all walking around Lydia's house for the girls birthday party. Her eyebrows were knitted together in a light confusion — she was told Lydia's birthday party was the party of the year, but there was hardly anyone here. Thinking that maybe they had just arrived earlier than the time expected, she shrugged it off.

"Have you guys seen Jackson anywhere?" Stiles questioned, glancing backwards at his two best friends, and they both shook their heads.

"No, seen Allison?"

Lynn flashed Scott a sympathetic frown, knowing that the two had been having a rough go ever since Allison told the Argents everything about the kanima — meaning that they knew that it was Jackson. Scott had yet to seem to forgive Allison for what she had done, and Allison had yet to seem to forgive Scott for what he had done.

"No, but we should probably tell her what we found," Stiles explained, switching over towards his best friend, then back around the house. He seemed to also recognize the fact that no one was here.

"I'm still kind of not sure what we found," Scott chimed in, and Lynn let out a soft chuckle, this was probably going to be the third time Stiles and Lynn had tried to explain what they discovered in the yearbooks.

"I figured out it has something to do with water," Stiles answered, and before he could go any further, Lynn took it as her turn to speak.

"We," Lynn corrected, playfully elbowing Stiles in his arm, then she turned back towards Scott. "We found out that all the victims were on the swim team. And not to mention the fact that the kanima couldn't swim."

"So, whoever's controlling the kanima really hates the swim team?"

"Hated the swim team. Specifically, the 2006 swim team," Stiles continued, but was a bit relieved to know that Scott seemed to finally understand their discovery. "So it could be another teacher, maybe like a student back then. I mean, who are we missing though? What haven't we thought of?"

Lynn was happy to see Allison making her way over towards the group of teenagers — and her eyes flickered between the brunette girl over towards the boy, and then back at Allison.

"Oh, Allison!" Lynn pursed a wide smile while jumping forward to pull Allison into a hug, and then she turned back towards Stiles and Scott with an arm strapped over the girls shoulders. "Scott, you know Allison, right? She's...ow—"

Lynn grumbled as Allison jabbed her elbow into her stomach, loosening her grip on her. Allison flashed a deadly and embarrassed glare, and Lynn popped her jaw off to the side.

"Just trying to diffuse the tension," Lynn hummed and fake smiled towards Allison, and then over to Scott, and they both seemed utterly embarrassed.

"Uh, Jackson's not here," Allison spoke up through the growing awkwardness. She was steadily ignoring the weird glance Scott had given her, and Lynn let out an exhale of heavy breath.

"Yeah, no one's here," Stiles chimed in, his eyebrows buried together in confused as he scanned the entirety of the outside.

Lydia had a beautiful house, that was for sure. They had now made it outside, and were standing by a wide and deep pool. There were strings of lights wrapped around everywhere — like tables full of a pink liquid Lynn could only assume was punch, some tall towers that held up the roof, and then all along the ceiling. But the thing was there was no one around, only two people standing awkwardly by a punch table and then a lone guy sitting down by some bushes.

"Maybe it's just early," Scott shrugged softly, gulping a bit while he glanced over to Allison as she was scanning the area. What a lovesick puppy...

"Or maybe nobody's coming because Lydia's turned into the town whackjob."

Lynn awkwardly cringed up her face as she glanced over to poor Lydia, who was standing by herself with glasses of punch on a tray. She didn't seem to be phased by having a total of seven people at her party, but Lynn still couldn't help but feel guilty.

"We have to do something, this is just depressing," Lynn murmured, a frown growing in her soft pink lips.

"Yeah, I think so too, we've completely ignored her for the past two weeks," Allison added, and Lynn nodded alongside the girl.

"She's completely ignored Stiles the past ten years," Scott explained, and Lynn bit down on her bottom lip not to let a snort escape her system, but it only came out muffled.

"I prefer to think of it as me not having been on her radar yet," Stiles raised an index finger up, and Lynn chuckled to herself while glancing down at her shoes so no one would see how amused she was.

