Love's Spiral

“Scott, did you have to drop your inhaler? I really don’t feel safe being back here. Even in daylight. One traumatic experience out here is enough for me for one week.”

Stiles reached to grab his friend’s hand.

“Plus, Stiles and I are supposed to be grounded.” she said, being reminded by her friend’s touch.

“Live a little, Pence.” Scott said, using his own nickname.

Spencer shot Scott a glare. “The last time I ‘lived a little’, I ended up getting grounded for the first time. EVER. Excuse me if I don’t want a longer sentence.”

“Alright, look.” Stiles said, switching which of Spencer’s hands he held so he could stand between his friends. “We’ll find the inhaler, and the body, leave, and be back home before my dad is even off duty.” The two didn’t respond. “Now while we’re searching, Scott can tell us where in hell he got those awesome lacrosse skills.”

Spencer sighed away her anger, since she was curious as well. “Seriously, Scott. How did you do that?” she asked. “I mean, I know you said that you practiced this summer, but, damn.”

“I don’t know.” Scott recalled. “It just seemed like I had all the time in the world to catch the ball. And that’s not the only weird thing.” Scott stated. “I can, uh, hear things. Things far away. Oh, and I can smell things.”

“Smell things?” Spencer asked

“Like what?” Stiles questioned.

“Like the mint mojito gum that you have in your pocket.” Scott told Stiles.

Stiles looked confused. He started patting his pockets, trying to find the gum. “I don’t even have any mint mojito - ” Stiles checked a pocket on the inside of his jacket and low and behold, there was a single piece of gum. Spencer hadn’t even noticed the gum and she wore that same jacket last night. “So all of this started with that bite?”

Scott nodded.

“Scott, what if this isn’t all fun and games?” Spencer wondered, keeping her normal rational mindset. “I mean, it is totally cool that you can play lacrosse really well now. But what if something is seriously wrong?”

“What? Like an infection?”

Spencer shrugged, taking it as a possibility.

“So my body is flooding with adrenaline before I go into shock?”

“Well…” Spencer trailed off.

“Oh, come on, Pence! I haven’t ever heard of something like that.”

“You also haven’t heard that wolves don’t live in California, yet that’s true.”

“You know what?” Stiles interrupted, not wanting them to argue. “I think I have. It’s a specific kind of infection.”

Spencer shot Scott a worried look.

“Are you serious?” Scott questioned.

“Yeah, I think it’s called...lycanthropy.”

Spencer narrowed her eyes. “Stiles!” She said, slapping his arm. She pulled her hand out of her friend’s and went off to look for the inhaler on her own.

“What’s that?” Scott asked. “Is that bad?”

“The worst.” Stiles joked.

Spencer didn’t find any humor in this at all.

“But only once a month.”

“Once a month.” Scott questioned.

“Mmhmm. On the night of the full moon.” Stiles howled and started laughed.

Scott did the same thing as Spencer and pushed him away.

“You said that you heard a wolf howling.” Stiles argued.

“There could seriously be something wrong with me!”

“I know! You’re a werewolf!” Stiles faked a growl. “Okay, obviously, I’m kidding. But if you see me in shop class trying to melt all the silver I can find, its ‘cause Friday is a full moon.”

Scott stood in his place, trying to remember last night. He turned in his spot. “No, I - I could have sworn this was it. This is where I saw the body. Then nearly got trampled by deer. I dropped my inhaler.” He whined.

“Maybe the killer moved the body.”

“If he did, I hope that he left my inhaler. They’re like eighty bucks. I can’t afford a new one.

Stiles nodded and looked around. He began to panic. “Scott? Where’s Spencer?”

“I don’t know. She ran off after you said lycanthropy.”

“Well, where did she go?” Stiles screamed.

“How should I know? You were the one promising to take care of her.” Scott pointed out.

The two froze when they heard a loud, shrill scream.

“Spencer!” Stiles screamed, rubbing his hand along his shaved head, frustrated with himself for letting her go.

@$#%$#@

“Yeah, I think it’s called…lycanthropy.”

“Stiles!” she said, slapping his arm. He only laughed. She pulled away from her friend and went off in a different direction to find the inhaler.

