"Do you think Mom and Dad will care if I have a few friends over tonight?"

   Rory had only just exited her car when her brother ran up to her. Mason wasn't ever one to hold back on anything, especially with his older sibling and that was most likely the reason he didn't even utter any greeting to the brunette.

He also probably didn't greet Rory considering she refused to take him to school—she insisted he slum it on the bus like she had to before she got her license.

   "They probably won't care, but I will," Rory stated to Mason, whom was now walking beside her in the direction of the high school they now shared.

   Mason glared at the brunette beside him, having to slow his footsteps so that he walked in pace with the five-foot-four girl. Despite her being three years older, Mason still trumped her in height. "Why in the hell would you care, Aurora?"

   "First off, kill it with the full name," Rory reminded her brother, who only smirked as he knew the mention of the name she had been given at birth came into conversation. He knew it wound her up, which was why he continued to use it in his pursuit of fulfilling his brotherly duty of being an annoyance. "Might I remind you that my SAT's are coming up and I need to study. Your friends are annoying and loud, how am I supposed to study with you all around?"

   Mason scoffed at her insinuation. "Please, we aren't that loud. Besides, we don't want to do nothing on a Friday night, how lame would that be?"

   "Not lame at all, considering it's exactly what I am going to do."

   "SAT's are weeks away."

   Rory stopped walking to glare at Mason, who only caught onto their stoppage a few seconds once his sister had paused—meaning he had to backtrack a few steps. "If I do crap in the SAT's then I can't go to college, and I'm not spending anymore years in a cramped house with you, Mom and Dad. No way, Mase."

   "Slightly offended," Mason commented at the things said about sticking with him.

   Rory waved the boy off and continued to start walking again. "You know what I mean. This town is suffocating, I can't wait to get out."

   When the siblings were right near the entrance to their high school, Liam Dunbar came into view as he leaned against a pillar. His breaths were short and fast, his bright eyes flitting around him as if he was waiting for someone that scared him.

   Liam Dunbar had been Rory's brother's best friend since forever, in fact at this point it was odd for the brunette to see them without each other. Liam had only just transferred from Devenford Prep and Rory had heard the story of why he had to do so—she felt for the freshman, he had been a part of her life for so long that she couldn't help but see him as a part of her extended family.

   "Liam," Mason posed a question for the boy who looked out of breath, although he also wasn't paying much attention to his best friend at all. Liam's head was twisted to look behind him. "Why weren't you on the bus?"

   "Uh, I ran," Liam answered like that was the most normal thing in the world.

   Rory pulled her bag tighter on her left shoulder, uncomfortably looking at the boy before her. She hadn't seen him like this before, he seemed so agitated. "I know you want to get into the lacrosse team but running from your house to here seems a bit excessive in training."

   "You ran three miles to school?" Mason's face showed that he didn't believe his friend in the slightest.

   Liam glanced between both of the Hewitt siblings, wishing he could spill his guts on what was really going on—although how was he supposed to do that when he didn't know what was going on himself. "I just started running."

   Mason looked at the boy accusingly—both confused and calling his bluff. "I guess your leg is okay then."

   Rory had forgotten about the lacrosse trials incident yesterday. Mason had told her about the fall Liam had taken and the sickening snap of his leg that the Hewitt boy had heard. It didn't make sense for Mason to hear that when Liam was fit enough to run three miles the very next day.

   Liam let out a few more short breaths. Rory instinctively took a step closer to the younger boy. She had no clue what was going on but it was obvious something was seriously wrong with Liam Dunbar. Her chocolate colored eyes glanced down at his arm, spying a bandage wrapped around his forearm making both Mason and Rory glance at each other, perplexed.

   "What happened to your arm, Liam?" Rory was the first one to ask, reaching to gently grab the bandaged limb. Liam pulled away quickly, cradling his arm in his other hand. His breathing didn't get any slower, letting out continuous strained puffs of air.

   Before either of the Hewitt's knew it, Liam was hunching over by a side rail of the high school. His eyes trained on the ground and breathing heavy, Rory swore she could see a bead of sweat trickle down the side of his face.

   "Dude, are you okay?" Mason asked seriously, his previous concerns out the window at seeing his best friend act this way.

   Rory was standing on Liam's opposite side, the same concerned gaze on her face like her brother. Her eyebrows were hunched together, eyes narrowed and mouth pulled down in a frown of confusion.

   It was then that Liam looked up and his knuckles turned white at the sight of someone. His body moved quickly to be standing up straight, Liam's back was to Rory as he mumbled something to Mason along the lines of talking to him later. Then the blue eyed boy was almost running off in the other direction, right through the doors of Beacon Hills High. He didn't do this before glancing up again, his eyes widening at the sight of presumably the same person as before.

   Both Rory and Mason looked in that direction only to see a bunch of students milling around, the Beacon Hills High School sign was the only thing in their line of vision. No daunting senior or no one that should have made Liam look twice.

   "You have weird friends, Mase," Rory muttered, squeezing her brother's bicep before she was following in the same way Liam did.

   Upon entering the school, Rory looked both ways but couldn't catch any sight of the confusing freshman. She let out sigh before moving in the direction of her English class. As much as Rory would have loved to help Liam—if he would even let her—the brunette knew that she couldn't sacrifice her schooling for it, not with college right around the corner.

