Empathy ⌯ Stiles Stilinski

[20] the rescue

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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘
the rescue

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( night school; pt.iv )

IT'S been almost half an hour since Scott left. At least, Maddie thinks it has, she barely knows how much time has passed since they first got trapped. It feels like hours. She remembers getting here around seven so maybe it's nine or ten——the clock above the chalkboard is no help. Its hands are stuck on 4:47 so Maddie can only assume its batteries have run out.

Harry's managed to stay standing for some ten minutes now and he looks a little better. There's some colour returning to his complexion, or she thinks there is, it might just be a trick of the light considering the only thing keeping them from being buried in darkness is the moonlight shining through the windows of which they're on the opposite side of, all of them wanting to be able to open the door as soon as Scott comes back.

Maddie's foot taps against the floor incessantly, her body's natural anxiety release mechanism, although it's not releasing any anxiety, all it's doing is making her foot tired and herself more anxious whenever she pays attention to the rapid beat of shoe against tile. She's shed off her hoodie by now and it lays discarded on one of the tables in the classroom ever since the feeling of it against her body started to bug her. Everything feels wrong, and her clothes keep fluctuating between too tight or too loose. Her teeth skim her bottom lip, trying to pick off the skin. She knows what could come next if she doesn't get out of here soon. An anxiety attack.

It's hard to realise if she's having one right now or not because she's had the worry of impending doom and trouble focusing on anything other than her worries since she got trapped here. But she's not hyperventilating and that she takes as a win. She hasn't had an attack in nearly six months and she wants it to stay that way.

"I don't get this," Allison whispers, her body almost curled up as she sits on the counter. "I don't get why he's out there, why he left us. And I can't. . . I can't get my hands to stop shaking."

Join the club, Maddie thinks wryly.

"It's okay," Jackson comforts, cupping Allison's hands in his. "It's okay, you're gonna be okay."

Stiles looks over to Maddie, seeing if she's having the same thoughts as him. But she's staring blankly out of the window, an unpleasant disassociation of the world around her, trying to escape from this. He gently taps her on the arm to get her back and she returns to reality, looking around before her eyes land on Stiles. He nods to Allison and Jackson, Maddie seeing the jock cupping the girl's hands in comfort.

Her jaw tightens as she looks away, shaking her head. She knows Jackson has had it out for Scott ever since he got good at lacrosse——God forbid anyone battle the alpha—male for his status as captain of the lacrosse team. Jackson has not only said it on multiple occasions but he's proved it on many others. But she doesn't get it, there's no reason to try and keep up the act when the person he's trying to piss off isn't present.

It begs the question, does Jackson actually care for Allison or is this a part of some more intricate master plan he has ready?

Maddie rolls her eyes, wanting the thought out of her head. It isn't the time or place to think about Jackson's possible evil plan. Needing some space, she moves away from the group, walking past the teacher's desk and approaches the window. She doesn't get as much time by the window as she wants before her paranoia gets the better of her and she heads back to the desk.