How was that joke even funny to Stiles? There is no way that Scott could be a werewolf. Sure, he could see better and hear better, but that was definitely just the adrenaline from last night. He was stuck in the woods, ran over by deer, and bitten. It was the adrenaline. There was no such thing as werewolves.

Then there’s Stiles. He had held Spencer’s hand in front of Scott. Last night, Stiles seemed to make sure that the other boy wasn’t paying attention when he grabbed her hand. Today, he didn’t care. It felt good to Spencer. She had small feelings towards him that were noticeable to her. Something that she never predicted was him showing some feelings back. He’s always been chasing after Lydia. He wouldn’t have ever noticed Spencer’s crush on his when he was way too focused on his own.

Spencer wasn’t sure of how far she had walked. And now, looking around, she wasn’t sure which direction she’d come from.

“Stiles?” she asked aloud, turning in her place. “Scott?” She instantly regretted walking away from her friends. She should have been smarter and remembered there was a killer out in the woods. “Crap.” she said. She heard a twig snap and some leaves rustle. “Scott? Stiles?” she peeked around a large tree. “Is that you?” Off in the distance, she heard deep growling. Her fright controlled her after that, pushing her feet to run in the opposite direction that she was facing. She began to run out of breath. She leaned an arm against a tree and tried to control her breathing. She looked up to see a dark figure standing over her. She screamed.

“Spencer!” She heard Stiles shout.

Spencer breathed a sigh of relief as she quickly ran towards the direction of his voice. She only looked back once, seeing the man watch her run off.

“Stiles!” She ran until the boy finally came into sight. He was running towards her. The two slowed down so not to crash each other to the ground. Spencer slammed herself into Stiles. They wrapped their arms around each other tightly.

“What the hell was that?” Stiles asked, grabbing her tightly by the shoulders, making sure that she was real.

“There was a guy.” She said, still panicked and out of breath. “He came from nowhere. Scared the shit out of me.”

“Was it the killer?” Scott asked, from behind them.

Spencer pushed herself back to Stiles’ grasp and buried her face in the crook of his neck. “I don’t know.”

Stiles felt a water drop on his neck. He stroked Spencer’s hair, to calm her. He looked up to see a person standing in front of the three of them. Stiles nudged Spencer to look at him. She unwrapped herself and held Stiles’ hand tightly. Stiles looked to her. Spencer nodded. That was the guy who’d scared her.

“What are you doing here?” the guy said. “This is private property.”

“Well, I don’t know where you get off scaring random girls.” Stiles stumbled.

“Stiles!” Spencer chastised, elbowing him. “We didn’t know. We’re sorry.”

The guys face softened when he looked at her, only for a second, but Spencer saw it. Other than this brief second of vulnerability, the guy looked angry. She’d gotten over her moment of fright and now was curious about him. Spencer wondered why he was angry. She knew it wasn’t because they were on his property. He looked handsome in his dark, jeans and leather jacket that covered up a black t-shirt. Spencer couldn’t take her eyes off of him.

“Yeah,” Scott started, “we were just looking for something.”

The guy stared down Scott, carefully watching him.

“But…uh, forget it.”

Suddenly, the guy threw something at him. Scott caught it without a problem. It was his inhaler. The guy turned to leave, looking to Spencer one last time, his face softening again.

“Alright, come on. I gotta get to work.”

Stiles grabbed Spencer’s hand. She didn’t even remember pulling away from him. “Guys, do you know who that was?” Stiles asked.

Scott shook his head.

Spencer’s eyes were still glued to the spot where the dark figure stood.

“That was Derek Hale.” Stiles informed. “You remember, right? He’s only four years older than us.”

“What am I supposed to be remembering?” Spencer asked.

“His family. They all burned to death in a fire like ten years ago.”

Spencer’s heart instantly dropped for Derek. She actually started to remember. She thought back to the day when his name came over the school’s intercom. “I wonder what he’s doing back.” Spencer said, thoughtfully.

Stiles squeezed her hand. He was worried that she found Derek attractive. Comparing him to Derek Hale was like comparing Robin to Batman. Robin, pre-badass Nightwing status. He pulled on her arm slightly. She turned to look at him. “Come on.” He said, tilting his head back towards the Jeep.

