I rolled my eyes and slammed my book down on the table beside my bed, frustrated at my younger brother for blaring his music while he knows I'm trying to read. I clambered off my bed and went across the hall and into his room only to see him attempting to do pull ups. I leaned against his door frame with a smirk taking over my face at the sight. He had been training all summer to get first line on the lacrosse team, and much to his dismay he hadn't gotten much better at all. He was about as coordinated as a spider on roller skates.
"Scotty, do you mind turning that down a bit?" I finally yelled over his music. I must have caught him off guard because his grip on the bar slipped, and he crumpled to the floor. I sucked my lips into my mouth in order to keep me from bursting out laughing, like I was on the verge of doing.
He pulled himself off the ground with a grimace and slowly walked over to his stereo turning it down a few notches.
"Did you really have to scare me like that, Addie?" He huffed.
"I wouldn't have had to if your music wasn't so loud baby brother." I teased him while walking over to ruffle his hair.
He opened his mouth to reply, but stopped when we heard a creaking outside causing our brows to furrow. Scott went to the corner of his room and grabbed his baseball bat, motioning for me to follow behind him. We slowly made our way downstairs, Scott making sure to have the bat ready to swing at any moment. The two of us creeped out the front door and onto the porch, hearing a rustle from what seemed like the bushes. As we walked up to the railing something, or rather someone, fell from the roof hanging upside down, causing all three of us to scream and for Scott to lift the bat. When I noticed who it was I quickly grabbed the bat from him, so he wouldn't end up killing our best friend.
"Stiles, what the hell are you doing?" Scott yelled at the idiot hanging from our roof.
"Neither of you were answering your phone. Why do you have a bat?" Stiles exclaimed, looking at the bat in my hand.
"We thought you were some kind of predator." I snapped at him, wishing he would get on to telling us why he was creeping around here so late.
"A pre… Look, I know it's late, but you guys gotta hear this. I saw my dad leave twenty minutes ago. Dispatch called. They're bringing in every officer from the Beacon Department, and even state police." Stiles told us. I looked at him like he had three heads, what on earth could have happened in our quiet little town that was that bad?
"For what?" Scott asked our friend.
"Two joggers found a body in the woods." Stiles answered, pulling himself up so he could flip off the roof and land safely on his feet. My eyes widened, a dead body in Beacon? No way.
"A dead body?" Scott asked, sounding just as astonished as I felt.
"No, a body of water. Yes, dumb-ass, a dead body." Stiles answered, bringing out his usual level of sarcasm.
"Do you mean like murdered?" I questioned, leaning the bat on the side of the house and crossing my arms.
"Nobody knows yet. Just that it was a girl, probably in her twenties." Stiles told us.
"Hold on, if they found the body, then what are they looking for?" Scott asked raising a good question.
Stiles got a creepy grin on his face and hopped around for a few seconds, looking like a kid on christmas.
"That's the best part. They only found half. We're going." Stiles told us, his voice quivering with excitement.
I sighed and went back into the house to grab a jacket and slide on some rain boots. I quickly went back outside, making sure to lock the door behind me before I made my way to Stiles' old jeep. As soon as I was safely in the back seat Stiles sped off, making our way to the preserve.
"Are we seriously doing this?" Scott asked as we climbed out of the jeep.
"You're the one always bitching that nothing ever happens in this town." Stiles replied, slapping him on the back while walking past. I quickly followed behind him, seeing as how I left my phone at home so the flashlight he was carrying was my only light source other than the dull glow of the moon.
"I was trying to get a good night's sleep before practice tomorrow." Scott called from behind us.
"Right, 'cause sitting on the bench is such a grueling effort." I snickered, causing Stiles to burst out laughing, and Scott to huff in annoyance at the jab.
"No, because i'm playing this year. In fact, I'm making first line." My brother said confidently. I looked back at him to see a determined look on his face.
"Hey, that's the spirit. Everyone should have a dream, even a pathetically unrealistic one." Stiles replied.
I hurried up my pace to keep up with Stiles, which was a pretty hard task for two reasons. One, he's about seven or more inches taller than I am. Two, because he has more energy than any normal person should ever have in their lives.
"Just out of curiosity, which half of the body are we looking for?" Scott asked Stiles, which was actually a good question. It would kinda help us out a lot if we actually knew what to look for.
"Huh! I didn't even think about that." Stiles told his. My eyes narrowed at his impulsiveness.
"And, what if whoever killed the body is still out here?" Scott continued to question our friend.
