𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬, i. lahey

𝟎𝟏𝟎. party of the year

SIDELINES

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"YOU FOUND PICTURES of yourself in his camera?" Emery asks, resting her chin on her knuckles as she lays stomach first on Allison's bed while the huntress sits at her desk.

Early this morning around nine o'clock, Allison called Emery and asked her to come over because she had some disturbing information. Apparently, after the rave, Allison drove Matt back to his home and stumbled upon some photographs of her taken by Matt while she was unaware of his presence. In other words, Matt has been stalking Allison.

Allison nods, clearly uncomfortable by the thought. "Yeah, i—it was weird. He had photos of me everywhere. School, lacrosse games— even in my room."

The witch shoots up in an instant, mouth agape as she stammers. "I'm sorry, what?"

Her disclosure has Emery absolutely and completely gobsmacked. She's had an odd feeling about Matt since she met him at the lacrosse game, but she hadn't really expected this level of disturbing from him. Maybe she expected some sort of deviance or perverted behaviors, but stalking? That never crossed her mind until now.

"Yeah, I know." Allison shakes her head like she's trying to erase the knowledge. "It freaked me out, too. Trust me."

The pair falls into a brief silence, with Emery picking at her nails as Allison writes in her planner. Emery recalls the scene she'd witnessed at the rave, where Scott shouted at Allison for telling her family about Jackson being the kanima. Where she'd had to comfort Allison because of Scott's hurtful words.

"Hey, have you talked to Scott?" Emery questions timidly. "Since, you know..."

"Uh, no. I haven't," Allison replies shortly. She purses her lips together, shrugging a nonchalant shoulder. "There's just a lot going on."

Before either can say anything else to the other, Lydia strides into Allison's bedroom with her hands full of shopping bags from Macy's, a cheerful smile spread across her lips as she approaches them. "Clear your schedules— this could take a while."

Emery grins at the strawberry blonde, rolling off the bed and landing on her feet. She plants a kiss to Lydia's cheek, "Happy birthday, Lyds."

"Thank you, Em," Lydia beams, turning to take out the clothing within the bags. "Don't worry, I bought something for you to wear tonight."

Allison stands from her desk and looks at the amount of bags and dresses that Lydia drapes across the mattress. "How many outfits do you plan on wearing tonight?"

"It's my birthday party." Lydia holds up a multi-shaded grey dress to her body, "I'm thinking host dress, evening dress, then... after-hours casual."

"I noticed that you didn't send out any invites, Allison mentions, and she starts to fiddle with her hands awkwardly.

Lydia seems to be avoiding the brunette's gaze. "It's the biggest party of the year, Allison. Everyone knows."

"I was wondering if maybe this year things, you know, might be different."

"Why would anything be different?"

"Just cause things have been off lately," Allison chuckles. "Things and people. Like Jackson."

His name makes Lydia pause her movements, eyes traveling to meet Allison's in an unnerving manner. "Why do you care about Jackson?"

Allison makes a face, quickly dismissing her friend's question. Then she asks, "Do you know if he's coming tonight?"