Spencer showed a small smile and nodded.

Stiles drove Scott back to his bike. When Scott got out, Spencer would normally automatically move up to the front next to Stiles. But when he turned to help her up, she only sat staring out the small backseat window. He knew she was probably thinking about Derek and it nearly broke his heart.

“Spence.” He said, getting her attention.

She turned to face him slowly. The thoughts cleared from her head. “Huh?”

He held out his hand and gestured for her to move up from.

Spencer took his hand, using it as a balance as she climbed over the seat. She still stared out the window as Stiles drove home. He kept looking from the road back to her. When they arrived home, they didn’t see the sheriff cruiser in the driveway.

“Dad’s not home. You hungry? We can order pizza. We’ll get your favorite? Pepperoni and bacon.”

Spencer shook her head and opened her door. She reached to grab her bag from the back. It was heavier than she thought and she couldn’t lift it.

Stiles came over and grabbed the strap. “I got it.” He said.

She got out of his way, not saying anything so he could pick up the bag. The silence continued as they walked into the house and to the kitchen table.

Stiles set Spencer’s bag down and she dug in it to find her homework. Stiles shook his head. “Spencer.” He put his hand on her so stop her and get her full attention.

She looked up at him. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, you’re really out of it. What’s going on?” He laughed.

“Nothing.” Spencer said. “I’m just thinking.”

“What about?”

“Derek.”

Stiles furrowed his brow, not sure what to say about that.

“I remember him.”

“How can you? You were like seven. He wasn’t even in our grade.”

“I remember his name over the intercom. I remember we were going to art class when I saw him by the office, crying. He was trying to hide it though.

“What?”

Spencer sighed. “I asked him why he was crying. I told him not to cry. He didn’t say anything, but he wiped his tears right away. He just looked at me. Stared at me.” she paused. “I can’t believe I forgot about that.”

“So this is why you’re so out of it?”

“I guess. I didn’t put it together until now. What he was crying over, I mean. I didn’t think it was as serious as losing your entire family.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I mean, you and I have only lost one parent. Think about losing everyone.” Spencer bit her lip and continued searching through her bag.

“You haven’t lost your dad.”

“He doesn’t even know who I am. There’s no way to fix that. He’s not getting better.”

Stiles squeezed her hand.

“I’m fine with it. I’m okay. You’re dad actually fills in the father spot.”

Stiles thought for a moment, staring at her as she rifled through her bag. He was choosing his next words carefully. “So, Derek. Is he…uh, hot?”

Spencer furrowed her brow and smiled. “Hot?” Spencer laughed. “What are you talking about?”

“Attractive. Does he look good?”

“Stiles, you’re not gay.”

“I could be.”

“What exactly are you getting at here?”

“If you think that he’s ‘cute,’ my next question may be a little unnecessary and therefore I see no reason to ask it.” Stiles said, nervously.

“What question?”

“The party. Jackson’s party. Do you want to go?”

“Yeah, I guess we could go. Is Scott coming?”

“Stiles rubbed the back of his head and breathed a laugh. “No. Well, yes, he’s going. But that’s not what I’m asking. I mean, do you want to go with me?” Stiles looked up, tilting his head, looking hopeful. “As a date.”

Spencer tried to hide her excitement, but Stiles saw her eyes light up brightly. Even though he saw this earlier, it had seemed like days since he had seen her smile. “Really?” She questioned anyway. “And if it doesn’t work, will it ruin our friendship?”

“Spence, I’m not saying that we run off, get married, have two-point-five kids and divorce shortly after.”

Spencer laughed.

“It’s one date. If it goes well, we can go from there.”

Spencer smiled and nodded. “Yeah. Why not? Let’s do it.”

Stiles laughed nervously, with a smile. “Great. Good. Yeah. You and me. On a date.” He smiled.

“Yeah. It will be fun.”

“Well, it is the full moon and all.” Stiles joked about Scott’s fake diagnosis. “Scott could go a little wild.”

“Ha. Ha.” Spencer fake-laughed. “We’ve long passed the werewolf thing. We don’t need to keep bringing it up.” Spencer sighed. “Alright, come on, Batman, Homework time.”

