Amanda Wolfe groaned at the sound of a motorcycle engine being revved twice outside of her bedroom window. She covered her face with her hands and waited a moment, hearing the motorcycle rev again, before she sat up in bed and peered outside of her window. Down below was her best friend and roommate, Nick, straddling his motorcycle and looking up at her window. Amanda raised her eyebrows and gave him a little wave before letting the curtain drop as she rolled out of bed. Her bare feet padded against the throw carpet she had thrown across the wood floor as she went over to her closet, pulling open the double doors. Her wardrobe was presented before her and Amanda let her eyes travel over the clothes before making a selection.
She pulled on her white tshirt and tucked it into a denim mini skirt, making sure the buttons were all buttoned correctly. She slipped her feet into a pair of black capped toed flats and fixed her watch on her right wrist, making sure the time was set to her Motorola Razr. She then applied her makeup and fixed her hair before hearing the revving of Nick's motorcycle again. Amanda let out a groan, quickly grabbing her crescent moon necklace from where it hung on the jewelry tree before she hurried over to her chair. She grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulder before hurrying down the stairs and out of the apartment.
It was the first day of school, well, for Amanda. The year was already in full swing, which meant she was heading into the year during the middle of the semester. Typical new girl status. She had spent the previous night making sure she had everything: planners, binders, notebooks, etc. The past week had been spent setting up her bedroom, keeping it minimalistic but still making sure it felt like home; that's what it was now. Home.
"You could've gone around the block and gotten us some breakfast." Amanda commented as she walked down the sidewalk to Nick's motorcycle. She clasped the necklace around her neck, flipping her hair over her shoulders so it spilled down her back as Nick leaned back and held up a brown paper bag.
"Three steps ahead of you, Manda." Nick grinned at her. "Actually, three donuts ahead of you." Amanda made a face and picked up the extra helmet that was on the back of Nick's bike. She slipped it on her head before climbing onto the bike.
She settled back, getting comfortable on the seat and Nick waited until she was situated before handing her the brown paper bag. Amanda gratefully took it with one hand, the other hand going to his shoulder so she could keep her balance. Nick kicked back the kickstand and started up the engine once more before maneuvering the bike out onto the empty road. Years of riding on the back of his motorcycle had taught Amanda how to balance herself and do something else during the rides.
While Nick drove through the sleepy town of Beacon Hills, Amanda was content with munching on a donut while watching the town go by. It was your classic suburb and Amanda was very happy to be in a normal looking town: a movie theater was next to a diner, which was across the street from a grocery store among other local businesses. There were a smattering of houses that appeared as they got closer to the high school. Amanda surveyed the teenagers hurrying out to catch the yellow school bus or getting into a car of their own. The day was beginning.
Nick and Amanda had arrived in Beacon Hills a few days before. Previously, they had lived most of their lives with Deucalion and his pack. The pack moved every few years, but Deucalion and Nick were Amanda's constants. They were always there for her, guiding her and turning her into the person she was meant to be. Deucalion was always a man of vision and Amanda tried to imitate that. Amanda owed a lot to Deucalion so of course, Deucalion trusting them to handle this was a pretty big deal to her.
Before Deucalion and the others were to arrive, Amanda and Nick were to scope out the town of Beacon Hills and see what the Hales were doing. The Hales were the most powerful werewolf family in the county and Deucalion wanted them on his side—everyone did. He had even given Amanda a specific duty: to gain the trust of one of the younger Hales, Derek.
Since school had already started, Deucalion pulled some strings and managed to get Amanda enrolled into Beacon Hills High. Nick could pass as a senior in high school despite his age, but Deucalion wanted him focused on working with the local emissary since Marin never left Deucalion's side. So while Amanda was learning fractions and proper grammar, Nick was going to be working on making sure the packs wouldn't have any trouble once they got to town. Nick considered it a job that wasn't too difficult, but Amanda still pressured him to start it earlier than later, nervous for the what ifs.
