𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐭 ▷ 𝐬. 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐤𝐢 ✓

𝟑𝟎. 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫

CHAPTER THIRTY
the puppeteer

YASMINE MCCALL

Minutes passed which consisted of Scott and I just holding one another, a comfortable silence between us. Being able to see Scott now made me realize that whatever I had seen and heard before was not real and not something which had actually happened. I had almost gotten hit by a car because I had somehow stumbled onto the road while hallucinating and that was a horrifying thought to imagine that I could have died because of this weird trance.

"Wait, where is Stiles?" Scott suddenly questioned me, his eyebrows furrowed.

I sniffled one last time, looking around confused as I wiped away the remaining tears off my face. "I, um, don't know. I have not seen him in a while since y'know."

In unison, Scott and I turned to look at each other with wide eyes, the same thought striking us as we scrambled to get off the ground and rushed towards the house. The party was still in full swing as we rushed inside, both trying to locate Stiles. Making my way out into the backyard, I spotted Stiles and rushed towards him, seeing him blankly staring at the pool as he sat by the side of it, his legs streched out in front of him.

I waved Scott over, who grabbed a bottle of water before he came running towards me. Handing me the bottle, Scott squated down in front of Stiles and tried to shake his shoulder, but Stiles' eyes stayed on the pool as he had no reaction whatsoever. After sharing a notably concerned expression with Scott, I sighed as I shook my head, deciding to try to snap him out of whatever was happening.

"Stiles, look at me," I called softly upon him as my one hand gently shook his shoulder, the open water bottle in the other. "Drink the water. Stiles, drink it."

Scott sighed as Stiles drunkly moved around, his eyes almost completely closed as he leaned back again the brick wall. He shot me a look and I sighed, moving back so he could lean down right in front of Stiles, while I stood several feet behind him with my arms crossed over my chest. "Something's happening and I need you to sober up right now."

"What do you think you're doing?" A girl dressed in a red top questioned Scott, her eyes then flickering to me as she motioned towards Stiles. "You want to sober him up fast, that's not the way to do it."

I raised an eyebrow out of pure curiosity, tilting my head to the side. "You can do better?" I asked confused, wondering where the hell she had just suddenly came from.

The girl shot me a wink, a smirk on her face. "Girl, I can do much better," she said and without any hesitation, she grabbed onto Stiles' flannel and dipped his entire head into the pool.

A gasp left my mouth as my hand flew to my mouth, my eyes widened. Scott himself had jumped up, holding his hands out. Turning to quickly peek at me, Scott must have spotted the shocked look on my face and turned back around.

Stiles was sputtering, his entire face and shirt soaked as he gasped for air. The drastic measure seemed to have worked as Stiles now seemed wide awake, obviously trying to get the water out of his eyes, mouth and nose.

"How do you feel?" The same girl asked as she leaned in to peer at his face, her brows raised.

Stiles was heaving. "Like I might have to revisit my policy on hitting a girl."

The girl looked over at Scott and I, then nodded. "He's sober."

I let out a deep breath, running my hand through my hair. "Thanks, girl," I smiled at the girl, who returned the gesture before she walked off again, hollering as she returned to her friend group. My eyes found Stiles, who was seemingly trying to come back to himself. "Also, just saying, but that girl would've knocked you on your ass before you even had a chance to blink. She is a bad bitch."