Right Beside You | Stiles Stilinski | Two

20 - Lydia and Jackson

The world was a blur of motion and colour. I didn't bother to distinguish any of it. What did it matter? What I thought—even what I knew was cold, hard fact—wouldn't change anything that was happening. It wouldn't stop people from walking down the hall or being late to class. It wouldn't stop Scott, Allison and Stiles from watching me like a time bomb ready to collapse. And it wouldn't stop Derek, Isaac, Boyd, and Erica from trying to kill my best friend.

"Scarlett? Scarlett, come on," Stiles's voice pleaded. "We're gonna do something. We're gonna stop them. Lydia will be okay."

I blinked a few times, trying to make sense of the shapes around me. Stiles was standing in front of me, his thumbs rubbing small, soothing circles on my skin as he held me by the shoulders. Allison and Scott were piling into the room behind him, closing the door to Coach Finstock's office behind them. I hadn't even noticed how far we'd walked.

Stiles was trying to comfort me, but Scott knew there was no time to lose.

"Derek's outside waiting for Lydia," he said gravely.

I bit my lip to hold in a whimper. It was all too much. There was too much going on for Derek to be after Lydia too, not when the Argents were already curious, not when I was still trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

"Waiting to kill her?" Allison asked Scott feebly.

"If he thinks she's the kanima, then yes. Especially after what happened at the pool."

"Nothing happened at the pool!" I snapped. "Lydia wasn't there! She was in the car, and then Stiles called me about the kanima, and then I went inside! She was never alone! Nothing happened!"

"Scarlett..." Scott gave me a pitying look, just like he had that night. "She didn't pass the test."

"I know. I know, but—she was sitting right next to me, Scott. I'm not saying nothing's wrong with her. I'm just saying she can't be the kanima. She can't be."

"It doesn't matter, because Derek thinks it's her," Allison interrupted tersely. "So either we can convince him that he's wrong, or we've got to figure out a way to protect her."

"Well, I really don't think he's gonna do anything here," said Scott, shaking his head. "Not at school."

"What about after school?"

There was a collective sigh as we thought to think of an alternative. No matter how we spun it, it was only a matter of time before Derek got to Lydia. If not Derek, it would be Isaac, or Erica, or Boyd. We were overpowered, outmanned, and running out of time.

"What if we can prove that Derek's wrong?" asked Allison.

Stiles scoffed. "By three o'clock?"

"There could be something in the bestiary."

"Oh, you mean the nine hundred page book written in archaic Latin that none of us can read? Good luck with that!"

"We could always—"

"No," Scott cut me off, his voice gentle, but firm. "Scarlett, we cannot tell Lydia right now. If she even thinks that this is a joke—"

"She won't. Not if you show her."

"Then she runs because she's scared! And if she's not with any of us, she's not safe. You know that."

I huffed, turning my head away to eye the clock. I did know that. If Lydia got fed up with our explanation, if she thought we were joking or putting her in danger, she would proudly march off on her own, and that would give Derek's pack the perfect opportunity to capture her. Right now, the best way to ensure Lydia's safety was to make sure she was never alone, and to make sure she was never alone, we had to do everything we could to keep her in a good mood. Finding out a gang of werewolves wanted to kill her would probably not put Lydia in a good mood.