𝑾𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 ➸𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝑨𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕 ꟾ𝟏ꟾ

Just Friends

I

My pencil glides across the page sketching antlers when I hear a knock at my door. "Hey, Sare, I didn't- Allison?"

"Sorry." She says before pointing behind her. "Sarah let me in."

I just stare at her in awe as she exhales deeply. "Can we talk?"

"Uh, yeah, come in."

Allison walks around my room curiously as I sit on my bed. She turns to me after looking at something on my desk. "Do you draw deers a lot?"

My heart begins pounding as she holds out my drawing of a wide-eyed deer with large, winding antlers and a broad chest. On either side of the creature are dark charcoal smudges of trees that fade into the unfinished blankness of the page. "Uh, sometimes."

"Well, it's very good." She laughs. "You know I used to think I could draw. Turns out I'm awful at art."

I let out a nervous chuckle. "I doubt that. So, you wanted to talk?"

"Oh, yeah." Allison sits next to me. "Sorry. It's a little hard to start and I didn't want to bother you with this. I called Jackson, but he's not answering his phone.

"I don't know if he's the best person to talk to anyway. I feel like sometimes he tries to pretend he's listening, but he's actually just waiting for me to stop talking so that he can start again."

I chuckle. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

"It's going to sound ridiculous. I guess I just don't want you to laugh at me."

I look into her eyes. "No, definitely not, go ahead."

Gathering her nerves, she tries to start. "It's about my family. A little while ago I caught them in a lie. A small one. When Kate first arrived, she had car trouble, and my dad said it was a flat tire, but she said she needed a jump start."

"Those are two very different problems."

"At first, I thought it was a miscommunication but then I found glass on her car like the window had been smashed in. I've been overhearing some really strange conversations."

I shift uncomfortably, knowing that she had probably overheard them talking about the werewolf situation. "And I think some of it has to do with Derek."

My leg starts bouncing up and down. "R-really?"

"Yeah. I think that he's not-"

Suddenly my phone starts ringing, interrupting Allison.

I give her a sheepish smile. "Uh, I have to get this, sorry. Just wait a second?" She nods.

I walk into the hallway and answer Stiles.

"Wes, listen. Peter just tried to turn Melissa to force Scott into his pack but we stopped him."

"What!?" I yell but lower my voice after realizing that my door was still open. "I'll be right there-"

"No, no. It's fine now, we have it under control."

I pause, "Are you sure? Where are you? Sarah doesn't have a shift so I can take the car and—"

"Don't worry about it, I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." I absent-mindedly continue to hold the phone up to my ear as my mind races. One particular thought sticks out. Don't let fear of rejection keep you from being happy. I've probably lost Scott, Stiles is trying to juggle both of us, and I feel like I'm in a constant state of dread. At this point, what more do I have to lose?

Allison stops playing with her hands and draws her brows together when our eyes meet. "Is everything okay?"

"Why did you try to kiss me?" I ask bluntly, knowing I probably never would if I didn't ask now.

Her eyes widen, not expecting me to be so upfront about it, and to be honest, neither did I. She just sighs as I sit down next to her again. "Honestly, I don't know. At that moment, everything in my body was just screaming 'do it' so I did it."

"I ended up telling Scott. I just couldn't keep it in."

"How did he react?"

"How do you think?"

"God, I'm so sorry, Wes. I—"

"No, no. Scott and I will be fine, alright? Don't worry about it. We've been friends our entire lives, we'll be okay."

"I never wanted any of this to go this way. I'm not this kind of person, I... I think we should just try to forget it happened, you know?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. I feel the same way." I give her a soft smile.

"So, just friends?"

"Just friends."

Suddenly, her phone beeps, startling us before she opens it. "Uh, sorry, it's Kate. She wants me to meet her."

"It's fine. I'll talk to you later." She nods at me before walking out of my room.

I fall back on my bed in defeat. It's probably better this way. She's already dealing with so much, she doesn't need another burden besides Allison is never going to be with someone like me—with me. It was a tragedy from the start and the sad thing is that, for a second, I actually thought I had a chance.

-edited