Translucence

26

Stiles looked at Kya who was sitting on his bed. "There's a party tonight for Heather and I was wondering if you wanted to come."

"Heather?" she repeated. "Why her? You remember we didn't get along."

"Please?"

"I don't want to. Stiles you're... You're attractive, okay? She's gonna be all over you."

"You think I'm attractive?"

"You heard nothing."

He grinned goofily and asked, "So are you coming? Please?"

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

"Beautiful."

"Even for a dead girl?"

"Even then."

Kya smiled tightly, knowing full well something could happen between Stiles and Heather. Not that she really had a chance anyway.

---

They got to the party and Kya offered a brief wave to Heather and wandered around.

Kya eventually went outside to see Stiles and 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."

"Sorry about Heather."

"Thanks."

---

The next day at school, they met up with Derek in an empty classroom. Stiles and Kya 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?"

Stiles frowned. "If you looked, you'd see it's exactly the same on both sides."

"It's nothing."

Lydia pursed her lips. "Pareidolia. Seeing patterns that aren't there. It's a subset of apophenia."

Scott's eyes narrowed at the werewolf. "They're trying to help."

Derek pointed to the two girls. "This one, who used me to resurrect my psychotic uncle. Thank you. And this one, who shot about 30 arrows into me and my pack."

"You're wrong," Kya spat. "But you're too stubborn to see it."

Stiles said, "Okay, all right, now, come on. No one died, all right? Look, there may have been a little maiming, okay, a little mangling, but no death. That's what I call an important distinction."

Allison glared at Derek. "My mother died."

Derek rolled his eyes. "Your family's little honor code killed your mother. Not me."

She let out a sigh. "That girl was looking for Scott. I'm here to help him; not you."

"You wanna help? Find something real."

Scott frowned. "Derek... Give her a chance. Okay? They're on our side now."

Derek turned to Scott. "Well, then, maybe you should tell her what her mother was actually trying to do that night."

Kya shot Allison a look. "Your mom tried to kill my friend. A little revenge is perfectly reasonable to me."

Stiles attempted to change the subject. "Okay, what would a pack of alphas want with Erica and Boyd?"