TRUST DOESNT COME EASY
[ chapter two—heart rate ]

Emiline grasped onto her bag as she finished getting dressed, racing through the bathroom to Allison's room. As Emiline turned the corner she found her cousin sitting at her vanity curling her hair.

"Happy birthday, Ally!" Emiline raved as she threw herself onto her cousins bed. "Do you feel old?" Allison chuckled, staring back at her cousin through the mirror before her. "I feel really good, actually."

Emiline giggled tilting her head slightly. "You look good.." The girl on the bed tilted her head completely meeting her cousins gaze. "Your glowing, seventeen looks good on you."

Allison beamed taking the curling iron out of her hair and holding the curl in her hand. "So... what do you think about Scott?"

"He's cool." The curly haired girl tilted her head to the side as she turned to face Emiline. "Em, I'm serious."

"He's cool, a little socially awkward... but he's cool." Allison giggled turning back ahead and flicking the curling iron off at the wall. "I forgot to thank you," emiline held the girls bag up for her as she stood from her vanity. "What for?"

Allison exhaled taking the bag from her cousin and placing it over her shoulder. "For saving me last night." She shook her head. "My dad was being a total prude."

Emiline chuckled shifting her gaze to the door as Kate knocked her knuckles against it. "Hey." She began, walking toward Allison. "Listen, you know I feel totally horrible about my behaviour the other night, right?"

Allison shook her head waving her aunt off. "Oh, totally forgotten."

"No," Kate bellowed, shaking her head at the girl. "Not forgotten by me." She affirmed, leaning back slightly as she waited for Allison to express how she really felt. "Come on. Call me a horrid bitch or something."

Emiline met Allison's gaze as she glanced around her room. "You were just being protective." She countered.

"I was being a protective horrid bitch." Emiline tilted her head not totally disagreeing with the woman as she got to her feet. Kates tone dropped to be more sensitive. "Who is giving you your birthday present early so you'll forgive her."

Allison's jaw fell open, a slightly squeal of excitement rushing out. "Oh." She tucked her phone under her arm taking the box into her hands. Kate shifted her gaze to Emiline tilting her head to Allison as she began to open the box.

As the lid came off Allison gasped, looking up at Emiline to see the gift herself. "Forgiven?" Kate asked as Emiline stepped up beside Allison peering over her shoulder at the silver pendant with their argent family crest on it, a snarling wolf and arrows.

Allison picked it up, to examine it more. "Completely, I love it!" Kate grinned widely. "It's a family heirloom. And you know me, I hate and loathe all sentimental crap, but that, well, look at the symbol in the middle of the pendant."

The two teens looked down at the middle of the pendant. "See that?" Kate asked, meeting Emiline's gaze as she looked up at her. "You ever wanna learn a little something about your family? Look it up."

Allison ran her finger through the chain of the pendant, "you're gonna make me work for it."

Kate shrugged her shoulders placing her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. "some mysteries are worth the effort." She took her hands back out and gently took the pendant from the girl and lifted it over her head.

Emiline plastered a smile onto her face as Allison turned to her to show it off as it rested on her chest. The girl giggled wrapping her arms around Kate.

Emiline picked up her leather jacket draping it over her arm as Allison mumbled a goodbye and went to leave.

➶ ➶ ➶

Emiline sighed as Allison apologised profusely over text for leaving her for the wolves as she and Scott decided to ditch the whole day of school.

The girl sat at a empty desk at the back of the class furrowing her brows at the teen boy with a buzz cut across from her who seemed to be highlighting ever word in the chemistry book in-front of him.

Soon enough their chemistry teacher, Mr. Harris had begun with announcing the teacher-parent interviews that were on later in the day.

Emiline leaned across her desk, "why are you highlighting every word?" The boys head shot up glancing around him.

His eyes landed on Emiline who raised her brows as they had. The boy took the cap of his highlighter out from between his lips to speak. "Who are you?" He asked, looking up at the tall figure who overshadowed the teens.

Glaring down at them as they spoke over him. "Students below a "C" average are required to attend. I won't make you because the shame and self-disgust," Emiline sat up straight inhaling sharply. "Should be more than enough punishment."

Harris turned to their bench looking down at the empty stool beside Stiles. "Has anyone seen Scott McCall?" The boy with a buzz cut slowly lifted his head glancing around him as all eyes were on him for answers.

