۰ ━━━━━ ❪ ❛ CHAPTER 001 ! ❜ . . . 𓄹 ❫
一 ꗃ ꔛ﹅ : and so it begins.

  IT WAS THE FIRST DAY BACK TO SCHOOL AFTER winter break, and Lillian wasn't particularly excited, to say the least. Sure, she was bored out of her mind being at home all the time and having nothing to do because Beacon Hills was a small town where the most exciting things that happened there were the lacrosse games. Well, nothing was a bit of an overstatement; she was able to hang out with her best friends, Emersyn and Adella, whenever she pleased (they mostly came to her house because Emersyn's aunt was a raging bitch). But school being back would lessen that ability, with the homework and schoolwork that she knew they'd be swamped with. And she wasn't looking forward to seeing all of her classmates—the ones she didn't like, that was.

Currently, she was walking towards the school, dragging her feet with each step she took. She was wearing a black skirt, a striped black and white sweater, sheer black tights, and dingy black high-tops Converse. Her hand was clutching the strap of her bookbag, which only hung off one shoulder, and she was wearing a white, preppy-style headband with her hair down and curled. Her makeup was simple, with blushy cheeks, glossy lips, and a small-winged black liner.

She groaned as she approached her red-headed best friend, who was staring at her with a small and amused smile as she stood on the front steps of the school. "What's wrong, princess?" Emersyn asked, pouting her lip as Lillian walked up the steps and rested her head on her shoulder. "Wake up too early?" she guessed, causing Lillian to nod with a moping expression.

"I'm so sleepy," Lillian told her, sounding like a child, closing her eyes and letting her arms dangle like she had given up on holding up her own weight, not caring how the ones around them gave judging glances in their direction. Was she being dramatic about her tiredness? Yes, but she did not care if it was with Emersyn. The two of them understood each other like no others. "I could just fall asleep right here."

"Might not want to do that," Emersyn said, focused on something in front of them, though Lillian wasn't paying attention.

"Why's that?" Lillian muttered, actually close to falling asleep right then and there. Emersyn had surprisingly comfortable shoulders, and Lillian was no stranger to that fact—she'd spent many nights crying, sleeping, and resting her head on her shoulders.

"'Cause Scooter is right there," Emersyn answered, and Lillian quickly lifted her head at the mention of the boy.

Of course, Em had used his code name that they made up for him so that they could talk about him without anyone or him knowing that they were talking about him. It wasn't very good, but it wasn't like he or anyone else would pay that much attention, anyway. Even if people did listen in on their conversation, they probably wouldn't know Scott's name if it was plastered all over the halls. He and his best friend, Stiles Stilinski, weren't exactly the most popular boys in school, even though both of them were lacrosse players. Well, they were on the team; they never actually played since they weren't that good at the sport.

Scott wouldn't know either, because he never sent more than a glance in Lillian's way unless she went up to him. Stiles, on the other hand, was always staring at Emersyn. Actually, he was always staring at either her or Lydia Martin, the most popular girl in school and also the girl that Stiles had been obsessed with since second grade (he was much like Lillian in the sense of having a crush on someone that never seemed to notice him, no matter how hard he tried), and she was also dating Jackson Whittemore, the most obnoxious, rude, stereotypical rich boy in school—no, in town.

Lillian's eyes focused on Scott in an instant. She felt like she'd be able to spot him in any crowd of people. Unsurprisingly, he was talking with Stiles. He was standing next to one of the tables and benches on the grass, his back to the two girls, as he lifted up his shirt to show Stiles something. He seemed to have a sort of bandage on his side, right above his hip bone.

Lillian furrowed her brows when she saw this, curious as to what happened. Then she turned to Emersyn, who was looking at the boys as well, specifically Stiles. She would never admit it, but she had a fondness for his geekiness but felt as if they would clash too harshly for anything to happen. Plus, he was desperately in love with Lydia Martin, feeling more for her than he ever would for Emersyn—according to Emersyn, that was. Lillian gave her a sweet smile, waiting for her to focus on her, which she did after a moment. Based on the bored look on Em's face, she knew that her best friend wanted something from her.

