February ended quickly, and March came sooner than expected. Although there weren't flowers blooming around every corner, you could distinguish a temperature change here in Beacon Hills. The sun stayed in the sky longer and spring equinox was only a few days away. Last month was a month to remember to say the least. Everything bad that could have happened, happened. This year is turning out to be a bad one, and it's barely even three months in the making.

I stood alongside my classmates as we watch two students climb up a rock wall that was set up in the middle of the gym. It was only once a year when the school put up the wall, and Coach Finstock seemed way too eager to make good use of it. I was standing next to Lydia in my gym clothes complaining. "I just hate gym class." I exaggerated to her, crossing my arms as I watch the couple make it to the top of the wall.

"Who doesn't?"

I shrug my shoulders watching as Scott and Allison began to hook themselves up to the tethers. Across the gym, I notice a set of eyes watching me. Internally I sigh, as I watch Stiles rapidly wave his arms in the air gesturing for me to walk over. Stiles being Stiles, I knew he wouldn't stop until I either walked over, or he came over to bother me. "I'll be right back," I told Lydia, before making my way over towards him.

"What?" I queried. Ever since that night at the station, Stiles has been nagging me about it.

"So," he began in a hushed tone, "How's your head?"

Of course, he'd ask me that. I don't think he meant to offend me, but it had. Every chance he got, he'd come ask me if I was feeling better or could remember anything from a week ago. Which I didn't. I didn't want to remind myself of what I did to myself. It had been years since I felt my heart like that. The feeling of hyperventilating was something I only thought I'd feel when I was younger, but it still lingered around, unwanted inside of me.

"Yes I feel better," I explained for the fifth time since it happened. "And before you ask, no I don't remember anything.

He nodded his head. "So the last thing you remember is--" he urged me to continue.

The other night—the night I went to give my statement about Isaac Lahey in the sheriff's department—there was a robbery/kidnapping in the progress. That night, one of the deputy's went rogue and tried to kidnap Stiles. In an effort to get someone's attention, Stiles pulled the fire alarm. Once I heard the fire alarm, I followed the exit signs until I found Stiles who was sprawled across the floor. I tripped over his body, hit my head, and now I can't remember anything that happened after that. Stiles said the deputy was killed that night after I passed out, and afterward, he carried me out of the building, that's when I woke up sitting inside an ambulance. I was also told that Isaac ran away that night and hasn't been seen.

At this point, I was getting extremely irritated with him. I'm not the type to show annoyance with others, so I don't think he knew he was getting on my nerves. But the way he kept asking me about it, almost seemed as if something more happened that night, and he doesn't want me to know about it. Like him carrying me seems unlikely. Stiles could barely finish a lacrosse practice, the likelihood of him carrying me seemed unlikely. Not that I weighed a lot, but still, its Stiles we're talking about. "The last thing I remember is tripping over your body, ten minutes later I find myself waking up in the back of an ambulance. The rest is all a blur."

Stiles was going to say something else, but suddenly, Scott lost balance and dropped from the wall. The tether held him inches above the ground, but the slack caught up to him and he fell the final few inches to the floor. Coach Finstock crouched down beside Scott's fallen body. "McCall, I don't know why, but your pain gives me a special kind of joy. Right?" He begins chuckling at his own joke. "All right, next two. Stilinski, Erica, let's go. The wall."

Stiles looked eager to climb the wall, and happily complied leaving me alone; Erica, on the other hand, looked overly nervous. I knew Erica Reyes, we shared several classes last year. She had dirty blonde that was always disheveled and was very reserved. As far as I knew she didn't have many friends either. So when she glanced nervously in my direction, I gave her a small smile, before she turned to the wall. She looked like she needed it.

Coach helped the two buckle up and they were off climbing the way. Stiles ambitiously climbed the wall almost to the top, while Erica was barely several feet off the ground. I understood why though, everyone knew Erica had epilepsy. Which was a seizure disorder, at least I thought everyone knew? By the time Stiles was on the ground, pumping his fists in the air in victory, Erica was only halfway up the wall, when she began to shake rapidly. Her breathing became scattered, and her hands shook on the nobs. When she started pleading, everyone gathered around the base of the wall.

"Erica!" Coach shouted up the wall. When she didn't answer he continued. "Dizzy?" he asked. "Vertigo?"

"What the hell?" I look at Coach questioningly.

