FRIENDS AND HORRORS
october 13th

( she cared deeply for people who never even spared her a second glance )

She pressed her lips against the ripped fabric of her shirt, successfully muffling the whimper that tore past her parted lips. Inhaling shakingly through her nose as she pressed the piece of cloth against the gash on her leg, instinctively kicking from the sting of pain it caused. Her leg had begun to feel numb, she could barely feel the ground underneath her feet anymore; it felt as if she was running on air.

"This would be much easier if you stopped running, Zel." It was like an echo throughout her mind, the voice full of fake sympathy. Their steps were slow, taunting her with the sound, alerting her they were moments away from her chosen spot. She could hear the tip of the dagger sliding along the cobblestone wall, another warning.

Her nails dug into the crevices that decorated the wall, using the grip to drag herself along it. She shut her eyes tightly, gritting her teeth to conceal the hiss of pain. The wound on her side was throbbing in pain, almost screaming for help.

She froze once more, no longer hearing their taunting nosies. Her expression was one of utter fear, every beat of her heart was painful; every breath was a struggle.

"I never wanted it to happen this way, you know? I wanted to keep you safe, I wanted to take you away from all of this. But no." She could hear the disappointment in their tone. Just their voice alone made her want to run, made her want to risk her position. "You had to get curious. You could not leave well enough alone, even after you promised me."

She found herself pressing her back flat on the wall, giving her a clear view of each side of her. Their voice came from both sides, was that possible? Or was she just beginning to lose it completely due to blood loss.

"I didn't do anything!" She called out. unable to handle the fear of not knowing where they were. Her vision slowly got darker, barely able to make out shapes near her.

Her breath hitched at the exhale that was released against her neck, lips brushing her skin as they spoke. "Tag, You're it."

...

"It felt so real, Cass. I woke up sweating and I couldn't breathe, I was terrified." Her voice fell into a whisper. A shiver ran down her back in memory of the nightmare that kept her alert practically all night.

She heard the exhaustion in her sister's sigh, wincing at how she paused her movements, her hands twisted in her hair. Zelda resisted the urge to shy away when Cass twisted her body to gaze at her. "It is called a nightmare. It wasn't real, you just scare easily." Her tone remained annoyed, yet a hidden emotion was painted on her features.

Zelda curled more into herself, her knees touching her chest as she laid on her side. Her arm was used as a pillow, an uncomfortable position yet one that she didn't want to reposition herself. "It just felt real. I never said it actually happened." She murmured in a defeated tone.

Her eyes watched as her sister only shook her head, glancing back in the mirror to make sure she looked presentable. "Just get some more sleep. I don't get off my shift till midnight, I left money for you for food." She explained, lazily gesturing over to the counter as she gathered up her purse and keys. "Also don't leave the house without telling me where you are going." She added on in a parental tone.

She only raised her hand to give a thumbs up, "Yes, mom." She confirmed. Dropping her hand to clutch her shirt, eyes fluttering to a close. She knew Cass answered yet she didn't care enough to listen in. Instead she just listened to her leaving, zoning out once the door creaked open.

"Zelda! Your friend is here, don't do anything stupid!" Cass called out, mumbling goodbye to the person before closing the door behind her. She only hummed in response, lips turning into a mocking smile as she thought of it as a joke.

Her lips fell into a frown as she attempted to snuggle into herself more, feeling a cold wave come over her. In the midst of this, she didn't realize the footsteps that came to halt in front of her.

"Are you okay?" The boy questioned out of concern.

Zelda released a sharp gasp as her body jumped to sit up straight, her vision automatically turning black with sparkles. "Shit." She mumbled. The pads of her fingers rubbed at her head till she was able to see the face in front of her more clearly.

Scott.

"What are you doing here?" She questioned with confusion, her tone coming off grumpily on accident. Causing her to drop her head till her forehead met her knees. "Sorry. I'm okay. I just didn't get enough sleep last night." She apologized, palms meeting her knees as she pushed her head back up to look at him.

He only tipped his lips into a gentle smile, features conveying how concerned yet relieved he was. "Not much of a sleeper, are you?" He asked in a rhetorical sense. Glancing behind himself before falling back against the chair across from her, making himself comfortable.

She shook her head, giving a dismissing wave of her hand. "I usually sleep a good amount. Just I had this weird dre- I just couldn't get comfortable last night." She corrected, her voice lowering an octave at her own lie.

His brows furrowed for a moment, eyes narrowing just for a second. She swore it was like he could hear through her lie. "Hopefully you sleep better tonight.. As for your other question, I was just wondering if you were coming to the party tonight. I kinda wanted to introduce you to my friends."

