[sixteen]
illuminated

ALEX ROLLED HER eyes as she shifted in her seat a little, slumping back in her seat.

"So when did you two get there?" Rafe questioned Stiles and Alex as he crossed his arms, leaning against Noah's desk.

"At the same time." Stiles answered.

"Same time as who?" Rafe asked, wanting Stiles to not be vague.

"Same time as me." Scott gestured to himself, Alex pointing to Scott from her place in the chair between Stiles and Scott, Kira next to Scott on the other side, and Lydia sitting next to Kira.

"Same time as him." Alex added.

"By coincidence?" Rafe raised his eyebrows.

"What do you mean, coincidence?" Alex frowned. She could tell she was pissing him off.

"That's what I'm asking you." Rafe responded, glancing at Alex. "The three of you arrived at the same time." He glanced between Alex, Stiles, and Scott. "Was that coincidence?"

"Are you asking me?" Scott raised his eyebrows.

"I think he's asking me." Stiles replied.

"Isn't he asking me?" Alex added with an amused smirk.

"I think he's asking all of you." Lydia spoke.

"Okay, let me answer the questions." Rafe replied, then paused. "Let me ask the questions. Let me make this absolutely clear. Barrow was hiding in the chemistry closet at the school. Someone left him a coded message on the blackboard telling him to kill Kira. Then Barrow took Kira to a power substation, and tied her up with the intent of electrocuting her. Which blacked out the entire town."

"Sounds about right." Alex sighed.

"How'd you know he'd take her to a power station?" Rafe questioned.

"Well, cause he was an electrical engineer, so where else would he take her?" Stiles replied, a smirk ghosting his lips.

"That's one hell of a deduction there, Stiles." Rafe responded with a frown.

"He's a good guesser." Alex shrugged.

"What can I say? I take after my pops. He's in law enforcement." Stiles added with a wink towards his father, Noah snorting, but covering it up with a cough.

"Stiles, just, uh, just answer the man." Noah spoke, trying to pretend like he didn't almost laugh at his son's comment.

"We made a good guess." Stiles sighed.

"Just like I said, he's a good guesser." Alex added.

"What were the two of you doing?" Rafe spoke, glancing at Scott and Kira.

The two spoke at the same time.

"Eating pizza."

"Eating sushi."

They glanced at each other before speaking again, this time, the two saying what the other said the previous time.

"Eating sushi."

"Eating pizza."

Alex blew out a breath as she raised her eyebrows.

"Eating sushi and pizza." Scott and Kira spoke at the same time.

"You believe this?" Rafe turned to Noah.

"To be honest, I haven't believed a word Stiles has said since he learned how to speak." Noah sighed.

Stiles nodded, then narrowed his eyes.

"But I think these kids found themselves in the right place at the right time." Noah added, then glanced at Kira. "And that girl sitting there is very lucky for it."

"Kira." Rafe started. "Is that how you remember it?"

Kira glanced between the group, everyone sitting up to glance at her with raised eyebrows, silently telling her to say yes.

"Yes." Kira spoke. "Could I get my phone back now?"

"Sorry, but no." Rafe replied.

••••

Alex gasped as she jolted into a sitting position in her bed, her werewolf eyes glowing.

She closed her eyes tightly, her eyes going back to normal.

I don't know why I keep trying to sleep, there's essentially no point. Alex thought to herself with a sigh. She checked her phone, hoping for a message or a call to pop up to distract her, however, nothing did.

Just great. Alex blew out a breath. Another long ass night of not sleeping. I sure do love my life right now. Alex rolled her eyes in annoyance.

••••

"Class starts in five minutes!" Coach spoke, using the megaphone. "Just because there's no power, doesn't mean there's no school!"

"Hey, that was a triple negative. Very impressive, Coach." Stiles smirked, Alex chuckling as she crossed her arms and leaned against the lockers.

"Copy that!" Coach replied.

Suddenly, Stiles' keys fell to the floor, Stiles bending down to pick them up. He frowned at them, Alex frowning too. "I didn't know you had an extra key."

