chapter sixteen, GLOWING CLAWS

☾ ☾●☽ ☽

Noah Hall

6 months ago

I lifted the book up and moved to the kitchen. Though I was stained with blood and dirt from the hours prior to this. I was determined to read the book then and there.

As I lifted it something fell from its pages. I furrowed my brows and looked down. My eyes stoped when I saw a key lying on my floor, as well as a few small pages next to them.

I grabbed the key and as well as the pages.
'I need someone to look after the apartment while I'm gone. Who better to do that than you. I don't know what you're going to do with your house, or what you'll choose to do with your life. But I'll always be here for you. Until I'm back your and my bills will be paid. Don't worry about a thing. Good luck Noah, I believe in you.
       -Derek'. A small note read.

I smiled to myself and set the keys on the counter. Derek's note was heart warming, but as I looked around my empty house it truly set in that...
   I have no mother, no father, no siblings, no family. It's just me. Me.

Why did I survive? Was it even survival? Or was it punishment. What could I have done to deserve this?

I looked around my kitchen, the cold air from the opened window hit my skin and chills went down my spine. I looked around sadly and clenched my fists in fear.

I'm alone.

My worse fear has been granted. I'm alone.

I looked back down at the book and turned to the first page. I'll be strong for her. I'll be strong for my mother. No one else dies.

☾ ☾●☽ ☽

Present Day

As I sit on the cold, damp grass, looking over Beacon Hills I remain quiet while Scott and Stiles talk about places to live when we go off to college.

The thought of leaving this town has always been appealing, but college was something I always talked about with my mom. She always gave the best advice, and now I don't know what to do.

I don't know what I want to be, or who I'll choose to be. I don't even know if I'll finish high school.

The last six months have been alright, I've learned how to get used to not having her around. The first few months were the hardest, I stayed at Derek's for three months straight.

Then as I slowly started getting used to not hearing her, or seeing her, or even smelling her perfume...I got used to the idea of being home alone.

It was hard at first but I did it. Now I live on my own,

"Noah, am I right or am I right?" I hear from behind me. I turn my head and look up at Stiles "you're right?" I ask not having heard the entire conversation.

"See!" Stiles says. "What are you right about?" I ask.
"Scott's worried about senior year. He's got nothing to worry about right?" Stiles explains. I give a small nod and look back at the grass between my fingers.

"It's not the school year I'm scared of. It's more like something Deaton told me." Scott explains. I continue to pick the grass but listen closely to Scott's words.

"Have you ever heard of regression to the mean?" He asks. I shake my head and look up at them. Scott shifts in his spot on top of Stiles Jeep and looks at us.

"It's basically his way of saying that, life can't ever be all good or all bad. Eventually things have to come back to the middle." Scott explains.

"So think about the last few months. Things have been good, right?" Scott asks. We both nod. "But not amazing,"

"Yea, but no one's tried to kill us in the last six months either" Stiles says. I nod in agreement and Scott shrugs. "Right, all I'm saying is we've pretty much just been in the middle for awhile" Scott adds.

"Which means...at some point the scale has to tip one way or the other" Scott starts "good" Stiles mumbles "or bad.." I add.

Scott nods and sighs.

"We've got to stay positive though, we can't think too much about it, or something really bad might happen" Stiles explains.

I nod, "but Scott, we just had something really bad happen, now that we've been in the middle, don't you think it would tip towards good?" I ask.

He shrugs, "Deaton said the future is always unsure. Nothing is ever set in stone"

While the last few months have been quite. It's also been very unsettling. I haven't mentioned this to anyone else, but I've been having nightmares most of summer, for awhile I blamed it on what happened with my mother, but now...now I think it might be something else.

Something...unnatural.

☾ ☾●☽ ☽

6 months ago

I set the book down in front of us and we all looked at the open pages.

"So, do you know now? What you are?" Liam asked. I nod. "It's pretty crazy, and sounds really stupid." I answered.

"Well explain because I've been confused for days" Stiles snapped. I rolled my eyes and turn the book towards him. 

"I'm a Phoenix" I explained. "I'm the protector of the supernatural"

They all furrowed their brows and wait for me to continue. "I was a werewolf, right? Because of my fathers side. But...thousands of years ago, a time not even recorded in my family tree that's in this book, my family was chosen by the Phoenix to protect the supernatural from a devastating event that happened then." I explained.