"We don't owe her a party."

"What about the chance to get back to normal?" Allison questioned, and Scott seemed to take a second to think about her suggestion.

      "Normal?"

      "She wouldn't be the town whackjob if it wasn't for us," Allison argued, and Lynn wanted to mention that she wasn't even here with Lydia got her bite and wandered around the woods naked for two days, but she decided perhaps now wasn't her best time.

      "I guess I could use my co-captain status to get the lacrosse team here," Scott suggested letting a massive sigh escape his lips.

      "I could text some people," Lynn added on, fishing out her phone from her back pocket, but then stopped in he movements when she saw the way her three best friends narrowed their eyes questioningly. "Do you guys know the amount of boys that have given me their number since I started here? Let's just say I was starting to run out of space in my contacts."

      Allison and Scott seemed utterly impressed with raised eyebrows, where as Stiles only let his lips fall ajar with furrowed eyebrows, but then he quickly recovered and then yanked out his own phone.

      "Yeah, I also know some people who can get this thing going. Like, really going."

———

"Oh, dear God, someone hide me."

Lynn dramatically tried hiding behind one of the huge stone towers as her eyes landed on Matt — who seemed to be scanning the crowd for someone and she pleaded that it wasn't her he was looking for.

She cringed up her face pathetically, and then glanced frantically towards her two best friends. Both Scott and Stiles only looked confusingly in Lynn's direction, and then she tilted her head towards Matt as he was inching closer to the corner the three of them were relaxing in.

By now the party had grown tenfold between the lacrosse team, the many suitors that had given Lynn their number, and the fantastic people Stiles had met at the gay bar he and Scott accidentally went to the other day. Trust me, it's better to not ask.

"What are you—oh," Stiles breathed out as he saw Matt heading directly for them, and Lynn sucked in a deep breath.

Lynn pressed her back up against the tower as she could faintly hear Matt's footsteps, and she thought perhaps if she just sneakily wrapped around the tower she'd be able to disappear.

"Hey, have either of you—Lynn?"

Lynn clicked her tongue on the top of her mouth as she swung on her heels, and she flashed a quite obviously fake surprised expression. She couldn't let Matt know that Allison had managed to see the pictures on his camera, because she wasn't sure if Matt would try to do something to hurt her brunette friend.

"Matt! Hey," Lynn breathed out awkwardly, nibbling on her bottom lip as flashed a sympathetic smile. "I was just about to use the bathroom, actually, so—"

As Lynn tried attempting at backing up, Matt raced forward to wrap his fingers around her wrist to pull her to a abrupt stop. And almost instantly, both Scott and Stiles jerked up from their seats on the bench in a protective stance.

Stiles stepped in front of Lynn with an angry expression covering his face, where as Scott placed a hand warningly on Matt's arm, who immediately let go of Lynn when he realized how aggressive the two boys looked.

"Whoa, relax, I just wanted to talk to her," Matt rose his arms in defense, and Lynn felt a little dumb playing the damsel in distress, so she stepped in between the two boys guarding her like dogs.

"About?" Lynn questioned and a purely uninterested expression.

"Uh, the pictures," Matt awkwardly spoke, raising a hand to rub the back of his neck sheepishly. "I know Allison saw them...so I only figured she told you."

Lynn contemplated it for a moment, but then she realized if she had this conversation with Matt, then she could let the boy know if he continued to stalk her she wouldn't be afraid to rip his throat out, with her teeth.

"Fine, but you get two minutes, that's all," Lynn stated, and when both Scott and Stiles opened their mouths to surely argue against the two of them having a talk, she rose up an index finger to silence them. "Don't worry, I know how to handle myself."

      And with that, Lynn gestured for Matt to go wherever he planned on having a talk with her at, and then she slowly trailed behind the boy. He pushed through the crowd inside Lydia's house, and her eyes cautiously trailed everyone else.