Gesturing to her ear then pointed towards Scott and Stiles, Lillian, with a low voice so others couldn't hear, asked, "Can you use your really good hearing to hear what they're saying?" Her smile got even brighter and sweeter as Emersyn continued to give her a faceful of boredom. "Please."

Emersyn just sighed and focused back on Stiles and Scott as Lillian did the same, seeing that Scott had now put his shirt down. "He's saying that it was too dark to see much, but he thinks that a... wolf bit him?" She knitted her brows together, her tone questioning and clearly confused, as they watched Scott and Stiles begin to walk towards the school.

"What?" Lillian muttered, her own expression turning confused.

"Stiles is saying that there's not a chance that happened. Scott says he heard a wolf howling, and Buzzcut says that he couldn't have because there have been no wolves in Beacon Hills in like sixty years," Emersyn continued, rolling her eyes because both she and Lillian, who she'd spilled her secret to after a year of them being friends, both knew that there were definitely wolves in Beacon Hills (one of them being), just not the kind that Stiles was thinking of. When the two of them noticed the boys coming to a stop, Emersyn turned away so that she was facing Lillian with her back against the staircase railing, trying not to make it obvious that they were staring at them or listening to their conversation.

Lillian, with a small smile on her face, just waved at Scott, who was now facing them, when his eyes found hers over Stiles's, who stood in front of him with his back to the girls, shoulder. He then just awkwardly waved back, trying to return the smile, but it didn't work out the way he wanted it to.

Feeling strongly disappointed, knowing that he did not feel for her what she felt for him, Lillian smile fell off her face as her hand fell to her side, and she turned to her best friend with a look that showed her mood had been dampened and said, "I wonder if he knows that his lack of interest hurts me, like physically hurts me."

Emersyn just gave her a look of pity, opening her mouth to respond, but before she could, one of the boys must've said something shocking because her focus snapped towards them. Her brows furrowed as she listened closely.

"What are they saying?" Lillian asked, not being able to help her curiosity.

"Scott just told Stiles that he found the body, and Stiles is pretty excited about it for some reason," she explained, meeting her best friend's gaze. "And I quote, 'this is going to be the best thing that has happened to this town since...' Oh, wait, here comes Lydia," she added, putting the girl on alert. They stood up a little straighter, neither one in the mood to deal with Lydia and her judging looks. They weren't Lydia-level popular, but people knew their names, including Lydia, especially after what happened to Emersyn's family when she was six years old. And the she-devil loved to tell them whenever she didn't like their outfits or simply gave them nasty looks, which they happily returned, especially her fellow redhead.

They watched as Stiles seemed to try and talk to Lydia, who was walking alongside Em's distant—in terms of how they got along, not how they were related—cousin, Elizabeth. But his efforts were ignored by her, as always. No, actually, she didn't even seem to notice he was there or even speaking to her, even though he was staring right at her. They watched Lydia walk up to the stairs as Stiles followed her with his eyes, his focus flickering to the other redhead for a moment. Then they watched with studying looks as Lydia, Elizabeth, and another girl that they always hung out with brushed past them, not even glancing in their direction.

Stiles turned back to Scott, and Emersyn continued to listen to their conversation. She let out a snort of amusement after a moment, smiling to herself as the bell rang. Lillian just looked at her questioningly. "What?" she questioned, knitting her brows.

Emersyn looped her arm in her best friend's as they turned to the school. "Stiles just told Scott that it's his fault Lydia doesn't notice him because he dragged him down into his nerd depths and that he's a nerd by association," she said, clearly finding that funny. "He's been scarlet-nerded by him, according to Stiles."

Lillian laughed, rolling her eyes playfully as she shook her head. "Yeah, like Scott is the nerdier of the two." She and Emersyn looked at each other knowingly.

After that, they walked to their first period and took their seats, watching as Mr. Curtis wrote on the whiteboard. "As you all know," the man began, "there indeed was a body found in the woods last night." Lillian did, in fact, not know that—she wasn't one to keep up with the news in Beacon Hills, never expecting anything interesting to be reported. She glanced over to her right at Emersyn, who was already looking at her, both of them knowing that this body was probably what Scott and Stiles had been talking about, then they faced forward. "And I am sure your eager little minds are coming up with various macabre scenarios as to what happened," he continued, finishing writing Kafka's Metamorphosis on the board. "But I am here to tell you," he turned to them, "that the police have a suspect in custody." Lillian sends a confused look in Emersyn's direction. If they found the body last night, then how did the police already have a suspect in custody? Lillian didn't get to even think of an answer as Mr. Curtis added, "Which means you can give your undivided attention to the syllabus"—some students groaned in annoyance around them as he lifted a copy of the syllabus for them to see—"which is on your desk outlining this semester."