As Stiles met the man's stern hateful gaze the classroom door opened and Harris's attention was drawn to it along with most of the class.

Emiline glanced around at their eyes on the boy with a leather jacket, rich kid, full of himself and she knew they weren't all staring at him because he was popular but because he'd found a body in the video 2 c in town.

Stiles went back to colouring over the words on his text book as Mr. Harris made his way to the front of the class. "Everyone, start reading chapter nine."

The dark-haired girl flicked through her text book, glancing up at the boy with a buzz cut. "Mr. Stilinski." The boys head rose and he turned to look at Harris as he continued. "Try putting the highlighter down between paragraphs. It's chemistry, not a colouring book."

Stilinski rolled his eyes as he tilted his head back blowing hard to spit the cap of his highlighter out into the air and catching it perfectly when it came back down.

Emiline shook her head lightly as she looked down at the text. Stilinski leaned toward the boy on the bench infront of them. "Hey, Danny. Can I ask you a question?"

Danny lifted his head sighing as he spoke bluntly. "No." Emiline's eyes darted between the two. "Well, I'm going to anyway. Um, did Lydia show up in your homeroom today?"

The girls brows furrowed as she became more interested in a conversation that had nothing to do with her. Danny sighed again, dropping his pen on his text book as he thought about it. "No."

Stilinski stirred for a minute, on the edge of his seat he spoke again. "Can I ask you another question?" Emiline's tilted her head as Stiles leaned forward more. "Answers still no." Danny shrugged.

"Does anybody know what happened to her and Jackson last night?" He asked despite Danny's previous response.

Danny shifted his gaze to Jackson seated at the bench across from them. "He wouldn't tell me." He answered in a low tone, looking back at his page.

Stilinski leaned forward more, "but he's your best friend." Emiline's brows raised as she leaned forward more, hitting the boy on the shoulder and shaking her head. "Ow." He hissed, looking at her cluelessly.

"Shut up." Stilinski grunted softly moving out of her reach and closer to Danny. "One more question."

Danny exhaled sharply, sitting up straight. "What, Stiles?" He hissed. "Do you find me attractive?" Emiline's brows furrowed as he tilted her head.

Danny thought for a moment, Stiles inched more and more toward him eventually tipping the stool over and landing on the floor.

Emiline cleared her throat as she sat back in her seat, peering off the side of the bench at the boy as he stood.

➶ ➶ ➶

Emiline followed Stiles out of the classroom, she'd pretty much decided they'd be friends weather he liked it or not. Stiles stammered to get to his phone, dialing for Scott as they stepped into the hall.

After a few moments of chaos from the floods of school kids leaving their classes Stiles threw his arm up. "Finally! Have you been getting any of my texts?"

Emiline leant against the wall outside their class as Stiles stopped to talk to Scott in the middle of the hall. "Do you have any idea what's going on— Lydia is totally M-I-A, Jackson looks like he's got a time bomb inserted in his face,"

Emiline chuckled as Stiles continued. "Another random guy's dead, and this girl— this new girl, she's following me." Emiline cracked a smile as the boy glared at her from the corner of his eye.

"She's what?!" Stiles exclaimed, glancing back at the girl as she giggled. "Emiline, Argent. I'm harmless by the way." Stiles turned to the girl with a fake smile on his face  as Scott hung up on him. "Great, that's great."

➶ ➶ ➶

Jereme glanced at Emiline as they waited for Victoria and Chris to finish up with Allison's interviews. "Do they know she didn't go today?" He asked.

Emiline chuckled shortly shaking her head. The boy nudged the girl as Chris and Victoria left the school doors with their cellphones pressed to their ears.

"Did you know, Emmy?" Chris asked as Allison's cell went to voicemail. The girl furrowed her brows to be confused by the man as she stood up straight as the parents began to walk down the steps.

Jereme lowered his head as they joined them at the steps. "Allison, answering your cell phone will make discussing the terms of your grounding much easier." Chris spoke sternly into his phone.

Emiline glanced at her cell not seeing any messages or calls from Allison. "Well, call me back back before your punishment reaches biblical proportions." He hung up his phone and turned to his wife as she spoke.

"Kate hasn't heard from her either." Victoria spoke looking down at her phone.

A Latina woman approached the Argents worried about something or someone. "Excuse me, your not Allison's parents, are you?" She asked, "I'm Scott's mom, and I hate to say it, but he's not answering his phone either."