"Also something I didn't think about." Stiles quickly answered.
"It's comforting to know you've planned this out with your usual attention to detail." I said as we climbed up a rather steep hill.
"I know." Stiles shot back, sounding rather proud of himself. I would never understand how that boys brain works.
"Maybe the severe asthmatic should be the one holding the flashlight, huh?" "Scott wheezed, stopping halfway up the hill to lean against a tree and take a puff of his inhaler.
When we got to the top of the hill the three of us dropped to the ground, seeing the gleams of a few flashlights through the trees. I looked over to see our flashlight still on, so i reached over and clicked it off, hoping the people ahead didn't see it.
"Wait, come on!" Stiles whisper yelled, before grabbing my jacket and pulling me off the ground with him.
"Stiles, Addie! Wait up! Guys!" Scott yelled from behind us as we took off running. I hoped he would catch up. "Guys!" I heard Scott call, but from further away.
I reached out, pulling Stiles to a stop, as we looked around searching for Scott. When we turned around the other way, Stiles and I were met with a loud bark, and a flashlight shining in our faces, startling Stiles enough to cause hi mot fall to the ground. "Dear God." I mumbled to myself.
"Hold it right there!" The officer yelled at us.
"Hang on, hang on." The very familiar voice of Stiles' father called out as he walked over to us. I shot him a shy smile and wave, only to be met with a stern look. "These two little delinquents belong to me." Sheriff Stilinski, or John, as I call him told the deputy.
"Actually, only one of us belongs to you, but that's beside the point. Dad, how are you doing?" Stiles corrected his father, and tried to be as nonchalant as he could about us being here.
"So, do you listen in to all of my phone calls?" John asked his son.
"No. Not the boring ones." Stiles answered truthfully. His dad shook his head for a moment, looking between the two of us.
"Now, where's the other partner in crime?" John asked, knowing that Scott was most likely around here somewhere.
"Who, Scott? Scott's home. He said he wanted to get a good night's sleep for the first day back at school tomorrow. It's just me and Addie. In the woods. By ourselves. Right Addie?" Stiles said, discreetly elbowing me in the side to go along with his story. I nodded my head. John shone his flashlight around us, trying to see if Scott was anywhere to be seen, and I prayed to god he had enough sense to stay hidden.
"Scott, you out there? Scott?" John yelled, thankfully earning no response except for thunder that cracked in the distance. When he got no reply John turned his attention back to us. "Well, young man, I'm gonna walk you and Addison here back to your car. And you and I are gonna have a conversation about something called invasion of privacy." He said as he took Stiles by the back of the neck and motioned for me to walk with them.
The ride back home was particularly quiet, which was rather unusual for Stiles and I. If this were a normal circumstance the two of us would be cracking jokes and seeing who could make each other laugh the hardest, but right now I think our minds were both on Scott and if we was safe. When I got back I tried to wait on him to make sure he got back, but i ended up drifting into a deep sleep.
—
The next morning as soon as my eyes opened I sprung out of bed and ran over to Scotts room to see if he had made it home. Thankfully he was there, and already getting ready for school.
"Oh, thank God you're okay. I tried to wait up for you last night." I said walking over and hugging him. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around me to hug me back.
"I'll tell you about everything when we get to school cause I have to fill Stiles in too and I don't want to tell it twice. Now, go get ready." Scott said, letting me go and pushing me towards the door. I chuckled and made my way to my room.
I breezed through a quick shower making sure my hair didn't get wet, as I washed it yesterday. When I got out I dried off and brushed my teeth, then thew on the outfit I had picked out for today. A pair of dark washed ripped jeans and a flowy white tank top, with a pair of ballet flats. I quickly swiped on some mascara and grabbed my book bag, making my way down the stairs to meet Scott so we could leave. We said a fast goodbye to our mom and we were out the door, me hopping on the back of Scotts bike and holding tightly onto his shoulders.
Usually my friend Lydia would pick me up, or Stiles would offer to take me, but they both couldn't today, so Scott was my only option. I stood by Scott as he chained his bike up the rack, rolling my eyes when Lydia's boyfriend, Jackson pulled up in his fancy Porsche. Dude was the definition of a douche, but we had to act like we got long for Lydia's sake.
Without watching what he was doing, Jackson pushed open his door and sending it right into Scotts leg. Scott looked back at him, confused as to how Jackson didn't see him there. The douche himself stepped out of the car, eyeing Scott like he did something wrong.