“Stiles’ face looked shocked. “Batman?”

“Eh, why not? You can protect me from the dark things of the night. And Scott.” Spencer winked making Stiles smile.

@#$%$#@

Derek paced his burnt house, angry for letting himself show his weakness. With Laura gone now, it was like that day all those years ago. When a little girl who didn’t even know him, told him that everything will be okay and to stop crying. He had stopped crying. And he hadn’t cried since he met that little red-headed girl with too many freckles to count. She didn’t even know his name.

Now that she was grown, he saw her, Derek felt some strange attachment to her. A need to keep her safe. It almost scared him.

This was just a weakness that he couldn’t ever acknowledge.

She probably didn’t remember him anyway.

@#$%$#@

Spencer sat on the bleachers with Allison and Lydia. Lydia was not particularly ecstatic about Allison’s new friend. Being around Spencer was making her feel bad all over again, which drove her on edge. Allison and Spencer didn’t seem to notice Lydia’s disgust.

“Scott and I have a date.” Allison said.

“What? No way!” Spencer exclaimed. “Jerk didn’t tell me. What are you guys doing?”

“Going to Jackson’s party.”

“That’s my date with Stiles.” Spencer told the girl. “Those boys are completely unoriginal.”

“Scott!” Stiles’ voice called. “Scott! Wait up!” Stiles had caught up with Scott, who kept walking. He didn’t even stop preparing himself for his time on the field. Stiles spoke in a hushed tone.

Scott brushed him off, running onto the field.

“What no!” Stiles called after him. “Scott! You’re not gonna believe what the animal was!”

Spencer didn’t catch what he said next. She shook it off and said to herself she’d figure out what that was about later.

The players rounded about the coach. The boys played around on the field. Scott was as serious as ever. Stiles didn’t even play. He sat on the bench. Spencer wanted to be next to him. She was about to get up and join him, but Allison’s words stopped her from going. Spencer sighed.

“So, tonight.” Allison said. “The three of us should gather together at my house to get ready.”

Spencer stiffened. “Like a girl thing? I’m not so sure.”

“Oh, come on. Can’t you go like an hour without seeing Stiles or Scott?”

“I’ve spent plenty of time away from my boys.”

“Calling them ‘your boys’ is proof enough that you need more friends. Please, Spencer. I’d really like to prove to my parents that I actually have friends this time around.”

Spencer laughed.

Allison turned to Lydia. “Lydia?”

“I already know what I’m wearing. I’ll come though. She’s going to need a lot of help.” Lydia point around Allison to Spencer.

Spencer just rolled her eyes, but secretly she knew that she really didn’t know how to dress herself for things like this.

“Spencer?” Allison asked hopefully.

“Alright.” Spencer gave in. “You have to go easy on me. I’ve never done the whole ‘girl thing’.” Spencer said, shyly.

“That’s not surprising.” Lydia scoffed.

“It’s also not my fault.” Spencer mumbled.

Lydia immediately regretted her comment. She looked over at Spencer, who just had her hands in her lap.

Spencer breathed deeply, trying to avoid the drama. She looked up just in time to see Scott flipping over another player and throwing the ball into the goal. “Holy shit!” Spencer exclaimed, jumping up to cheer for him.

“McCall! Get over here!” The coach shouted, sounding angry.

Spencer and the girls sat back down. “Oh, no.” Spencer whispered.

“What in God’s name was that? This is a lacrosse field.” Coach pointed out as if Scott didn’t know. “What? Are you trying out for the gymnastics team?”

“No, Coach.” He said, confused.

“What the hell was that?”

Scott shifted, nervously. “I don’t know. I - just trying to make the shot.”

“Yeah. Well, you made the shot. And guess what. You’re startin’, buddy. You made first line.”

Spencer, Stiles, and Allison all cheered for him. Allison hugged Spencer, who hesitated at first, but hugged back anyway.

“You guys should come over a little after practice.” Allison spoke as the girls sat down. “Spencer, you can go home, gather up a few outfits, and bring them to my house. Lydia and I can help you choose.”

“Okay. That gives me a little time to hang out with Stiles.”

Allison rolled her eyes.” “It’s like you can’t go two seconds without him.”