"Within every fifty years when a female is born in the family they will be born with extreme power to protect supernatural creatures from harm. The Phoenix when born will ignite in one after full power is needed until that point the power is dormant." I read off the page and looked back up at them.

"What does the Phoenix do?" Scott asks.

"The Phoenix has the ability of telekinesis as well as the power to use elements to add to their abilities. The Phoenix has unbeatable strength and speed as well as healing abilities. The Phoenix is able to give their power away to others, either temporarily or permanently." I added.

"This is where it gets interesting though, because I thought when I first read this, I had lost my wolf side forever." I stated and they each nod.

"The Phoenix is able to live with the wolf inside and when a born wolf is born with the Phoenix they coexist within the host body thus making a hybrid. But this is extremely rare as in such when a female member of the family is born with the Phoenix they will not be born with the werewolf gene, but hybrids are not completely uncommon." I stated.

"Wait so, most of the time, when you're born with this, you won't be a werewolf?" Kira asked. I nod. "But it seems that it can happen, when a Phoenix is born the wolf side will stay in the persons body." I stated.

"So you're, what the book is calling, a Hybrid?" Stiles asked. I nod.

"So you have telekinesis?" Liam asked with an excited expression. I slowly nod and turn back to the others.

"It doesn't say much about my powers though, not everything I can do. It definitely didn't mention the fucking levitating part." I stated and run my hands though my hair.

"And Peter knows this?" Malia asked. I nod. "Well, it said you can give your powers away. Do you know what someone like Peter would do with you if he knows that?" Stiles asked with a worried tone.

I nod, "I know, I think that's why Derek had this book." I explained.

"So what does this mean now?" Stiles asked. "How will you go forward? How will transform be?"

"There's next to nothing about Hybrids in this, so I don't know. Usually Phoenix transformations aren't suppressed by the full moon, they can transform when they need or want to. But now I don't know." I stated.

"This changes a lot." Scott mumbled "We have to hide this book," he added.

☾ ☾●☽ ☽

Present Day

I look back down at my hands and jump when the sky erupts with lighting and thunder and we all look up. "Can you guys feel it? The moon?" Stiles asks. "Not really" Scott answers.

"I don't since this whole Phoenix thing the full moon has been different" I state. "Well you're still a wolf?" Scott asks. I nod "yea I am, but I don't know. It just feels...different" I say.

"You guys think it's been long enough?" Stiles asks. "Yes!" Liam yells from behind us. We all turn our heads and stare at Liam as he remains chained up on a large tree.

"Hey. Shut up, we're trying to have an adult conversation over here" Stiles spits. I lightly laugh and shake my head.

"Alright, first off, you're two years older than me, and secondly, I'm fine." He states firmly. "Just let me go"

"It's not that we don't trust you" Scott says and gets up, holding the key to his chains. I follow him and Stiles does shortly after me.

"It's that I don't trust you" Stiles adds. I hit his chest and he glares at me. "We trust you Liam" I say with a smile.

"Just after that last full moon..." Scott starts.
    "It's was one slip up" Liam groans. I furrow my brows and shake my head "Slip up?" I ask knowingly.

"A dozen calls to the Sheriffs Department about a monsterous dog-boy running around the streets naked was not one slip up Liam." Stiles groans.

"He's right, I'm pretty sure everyone has now seen, everything" I say and wave my hands over his body. Liam rolls his eyes and looks at Scott. "Why were you naked?" Scott asks with concern.

"It was really hot out that night, okay?" He spits.
    "Yea and thanks to you my AC broke by the way. You turned it up so high, if Derek ever comes back he'll kill me." I groan.

"Just please, let me go. Clearly I'm fine." He explains. I look at Scott and Stiles then back at Liam. "You're sure you're okay?" I ask. "It won't happen again" He states.

"You're in complete and total control?" Scott asks and Liam nods. "Complete and total."

  Scott nods and unlocks his chains. They fall to the ground and Liam sighs with relief.
Stiles grabs the chains and him and Scott head to the Jeep.

I look back at Liam and smile "need a ride?" I ask.
   He drops his head and nods. "When are you going to get that license Liam? You're going to be a sophomore you've just turned sixteen. Come on" I say and pat his shoulder.

"I know, I know, I promise I'll get it before school starts" he groans. We get into the Jeep and leave.

