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They meet under odd circumstances.
Well, not odd, exactly. It’s how a lot of people meet, actually.
Through the Internet.
Of course that’s how they meet- not in the school hallway where Allison is the next, confused girl who can’t find her classes. That’s not how they meet at all. It’s actually through Lydia’s fourth round of kicking ass and taking usernames in Halo, that’s when she sees a new name flash onto her screen.
AlArgent19.
Of course her first thought is ‘How original’, because it’s quite obvious that this person has used their name as their gamertag. It’s not like Lydia’s is all out their on it’s own, either - ‘LMkillz’, but that’s besides the point right now. So, as the next game loads in, Lydia’s all too surprised to see how good this person is because they’ve already gotten thirteen kills two minutes in the round, and that’s more than what she can say for a lot of people.
As they fight their way through the next few rounds, killing everyone but each other until the last moment, Lydia finds it kind of.. amusing. She’s never even spoken to this person, but of course an uncanny alliance has been formed between the two already. As she’s called down for dinner, Lydia manages to roll her eyes before quickly adding the person as a friend before ditching the game to go back to the dashboard.
(When she gets back, her friend request has been accepted and there’s a ‘Great job on that match,’ left in her inbox.)
-
It’s a few months later and Lydia feels like she knows everything about this girl.
Her name is Allison- Allison Argent, she’s a seventeen year old girl who’s living in Brooklyn. Her family moves a lot because of her parents work (she’d recently moved from San Francisco). She’s an only child with an aunt who’s over protective and a mother who’s crazy in the slightest sound. She’s not currently in a relationship, but she’s aware a boy is pursuing her and she’s not sure what to do about it- (“I like him, but I don’t want to. He seems like trouble, what should I do, Lydia?” “Ask him out, make memories. Don’t put your teenage years to waste because you’re afraid, Allison!”)
Also, her laugh is made of angels (Lydia does anything in her power to get Allison to laugh).
When she’s sure she knows most of Allison, Lydia slowly gives off little tidbits of herself from time to time. She’s not in the superficial hallways of her high school, so she can speak freely about how interesting the lesson in history was even though she’d already known most of it for some time, or how easy the math homework was that night.
(Allison claims that she’s jealous of Lydia because of how easy she has it, and Lydia wants to tell Allison she doesn’t have it easy- she’s had to work for everything that’s handed to her, but she just accepts it with a tight smile and a ‘Thank you’).
-
Jackson breaks up with Lydia a week after that- of course he does, it wouldn’t be the third Monday of the month without another one of his cruel yet stupid breakups. She rolls her eyes and yells after him, “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, then.” because she will and everyone knows he can’t last without Lydia for more than a week at most.
That doesn’t stop her from going home and crying about it, though.
It’s Jackson Whittemore- he tosses around harsh words like they’re a frisbee and he’s playing catch with a golden retriever. Lydia’s stemmed that it’s only because of his own stupid insecurities, but that doesn’t make the fresh wounds hurt any less.
She cleans herself up well enough to power through that night’s english assignment and she logs on right after that.
She’s still got at least an hour before her mother will be home with almost cold Thai food and a bottle of wine that she won’t fight Lydia for (It’s a Monday, they’ve both had it rough enough so they split it as long as Lydia promises to never tell her father).
She’s not surprised to see Allison online already, it’s later where she is but she’s currently homeschooled (because of how late they moved out to New York during the school year), so she has to waste her time some how. She’s already deep into a game of Minecraft and there’s an invitation to join the game almost immediately flashing onto Lydia’s screen as the dashboard loads up.
She grins instantly.
-
It takes a whole month after that for Lydia to realize that she’s fallen for this Argent girl.
She curses herself for it as she crawls out of bed on a Saturday morning around ten thirty. Her mother has already left for a brunch with her coworkers earlier- she remembers hearing a voice muffled from behind her door, the front door slamming and her mother’s loud car tearing down the driveway). She takes her time, going downstairs to grab a blueberry bagel from the pantry, getting a glass of orange juice and then making her way back to her room. She reviews her essay that’s due to Mr Harris on Monday, and then finishes up the final touches on the topics for the upcoming Mathletes meeting.
It’s at least one before she gets around to turning her console on, growing impatient at how long it seems to be loading (she would’ve never been this way before, but now she actually has something to look forward to other than ass-kicking whatever poor kids decide to waste their Saturday on their xbox).