Spencer shrugged. “He’s not just my date for tonight, Allison. He’s my best friend. None of the other stuff really matters, it’s just bonus.”

@$#%$#@

Stiles and Spencer were in Stiles’ room. Stiles was at the computer and Spencer was rifling through her duffel bag for something to bring to Allison’s house. She groaned. She really didn’t have anything that she hadn’t worn before. Definitely nothing that would blow Stiles away. She sighed, telling herself that she would just bring her entire duffel bag.

Spencer walked up behind Stiles and put her hands on the back of his chair.

Stiles jumped.

“What are you reading?” She asked, trying to read over his shoulder. He quickly changed the tab on his browser and looked behind him to her.

“Nothing.” Stiles said quickly.

Spencer furrowed her brow. “Okay…” she said, a little suspicious, but she dropped it. “At practice, you were talking to Scott about something. What was it?”

“Nothing, really. I was just telling him that Dad found hairs on the body that were animal.”

“So, do they have any idea what kind of animal it was?”

“They keep saying a mountain lion, but they’re not sure.” He lied, narrowing his eyes to make it look like he was thinking.

“Well, what do you think?” Spencer asked.

Stiles was lost. Spencer was actually curious as to what he thought. Usually she didn’t care much because his ideas were usually other-worldly. “I’m not sure.”

“Do you think that it is a person? I mean, I really don’t think that an animal could have cut a person in half cleanly like that.”

“I just don’t much anymore.” He said, shaking his head. He was frustrated with this wolf situation. He knew Scott didn’t believe in it. He felt that it was real though. He just didn’t want to tell Spencer about it until he was sure. “So,” Stiles started, getting off of that topic. “what are you wearing tonight?” The confusion on his face melted away and changed to happiness.

“Why?”

“Well, I want to make sure that we don’t wear the same thing.” He smiled, big.

Spencer laughed at him. “Actually, I’m not sure yet. Allison invited me to hang out and get ready over there. At her house. Can you drive me over there in a bit?”

“You’re gonna hang out with a girl?” Stiles joked, “Isn’t that a little dangerous?”

Spencer laughed again. “Two girls. Lydia will be there, too. Which makes it life-threatening. But I said that I would go. You can just pick me up in an hour there.”

“Yeah, yeah. Of course.” Stiles nodded. “I’ve got to talk to Scott about something though. He should be here soon.” He said, really unsure about whether or not he’d be here.

“Thanks.” She hugged him.

Stiles inhaled the smell of her perfume and nearly fainted. “I need to shower anyway.” Spencer grabbed a pair of sweats from her duffel bag thinking that she was going to change at Allison’s anyway. She opened Stiles’ door to see Scott standing there reaching for the handle himself.

Stiles stood up and rushed over.

“Hey, Pence.” Scott said, with a smile on his face.

“No ‘Hey, Pence’.” Stiles grabbed Scott’s shirt and pull him in the room. “Get in. You gotta see this thing.”

Spencer shook her head and continued onto the bathroom.

“I was reading up since practice - websites, books. All this information.”

“How much Adderall have you had today?”

“A lot. But that doesn’t matter.” Stiles admitted, frustrated. “Okay? Just listen.”

“Oh! Is this about the body? Did your dad find out who did it?”

Stiles grumbled. “No, they’re still questioning people, even Derek Hale.”

“The guy from the woods the other day?”

“Yeah! Yes.” Stiles was near breaking point now. “But that’s not it, okay?”

“What then?”

“Remember the joke from the other day? Well, there’s a good chance that it’s not a joke anymore. The wolf - the bite in the woods. I started doing all of this reading.” Stiles was rushed. He knew he had to get a lot of information out before Spencer was done in the shower. “Do you even know why a wolf howls?” Scott was confused.

“Should I?”

“It’s a signal, okay? When a wolf’s alone it howls to signal its location to the rest of the pack. So, if you heard a wolf howling that means other wolves could have been nearby. I mean, maybe even a whole pack of ‘em.”

“A whole pack of wolves?”

“No…” Stiles hesitated “Werewolves.”

Scott scoffed. “Are you seriously wasting my time with this? You know I’m picking up Allison in an hour.”