"Dude, watch the paint job." Jackson snapped at Scott.
"Yo, Jackson, let's go, bro." One of Jacksons lackeys called for him. He turned around, looking Scott over one more time before he stalked off.
"God, he's such a dick." I mumbled.
"Come on," Scott said, placing a hand on my back and leading me to wherever we were supposed to meet Stiles.
When we got to Stiles his face lit up and he stood up off the bench he was sitting on.
"Okay, let's see this thing." Stiles said as soon as we reached him. I looked between them in confusion.
"See what?" I asked. Stiles and Scott looked at each other for a moment.
"Scott said something bit him in the woods last night. Has the bite to prove it, and I want to see what it looks like." Stiles informed me. I nodded before turning to my brother.
"Well, let's see it." I said, motioning for him to hurry up.
Scott pulled up the side of his shirt, revealing a big white gauze pad mom had around the house incase of emergencies. You could see a small bit of blood seeping through the bandage, causing my face to turn into one of concern. Stiles reached out to touch it but Scott quickly pulled his shirt back down.
"Woah! It was too dark to see much, but I'm pretty sure it was a wolf." Scott told us. Stiles and I looked at each other with a raised brow. There was no way.
"A wolf bit you?" Stiles questioned, picking up his bag and walking with Scott and I.
"Uh-huh." Scott hummed in response.
"No, there's no way it was a wolf." I replied, squirming my wall body in-between the two boys.
"I heard a wolf howling." Scott told us, seeming completely serious.
"No, you didn't." Stiles said, looking over me at my brother. Being 5'2 really sucks when you're surrounded by what seemed like giants.
"What do you mean, 'No, I didn't'? How do you know what I heard?" Scott shot back at us, annoyed that we weren't listening to him.
"Because California doesn't have wolves, okay? Not in like sixty years." I explained to Scott. He stopped and Stiles and I went to stand in front of him.
"Really?" He asked us, confused. If he would pay attention in class he would have known this, but this right here is there reason why Stiles and I were the two with all straight A's in our classes every year.
"Yes, really. There are no wolves in California." Stiles replied. Scott shook his head, having a hard time believing us.
"All right, well, if you don't believe me about the wolf, then you guys definitely aren't going to believe me when I tell you I found the body." Scott told us, causing my eyes to widen in shock and Stiles to have a mini spas attack.
"Are you kidding me?" Stiles asked with a wide grin on his face, as if this was the best news he'd ever received.
"No, man, I wish. I'm gonna have nightmares for a month." Scott said.
"Oh, God, that is freakin awesome. I mean, this is seriously gonna be the best thing that's happened to this town since… Since the birth of Lydia Martin. Hey, Lydia, you look… like you're gonna ignore me." Stiles trailed off, getting off topic when my best girlfriend who he happened to be in love with walked by us, sending me a smile. "You're the cause of this you know." Stiles said turning back to Scott.
"Uh-huh." Scott said, going along with our idiot friend.
"Draggin' me down to your nerd depths. I'm a nerd by association. I've been scarlet needed by you." Stiles told Scott as the first bell rang and we made our way to class.
"Actually, I think you both seem to out-nerd each other every second of the day, now come on before we're late." I said, grabbing their arms and dragging them behind me.
When we got to the classroom I dropped down into a seat and Stiles sat behind me, leaving Scott the desk beside him. The teacher didn't waste any time, cause as soon as everyone was in their seats, he picked up a piece of chalk and begun to write on the board.
"As you all know, there indeed was a body found in the woods last night." His monotonous voice drowned out, causing Scott and I to look at Stiles with smirks on our faces, him sending us a wink in return. I turned back around, so I could hear whatever this dreary teacher had to say. "And I am sure your eager little minds are coming up with various macabre scenarios as to what happened. But I am here to tell you that the police have a suspect in custody, which means you can give your undivided attention to the syllabus which is on your test outlining this semester." He said, causing the class to groan.
I turned around to Stiles for a brief second. "Did you know anything about there being a suspect in custody?" I whispered to him. He shook his head no and shrugged in return. I nodded and turned back around to glance over the sheet of paper in front of me.
The classroom door opened and the Vice Principal stepped in followed by a girl that I've never seen before. She was very pretty and her hair was chocolate brown and fell long in soft curls. I could tell by her style that Lydia was going to try to befriend her.