As she plugs her headset in and joins the party Allison’s in, she can’t help but crack a grin as she hears the familiar voice of the other female.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
Yeah, if anyone else had been the one saying that towards the strawberry blonde, she’d probably break their wrist because honestly, she doesn’t care who or what waits on her. Everyone does, because the party never starts without Lydia.
“Sorry, since I actually have to go to a school with other adolescents with less than half a brain, I had to make sure that all of my work was up to par. If I’m going to be valedictorian, I’m going to make it look like I tried.”
Allison’s muffled laugher flows through the headset, and Lydia feels her face flush.
“Wow, deep blow, Lyds.”
Lydia manages to roll her eyes before Allison goes into asking her what game she wants to play that day. They settle on a few rounds of Call of Duty, until Allison’s telling her that her father informed her that they were going out for dinner and she had to get ready.
-
Lydia’s ultimately screwed when she realizes that she spends most of her time thinking about Allison than she does Jackson.
“Hey, Lyds. You alright, you’ve been staring into space for about half an hour now.”
Lydia shudders as she falls away from her thoughts, meeting Stiles’ eyes- he’s taking up the seat across from her with his dimwitted sidekick taking the seat next to him. The nickname sounds weird coming from someone else’s mouth other than Allison, since she adapted the nickname for the strawberry blonde.
“Fine.”
Lydia snaps the words through her teeth, stabbing at a piece of chicken with her fork. Biting at it, she chews with a fake look of anger across her face as if the teenage boy’s presence was pissing her off. Which it slowly was, she was having a nice time staring into space on her own and then they had to come along and mess it all up.
“So, what were you thinking about there? You seemed interested.”
It’s Scott who speaks this time, and Lydia can’t help but to narrow her eyes his way.
“I was just thinking- if I kill you and continue to hide the body deep inside the woods, would anyone still care enough to look for you?”
It’s harsh, of course it is, but Stiles laughs it off awkwardly while Scott continues to have a look of horror crossing his face. She rolls her eyes before standing from the table and tossing the still half-full tray of food away into the closest trash can. (She spends the rest of her lunch period outside on the bleachers, and somehow her thoughts get back to Allison).
-
Lydia tells Allison about the strange animal attacks about a week after they happen.
“What? That sounds crazy, why would a mountain lion be in Beacon Hills?”
Lydia doesn’t know the answer to that question, but she does know that she saw something at the video store and even though she believes Allison won’t believe her, she totally does and it sounds like the other girl had just got her own mind blown from the information.
“Oh, my god, that’s so strange! I’m sorry you had to go through that, Lyds. I hope you’ll feel better soon, try to get some sleep.”
With a small giggle, Lydia just sighs before brushing a hand through her long hair before shaking her head.
“No, I want to play this game with you. Now shut up and press ‘A’, let’s get this started.”
Allison gives out a little frustrated sigh before the game starts up and Lydia hums out a gentle ‘Thank you’.
-
Allison actually has to talk Lydia into going to the Winter Formal with Stiles.
Jackson and herself are on one of their infamous breaks and this time, he’s actually asked another girl to go with him in hopes of making Lydia jealous. (She won’t admit that it’s not working this time, but she’ll let him have his fun).
“I don’t want to, if I don’t go with Jackson- why should I have to go at all?”
It’s almost cliche how fast Allison answers, Lydia can hear the smirk in her voice as she speaks.
“Make memories. Don’t put your teenage years to waste because you’re afraid, Lydia!”
Letting her tongue fall over her dry lips, she swallows thickly before sighing.
“Fine. But if this happens and it’s a trainwreck, I’m getting online and I will bitch at you until I turn blue!”
Allison just laughs in response and goes along to kill Lydia in the game, getting a ‘What the fuck?!’ from the shorter woman before she respawns and is immediately out for vengeance. (The game ends with Allison having 12 kills and Lydia 15).
-
The night of the Winter Formal is a trainwreck, just what Lydia expects, honestly.
Her legs are crossed under the table and a bored look is the only thing she can manage to fathom. Of course Stilinski can’t dance, Lydia thinks to herself while chewing at the inside of her cheek. It’s just another one of those pathetic little things that makes her want to leave this stupid, one-horse town just that much more. Swirling the punch around in the small, clear glass, her eyes meet the dancefloor once more and when she watches the little ‘slut’ Jackson came with (she’s forcing herself to call the girl that, to pretend like she’s angry with Jackson for bringing her. She’s not- the girl is actually genuinely funny and has a great academic record). move around him.
