The Secret Holder

VII. Happy For Some Of Us

"Hi, Mrs. Rowen...I was just wondering if maybe you'd seen my mother around? Today or yesterday night?" She shakes her head sadly, and returns to typing on her miserable computer and filing yellowed papers.
I've asked all around the staff office of BHHS, and I still have had no success in finding out why my mom didn't come home from work yesterday.
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"Hi, Lydia. What's going on?" Kira says in a cheery tone.
"You seem awfully giddy about something." I tease, hoping she will tell me the latest. "So? Did you and Scott...?"
"Yes!!!! And it played out perfectly, exactly how I wanted...He told me he was sorry about what happened, and how he hoped it didn't make things weird...But then he came back, and then changed his mind. He said he wasn't sorry after all, and then he kissed me!" Kira is smiling so much it looks like it hurts.
I couldn't be more happy for her! It finally happened like I'd hoped...I knew Scott was still fighting with himself about what him and Kira really were to each other. I'm just glad he's stopped pretending they were only friends.
"Hi," Scott plants a kiss on Kira's temple.
There's that pinprick to the heart again.
Stiles and Malia are about to walk up to us, and I take that as my cue to leave.
"I have class on the other side of the building..." I turn to the clock and see if I can be on time after making a break in a random direction.
"But Biochem is right around-" Scott sees me glance behind him and frowns. "I think he's sorry, Lydia, please just try to get it."
"I've already tried. I didn't think I'd have to tell you that." I ignore Scott's hurt expression and turn my back on him and Kira, making my way to my first class.
I really didn't want to come off as angry as I sounded, but I'm done trying to live up to everyone's expectations of me.
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Time has passed faster than I wanted, and I find myself having a déjà vu standing on the green belt by the array of lunch tables. Scott waves me over to where him and Kira are sitting. He stands up and pulls me aside.
"Can I talk to you? I'm sorry about earlier." His tone is apologetic.
I'm trying not to roll my eyes. I want to listen, but my mind is tuning him out.
"Sure."
Scott looks over to where Stiles and Malia are sitting. "Please just try to understand, Lyd. He's going out of his mind, and I'm pretty sure he would've run after you if it weren't for Malia. I get it if you don't want to talk to him about it, but come on, Lydia. He's my brother. It would be really sad if we all didn't get along like before." He looks at me hopefully, holding both my hands in his.
"Sorry, Scott. I'm not ready to talk to him right now."
His face falls, and the pit of my stomach is overflowing with guilt.
"Okay."
I sit down, and pull out a book. I just want to read, and drown myself in everything and nothing all at the same time. I'm supposed to be mad at Stiles. Why am I thinking about him slamming me up against the lockers, and kissing my neck, wrapping his arms around my waist and whispering things in my ear...
"Lydia?" Kira taps my book to get my attention. "Come on. The bell just rang. You don't want to be late."
"I..." I was going to say something when I sat down before, but I completely lost my train of thought. "Yeah," I finish my sentence, and I walk towards my next class, sinking back into my embarrassing fantasy from earlier.
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The pool is getting cold because I've been swimming since four in the afternoon. I hop out, dripping from head to toe, and gradually lower myself into the jacuzzi.
I'm trying to find something different. A sign to give us answers; Real answers this time. It still hurts to think about Stiles, so I push away all the gushiness, and the awful feeling that comes to mind when he yelled at me, and I try and think of someone trying to get a hold on him or his dad. Who could it be? A friend? A cousin? How am I to know? It could be anyone. There's no one in Stiles's family line that I can think of that has any supernatural ties. That's it.
I type stilinski into the Google search bar. I continue to scroll, and scroll, only to find nothing except pointless websites relating to ancestry.
Nothing. I keep clicking "Next" but all I get is nonsense by page five.
I get out of the jacuzzi and turn everything off. I walk up the stairs to the bathroom, and when I'm about to close the door, I hear a howling noise coming from downstairs. I shut all the doors, right? All the windows? It must just be Prada coming in through her door. I don't let it bother me because she makes a racket at night anyway. Maybe it's my mother? Is she back?
I feel like she does this a lot where she leaves unexpectedly, and then all of a sudden shows up in the kitchen with her cup of coffee and reading glasses again.
I turn on the shower and try to drown out my worries, and keep thinking about the answer to all of this irregularity with the pack.
Anything in my school notes? No. I keep looking for answers in all the same places I looked before. Maybe we're all just suffering from paranoia. No, that can't possibly be it.
Once I'm dressed and ready to go to sleep, I hear the howling noise again. I pad downstairs and glance at the small door for Prada, then I look out on the grass. She's still outside. I call her to come in, and then I lock the door afterwards.  When I'm cleaning up the kitchen from dinner, I find my mom's gold Iphone on the floor by the stove. I pick it up, and look at the lock screen for any missed or recent calls. The only missed calls are from me. I guess I didn't hear her phone ringing because she has to have it on silent for work. I taught her how to password protect her phone, so I know how to get in, but she changed it to thumbprint. Damn it. I'm trying not to worry about it. I consider searching her room for anything that might tell me where she went, but I decide to sleep on it.
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I've locked every entrance to the house that there is. I've even gone so far as to put the heater on so that I can't hear the wind noise from my room upstairs. It's already two in the morning, and I haven't slept at all. Is Stiles awake right now? Is he really losing his mind over what happened the other day? I shut my eyes and finally fall into sleep.
My dream is split into two parts. First is Stiles and I...the second half isn't a face, only a voice.
"Tell him," The voice sounds like an old memory, like someone I might have known briefly.
"Tell my son," the voice chills me as it speaks again.
The only person the voice reminds me of is a woman with flowing dark hair and brown eyes; like Stiles's.
"I'm in Beacon Hills. Tell them to find me,"
I figure it out. Before I can say anything, a piercing scream shatters my unconsciousness, and I wake up to blood on my pillow. The sound echoes only in my mind, but other than that, there is only silence.
I call Scott, and try to stay calm.
"Lydia?" His sleepy voice says into the receiver.
"Scott. Call Stiles. Claudia Stilinski is alive."