Chapter one
I stamped my feet on the ground to warm them and told myself that I'd be at the school in an hour so.
"Stiles," I said, "it's kind of you, but you don't need to do this. I could just call the garage." Stiles dropped the wrench and straightened up from the open bonnet of the car. My car. He rubbed his grazed knuckle, shook his head and tried to flash me his boyish smile, but I could see it was an effort. "No, it's okay, Cath. You know, I said I wanted to pick you up. But you were too stubborn to listen to me." He said, before turning back to the car.
"You said it would only take a couple of minutes." I said after watching him work on my car for a few more minutes.
"I know," said Stiles, wryly.
"That was before ten." I glanced at the clock on my phone. "That was forty-five minutes ago."
"I know that too."
Stiles head disappeared beneath the bonnet again. There was the sound of several sharp taps and a mumbled curse. He was obviously not finding it funny, so I had to bit my lip to forestall even the tiniest hint of a smile
"At least you've solved the rattle," I said and gave a small snort.
"What?" said Stiles, with a glance I pretended not to see.
"The car won't rattle if you can't switch it on."
"You know what, get in my car. We'll call the garage tomorrow and fix your damn car. I don't wanna be late at school." He said, and I nodded. "Okay, fine." I said and quickly grabbed my phone and bag out of my car before jumping in the blue and black jeep. His jeep was one of my favorite places, even though it had some major flaws. For example: there was duct tape everywhere, on the seats, a portion of the wheel, even on the dashboard. But I didn't really care.
Sometimes we had the music on full-blast, but most of the time we sat in a comfortable silence, with only the sound of the engine. Either way, I loved his jeep. Or how he liked to call her, Roscoe. Worn-down Roscoe.
Stiles sat next to me, his slender hands resting on the wheel, driving towards the highway to get back to Beacon Hills. "How was your grandma?" he asked. Looking up from my phone, I answered. "Good, she was good. Bet she missed you there." I said with a soft smile. "I'll go with you next time." He said before focusing on the road again.
Turning the music of the radio up, you recognized the Justin Bieber song. I hated this generation's idea of music like One Direction and Justin Bieber. Stiles, apparently, didn't, because the second I turned the music up, he started singing along. "Is it too late now to say sorry? Cause I'm missing more than just your body-y. C'mon Cath, sing along!" he said. "Is it too late now to say sorry? Yeah I know that I let you down, Is it too late to say I'm sorry now?" he continued, I chuckled at his off-pitch tone. "Who knew you liked Justin Bieber." I said, trying not to burst into laughter. "…Shut it." Stiles said before tapping his fingers on the beat of the music.
A few seconds after the song ended, I could hear Stiles groan as he pressed the brakes. Looking up, I saw the massive traffic jam in front of us. "Great. Just great." He said irritated. "It'll be okay, we still have one and a half hour before we have to be at school. We'll make it." I said with a soft smile just to reassure him. He really wanted everyone to be there tonight, since it was the last night of summer and tomorrow would be the start of senior year. "Kira is probably also stuck in the traffic jam. This is the only way back in Beacon Hills from the airport. I'll text her." I said before turning back to my phone and texting Kira. For some reason, the message wouldn't send. "Can I use your phone? Mine's not working." He nodded, grabbing his phone from the pocket of his jacket, trying to send the message again, but again it wouldn't send. "Why aren't they working?" I asked, more to myself than Stiles. "Storm probably took the cell towers out." He said. Right. The storm.
We both decided we'd be stuck in the jeep for a while, so I made myself comfortable. Sitting sideways with my legs on his lap.
A few minutes later we still hadn't moved. The radio played softly in the background while I listened to Stiles rambling about random things.
"And then the agent said that the guy had to get out of the car, but he di – Hey! I think they're moving there!"