Emiline's pressed her lips together taking her phone out and scrambling to warn Allison. Chris looked the woman up and down. "You're his mother?"

The woman tilted her head slightly, looking him up and down as he had done to her. "Funny how you say that like it's an accusation."

"Well, I wouldn't claim it as a source of pride," Jereme looked at the girl beside him with wide eyes as she rubbed her lips together anxiously. "Since he basically kidnapped my daughter today."

Victoria glanced at the teens as the women began to bite back. "How do we know skipping school wasn't your daughters idea?"

Victoria's eyes widened. "My daughter..." a car door closed in the distance, the man's attention drawn to it. Sighing as Allison and Scott left the car avoiding their parents gaze. "...is right there."

Melissa shifted her gaze and began to race down the steps to her son. Emiline glanced at Jereme as Victoria and Chris hurried their phones into their pockets and met one another's gaze.

Jereme jumped over the railing, racing after the woman. "Let's go." Chris muttered, following the boy alongside his wife and Emiline on their heels.

Emiline quickened her speed, linking arms with her brother as they made their way across the parking lot. The girls gaze fell on Isaac being scorned by who she believed to be his father.

Jereme tugged at the girl as she slowed her pace, locking eyes with the boy and holding his gaze till Jereme pulled her out of his sights.

"Allison." Chris began. "In the car."

Chaos spread through the carpark as people screamed out and ran for their vehicles. Chris tapped the back of Emiline's arm, pulling them closer to the man as the screams intensified and the source of them growled.

Emiline glanced behind her at the man nodding reluctantly as she followed after Allison.

The girls walked up past her car glancing around as an four legged beast ran through the lot growling, rising tensions and fear within the crowd.

Allison gasped, clutching Emiline's arm. "Did you see that?!" The girl peered around the corner before she stepped out into the open. Emiline glanced around for her cousin who'd disappeared from her side.

Two shots fired across the lot, everyone drawn to them as they fell silent. The chaos ceasing.

"Em," Jereme shook his head as the girl stared into the tree line. "Come on." Emiline exhaled following her brother over to the crowd of people that surrounded the beast.

Jereme pushed through the crowd stopping beside Chris at the front of the crowd. Emiline glanced at her cousin as she looked up at her father and the gun in his hand.

➶ ➶ ➶

Emiline spun around to face Allison as they made their way down the isle of their economics class. "Please tell me you told him you have a compound bow under your bed."

Allison chuckled tilting her head back as they got to two empty seats. "No, I didn't know what to say I just laughed."

Emiline sat behind Allison, leaning forward on her desk she spoke. "Sounds like that's a you problem now, Ally."

Allison's facials fell as she turned to face Emiline. "Emiline." She spoke sternly, while her cousin could only laugh. "Like Jackson said. There is me in team, and I do not need his energy around me."

Allison tilted her head at her cousin, her face lighting up again as she saw Scott and Stiles enter the class. "We have a lot to cover today." Coach Finstock spoke as the boys entered the class.

Scott looked back at his friend with wide eyes as Allison waved to him. "What do I do?!" He mouthed to his friend as the only seats left were across from Allison and infront of Allison.

"Scott." Allison spoke softly looking up at him with a smile. Scott turned to the girl smiling as he sat down in the desk in front of her.

Emiline sat back in her seat her eyes drifting up to the roof to count the tiles.

Coach slammed his book down onto his desk to gain the classes attention. "Let's settle down." Allison sat back in her seat, glancing back at Emiline.

"Let's start with a quick summary of last nights reading." Emiline glanced at Greenberg as he and a handful of others raised their hands. "Greenberg put your hand down. Everybody knows you did the reading."

Scott and Allison both lowered their heads and sunk in their seats as coach gazed over the class. "How about..." Coach's gaze fell on Scott. "McCall."

Scott looked up at coach confused, "what?" Coach shrugged setting the textbook in his hands down. "The reading." He answered leaning back on the desk. "Last nights reading?" Scott asked.

Coach glanced at the floor stumbling over his words. "How about— uh— the reading of the Gettysburg address." Scott's jaw fell slightly, wide eyes looking up at coach. "What?"

Emiline pressed her lips together as the class began to laugh at the boys cluelessness. "That's sarcasm. Are you familiar with the term "sarcasm" McCall?"

Scott turned his head to Stiles, "very." Stiles grinned proudly.

"Did you do the reading or not?" Coach asked the boy as he turned back to him. Scott flipped the pages of his textbook aimlessly as he stumbled over his words. "I think I forgot."