Although Amanda didn't know why Deucalion and the others were coming, she knew that it was important. Part of her wondered if it was because of the Argents. They were a family of hunters that extended to the ends of the West Coast. Amanda never had any trouble with the Argents, and she considered herself lucky; from the stories she had been told, the family was hell bent on killing every werewolf they could, which made her frightened for her family.
Amanda and Nick had always been with Deucalion's pack, it was the only family either of them knew. Nick was part of the pack by blood, yet he never inherited the werewolf gene—he would tell anyone who asked that it was a blessing in disguise. But Amanda had been adopted by Deucalion at age five, after he had saved her from two rogue Omegas who had killed her parents. Amanda never really knew why Deucalion brought her into his family, but she wasn't complaining; Deucalion was the only father figure she had ever known. She had become attached to Nick's hip ever since Deucalion brought her home, and not just cause he was the only other human in the house, but because he had made it very clear to Deucalion that he would take care of Amanda like she was his sister. In a way, Amanda and Nick were like siblings, even if they weren't blood related.
Even with being the only humans in the pack, the pair had grown up surrounded by werewolves. Almost everyone they met, sans a few emissaries, was a werewolf. Deucalion had a pretty good sized pack and was friendly with other Alphas that would filter in and out of the pack house whenever they were visiting. While some kids were learning basic US history, Amanda was learning about the history of werewolves and the hierarchy that came with it. Her gym class took place outside where she learned how to defend herself against much bigger werewolves. She fought against each werewolf, getting knocked down more than once, but always getting back up. At first, some of the werewolves didn't want to touch her; she was important to Deucalion—not to mention human, but when she proved that she could hold her own, the werewolves didn't hold back.
Of course, Amanda was still educated, Deucalion made sure of that. He imparted his wisdom onto Amanda, teaching her about the things that mattered and letting her make her own decisions about certain topics. She took Deucalion's vision to heart—wanting to see the good in people and wanting to be a leader who led with her heart instead of her theoretical claws and fangs.
The offer of the bite had come up when Amanda turned fifteen, a month before her and Nick were set to go to Beacon Hills. Deucalion offered it to Amanda, knowing she had had enough experience to make a formal, intelligent decision. Amanda politely declined the bite, citing that she wanted to keep some sense of normalcy in her world. She was human and she was good at it, plus she told Deucalion that fur and claws wouldn't go well with any of her outfits—which made Deucalion laugh.
The two were soon sent on their way to Beacon Hills and for the first time, they were truly by themselves. Usually, they almost always had a beta by their side, but Deucalion insisted that the two go on their own. As nervous as Amanda was, she felt confident with Nick by her side. She was kind of excited at the idea of going to a normal high school and acting like a normal teen for the first time in her life.
Nick pulled into the high school parking lot and kicked the stand down, leaning to the side so he could rest a bit as Amanda climbed off the bike. She undid her helmet and placed it back on the back of the bike, fixing her hair a bit as she walked to the front of the bike.
"You got everything?" Nick asked, straddling the bike. Amanda nodded, smoothing down her outfit. Her stomach rolled and it wasn't from eating the donut on the motorcycle.
"You have your phone? Money? Weapons?"
"Yes, Dad." Amanda rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest as she grinned at Nick. Nick gave her a look before shifting his weight on the bike.
"Just making sure you're good." Nick eyed her for a moment before asking another question, "You got your class schedule and everything?"
"Yes." Amanda rolled forward on her toes, hand on her backpack strap. "Now can I go? Please?" Amanda let out a little whine, making Nick laugh.
"Okay, okay, I get it." Nick put up his hands, "I'm ruining your cool factor."
"You're not." Amanda reached out to lightly punch Nick's arm, "I just want to make sure I'm not late." Amanda made her eyes bigger as Nick laughed again.
"Okay, I'll be here after school to pick you up." Nick moved his hands onto the handlebars of the bike, giving Amanda a smile.
"You're such a dad." Amanda laughed, reaching forward to mess up Nick's hair. Nick pulled back from her, making a face.
"I'm just looking out for my girl." Nick winked at her. Amanda made a face in response.
"Oh, God, I am not your girl." She scoffed out, gagging a bit. Nick laughed and gently shoved her back a bit.
"Get to class."
