#pdh lucinda | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

starhvney · 3 months ago

Text

𝐒𝐔𝐁𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝟑 | 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟎: 𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐒 𝐅𝐄𝐒𝐓

𝐂𝐖: very crude language and shit talk from ivy, paranoia, threats of violence, reader nearly spirals into an anxiety attack, implications that reader has anxious attachment tendencies

𝐀/𝐍: hey guys! meant to get this chapter out earlier today but i had too much caffeine and made myself sick oopsies! anyways i hope you guys enjoy this one! we're getting back to that good old drama

𝐖𝐂: 6,000+

𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐎𝐑: @arienic (thank you nics!)

𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 ☆ 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 | 𝐀𝐎𝟑 | 𝐅𝐈𝐂 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 | 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒

“this is so exciting!” teony grins, clapping her hands from where she stood next to you and katelyn. “i care more about academics than athletics, but i honestly love the sports festival! it’s so much fun!”

you hum happily in agreement, eyes drifting around at the school’s outdoor scenery. honestly, it's insane how beautiful of a spot it was placed in, with phoenix drop’s mountain range and tall forest trees spanning right from the school’s backyard. the whole student body is packed in the area from the soccer field all the way over to the baseball field, everyone in their athletic uniforms and the colorful wristbands that indicated which class they were in.

glancing behind you to check on aph and nana as the little freshman chat away, you catch a glimpse of ivy’s minions and aaron, who is a short way away, talking by the stairs. the tall junior seemed like trouble just from his looks alone—and you were pretty opposed to him already just from aphmau’s complaints of the boy all year—but his seeming compliance with lily’s flirtatious giggling set your opinion in stone.

your attention shifts back to your friends next to you, a sense of comfort relaxing the tenseness that had begun to build just from the glimpse of those people. after talking about everything with aphmau, you both had decided to come clean to all of your friends about the issues you’d had since day one with both ivy and gene.

you’d almost felt silly for hesitating so long to tell them, especially with how defensive and fired up they had gotten. lucinda’s reaction was definitely the funniest, the redhead immediately offering to slip a potion that would make someone throw up slugs into all of their lunches. you’d denied the offer through your laughter, as tempting as it was, and you have to stop yourself from giggling again at the thought of gene or ivy pale in the face and spitting out snail slime.

katelyn snorts, pausing in her warm-up of one-legged squats—an impressive feat you had unashamedly been staring at her do for the past five minutes—to look over to the academia queen herself.

“of course it’s fun!” she energetically hops in place with a fiery and determined look on her face. “i’m gonna own the juniors in volleyball this year.”

teony raises an eyebrow and tosses her hair over her shoulder as she looks at you, lips pursed in amusement. “our class lost to that class when they were sophomores last year.”

you nod in understanding, giggling when katelyn pumps her fist angrily into the air.

“and the only reason we lost to them was because i had won all the events prior,” she defends. “i was completely exhausted from the heat.”

teony’s hands are on her hips, eyebrows raised, and expression like a scolding mother. “so then i hope you learned your lesson for this year, right?”

she scoffs. “oh, i definitely have!”

“good, i’m glad. now you know—”

“i’ve been training all year to carry the team completely on my back.”

teony groans, leaning against you as she rolls her eyes. “kate, sweetie, that is not the lesson! it’s teamwork.”

“uh-huh, yeah that too, whatever,” katelyn responds, and from her distracted expression you’re not even sure she truly heard what had been said. instead, she grabs onto one of your arms and one of teony’s, dragging you both off into the track field. “now let’s go crush some classes!”

“wh-hold on!” teony laughs, turning back to wave at aphmau and nana as they stare at the three of you like abandoned puppies—or in nana’s place, a kitten. “good luck my darlings!”

“i’ll catch you both later! good luck!” you call after the two, sparing a wave as katelyn bulldozes her way through the grass.

she at least also spares one last look over her shoulder, though instead of a shout of encouragement, it’s a competitive laugh and grin. “pray you two don’t have us as an opponent this year. i won't go easy just cause we’re friends!”

teony sighs as the three of you make it closer to your classmates, lolling her head over to give kate an unimpressed stare. “i get your competitive and all, but i don’t think intimidating those two cuties was necessary.”

grabbing a stray volleyball from the ground, she scoffs and rolls her eyes, walking a ways from you both and tossing it up to start preparing. “oh, whatever. they know it’s tough love.”

teony looks to you with a disbelieved shake of her head, giggling at the blue haired girl’s antics.

“you know, you—woah!” she stumbles back, barely receiving the ball that kate had spiked down at her and sending it straight past her legs.

there’s a thunk of ball meeting shoulder and a familiar yelp of pain, before you see travis crumpling down to the grass and dante sprinting off while cackling.

“what the—?! why were you sitting right behind me, dude?!” katelyn questions, seeming more bewildered than anything.

teony’s eyes drift from the scene ahead to you from the corner of her eye.

“were they…?”

“…i think so…”

“uh, sorry!” travis quickly stutters, stumbling up to his feet and waving his hands with an awkward braced smile. “i was just—dante, don’t leave me!" his voice comically cracks at the end as he sprints after his friend, the two looking like clowns as they run away.

“uh, what’s going on here?” a smooth voice breaks your stunned silence.

“oh, hey garroth. i don’t know, actually.”

the baseball captain is standing right next to you, blinking in confusion between the two boys as they run away and the three of you. he breaks out in an amused little grin at your deadpanned words, scratching the side of his head.

“well, okay then. are you excited to compete?”

you shrug with a nod, looking up at the boy. “sure! gets us out of class, so that’s enough for me. are you?”

“yeah… but i still can’t believe they haven’t set up a baseball portion for this competition.” he sighs. “like, we have kickball, but no baseball? not cool.”

you can’t help but giggle at the dejected look on his face, his love for the sport honestly endearing.

“well, baseball is a hard sport for normies like us to play, you know? gotta leave it up to the professionals like you,” you muse, nudging his side with your elbow.

a cheeky grin forms on his face, and you swear you see the tips of his ears turn a bit red in color. he opens his mouth to reply to your compliment before another loud thud–this time off in the distance–catches both of your attention. a soccer ball is rolling away from aaron, while aph seems to be telling him off with clenched fists.

“hm?” garroth frowns, and you’re already walking over to the scene.

he catches up just a second after, tilting his head in concern as you both speed-walk over to the girl. you make it to nana first, raising an eyebrow in confusion to the pink-haired meif’wa who stood awkwardly distant from the two. she shrugs at the both of you with a pout on her face before you can even ask, golden irises darting at the taller boy as he seems to mockingly laugh at aphmau while walking away.

garroth shrugs at you before walking forward first, while aph continues to huff with clenched fists and muttering under her breath.

“how dare he just… ugh!”

“aphmau, are you okay?” the blonde asks in concern, and the girl whips herself around, eyes a bit wide in surprise.

“oh, it’s you two, hey,” she says, clearing her throat and fixing her hair with a flustered expression. “um, i’m fine, it’s just…”

“you should stay away from that guy,” garroth says suddenly. “i’ve heard he’s nothing but trouble.”

your eyes stay narrowly trained on the delinquent in question, as he walks through the field towards the concession stand with his hands shoved in his pockets.

“oh trust me, you don’t need to tell me that twice.” aphmau crosses her arms with a scoff. “he’s in my werewolf class with me, and he’s nothing but a huge jerk.”

garroth nods with an understanding hum, before his eyebrows snot up on his forehead. “wait, you’re a werewolf?!”

aphmau and you glance over to him, before bursting out in giggles.