As we drive out of the woods I look over at Liam as we sit in the back seat and see him staring out the window. I look down at his hands and furrow my brows. "Liam, you're bleeding" I whisper to him as Scott and Stiles talk.

He sighs and hides his hands in his pocket. "You lied didn't you?" I ask calmly. "Yes, but I'm fine. Really." He states. "I won't turn, it's just my way of staying in control" he states.

"Can we just change the subject?" He pleads. "fine." I state.

"Well, you'll all be happy to know I met someone" I state Scott turns his head and Stiles looks at me through the mirror. "You what?" Stiles asks.

"Yes, I met someone" I say and roll my eyes. "Who?" Liam asks. "A guy, he's really hot. And seems actually genuine." I state.

"You? Met someone?" Stiles laughs. "Yes Stiles, is it that hard to believe? I mean an asshole like you even gets to fuck someone" I laugh.

"Okay, okay, whatever" He says and looks back at the road.

"So uh, who is this guy?" Liam asks and leans back in his seat. "I don't know if I'm going to tell you all yet." I smile. "Whatever no one cares anyone Noah" Stiles says in a grumpy tone.

"Sure." I laugh. "Is he nice? That's all that matter" Scott asks and glares at Stiles.

"He's really nice," I say with a small smile.

The last time I liked anyone, they led me on for awhile, then fell in love with Allison. Then left immediately after she died. No goodbye, no see you later. Nothing.

My time with Isaac was short.

This time, it feels different. It feels good. I feel happy. Which I can't say I've felt much in the past six months.

As we continue to drive Liam stays mostly silent and Scott and Stiles continue to talk. "So we go at midnight?" Stiles asks.

Liam jumps up and looks at the two. "What's at midnight?" He asks. "Your bedtime" Stiles jokes. I snort and Liam glares at me. "Is it a party?" He asks.
  "It is not a party" Stiles answers.

"Are the girls going?" He asks. "Yes. They're meeting us there" Stiles states. I pat Liam back and he looks at me with his puppy dog eyes. "Sorry Liam, you'll get there one day." I explain.

He looks at me again and I groan. "Ugh, it's a senior thing." I say. I always cave when I look at those eyes.

"Noah!" Stiles groans. "Shut up Stiles" I state.

"Liam, just stop asking questions." Stiles demands firmly.

"You guys having trouble with your phones?" Scott asks. "Well uh, clearly I'm not because I'm driving Scott" Stiles laughs.

I roll my eyes and hit the back of his head. "Yea, no service on mine." I state. "Me neither" Liam says.

Stiles Jeep starts to make weird noises, and his headlights flash before they go out. The Jeep slowly slows down and we stop. "What the hell?" Stiles says and slaps the steering wheel.

"Stiles. No. Are you kidding me?" I say and throw my head back. "I told you we should have taken my car" I say and playfully wrap my hands around his neck.

"Chillax, I'm sure everything is fine." He says and shrugs my hands off him. Him and Scott get out of the car and I follow. "Stay in here Liam" I state.
  I here him groan and I smile to myself.

I love messing with him.

Stiles lifts up the hood and Scott holds the lamp. My eyes widen and the sight of all the duck tape and I laugh. I hold my hand over my mouth and look up at Stiles hoping he didn't hear me laugh.

When I see he's already glaring at me I loose it. I hunch over and laugh hysterically as Stiles reaches inside the hood.

I finally compose myself and Stiles shakes his head "I'm sorry" I say and pat his back. "It's the last night before school starts in a few days and I wanted everyone to be there." Stiles states firmly.

"I know buddy, we know" Scott reassures. "Don't worry, we'll fix it, do you have any tools?" I ask. He nods and holds up a well used duck tape roll.

I hear another strike of lighting and continue helping Stiles place the duck tape around a tube.

"Guys..." I hear Liam say from inside. None of us answer so I assume we're just going to continue.

"Guys!" Liam yells. "Give us a second Liam." Stiles says. "Just stay in the car" I instruct.

Right as I speak a lighting bolt slams behind us. We all turn and see the remain sparks on the ground. "Holy fuck." I state.

"That was close" Scott says. "Very close."

"If another one comes, I'll try and protect us with a shield, but in all honesty I don't know if that'll work" I state.

Over the last six months I've discovered a few more things about myself.