"I don't." Stiles frowned, still glancing at the keys. "Or, at least, I didn't used to..."

He then glanced at Alex. "Hey, I was meaning to ask you, did you sleep okay last night?"

Alex raised her eyebrows, a small smirk appearing on her face. "Why the sudden interest?"

Stiles huffed a chuckle at her response. "Look, I only wanted to ask because you said you couldn't sleep a few days ago."

"To answer your question, no I did not...as usual." Alex released a breath, looking away. "Insomnia's a real pain in the ass."

"Hey, are you sure it's insomnia?" Stiles frowned at the girl.

"What else would the lack of sleep and concentration, along with annoying migraines, be a result of?" Alex replied, glancing at Stiles.

Stiles blew out a breath. "You're right, it's definitely insomnia..."

The two then saw Scott walk into the school. He was about to follow Kira, however, Stiles held him back. "No- no. Stop, stop."

"What? I need to talk to her." Scott frowned.

"Scott, someone left a coded message telling Barrow to kill her." Alex replied quietly.

"Which is why I need to talk to her." Scott added.

Stiles glanced at Scott. "Scott, no way."

"Just until we figure out of she's...something..." Alex sighed.

"Something like what?" Scott frowned.

"Like a psychotic monster that's going to start murdering everybody." Stiles responded, Scott and Alex frowning. "I vote against any and all interaction."

"But what if she's like Alex and I?" Scott asked Stiles.

"Kira walked through one point twenty one jigawatts of electricity." Alex blew out a breath as she glanced at Scott. "Trust me, she's not like us."

Scott walked off, the two not stopping him. Stiles glanced at the foreign key again, Alex frowning at it.

••••

Scott, Alex, Stiles, and Kira entered Derek's loft, only to find music blaring and people crowding the room, almost all of them dancing, body paint all over their bodies.

"It just showed up here on my key ring this morning!" Stiles yelled over the deafening music. "I asked my dad if he put it there, but he said he didn't know anything about it!"

"It's just a key, right?!" Scott exclaimed with a frown.

"Yeah, but it's not mine!" Stiles yelled back. "And I don't know how it got there or what it's for."

"You wanna leave so we can figure it out?!" Scott asked loudly.

Before Stiles could respond, a girl came up to him and kissed his cheek.

Alex frowned as she watched the scene.

"Happy Halloween!" The girl grinned and walked off.

"It can wait!" Stiles spoke to Scott, Kira, and Alex as he followed the girl, Alex's heart falling in her chest as she knew what was about to happen. She watched Stiles as he left, the boy eager to find the girl that had just kissed him.

Scott glanced at Alex immediately. "Lex? You alright?"

Alex snapped out of her gaze as she glanced at Scott, putting on a fake smile. "What? Me? Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

Scott raised his eyebrows, referring to what just happened. Kira glanced at Alex, connecting the dots and figuring out that Alex had a crush on Stiles.

"Pfft, you think I'm sad about what just happened? Why would I be? Of course I'm not." Alex scoffed, still faking it. "What, you want me to prove it?"

Without waiting for an answer, Alex walked over to a nearby guy and twisted him around, cupping his cheeks and crashing her lips to his, the guy's eyes immediately closing as Kira's eyes widened, Scott's eyebrows raising.

Lucky for Alex, he was extremely hot. And a good kisser.

Stiles stood in the middle of the dance floor with the girl who kissed his cheek, his eyes wondering around. They fell upon Alex and a random guy making out, the guy clearly slipping in tongue.

His heart dropped in his chest at the sight.

"Hey, what's up?!" The girl exclaimed. "Let loose, man! Go crazy! Dance!"

Stiles didn't glance at the girl as his eyes were set on Alex and that guy. Alex being with Isaac had hurt him enough, and he hates Isaac, but seeing her with a random guy was worse. Much worse.

"What's her name?" The girl yelled over the music.

"Alex." Stiles responded, his eyes still set on Alex and that guy.