“oh! no, i’m not! i thought i told you what happened, garroth.”

“huh, laurance reacted just about the same, now that i remember,” you recall, covering your mouth as you recover from the small laughing fit.

garroth sighs, his deep voice bordering on a whiny tone. “how come you guys always tell laurance everything but never me?”

aphmau’s eyebrows raise, and she quickly waves her hands. “it’s not that i didn’t want to tell you! it just never came up!”

“yeah, garroth,” you coo, leaning over to wrap an arm around his side and pat him soothingly on the back. “laurance just knows more 'cause he yaps more and asks more questions.”

garroth snorts.

“…don’t tell him i said that.”

“oh, i definitely will.”

aphmau chuckles drily. “so to make a long story short, garroth, my registration was all messed up and i couldn’t change out of the werewolf class even though i didn’t sign up for it and i’m not a werewolf. and i’ve been stuck with sitting next to that aaron jerk all semester.”

he hums, eyebrows furrowed. “oh, i see. well i’m sorry you have to deal with tha—”

“garrith, there you are!” a high-pitched, nasally voice pierces right into your ear from behind you, making you flinch away from the friendly side hug you still had the blonde in.

aphmau stares at you with a tense half smile, eyes darting behind you before you turn yourself. carmine hair bounces against ivy’s shoulders as she tilts her head, giving an—in your opinion—eerily forced smile up at garroth.

oh, nah. it is 9:30 in the morning.

garroth offers a smile in return, taking a small step back from how close she had bounded up to him. “oh, ivy! it’s good to see you.”

so laurance clearly has not told him yet.

ivy tilts her head in seemingly innocent wonder. “what’re you doing talking to this freshman?”

and apparently you’re not here. cool.

garroth turns to the two of us, the unaware “prince” gesturing to the girl as she burns holes into our figures with her bright eyes. “have you two met ivy? she’s a friend of mine.”

she quickly latches onto his words, quickly adding on before you or aphmau can open your mouths. “yes, i’ve been his friend since we were freshmen.”

you resist the urge to side-eye aphmau, instead keeping your composure as she speaks up first.

“oh, i see… so you've been friends for a long time, then.”

“yes, we have,” she preens, her smile sharp as she looks between you two with a satisfied twinkle in her eyes.

garroth nods politely. “yeah, ivy’s really sweet.” he looks over to her while gesturing to you. “i’ve been friends with these two since we were little kids.”

it takes everything in you to not smile in your own satisfaction when her eyes just about bulge out of her head for a split second, her smile tensing. “oh, really…! that’s so… cute!”

garroth chuckles. “isn’t it?”

“yeah, isn’t it?” you can’t help but chime in, and ivy’s eyes flock to you with a flare of barely veiled annoyance.

“it sure… is…” she says through gritted teeth.

man, she’s losing it. you’d almost feel second hand embarrassment for her if you weren’t reeling in the satisfaction of it.

“so! i meant to ask,” aphmau chirps, doing a very good job of ignoring her history with ivy’s wrath. “where’s laurance at?”

“he’s already playing a soccer match. his team went first against… the junior class, i think…”

she blows her bangs away from her face. “oh, so the competition has already started, huh?”

“speaking of which, garrith, we should go warm up! our team is next!” she glances over at you, eyes darting down your figure and back up to your face. “you’re not on our team… are you?”

“…nope.”

“ah, unfortunate. she’s pretty good at sports,” garroth says, throwing a small smile your way.

“thanks, garroth. i’m sure you guys will do great.”

“okay, come on garrith!”

garroth’s smile falters as he awkwardly looks over to her. “oh, right. but, uh… ivy? it’s pronounced gar-roth.”

“i know, garrith, but we really should go!” she insists, grabbing onto his wrist and tugging him along with her.

he keeps his smile though it falters into an uncomfortable and slightly forced one. letting her guide him along, he looks back at you two with a wave.

“see you both later. good luck.”

“yep! you too!” aphmau grins, and you wave back with a smile yourself.

the two walk off toward the sophomore class’s flag football group.

you look at aphmau.

she looks at you.

“...a mess.”

“for real.” aphmau agrees, sighing and rolling her eyes.

“well, i’m gonna go to the restroom. you up to play?”

“yep, i’m on the team for soccer. what about you?”

“ooh, i bet you’ll crush it. kate’s having me play for the volleyball team. good luck!”

aphmau smiles, waving excitedly. “you too!”

thankfully the school has some restrooms outside, making your walk much shorter. by instinct you walk down to the furthest stall, clicking the door shut. before you could even turn around the door swings open again, ivy’s shrill voice bouncing off the concrete and tiled room.

“who the fuck do those two think they are?!” she snips, her tennis shoes clicking against the floor as she pushes on each stall door to check inside.

“they think they’re hot shit,” a more mellowed voice says. was that lily? or the alex girl that rarely talked…?

ivy’s feet stop just before your stall, spinning around to pace over to the sinks. “i thought i saw her come in here… whatever. i came in here to fix my hair anyways. ugh. i thought i told them to stay away from him! those… whores!”

you suppress the urge to scoff.

“well… you did tell them, and then she gave you a black eye.”

ivy makes a seething noise. “that bitch! she didn’t even show anything! i know i broke her nose!”

“whatever. if gene still has those pictures like he says he does then it doesn’t matter. we can ruin their reputation within a day.”

shit.

this seems to calm her rage. just slightly.

“yeah, that’ll get them away from him. plus if we circulate the other rumors around like we talked about then garrith won’t even want to be near them.”

“oh, yeah. that reminds me… i heard that those two were hanging out with garroth at the fall festival a couple of weekends ago.”

“what?! from who?!”

“gene.”

“there's no way! that's just gene trying to get under my skin! i thought he was on our side!”

“whatever. we just need him to be enough on our side to get those pictures out. and even if he doesn’t, we can still spread rumors.”

“yeah! yeah… i’m sure they sleep around anyways. with how they beg for garrith and that laurance’s attention it’s pretty obvious they want that kind of attention. they’re so pathetic, especially aphmau. that little cunt is just begging for one of them to—”

hell no.

your hand races forward to click open the lock, and you throw open the stall door against the wall. it clangs before creaking and wobbling in the now pin-dropping silence of the bathroom as you slowly walk out of the cubicle. the three girls are standing there, looking a bit shocked and surprised at your appearance.

well, ivy and lily, at least. alex looks as blank-faced as usual.

without a word you walk to the door, eyes glued to ivy’s while you resist the urge to punch out her other eye. cracking open the door you pause, looking back to the girl once again and taking in a rageful breath.

“you better fucking hope i don’t catch you alone, ivy.”

you turn out of the bathroom and slam the door shut, teeth clacking together and fists clenched as you walk towards the temporary volleyball court set up near the soccer field.

damn. you forgot you had to pee.

“woah, you look pissed.”

travis appears by your side, looking genuinely concerned with raised brows and curious eyes.

“kinda hot.” dante appears on your other side, biting his lip and waggling his brows.

the brace-faced boy sends a scorning glare to his friend. “dude, not her!”

“chill! i’m just messing around… sort of. besides, gene’s mentioned her a few times, so i know she’s cool. can’t blame me for shooting my shot.”

you sigh and shake your head, some of the tension leaving your shoulders as you fall victim to the goofy antics of the dorks next to you.

“gene’s mentioned me, huh?” you ask, glancing at dante. “i forgot he’s your brother.”

you press your lips together. that’s right, maria. guess she still thinks you’re “friends” with gene.

he grins. “yeah, he’s pretty cool. he talks about you to my mom sometimes. you both hang out often?”

your eyes dart to travis, who is looking at you nervously.