Stiles rolled his eyes and brushed that comment off. “I saw you on the field today, Scott. Okay. It was completely impossible. Amazing, but impossible.”

“I made a good shot.”

“No, you made an incredible shot. I mean…the way you moved. Your speed. Your reflexes. You flipped over a person. People can’t just suddenly do that overnight. And I’m sure you don’t take gymnastics or I would have teased the hell out of you about it. And there’s the vision and the senses. Don’t even think I didn’t notice that you don’t need your inhaler anymore!”

“Okay!” Dude, I can’t think about this now. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

Stiles’ eyes widened. “Tomorrow?! What? No! The full moon’s tonight! Don’t’ you get it?!”

“What are you trying to do? I just made first line. I got a date with a girl who I can’t believe wants to go out with me, and everything in my life is somehow perfect. Why are you trying to ruin it?”

Stiles sighed and sat in his chair. “I’m not trying to ruin anything. I’m trying to help. You’re cursed, Scott.” Stiles said, defeated. “You know, and it’s not just that. The moon will cause you to physically change. It just so happens to be when your bloodlust will be at its peak.”

“Bloodlust?”

“Yeah, your urge to kill.”

Scott groaned. “I’m already started to feel an urge to kill, Stiles.”

Stiles grabbed a book from his desk and flipped to a bookmarked page. “You’ve got to hear this. ‘The change can be cause by anger or anything that raises your pulse’. Alright. I haven’t seen anyone raise your pulse like Allison does. You’ve got to cancel this date. I’m calling her right now.” Stiles walked to Scott’s bag. He dug through it to find the boy’s cellphone.

“What are you doing?” Scott asked.

“I’m cancelling your date.”

This got Scott angry. He chased after Stiles. “No! Give it to me!”

Stiles handed him the phone when Scott pinned him against the wall.

Spencer opened the door to witness what was happening. “Scott?” she questioned, confused.

Scott’s angry eyes didn’t leave Stiles.

Spencer jogged quickly to the boys against the wall. “What the hell, Scott.” She put her hands on him to push him off. “Let him go!” She yelled. Scott released a hand from Stiles and grabbed one of Spencer’s wrists. “Ow, Scott! Let go!”

“Scott!” Stiles shouted in his face. “Scott, let Spencer go! She’s not a part of this.”

Scott’s grip tightened on both Stiles and Spencer.

Spencer cringed.

“Scott, I swear to God!” Stiles said through his teeth. “Let her go.”

Spencer reached across with her other hand and slapped Scott’s face.

Scott seemed to snap back into reality. He dropped both of his friends. “I - I gotta go get ready for that party.” He grabbed his bag and hurried to the door. He looked back for a second. “I’m sorry.” The two waited until they heard the front door close.

Stiles immediately picked up Spencer’s hand. “God, are you okay?”

Spencer pulled her arm away, hiding a new bruise that she could feel forming. “I’m fine. You okay?”

Stiles nodded.

“You gonna tell me what happened or is it a guy thing?”

Stiles waved a hand in front of him, blowing it off. “It’s a guy thing. I just took it too far.”

Spencer nodded. “I’m not surprised by that.”

Stiles sighed, internally. He knew she’d believe that and let it go. “Come on. Let’s get you to Allison’s.”

Spencer nodded. Stiles grabbed her duffel bag and the two ran down to the car.

@#$%$#@

“Allison! Your friend is here!” Mrs. Argent called up the stairs. “Come on in, dear.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Argent.” Spencer got a good look at Allison’s mom. She was tall and had short red hair. Behind her smile, though, her mom’s eyes looked like she was hiding something.

“Spencer! Hey, come up!”

Spencer nodded and raced up the stairs.

“Thanks, mom!” Allison called as she dragged Spencer to her room. Lydia was already waiting on the bed. Spencer threw her duffel down next to the other strawberry blonde.

“I’ve been through this bag a million times.” Spencer informed the girls. “I’ve found nothing that would have blowing away capabilities.”

Allison dug through the bag to find out for herself. “What about this?” Allison pulled out a red sweater. “Just pair it with a tank to or something.”