   Beacon Hills wasn't the place for Aurora Hewitt and the girl couldn't wait to leave it behind in dust.

---

   Rory had barely stepped out of her English class when she felt eyes on her.

   There wasn't a weirder feeling than knowing someone was staring directly at you—and this feeling was doubled as Rory felt more than one pair of eyes burning a hole in the side of her head.

   It was Stiles Stilinski and Scott Mccall doing the staring.

   Rory hadn't ever spoken to either of them. They had shared some classes since they were all in their junior year, in fact Rory was aware that they still did share some classes, but not once had they uttered words to one another.

   Stiles and Scott had always been an inseparable pair and Rory remembered them being down in the social ladder as sophomores. Within the space of one year the pair had befriended some of the more elite people at Beacon Hills High, including Lydia Martin. That wasn't something that Rory usually cared about—she believed school was a place for her to learn rather than to socialize—but their sudden change in friend group made many people turn their heads.

   Rory was positive the only person Stiles and Scott hung out with that she had spoken to was Allison Argent, they had been chemistry partners at one point—but the brown haired girl was sadly no longer and Rory definitely knew that wouldn't be a good point of conversation with Allison's old friends, one even being her ex-boyfriend.

   Stiles and Scott were coming her way however and Rory didn't have much time to think of anything to say. They approached fast.

   "You're Rory, right?" Scott was the first to start talking, his eyes not leaving the dark skinned girl once.

   Rory made sure to meet the both of them halfway so that they were now talking by a bunch of lockers rather than in the doorway of a classroom. The brunette was grateful he didn't try to call her by her full name, she was getting rather sick of correcting people. "That's me."

   "I'm Scott and this is St—"

   "I know who you are," Rory interrupted the boy politely. Most people in the school did, it was a surprise to Rory that the boy thought he had to go through introductions. "I'm just  confused as to why you're talking to me."

   Both Scott and Stiles looked almost taken aback by the girl.

   "You know Liam Dunbar, don't you?" Stiles had taken the reigns of the conversation, while Scott looked almost astonished at the girl in front of him. He had heard her talk before in class, but Scott didn't realize how different it would be when her soft voice was directed right at him.

   Rory's eyebrows knitted together. "Yeah, he's my brother's best friend. Why? What happened to him?"

   The brunette couldn't help the almost mother like instinct that came out. She almost classed Liam as a friend too, and with the way he was acting this morning Rory wasn't taking any chances on making sure he was okay.

   "Nothing," Scott reassured the girl quickly. "It's just, he didn't say anything to you this morning, did he?"

   Rory eyed the two curiously. She had never seen them care about Liam before, let alone even know him. She didn't know what angle they were playing, since when did juniors care about freshman unless they were related or close to it? She knew none of them had siblings. "What are you worried that he told me?"

   Stiles' teeth clenched at that. This was going to be more difficult than they thought. "We can't tell you."

   Rory rolled her eyes at the boy. "So you are asking me whether Liam told me something but you're not allowed to tell me what that something is. How do you expect me to know if he told me if you won't give me specifics?"

   Both Scott and Stiles could see the problem with this, but presumably he hadn't told her anything or else they were sure she wouldn't be acting this calm.

   "You do see the flaws in this conversation, right?" Rory emphasized to the boys. There were two many questions in this conversation and it really made no sense. They both looked on edge, but Rory was sure that it wasn't this conversation that was the cause of it.

   Stiles' fingers fumbled together in what could have been anxiety or nervousness. "Very aware of the flaws."

   "Is he in some kind of trouble?" Rory asked curiously, trying to get to the point of this conversation. Liam was acting more than weird this morning and if these boys could explain it then Rory thought she had a right to know. "If he is then can you just tell me, so I can see if I can fix it before his parents find out or—"

   "He's fine." Scott was once again making sure to reassure the brunette in front of him. She looked more than confused and he hoped that she would be able to let it go.

   Rory didn't know why she said it but there was something about the way Scott was looking at her—like he desperately needed her to open up to him. For some reason, Rory didn't find this at all intimidating and something in his eyes staring at her with concern made the girl think that maybe it was better if she did. "Liam was acting weird this morning, like he was agitated or anxious. He wouldn't tell Mason or I anything, he ran off before we could get to the bottom of it."

   Scott smiled at the girl gratefully, both happy that she had told them something useful and it being the answer he had hoped for.

   "You'd tell me if he was in trouble," Rory made sure to make the assumption, her eyes still locked with Scott Mccall's. "He's a good kid and I don't want him getting in trouble like he did last time. Tell me so I can fix it."

   Stiles was now the one eyeing the girl curiously at the mention of Liam getting in some kind of trouble. It was something he wanted to know yet he knew Rory had already said probably more than she wanted to two strangers. It was something they could come back to.

   Scott nodded at the girl's question. He was thankful that Liam hadn't said anything, knowing that it would only put this girl and her younger brother in more danger. "I would tell you, don't worry."

   Rory didn't have any previous experience to go off of, but somehow the brunette knew that Scott was telling her the truth.

   In that moment it was all she needed.

---