Lost Inside A Scream

"So, Penny, are you going to go to Beacon Hills High?" Scott asked me as we were cleaning up a few things before we left the clinic.

"Yeah, I think that's the plan." I nodded, looking in his direction. "I assume that's where you go?"

"Yep. I'm a junior." He smiled.

"So am I." I replied, a grin like his appearing on my own face.

"Hey, that's awesome! I bet we'll have classes together and stuff. And now you don't have to worry about not knowing any of your classmates and stuff like that."

"And who said I was worried?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh, uh, I just assumed, I mean most people ar-" He spluttered, causing me to laugh.

"Kidding, kidding. Believe me when I say I'm really not looking forward to being around people who aren't all suicidal or think they're Jesus. Not that I enjoyed that, I just-"

"Don't want people to think you're crazy?" Scott finished for me and I nodded. "Don't worry, Lydia's already broken the ice for you on that part."

"And what do you mean by that exactly?"

"She was in the hospital after some crazy stuff happened at winter formal and somehow escaped, only to be found completely naked in the forest a few days later." He laughed when he saw the expression on my face. "Trust me, no one's going to think anything of you. Anything negative I mean. They're not going to, like, ignore you either. I swear. I mean we're already friends and we just met, can't be too hard for people to like you, right?" Scott was funny. I liked him. "I'm headed to meet a friend after this. You can join me if you want, y'know, meet someone else before your first day Monday."

"Uh, yeah, sure." I smiled, nodding. "Sounds great."

"Cool, I'll just lock up and then we can go." He turned to grab something off of the table behind him, but quickly turned back to face me. "You're cool with riding a dirt bike, right?" He bit his lip.

"Guess I have to be." I shrugged.

"I mean if you're not I can just call Stiles and he can come pick us up in his jeep." I tensed the second I heard the name. Stiles. There was no way there could be more than one person in this town with that name. "You're not okay with it, I can tell. I'll call him and come back to get my bike later."

"No, Scott, really. It's fine. I'm just worried about meeting someone new, that's all. I can ride on your dirt bike." I wasn't going to back out despite how much I wanted to. I'd run into him sometime, might as well just get it over with now.

"Okay, if you're sure." Scott sighed, opening the door for me. "And don't worry about Stiles, kid loves everyone." Believe me, I know.

The anxious feeling in my stomach worsened the closer we got to Stiles's house. I didn't want to face him. I didn't ever expect to see him after he left and I liked it that way.

"Hey, man!" I cringed at the familiar voiced that called out from the front step.

"Hope you don't mind, but I brought a friend." Scott said after returning the greeting.

"I never mind being around girls, you should know that by now." Yeah, and I'm sure he's going to love being around me. I took a deep breathe before removing my helmet and turning to look at the boys. "No way." Stiles gasped, and I gulped. "Penny Sheehan! On the outside! This isn't possible!"

Scott looked from Stiles to me, giving us each and equally confused look. "You met at Eichen House. I should've realized that." He muttered to himself.

"Yeah, buddy, Penny and I go way back." Stiles grinned, throwing his arm around my shoulders.

"Stiles, you were there for a weekend." I rolled my eyes.

"Plenty of time to learn about the famous Penelope!" He squeezed my shoulders. "How the hell did you get out? Weren't you some kind of medical mystery or something?"

"I don't know. Ms. Morrell just told me they were releasing me. Guess they needed room or something." I shrugged, trying to inconspicuously pull myself from his grip as I did so.

"I never really got why they were so worried about you in the first place. You sleepwalked and screamed occasionally, so what? My friend Lydia does the same thing and no one's tried anything on her."

Scott almost looked as if he suddenly realized something when I shifted my gaze to him, hoping he would get the hint I wanted some help. He didn't. This was going to be a long night.