Lydia laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

Lydia shook her head and stood up in front of Spencer. “Honey, you have red hair. And I know from experience, that redheads shouldn’t wear red. We’re not going to make you look like a tomato.” Lydia let out a breath. “Lucky for you, I decided to be nice and help you out a little bit.”

“How are you going to help me?” Spencer asked her.

“I feel bad for you, Spencer. You know absolutely nothing about girl behavior and I feel like I’m to blame for that. Not to mention what’s happened with your father, but…” Lydia didn’t have to say anymore to make Spencer feel awful for coming. She never really talked about what happened to her father. She hadn’t even told Allison. She hadn’t planned on doing that for a while.

“Lydia, what are you getting at?” Spencer asked, grimly.

“I brought you something.” Lydia turned to dig through her bag. “Don’t think anything of it. It’s a little too ninth grade for my taste, so I was planning on donating it anyway.” Lydia pulled out a golden yellow dress with ruffles.

Spencer forced herself not to crunch her nose in disgust. “A dress?”

Allison looked to Spencer. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.” she said.

“Well, I’m not sure how I feel about it. I’m not really comfortable in a dress. And it is only a party.”

“You haven’t ever worn a dress, have you?” Lydia asked, pursing her lips.

Spencer shifted nervously. “Not since my mom stopped dressing me when I was eight. I’m not comfortable in them.”

Lydia narrowed her eyes. “Well, you can try again.” she said, holding the dress out to her. “I think that you will rock this.”

Spencer was shocked. Did Lydia actually compliment her?

“So you go to the bathroom. Change into that and come back. We’ll tell you how awesome you look.” Lydia smiled.

Spencer was still confused from all of the compliments that she was getting from Lydia.

“It’s out this room and it’s the next door on the left.” Allison informed Spencer.

Spencer pushed her feet forward and made her way to the bathroom. She quickly changed, and checked herself out in the mirror. She played with the hem of the dress, hoping that there was more to it and it was only hidden. She sighed when it didn’t get longer. She nearly stumbled out of the bathroom. Spencer slowly walked back to Allison’s room and shyly walked into it. She looked up from her bangs. Allison’s mouth was open in shock and Lydia had a winning smirk on her face.

“Oh, my God.” Allison announced. “You look amazing.”

Spencer blushed.

“I’m a genius.” Lydia bragged.

“Really?” Spencer asked. “Is it that great?”

Allison and Lydia both nodded. The two moved her in front of the mirror at Allison’s desk. Lydia started pulling at Spencer’s hair, looking at her through the mirror. Lydia took a closer look at Spencer and noticed a faint purple on her wrist. Spencer caught Lydia staring at it and quickly covered it up.

“Uh, can I wear a hoodie?”

“Oh, no.” Lydia said, slightly worried for Spencer. “You can’t wear a dress like that and cover it up with a hoodie from your boyfriend’s closet.”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Spencer defended. She bit her lip, and let the comment go. “So, what am I supposed to wear?”

“Okay…” Allison skipped to her closet and pulled on a hanger. She came back over to the two girls. “So, here.” Allison held out a black cardigan to Spencer, who shrugged it on. Spencer pulled the sleeves down as far over the bruises as she could.

“Perfect.” Lydia said, showing Spencer a genuine smile. “Spencer. I think you and I should be friends.”

Spencer furrowed her brow. Again. she thought.

“As long as you let me dress you. And as a special treat, you can have the clothes I was going to give away.”

Spencer's jaw dropped. She shook her head.

“No, Lydia. I can’t - ”

“Too late. I’ve already hired some people to move the clothes to your house.”

“You hired people?” Spencer questioned. “Exactly how many clothes are you giving me?”

“My entire ninth grade wardrobe.” Lydia said, as if it were obvious. “I had to make room for this year.”

Spencer sighed, accepting it.

“Think of it as an ‘I’m sorry’ gift.” Lydia said, brushing it off.

Spencer bit her lip. Allison, between the two, was absolutely confused. Lydia didn’t let her positivity falter. Spencer recalled ten years ago, when things went south for her dad. Spencer didn’t know what was going on with him and she really needed her best friend. But when her dad’s condition got worse, Lydia quit on her, not knowing what to do. Lydia had changed. And Spencer was glad to have her friend back.