Everyone picked up their syllabuses and began going over them boredly. But Lillian glanced up once, and her focus fell on Scott, who sat just a couple of seats in front of her and in the next row over. He was staring out the window. She didn't think too much of it, guessing that he was probably zoning out or didn't want to die of boredom because of the piece of paper he was holding. She followed his line of sight anyway, though, curious as to what had his attention.

That was when she saw a girl sitting outside and digging through her bag as she talked on the phone. Scott seemed rather interested in her, focusing on her completely and unaware of the narrowing eyes on the back of his head. How had he noticed her? Why had he noticed her? Lillian's mind began to ramble and yell at her as she gripped her pen tightly in her hand. She focused back on the girl just as she got off the phone with whomever she'd been talking to and the vice principal approached her. This girl, whom Lillian had never seen before, stood up from the bench she had been sitting on and smiled at the man. She had a pretty smile paired with deep dimples. Lillian hated that it was so pretty—that this girl seemed to be so pretty.

She watched with curious eyes as the girl walked with the vice principal, seemingly towards the school and disappeared from her sight. She then focused on Scott, who was moving his gaze and head as if he could tell where in the school the new girl was. Her brows furrowed, confusion taking over her, with her hand still tightly gripping on her pen, but not nearly as much as before.

Then the door of the classroom opened, and Scott's eyes were on it.

Lillian, along with most of the others, looked over at who was entering, seeing none other than the new girl and the vice principal. The girl had long and dark hair that was slightly waved, and she was wearing dark blue jeans, a gray shirt, a beige-green jacket, and a teal scarf, with her bag hanging from her shoulder. Her eyes were a dazzlingly deep brown, much like Scott's, and she had a kind smile as she looked around the room.

She was so pretty, it made Lillian feel frustrated with herself.

"Class, this is our new student, Allison Argent," the vice principal introduced. "Please do your best to make her feel welcome," he added, just before leaving the room.

Allison Argent (she even had a pretty name; Lillian knew that Argent meant "silver" in Latin, a language that was always a fascination of hers, and Allison meant "noble" and "kind," which this girl seemed even though Lillian hadn't even spoken a word to her) walked to her seat, sitting directly behind Scott and to the left of Lillian. Before she could even get fully settled in her seat, Scott turned to her, holding a pen in his hand for the girl to take. Allison focused on the pen with confusion, then on Scott with the same look, before she smiled and took the pen.

"Thanks," she told him, her face bright.

He smiled back, not saying anything in return but staring at her with infatuation.

Lillian narrowed her eyes as this, feeling suddenly so annoyed. Scott had only just met this girl; only a single word was exchanged between them, and he already seemed more interested in her than he ever had with Lillian, whom he'd known for most of his life! Even then, as she glared a hole into his head, Scott didn't even pay her any attention.

It made her stomach knot painfully.

"We'll begin with Kafka's Metamorphosis on page 133," Mr. Curtis told the class, catching all of their attention once more now that the new girl had arrived. Lillian looked forward at him, while Scott looked down at his book with a smirk, and Allison studied the pen with confusion.

Releasing the hold she had on her own pen, Lillian inhaled deeply as she opened her book, turning to page 133 like instructed. But, even as Mr. Curtis went on with the class and explained everything for the lesson of the day, her focus did not leave Allison and Scott, who she glanced at every so often, not catching a single word the teacher said.

And once the class was over, the bell ringing and knocking her back into reality, Lillian packed up her things, putting them in her bag, and walked out of the classroom with Emersyn by her side. They went straight to their lockers, which were conveniently next to each other's and not so conventionally just a few lockers down from Scott and Stiles's lockers.

