ILLUSION, ELI HALE

seven | jeep ridin'

2026

New text message from Sunshine:

"you busy?"

"what do u want eli?"

"where are you rn nads?"

"photography room. why?"

"you wanna get into some trouble??"

"not really, no."

"??????"

"i tracked ur phone. i'm outside lol."

"like the front door haha."

"...are you coming???"

After hearing the constant buzzing from her phone, Nadia figured it was best to just go along with whatever Eli was bothering her about. She had been at school, editing this week's version of the Cyclone Spread with a few other members of the committee, but they'd gone out for pizza and Nadia liked her alone time so this was good for everyone.

Yet, now, here was her other half bothering her for whatever reason.

Nadia grabbed her camera and stuffed it into her backpack before sliding on her light blue cardigan. It was nearing the end of her Sophomore year in the middle of May. The dreariness of Winter had come and gone, bringing flowers and nice weather in its absence. Meanwhile, as she was doing this, her back pocket was now buzzing at ten times a second with Eli spamming her phone with text messages.

She was just about to talk out of the room when she quite literally walked into the man of the hour. Her camera was just about to fall out of her tote bag if Eli didn't have quick instincts and caught it mid-air. "Sorry." Eli flashed her a smile. "Thought you died."

Nadia gave him a blank stare and stuffed the camera back into her bag. "In the two minutes that you sent the are you coming text? The same one in response to me admitting that I indeed did not want to get into trouble?"

"Were those rhetorical questions?"

"No, they were most definitely not." Nadia let Eli lead the way in the direction of the outside of the school. "Tone it down on the question marks next time?"

"Multiple question marks are my way of showing how much I care about you, Nadi. Same with my spamming texting style. You'll miss them if they're gone."

It was times like this when Eli said ridiculous things like that, Nadia questioned how she ended up with a photo of him on her phone's home screen.

They made their way out to the parking lot while Nadia asked aloud the reason why she just had to stop the important business that she was doing and follow this boy outside. She'd been complaining mid-sentence before the realization hit.

"Eli, I know you did not steal the jeep."

"I stole the jeep."

"Again?"

Parked directly in front of the duo was the infamous Roscoe. Blue and Black, less battered than it had been when Nadia saw it for the first time years ago, but still looking like its had better days. Derek had managed to fix the majority of the jeep—taking off the duct tape and fixing the dents throughout the outside of it. There was a lore to this jeep, Nadia had begun to find out as she became close with the Hale family. It was a family relic, once owned by Sheriff Stilinski's late wife, which was then passed down to his son, Stiles. Stiles was a troublemaker just like Eli. Maybe that's why he gravitated to this vehicle.