CHAPTER THREE
⭑༅enigma ༅⭑
↳ season one episode two ↲

𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗘𝗬 𝗠𝗔𝗗𝗘 𝗛𝗘𝗥 way onto the lacrosse field, just like she did every practice, her school books in hand, along with her clipboard. She watched as the boys walked onto the field. Her eyes scanned the familiar faces, the sweat glistening on their foreheads.

A familiar smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she spotted Tyler, who sent her a smirk. Marley hadn't seen him since the party, she had replayed their brief interaction in her mind over and over, wondering if she had done something wrong. The Aradia girl had even confided in Lydia and Allison, who simply blamed it on the stress of school, leaving the girl with a vague feeling of reassurance.

Shaking off her worries, Marley took a deep breath and refocused on the practice. The boys lined up, while Coach barked out instructions, "Let's go! One-on-one from up top! Jackson, take a long stick today. Atta boy."

Jackson nodded, swapping his lacrosse stick for a longer one as he moved to the defense position.

Marley hoped someone would be able to get past him, thinking he needed a reality check. The only one who had come close was Tyler, but even he had failed.

Jackson continued to block every player's attempts to shoot the ball into the net. Then it was Scott's turn.

Scott ran up to Jackson and was quickly tackled to the ground. Marley winced as he landed on the ground.

"My - my grandmother can move faster than that, and she's dead." Coach taunted, loud enough for everyone to hear. "You think you can move faster than the - corpse of my dead grandmother?"

Marley could see Scott slowly tense up, muttering something to Coach, who raised his voice. "Then do it again," he ordered, "McCall's gonna do it again."

Scott, now calmer, returned to the front of the line.

Marley watched in shock as Scott's tackle sent Jackson sprawling to the ground. Everyone rushed toward the boy, who was clutching his arm.

Marley's heart raced as she dropped her clipboard and school books. She rushed over to Jackson, kneeling beside him, her hands slightly trembling. "Jackson, are you okay?" she asked.

Jackson groaned in response, clutching his arm in pain.

"It's okay, we'll get some help," she reassured him, looking over at Coach, who'd already dialed 9-1-1. Marley did her best to keep Jackson still, urging him to stay calm.

When the paramedics finally arrived, they quickly assessed Jackson's condition and decided to rush him to the hospital for further evaluation. Marley watched as they loaded him onto a stretcher, getting her phone out to message Lydia about what had happened. Marley hadn't even realized Scott and Stiles were nowhere to be seen.

⭑༅⭑༅⭑

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗗𝗔𝗬, Marley sat in the hospital waiting room a few feet away from Lydia, who had been on the phone for the past hour. Lydia had promised to drive her to her house so she could pick up the car she'd left on Friday. However, Marley didn't realize this meant she'd be waiting an hour for Jackson to finish his checkup.

Marley let out a sigh of frustration as she picked up a magazine, attempting to give herself something to do. A few moments had passed when she noticed someone standing beside her. She turned to her left and saw Stiles standing awkwardly, gazing over at Lydia.

"Hey, Lydia. You probably don't remember me," Stiles hesitantly began. "Um, I sit behind you in Biology. Anyway, I always thought that we just had this kind of connection. Unspoken, of course. Maybe it'd be kind of cool to get to know each other a little better."

Lydia, her attention divided between Stiles and the ongoing phone call, raised an eyebrow. Holding the phone slightly away from her ear, she interrupted her conversation.

"Hold on, give me a second," she told the person on the phone, turning her attention to Stiles.

"Yeah, I didn't get any of what you just said. Is it worth repeating?"

Stiles, embarrassed, shook his head. "No. Sorry. I'll just sit. You don't care," he replied disappointed. Unknowingly, he sat down next to Marley, picking up a magazine for himself.

"That was brutal."

The boy jumped at the sudden voice. He turned to see Marley sitting beside him, a wry smile playing on her lips. Stiles, still recovering from his awkward attempt, managed a sheepish grin.

"Did everyone see that?" She scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Nah," Marley smiled, leaning towards him, "The dead guys didn't see it." She got up, noticing Jackson had finally returned. "Enjoy your magazine, Stilinski."