"Class, this is our new student, Allison Argent. Please do your best to make her feel welcome." The VP told us. The girl, Allison, walked down the row beside me, and took the only open seat, which was beside Scott. I watched as he turned around and handed her a pen. She looked at him a little confused before smiling and taking it from him. She thanked him, and he smiled at her, slowly turning back around. I looked back at Stiles with a raised brow.
"Don't ask me, I have no idea what that was." He whispered to me.
"We'll begin with Kafka's Metamorphosis, on page 133." The teacher said, I rolled my eyes, nobody actually made us do work on the first day. It was all about handing out papers to get signed.
When the bell rang I let out a deep break, already knowing this class was going to blow. I followed Scott and Stiles out of the classroom and over to our lockers. When Scott unhooked his lock, he turned his head to the side, noticing Allison. I looked over and saw Lydia heading her way, I smiled and made my way over to her also.
"That jacket is absolutely killer. Where'd you get it?" Lydia asked Allison without even taking a second to actually introduce herself.
"My mom was a buyer for a boutique back in San Fransisco." Allison answered, a little stunned. Lydia's eyes flickered over to me for a moment before focusing back on Allison.
"And you are my new best friend, sorry Addie." Lydia said with a small smile. I shook my head in amusement.
Out of nowhere Jackson appeared, grabbing Lydia by her side and making her squeal.
"Sorry about her, I'm Addison, but everyone calls me Addie. And that's Lydia, and her boyfriend Jackson, or as I like to call him, douchebag." I told her with a smile.
"Hey, Jackson." Lydia said, pulling Jackson to her and pressing their lips together.
"Are they always like this?" Allison whispered to me.
"This is nothing, trust me. It's usually ten times worse." I told her. Finally Lydia and Jackson separated and turned to Allison and I.
"So, this weekend, there's a party." Lydia told Allison.
"A party?" Allison asked curiously.
"Yeah, Friday night. You should come." Jackson said. I looked at Allison noticing the hesitation on her face.
"Uh, I can't. It's family night this Friday. Thanks for asking." Allison politely declined, with what I already knew was a lie.
"You sure? I mean, everyone's going after the scrimmage." Jackson pushed.
"You mean like football?" Allison asked. Ah, I had forgotten she didn't know about lacrosse team being the only one worth anything around here.
"Football's a joke in Beacon. The sport here is lacrosse. We've won the state championship for the past three years." Jackson boasted. I rolled my eyes at him.
"And that's my queue to leave." I announced, pushing myself off the locker and back over to where Scott is creepily staring at Allison.
"You know, staring longingly at someone it's always cute, Scott. Like right now, it's a bit creepy." I said, standing in his ling of vision. He glared at he for a moment before turning back around to face his locker.
It was finally the time of year I look forward to most, lacrosse tryouts. I got to see hoy guys run around the field in their gear, and I also got to see people, mostly my brother and Stiles, make fools of themselves. It was an all around good time. I made my way to the bleachers and waited on Lydia's arrival. It wasn't long before she and Allison sat down beside me.
I watched in amusement as Coach Finstock made his way up to Scott, tossing him a goalie stick, knowing good and well Scott had absolutely no idea what he was doing as goalie.
"Let's go! Come on!" Finstock yelled at his players.
"Who is that?" Allison asked, gesturing to Scott.
"Him? I'm not sure who he is. Why?" Lydia asked, always forgetting that Scott was my brother.
"That's my brother, Scott. Lydia here, always seems to forget that." I tell her, leaning forwards so I could smile at her.
"He's in my English class with Addie." Allison answered.
The assistant coach then blew his whistle, causing all of the players to line up a good ways away from the goal. At the shrill sound I watched Scott's hands fly up to his helmet and cover his ears, as he fell to his knees almost as if he was in pain. While Scott wasn't paying attention, a player ran towards the goal, letting the ball go soaring through the air, hitting Scott right in the facemark, causing him to fall onto his back, and the rest of the team to erupt in laughter. I groaned and slid my hand down my face, kinda feeling bad for him.
When Scott was finally back on his feet another player took off, zagging down the field, finally letting the ball go, and Scott actually catching it before he scored. My mouth dropped open in disbelief. I watched in astonishment as Scott caught ball after ball. This wasn't normal for him, at all. He's usually lucky to catch one ball.
"He seems like he's pretty good." Allison complemented him. If she only knew this wasn't how he usually played.
"Yeah, very good." Lydia agreed, causing my head to whirl around and look at her.
"Oh, dear God." I mumbled to myself as I watched Jackson make his way to the front of the line, clearly not liking what was going on here. Of course, nobody could be even as close as good as himself in his mind.
