How hard could it be? • LM / SS

Chapter 7

"Co-comparison is killing me slowly."

Jade tiredly rubbed at the crease between her brows, ignoring her brother's repeated comments that she was already getting wrinkle lines at the ripe age of sixteen. If Scott wasn't in the car with them, she seriously would have sealed his mouth shut with her magic.

She was beyond grateful that it was a Friday, exhausted from the lack of sleep she had gotten since starting sophomore year. The last three days had been devoted to researching everything about the Hale fire, desperately trying to figure out if there were any survivors amongst the victims. To both the twins' dismay, no names had been released, either due to privacy reasons or because underage kids had been involved in the incident. It didn't raise their spirits, due to the fact that Cora Hale would have been a minor at the time of the accident.

Her head was pounding with a dull ache, no amount of painkillers being able to give her any relief. Ever since she had started using her magic more, the headaches had been back as annoyingly strong and frequent as ever before. Maybe it was because she was still a bit anxious about using her magic. It was a part of who she was, but she still had a lot of guilt surrounding the car accident that had killed both of their parents. Guilt that her magic hadn't been strong enough to heal their wounds.

The amount of stupidity in the school was honestly outstanding, though; she had eavesdropped on a conversation in the corridor earlier, Jackson accusing her cousin of using steroids before warning him that he would figure out whatever it was that he was hiding. After all of that, Scott had pulled out some show-stopping tricks on the lacrosse field, the Coach giving him a scolding and then congratulating him on making first line.

If she thought Beacon Hills was strange, it just kept getting stranger by the day. Or maybe the people in it were just getting weirder— probably a bit of both.

"Yeah, so Allison said she can come to the party with me tonight," Scott explained, turning down the music so that he could talk, neither of the twins willing to correct him, even though they had heard the story about a hundred times since he had bagged a date with the brunette. Allison didn't actually have a family night to go to as she had previously claimed when Lydia Martin had asked if she would be in attendance.

"Hm," Max poked his head through the front seats, laying his elbows on the headrests, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy the topic of young romance, but it really started to get on his nerves when he had to listen to it every second of every day. Although he kept his mouth firmly zipped until they would reach Stiles' house, his sister after warning him to not burst Scott's bubble of giddiness.

The row of houses to Stiles' estate came into eyeshot, his bright blue jeep parked in the driveway. He lived in a respectable neighbourhood, but the sort where everyone knew everything about one another.

Max slid out of Jade's car, slamming his door closed behind him, the faint sound of the vehicle locking as he walked through the front door, which had been left open for them. He had always loved the Stilinski household, ever since he was a child. Each room had a different colour palette, yet it all fit together nicely.

Books of different genres were perched atop all available flat surfaces, a wall dedicated to both Noah and Stiles' achievements, including medals, trophies and certificates that they had earned. Photos hung on the walls and on top of the fireplace, a picture in a gold frame of the core four— also known as Scott, Max, Stiles and Jade— throughout every year of their lives. Some were taken at the beach, Max throwing sand at his best friend while his cousin and sister waded into the water. Others were taken at home when they were baking cookies or watching a movie, their faces riddled with confusion as they struggled to follow the plot.