Sirens (Theo Raeken) [1]

The Reveal

"Just look at him in that little uniform. I want to punch him."

"Pretentious ass."

"I know right! Look at him. 'Devenford always plays to win.' How arrogant can you be? I will fight him. Right here. Right now."

Ever since Brett arrived at Beacon Hills High for the charity game, Theo and I have been sitting and watching from afar as he navigates the local news broadcast and saying things that we probably shouldn't be.

"He's, like, double your size, babe."

"I know. But still."

"We should leave," Theo says, propping his chin on my shoulder as he wraps his arms around my waist. "Today's going to be boring, anyway. Lacrosse this, lacrosse that."

"Are you saying we should ditch school?"

He pouts mockingly. "What is it? Does my baby girl think ditching school is too risky?"

I grin at him. "Let's go. I've been meaning to get you into Game of Thrones, anyway."

"Deal."

I get up from my seat and slide my bag onto my shoulder. "Come on," I tell Theo. I grab his hand and tug him up before leaning into a hug and breathing in the smell of his cologne.

He gives me a squeeze around the waist before disentangling me. He gives me a slap on the ass and I jump a little. "I'm not wasting any more time around school," he says. "Come on."

I see a familiar strawberry blonde mop of waves bobbing amongst the hoard of students. "Theo, I need to talk to Lydia," I tell him, following the banshee closely with my eyes. "I'll meet you at your car in five."

Before he can say anything, I take off towards Lydia. She moves surprisingly fast and steady considering she had a hole in her head last night. I have to wonder what Dr Deaton did that healed her so fast.

I wondered how she was coping after the trauma of having killed Valack. I knew Lydia would care — whether it was by accident or not — and I knew that she'd feel guilty. "Lydia!" I yell.

She turns around, and gives a small smile to me. She doesn't look the same as before, I now realise. She only looks a little bit different, but to someone who studied her closely, it would be a major change. The difference is that a little bit of light has left her eyes. She seems weary and almost worn out.

"Lydia," I say again as I catch up to her. "Hey. How are you doing?"

"Arden," she says. She seems glad to see me, at least. "I missed you. Stiles told me you came last night. Thank you."

"Y-You don't need to thank me, Lydia," I said. "I'm sorry."

"For Theo?" she asks. "You finally got together, Arden. I'm happy for you. He's a bad guy, Arden," she says. "But if that's who you're in love with, you can't change it."

I stare at her blankly. I'm not sure what to say — mainly because nobody from the pack has really said anything like that. "Thank you," I say. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright," she says. "I'm going to get my homework from the past few weeks and then I'm going to go visit Parrish. How about you? I heard about your mom. I'm sorry."

"I'm — uh — yeah, I'm doing okay," I say. I realise that I haven't visited my mom's grave for ages. Amongst everything going on, it's slipped my mind. I feel a pang of guilt writhe around inside of me.

"I think we both need hugs," she says, a small smile playing on her pink lips. "Come here." I pull her into a hug and we stand there, arms wrapped around each other.