As they came to a stop, Lillian saw Scott already at his. She turned the lock on hers to put in her combination and opened it, placing some of her books in it and taking others out and shoving them in her bag before shutting her locker and focusing on Scott. Emersyn was talking about something, but Lillian was too caught up in her study of Scott to listen to her words. Then she heard the muffled voice of her best friend go silent, and she was sure she'd given up on trying to talk to her, realizing that she wasn't listening anyway.

Lillian turned so that her back rested against the cold metal of her locker while she leaned the back of her head against it as well. That was when her eyes caught onto Allison, who had just walked to her locker, which was right across from Lillian's. How wonderful! Lillian thought to herself, letting out a sigh. Then she watched as Allison lifted her gaze to find someone to the left of Lillian, and the girl already knew that it was Scott.

Her eyes went between the new girl and the boy she'd been in love with forever, seeing both of them give each other sweet smiles and small waves. It made her feel sick to her stomach. His eyes were so soft when he looked at her, and his smile was so kind and interesting. Lillian had never seen him look at anyone like that, especially not her.

She felt her chin wobble slightly, but she bit back her tears and anger as she crossed her arms over her chest. Then the sound of the locker beside her slamming rang in her ears, and she snapped back into focus, looking over at Emersyn. Her best friend was giving her a pointed look, and Lillian already knew what she was about to say.

"You either need to tell him how you feel," Emersyn said, her voice low so no one would hear, "or you move on because I'm tired of seeing you desperately pine after him without doing anything about it." She sighed when Lillian looked away from her and back to Allison. "Come on, Lill, you're hot, smart, sweet, and funny. You could get any person you wanted."

"Or, just a thought here, you could put in a good word for me with him," she told her as she focused back on her, completely ignoring her best friend's words of encouragement. She didn't want just anyone. She wanted him. "After all, you two are better friends than me and him are." Dropping her hands to her sides, she let them hit her legs before she lifted one hand and brushed some of her hair over her shoulder. "Every time he looks at me, it's like I'm some stranger."

When she looked back over at Allison, she saw that the girl was now joined by the familiar redhead and her lacrosse team captain boyfriend. "Why and how is she already talking to Lydia and Jackass?" Lillian asked with furrowed brows, surprised Lydia had even noticed the new girl when she didn't even know the names of half of the people she went to school with her whole life. "She literally just got here an hour ago."

Emersyn opened her mouth to reply, probably to say that she didn't know, but then the familiar voice of a nerdy boy they knew all too well was heard first.

"Hey, Lillian," Stiles said, causing both girls to look over at him questioningly. He raised his hand awkwardly, giving a nervous and equally awkward smile. Scott was looking at them as well, and so was Harley, a girl the two boys often hung out with. When Stiles's eyes drifted behind Lillian, focusing on Emersyn, they both could see him actually swallowing a lump in his throat. "Hey, Emersyn," he added, his tone full of nerves as he looked scared shitless to even speak to the girl.

"Hi, Stiles," Lillian replied with a somewhat smirk, noting how nervous he got when speaking to her best friend, while Emersyn just waved, though she barely even lifted her hand, with a flat-line of a smile. Then she turned away from Stiles and focused on her best friend. "We're going to lacrosse practice later, whether you like it or not," she told her, pointing a telling finger.

Not only was it because of Scott, but also because of Stiles. She knew something was brewing between the boy and her best friend, though Emersyn didn't realize it (or didn't want to admit it to herself and others), and Stiles was still too obsessed with Lydia to think about it longer than a few seconds.

Emersyn just let out an annoyed groan, not wanting to go, and then gave Lillian a bored look, crossing her arms over her chest. "Fine," she said through her gritted teeth, causing the girl in front of her to smile brightly.

And so it began.

▊ 一 ꗃ ꔛ﹅ : ❛ ELLA'S SPEAKING ! ❜
     : finally, the first chapter is here! i'm so excited to write this fic and all of the dynamics between the characters- emersyn and lillian are two of my favorites frl (and adella, who you will see in the next chapter)

     :  also, lillian's obsession is just beginning teehee

     :  i really hoped you enjoyed this chapter! make sure to comment and vote 🫶🏻

kisses.

ˏˋ . ° ꒰ ❪🌚❫ ⨳ ━ ❛ OBSESSED ! ❜
&&. © -LOSTGARDENS,  2024

word count. 3489 written. 6.19/27.24    published. 6.27.24