I know I can levitate above the ground, not fully fly, which was a disappointment for Stiles, I can hold force fields around me and others to protect them.

I can heal extremely fast as well as run and jump. And I can lift people in the air, as well as sit them on the ground. Like I did with Peter. Almost like can control them.

But as of now that's it.

"What if you got struck?" Scott asks. "I guess we'll find out how much I can really protect us from." I shrug.

The engine starts and we all jump away from the Jeep. "That's weird as fuck right?" I ask. "Very weird." Stiles answers.

"Can we go now?" Liam asks and holds his head out of the window. Stiles rolls his eyes and shuts the hood.

We make our way to city hall and Stiles pulls the Jeep around the corner and stops in front of Malia and her dad. "Sorry we're late" Stiles says and pokes his head out of the window.

Malia rushes towards him and pulls him in for a kiss. I watch as Malias dads face drops and I slap my forehead.

"You boys do remember I own a gun right?" Her dad asks. "Uh, Vividly. We remember" Stiles says with a gulp.

I point my head foreword and smile "Hi Mr. Tate." I say. He smiles and nods "Hello, Noah"
  He winks at Malia and walks off.

Malia gets in the car and sits between Liam and I. Scott, Stiles and I turn to her and her face drops. "What?" She asks with worry.

"Did you find out yet?" Stiles asks. "Find out what?" Liam asks eagerly.

"They're gonna email me" Malia says with a nod.
    "Is this about summer school?" Liam wonders.

"You told him?" Malia asks Stiles. Stiles face drops and he shakes his head. "All they said was you had to go to summer school because the principal said your test scores weren't good enough and you might have to repeat junior year" as Liam talks I slowly shake my head, I knew Stiles telling us was a bad idea.

I slap my forehead and Malia growls at Stiles.

Stiles looks over at Liam and glares at him, he turns to Scott then me and shakes his head. "We should've left him chained up on that fucking tree" He mumbles.

Liam looks between us and shrugs. I place my finger over my mouth and motion for him to remain silent.
  He nods and puts his other earbud in.

We get to the hospital and Scott and I get out.
  We walk inside and Liam follows us.

"Guys please, my dad won't be out of surgery for hours. So I'm either hanging out here, or going with you guys." Liam explains.

Scott pushes the button to the elevator and we stops. He turns to Liam and looks down at his hands. "Show me your palms" He states.

Liam sighs and looks around, he pulls out his hands and there bleeding like they were in the car.

"Okay, so I'm still having trouble" He states. "You're learning Liam" I state with a sympathetic smile. "It's okay."

"What do you do to stay focused?" Scott asks. Liam looks at me for a moment and smiles. He turns back to Scott and holds up his earbuds. Scott looks at me and the earbuds and grins.

"The music is working" Liam sighs. "It's working enough" Scott states.

"Liam, Derek told us you're one of the strongest betas he's seen for your age. That means something very important coming from Derek" I explain "it also means that things are going to be harder for you for awhile" Scott adds and I nod in agreement.

The elevator opens and Scott and I walk in. Scott holds the door and looks at Liam. "But it also means something else doesn't it...?" Scott asks.

"I'm really strong?" Liam says with a shrug. "Hell yeah Liam." I say with a smile.

Scott let's go of the door and it closes. Him and I stay silent until he slightly laughs. "What?" I ask him as we stand in the elevator.

"You'll know when you know." He says. I furrow my brows and look at him "okay yoda." I joke.

The doors open and Stiles runs towards us. "Still can't reach Kira" Scott says to him as we walk. "You reminded her about tonight though, right?" Stiles asks. Scott nods.

"I think I did, we only texted once this week" He answers. I furrow my brows and look at him. "Once? How'd you guys leave things when she left for New York?" Stiles asks.

"Well they were good" He answers. "I just said don't worry about anything, just go and have fun." He says.
"No!" Stiles and I say in unison. "you said go and have fun?" I ask with a laugh. "Yea is that bad?" He asks. "Yes Scott, that's very bad, very, very bad" Stiles snaps and wave shuts hands in the air.

"Why?" He asks. "That can be interpreted in a lot of different ways Scott." I state. "Like what?" He asks.

"Well for one, don't worry we aren't really together so seeing other people is okay" Stiles explain. "No, no way" Scott says and his eyes widen.

We walk up to the front desk where Malia is talking with Malissa and Stiles turns to her with a smile.