Amanda nodded, giving Nick a thumbs up as she turned on her toes and headed into the school. Nick watched her go before kicking the stand up and rolling back on the bike, starting it up again and driving out of parking lot. Glancing over her shoulder, Amanda saw Nick riding away and she took in a breath; she was on her own.
Amanda hadn't told Nick about how Deucalion had given her a specific job to do. She had just said something general about getting close to the Hales. Honestly, Amanda wasn't sure why she hadn't told Nick—maybe it had to do with the fact that Nick would try to embarrass her, or insist that he help, or maybe it was because Amanda wanted to prove to herself that she could do it on her own.
So during the first few days in town, while Nick was making getting contacts for Marin, Amanda did a little of her own research on the younger Hale. There wasn't much the new thing called the internet could provide for her, but the library had copies of past newspapers. Amanda found articles about the Beacon Hills High School basketball team, where Derek Hale was listed as one of the teammates. That was all the information Amanda needed and all she was going to get.
During her walk to the entrance of the school, Amanda passed by people sitting at picnic tables, watching her as she went, while others didn't even give her the time of day. She had never been to a real high school until this day. She and Nick had been what could be considered "home-schooled" ; the ever revolving door of werewolves from different parts of the coast taught Amanda how to read, how to solve equations and even biology and sex education. If anything, both her and Nick were well ahead of their learning curve; Deucalion felt that being educated was just as important as learning how to fight. But this was the first time Amanda would ever be in a classroom setting.
She headed up the front walk, letting her backpack swing forward so that she could reach in and grab her Discman and her schedule. She slipped on her headphones, pressing play on the Discman as she unfolded the piece of paper with her other hand. The Spice Girls played through her headphones, giving her a beat to walk through the front doors with, her head down as she looked at the piece of paper. She sensed someone coming down towards her and looked up, moving to the side just in time for someone to pass her. Amanda grinned to herself, proud that she had avoided the collision.
Until she turned and slammed straight into a locker door. She let out a gasp of pain as her head connected with the metal door. Amanda quickly stepped back, pressing her hand to her head and squinting up at the locker owner. He grimaced at her and continued to close his locker door the rest of the way.
"You should really watch where you're going." The guy made a face before walking away from her.
"Thanks for the advice!" Amanda called out after the guy as she rubbed her head, grumbling a little in pain. Great job, Amanda. First day here and you're already the school klutz. She thought to herself.
But the pain quickly subsided and Amanda continued down the hall, looking out for any more open lockers or other things she could run into. Amanda had sustained worse injuries—training with werewolves always proved to leave her as one giant bruise, but the locker incident was more embarrassing than most; people had seen it happen, strangers.
Strangers made Amanda nervous; she didn't like not knowing their motives. Whenever lost Omegas showed up at Deucalion's, Amanda was always wary with what they wanted. It was something she had been working on ever since Deucalion taught her that everyone was a stranger until someone said hello. But Amanda couldn't help the uneasiness that spread over her whenever she met someone knew. That being said, most would call her shy and would underestimate her, but those who knew her, knew that she was far from it. Not necessarily loud, but not the quiet one in the corner and definitely not someone to underestimate.
Lithe, yet lanky, Amanda was always taught to use her speed to her advantage rather than try to hit with impact. If they couldn't catch her, she wouldn't have to fight. Even though she was mostly trained like a hunter, she didn't like to use violence if she didn't need to. Sometimes, she had to throw a few punches, but she always felt guilty about it. Luckily, the werewolves who taught her how to use her senses to help her more than her physical strength.
Of course, she was tested; how could Deucalion be sure she had retained what she was taught if she wasn't tested. This meant that a few nights before Amanda and Nick left for Beacon Hills, Deucalion had a couple of his betas kidnap Amanda in her sleep and bring her to an old, abandoned house. Amanda didn't know what was going on, but she woke up and found herself tied up and gagged without Deucalion or any of his betas anywhere in sight. There was no sign of them; even her sharper than normal human senses couldn't pick up any of them. It was a classic training test, Amanda thought, until she heard Nick's tortured cries and pleas. Hearing him, made her cry out against the gag and tug against the ropes—needing to free herself and get to Nick. That was until Marco, one of Amanda's favorite betas, stepped out of the shadows, a tape player in his hand. He stopped the recording of Nick's pleas and stepped over to her, pulling down the gag.