Coach tilted his head back groaning slightly as he began to rant on about the boy and their generation. "Nice work, McCall. It's not like you're not averaging a "D" in this class."

Emiline began to twist the rings on her fingers glaring up at the man that stood at the end of their row of desks. "How about this can you summarise anything you've ever read?"

Stiles began to swear, looking over at his friend anxiously as something began to beep out of control in his hand. "In your entire life."

Scott glanced at his friend and who held his head up in the palm of his hand his eyes darting between the beeping device in his hand and his friend. "No? How about—uh, the back of a cereal box? No."

Emiline leaned over in her desk to see the device that beeped out of control in Stiles' hand. "How about the adults only warning from your favourite website you visit every night?"

The girl rolled her shoulders back sitting back in her seat, her jaw fell slightly as she avoided looking ahead of her. "Thank you, McCall. Thank—" coach slammed his hands down onto the desk. "You, McCall. Thank you for extinguishing and last flicker of hope I had for your generation. You just blew it for everybody."

It stopped. The beating of the monitor in Stiles' hand began to calm down, it's beating slowing and eventually the longer coach's rant went on by the end of it it had stopped.

"Next practice you start with suicide runs. Unless that's too much for you to—" coach glanced around the class at the amusement that the students wore on their faces ceasing his words before he said anything more he might regret.

"Everybody, let's settle down." He muttered turning to his desk. Stiles looked at his friend stunned as the beeping stopped and his friend held a steady heart rate.

Emiline glanced over her cousins shoulder as she leant over her desk gazing up at Scott. Below the desk she held onto Scott's hand rubbing her thumb back and forth over his hand. Stiles sighed sitting back in his seat as he'd seen the same.

➶ ➶ ➶

Emiline and Phoebe walked along the closest row of student parking to the school. "...I mean did you see the dress? Total shower curtain and I love her but come on."

Phoebe glanced off into the distance as her friend ranted on about the dress her mother had bought for her to wear to her fathers mayor campaign dinner.

"Doesn't matter I'm going shopping." She mumbled looking down at her purse, searching for her keys. Emiline raised a brow glancing around them. "You wanna come, you'll be a lifesaver."

Emiline caught a glimpse of Stiles directing Scott's hand into the air assuring and directing him to remain that way no matter what. "I have something to do..." She mumbled her gaze set on the teens.

"What?" Phoebe glanced back at the boys and then to her car as she found her keys at the bottom of her bag. "Uhm, just something."

Phoebe ceased all movements holding the girls gaze. "Emiline.." she whispered stepping off the sidewalks into the gap between her car and the truck on the other side of it.

Emiline shrugged the girl off, "send me photos, lots of photos." She exclaimed as she began to approach the two teens at the end of the path.

Phoebe spoke again but to Emiline it had become inaudible as she saw three boys one or two years older than them begin to throw punches and kicks into Scott as he lay on the pavement.

Stiles leaped forward as the girl went to help the boy, being tugged back ruthlessly by him. "No, no, no. We're testing something, don't."

Emiline stared at the boy with furrowed brows. "Testing something?! They could snap him in half if they wanted." Stiles looked back at the beating across from them.

The boy tilted his head slightly his lips twitching as for a moment he believed the same. "Oh, uhm..." Emiline raised her brows at the boy almost stepping in again when he tugged her back.

"Stiles, what the hell?" Emiline winced as the boys began to all jump in on the beating. "Oh, well, that's not okay." Stiles stated, wincing as Emiline slowly turned to face him.

The girls gaze followed his down to a phone in his hand, Scott's accelerating heartbeat on display. Stiles continued to wince and groan as if he didn't set his friend up to receive the beating.

"Stop! Stop it right now!" Mr. Harris exclaimed, the three boys that surrounded the younger teen all ran off as he approached.

Emiline grunted as he looked over at them. "What do you idiots think you're doing?!" Stiles lifted up his phone for Scott to see as he sat up groaning from his wounds.

➶ ➶ ➶

Emiline glared at the two boys behind her as it was their stupidity that landed her in detention in the end. Scott wiped the blood that trickled from his nose, while Stiles sat scribbling on the piece of refill paper in-front of him.

Scott set down his bloody tissue. "Excuse me sir?" Harris lifted his head from his tablet sighing as Scott continued. "I know it's detention and all, but, I'm supposed to be at work, and I don't want to get fired."