“…we haven’t lately.”

“oh, that’s too bad, i guess,” dante hums.

“you’re sure you’re not mad? it’s not at me from earlier, right?!” travis worries, cutting off the topic of gene to your relief.

“huh? no, why would i be?”

he deflates in relief. “uh, nothing! never mind, never mind.”

“…alright. well, what sport are you two heading to?” you ask, rolling your shoulders back.

“well… we actually are the refs for the volleyball match.”

you raise an eyebrow. “both of you are? how’d you manage to get out of having to compete?”

“we both signed up as volunteers, just like some kids are doing the concessions,” dante says rather smugly, lifting up a candy bar and waving it in the air.

“great… you two wouldn’t have any ulterior motives here, would you?” you narrow your eyes, looking over to travis. “perhaps with a certain captain in mind?”

“what?” travis stutters. “you’re the second one to accuse me of that! i’d never purposefully screw up the scorecard to get her to yell at me!”

“…uh-huh…”

the principal’s voice cuts through the stadium speakers. “our 3rd round of events today is soccer and volleyball! for soccer, we’ll have the freshmen versus our juniors, and for volleyball, we have sophomores versus seniors! good luck out there!”

you spin on your heels, walking backward onto the sand court and motioning towards the two boys with your fingers in an 'i’m watching you' motion. katelyn—to no one's surprise—is already there and fired up, hyping up teony to do her best as she stretches her arms. her head whips to you when she catches your figure from the corner of her eye, rushing forward to grab you.

“dude, where were you? come on, the game’s gonna start. you’re the outside hitter, okay?” she says, and you simply nod along as your previous anger seems to bubble up and surface again.

this should be a good way to release some steam.

teony gives you a strange look before getting in position at the back of the court. you must not have been hiding your expression as well as you thought you were.

the match went pretty well, and once katelyn realized you were putting your full force into your spikes she consistently set the ball towards you, leaving your dominant arm sore and chest heaving.

“hey! good job!” laurance calls from the sidelines, grinning brightly. his face was sheened with a layer of sweat, strands of his caramel hair stuck to his cheeks and forehead.

garroth stands next to him, looking out of breath like he had just sprinted across the campus field. he grins, holding up two big thumbs up at your team.

“um, that wasn’t game point,” travis pipes up, making all of you turn your heads to the boy.

immediately he looks nervous, tapping his fingers together and waving the flimsy score board in his hand. oh, travis. that’s one way to get your crush’s attention… that’s for sure.

“what?! there’s no way! let me see that!”

deciding to stay out of…whatever was going to go down there, you jog over to the boys with a smile.

“hey! how’d you guys do?”

“decent. i’m not too into football, and my teammates didn’t seem as into the game, either.” garroth shrugs.

“not too bad for me, either. you know i love soccer, so it was just like a fun practice for me.” laurance says, glancing over to the field. “the game aphmau was playing just ended, she did pretty good too—especially against that aaron guy. it was kinda funny seeing her zip around him.”

you chuckle at the thought. “yeah, i bet.”

“what a close call for that soccer game! but the winner of the soccer match is the freshman class! the mvps of this match are aaron from the junior class and aphmau from the freshman class! man, i can't wait to see what else goes on in this tournament today! it is such a heated rivalry!”

you look over to the field, watching as little aph herself shoots a sassy look to aaron and walks off with attitude in her steps.

“there she goes!” garroth muses.

“baby’s first medal?” laurance adds, and you whip your head to him with a wide smile.

“baby’s first medal!”

“baby?” garroth questions, looking lost as ever as he looks between you two.

katelyn’s shout and a loud thud meets your ears.

“this judge is bogus! he’s clearly blind!”

“katelyn! you can’t just hit people with volleyballs when you’re upset! i’m pretty sure you’ve hit travis alone on three different occasions!”

“i don’t care, this is stupid!”

travis groans from the ground, and teony sighs as she helps him to his feet. “…i’ll take you to the nurse. kate, go… walk it off while they figure it out.”

“…that’s katelyn for you,” garroth murmurs as she stomps over to you three. “you alright?”

“yeah.” she puffs out her lips in annoyance. “i kinda feel bad for blowing up on him, but it’s like he was keeping the wrong score on purpose!”

“well, it’ll be fine. you did really good regardless, kate!” you say, very carefully choosing not to say a word about travis’s intentions.

“yeah, both of you did,” laurance chimes, eyebrows raised with an impressed stare. “i just kinda was able to catch the end of the game, but you didn't look like you were holding back on those spikes at all.”

katelyn nods, crossing her arms.

“yeah, i’m for sure forcing her to join the team next year. she’s good.” she glances over to you. “but you did seem a little off. you good?”

shrugging, you awkwardly cross your arms. “uh… about that…”

“did something happen?” garroth frowns.

“i had a run-in with ivy in the bathrooms.” you admit. “she was saying really nasty stuff about me and aph… and i think she’s planning on spreading some rumors around about us.”

“…what? are you sure?” his frown deepens. “ivy wouldn’t do that, would she?”

kate and laurance look over at him with blank stares.

“did you not tell him, laurance?” katelyn scoffs.

“tell me what?” garroth asks impatiently.

“not yet… ugh…” the brunet groans, grabbing onto garroth’s arm and beginning to drag him away. “let’s talk, man.”

“okay?” he stumbles along, the lost look in his eyes still highly apparent.

“great, now i’m even more mad!” kate seethes. “where is she?!”

“woah, woah!” you wave your hands before steadying them on her shoulders. “just chill for a second. i already threatened her today, let’s not get into any trouble.”

she sighs. “fine. but if i catch her by herself it’s not gonna be pretty.”

“that’s what i said.”

“oh!” she suddenly yanks your arm, pulling you along like a woman on a mission towards the track. “there’s lucinda! we’re telling her right now!”

☆

“are you serious?” lucinda scoffs, legs crossed as you all sit at the top of the bleachers. “look, i know you rejected the potion in the food idea, but an overdose on laxatives is an option, too.”

you rub your eyes, glancing down to the track where aphmau was warming up for her race. “as tempting as it is, i want to let her destroy herself. she thinks because she’s more popular than we are that everyone will have to believe her. but as long as you guys and the rest of our friends know the truth, her rumors won’t mean anything and she’ll destroy her own reputation.”

“leaving it up to karma, huh? that’s fair.” lucinda sighs, leaning back on her arms. “i guess. still wanna make her shit her pants, but to each their own.”

“lucy!” you laugh, leaning into her shoulder.

“no, no, she has a good point,” katelyn says, before leaning forward. “oh, there’s prince charming.”

you glance down, garroth’s golden curls coming into view as he hops his way up the bleachers stairs to your direction. his eyebrows are pulled together as he keeps his eyes trained on the metal steps.

kate stands with a sigh, pulling lucinda up with her. “come on. i think they need to talk alone for a second. plus, i want some chips from the concessions before my next game.”

“fine, i could go for a snack, too.” the redhead sighs, waving her fingers at you and squeezing your hands. “bye, my love!”

you wave the two girls off, before shooting over and patting the seat next to you for garroth to sit. he slinks down into the spot, sighing and leaning forward on his elbows while staring out at the track.

“hi.”

“hey.”

he straightens up with a deep breath, turning to you with a troubled expression. “i didn’t mean to sound like i didn’t believe you earlier, i was just surprised.”

you smile at the genuine guilt in his eyes. sweet garroth.

“i know. sorry i didn’t tell you about everything sooner.”