I opened my eyes, ready to see the cars moving and us getting to school on time. I didn't see the cars moving. Blinking my eyes a few times and looking again, I still didn't see any movement. "I don't see any movement?" I said confused, looking at Stiles. Stiles also looked confused while looking around. "I swear I heard a sound of an engine…"
Not even a second after Stiles said that, a motor drove passed us. Scott. I watched after him as he drove a little bit further away, before stopping and embracing Kira, giving her a kiss. "Aw, they're so cute," I mumbled softly. "Not as cute as us," Stiles said looking over at me and giving me a wink. I chuckled at him and continued watching Scott and Kira. Scott handed Kira a helmet and they both stepped on Scott's motor, driving off.
"Lucky Kira," I said. "And less lucky Kira's parents." Stiles chuckled.
We both get quiet after that and I closed my eyes again.
"Earlobe," Stiles said out of nowhere. I peeked through my eyes and glanced at him. "What?" I asked. "Earlobe, now you have to say a word that starts with the letter F."
Sitting a little straighter so I could properly look at him I gave him a weird look. "The alphabet game? Doesn't that mean you have to start with the letter A?"
"It's a free country, I can do whatever I want,"
I chuckled at him. "Okay, I will play the alphabet game with you if you stop quoting everything."
"Deal,"
Slicing down and sitting more comfortable again, I started thinking of a word beginning with the letter F.
"Fly,"
"Good, guy,"
I glanced over at him again. "Do we have to add more words each time?"
"No, I said good because you were doing the game right," Stiles said with an amused smile.
"Okay. Hair,"
"Information,"
"Jeans,"
"Kitchen,"
"Lollipop."
"Mouth,"
"Nudes,"
"Cath!" Stiles said with a laugh. "Ha, you failed, I win!" I said while sticking my tongue out in a playful way. "That's not fair, you put me off," Stiles said, still having a smile on his face from laughing. I gave him a look and he holds up his hands. "Okay, okay, if you want to win like that,"
Just then the cars in front of us start moving. "Finally," I said and Stiles nodded in agreement, pushing the accelerator with his foot. We drove for ten minutes before the school finally comes in sight. I let out a little cheer as Stiles let's out a breath in relief, probably because we are on time, even a little early. As we arrived at the parking lot of the school Stiles swiftly turned the car right into a parking spot and shuts off the engine. We both step out of the car and I heard someone calling us. I spotted Scott, Kira and Malia signaling us to come over. We reached them and they asked us where we were.
"We were stuck in the traffic jam," I said looking over at Kira. "The one you were in before Scott picked you up. Lucky bastard." Kira shoots me a innocent smile. I let out a laugh before my eyes shoot over to Malia. How did she get here?
"We should probably go inside. I drove here with Lydia and she is waiting there for us," Maliasays like she read my mind. The others nod in agreement.
When we walked inside Lydia immediately came walking to us. "I thought you guys were going to be late," she said. "Thank god you aren't though, people couldn't wait and have already started." She pointed over to the line of people standing there waiting for their turn to write their initials down. We all walk over there and also go stand in line. At the speed the line is going it is going to take a while before it is our turn.
"Remember that in Freshman year people wouldn't even know who we are? Let alone know our name?" Stiles suddenly said, turning to Scott. "People knew who I was – still know who I am," Lydia piped up.
"Yeah, but it was different for me and Stiles," Scott said. "No one knew us – and the few that did, didn't really like us." Stiles scoffed. "True. Like Jackson, I'm pretty sure he wanted to kill us most of the time."
Jackson. I only have known him for a year, maybe even a little less. People always told me he would be rude and mean to people, but in reality he was just misunderstood. He didn't know his own identity, also the reason why he became a kanima and not a werewolf. Even though I didn't know him for long, my heart really ached for the guy. I, and everybody else of course, was so happy that he eventually turned into a werewolf. The one who was most upset when he moved to London was Lydia. Sometimes I wonder if he had found a pack there.
I realized I zoned out as I heard the others laugh at something. "What?" I asked. "Oh, I forgot you weren't there when we started out our lacrosse 'careers'," Scott said, air quoting as he said careers. "At the beginning Stiles and I both sucked, but after I got bitten I got better and Stiles still sucked,"
"Slightly less, thank you very much," Stiles added.