Harris smiled at the boy and lowered his head to look at his tablet again. Emiline grinned shortly as she turned back to her refill, shading parts of the spiders web she'd drawn across the page.

Behind her Scott whispered something to Stiles who answered him in a normal tone. "So you did that to help me learn?" Scott asked, glancing at Stiles as he examined his pencil.

"Yep."

Emiline furrowed her brows for a second. "But partially to punish me." Scott continued, his gaze still on the his bag spread over the bench.

"Yeah." Stiles answered as though it was obvious, chuckling a little at the thought. "Well, that one's the obvious."

"Dude," Scott began, Harris' gaze lifted onto the teens. "You're my best friend, and I can't have you being angry with me."

Stiles sat up straight tapping his pencil down on the bench top. "I'm not angry anymore."

Emiline pressed her eyelids shut leaning against her hand. "Look, you had something, Scott. Okay? Whether you want it or not, you can do things that nobody else can do. So that means you don't have a choice anymore. It means you have to do something."

The two boys lifted their gaze to meet one another's, "i know. And I will." Emiline peered over her shoulder, sighing lowly as she faced her page again.

"All right," Harris spoke up, "both of you, out of here." Emiline glanced back at the teens as they thanked him profusely and collected their belongings in a hurry.

Emiline groaned slightly as Harris switched his gaze back to her. "You can stay."

➶ ➶ ➶

"They were measuring his heart rate?" Allison asked. Across the bench from her Emiline stood infront of the stove, flipping chocolate chip pancakes. 

"Yeah, he looked fine though." Emiline mumbled as the pancake on the edge of her spatula folded over on itself. Emiline sighed pulling open the cutlery draw, reaching inside and taking out a butter knife.

Allison tilted her head, her brows furrowed slightly. "You said three seniors were beating him up, what do you mean he looked fine." Emiline half-shrugged as she flipped the pancake over perfectly. "I mean he looked fine."

The curly haired girl took out her phone, her thumbs moving vastly across the keypad.

Allison furrowed her brows further looking down at the book laid out on the bench. Emiline glanced at her cousin and the book she read from.

"Well, I've been waiting hours to read you this so listen." Allison spoke up as Emiline switched off the stove and placed the last pancake back on the plate. "A quadruped wolf-like monster prowling the Auvergne and South Dordogne areas of France."

Emiline picked up the pan she'd used, taking it over to the  sink to run hot water over it. "During the year 1764 to 1767. La Bête killed over 100 people, becoming so infamous that the King Louis XV sent one of his best hunters to try and kill it."

Allison met her cousins gaze as she switched off the faucet and turned to face her. "Even the church eventually declared the monster a messenger of Satan."

Emiline nodded as she walked around the bench and sat a stool over from Allison, taking a pancake from the plate set between them. "Cryptozoologists believe it may have been a subspecies of hoofed predator, possibly a mesonychild."

Allison continued to read from the book glancing at her cousin as she looked at the pancake in her hand in awe. "While others believe it was a powerful sorcerer who could shape-shift into a man-eating monster."

Emiline frowned as she tapped the spoon from the bowl whipped cream onto the middle of her pancake holding it like a taco. "How does this track back to our family?"

Allison smirked as she pressed the book harder into her torso. "It is believed that La bête was finally trapped and killed by a renown hunter who claimed his wife and four children were the first to fall prey to the creature."

Allison smiled down at the page lifting her gaze to her cousin. "His name was Argent."

Emiline's took a bite of the end of her pancake covering her mouth as she spoke. "So our ancestors killed a big wolf?"

Allison clicked her tongue flipping the page. "Not just a big wolf. Take a look at this picture." Emiline sighed under her breath as Allison turned the book around to face her.

"What does it look like to you?"

Emiline caught her jaw, holding it shut tight as she lay eyes on the wolf behind the fog. It's red eyes piercing out of the page. "A wolf?"

Allison jerked her head to the side, replacing the book with the plate of pancakes for Emiline to read.

Emiline looked up from the page, glancing behind her into the living room where Victoria sat on the couch reading. "When's Scott coming over?"

Allison grinned widely lowering her head. "Eight thirty." Emiline chuckled as she leaned over taking another pancake. "You really like him." She whispered as she sat back in her seat. Her cousin smiled wider looking up at the ceiling as her cousin smiled purely because Allison was.

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word count — 4411

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