“it’s… okay. laurance explained it all.” he frowns. “i just feel bad.”

you intake a breath to reply, but he cuts you off, raising his hands up.

“not because i think it’s my fault. trust me, laurance lectured my ear off about that.” he leans back, sighing. “just… i feel like i could’ve, like, protected you a bit from all of that if i had known.”

“garroth…”

“promise you’ll tell me if you’re having trouble from now on?” he grabs onto your wrist, looking pleadingly into your eyes with his own. “please promise me. you’re one of my best friends.”

“i promise.”

“good. i promise i’ll tell you everything, too.” he leans forward, pulling you into a hug. “i know we don’t remember much from our childhood, but we’ve been friends for a long time, right? i promise i care way more about you than whatever anyone else at this school has to say about you.”

“…thank you,” you whisper. something about his genuine care has you blinking back the urge to cry, gulping from the surge of emotions that gathered in the base of your throat.

you both pull back from the hug, and garroth smiles that stupidly dazzling smile. “of course.”

the track’s starter gun startles you from the heartfelt moment, making you both jump in place as you look down at the relay race below.

“wait… is aphmau going against aaron at the end? who the heck thought that was a good idea?” garroth blinks, staring at the two in bewilderment. “the guy’s over a foot taller than her!”

you hum in equal confusion, slowly standing and making your way to the stairs. “yeah, that is weird… c’mon. let’s get closer.”

the teams are already on their third hand off by the time you’re both at the bottom of the bleachers, the two runners making their way to aphmau and aaron before handing off the batons. instead of the taller boy completely leaning aph in the dust, he surprisingly keeps her pace before seeing to a stop in the middle of the track.

“huh?” garroth murmurs, and it seems aphmau carries the same sentiment as she slows, turning to aaron with a baffled look of her own.

they’re too far from you to hear what they were saying, but based on his smug look and her peeved expression, his act of stopping seemed more like a taunt than an act of sportsmanship.

aphmau sends a sassy remark to aaron and that seems to stop their strange standstill, as the six-foot-something junior takes off sprinting towards the finish line. she turns, amber eyes wide and mouth agape in shock as she stands in place and watches as he passes the finish line in seconds.

“i can’t believe you fell for that,” he snickers, seeming to deeply relish the look on her face before turning and waltzing away with a smug look on his face.

aphmau’s face contorts from one of bafflement to one of absolute infuriation, and she takes a few steps forward like she was about to go try and tackle the guy herself.

“wh—you! i’m gonna—!” she fumes, unable to even get a sentence out in her frustration.

“woah, aphmau! stop, it’s over!” garroth calls out, trying to calm her as he waves his hands while you both jog over to her.

“he tricked me!” she insists, nose wrinkled like she’d swallowed something bitter.

“...i'm not sure what happened there, but you both ran a good match.” he rubs the back of his neck, chuckling. “well, until the end, that is.”

aphmau deflates, tensely laughing away the rest of her frustration. “yeah… thanks garroth.”

he nods proudly, crossing his arms. “you’re welcome.”

the rest of the festival flies by, with thankfully not many more appearances from ivy’s group or even sightings of the shadow knights. after freshening up in the locker room, you’d waited thirty minutes on the bench, occasionally sending aph a few texts.

you: are you coming to the locker room before walking home?

delivered, 3:42

you: hello?

delivered, 3:55

you: are you okay??

delivered, 4:00

when ten more minutes had passed with no response, you’d felt the anxiety you’d been suppressing come in full force. with hands jittering and head a bit dizzy, you pushed through the girls locker room doors, beginning your search of the now empty school.

from each of the classrooms you knew she had classes in, to all of the bathrooms, and even the cafeteria, she wasn’t anywhere in any rooms of the school you searched. you even ran back outside, searching the outdoor bathrooms—and even briefly looking in the boy’s restroom in your desperation—to no avail.

calm down. you’re on campus, there’s no way something awful happened to her on campus.

hands shaking, you pull your phone out again, attempting to call her phone one last time. staring at a spot in the grass, you listen to the dial of the phone ringing while a faint buzzing in your ears blocked out any other ambient noise.

“your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system. at the tone, please recor—”

ripping the phone away from your face, you hang up and catch your breath that you didn’t realize you were holding.

it’s okay. it’s okay. she probably walked home and her phone died or something. you can walk to her house and check with sylvanna, and if she isn’t there… then you can panic.

quickly you find yourself super walking down the sidewalk to your house, eyes drifting to each black vehicle that passed on the road and steps stuttering anytime one of them seemed to slow.

you hate this feeling. the one you felt anytime you went anywhere back in your old town. the weak shakiness of prey stuck in a hunter's trap desperately trying to escape it but unable to find the strength, and unknowing of when the hunter was going to come find you. it was a sick, nearly paralyzing rush through your nervous system, crowding your head and making you both aware of everything and too dizzy to focus on one thing.

did they find you again?

were you risking your friends’ lives by being around them?

did they get aph?

did you kill her when you chose to be her friend?

“wait for me!”

you almost faint from how quickly you turn around, eyes wide as you focus in on aphmau clumsily running after you—face red and hair frazzled.

“o-m-g, that was so embarrassing!” she heaves, stopping in front of you. “sorry i didn’t respond to your text! you won’t believe what just happened to—oh—!”

you reach forward, pulling aphmau into a tight hug. suddenly you hear the birdsong in the trees again. the rushing of cars on the street next to you. your blood is suddenly swirling in your head.

“woah… are you okay? you’re shaking, like, really bad…”

a second passes before you pull away, taking in a gulp of air. “yeah, i’m fine.”

“and you’re really pale,” aphmau says, thin eyebrows pinched together before she gasps. “oh, did i worry you? i’m so, so sorry! i can explain what happened on the way, okay?”

her eyes are full of a worry you hadn’t quite seen before. did you look that upset?

“okay, yeah. i’m fine. i’m fine.” you reassure, wiping away the cold sweat from the back of your neck with a grimace.

aphmau hums, the noise shaky and unsure, before reaching out to take your free hand. “okay. maybe you can come have dinner with me and my mom tonight! i think she said she was going to make empanadas tonight. you know what those are, right?”

“yeah…”

“great! well, my mom’s empanadas are the best, so you can try them! oh yeah, i was gonna tell you what happened, right? so…”

you don’t mean to, but your focus drifts from aphmau’s actual words to just the sound of her voice, eyes drifting to the sidewalk ahead. the feeling of her smaller hand holding yours was somehow comforting despite how it gently and barely seemed to even squeeze yours.

you still feel high-strung, but as the initial adrenaline finally leaves your body you feel a wave of exhaustion and… a bit of embarrassment. it seems a bit dramatic, what you just did. after all, aph is perfectly fine right here. you were acting like an overly anxious parent or older sister, and the two of you aren’t even related to each other.

“…and she shoved me in the locker! can you believe that? what kind of girl fake cries in the boys' locker room and then traps another girl in there?! i thought she was really in trouble!”

“wait, what?” you blink, whipping your head over to her as you process her words. “who did?”

“ivy! she shoved me in the locker! and i didn’t have my phone 'cause it was still in my bag, so i just had to wait there until—guess who?!—aaron let me out! she stuck me in aaron lycan’s locker!”

a wave of anger resurfaces, sending black spots into your vision. once again, another problem caused by that insufferable prick.

“i’m gonna fucking kill her.”

“what!” aphmau laughs, squeezing your hand. “woah, your face is scaring me! calm down!”

she swerves you off the sidewalk and into her yard, pulling you closer to her front door. “let’s think about empanadas instead! mhm, mhm! and pepsi… and ice cream… and we can watch a movie or episode of something before we have a very calm and peaceful rest for school tomorrow.”

