Teacher My Age

Ch. 9 Shadows

"Ou est ton papa. Dis-moi est ton papa..." I sang "Papaoutai" by Stromae. I continued to hum the rest of the song as I sat on my couch trying to figure out one of the many future assignments I am going to do. "Ou t'es, papaoutai. Ou t'es, papaoutai. Ou t'es, papaoutai. Ou t'es, ou t'es ou papaoutai."

"You have a beautiful voice."

I jumped a little and looked up, "Oh, Scott you scared me."

"Was that French?" he asked.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" I laughed.

"Oh, Allison knows a thing or two about the French language."

"Ah, I see. Well, I took French in high school. The song's called 'Papaoutai'. It means papa where are you. The song is about absent fathers."

He looked down at the ground, "Wow, that's an interesting topic..."

I tried to see his eyes from my position. He then released a sigh and looked back up giving an unreadable look. I got up and walked toward him. Out of instinct I hugged him and held him tightly. He hesitated at first before he wrapped his arms around me.

After a moment I muffled out, "Hey, isn't the school carnival today?"

Scott pulled away, "Yeah, I actually came to get you. One of the other teachers got sick and we needed another teacher to chaperone."

"I see. Alright then," I huffed out. "Lemme get ready." Scott nodded his head.

I ran up stairs and picked out a white tank-top, a blue-green sweater, a light, tan skirt, and black and white converse. I put my hair up in a high ponytail with my side bangs framing the side of my face. I grabbed my phone from the couch and headed for the door with Scott in tail.

Once we got down to the parking garage I posed a question, "Did you want me to give you a ride or...?"

"Oh," Scott scratched the back of his neck, "Haha, I honestly didn't think of that. I guess I'll come back for my bike when the carnival's over if that's OK with you."

"Sure, then shall we?" I bowed my arms towards my car.

Once we arrived we split up to help the various booths that were setting up. By the time everything was all set up it was about 8:00 in the evening. Students had started to arrive and purchase tickets. I walked towards the lacrosse booth, they were doing that dunk tank and Coach Finstock was the dunkie. I bet their booth will raise a lot of money. I know that I would personally want to take a stab at it. It was then that I spotted Scott and Stiles, they were setting up the base balls and testing if the platform worked.

They spotted me and I laughed, and waved back. I soon went to go check out some of the other booths. I didn't realize how many clubs there were at the school, some of them I haven't even heard about until now. I continued to walk around, until I knew for a fact I was lost. The school itself wasn't even as bad as this! I was pretty sure I kept passing the same cotton candy machine, as I kept going round in circles.

A sense of danger flashed in my mind and I stopped in my tracks. I glanced all around me to only be met with the lights of the carnival dancing in the darkness of the shadows, as people walked every which way. There was a dark presence hanging over me and I felt the need to be on higher ground. I spotted the ferris wheel ride near by and ran to it. I quickly got in line and waited for my turn, but the wait felt like forever and the danger never once let up. My heart began to pound faster and faster, my breath hitched every time I saw the shadows shift in place, and my hands were a sweaty puddle. And I'm pretty sure that if you were to look into my eyes right now they would be dilated with fear.

I checked the time. It was already two hours into the carnival. It was my turn next, and unfortunately the sense of danger only worsened and my heart beat pounding in my ear was deafening. There was suddenly a tap on my shoulder and I jumped in fright. I turned around to a concerned Scott.

"Jeez! You scared me, again!" I shouted in slight panic.

"Woah, just calm down I just saw you here alone, and thought you might want some company on the ferris wheel," he calmly soothed me.

My breathing went back to normal as a sense of relief settled into my system. The danger had disappeared...for now. I nodded my head rapidly. It was then that our turn came up. The man working the ferris wheel guided us to our car. I informed him I would be riding at least two times. With the man's conformation Scott and I got settled into the car. The ride started up and the stars in the night sky became clearer than when we were on the ground.

I felt secure with at least one wolf next to me as well as the height advantage. I glanced over to Scott and I didn't see his aura. Lately that's been happening. Every time a glance at Scott or one of the others in his pack their auras are no longer there. I had asked Deaton about it, but he simply said it was because I was learning to control my powers, but I'm pretty sure he was leaving something out.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" I broke the silence.

"Yeah the stars are way clearer up higher, but not as beautiful as you," he mumbled the last part.

"I feel so much better that I can see everything from here. Now I won't get lost for sure," I admitted confidently.

"I doubt that," he smirked.

"McCall, you better wipe that smirk off your face," I feigned offense.

"What I didn't say anything," he snickered.

"Yeah right," I laughed.

I looked back at the complicated sight that was the carnival. I giggled, Scott was right I'd never be able to find my way out of this puzzling festival, it honestly looked like they purposefully set it up to look like a maze. After riding for the second time Scott and I got off and walked around. Luckily, Scott stuck by me helping me to decipher the pathways of all the booths. By the time we finally managed to get back to Stiles at the lacrosse booth it was almost time for tear down. Unfortunately, I still had work to do so I left a bit early, with Scott.

"Sorry, for pulling you away before tear down. I hope Stiles will be OK," I apologized.

"It's fine I understand, and Stiles does, too," Scott reassured me.

"Are you sure?" I asked worriedly.

"Chris, just calm down. It's fine, honestly," he chuckled.

We pulled into my parking garage. Once I parked we both got out. I walked Scott to his bike and hugged him good-bye. I soon felt something small and plush on my head. I then realized that Scott had already pulled away causing heat to rush to my cheeks. It grew even brighter when I saw that Scott had placed a little stuffed wolf on top of my head.

"I won it in my free time. You seemed scared earlier so I thought you could use it for comfort," Scott looked away.

"T-thanks," I was dumbstruck.

Scott got on his motorcycle and undoubtedly went back to school to help with the tear down. As soon as he was out of sight the dark presence came back. I squeezed the stuffed wolf in my arms as I wearily made my way to my loft. I couldn't fight the feeling that something was out there and it was coming for me. Once I got up to my bedroom I felt the darkness just hover over my loft as I just crashed onto my bed.