"What is this!?" Amanda cried out, not knowing if she should be scared or angry.
As much as Amanda loved Marco, he could be a loose canon and act on instinct rather than thinking things through. He always went left when he was supposed to go right, something that Amanda admired and wished she could do, but she was afraid Marco had gone too far left, doing the couple opposite of what Deucalion wanted him to do. Marco crouched down in front of her so he was at eye level with his favorite human.
"We need you to get close to the younger Hale." Marco paused, "Derek." Amanda's brow furrowed.
"Me? What? Why?" Amanda sputtered out, still twisting against the ropes. Marco hadn't tied them tight enough and Amanda could slip one of her small wrists out of the bindings, but she kept her hands behind her back as Marco explained.
"Deucalion believes you will be able to gain the trust of the Hales easier than Nick would." Marco gave her a little half smile. Amanda couldn't help but roll her eyes at that, mostly because it was true.
"Was all this stuff really necessary?" Amanda asked, pulling her hands completely free and raising them up to show Marco, "I mean, I'm missing prime beauty sleep." Marco raised his eyebrows at her before he laughed a bit. He pushed out of his crouch and Amanda went to stand up, only to collapse onto the ground; Marco had tied her ankles together too.
Amanda let out a strangled, frustrated noise as Marco stared down at her, "Just making sure you can handle it." Marco raised his eyebrows, "Your assignment begins now." Amanda tried to muster all of her anger into a glare at Marco, but Marco wasn't phased. He grinned at her before stepping over her as she struggled with the knots, leaving her alone in the warehouse.
At the sound of the bell, Amanda snapped back to reality, glancing around herself to see people heading into classrooms or running past her to get to their classes. Amanda quickly glanced down to try and locate her homeroom on the sheet and match it up with the classroom numbers. It seemed, according to her paper, that she was supposed to find the main office first and have the vice principal escort her to her first period. Amanda spun around on her toes, looking for something that looked like a main office, turning back and looked down the hallway to see a sign pointing to a door on her left. She took in a breath and headed towards the office.
Yanking her headphones down so that they wrapped around her neck, Amanda reached out for the doorknob, pushing the door open and stepping into the office.
"Hi, dear." An older looking secretary greeted her. Amanda walked up to the desk, tapping her fists on the counter, "What can I do for you?" The secretary asked.
"I'm new." Amanda breathed out, "And it says to come here. I'm Amanda. Wolfe." Amanda added on the end, feeling a little flustered and nervous. The older lady gave Amanda a warm smile and gestured to the seats behind Amanda.
"Have a seat, dear. I'll go get the vice principal for you." Amanda nodded, giving the lady a small smile back before heading over to the empty chairs, smoothing her skirt under her as she sat down.
Amanda let her fingers tap on top of the Discman as she waited for the vice principal's office door to open. She let her eyes travel around the room, taking in all the exits and things that could be used if anything were to happen. It was instinct. Her hands then went to her backpack, smoothing down the front pocket as she felt her pocket knife in the small compartment. She felt better knowing that there were ways to get out if the situation went sour. Then she had to remind herself that it was only high school—it couldn't be that bad.
"Amanda?" Amanda looked up at the sound of her name, seeing a man standing with his hands in his suit pants' pockets, "Come on in." He nodded to the open office door and Amanda nodded, slinging her backpack around her shoulder as she stood up. She followed the vice principal into his office, hearing the door close behind her.
"Please, take a seat." The vice principal said, gesturing to the seat in front of his desk. Amanda did as she was told and let her backpack drop to the ground. The vice principal leaned back in his seat, fixing his tie as he watched her.
"So welcome to Beacon Hills." The vice principal started the conversation, "When did you move here?"
"A few days ago." Amanda answered, "It's a nice town."
"Where did you move from?"
"Outside of San Diego." Amanda nodded a little, "I wasn't born there, but it was the longest place we stayed." She gave him a quick, small smile.