"Malia, if you were going away, and I said don't worry go have fun. What would you think?" He asks her. She furrows her brows and turns to us. "Like have fun bowling, or have sex with other guys?" She asks.

Stiles turns back to Scott and flattens his lips. "See?" He asks. "Okay, yeah, now I'm worried" He states and looks back at his phone.

"Hey, but. I'm sure everything fine though, I mean, you're Scott and Kira" I say with a smile. "Yea!" Stiles says and pats his shoulder.

A guy gets wheeled in behind us and Scott turns to his mom. "Hey where's all this coming from?" He asks.

"Jackknifed tractor-trailer on 115" She answers. "Caused a major pile up" she adds and disappears down the hallway with the patient.

"Okay, there is only one way back into Beacon Hills from the airport" Stiles says. "115" I say and look at Scott.

"She's not even gonna make it" Stiles says and rubs his eyes. "I'll go get her" Scott says firmly and walks out of the hospital.

"What?" Stiles and I say in unison.

"You guys head to the school. Lydia's probably already there." Scott says and we all watch as he leaves. "How are you going to get to her in the middle of traffic?" Stiles yells.

"We'll make it, trust me." He yells.

I look down at my watch as we walk back to Stiles Jeep and I furrow my brows as I see the hands flipping back and forth.

"Hey, look at this." I say to them. They stop and look down at my watch. "What the hell is going on." Stiles states.

We get into the Jeep and head towards the school. I can smell Stiles anxiety from the back seat and it's making me uncomfortable.

"Breathe Stiles, it'll all be okay" I say to him. He takes a deep breath in and out and nods.

We finally get to the school and get out of his Jeep once he parks. We walk up the steps and Malia and him stop. "Nothing from Kira or Scott" Malia says. I look down at my phone and nod in agreement.

"Nothing from Lydia either" Stiles adds. "And I still don't know if I passed" Malia states. "I don't want to do this unless I'm actually a senior" She breaths.

I turn to her and she sighs. "Yeah..." Stiles says plainly as he watches the rest of our class make their way to the library. Malia walks up to him and smells him. He turns around and his eyes widen. "What's wrong with you?" She asks him. "You smell terrible."

"Yea it's called anxiety" Stiles laughs. "Should be a familiar scent to you by now since it's pretty much a constant for me." He states.

I look between them and I start to feel awkward. I'm definitely not meant to be apart of this conversation.

"I'm going to go...look...for Lydia..." I say awkwardly and leave. I walk down the hallway that leads to the field and I freeze once I hear a growl.

I sprint towards the noise and water splashes around me as I do. I stop when I see Scott and Kira with another person. A very tall person.

I sprint towards the three of them and help push the guy off Scott. I flare my claws and slash his chest.
I guy lunges towards me and I duck. Kira goes towards him but he pushes her into the wall.

"Who is this guy?" I yell. "I don't know" Scott yells back. Kira reaches for her belt and her belt becomes a sword.

She swings it at him and I hold my hand out in front of me. I push my hand out but nothing happens. "Ugh, come on" I say and smack my hand.

This happens as well, I try and use my powers and nothing, fucking, happens.

The guy punches me in the face and I fall to the ground. He pushes Kira into the wall again and she slides down it, groaning in pain.

He slowly makes his way towards Scott and growls as he stands before him. Scott slowly wakes up after he'd been knocked out and looks up at him.

"True Alpha?" The man laughs darkly. "Where's your power Scott?" He asks. "Who are you?" Scott says and jumps up.

"A devoted fan" the man states.

I furrow my brows and go to help Kira up. "Show me the man who took down Deucalion" he says. "And broke the Argents."

"I came for that Alpha"

Scott growls loudly and a shiver runs down my spine. Scott rushes towards him and I feel a surge of energy flow through me. I turn to Kira and she nods. Her eyes start to glow orange and we run towards the man with everything we've got.

I push man hand onto the man's back and he falls to the ground. Kira slashes his arm with her sword and he groans. Scott goes up behind him and pushes him into the flooded ground.

The man stands up and hits me in the stomach making me fall backwards. He grabs Kira's sword with his hand and her eyes widen. He pushes her with it and she falls on top of me.

The man grabs Scott by the neck and holds him up on the wall. I watch as the mans claws start to glow blue and my eyes brows furrow.