Jackson looks all too awkward- dancing has never really been his scene, the only time he does it is when Danny needs a wingman at The Jungle and Lydia can’t blame him.
They actually play music from this era there.
“Dance with me.”
The words cut through Lydia’s head and she can only glance in the male’s direction before laughing quietly.
“Pass.”
As Stiles launches himself into a speech that he’s probably been holding in from the moment Lydia barely even shed a light of her smarts. Finally, she figures it’ll just be easier to give in than to fight it anymore so she drags him toward the dance floor as a slow song starts and she lets her head rest uncomfortably in the crook of his neck. It’s halfway through the song before she notices Jackson’s gone missing from the gym. It’s not that Lydia doesn’t love him anymore- she does, just in a platonic way and not so much a romantic one. And from the way she’d been watching him chug from his his flask all night, she can’t help but to worry about him. When Stiles asks why she has to go, and if it’s Jackson- it is, and she can’t help but feel relieved when he understands.
Jogging out into the fresh, cool air, Lydia shudders as it goes straight to her spine before she glances toward the dark lacrosse field. She can hear shouting in the distance, so she makes her way toward the field.
“Jackson?”
Her voice is loud and clear, and as the lights flash on, she can barely close her eyes quick enough. There’s a muffled yell coming from the other end of the field before she’s turning and feeling a sharp pain running through her body. She wants to scream- yell for help but her body fails on everything she wants and her knees go weak. Her body is hitting the ground and she loses consciousness within moments. (Her final thought is ‘Who’s going to tell Allison if I die?’)
-
Two weeks later and Lydia refuses to open her eyes. She’s awake- or she feels like she’s awake, she’s not in the state of nothingness anymore and she can hear the steady beeping of the machines beside her bed. She can feel the dim lights around her, so she comes to the conclusion that it’s probably night and the only lights that are on are the ones above and around her bed.
It takes a good twenty three minutes for her to open her eyes, there’s her own steady breathing filling the room but other than that, nothing else is there.
Nobody else.
Figures, Lydia thinks, trying to adjust herself up further but her body aches and she just falls back. Glancing around herself, she tucks her hair behind her ear before chewing at her lower lip and pressing the button that calls her nurse in. There’s a commotion outside her door before an annoyed nurse comes in trailed by Stilinski and Lydia murmurs a few silent swear words under her breath before relaxing into the bed. The nurse speaks to Lydia in a hushed voice, treating her like porcelain. Stiles does the same, expect he speaks in a louder voice and stumbles over his own two feet trying to reach the chair beside her bed. When he asks what he can do for her, really the first thing on Lydia’s mind is Allison.
“When you come back up in the morning, do you mind stopping by my house and grabbing my laptop?”
Stiles has a slightly confused look on his face but he nods anyways, telling her that he can do that and Lydia just gives him a smile in return. When he leaves, she can feel her medicine starting to kick in again and she’s gone in less than fifteen minutes.
-
When Lydia wakes up in the morning there’s a bad beside her bed with a few fresh nightgowns and her electronics. A text message from her mother reveals that she’ll be coming by after she gets off work and Lydia just sends a ‘Looking forward to seeing you,’ as a response. (She gets an ‘I love you’ after that but decides not to push it any further because in case her mother lets her down on this, she’ll probably regret it).
The first thing she does is grab her laptop and start it up, sighing at the familiar sound of the bootup and thank fuck she’d gotten rid of all of the annoying things that popped up because she’d probably throw it out the window if it loaded any slower than usual. The first thing she does is open her email, there’s already sixty two new emails waiting for her and half of them are from whom she’d suspected them to be- Allison.
Of course, they’d never gone more than a day without talking to each other since they’d grown close, and chances were that Lydia would be feeling the same kind of stress that she suspected Allison was feeling if she disappeared for two weeks without a trace. Reading over the newest one- which was sent around six thirty that morning, Lydia couldn’t help but smile sadly before clicking reply.
‘Allison,
I’m sorry I haven’t been able to contact you. I was hoping to send someone to tell you what was going on, but unfortunately, things took a turn for the worst during Winter Formal. I’m not exactly sure of what happened, but I know that something worse is out there than just a mountain lion at this point. I’m sure you’d like to know what happened to me, but I don’t have all the details myself so I’ll settle with telling you the pieces I’ve happened to put together. I’ve been in a hospital for the last two weeks- I’m pretty sure I’ve been in some kind of coma-state for these past weeks. Someone- something attacked me on the lacrosse field after Winter Formal and since then, I’ve been here. Nurses are telling me that I’ll be here for a few more weeks- just to make sure I can get back onto my own two feet without tripping and falling. As soon as I get home, I expect a round of Halo, because I’m really craving the need to kick your ass right now.