Her expression dropped immediately, fingers clutching the edge of her shirt. Suddenly she remembered why she had been avoiding the kind boy for two days. The words that were exchanged between him and his friend, crashing into the girl. Werewolf.

She nervously twisted at her shirt, allowing a shaky smile to paint her lips, "Uhm I don't think I will be able to go. No way to get there, besides I am not a huge party person." She excused, taking note of the disappointment that crossed his features before it quickly twisted into a grin.

She forgot about the bike as well.

"I can take you! I'll even leave the party whenever you want to leave. I'm only going so Stiles and Lydia don't yell at me." He mused, eyes crinkling at the sides at how wide his smile was; chuckling to himself. Though once his amusement calmed, he leant forward, elbows resting against his knees. "Trust me. It will be fun."

Zelda's eyes flickered around his position, his facial. He seemed so genuine, actually joyful for her to show up and interact with their little group. She felt like she could trust him, maybe she had just heard wrong the other day.

Her shoulders slowly relaxed, a deep sigh being released from her parted lips. Her eyes playfully rolled, glancing back at him with a closed lipped smile. "What time do I have to be ready?" She said with a jokingly exasperated tone.

His expression turned sheepish, eyes trailing over to the clock on the wall. "In like twenty minutes."

She tilted her head, looking at him with narrowed eyes and parted lips. Clearly looking disappointed and slightly angered by the limited time.

"I was suspecting you would say no." Scott admitted, giving a slightly embarrassed smile. "I can wait here while you get ready." He offered. Once again leaning back into the chair, pulling out his phone as if to showcase that she could take her time.

Zelda laughed out of disbelief, using the tips of her hands to push herself off the coach. Suppressing the need to sway from the lightheadedness. "Give me fifteen minutes." He gave a quiet hum in response.

Now she has to deal with getting on that stupid bike once again.

...

His hand caught her elbow, the other holding onto the helmet she handed him moments before. "How do you not get dizzy on that thing?" She questioned as she resisted the urge just to collapse onto the floor.

"I'm used to it." He sounded so amused that she wanted to reach up and slap it off, but he was currently holding her up. "You'll slowly get used to it." He promised, giving her arm a squeeze in warning before he let her go.

She stumbled slightly before she caught her balance. Purposely ignoring the way he suppressed a laugh at how her arms flailed to catch herself.

"You make it sound like I'm going to be on this death machine a lot."

He gave a slight raise of his brows, "How else are you going to get to school?" He questioned, tilting his head in the direction they needed to walk in.

Zelda didn't respond to him. She began to walk behind him, directly behind him. Her arms snaked around her center, the leather of her jacket rubbing comfortingly along her stomach.

Her eyes drifted to the people around them, most were dancing, the rest were drinking and talking. She felt completely out of place here, she didn't enjoy doing either of those things; well she liked drinking just dreaded how she'd feel after.

Then she began to worry about what she was following him into. His friend made it obvious he was weary of her, what if he just makes her feel worse? Yet those brown eyes flashed through her mind again, remembering the girl who looked at her with a hint of softness.

Zelda released a grunt when her face smashed into his back once they came to a halt, "Oh, Sorry! I thought you were paying attention!" He quickly apologized, twisting his body to make sure she was alright.

"I wasn't." She murmured, the palm of her hand coming to hold her head.

"Sorry again. Just ignore how Stiles is, he is suspicious of everyone." He said, causing her to raise her brow in disbelief.

"Oh really? I couldn't tell." She said, giving a gentle roll of her eyes that she was glad he looked away for.

Just as his lips parted again, he was automatically cut off by the same spastic boy. "Scott! We told you at seven, it's already eight!" He complained, giving Scott a disapproving glare.

His gaze slowly turned back to Zelda, her eyes immediately widening at how she had six pairs of eyes on her at once.

She scooted herself behind Scott instinctively. As if sensing her discomfort, he twisted his head towards them; all six of them casting their gaze in separate places.

Well, all except one girl. "Where did you get that jacket?" She questioned, voice silky smooth. Her lips had pursed, eyes trailing over Zelda's outfit with curious yet excited eyes.

Zelda's eyes fell to the jacket that covered most of her body, seeing at how tight she clutched it near her stomach. "It was my dads, he gave it to me a couple years ago." She said, hesitantly looking back up to give a slight smile. "It's from harley davidson." She added on.