Lydia was a confused as I was about Coach's outburst. "Vertigo's a dysfunction of the vestibular system of the inner ear," we all looked at her like she was crazy. None of us expected something like that to come out of her mouth, but her smart facts keep popping up more and more. Lydia was smart, but she just never showed it. She'd probably be valedictorian at this rate, but for some reason she never shared her grades or acted as smart as she really was. When she noted all of our blank looks, she continued, "She's just freaking out."

"Erica!" Coach shouted up again.

"I'm fine," she replied, but it was obvious she wasn't.

"Coach, maybe it's not safe. You know she's epileptic," Allison explained. Even Allison knew, and she's only been here a few months, but Coach was just a little slower than the rest of us.

He looked shocked and stuttered, "W- w -why doesn't anybody tell me this stuff? I have to get - Erica, - you're fine. Just - Just kick off from the wall. Th - There's a mat to catch you. Come on!" He coaxed her down slowly. Gently she glided down the wall and landed safely on the tether. "See, you're fine. You're on the ground. You're all right. Let's go. Shake it off. You're fine."

After she was untethered, she made her way through the crowd of laughing students. Once she was gone, the whispers started. I scoffed at Coach's words. "You don't just tell someone to 'shake it off' Coach." I injected.

I pushed my way through the crowd, "Uh - Jamie?" Lydia asked me. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to see if Erica's fine," I didn't listen to whatever she said afterward as I chased after Erica into the locker rooms.

I weaved through the rows of lockers until I found Erica's body curled up in the corner. She looked up when she saw mean and tucked herself closer together. "What do you want? Are you going to make fun of me like everyone else?" I barely opened my mouth when she cut me off, "I know I deserve it. It was stupid of me to cry over something as stupid as - climbing a rock wall." Few tears fell from her eyes. I slowly slide down the wall and sat next to her. "What are you doing?"

"I came to make sure your okay Erica."

"I've been better before," she wheezed pushing her wild hair back. "I just - I just. I hate this!"

Curiously I look at her, "What?"

"Everything!" she exclaimed. "I hate the fact that I can't climb a stupid wall without freaking out! I hate that I have these stupid seizures! I hate everything about myself! My hair, my face, my body, I hate it all! I hate how everybody makes fun of me! I hate how nobody likes me or talks to me! I'm so scared that one day I'm going to have a seizure in the middle of class again, and that everyone is going to make fun of me. I just hate my life!" she cried even more.

I shake my head and wrap an arm around her shoulder and she shakes and sobs. "I don't know what to say to you--"

"Of course you don't! Everyone likes you, Jamie! Everyone knows your name! Your friends with the most popular people in school! Your brothers the goalie on the lacrosse team! Every guy wants you, and every girl wants to be you. Everyone likes you! Nobody ever does anything mean to you. So you don't understand how it feels!"

No. I didn't know how it felt. I wasn't Erica, I didn't live her life, I don't know what she's been through. I didn't have epilepsy, I didn't have the same struggles she did. I had good friends, I had a boyfriend or two before, I had a loyal brother who would do anything for me. And before today, I barely said more than ten words to her, but today was the day I knew she needed someone. Maybe I might not have understood what she was going through, but maybe I can make a change towards it. If the whole Isaac situation has taught me one thing, then that I should make a change when I still have the chance.

"I don't Erica, and I can't do anything to change that. And I don't fully understand what you're going through," I sighed and paused for a moment. The only noise to be heard was the racket going on in the gym. "But when I was younger I'd have these panic attacks. They weren't big, just me being nervous or something and I'd hyperventilate. I thought it was over, but it happened again and it was scary. Stiles saw it happen and keeps bringing it up, and to be honest it's really annoying."

Erica wiped some tears from her eyes. "Why did you tell me that?"

"Because, maybe I don't understand everything you're going through, but I understand on a certain level. I thought you might want to know that I'm not perfect, nobody is. And you know what that epilepsy says about you? It says that you're twice as strong as I thought you were."
She smiles at me, and I looked at the clock on the wall—thirty more minutes till class ends. And we simply talked.

She told me how she felt, and what made her feel that way. Although I couldn't fix the past, I could make a change to her future. I promised her that one day, we could hang out after school, and just do girly things. I promised her that when she needed a friend, I would be there for her. I've never made an empty promise ever and I don't plan to change that today. Everything I said I said full-heartedly to her and I hope she knows I'm serious. It wasn't a big thing I did, but I hope that it helped her in some way.

It was several minutes before the bell would ring, and all the girls entered the locker room to change. Erica and I stood up by that time and we hugged. I told her I would sit with her at lunch today and she smiled at me before I excused myself to go change out of my gym clothes.

