BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE

CHAPTER SEVEN: BROKEN SEALS

THE bell rang- it being an obvious reminder that class was starting- Lydia leaned forward in her seat just slightly indicating that she showed some interest in the subject, Allison leaned her head into her hand seeming to still be tired, but then again, what high schooler wasn't?

The teacher was a male, probably in his late thirties or early forties, "so, I know we had a long summer, and I know more than half of you most likely forgot what you learned last year, so" he paused glancing to the board, "why don't we have some volunteers come up to the board?" River glanced around her eyes catching sight of Scott on the opposite side of Allison, how had she missed him?

She shook her head the first thing she saw when she turned to face the front again being teachers finger pointed straight at her, "how about you Ms...." he trailed off as if he was waiting for her to finish the sentence, "Matthews." she mumbled standing up to walk to the front of the classroom.

She took the chalk from his hand listening as he called up two other students to solve the other problems on the board, she looked over her own problem the word lingering above the equation stating what she was supposed to do with the problem.

Simplify.

The numbers- and letters- seemed to fit so perfectly, she could only wonder how people hated the subject when it was so simple.

She let her eyes run over the expression working her way through it without writing.

-2(x - 3) + 4(-2 x + 8)

When she knew she was close to the answer she began to scribble down what she already knew, retracing her steps through the equation she ran it through her head a final time before writing what she believed to be the answer.

She set the piece of chalk down stepping back to look over her work.

-2x + 8  =   -2 • (x - 4)

(0- (2 • (x - 3))) + -8 • (x - 4)

(0- (2 • (x - 3)) + -8 • (x - 4)

- 10x = -2 • (5x - 19)

-2 • (5x - 19)

She let her eyes quickly glance over all the numbers before she turned and made her way back to her seat, the teacher moved to look over her problem silently reading it to himself before he turned to look at her, "it seems someone studied up over the summer." he gestured to River who sat back in her chair trying her best not to gain any unwanted attention.

Lydia cocked her head in the girls direction slightly smiling as she did so, "so you're like, one of the smart kids, right?"

She shrugged her shoulders in response, she knew she wasn't the brightest in some areas, while in others she was a genius, to say she was smart would be a lie.

She was average.

"Well, maybe you can help Allison study for the PSAT." both of them looked over to the girl her eyes taking in that her mouth had slightly opened, "you don't have to, I just- I don't think I'm going to do very well." she sighed, this was Rivers chance, maybe she could make a friend, maybe she wouldn't have to spend her two weeks in complete misery, "I mean, if you want I could help you." she offered, the fellow brunette smiled at the offer nodding her head, "that would be great, do you think you could come over tonight?"

River had to think about it for a second before she nodded her head, "yeah, I just have to let my m-" she stuttered over the word unsure of what to call Gen in front of other people, "my Aunt, that I'm going." Allison smiled tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, "great, does four work for you?"

She nodded her head almost sure that she could convince Stiles to drop her off as long as Scott was around to sway his decision. A balled up piece of paper hit the back of her head leaving nothing more than a tickle in it's place as she picked it up, unballing the paper- both Lydia and Allison watching as she did so- she opened it up and flattened it down on the desk to read whatever was written inside.

She felt her heart rate beginning to pick up as she read over the word over and over again, it was like a stab she'd never felt before, like a gunshot to the leg, Lydia leaned over to get a better look quickly glancing to the back of the room where the paper had come from, she snatched it from the girl standing up with it in her hand.

"Which one of you did this?" a few students let out chuckles while others stayed silent watching as she held the paper out for everyone to see, on the page in dark red permanent marker it read, FREAK.

It was at that moment that fate decided to help her out, the bell rang and suddenly, almost as if she was in slow motion, she was rushing out of the classroom tears rushing down her face as she made her escape, she rushed down the stairs searching for anywhere she could hide herself away from the humiliation, she went to the first place she could think of; the bathroom.

She rushed through the hall pushing past the wooden door as another girl left leaving her alone in the quiet room, "why are you so stupid?!" the girl cried her hands resting against the cold tile-like surface of the bathroom sink the feeling of one of her outbursts riding on the edges of her senses.

The somewhat unstable girl had expected the bathroom to be packed with girls, luckily, she'd come at the least busy time of the day, when she'd entered the bathrooms had been abandoned and perfect for her to ride out her outburst in.

She smacked her head not one, but, two times. She was trying to take out her frustration in the least destructive way possible, she knew if she let it get out of control the school could quite possibly become a catastrophe zone, one she would be the central cause of.

Not too far away, the honey eyed Stilinski boy- the sheriff's son- was sneaking through the hallways attempting to locate his best friend of several years- some would ever compare the two as brothers of sorts- the boy could distinctly remember going over the plan with his friend several times, meet by the locker room, leave from the locker room, and once again, his lacrosse-playing friend had ignored the plan and gone on his own accord.

The boy was unfazed and yet again slightly disappointed in his friend's ability to listen- or lack thereof- creeping through the final stretch of hallway, the boy rounded the corner leading to the front entrance, there, sitting outside, was his friend- Scott McCall- his mouth emitted a sigh of relief happy to have finally located his friend.

Checking behind him for teachers- he saw none in either direction- he began to creep down the hallway the sound of metal popping stopping him in his tracks. He'd heard plenty of weird noises in his lifetime- especially high school years- but this was something different, he'd heard dogs barking, car horns being aggressively honked, crying, people screaming, this was something new to add to his list.

Seconds later, the curious honey eyed boy could hear the sound of rushing water, this wasn't a sound he was unfamiliar with, it was a common sound he'd heard almost every day of his life, at first the boy thought it was just a sink being turned on, but upon further investigation- getting closer to where he thought the noise was coming from- he could tell that it wasn't just a sink.