- xx, Lydia.’
It’s sent within a few seconds and Lydia manages to rest the laptop on her thighs as she goes to rub the excess sleep away from her eyes. It’s a few minutes later when her computer chimes, telling her she’s got a new email. Lydia checks it with the expectation of it being spam, but she can’t say she’s all too surprised to see that it’s Allison’s response. Reading through it, she can’t help but keep the same smile on her lips because she knows that Allison is blaming herself- prove is in the words, for telling Lydia to go but Lydia knows it’s not her fault that California is full of crazies who go around biting teenage girls on lacrosse fields. (She responds back after insisting a nurse help her change and get freshened up).
-
They exchange more emails over the course of the next few weeks Lydia’s in the hospital, talking about home-life, the newest boy Allison has began seeing, planning Halo matches and vaguely speaking of Lydia’s accident. She goes into her fugue state days later, disappearing from the hospital and ending up in the middle of the woods with no one to turn to (Honestly, she wished Allison lived in Beacon Hills, because that was the one person she needed the most).
When she’s found two days later, she’s back in the hospital for three days until she’s safe to be released.
Lydia finds herself trapped in the house for the rest of the week, not allowed to go to school yet just in case anything weird happens to her, everyone’s keeping a close enough eye on her that if weird even wanted to step foot outside her door, someone would shoo it away before it could glance at her. So, she finds herself talking to Allison.
A lot.
It turns out that her life has gotten about as interesting as Lydia’s has at this point- with the untimely death of Allison’s aunt Kate, she finds out that the business her parents are in is not only firearms, but hunting.
Werewolf hunting, to be exact.
It’s odd- supernatural, and Allison claims that she needs time to get used to it (if she ever does.) and Lydia feels bad for her, because she obviously knows how bad it feels to have your life chance in a moment. They try to avoid the tough parts in their lives and instead talk about things that regular teenage nerdy girls talk about- school, cute boys and the newest Black Ops.
During one of their private matches, Allison’s telling Lydia the story of her first kiss and somehow it circles around to Lydia saying,
“You’d be perfect for my.. friend, Scott. You’d have all the control in the relationship because I don’t think he knows which way north is most of the time.”
(Really, Lydia means that Allison would be perfect for herself).
-
They’re playing Minecraft for the PC a few nights later, the last night Lydia has before she has to go back and deal with the hell she calls high school.
They have an open Skype call and Allison’s currently talking about the different types of arrows and bows and whatever the fuck else she’s been learning since she could walk. (Lydia knows how to use a gun- that’s basically as far as her training goes with weapons).
Lydia just murmurs her responses while avoiding a creeper, ducking back into their shared house she built while Allison was underground finding iron and diamond. They sit in a comfortable silence for a few moments, Allison’s character with it’s Banjo Kazooie skin coming up from underground to meet Lydia’s character who’s tuxedo Steve so they can go find a village to ransack.
“I’ve been thinking a lot recently.”
The voice fills the silence that once was Lydia’s room, and Lydia just nods in response even though she knows Allison’s too focused on the game to glance toward the small portion of the screen where the Skype screen is.
“About what?”
Lydia responds as her tongue peeks between her teeth, concentration across her face as she watches the screen closely. They come across the village soon than they expected, since they’d built their little home by the beach, all they really had to do was climb over a few hills until they reached the side furthest away from the water.
“Us. Meeting some day, you know?”
Lydia pauses for a moment, glancing toward where she could see Allison’s face on her screen. Of course she knows- Lydia thinks about it a lot, just the thought of even getting to hug Allison makes her skin feel like it’s on fire. In a good way, of course.
“Yeah?”
That’s the only response Lydia can come up with on such short notice.
“Yeah.”
It goes quiet for a few more minutes before Lydia can hear Allison’s father yelling to her that it’s time for dinner. They log off after saying their ‘goodbyes’ and ‘I love you, talk to you tomorrows’. Lydia saves and logs out of the game before closing Skype and curling up onto her bed.
(The only thing holding Lydia back from actually planning to meet Allison was the fear of disappointing her best friend and making an ass out of herself. Honestly, she wanted to die).