human // teen wolf

12. epileptic

Riley avoided everyone at school except for Olivia; she felt that she was the only sane person in this town. They were in the change rooms, talking about what had happened on the weekend.

"I still can't believe those jeans were designer and I payed $10 for them! Those op shops really are my saviors. I'll wear them tomorrow, so don't be surprised if everyone's attention is on me." Olivia joked, smiling as she wriggled into her gym shorts. They were doing rock climbing that lesson, which Olivia was not so excited for. She hated heights. But she also loved what the harness did to her butt. "How was your weekend? Are you still sore?"

Riley looked up from her shoelaces and shrugged. "I'm alright, wasn't that bad." She replied, and returned to tying up her laces.

"You should have called me, I would've came and picked you up!" Olivia exclaimed, and they both walked out of the locker room and towards the gym.

"Weren't you partying with... Jackson?" Riley replied, raising her eyebrow. Olivia widened her eyes and looked around, hoping no one else was around to hear. She slapped Riley on the arm and shushed her. Riley laughed at her and shoved her back.

"I didn't have much to drink! Only a few shots." She mumbled, and Riley smirked.

"Yeah, body shots." She murmured, and jumped out of Olivia's line of shot. She laughed and ran ahead of her, walking into the gym and seeing Stiles and Erica climbing the synthetic rocks.

Olivia caught up, and they both stood around the crowd. Olivia had her eyes on Jackson the whole time, whereas Riley didn't look at anyone, scared that Scott or Allison were staring. Riley knew that she couldn't avoid them for long, but she might as well try to.

Stiles was up and down the wall in no time, but Erica seemed to have some trouble. She started to hyperventilate and she was shaking, so the Coach told her to come down.

"Jesus, what's wrong with her?" Olivia asked, and Allison looked concerned.

"She epileptic." She replied, glancing at Olivia, then to Riley. But Riley quickly looked away, watching Erica instead. She hoped that she was okay and that she would get down.

"She's just freaking out coach." Lydia said with her arms crossed.

"Erica, you're alright! Look, there's a mat here to catch you. Just kick off of the wall. You're okay." Coach called out, and Erica slowly let go, descending down onto the ground. She unhooked herself and slowly walked away from the class, the kids laughing at her. Olivia let out a little laugh as well, and Riley frowned at her.

"What? It's kind of funny." She defended, and Riley shook her head.

"She was scared. It's not funny." Riley replied, and Olivia shrugged. "You're afraid of heights, remember when you cried when we were on the flying fox a few years ago and everyone laughed at you? You shouldn't laugh at her."

Olivia's smiled faded. "Damn, okay. I didn't know you liked her that much."

Riley rolled her eyes, and drank some water from her water bottle.

"I'm just saying, don't do that." She said, and Olivia nodded.

"True, it's not a good look." She agreed, and her name was called by Coach to go up on the rocks. He called Riley's name as well, and they both went up and put on their harnesses. Olivia deliberately stood closer to Jackson so he could watch her put the harness on. She is such a home wrecker, Riley thought. But they were best friends, so she couldn't really say that.

They climbed the wall together and touched the top, Olivia refusing to look down. Riley just laughed at her, and with a gasp and widened eyes, she pretended to slip and fall. Olivia squealed and shut her eyes, holding onto the rocks for dear life.

"Don't fucking do that!" She yelled, and the kids below them chuckled.

"Why not? It was kinda funny." Riley replied, quoting her from before. She kicked off and slowly went down, Olivia doing the same. They touched the ground and took off the harnesses and hooks, then the bell rang. The people who didn't get a go groaned, and slowly trudged off to the locker rooms to get changed.

"It really wasn't cool for you to pretend to fall. I almost had a heart attack! I'm so embarrassed." Olivia sulked, pulling her cardigan on.

"Well, now you know how Erica felt." Riley schooled, pulling her shoes on and raising her eyebrow at Olivia. She rolled her eyes and stuffed her clothes in her locker.

"Where is she, anyway?" Olivia asked, and they both looked around the half full room. Riley shrugged.

"She's probably in the bathroom crying because you laughed at her."

"I wasn't the only one who laughed! Stop making me feel bad, I get it!" Olivia retorted, and Riley put her stuff in her locker as well. She looked around and seemed to forget her bottle.

"I forgot my water bottle. See you in the cafeteria, okay?" Riley said, taking her bag with her to the gym. She didn't like leaving her stuff in the lockers in the change room, there was no lock on hers because some stupid kid before her broke it and the school was too cheap to replace it. She entered the gym, and saw Erica at the top of the wall with no harness or mat at the bottom of the wall. She gasped when she saw Erica shaking, then let out a small scream when she let go of the wall. She fell somewhat 20 metres, and Riley thought that she was going to see Erica's body smash into the ground and the light leave her eyes. She shut her eyes, waiting for the bang to happen. She thought about not saving her. She thought about just standing there, not doing anything to help. But what could she do? She was definitely not strong enough to catch her, and she did not want to act like the mat. She took enough from Isaac.

She realized that she had been standing there with her eyes closed for quite some while. The bang didn't happen. She opened her eyes and saw Scott there, holding Erica who was shaking in his arms. Suddenly, everyone rushed through the doors, Allison almost knocking Riley over in the process. Everyone surrounded Erica, who was having a seizure. But Riley just stood there, shock evident on her face.

She couldn't believe that she was just going to accept the fact that Erica would have died in front of her. She couldn't believe that she wasn't going to do anything to save her. She was stuck there; paralyzed with fear and shock. So many things in her life were going so wrong, and she couldn't do anything to fix it.