Chapter 1

My eyes flickered open, as my mind slowly rose through the levels of unconsciousness and brought me into the pale light of morning. I rolled over onto my side and gazed through the soft yellow curtains into the street bellow, whilst my back ached in protest. That's what I get for sleeping on a fouton, I thought to myself. As I pulled myself up and lent back on the pillow, I rubbed my eyes with the palms of my hands, mentally preparing myself for the day ahead. I took a deep breath, shaking out my short hair, climbing off the end of my makeshift bed and grabbing a few clothes, before heading to the bathroom to change and get ready for college. Once changed and ready, I padded down the corridor to the front room to grab breakfast. As I sat down to eat my toast, my mother decided to make an appearance, shuffling behind me and ruffling my blonde mop as she passed. I ducked my head slightly at the contact, earning me mocking 'ooh' from behind me, to which I rolled my eyes.

'What are you doing up this early? 'I said, turning to look at her properly. She seemed a lot more put together than most mornings, not to mention the fact that she was functioning before midday. Her make up was done to its fullest, and she was wearing one of her nicer revealing tops, with a pair of her fancier white trousers. She gave me a slightly bewildered look, before scoffing and turning to the fridge. She pulled out one of her probiotic yoghurt things, downing it in one, shutting the fridge door and 'sneaking' a swig of tequila before turning to answer me. I turned away from her with an inward sigh, continuing to munch on my breakfast.

'Don't be silly, dear. We've got a plane to catch at twelve thirty, we wouldn't want to be late now, would we?' She laughed, her voice as trill and annoying as normal, and yet suddenly what sh'd said sank in. My eyes widened and my head whipped around, as I watched her casually walk around the counter and into the living area of the flat, where three obnoxiously-pink, leopard print suitcases sat somehow hidden in plain site. I couldn't even formulate words for about ten seconds, after which I spoke calmy, trying to get some sense out of her.

'What do you mean, a plane to catch? I have college in an hour, we can't be going anywhere today. ' I said, placing my food back on my plate and trying to keep my cool. She must have been having one of her panic moments, I could normally talk her out of it.

'Well, I wanted to surprise you, but I finally got a permanent acting job!' She exclaimed, clapping her hands together like an excited child, even spinning round in a small circle. Oh dear.

'Really?' I said carefully. She grinned.

'Yes! It's a reoccurring part in an American soap opera, not a *main* role, but it's well payed and I have a contract with them for two years! Isn't that wonderful, honey?' She said with a giggle. I merely gaped at her, in complete disbelief. From the look in her eyes, I could tell she seriously meant it to. And there was going to be no changing her mind, either. So, I took a deep breath, and with a fixed smile, I said-

'Then I guess we've got a plane to catch.'

'So, are you excited about your first day, sweetheart? It looks like a lovely place, doesn't it?' My mum half whispered to me, as we pulled up outside the school I probably wouldn't be at for longer than a month, at most. She was right, though, it did look like a nice place. The building was large, but un opposing, only a few floors high and it seemed rather welcoming. I guessed to most of the students it looked quite bleak, what with the walls under the windows being slightly rain-streaked, giving the effect that the building itself were crying. I smiled encouragingly at mum, seeing her second thoughts beginning to surface in her eyes. She always meant well when she did things like this, and I knew that she always had me in mind, but she never thought them all the way through. This was the biggest thing she'd ever done. And there was no going back to their same old comfy little flat in England.

'I'd better go, don't want to be late on my first day.' I said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before pulling my bag on my shoulder and getting out of the little silver rent-a-car, turning towards the school. I heard the window roll down behind me, and turned to see my mum leaning over the seat.

'Don't do anything...be careful not to...um...be careful, darling.' She finished weakly. I knew what she meant, though. Don't do anything weird and give away that you're a werewolf. I smiled knowingly and nodded, tapping my nose. She gave a strained smile back, before driving away. I rolled my eyes and began to walk back towards the entrance. I wasn't stupid. We moved around a lot, and so far, I'd never been discovered. I couldn't see why Beacon Hills would be any different.

As I approached the front desk, I couldn't help but notice all the smells and sounds around me, some good, some bad, some repulsive, but all interesting and new. It was kind of exciting. I put on my best, cheerful grin and gave a small cough to clear my throat.

'Excuse me, I'm new here. I was told to come here to get a timetable?' I enquired. The woman behind the desk looked up at me, peering over her small glasses, her eyes flicking between her computer and my face.
'Carrie Blake?' I said hopefully. Finally the woman smiled at me, handing me a blue piece of folded paper, before pointing down the corridor.

'Welcome to Beacon Hills, Miss Blake, your form room is just down the corridor and to the left, room 14b.' She said, her face warm.

'Thank you very much.' I said with a nod, before heading off down the corridor and looking at the paper as I wheaved between the other students buzzing around me, like walking through a bee hive. I managed to zone it out to a dull hum as I read. First, I decided to find my locker, so I could dump all my unnecessary books that were weighing down my bag. Locker #243. I guessed that was on the second floor, so I headed around the corner in search of some stairs. A piercing bell rang through the halls, somehow they seemed to be louder and more annoying in America. I flinched a little at the noise, but thankfully nothing dramatic enough to bring any attention to myself. After that, the amount of students seemed to drop worryingly quickly, so I quickened my pace, looking from the paper to the numbered lockers around me. The numbers seemed to have gotten a lot higher a lot quicker than I'd expected, so maybe my locker *was* on this floor. I looked back down at the paper again, when suddenly, out of nowhere, someone banged into me with their shoulder, spinning me sideways.