Who the hell is this man.

I snap my head to the left when I see someone jump down from the walkway above. I slowly get up and grab Kira.

The person growls loudly and rushes toward the man, with the mix of rain and darkness I can't make out who he is. But I see his bright glowing eyes and know he's a werewolf.

The guy claws the original guy and when he turns to me my eyes widen. Seriously?
The man with large claws pushes him into the ground and stabs Scott with his blue claws.

I slowly make my way towards the guy on the ground and reach my hand out to him. I look up in fear as Scott groans in pain.

I see Malia, Stiles and Liam running towards us and they stop when they see the man hovering over Scott.

The man slowly lowers Scott to the ground and his eyes stop glowing red.

We all growl at him but he doesn't stop. My eyes widen when Scott grabs onto the man's wrist and stands up. He snaps the man's wrist and the man groans in pain.

He falls to the ground and growls. Scott pulls his claws from his chest and throws them on the ground.

"I don't know who you are, or what you thought you were going to do, but I'll give you a choice. You can stay and I'll break something else. Or you can run" Scott yells.

The man looks back at us and we stand tall. "I'd run" Stiles warns.

The man gets up and runs.

We all walk back to each other and I stand next to the guy who helped. "Everyone, this is...Theo" I say and smile at him. His face transforms back and he smiles.

"Remember, from fourth grade?" I ask. Stiles furrows his brows and looks at Scott then back to me. "I guess I look a little different" Theo says with a small grin.

"Theo Raeken?" Scott asks and Theo nods "you know him?" Malia asks. "They used to" Theo answers.

"Trust me, I thought I'd never see you guys again. Couple months ago I heard about an Alpha in Beacon Hills. When I found out his name was Scott McCall, just couldn't believe it. Not just an Alpha, a true Alpha." He explains.

"Then a few weeks ago, I ran into Noah, when my family and I were moving back into our old house. She welcomed me home and we got talking" he says and gives me a smile. I nod and look back at the others who still have confused looks on their faces.

"What do you want?" Scott asks plainly. "I came back to Beacon Hills, back home with my family, because I want to be apart of your pack" he says. I smile at Scott and Stiles glares at me.

☾ ☾●☽ ☽

"Why didn't you tell us?" Stiles spits as we walk inside. "Well I told him he needed to come up with a good way to ask" I snap back.

"So you were planning this?" Stiles groans. "It's not like I'm planning a war, the kid asked, I said I'd help him." I stated firmly.

"We haven't seen this kid in years, you don't find that highly suspicious?" He asks me. We stop in the middle of the hallway and I cross my arms. "Uh, no, sorry Stiles that I don't have attachment issues and can learn to trust new people" I spit.

He scoffs and shakes his head "what the hell does that mean?" He asks. "You do this all the time, you did it with Liam, with Allison, Isaac, Derek, and you're doing it now." I state.

"You always think worst in people" I add.

"Also, we should be more concerned about the guy that just tried to kill Scott. And may I add, Theo tried to help" I snap.

Stiles looks at Scott for supper but Scott nods "she's got a point."

Malia gasps and we all turn to her, she looks up from her phone and smiles "I'm in!" She exclaims. "I'm a senior"

We all smile and Stiles pulls her into a hug.

"I'm officially a senior" she says with teary eyes. Kira and I hug her once she pulls away from Stiles and we continue towards the library.

"Thank god, where have you guys been?" I hear from the end of the hallway. We turn our heads and see Lydia making her way towards us.

"The entire senior class is here. And you're late." She exclaims. "Are we doing this or not?" She asks.

"We are!" Stiles says loudly and pushes us all forward.

We walk into the library and I sigh in relief as I see everyone walking up those stairs. Lydia holds my hand and smiles as we walk up the stairs.

We finally get to the top and the person in front of us hands me the pen. I grip it tightly and stop when I see Derek's initials on the shelf below the one I'm about to write on. I smile and quickly write my initials.

I hand the pen to stiles and he does the same.

Once Scott gets the pen he stops and sighs, he looks back at us and smiles, and writes the initials A.A. and I smile at him.

"She would've been with us" Stiles says. "She would've loved this." I add. Scott nods.

"She's still here..." Lydia says with a soft smile.

We walk out of the library and smile at each other.
"Here's to senior year" I say to them.

We've lost a lot to get here, but we still have each other.