"And you live with your uncle?" The vice principal was referring to Deucalion.
He made himself Amanda's legal guardian and put on the forms that she was his niece. Amanda had even changed her last name, wanting no ties to her dead parents—it was Nick's idea to give her the last name Wolfe a small inside joke between the family, since "You know, we're all…you know, werewolves." Nick said with a smirk as Deucalion rolled his eyes. Amanda liked it and it didn't take much to get Deucalion to go along with it.
"Yes. My parents passed away when I was young." Amanda admitted. She saw a look of pity briefly flash across the vice principal's face.
Amanda never had too much trouble talking about her parents; mostly, she didn't remember them. There were a couple of photo albums Deucalion had taken with him and Amanda had looked through them once or twice, but she was too young to really remember her parents. She assumed she didn't have any other family since no one had come looking for her.
"I'm sorry to hear that." He paused, "Maybe Beacon Hills will be a fresh start."
"I'm already beginning to think that." Amanda said, bouncing on her seat a bit, with a grin on her face. She was already beginning to enjoy the small town, from what she saw of it on the back of Nick's motorcycle. It seemed like the perfect town for the Hales to be a part of.
"I'm glad you like it." He nodded at her, "We hope to make this transition nice and easy, especially since you're transferring in the middle of the semester."
"I hope you can see from my past transcripts that I'll be just fine." Amanda leaned forward, raising her eyebrows a bit at the vice principal. Even though the transcripts were faked, Amanda was just as smart as her peers, if not smarter. And she wasn't too keen on people assuming that she would just fall behind because she seemed like just a pretty face.
The vice principal huffed as he glanced over her transcripts, almost like he hadn't before the meeting. Amanda watched him nod to himself and then set the files down, "You'll be just fine here, Amanda."
"I plan to be." Amanda continued to smile at him and the vice principal nodded at her.
"Let me walk you to your first class." The vice principal said, rising from his chair. Amanda followed suit and walked behind him out of the office and then down the hall.
"We hope that you'll get involved here during your time at Beacon Hills. We have a lot of teams and different activities that are always looking for new members…" Amanda let the vice principal chatter on, not paying attention to him. She wasn't exactly looking to join the choir or the pottery club. There wasn't going to be enough time between school work and Deucalion's task—a part of her figured that maybe she should join the cheerleading squad, just so she could get closer to Derek. But that would have to wait until she actually found Derek.
"If you have any questions," Amanda tuned back to what the vice principal was saying. They were standing outside a classroom, "my door is always open." Lie. Amanda thought to herself, but didn't comment; she gave him a small smile and nodded.
The vice principal gave her another warm smile before turning to the door and pushing it open. He stepped inside and Amanda followed, looking around the classroom as she was led to the front. She clasped her hands in front of her, hunching down a bit in order to make herself look less intimidating; she wanted people to like her and being the new girl was going to be hard enough.
"Class, this is your new student, Amanda Wolfe. Please do your best to make her feel welcome." The vice principal said, nodding back at Amanda.
Amanda gave the class a small smile as she looked around the room. She felt her eyes being drawn to a girl sitting in the front of the room. The girl curiously looked back at Amanda and Amanda noticed the small heart shaped mole under her eye before she noticed anything else.
"There's a seat right back there." The teacher said, getting Amanda to look at him and then follow to where he was pointing. Amanda nodded in thanks and made her way to the back of the classroom, sitting down in her seat.
Her eyes flitted over the class, trying to spot out someone who looked like a Hale, but her eyes kept being drawn back to the girl in the front. Amanda reached for her necklace charm, playing with it as she tried to figure out what the girl knew that made Amanda immediately pick her out of the rest of her classmates. Amanda made a little note to find the girl later and try to talk to her; first she had to get through her day of classes.
While Amanda was going through her first day of high school, Nick was back at the apartment, lounging on the couch while the television played some soap opera he wasn't paying attention to. Instead, he was trying to catch popcorn in his mouth and ignoring the sound of Amanda's voice telling him not to procrastinate.