Stiles, confused as to why she was laughing, looked down to see what magazine he had picked up. His face turned red when he noticed what was written on the cover: Menstrual Cycle. Stiles's embarrassment deepened as Marley walked away.

"Can we pause the makeout sesh and get out of here?" Marley questioned her cousin and boyfriend. "I need to get my car."

"Yeah, whatever, let's go," replied her cousin, slightly annoyed.

As they walked towards the parking lot, Marley couldn't help but roll her eyes at the couple's lack of awareness. "You guys seriously need to work on your timing. PDA in a hospital? Really?"

Lydia shrugged, and they piled into Jackson's car.

⭑༅⭑༅⭑

𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗘𝗬 𝗦𝗔𝗧 𝗔𝗧 the dinner table. She watched as her aunt carefully scooped a plate of pasta into each other's bowls, before serving it. "No phone at the table, please," Alicia said, taking a seat at the head.

Phoebe, who had previously been on her phone, gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry."

Alicia chuckled, shaking her head. "So, Marley, how's Jackson doing?"

Marley who had been picking at her food, and not paying attention to the two, looked up. She shrugged, "The doctors just gave him a couple of shots for the pain, but he should be fine."

Alicia nodded, relieved to hear the news. "That's good. He's lucky Scott didn't do more damage."

Phoebe, who had been quiet, finally spoke up, "I wouldn't say lucky."

"Phoebe." The woman sent her youngest niece a stern look.

"What?" Phoebe played innocent, "I'm just saying, maybe if Scott had hit him a little harder it would've knocked some sense into Jackson and made him less of a dick."

"Phoebe!"

"Anyways," Marley interrupted before the conversation could get any worse, "The first game of the season is tomorrow, and I was hoping you'd come and watch."

Alicia smiled, turning her attention towards the brunette. "Sure. Just let me check in with Noah."

"I still don't get why you're so invested in this lacrosse thing." Phoebe said to her sister, "It's just a bunch of guys running around with sticks, chasing a ball."

Marley chuckled, "Correction: it's a bunch of hot guys running around with sticks, chasing a ball." Phoebe chuckled. "Plus, I think it's fun, I'm basically in charge of everything — which reminds me I have to look over plays." She muttered the last part to herself.

As they finished clearing the table, Marley gathered the empty plates.

"Well — thank you — I'm looking forward to the game tomorrow," Alicia said, as Marley handed her a plate.

"I'll be there, but I'm not promising to become a fan of the sport." Phoebe teased.

"You going to bed yet, Bee?" Alicia asked, washing the dishes.

Phoebe nodded, "Just gotta finish my history project. Good night." She leaned in to kiss her aunt on the cheek and made her way upstairs.

Just as Marley was about to follow suit, she stopped in her tracks. "Hey, Cia?" Alicia, keeping her eyes on the dirty dish in front of her, hummed in response. "Do you know a Derek Hale?"

Alicia almost dropped the plate at the mention of the name. "W-where'd you hear that name from?" She tried her best to keep her voice steady.

Marley shrugged, "He gave Alison and me a ride home from Lydia's party. Said he was a friend of Scott's and that you two 'go way back'."

She whipped around to face her niece. "Listen to me, and listen to me carefully. You are not to speak to him ever again, and if he ever comes around, you call me."

Alicia held a stern face, but Marley could see a different emotion mixed in with the slight anger...fear? What could Derek Hale possibly have done to make Alicia so angry?

"O-okay." Marley gulped.

Alicia smiled, "Now, let me finish up here and I'll ask Noah about tomorrow."

She turned back towards the kitchen sink, waiting for Marley to leave the room to let out a shaky breath.

In six years she hadn't heard a single mention of that name, it was almost as if the name had been sucked out of the minds of every person in Beacon Hills. But, not to Alicia. To Alicia, she'd never been able to escape that name. And now he was back, meaning all her suspicions were confirmed, and she wasn't sure what to do.

INEZ SPEAKS
started lighthearted and ended with a mystery, which we'll be getting into more in the next chapter, however not everything will be revealed (gotta wait for season two for that).