“…okay.” you sigh, pulling in a tense breath. “okay. that sounds nice… let’s do it.”

“yay!”

©starhvney, 2024. please do not steal or repost my works as your own.

tag list: @orinlin @pain-in-the-ashe @youmake1mistake @arienic @wasting-away-on-the-internet @angelhyperfixates @remiechu

79 notes · View notes

starhvney · 2 months ago

Text

𝐒𝐔𝐁𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝟑 | 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟐: 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐈𝐓!

𝐂𝐖: reader gets stalked and promptly has a panic attack

𝐀/𝐍: guys i did it! i finally got the next chapter out! (she announces to the crowd that has been sitting in the stands for like, three weeks or something)

𝐖𝐂: 6k

𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐎𝐑: @arienic

𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 ☆ 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 | 𝐀𝐎𝟑 | 𝐅𝐈𝐂 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 | 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒

once again, the weeks seemed to pass by like a blur. this time, however, it was a good blur. ivy and the girls who were suspended eventually came back to regular classes, but when they returned, their reputations were less than savory now in the student body. needless to say, you were left alone, and for the most part, you were met with somewhat friendly faces—at least, the same amount you would’ve had before the drama.

it was like you were back to living a “normal” teenage life again. you had a normal house, you went to a normal school, you had (somewhat) normal friends, and you had a decently normal reputation. for once, in a long time, you didn’t feel like there were eyes on you. not from a self-acclaimed gang. not from obsessive girls.

not from behind the tinted windows of a dark idled car.

soon enough winter break had come and passed, and it wasn’t until well into spring that something interesting happened again (aside from your friends’ general shenanigans, which seemed to always be there as a form of entertainment).

you actually were quite fine with nothing interesting happening, but it seemed general drama was something you never can escape when you're a teenager, whether you wish upon it or not. so when whisperings of prom coming up meet your ears you think the drama that ensues will pass right by you, especially since it was only the upperclassmen who got to go.

but, of course, that was not the case.

“kate?”

your usually confident and thick-skinned friend zoned out at her reflection in the mirror, not really staring at herself but instead seeming to be in a distant world as you washed your hands. normally, you wouldn’t question the behavior. you yourself were not immune to zoning out and daydreaming from time to time.

but this was different.

katelyn usually had so much energy, and she always seemed to be in the present, ready for the next thing and on to the next subject to talk about. but she had been quiet all day today, barely managing any smiles and seeming absent from every conversation your friends had. it had been a month since she’d told you the news that she and jeffory had broken up, and while she definitely seemed upset, she had held up pretty well in acting like she wasn’t.

it was a little unnerving seeing her like this.

“katelyn.” you call for her again, your previous ask for attention seeming to have gone completely over her head.

“hm?” she hums, taking a full five seconds to turn her attention to you.

“what’s wrong?”

she blinks, shaking her head. “nothing.”

you note the dark circles under her eyes.

“kate.” you sigh, turning fully to her and leaning on the sink, giving her a knowing look. “you gonna hide something from me of all people?”

her nose twitches, the tip of it turning red as her bright blue eyes gloss over.

“…jeffory and i were supposed to go,” she says, her voice breaking as she blinks away her tears, showing you a prom flyer that had been crumpled in her hand.

“oh...” you murmur.

how does one comfort a friend in a situation like this? she hadn’t even told you the reason for their break up, merely saying it was “complicated” and that it was pretty peaceful. still, she seemed so upset about it even now. she suddenly brings a hand to her mouth, shaking her head as she tries to keep her strong front. very quickly it’s crumbling though, and you sigh her name at the sight. stepping forward, you pull her into a hug, one she quickly reciprocates with a shaky sniffle.

“oh, kate. it’s okay.”

the bathroom door squeaks and you quickly spin her to where her back faces whatever girls came in, hiding her teary face from sight. it’s probably very clear something was up, but you could only hope it’s not too noticeable.

“what’s going on in here?” teony’s voice curiously carries through the air like wind chimes.

lucinda comes after, her tone teasing as the clicks of her heels approach the other side of you. “a cute girl group hug with no invite…?”

both of the girls lose their steam when they catch a glimpse of katelyn’s expression, their faces falling into concern.

teony sighs. “oh, no. what happened?”

katelyn merely shakes her head, resting her cheek on your shoulder as she hunches over you like a wilted flower. turning your head to them, you point down at the prom flyer that had flitted down to the ground with a small grimace.

“aw, katelyn. you shouldn’t be crying over this…” teony says, reaching forward to rest her hand on the weeping girl’s shoulder.

“no, she shouldn’t.”

you raise your eyebrows at lucinda’s blunt lack of sympathy in her response, her lips pursing as katelyn’s watery eyes glance over to her with a sniffle.

“katelyn, snap out of it. it's been a while since you guys have split up. you need to pick yourself back up.”

you blink wide-eyed at the ginger, eyes flicking to teony who sighs under her breath.

“now, lucinda, you know—-”

the bathroom door squeaks again, and aphmau’s cheery smile skips right on in, happy hums leaving her mouth.

“oh, there you guys are! guess who just got asked to prom!” she cheers, freezing with an abrupt click of her heels on the tile when her eyes land on katelyn’s.

katelyn’s breaths shake before she once more breaks down into tears, slumping over your shoulder.

the three of you shoot an annoyed “are you for real?” look to the freshman, one she returns with a sheepish squirm and awkward smile when she realizes her blunder. slowly she walks up to your and katelyn’s sides, hugging onto the both of you.

“i’m sorry! don’t cry, don’t cry! shhh…”

lucinda rolls her eyes with a groan, before very suddenly pulling you and aph away from kate and lightly shoving her shoulder back, making the girl stumble. “alright katelyn, that is enough! where is that spunky girl who wants to kick my ass all the time? come on, girl. don't you want to fight?!”

katelyn frowns, her puffy lips pouting in annoyance as she catches her footing and shoots a glare at the sudden… attack.

what kind of comforting method is this, luci? you deadpan, looking to the other two girls who seem equally as taken aback.

“lucinda, i don’t think now is the time–” aph starts, before jumping at katelyn’s sudden grunt of annoyance.

“fine! let’s go!” she starts, beginning to march quite aggressively toward the girl.

this may be the most bizarre therapy session you’ve ever witnessed.

“that's the spirit.” lucinda grins, seeming to get hyped at the return of katelyn’s hot-headedness as she lightly bounces on her heels. “come at me, bro! we'll fight until your arms become marshmallows.”

the blue-haired girl’s steps stutter and her shoulders slump, her determination immediately deflating. “jeffory... loved marshmallows.”

“really?!” lucinda throws her arms up in exasperation. “you’re joking!”

“great job. you made it worse.” aphmau deadpans, before shimmying up to katelyn’s side and pulling her into a hug once again. “it’s okay, come here. let me hold you, kate…”

lucinda rolls her eyes. “aphmau, we can't baby her through this!”

“it’s not babying, she’s in her feels!”

“alright, ladies!” teony suddenly says, sounding similar to a judge calling for order. “that’s enough. i know what needs to be done!”

you’re unbelievably grateful for teony’s aptitude for leadership—especially in this moment.

“lucinda, it's not babying. katelyn needs our help, and we need to be there for her,” she says, hands on her hips and an assertive expression on her face. “after school today we’ll go on a friend date with the whole group to get her mind off of things. a little pick-me-up, if you will.”