'Sorry!' I heard a male voice say.

'Oh, I'm sorry!' I said, blinking a little as I tried to pinpoint the source of my clumsiness, and that's when I noticed the scent. It was strong and strange, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up, the primative animal instinct to protect rising in my stomach, and yet it was sonehow...familiar. I stared in awe at the boy a few feet away from me, amazed by this new smell, which I found was growing on me somewhat. The strange thing was, the boy was staring back at me with a similar look, although he was more confused. We stood for a moment, staring questioningly at eachother, my head instinctively tilting to one side in curiousity. The boy was older than me, and at least a head taller. I doubted I would reach his nose. He had short, dark brown curls covering his head, his hazel brown eyes complimenting his light brown skin. I then noticed another boy standing a little awkwardly next to the one with the fascinating smell. He was taller still, and I had no doubt that I would barely reach his chin. He had even shorter brown hair, his eyes a colour I could only describe as a sort of chocolate, which contrasted nicely with his fair skin. I would have looked at the fair boy longer, but my focus was pulled back to the curly haired one's strange odour. The pale one looked between us, slightly bewildered.

'Scott, c'mon, we gotta go, we're already late.' He said, tugging his friends arm. The aforementioned Scott kept his eyes wearily on me, half turning to his friend and half-heartedly shrugging him off.

'Yeah, I know, I'm just coming...' he said, his sentence trailing off towards the end. His friend looked between us again in disbelief, rolling his eyes. He ducked in front of Scott, blocking me from his view and moving his head into his eyeline.

'Scott, buddy, we are super late right now, and I'm not going to lie, this right here,' he gestured at the two of us with his finger, 'is very weird.' Whilst he said this, I took the opportunity to sneak away quietly, trying to avoid any confrontation from this strange boy. I made it half-way up the corridor, before a voice behind me caused me to stop again.

'Hey, wait!' Scott called, bounding up to me as I turned around, his friend following a few seconds later after a slightly overdramatic head roll. I gave a tentative smile as he approached.

'You're new here, right?' Asked Scott, standing close enough to overpower me with that smell of his, to which I didn't know how to react, except take a small step back. My eyes widened a bit, probably giving me an overall deer-in-headlights look.

'Erm, yes, y-yes I am.' I stuttered, blinking a few times as my brain battled between friendliness and 'this seems like a bad idea'.

'Do you need a hand finding where to go? I mean, homeroom and everything?' He asked, somehow seeming almost as weary as I was. The friend frowned behind him pulling his arm.

'Dude, we seriously don't have tim to roll out the welcome wagon for every random freshman. And this is me saying this.' He insisted. I sort of wished Scott would take his advice, so I could safely leave to ponder over this new discovery's meaning by myself.

'Actually, I think I'm a junior.' I piped up. They both looked at me in disbelief.

'Seriously?' They said, in almost exact unison. It was slightly spooky.

'How old *are* you, exactly?' The friend asked, folding his arms and lowering his head a little, as though trying to hear me better.

'16, 17 in March.' I said with a smile. They looked me up and down, and glanced at each other, before the friend shook his head and turned back to Scott.
'Okay, well, then, we still don't have time to cosy-up to a newby junior I'm presuming you've never met.' He said.

'C'mon Stiles,' Scott said, 'you should be friendlier to strangers, although I think she, and *I*, may have certain things in common.' He said the last part very deliberately, stating each word clearly, as though it should mean something to "Stiles". What an odd name, I thought, I wonder if it's short for something. Apparently it did have deeper meaning, as after a few meaningful looks were exchanged, Stiles had a very obvious moment of realisation, before trying to compose his expression into an oblivious calm.

'Yeah, no, of course. I'm being rude, I'm sorry. So, need a hand?' Said Stiles, suddenly becoming the picture of welcoming. I narrowed my eyes a little, before dismissing his sudden change-of-tune and smiling gratefully at them.

'Actually, yes. I was going to put some of my stuff in my locker before lessons, but apparently I don't really have time, so I guess I should go to my form room? Only I can't actually recall where it is.' I said, chewing my lip and raising my eyebrows at my forgetfulness. Scott smiled in understanding, glancing down at his feet briefly, whilst Stiles did a sort of mocking tut and sigh, intended as friendly but being too over the top not to be slightly...off. I frowned at him ever-so-slighty, then turned back to Scott.

'So, did the office give you a slip of paper, or...?' Scott asked, raising his eyebrows questioningly. I jumped a little as I remembered that Scott probably wasn't psychic.

'Oh, yeah, um...' I said, rumaging in the pocket of my leather jacket, where I'd frantically shoved the slip when I made my escape attempt down the corridor. I handed him the blue paper, and he glanced at it, before looking up at the classrooms around us.

'You're in luck. You're just over there.' He said, pointing to a room two doors down from us on the left. I grinned happily at the two boys.

'Great!' I said, and Scott gestured to the door. I shoved the paper back in my pocket as we walked, and suddenly felt the nerves kick in, my stomach knotting and unknotting uncomfortably. Scott knocked on the door and opened it without waiting for a reply. My heartbeat sped up a little, and I felt a hand on my back.

'Don't be nervous.' Scott whispered, giving me a small push into the room. I looked back at them, suddenly feeling the need for their protection. Scott smiled encouragingly, and Stiles gave me a thumbs up and a sort of fake smile. I nodded at them, before I turned back to the classroom and walking in with what I hoped was a friendly smile.