That depends on how you define lying.

“Look, i’m sorry. I’ll leave you alone after I know you’re okay. I promise. I’m sorry that your friend died and that I look like her. Maybe we were distantly related or something.” She offered him her hand, since she didn’t want to leave him while she got the drink. Even  if it was just water from the campus store. 

Thinking about it now, yeah that probably wasn’t the right way of dealing with it. “I’m off for the rest of the day. Let me at least get you something to drink or something.” She knew since she looked like this person, she was probably the last person he wanted to be near but, she couldn’t let this go. Not yet.

Wait what? Someone identical to her, with her name… had died? Considering she was an only child, that hit her hard. Like she was touching a hot memory door in her brain that wasn’t ready to open. “Shh.. shh… It’s okay.” She managed, once she’d gotten over her moment of thought and shook her head. 

“Breathe Stiles. If you wanna talk about it, you can.” Only because now she morbidly curious. “When’s your next class?”

Allison’s first instinct was to look for Stiles. Mostly because they had been talking. It would be good to make a friend. Especially on her first day. Maybe he could come over for lunch or something since she lived in the dorms.

What she didn’t expect was to see him not left or right of the classroom. But, down. On the floor. So, naturally she crouched down to his height. “Hey, See. I told you, you didn’t look so hot.”

When she came down to his eye level he was just getting himself calm again. “You look just like her, identical.” It was a little harder for him to keep talking, but he had to. “She died, Allison died and-” And what? It freaked him out that she had the same face, same name? How could he say that without seeming crazy?

Well, if he said so she wasn’t going to force the issue. But, she also wouldn’t be surprised if he fell out of his chair. “I’ve always gone by Allison.” Why she wanted to keep this conversation going in the middle of class was beyond her. Something was just telling her not to lose him. “Well, my aunt used to call me Ally, sometimes… When she was still around.”

“Your aunt?” An absent aunt? Yeah, that seemed to fit his Allison too. The professor spoke and Stiles had to focus on his test. No talking. But, when it was done (relatively early) Stiles was one of the first to get up from his seat and take his test up before hurriedly slipping out of the room.

Stiles. What a weird name. Yet, there was something about it. Like she’d touched something hot in her memory that wasn’t quite ready to click yet. Maybe she’d call her dad later and ask. To put the puzzle piece together.

“Okay, unpronounceable. Are you okay? You look like you’re gonna be sick.”

Was he having a hard time with hearing things or something? Allison made a mental note to remember that since she was pretty sure they were divided into pairs for the scenarios by the way they were seated and she’d hate to get impatient with him if it was something he couldn’t help.

“Thanks.” Well, that was strange. He looked like he’d just seen a ghost. Maybe he was one of those highly alert people, like from Ghost Adventures. Or one of those medium shows. Or more than likely he was embarrassed from holding onto the papers so long. 

Allison passed the pile back once she’d taken hers and poked him again, only because she knew what it was like to be overwhelmed, maybe this was a new place for him too. “I’m Allison, by the way.”

He wanted to hope it wasn’t her. Stiles had been hoping that it was just a girl that looked similar to Allison. He felt a little woozy honestly. “Stiles.” He answered, pausing a moment. “That’s what everybody calls me.” Stiles knew this had to be her, even if he knew she had died. He hadn’t seen it happen (he’d passed out for a moment as it had grown stronger at the pain it’d caused killing Allison) but he had seen Scott holding her body.

He’d been to her funeral.

dependsonhowyoudefineit

Going to college was one of the most important experiences in a young person’s life. Or at least that’s what they tried to tell Allison when she finished her last year of school… Being homeschooled by a family friend.

And of course her dad had dropped her off early. Even though she insisted she could go by herself to her first class. She lived in the dorms now, she could handle it. But, for some reason or another he’d been scarily protective of her since she’d gotten out of the hospital years ago.

The person who took his seat in front of her reminded her of someone that she just couldn’t quite put her finger on. But, then again, she did still have something wrong in that head of hers. “Hey.” She whispered, prodding him gently with her pen. “Are you going to pass those papers or what?”

It had taken years, but Stiles had finally managed to forgive himself. Logically, he had known whole time that it hadn’t been his fault but one thing the nogitsune had been good at had been making him feel guilty for every little thing since before Scott had even been turned.

College was supposed to be a fresh start, he’d even found someone who could help train him to be a proper emissary when he wasn’t in classes or doing homework. Sure, Scott had been a bit disappointed but Stiles had promised up and down they’d Skype every night and that he’d come home for holidays and the summer.