“i guess you're right… it does break my heart to see katelyn like this.” lucinda sighs, her bristled front melting to show the spark of concern in her eyes as her own shoulders slump. “we have to do something.”

katelyn looks around at the four of you, wiping her nose with her hand and sniffling before reluctantly nodding. “alright, i guess…”

you shoot her a sympathetic smile, placing your hand on her arm. “there you go.”

aphmau hums, looking over to teony. “so, what are we going to do?”

the academic weapon grins, a plan seeming to have already brewed in her mind. “don’t you guys worry. i’ve gotten it all figured out. just meet me in the parking lot after school.”

☆

“the mall?” you raise your eyebrows, glancing around at the amount of people who seem to be in on this. did teony call the whole avengers squad for this?

not only was the obvious here—teony, lucinda, katelyn, and aphmau—but somehow from this afternoon when teony made the plan she also wrangled nicole, nana, garroth, laurance, and vylad, as well as… dante and travis? this is… an interesting mix for sure. though, based on the passive looks on nicole and nana’s faces, they don’t seem too bothered by the blue haired flirt being present in the group. that’s good, at least.

“yep! a friend group date is long overdue anyways, right?” teony grins, patting a still downcasted katelyn on the back as she walks to her car, sitting a wink over to aphmau. “plus, i promised aphmau i’d take her for a ride in my car sometime.”

“really?” aph gasps, running over to the yellow convertible in excitement. “i can ride with you?”

“mhm, and there’s room for one more…” she shoots you a pointed look, waggling her brows in suggestion.

from the corner of your eye you see nana, her fangs peeking from her bottom lip as she looks at teony’s cute bug in wonder. aw.

“that’s okay. it looks like nana really wants to go with you. i can catch a ride with someone else.”

the meif’wa squeaks in surprise, looking between you and teony with sparkles in her eyes, before hugging onto your arm. “really?”

“well aren’t you sweet?” she tilts her head affectionately, waving over the meif'wa. “come on, then!”

“guess i’m just chopped liver.” nicole scoffs, crossing her arms as she watches the girls run ahead.

“you can ride with me, sweetie,” lucinda coos, waving her keys between her polished fingers before glancing to you. “my car’s a two seater, though. sorry, i guess you’re stuck with the boys.”

“stuck with us? she’s pretty lucky!” dante protests, appearing next to you quite suddenly.

nicole snorts, not even glancing back at him as she continues walking. “you keep telling yourself that, bud.”

you raise an eyebrow as he visibly deflates.

travis snickers from behind the two of you. “damn. you just took that, huh?”

“oh, shut up.” he sighs, turning and delivering a weak looking chop to the other boy's stomach.

shaking your head, you look over to the more reliable ones of the group. “so… can i ride with one of you?”

“duh, of course you can.” laurance smiles, reaching over to pat your hair. “garroth has been driving a cadillac suv, so we have enough room for everyone.”

the nepo baby in question sighs at laurance’s dramatic jazz hands as he mentions the luxury car brand. “it’s my mom’s.”

“okay, well i was literally an orphan in foster care—”

“why do you do this to me?”

“i call shotgun!” dante calls, dashing around to the passenger side before garroth can even unlock the suv.

“hope you don’t mind sitting next to me?” vylad nudges you with his elbow, his round cheeks squishing into a dimpled smile.

“of course not.” you round to the other side, jumping up into the back seat as vylad gets in himself.

“scooch, you.” laurance taps at your legs, pointing at the middle seat.

“sure,” you shimmy over, only to nearly get clocked in the face by travis’s shoe as he crawls over vylad to get to the very back seats. “damn!”

“my–! bad–!” the braced teen grunts, a small thud coming from behind you as he flops down between the seat and the floorboard. “ah!”

“you could’ve just asked me to move the seat.” vylad laughs, glancing back without much concern at the boy. “you’re just as bad as zane is, making everything harder than it needs to be.”

“i know he’s your brother, so no offense, but please don’t compare me to him.”

“...none taken.”

“oh, yeah. speaking of which, where's zane?” you speak up, looking from vylad to the oldest ro’meave brother.

“he was feeling kinda sick today, so he stayed home. had a cold, i think,” he says, pausing before looking at you through the rearview mirror. “by the way, is katelyn… okay? teony told me she kinda put together this whole hangout to lift her spirits.”

“yeah… she just got kinda upset now that everyone’s talking about prom since she and jeffory were supposed to go together.”

you jump as travis’s hands slap onto your headrest, his messy white hair appearing from behind you as he gasps at the news. “wait, she’s single now?!”

genuinely you cannot stop yourself from slapping your palm right onto your forehead.

“calm yourself,” laurance scoffs. “she won’t be jumping into your arms anytime soon.”

“anytime soon, but it could be anytime,” he meekly says under his breath, tapping his fingers gently onto the headrest.

“learn from me and i bet you could bag her easy.” dante smugly turns around wagging his brows.

“you fumbled not one, but two cute girls at the beginning of this year,” you deadpan, crossing your arms and leaning forward with a stink eye. “travis doesn’t need a single crumb of advice from you.”

laurance starts to snicker from behind you as dante’s face falls into a pout before he slightly recovers, gathering some dignity. “hey, but i got them.”

“and then fumbled,” vylad adds, the simple and cheerful tone of his voice making garroth and travis join in on the laughter.

you’re unable to hide your amusement as well, especially when you see even dante cracking—the corners of his lips wobbling. “okay, yeah. damn, you got me. but i did learn from that. i actually don’t feel good about it.”

“good, you shouldn’t,” garroth scoffs, reaching over to flick the side of dante’s head.

after more… interesting topics truly only teenage boys could conjure up in the car, you were finally at the mall and stepping onto the tiled floors of the building. light filtered from the huge skylights above through the tree and garden installations in the center of the large building, the sight refreshing through all the different smells and noises of the shops around.

your feet quicken their pace as you race up to katelyn’s side, linking your arm with hers as your voice lowers to a whisper. “how do you feel?”

bright blue eyes dart to yours, the whites of her eyes still a bit red and irritated from her earlier upset. she opens her mouth to speak, before shrugging with a quiet sigh. “i appreciate the thought, but i don’t know how i feel about everyone being here right now. i feel like it’s obvious i’m upset. it’s kind of embarrassing.”

you shake your head, lightly pushing into her. “don’t be embarrassed. we’re all here because we want to hang out with you and make you feel better. a lot of people don’t have good friend groups like this. i know i didn’t before i came here.”

she looks down, seeming to let the words soak in before she glances back to the rest of your friends, a small smile tugging on her lips. “yeah… it’s been a while since i’ve hung out with some of those dorks, anyways.”

a wave of relief washes over you, and you thank whatever part of your brain that managed to conjure up the eloquence to say something successfully comforting. “that’s the spirit.”

“um, hi, katelyn!” travis rushes up to her other side, making her jump in surprise.

“oh, hey…”

“i know you’re feeling down, and i just wanted to say—i mean, ask! are you an angel?”

“huh?” she blinks.

“cause you must have fallen straight from heaven.”

“wh—“ she stutters, before a few chuckles leave her lips. “you can’t be serious. that’s the lamest joke in the book.”

travis’s eyes widen and his shoulders seem to stiffen up in confidence, the boy seeming to be energized by her smile. cute.

“i… i’m trash!”

“what?” she laughs in confusion.

“so can you take me out?”

katelyn continues to giggle, her laughter lightly carrying through the air. “that’s a good one.”

“are you a camera? cause i smile every time i look at you.”

the smile on katelyn’s face lasts for most of the ventures through the mall, her mind seeming well distracted from running through the arcade to eating snacks from the vendors—until your group walked by an outlet store with their beautiful prom attire on display.

