Beauty and the Beast

One

The hallways of the school were still filling in the early morning. Scott, Stiles and I decided to get here early in order to receive help for an AP Bio project that was due. Students filed in, most of them looking as if they were half dead; the way they would stumble to their lockers and the dark circles under their eyes, I guess coming back from spring break was rough on everyone. As I walked to my locker, clutching my textbooks and notepads, with each click of my high heels I could feel everyone's eyes on me; and it wasn't just because of my short dress. I felt like they knew everything, but nothing at the same time; after all how could they know?

Their eyes were still trained on me, you'd think I'd be used to this kind of attention by now, but not with this situation. As I opened my locker, papers fell to the floor, I reached down to pick them up but was interrupted by a hand pushing me back up.

"A beautiful girl in a dress shouldn't have to pick things up." Stiles smiled, reaching down to grab the stray papers. I blushed slightly as another voice approached behind me.

"A short dress, to mention." Scott shook his head, reaching down behind me to grab something that fell as well.

"Hey! Mom didn't say anything about it when we left this morning." I defended, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Yeah that's because when Stiles came to pick us up, you jumped from your window instead of walking past mom to get to the front door." Scott smirked, I could see a hint of anger in his eyes still, he never liked my outfits.

Stiles set my papers back in my locker, he was about to close it when Scott stopped him, holding up the mysterious paper in his hand.

"I believe this fell also." He handed me the paper, but when I flipped it over, it was no paper. It was a photo. As soon as I saw it, I could feel tears threaten to spill from my eyes and a knot in my stomach formed. Scott and Stiles looked over my shoulders to see what it was, as soon as Scott saw, he grabbed the photo, shoving it in his pocket. Before I could say a word, I was pulled into his chest, his arms wrapped around me.

"It wasn't your fault." He whispered. My heart broke. No matter how many times he said it, or Stiles said it, or anybody said it; I couldn't believe them. Guilt washed over me like rain, and it was a storm that was never forecasted to end.

~

"I saw that guy you used to date." Lydia sat down across from me on my bed, I turned my attention from the magazine I was reading to her.

"Which one?" I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to come up with who it would be.

"Uh, the one with the brown hair, works at the cafe, has those intense green eyes." She explained.

"Oh! That's Jake. Yeah we never really dated." I shrugged, focusing once again on my magazine.

"But didn't you like f-"

"No!" I put my hand over her mouth before she could continue. "That was a rumour." I clarified as I removed my hand.

"So then those used condoms behind the bleachers were just a figment of my imagination?" She raised an eyebrow, a playful smirk rested on her face.

I groaned and threw my magazine at her, falling back on my bed. I covered my face with my hands, trying to suppress the laughter and my smile.

"Yes." I laughed. "It was all your imagination." Lydia laughed, slapping my leg.

"I think you get more action than Jackson used to.....and that's saying something." She nodded.

"Ah yes, another one of my ex-hookups." I grinned, shaking my head. I honestly wasn't happy with what my reputation had become; the girl who hooks up with every guy she sees but is also very popular so nobody says a word about it. It definitely wasn't my best path in life to take, but it gained me a lot of respect and power.

"Girls!" A voice carried down the hallway, it was my moms. "Suppers ready!" I grabbed my phone and immediately raced down the stairs, Lydia right behind me. We skidded into the dining room where mom, Stiles and Scott were already seated. I sat down across from Stiles and Lydia took the seat next to me. Spaghetti, garlic bread and string beans were set out on the table. It was a strange moment of silence as everyone kind of just stared at the food, until all at once we dug in. Mom was the first one to talk, she spoke while I heaped spaghetti onto my plate.

"So how is everyone and their.....weird supernatural powers?" She asked, biting down on some garlic bread.

"I think we're all doing good." Scott chuckled, nervously eyeing me. I knew he could sense I wasn't alright, if it wasn't the fact we were twins and super close, he could sense it with his werewolf powers. I smiled subtly at him and nodded, low key reassuring him once again that I'd be ok and he can stop worrying; but he won't, he never does.

As I was shoving a spoonful of heavenly goodness in my mouth, I could feel something gently bump my leg; I knitted my eyebrows together as I subtly looked under the table, only to see Stiles feet knocking mine around. I looked up at him, he cheekily grinned as he sipped his water. I shook my head and rolled my eyes, turning away from Stiles to talk to mom.

"So how was work?" I asked, turning the conversation back to her.

"Busy like usual, Liam's dad couldn't make it in today so I had to deal with a lot of complaining." She sighed, finishing up her food and pushing her plate slightly forward.

The conversation died down, only one dreaded topic hung in the air like a thick fog. No one was brave enough to speak though, the topic was still to tender and fresh in our hearts that talking about would mean serious consequences. So we ignored it. We let the topic hang in the air, and we'd leave it there until it became to thick to bear.

~

"Hey, I found these while I was searching for that dress I lent you. Aren't these M-" Lydia cut her sentence short, she was painfully disturbed by Scott kicking her in the leg. She glared over at him as he shook his head, signalling for her to stop talking. She quickly realized what was going on, she immediately looked back towards me.

"I'm so sorry, I-" I hated to cut her off again but I couldn't do it. This time I had to leave, this time I had to let the tears out. I ran upstairs and locked myself in the bathroom, sitting down on the floor in front of the shower.

They say it wasn't me, they say it isn't my fault, but deep down inside I know that it is. I blame myself everyday for it, and I'll continue blaming myself until one day the guilt becomes too much.