It was multiple, and it was from faucets, it sounded like it was spraying, as if the pipes had burst and the water was coming out of the metal equipment in violent surges. He glanced back to where Scott sat out on the patio patiently waiting for his friend, glancing between the girls' bathroom door and the front entrance he made a decision in those few seconds.

He let out a small sigh trying to lower his heart rate. The investigative boy pushed the door open and stopped in the entrance when he saw what was in front of him.

On usual terms- before he'd found out about the dead bodies and the animal attacks- he probably would've booked it for the hills in fear or worry he would be blamed for such a stunt, but he didn't, instead, he ventured further- just a few steps- his converse sneakers squeaking as they made contact with the slick surface of the bathroom floor, he avoided the water rushing out of the pipes as best as he could finding it rather difficult as it sprayed against the walls and the girl herself.

It was River.

Scotts "friend".

The same girl he'd met when they'd found the dead body.

"River...." he trailed off, the boy was at a loss for words, or rather, a loss of how to form sentences with them, he could see her fists balled up at her sides her knuckles a ghostly white, the honey eyed teen leaned down slightly trying to get her attention, "what the hell are you doing?" the boy questioned, she raised her head from where she'd been staring at the soaked floor, she was mostly soaked in water herself the sensation meaning little to nothing as it wasn't currently deemed important by her brain.

The girl looked up at him carefully meeting his gaze, the boy- having honey eyes of his own- took a step back at the sight of her violet orbs, they'd once been a dark brown that shined a few streaks of gold when she was in the sunlight- not that he'd cared enough to notice- he glanced out into the hallway unsure of what he was supposed to do.

He couldn't just leave her there, it was clear that she wasn't herself.

The Stilinski boy clumsily stumbled out of the bathroom almost tripping on his own two feet as he made a beeline for the entrance of the school. He popped his head out through the crack of the two doors Scott looking up with an expectant expression painting his dorky features.

The teen cocked his head to the side as if he was asking the boy a question, he simply shook his head pointing towards the bathroom, "River- water." he spoke stumbling over his words, Scott frowned the statement alone not making much sense, but looking at his best friends face he could tell it was something bad.

He followed Stiles down the hall and into the girl's bathroom the boy stopping in the doorway almost as surprised as his friend had been when he'd come across her, "her eyes- Stiles, what's wrong with her?"

The boy shook his shaved head running a hand over the top, Scott crouched down trying his best to avoid getting soaked, "River" he spoke, she didn't react, the girl's eyes were still planted where Stiles had been moments before, the young werewolf looked back at his friend desperation of worry evident in the corners of his eyes, "Stiles, how much time till class is over?" The boy peeked out into the hallway ducking his head back in once he'd found his answer, "four minutes."

He slightly opened his mouth showing he was clueless in how to get River moving, "hey, Riv- we need you to snap out of it" he waved his hand in front of her face, when she showed no reflexive reaction he looked back at his friend the worry creasing his features.

Stiles once again looked out into the hallway his eyes lingering on the hands of the large clock as it counted down like the timer for their final exams, he cleared his throat before returning his friends gaze, "Scott, we don't have time for this."

His friend let out a low groan as he glanced between the unstable girl and his hyper best friend, "you try snapping her out of it" he grumbled throwing his hands into the air seemingly defeated over his efforts.

Stiles pursed his lips trying his best not to reply with something sarcastic, right now he needed to be serious, he needed to make River snap out of whatever it was she was in.

He crossed the bathroom crouching down in front of her once his friend had moved, he stared at her for a few silent seconds before biting his lip and raising his hand, he brought it down across her cheek in a single arc of motion the sound resonating through the bathroom like a never-ending echo.

Scott let his mouth glide open in shock over what his best friend had just done to the girl.

The girl's eyes flickered for a few brief seconds before they returned to their normal dark golden streaked brown iris'.

She stared at him for a split second before the background noise of rushing water filled her senses, looking around at the destruction she'd caused she could feel bile rising in her throat trying to suffocate her, the two friends watched as she clenched her fists again, Stiles quickly reached out keeping her hand from closing as his wrapped around hers.

"We have to go" he stated, Scott nodded his head standing up, "if any of us get caught in here, we're done for lacrosse." River gave a shaky nod attempting to look at all the damage she'd caused, Stiles reached out turning her head away from the mess in a reassuring manner, "we're gonna leave and then everything's gonna be fine."

The unbalanced trio was halfway to the exit when the bell rang, the sarcastic one of the three felt his shoulders tighter in anticipation, he was expecting them to be caught, but, surprisingly, they safely made it out through the entrance without drawing attention to themselves, unsure of how long their luck would last both the two boys began sprinting for Stiles' car, the soaked girl chased after them finally understanding why they had begun to run.

Scott pulled the passenger seat backward allowing River to climb into the backseat, once she had he pushed the seat back into its original position and jumped into the car, Stiles followed suit immediately starting the engine before he peeled out of the parking lot to put distance between themselves and the school.

"So, would someone like to tell me what the hell that was?" the boy at the wheel asked, Scott felt his jaw go slack unsure of how to explain it, he didn't even know what she'd done, he didn't have a name for it, a term.

Stiles glanced from Scott to River waiting for an answer, "well?" he asked again, the other boy shrugged his shoulders turning to look at the drenched girl sitting in the backseat, "River, what was that back there?"

She shook her head unsure of how to answer the question, she'd been trying to answer it for years, "I've always been like this, it usually happens when I get frustrated." Stiles raised his eyebrows glancing into his rearview mirror, "so what are we supposed to call this? Like is there a name for what you have?" she shrugged her shoulders.

"Not one that I know of."

BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE

CHAPTER SEVEN: BROKEN SEALS