      After a minute or two, the two of them arrived to a small, empty room that Lynn assumed was a guest bedroom, because there weren't any personal items littering the place.

      Lynn crossed her arms over her chest with clear attitude as she waited for Matt to talk, purposely tapping her finger impatiently against her skin in hopes he would hurry up and get this over with.

      "Uh, right. So, I know I took some pictures of you that I should've told you about," Matt spoke up, and Lynn already had a bad feeling itching the inside of her stomach. She felt utterly uncomfortable being in this room alone with the guy she found out took pictures of her in her room, and she had the sudden urge to collide her knee into his gut. "But is it really that bad that—that I think you're beautiful? And I think you should be the subject of a perfect photograph?"

      Lynn only scoffed lightly, and she sent a disbelief filled expression. "Matt, are you serious? I think there's other ways to go about taking a picture of me than hiding outside in my bushes."

      Matt's nose twitched with anger, and Lynn was asking, almost begging, him to give her a single reason to knock him flat on his ass.

      "So, I'm—I'm a stalker now. That's...is that it?"

      "That's what the police and literally any other person would call it, Matt," Lynn retorted, her jaw tensing up, and she needed to take a deep breath.

      Tonight was a full moon, and with the way she's been so angry so easily, she knew she needed to be careful in the first place.

      "You think my bedroom is wallpapered with your photos? You think I'm the kind of guy that's gonna say something like, 'well, if I can't have her, no one can'?" Matt asked with venom laced in his voice, and he moved forward with throwing his arms aimlessly in the air. "Well, you know what? Get over yourself, Lynn, because there's another pretty girl walking through the room every five minutes."

      The moment that Matt quit his rambling and realized the words that had fell from his mouth, he seemed to have immediate regret.

      "Perfect," Lynn spoke out, flashing a quite sarcastic smile while she moved towards the door. She rose her arm up, checking the watch on her left wrist, and then glanced back towards Matt. "Looks like you'll only have to wait another three."

      "Evelynn, wait."

      Lynn peeled open the door and started to make her way out, but then she felt a sudden tug around her forearm pulling her back. And instinctively, Lynn swung on her hips while she launched her fist backwards, only to swing it straight into Matt's nose.

      The crowd outside the room seemed to notice the commotion, and they either let out massive gasps or loud snorts of laughter. Matt grasped his nose in a groan, that would soon begin to bleed, she could already smell the blood seeping through.

      "Leave me the hell alone or next time it'll be worse than a bloody nose," Lynn warned, her nostrils flailing as she finally swung on her heels out of the room.

      "You'll regret this, Evelynn!" Lynn didn't even listen to Matt as he grumbled out the threat, not phased in the slightest.

      Once she was back outside, she let out a sigh of breath out while running a hand through her messy brunette locks of hair. She scanned the area for Scott or Stiles, but neither of the boys were still in their back corner.

      "You look like you need a drink."

      Lynn jerked her head over her head when she recognized Lydia's voice, and she flashed the girl a warm smile, enjoying seeing her friend rather than dealing with the whole Matt situation.

      Lydia offered Lynn a plastic glass of the pink punch, and she cringed up her face a bit, shaking her head.

      "Thanks, but I can't get—" Lynn stopped herself, almost completely forgetting that Lydia doesn't know about the supernatural. So, she most definitely wouldn't know that werewolves can't get drunk no matter how much they like to try. "—I'm driving."

      "Scott already said he was driving you! Girl, you need to relax, have a drink," Lydia argued, and Lynn had instinctively furrowed her eyebrows — Scott never mentioned that he would be the one driving, but then she shook off that thought. I think too much.

      "You know what? Why not," Lynn shrugged while wrapping her fingertips around the glass, and she leaned the cup to touch her soft lips, taking a few sips of it. It had a sweetened taste, but was laced with something that burned the back of her throat, but she just assumed that was the liquor in it.

      It's not like she or Scott could get drunk, so even though apart of her wanted to liquid to influence her, she would be just fine.

      Or so she thought.