“ooh, look at those pretty dresses!” nana suddenly squeals, pointing to the display with all different kinds of dresses in the window. “aw… i wanna go to—”

aphmau, who’d been eyeing the dresses herself at the front of the group, spins on her heels with wide eyes and sends a high pitched “mew!” to the meif’wa.

lucinda looks up from her phone, a quizzical look on her face. “why you just… meow?”

“she’s stopping her from mentioning prom cause of jeff—”

you stop in your tracks, waving your hands wildly. really?!

teony bites her lip, slowly shrugging up her shoulders with a guilty look on her face. “oops…”

for as smart teony is, she totally slipped that up!

kate looks down, and the whole group freezes up, almost seeming to collectively hold their breaths. after a few moments of tense silence, her voice comes out… uncharacteristically quiet. “i’m done with the mall for today.”

no, no, no! she was doing so good!

“uh, the park!” you blurt, causing the whole group to turn to you rather than the fresh coat of tears gathering in katelyn’s eyes. “i think after all this time inside we should go enjoy the park. it’s just down the road.”

“good plan,” laurance smoothly says, clapping garroth’s shoulder as the boy tosses his keys up in his hand—the rest of the group slowly nodding along. “a walk would be nice.”

☆

and it was a good plan. a breath of fresh air in the warm spring breeze leaving not much to think about except for the large old trees overhead and the people nearby playing… volleyball!

it seems teony had the same idea, as she very quickly suggested a quick little match to get katelyn’s spirits lifted again. glancing up at the girl, your shoulders sag when you see the disinterested look on her face as she shrugs.

“i don’t really feel like playing right now,” she mutters, making teony’s draw drop in shock.

“well, i see those kids over there playing soccer. i’m gonna join them if anyone else wants to,” laurance says with a small wave, prompting aphmau and vylad to eagerly follow as he jogs over to the nearby field. travis stares at katelyn for a few moments longer as dante runs off after them, the boy’s eyes round with worry before he reluctantly starts walking over, too.

lucinda scoffs. “okay, katelyn, are you really—”

“we’ll be right back,” you quickly interrupt, looping your arm with the heart-aching girl and beginning to walk over towards the bridge nearby before lucinda can use any more of her “tough-love” tactics.

the stone bridge was beautiful, and the architecture seemed like it had been built long ago, though new supporting renovations had been made since then. you lean onto the railing and stare down into the lazy flowing river below, the gentle sounds of the water going along the riverbank filling the silence between the two of you. katelyn leans over, too, staring down at her warped reflection down below and letting the wind flick her hair wherever it decided.

“why’d you both break up?” you ask quietly, studying her side profile as you wait for an answer.

katelyn truly was pretty, her straight nose and starking eyes framed by powder blue hair, and a few stray freckles dotting her pale cheeks. on top of that, she was a good friend–despite her occasional hot-headedness–and was pretty strong in her loyalty. from what you saw from jeffory, you can’t imagine he’d have done something to hurt her, but you’re kind of tired of not knowing the whole story, either.

“i… i was the one who broke up with him,” she whispers, sniffling as tears begin to stream down her face.

you frown. so it wasn’t a mutual thing. “why?”

“he just—it’s gonna sound so stupid.”

“it’s not stupid. you don’t cry over nothing.”

she lets out a deep sigh, swiping away the tears from her cheeks in an attempt to compose herself. “he was just too nice.”

…

“huh?”

she looks over, shrugging as her chin wobbles. “i dunno. i just kinda felt bad about myself when i was with him. and it’s not fair to him 'cause that’s not his fault that he’s so perfect.”

you’re speechless for a good few moments. “what are you talking about? like, you don’t think you’re good enough for him or something?”

her head dips down, a shaky breath leaving her lips. “no, it’s… like i can do no wrong when i’m with him, even when i’m clearly in the wrong on something, he just agrees with me on everything and never has an opinion on anything.”

understanding dawns on you, and you slowly nod. “he was a great boyfriend, but your personalities just didn’t mesh.”

she looks up at you eagerly, nodding. “yeah. i need someone who can, i don’t know, challenge me? contrast my… stubbornness.”

you snort. “y—”

“yes, i’m admitting to it,” she quickly cuts you off, a small smile wobbling through her tear-stricken face. “i know i can be pretty hard-headed, and i need someone who won’t just let me push them over on everything.”

“i understand,” you say, reaching out your arm to pat her back. it trembled with every shaky breath she took.

“thank you.” she sniffles. “i just… feel so guilty about it. and i am upset, i really liked him—do like him. he’s so sweet and deserves the best and i just feel like i can’t give that to him.”

at that, she seems to break apart again. she’s really holding all of this on her shoulders.

“oh, kate. you don’t need to feel guilty about it. some things are just not meant to work out, and it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. you both could even still be friends after all of this, i’m sure of it. he won’t hate you for this.”

her shoulders wrack. “i know he won’t, which is why i feel so bad!”

“shh, just breathe.” you worry, rubbing her back some more. “here, i’ll go grab you some water so you can calm yourself a bit, okay?”

she gives you a weak nod, letting her hair fall to hide her face as she lets her teardrops fall down into the river. you let yourself stand for a moment to watch her, your heart squeezing for your poor friend as her mind continued to batter her emotions into a pulp.

as you turn to make your walk, you’re intercepted by garroth, who seemed to have idly waited by the edge of the bridge, looking on in worry. “hey…”

“hey.” you sigh, glancing back at kate–who was still hunched over the stone railing–and back at the blond. “she’s really going through it.”

“yeah, i can tell.” he frowns, his eyebrows pulled together. “do you think… uh…”

you tilt your head at his sudden sheepishness. “hm?”

“i was thinking of a friend to invite with me as my plus one to prom, and i honestly was debating asking you… but i was thinking maybe inviting katelyn would be nice. to take her mind off of jeffory,” he says, and your eyebrows shoot up on your forehead.

“wait, what? but i thought only sophomores and juniors get to go.”

“i'm only going because my teacher is on the host staff and asked me to help.” he shrugs. “plus, i get extra credit for it.”

“oh… that makes sense,” you murmur.

“yeah, sorry. guess i shouldn’t have told you i thought about inviting you only to say sike! nevermind!” he snorts, his voice turning comically goofy at the end and consequently making you burst into giggles.

“oh, my feelings are so hurt, garroth. how could you break my heart like this? i’m just a second choice to you?”

he shakes his head, his prince charming smile wide on his face. “no, no! never! my sincerest apologies.”

your amusement calms, and you pat his arm. “seriously, i think that’s a good idea, actually.

“okay. i thought it would be nice, but i wanted your opinion first. didn’t want to make things worse, you know?” he scratches his head, glancing over to kate.

“yeah. and it is really nice. you’re so sweet, garroth.”

the tips of his ears slowly turn red, his eyes darting down to the sidewalk. “thanks…”

“well, maybe you can go talk to her now. i’m gonna get her some water real quick.”

he nods, blond curls bouncing along with his head. “yeah, yeah, okay. i’ll go do that.”

you watch with a fond smile as he jogs over to katelyn, his hand gently ruffling her hair and making her jump in place. he was so thoughtful.

the vending machines near the restrooms wasn’t much further, and you glance over to watch just as laurance was completely demolishing those kids and scoring another goal on them. this was the same one you had gone to grab a water for zane, when he’d gotten hit in the face with aphmau’s lethal soccer kick. you wonder if he’s still looking up to gene, or if maybe he’s grown out of whatever horrid phase he was in.

you chuckle under your breath at the thought of the little emo ro’meave. though, little was an understatement. at the rate he’s been seeming to grow, he might even manage to end up taller than garroth. still, his attitude is enough to make him little in your eyes, as hilariously demeaning that sounded. you’re sure if you said it to the boy’s face he’d throw a whole string of insults your way.

as you wrinkle your nose at how fondly you thought of the little brat, your eyes catch jet black sitting in the parking lot ahead, its engine idling lowly. your blood drains from your face as you freeze in place, breaths shortening as your eyes slowly drift up to confirm what you just saw.

suv. jet black paint. jet black windows. dark headlights. facing right at you.

no. that’s not them. breathe.

why is it on? who’s in there?