I watched with wide eyes as Jackson's cleats dug into the ground as he ran with all his might, jumping into the air before letting the ball fly towards Scott. Scott skillfully turned and caught the ball before it hit the net, making me and Stiles jump up off our seats, whooping in excitement.
"That's my friend!" I heard Stiles yell, pointing at Scott. Even Lydia stood up to cheer for him.
—
You'd figure that Scott had had enough of the woods last night, but no. Here the three of us were again, in the preserve searching for Scotts stupid inhaler. I clung into Stiles' back as he made his way through the river, so my shoes wouldn't get wet.
"I don't know what it was. It was like I had all the time in the world to catch the ball. And that's not the only weird thing. I can hear stuff I shouldn't be able to hear. Smell things." Scott explained to us. Apparently strange things were happening to him, like his sudden lacrosse skills for one. I slid off Stiles back once we crossed over, and we quickly continued on our path.
"Smell things? Like what?" Stiles asked.
"Like the Mint Mojito gum in your pocket." Scott told him. I looked at Stiles, waiting for him to check his pockets.
"I don't even have any Mint Mojito…" Stiles started but trailed off, when he pulled a piece of green gum from his inside pocket.
"Okay, that's freaky." I said, turning and following Scott who had started to walk again.
"So all this started with a bite." Stiles stated, like he didn't believe it.
"What if it's like an infection, like my body's flooding with adrenaline before I go into shock or something?" Scott asked worriedly.
"You know what? I actually think I've heard of this. It's a specific kind of infection." Stiles said, causing Scott to stop mid-step and turn around to look at him.
"Are you serious?" Scott asked.
"Yeah. Yeah, I think it's called lycanthropy." Stiles said, sending me a wink. I chuckled under my breath, knowing good and well Scott would have no idea what that meant.
"What's that? Is that bad?" Scott asked.
"Oh, yeah, it's the worst. But only once a month." I answered. Scott furrowed his brows in confusion.
"Once a month?" He questioned, confusion lacing his voice.
"Mmm-hmm. On the night of the full moon." Stiles said completely serious, but howling at the end of his sentence, sending me into a fit of laughter. Scott reached over and shoved Stiles backwards lightly.
"Hey, you're the one who heard a wolf howling." I defended, a smile still on my face.
"Hey, there could be something seriously wrong with me." Scott huffed.
"I know! You're a werewolf! Grrrrr!" Stiles joked, making me laugh again, and Scott glare at him. "Okay, obviously I'm kidding. But if you see Addie and I in shop class trying to melt all the silver we can find, it's 'cause Friday's a full moon." Stiles continued to joke as we came to a stop. Scott looked around the ground for a moment before looking back at us.
"No, I could have sworn this was it. I saw the body, the deer came running. I dropped my inhaler." Scott said, squatting down and rifling through the leaves.
"Maybe the killer moved the body." I suggested.
"If he did, I hope he left my inhaler. Those things are like eighty bucks." Scott said, looking up at me. He knew mom would kill him if he lost another one.
Stiles turned around and gasped, tugging me around in the same direction, and Scott up off the ground too. When I looked up I noticed what he was looking at. A guy was standing not too far from us, dressed in all black. I couldn't help but appreciate how attractive he was. He started walking towards us in a quick pace.
"What are you doing here?" He asked us as he walked closer. "Huh? This is private property." The guy told us.
"Uh, sorry, man, we didn't know." Stiles said, finally being serious.
"Yeah, we were just looking for something, but… Uh, forget it." Scott told him. The guy took his hand out of his leather jacket pocket and tossed it to Scott. When Scott opened his hand, he was holding his inhaler. I quickly looked up at the guy who was already walking away.
"Thank you!" I called to him, but he either ignored me, or didn't hear me, seeing as how I didn't get a your welcome. Rude.
"All right, come on, I gotta get to work." Scott said, starting to turn around and walk away. Stiles put out his arm to stop him.
"Dude, that was Derek Hale. You guys remember right? He's only like a few years older than us." Stiles said. I shook my head, I don't remember anything about the name Hale.
"Remember what?" Scott questioned.
"His family. They all burned to death in a fire, like, ten years ago." Stiles told us. My heart automatically ached for the guy, I know it had to be rough not having anybody.
"I wonder what he's doing back." Scott stated more than asked. I shrugged my shoulders, wondering the same thing.
"Come on." Stiles scoffed before heading back towards the Jeep.