Curious Stars

Chapter 6 - the argents

"Stiles, I swear if you don't have the sheets done until next lesson, do not bother coming to me for help", Ophelia exclaimed exasperatedly. Even if she had just saved Stiles from half a lifetime full of detention, the boy did not seem to be relieved at all. He was - like always - staring around and being his hyperactive self, so Scott and Ophelia who were both trying to actually get the sheets done were not able to concentrate.

The boy stared at her offendedly as if he was not believing her words. "Can you believe her?", he turned to Scott who just shrugged at the boys antics, intrigued in his chemistry exercises. "But Phelia - ", he started but the girl shushed him. "Don't even try to convince me, Mieczysław." Her friend was just about to complain as Lydia Martin sat down next to Ophelia and wrapped one arm around the girls shoulder. "Who the hell is Mieczysław?" Allison quietly sat down next to Scott and smiled sweetly.

Stiles looked at Ophelia, daring her to explain it. He really did hate his real name. It was a pity actually as it meant 'glory of the sword'. Its meaning suiting her friend well, but she did understand his problem. Nobody had known how to pronounce him at first so he had told everyone he went by 'Stiles'.

"It is just a friend of ours", Ophelia answered, bending the truth once more. "A pity, I thought there would be a new hot guy probably", Lydia stated completely ignoring Scott's and Stiles' presence successfully. Just as Ophelia was about to remember her that she had Jackson, the boy appeared literally out of nowhere. He sat down next to Lydia and stared in the round unemotionally. He clearly did not want to be here.

And where Jackson went, his friends followed. The once small group was now surrounded by literally the whole lacrosse team. Except Greenberg. If Ophelia thought about it, she had never noticed him at school before. Did he even attend? Danny pushed Stiles aside and made himself a home next to the small girl.

"Danny, I thought we were besties?", Stiles exclaimed, upset that he had been replaced. Ophelia stuck out her tongue at him like a small child.

"So I hear that they are saying it's some type of animal that did it. Probably a cougar", Danny stated, once again referring to the attack. He took a bite out of his apple, offering another one to Ophelia. She shook her head and whispered back a quick 'thanks'.

"I heard a mountain lion did it", Jackson countered and Ophelia had to suppress the urge to facepalm. "Anyway, a cougar is a mountain lion", Lydia said. After receiving surprised looks she quickly added: "Isn't it?" 'Oh Lydia, why do you act like this?', Ophelia wanted to ask her friend, still not getting her reasons.

"It is", Ophelia confirmed and shrunk back into herself once she felt so many glances on her.

"Who cares? The guy's probably a homeless tweak who's going to die anyway", Jackson snarled causing the small girl to lean forward and punch his arm. It did not hurt him, instead he let out a laugh. "Jackson, you can not say such things", she scolded him like an overprotective mother. Her friends threw them amused looks and Danny chuckled next to her.

Stiles suddenly looked up from his phone and exclaimed: "Actually they have just found out who it is. Check it out." He turned his phone around and started to show them a video.

'The sherrif's department won't speculate on details of the incident, but confirmed the victim, Garrison Myers, did survive the attack. Myers was taken to the local hospital, where he remains in critical condition.'

"I know this guy", Scott exclaimed surprised. "You do?", Allison asked the question everybody had in mind. He slowly nodded. "Yeah, when I was using the bus - back when I was living with my dad - he was the driver."

"Can we talk about something slightly more fun, please?", Lydia butted in. "Like...oh, where are we going tomorrow night, right?" "Uhm...we were thinking of what we were going to do", Allison said slowly. "Well, i am not sitting at home again watching lacrosse videos." Allison and Ophelia shared an anxious glance, the both of them seeing where the conversation was heading. "So if the four of us are hanging out, we are doing something fun."