I poked him with my finger. "Aw, babe, I don't think you suck that much."
"Thank- Hey!"
"But hey remember that one time when you got tackled by that-" Scott started, but Stiles gave him an angry look, making him shut up.
Lydia grinned and looked over at Scott. "I don't remember Stiles being that bad in Freshman year." Scott gave Stiles a little playful look before answering. "That is because he didn't really get to play on the field in Freshman year."
Stiles made one of his weird little moves and sighs in frustration. "Let's just not talk about Freshman year anymore." The others nodded in agreement. "So, Sophomore year?"
"The year Cath moved here," Lydia said, giving me a little smile.
"The year Cath made the best decision by moving here," Stiles corrected her, trying to copy Lydia's smile but failing.
"Yeah, that was a pretty good decision I made." I said. "You guys were always late, or didn't show up in class at all. It was so weird!" I said while crossing my arms. "And then you found out." Scott said. "You mean the part where I got stuck in the library with all of you while Jackson tried to kill us? Yeah, yeah I can remember that vividly." a little sarcastic undertone, but I still had a smile on my face.
We stood there for a while, waiting in the queue, talking about the good high school memories. After about fifteen minutes, it was our turn to write our initials on a shelf. Stiles was up first, followed by Lydia and Kira. "This isn't vandalism, is it?" Kira asked a little worried, "I guess not." Lydia said to reassure her before walking over to Stiles. When it was my turn, I grabbed the marker and searched Stiles' initials. Seconds later I found them, his messy handwriting was something you couldn't miss. The two s's standing next to each other. I wrote down my own initials. C.R. Catherine Reeves. Quickly, I passed the marker to Malia before walking to Stiles. Reaching him, he wrapped his arm around my waist. We both were a little insecure when showing PDA, only holding hands or giving each other a small kiss on the cheek, lips or nose, keeping the rest between just the two of us.
After Malia, it was Scott's turn. I saw him writing down his initials, but after that, he paused. Standing on my toes, finally able to see what he wrote down after the pause. I froze a little. AA. Allison Argent. The arm around my waist tightened a little as Scott passed the marker to the person next in line.
Allison. I could feel that the mood changed a little bit now, but not in a bad way. All of us had a different kind of relationship with Allison. I think my relationship with her was kind of sisterly. I looked up to her. If you would ask me what I remember of my first day at Beacon Hills High School my answer would probably be 'Allison Argent'. She had sensed that I felt insecure and took me under her wing, had introduced me to the people I am here with now. The people that I would happily call my family. And even though Allison isn't here now, she will always be part of this family.
Stiles was the first one to break the silence. "She would have been with us." I looked up to him while he looked at all of us. I nodded and smiled a little. "She still is.." Lydia said softly. That's right. Gone, but not forgotten.
-
"I'm tired." I complained when I got back in the jeep. "You're always tired." Stiles said before giving me a look that made me smile. He started the jeep and drove of the parking lot.
"But you were right, tonight was fun." I said while leaning my head against the window. "I'm always right, and I know." His slender hands on the wheel, he looked at me for a second, before looking back at the road. "Made a decision for colleges yet?" he asked. "Thinking MSU.. Or Stanford" I said quietly. Seeing his hands tighten a little, I knew how he was going to respond. "As in Montana State University?". I nodded. "That's in Montana." He said. "That's like, a twenty-two hour ride from Beacon Hills."
I stared outside for a few seconds, before looking back to him. Trying to read the emotion on his face, but I wasn't really sure. "Look, I know that it's far from your first pick, but I haven't made a decision yet. Got some more time to think about it." I reassured him while he parked in front of my house. "Yeah, yeah. We'll see." He said and I smiled a little.
"So, should I pick you up at 8 am tomorrow?"
"Yeah, or you rather see me walking to school"
"I'm not that evil. See you at eight." He said before leaning in for a kiss. My lips touching his warm, soft lips. "See you tomorrow." I grabbed my bag before jumping out of the jeep, walking to the door and into my warm house, waving goodbye to Stiles.