The Other Argent

Battlefield

"You know, when you're drowning you don't actually inhale until you black out. It's called voluntary apnea. It's like no matter how much you're freaking out, the instinct is so strong that the moment you open up your mouth you feel like you're head's exploding." Stiles focused on restringing his lacrosse stick as he spoke to Ms. Morell.

"And when you finally let it in, that's when it stops hurting. It's not scary anymore, it's actually kind of peaceful." The teen continued, and the guidance counselor asked, "Are you saying you hope Matt felt some peace in his last moments?"

Stiles sighed and answered her question, "I don't feel sorry for him." The interrogation led on as the woman spoke, "Can you feel sorry for the 9 year old Matt who drowned?" The teen shrugged and admitted, "Just because some dumb-asses dragged him into a pool when he couldn't swim doesn't really give him the right to go killing them off one by one."

"By the way, my dad said he found a bunch of pictures of Sydney on Matt's computer. And not just of her though; he photo shopped me out of them and him into them. Some stuff like them holding hands and kissing, you know, like he built this whole fake relationship. So yeah, maybe drowning at 9 years old set him off the rails, but the dude was definitely riding the crazy train." Stiles ranted on, telling his teacher about his friend's stalker.

Ms. Morell nodded at his statement, and tried a different approach, "One positive thing did come out of this, though." She referred to Sheriff Stilinski's reinstatement. "Yeah, but I still feel like there's something wrong between us. It's just like tension when we talk, same thing with Scott and Sydney."

"Have you talked to either of them since that night?" She questioned, and Stiles stared at his lacrosse stick as he answered, "Not really. They have their own problems to deal with right now. I don't think Scott's talked to Allison either, but that might be more of her decision. Their mom dying hit them both pretty hard, but I guess it brought them and their dad closer. I know Allison was more determined after her mom died, but Sydney's different. The stuff she said that night, I don't know. It was like she was numb. Jackson hasn't been himself lately, and Lydia seems the most normal."

"What about you, Stiles? Feeling some anxiety about the championship game tomorrow night?" She questioned, and Stiles chewed on his strings. "Uh, no. I never actually play, but hey, since one of my teammates is dead and another missing, who knows?"

Morell put the pieces together and asked, "Isaac, one of the three runaways. You haven't heard from any of them, have you?" Stiles dodged the question and pointed out how she wasn't taking notes. The woman quickly turned the tables on the student and spoke softly, "Stiles."

"I'm fine. Aside from the not sleeping, the jumpiness, the constant, overwhelming, crushing fear that something terrible is about to happen." He explained in his sarcastic tone. "It's called hyper vigilance: the persistent fear of being under threat." She recognized it, and Stiles felt like he had a constant panic attack.

The two related Stiles' predicament to drowning, and Ms. Morell surmised, "Well if you're drowning, and you're trying to keep your mouth closed until your very last moment. But, you can choose to not open your mouth, to let the water in."

The teen pointed out that you have no choice, it's a reflex. "But, if you hold off, until that reflex kicks in, you have more time, right? More time to fight your way to the surface. More time to be rescued." She spoke, and Stiles fought, "Or more time to be in agonizing pain. Did you forget about the part where you feel like you're head's exploding?"

"If it's about survival, isn't agony worth it? Take your friend, Sydney, for example. Her mother just died, and the one thing she can do to get through the day is to bury her feelings deep within herself. I'm not saying it's healthy by any means, but for her, that's how she deals with it. Think about what Winston Churchill once said, 'If you're going through hell, keep going.'"