“just act normal. i’m okay. i’m okay,” you mutter under your breath, shakily taking in your next breath as your finger slips and you click for a gatorade instead of water. “shit.”

you tear your eyes away from the vehicle, bending down to grab the drink with trembling hands before quickly standing again and looking ahead once again.

there’s a man. where have you seen him before? he looks so familiar. tan… dark eyes from what you could see in the distance you were at… brown hair… kinda tall. he looks pretty average, but you can swear you’ve seen him before. and he’s looking right at you.

the gas station. when you’d been there with gene. you’d seen the same suv then, too.

your heartbeat picks up, hands going cold and sweaty and throat tightening.

is that him? the one from before? did he find you again? why is he showing his face to you now?! IT’S HIM!

it almost felt like you were outside of your body, your face and limbs gone completely numb as you held eye contact with him. your vision blurs, and you can barely keep track of him as he slowly walks over to the passenger side of the black vehicle. as you blink to regain your sight, you see that that blank look on his face is gone, instead replaced with a taunting smile as he tilts his head.

IT’S HIM. CALL FOR HELP. SCREAM FOR GARROTH, KATELYN, SOMEONE.

one of your hands reach up from the gatorade, tightly gripping onto the locket zianna had given you.

a boy walks up to the man, standing just shorter than him. he was a werewolf. silver piercings on his ears glinting in the sun and a streak of blue running through his bangs.

who is he? he looks young. but is he in on it? he could be. was that his son?

his eyes shift to you, and you watch as they widen at you, his expression shifting into something… uncomfortable? scared? you can’t quite place it, your own brain going too haywire to associate anything with anything else. he turns from you and quickly gets into the car, not giving you a second glance.

you can’t hear anything but ringing in your ears and the sharp breaths that you struggled to take in. the man slowly opens up the passenger door, before slinking into the vehicle and disappearing inside.

you hear your name muffled against your left side, before a firm grip clasps on your shoulder.

“no!” you shout, whipping towards your assailant and whacking their arm away, stumbling back as the gatorade falls to the ground, rolling from your feet.

garroth stands shocked, his hand still held out to you and eyes wide. katelyn, stood a step behind him, has an almost identical expression.

“woah… it’s just me,” he says, voice low and eyebrows pulling together. “why are you so scared?”

you blink rapidly, shaking your head and looking back to the vehicle. garroth and katelyn follow your line of sight, and as their eyes land on the suv it backs out of its spot, before quickly driving away.

“what? who was that?” katelyn mutters.

you shake your head. it’s so hard to breathe.

garroth’s hands land on your shoulders again, and instead of fear you feel comforted by their strength. you tear your eyes from the empty parking spot, looking up at him.

“please. talk to us. you said we wouldn’t keep secrets from each other anymore.”

katelyn picks up the gatorade, pointing to the nearby bench. “she looks like she’s having a panic attack, or on the verge of it. let’s let her breathe for a second.”

garroth’s face twists in guilt, before he slowly nods. “yeah, sorry.”

guiding you over to the seat, he sits next to you while katelyn takes the spot on your other side. you stare forward at the field, listening to the distant sound of your friends’ cheers and shouts as they run around in the grass. it takes a while. a minute. or two. maybe even five or ten. you’re not sure. garroth and katelyn don’t speak, letting silence sit between the three of you and merely exchanging worried glances when you take in a particularly sharp breath. finally, your breaths calm to a slow pace and your shoulders slightly relax, letting you slump back to rest on the bench properly.

“...i moved back here. because of him,” you say, voice more hoarse and whispered than you expected it to be.

“him?” katelyn asks, her head whipping to look back to the parking spot like the suv would still be there. “in that car?”

you nod slowly.

garroth sighs, his eyes trailing down to the necklace that you still had clutched between your fingers. you didn’t even realize you were still holding onto it. stiff fingers release the locket from its confines, your nails leaving deep imprints on your palms.

“i don’t know everything… but my mom kind of told me the reason why you were here. that you had a stalker?”

katelyn quickly looks back at you. “what?”

you take in a deep breath. “yeah. it was that same vehicle. i’ve been seeing it again. i keep thinking i’m just overreacting but…”

you gulp, blinking more tears away again. “i think it’s the same from before. i don’t know how they found me. he found me. i thought i could at least be safe for a year—”

“you are safe,” garroth says, wrapping his arm loosely around your shoulder. the firm and sure way he said it almost makes you believe it. “as long as you’re with us, you’re safe.”

katelyn nods. “i… had no clue. but garroth’s right. we won’t let anything happen to you.”

you shake your head slowly, folding your legs up to your chest. “it’s been happening for so long. i’m so tired of being scared.”

“...why haven’t you told any of us yet?” katelyn murmurs, setting her arm on top of garroths as she also hugs you.

“i didn’t want to draw attention. plus, i didn’t want anyone to know. i wanted to leave it all behind. start over. but he won’t let me.” your nose pricks as tears fall down your cheeks again.

garroth sighs under his breath, the sound tense and almost… angry?

“i’m sorry,” he mutters, glancing up at katelyn before resting his cheek on your head. “i hate seeing you so scared, but i’m glad you told us. from the sound of it you can’t ignore it anymore, and you need us to help and protect you.’

“and we will,” kate adds.

you stare blankly ahead at the field, and take in a deep breath when you see laurance looking over, squinting to get a better look at the three of you with a frown on his face.

“please don’t tell anyone. you can tell our close friends, but i want this to stay a secret...”

“of course,” garroth quickly says. “wasn’t even thinking of telling them until you said anything. this is more than just a small secret.”

katelyn nods, her voice quiet as she seems to process everything. “yeah…”

“and don’t treat me differently,” you mutter, finally looking them in the eyes. “okay?”

they both nod, eyebrows pulled together.

you sigh, looking forward again. “so. you going to prom together?”

garroth guffaws and kate makes an audible noise of shock.

“you just told us the most traumatizing ongoing experience of your life, and that’s how you ease out of that conversation?”

“are you?”

katelyn slowly nods, trying to calm her face into a more pleasant expression. “yeah… garroth actually made me laugh with that stupid voice he does.”

“the hur-dee-dur one?”

garroth laughs, not sounding all that amused but still giving an attempt at it. “yep, that one.”

“good. i’m glad. i think it’ll be fun.”

he nods. “yeah. you know… laurance is a part of the helping crew too. maybe he can take you and we can all go together. that would be a lot of fun, huh?”

you stare in thought, noticing that the boy himself was starting to walk over from the field. you hadn’t even let the thought of attending prom cross your mind, but the thought of dressing up with your friends at a party you technically weren’t supposed to be at sounded like something from the teenage experience you had been craving since you got here.

“yeah. that would be fun.”

tag list: @orinlin @pain-in-the-ashe @youmake1mistake @arienic @wasting-away-on-the-internet @angelhyperfixates @remiechu @valentique @kalegrinch

54 notes · View notes