She took note of how she perked up at that, turning towards Stiles to give him a pointed look. "See. I told you they have nice jackets there." Zelda almost laughed at how his expression soured just a bit.

Scott's hand landed gently on her shoulder, the other raising to gesture to everyone. "Well guys this is..." He trailed off, glancing at her with a frazzled expression.

"Zelda."

"... Right! This is Zelda and well that's Lydia, Uhm that's Kira. They are in our grade. Liam and Mason are a grade below us. And that's Ma-"

"Malia and Stiles." She cut him off, finding herself frozen out of realization. Her eyes flickered towards the girl, seeing her brows furrowed with confusion.

The pink on her cheeks were a bright contrast against her pale skin, wanting to curl into herself more at Mason and Lydia's amused smirks.

She twisted her head towards Scott, "Uhm Derren? He's on the lacrosse team but uh... I was asking what your name was since we never said before you took me to school and he just kinda told me who they were too." She explained awkwardly, feeling embarrassment at how she heard a snicker.

Though when she turned her head back towards them, she saw Stiles with a scowl on his features. "What?" She asked bluntly.

"Derren is an asshole." Stiles grumbled out, arms crossing over his chest as he slid down in his seat. It was like watching a child be upset over being wrong.

Her brows only raised, lips forming to release a quiet 'Oh'.

Silence filled throughout the group, only the sound of the party behind them were present.

"Well, I'm going to get a drink. Kira, wanna come?" Scott's voice turned flustered, his hand slipping from Zelda's shoulder once the girl bounced towards him. The two taking off together, Scott gesturing for her just to sit down.

That asshole left her alone with them on purpose.

The strawberry blonde gestured across from her, giving her that gentle nudge she needed. "Sit. We don't bite." To which she heard a slight snicker from one of them.

Zelda suppressed the urge to run away when she saw the only space was left next to Malia, on the other side of her was where the sophomores sat.

She carefully leaned to sit down, her thigh halfway off the bench to keep her and the other girl touching. Her eyes moved to meet hers, being met with a curious expression.

They were so close to each other.

Stiles's eyes flickered between the space between them, giving a slightly raised brow to Lydia.

Someone cleared their throat, "Uhm where did you live before this? Scott was telling us you just moved to town." Mason questioned, waiting for Zelda to turn more towards him before he allowed his features to brighten.

"Seattle. It has to be my least favorite place we've moved to." She explained, her presentable smile turning into a grimace.

"You move a lot?" Her head snapped towards Stiles, shifting uncomfortably in her seat at the sharp gaze he set upon her.

"Yeah. My sister doesn't really love to stay in the same place, she's an adventure seeker." She lied, her gaze shifting just slightly at how poorly her excuse sounded.

"That's a lie." The girl next to her attempted to whisper in his general direction, causing the group to shake their heads in slight alarm.

Zelda shifted her body towards the other, narrowing her eyes in question. "A lie?" She asked, her tone sharp. "What makes you so sure it was a lie?"

Malia only gazed back at her, tilting her head with a frown plastered on her lips. "Your heart skipped a beat." She answered simply.

"My heart skipped a be-" Yet she was rudely cut off by Scott clearing his throat, loudly allowing the drinks to clink against the small table in front of them.

"We kinda just got drinks for everyone." He explained, it was a lame cover up. The way they all just carried on to a new conversation about the drinks made it obvious.

Zelda's blue eyes stayed contrasted against Malia's brown, each carrying a sharp yet soft type of gaze towards each other.

Malia glanced towards Scott, giving him a slight nod before returning her gaze back to Zelda's. A shaky forced smile quirked at the corner of her lips. "I meant you look away when you lie." She corrected, leaning forward to grab at her drink.

She leant forward as well, grabbing at the one closest to her before shuffling back to her original spot. She could feel separate eyes on her, as if sensing the worry that Malia messed something up.

Werewolf. Flashed through her mind once again. She shook her head at the ridiculousness of it, drinking down the bitter substance with a grimace.

Her eyes slowly trailed around the group, stopping at Scott who flashed her a comforting smile. Which she kindly returned, fixing her gaze to blink slowly at the girl next to her who seemed just as deep in thought as her.

Her only question was, what the fuck where they all hiding?

┇AUTHOR NOTE┇

this took me so long and for what 🙄
the reason i put "they" in the flashback was because i don't want you guys knowing who it is yet guy or girl (;
psh anywyas
hey guys in today's chapter zelda kisses zelda and then zelda is like oh wow and zelda smiles at zelda so i feel like zelda and zelda are really nice together make sure to give me your thought on zelda and zelda ok byeee