"You like her, don't you?" The girl added loudly as Stiles actually glanced at the girl this time.

"What?" Stiles frowned.

"It's so obvious, man!" The girl chuckled. "Here, lets make her jealous, shall we?"

Without waiting for an answer, the girl connected her lips passionately onto Stiles', the boy widening his eyes. The girl pulled away, her hands on his cheeks. "If you want to make her jealous, you've gotta kiss back!"

She kissed him again, this time, Stiles not being so surprised.

Alex pulled away from the guy, pushing him away from her as she turned to Scott and Kira again. "See? Fine. Just a tip, don't put that paint on your lips. Doesn't taste good."

Before Kira or Scott could say anything else, Alex walked off, sitting by herself, away from the dance floor. She wiped her lips, rubbing the smudged paint off them.

She took a beer from a cooler and opened it, chugging some of the contents and feeling the alcohol sting her throat as she swallowed it.

She knew werewolves couldn't get drunk, however, she wanted something to take her mind off the thought of Stiles kissing that girl.

She didn't even want to think about what Stiles was doing with her.

Before she could actually have a chance to look away, Stiles and that girl were kissing in her direct view, in the middle of the dance floor.

Alex didn't know what was worse. The thought of him kissing her, or the actual sight.

Nonetheless, it still hurt her.

"Hey, you're the girl that kissed me, aren't you?" A guy spoke, Alex tearing her eyes away from the sight to face him. It actually was the guy she kissed.

"Yep." Alex blew out a breath.

"Can I sit?" He asked. "I'm James, by the way."

"Alex. And sure. Honestly, I've got nothing better to do than to talk to you, so..." Alex sighed as the guy sat down next to her.

"Except for dance, maybe?" James raised his eyebrows.

"I hate dancing." Alex responded bluntly.

"Well, tonight's all about having fun, Alex, so..." James replied with a small smile.

"For a guy I just kissed, you actually seem nice." Alex spoke, glancing at him. She drank some more beer.

"What's that supposed to mean?" James chuckled.

"Well, guys usually want sex after someone makes out with them at a party." Alex explained.

"Right. I kinda knew you were trying to make someone jealous, so..." James replied.

"What? No I wasn't." Alex scoffed.

"Yeah you were. It's him over there, isn't it?" James spoke, pointing to the middle of the dance floor. Stiles was trying to dance with the girl, but miserably failing.

Alex couldn't even bring herself to chuckle, as she was still annoyed.

"Please tell me you're a better dancer than him." James added.

"Anyone's a better dancer than him, trust me." Alex replied as she glanced at James again and drank some more beer.

"So it is him." James smirked.

"This isn't really the time for judgement, considering you have paint all over your body, including your lips." Alex responded annoyedly. "Plus, I don't even know how I ended up liking him in the first place..."

James glanced at Alex. "So, tell me about him."

"Huh?" Alex frowned.

"Tell me about that guy." James responded.

"Why?" Alex's frown deepened.

"Because you clearly like him, and you're clearly hurt that he's kissing another girl." James spoke knowingly.

"My goal is to get my mind off him, not have him be in the center of it." Alex rolled her eyes.

"Just try it, okay?" James sighed. "If it doesn't work, I'm here if you need to make him jealous...again."

Alex sighed, glancing at James. "Okay, fine. He's nice."

James glanced at her waiting for her to go on. "That's a good start..."

"Okay...he's kind, caring, creative, smart, dorky, adorable." Alex continued, glancing away as she smiled to herself. "Hilarious and unbearably sarcastic."

"So you share the 'unbearably sarcastic' trait, huh?" James smirked.

Alex chuckled. "Yeah, I guess..."

"Go on." James encouraged.

"He always finds a way to make me smile. Even when I'm in the shittiest mood." Alex continued. "I don't know what it is about him that just somehow makes me a better person. Whatever it is, I hope it doesn't change."

James smiled. "He sounds like a great guy."

"Well, not when he's making out with other girls." Alex sighed in annoyance, her mind going back to the kiss she witnessed.