"You guys come look!" I heard some girl yell. I was already fully dressed when I followed the group back to the gym a few minutes later. When I entered the dark gymnasium, I gasped when I found Erica on the floor having a seizure. What happened?

Within minutes, she was taken by ambulance to the hospital. The school day was over and the skies were dark when I decide to head over to the hospital to check on Erica. I thought that since our talk earlier, that visiting her in the hospital would show my commitment to trying to help her.

It took me a minute or two to find a parking place in the crowded hospital parking lot, and I was parked as far away from the door as possible which was just my luck. The parking lot was full, but no one was out and about, except for one figure leaning against a back wall. As I walked closer towards the side door and the mysterious figure, they began to look more and more familiar. I couldn't help myself as my steps became slower so I could get a better look at them.

The closer I got, the more familiar features stood out. The figure turned towards me and instantly turned to walk away, but the street light caught their body, and I gasped. "Isaac?" I stammered.

He stopped and turned back to me, but didn't answer. I took this as my chance to hurry up to him, "Isaac? What are you doing? Why are you out here?" The last time I saw him was when he was locked in a jail cell that night at the sheriff's station and that was before the attacker struck. Wasn't he wanted by the department?

"I'm sorry Jamie, but I can't talk to you right now," Isaac stated turning around to walk away, but I grabbed onto his arm.

"Are you okay? I mean, you just disappeared. You're wanted, do you know that? I should turn you in--"

"No!" he quickly answered. "Please don't. I'm begging you please don't."

I didn't answer but looked at his body. Isaac looked different. He wore jeans and a plain white t-shirt which was slightly dirty, which wasn't too abnormal, but what really threw me off was the leather jacket. I was shocked, to say the least, but I couldn't help admit to myself that he did look good, really good. It just wasn't something I'd ever expect him to own, let alone wear.

"Please promise me Jamie," he took both my shoulders and looked directly into my eyes.

My heart was racing, as he looked me in the eyes so strongly. I was hesitant at first, but I reluctantly nodded nonetheless. "Okay, but you have to tell me what happened to you."

Isaac looked shocked, "What do you mean?"

I looked at him knowingly, "You know what I mean Isaac. I just want to make sure your okay. I care about you and well you are a fugitive after all," my cheeks flushed red at what I just admitted, but it was true. Over the past few days, something unexplainable about Isaac grew on me. Maybe it was the fact that I thought he was all alone, or maybe it was that I knew more about his past than anyone else, but I felt like I had to be there for him. Even if that meant not telling the police I saw him.

He opened his mouth, but his head perked up and he glanced around worriedly. "Jamie you have to go."

"What?" I asked shocked.

"Jamie, you really need to go, like right now," Isaac pleaded pushing me back towards my car.

"Wait, why? What's going on Isaac? I was about to visit Erica," I faltered.

"That's even worse!' he grumbled pulling me towards my car.

"Why?" I begged him to answer me. "How do you even know this is my car?" All I wanted was some sort of answer, but I got nothing. When we stood at my door, he pushed me up against it, while he hovered in front of me. I was breathing heavily when I spoke, "You promised me--"

Isaac sighed and ran a hand through his curly hair. "I know I promised you, and I know you want to see Erica, but right now you can't."

"Why not Isaac? Why can't I go see her?"

"Please, I promise I'll explain to you one day."

I shook my head, "I want to know now Isaac. What's going on? What's up with Erica? Why are you running away? Please just tell me. What happened at the station to make you run away?"

He tensed suddenly, and his demeanor changed. "I promise Jamie. Just - just keep your window unlocked tomorrow, I'll be there. I can't talk to you at school, otherwise, the cops would find me."

"Wait what? I have several issues with this? Firstly, do you even know where I live? And why can't I just unlock the door for you instead of the window? And why can't you just get in the car and talk with me now? And why are you avoiding the Sheriff? If you had nothing to do with what happened to your dad then why can't you talk to them?"

"I have to go. I'm sorry Jamie." Isaac looked reluctant to go, but he squeezed my hand tightly, "I have to go. I'm sorry Jamie. Please just trust me and unlock your window."

I nodded slowly as I watched him dash off into the woods. If he had nothing to do with his father's death, he sure had a lot of convincing to do, because he was making it blatantly obvious he knew something. Whether or not it was something good or bad was debatable, because he was acting too suspicious for his own good.

☾

UPDATE: 22/03/2018

Word Count: 2980