One More I Love You

Pain Makes You Human

Come on Rowan it's just a flower. One stupid flower. You've probably painted a hundred flowers, why is this so hard? You paint one flower and you get an A, along with the satisfaction of at least one thing going right today. Between the inner dialogue and my shaking hand, I couldn't bring myself to touch the brush on the canvas. I came about an inch from the canvas, the closest I've gotten so far, but a slight nudge to my elbow almost made me screw up. "Hey, Row." Isaac whispers so the teacher couldn't hear him before nudging me again.

"Damn it, Isaac!" I snap throwing my brush with a fresh coat of unused paint into the water. "What?" He quickly raises his hands in surrender, staring me down with a concerned look on his face.

"I was just gonna ask if I could use your red, but never mind." He grumbles with an attitude of his own. Not that I blame him. I'm sure these last two weeks haven't been a cakewalk for him either. As much as he hates to admit it, he's not just worried about me but Scott and Stiles too. But sometimes his concern sounds a bit like nagging. I take the red that I obviously had no intention of using and slam it down next to him causing some paint to fly out. I send him one more glare before turning back to my work.

I noticed that the red paint splattered across my page completely ruining any and all plans I had for it. Not that any of these ideas were gonna come to fruition at this rate anyway. The longer I look at it the more it looks like blood. Just like that, it's like I'm transported back to that night. the night Isaac's dad died. I see his blood being splattered on the car window as Jackson rips him to shreds as the kanima.

Everything fades back to its original scene. I feel sparks as Isaac grabs ahold of my hand. This time I don't snatch away or try to bite his head off. I actually find it comforting. A way of knowing my feet are on the ground right where I need to be, next to him. "Rowan!" He says sternly as if he's called me a few times. I was only able to offer him a half-assed 'huh' in my shocked state as I slowly turned toward him with wide eyes. "Are you sure you're okay?" Instead of answering I stand up and rip the page off to reveal a fresh one before sitting back down. Just start over.

-

Once the bell rang I managed to be one of the first out the door. Partially to avoid my teacher considering I had nothing to turn into her anyway. The other was to lose Isaac in the crowd which I successfully did. I know he means well and I don't want to hurt his feelings but I swear if that boy asks me if I'm okay one more time I might literally explode. In my shuffle to get away, I end up running into a teacher. One that's a little overdressed for public school. "I'm so sorry Mr.-" I noticed that I've actually never this man before.

"Yukimura. I'm the new history teacher." He stands up tall to fix his suit before offering me a handshake with a warm smile, which I gladly returned. I turn to the student he was previously having a conversation with. She already seems annoyed but it seemed to be more him than me. "This is my daughter Kira. Maybe the two of you can be friends, she's having a little trouble." He lowers his voice as if that would prevent her from hearing.

"Dad!" The teen groans, rolling her eyes. I can't help but laugh at the two of them. They remind me of me and my dad. Lucky for me my dad has never had the desire nor the qualifications to teach at any of my schools.

"It's ok. One thing my dad taught me is that you can never have too many friends. I'm Rowan." After I said that I could see her entire demeanor change. She's warm like her dad but seems pretty shy at the same time, I could see how making friends could be a little challenging for her. Over Kira's shoulder, I see Stiles hide Scott under his jacket and usher him into a classroom. Maybe my dad was wrong. Still, I should check on them. You know 'keep an eye on each other and all that. "It was nice meeting you both but I have to go. I'll see you around Kira."

Iwave one final goodbye before rushing off. I walk into the classroom to see Scott collapse into the desks pushing them. "Stiles, what's happening?" I shout over Scott's groans. I've left them alone for one class period. What could've possibly happened in one class period?

"I don't know! He just- He can't control it!"

"Control what?" The two of us jump back as Scott flashes his blood red eyes and sharp fangs at us with a growl. "Woah!"

"Scott it's okay."

"I don't know what's gonna happen. Get back!" Scott chokes out between pants and groans. Thankfully I remembered something Deaton had told me when all this started. He thought this would be one of the major side effects we would have to face.

A picked up a particularly sharp pencil off the floor and carefully made my way over to him. "I'm really sorry about this." I apologize before taking the pencil and stabbing it through his hand, pinning it to the desk. Scott screams out in pain but his features do return back to normal. When I pull the pencil out so he could heal Stiles stares at me in disgust. "Pain makes you human."

Stiles and I kneel down to be at Scott's level. "You guys, this isn't just in our heads. This is real." He pants. His face is drenched in sweat and for the first time, he looks genuinely scared. I guess it's confession time.

"Yeah, I'm not doing so hot either." I tell them with a sigh. "I'm losing time, and I'm pretty sure Isaac's dad is haunting me."

"It's starting to get bad for me too." Stiles confesses. "I'm not just having nightmares. I'm having dreams where I have to literally scream myself awake, and sometimes I'm not even sure if I'm actually awake."

"What do you mean?" Scott questions him.

"Do you know how you know how you can tell if you're dreaming" Scott and I shake our heads. "You can't read in your dreams. Well more and more, the past few days, I've been having trouble reading. It's like I can't see the words. I can't put the letters in order."

"Like, even now?" I ask. Stiles stands up and looks around the room with a horrified expression.

"I can't read a thing."