North Starr

26

A knock sounded on Melanie's door. She sighed and said, "Come in."

The door opened to reveal Stiles. "Hey. You remember Heather?"

"What about her?"

"There's a party tonight for Heather and I was wondering if you wanted to come."

"Heather? Really?"

"Yeah. Please?"

She let out a long sigh. "How do I look?"

"Amazing."

Melanie smiled tightly, knowing full well something could happen between Stiles and Heather.

---

They got to the party and Melanie gave a brief wave to Heather and made her way to the punch bowl. She poured some punch into a cup.

A clearly buzzed guy walked up to her and said, "Wanna find somewhere quiet?"

"No," she retorted.

"Come on, baby." He pulled her close, a hand inching towards her butt.

Melanie balled her fist and gave him a right hook. "Don't touch me."

"Bitch," another guy muttered.

"Dick." She poured the contents of the cup onto the guy's head. "How about you go find someone else to screw."

She ran off and bumped into Scott.

He pulled her up and asked, "Are you okay?"

"No," she spat. "Can we leave? Where's Stiles?"

"No clue. What happened?"

"I want to go home. I'm going home."

"Melanie, wait." He grabbed her wrist.

She instantly punched Scott's jaw as her eyes flashed. As soon as she realized what she'd done, her hands flew to her mouth and her eyes widened. "Oh God. Scott, I-"

"It's okay, Melanie."

Her expression turned to one of panic and she ran from the house, bumping into Stiles.

Stiles pulled her up, seeing her panic. "What happened?"

Melanie froze, then asked, "Where's Heather?"

"Um, I don't know. We were making out and I went to the bathroom upstairs and when I returned to the basement, she was gone. What happened to you?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. Sorry about Heather."

"Melanie-"

"Drop it! Please. Can you take me home?"

Stiles nodded slowly. "Yeah sure."

The ride back to her house was awkwardly silent and Stiles waved as she got out upon arrival. "See you tomorrow."

Melanie offered a brief wave in return and entered her house.

---

The next day at school, they met up with Derek in an empty classroom. Melanie pointed to Lydia and Allison's wrists. "Derek, look."

He shook his head. "I don't see anything."

"Look again," Scott said.

Derek frowned at Scott. "How is a bruise gonna tell me where Boyd and Erica are?"

Melanie shot her brother a look. "If you looked, you'd see it's exactly the same on both sides."

"It's nothing."