She then saw the girl lead Stiles to a corner of the room, sitting down. Alex drank what was left of her beer.

She looked away, knowing they were about to kiss again.

"Need a distraction?" James asked.

"Another beer would be good." Alex blew out a breath.

••••

Stiles tried looking for Alex as he was about to go to the chemistry room in the school, and he wanted to ask her if she'd go with him.

Stiles sighed, talking to himself. "Just pretend you're not pissed off, alright? Just go up to her and ask if she wants to come. Not that hard, Stiles."

He eventually found her sitting down. He then walked up to her.

"Stiles." Alex blew out an annoyed breath as she glanced up at him, James glancing at him too. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to come with me to go to the school." Stiles responded, trying not to glare at James.

"Why?" Alex frowned, confused. She noticed the smudged paint on his lips and her frown deepened.

"It has something to do with the key I found this morning." Stiles replied, wiping his lips and getting rid of the paint. "Look, if you don't want to come, that's fine, you can stay here making out with this g-"

"You didn't even give me a chance to answer." Alex cut him off, annoyed. She stood up, beginning to walk to the exit. "Hurry up dumbass."

Stiles blew out an exasperated breath and followed her.

••••

Alex was glancing out the Jeep window, still annoyed.

"Did I do something wrong?" Stiles frowned, breaking the silence.

"Eyes on the road." Alex snapped, Stiles' frown deepening as he glanced at the road again.

"Alex, why are you annoyed?" Stiles asked, confused as to why Alex wasn't speaking to him. Alex didn't answer the boy as she continued to look out the window. "Look, you're not the only one who's pissed off."

Alex scoffed, finally glancing at him. "What reason could you possibly have to be pissed off?"

Stiles frowned. "What's yours?"

Alex didn't say anything.

"Did you have fun with that guy?" Stiles asked, annoyed, not glancing at Alex.

"What?" Alex frowned, glancing at him. "What are you even talking about?"

"That guy you were making out with." Stiles spoke, still annoyed. "He seemed fun."

"You can't judge me for that when you were sticking your tongue down that girl's throat the whole time we were there." Alex snapped.

"So you're telling me you weren't making out with him afterwards." Stiles responded, glancing at Alex.

"Why the fuck would I do that?" Alex frowned. "Unlike you, I don't just make out with anyone who kisses my cheek."

"So you make out with a random guy instead?" Stiles raised his eyebrows.

"Fuck off, you don't know what happened." Alex scoffed, glancing outside the window again.

"So tell me." Stiles frowned.

"Why the fuck would you care, Stiles?!" Alex exclaimed, glancing at him to find him already glancing at her.

"Because I'm your best friend!" Stiles exclaimed with a frown.

Alex looked away, not saying anything.

After a moment, Alex spoke up. "The truth is, I have no idea why I'm pissed off..." She lied. Truthfully, she didn't want to stay mad at Stiles, despite the event that occurred moments before. She hated the rare occasions when they fought.

Stiles glanced at her.

"Maybe it's the result of whatever's happening to me..." Alex added. "Or maybe it's because I wanted to actually do something different and, I guess, have fun...considering I can't get drunk."

Stiles couldn't stay mad at her as his eyes softened. "So...are we cool?"

"Only if you're not pissed off at me." Alex replied with a small smile.

Stiles returned the smile. "I'm not." Anymore. He thought to himself.

"I guess we're cool then." Alex smiled, Stiles huffing a chuckle.

After a moment, Stiles pulled up to the school.

"We're here." Stiles spoke as he got out of the Jeep, Alex getting out from her side.

••••

Stiles unlocked the chemistry closet with the key, Alex frowning as it opened.

The two then walked up to the blackboard, their frowns deepening at the numbers.

Alex then knew why one of the numbers gave her an uneasy feeling. She picked up the chalk, rewriting the number next to it. The number in her handwriting

Stiles took the chalk from her fingers and rewrote the other two numbers, those numbers being in his handwriting.

The two shared a glance.