Where Amanda was organized and nervous, Nick couldn't be less worried about finding the Hales' emissary. Marin had given him all the information needed, even telling him that she and the emissary were siblings. If anything, Nick could wait until the day before Deucalion and the packs were to arrive, but he didn't know when they were coming and neither did Amanda.
Sighing, Nick sat up, thinking about how Deucalion could be coming at any possible moment and he was expecting Nick and Amanda to have a handle on what they were tasked to do. It wasn't like Deucalion would punish them if it wasn't done, but Deucalion's disappointment alone was much worse than anything any of the wolves could dole out physically. And even though he never showed it, Nick hated disappointing his dad.
His mom had died during childbirth so Nick was left to be raised by Deucalion and the pack. He felt guilty for what had happened to his mom, even though Deucalion told him time and time again that Nick wasn't to be blamed. Nick hoped that his werewolf gene would kick in so he could show his dad that he could lead the pack if anything were to happen to Deucalion. But the werewolf gene never came and soon Nick realized he was simply and purely human. It hurt his heart, but Nick pushed that feeling down until it went away—or until Deucalion showed up with a small human girl who had one hand in her mouth and one hand in Deucalion's when he was eleven.
Ever since Amanda showed up, it became a little easier for Nick to enjoy being human. Mostly because he had someone to share the feeling of being completely average with, yet Amanda taught him that being human wasn't necessarily the worst thing. As much as Nick taught her, he also found himself learning from the younger girl. And as annoying as she was, Nick had to admit that she was right—he needed to start building the bridge between himself and the Hales' emissary.
Nick found himself straddling his bike in front of a vet's clinic. He glanced down at the piece of paper Marin had given him with the address of the emissary before looking back up at the building—he had the right address.
"Ironic." Nick mumbled to himself as he got off the bike.
The sign said the clinic was open, so Nick pulled open the door, hearing the chimes jingle and signal his entrance. The waiting room was empty, but Nick heard the sound of footsteps approaching and glanced over to see a tidy looking African American man walk from one of the back rooms.
"Can I help you?" He asked, raising his eyebrows at Nick.
After classes were finished, Amanda walked down the hallway, eyes trained on the girl with the birthmark. Amanda was trailing behind her, keeping a nice distance as she tried to figure out how to approach her. This would be her first friend interaction and Amanda knew she needed to make a good impression. The girl seemed like she knew more than met the eye and Amanda wanted to be able to find out what she knew without being weird. So when the girl ducked into the music room at the end of the hall, Amanda knew she could come up with a plan.
Amanda glanced around the hallway, figuring she wouldn't immediately go into the music room. She needed a reason why. Amanda went back to her locker, putting some of her books inside and then shutting it. She still needed to find Derek Hale or a Hale in general. Amanda didn't have any reference pictures; Deucalion wasn't one to make it easy. Beacon Hills High wasn't that big—which meant that the girl in the music room could possibly know who Derek was and where he hung out.
Retracing her steps, Amanda found her way back at the music room. There was the sound of a cello echoing in the music room and Amanda peered inside to see the girl sitting there, moving her bow across the cello and producing some beautiful sounding notes. She wasn't even looking at the music stand. Amanda twisted her fingers together before raising a fist to knock on the opened door. The girl abruptly stopped and looked over to her, eyebrows raised.
"Hey." Amanda gave her a small smile, "Sorry, I was, uh, I was just wondering if you could help me with something."
"I'm in the middle of practicing." The girl stated the obvious.
"No, yeah, I know." Amanda put her hands up, "Uhm, I'm Amanda and I'm new—"
"I'm sure the office can help you with anything you need." The girl abruptly said, turning her attention back to her cello.
"Right, okay." Amanda paused, "I'm sorry, but can you just…I'm trying to find Derek Hale." The girl looked over at Amanda, eyebrows raised.
"Derek Hale?" She seemed confused, "Why are you looking for him?" Amanda opened her mouth a little, not knowing how to respond. She hadn't thought this all the way through. Amanda went with a shrug, a noncommittal answer. The girl studied her for a moment before shaking her head.
"If you stick around, you'll probably hear him."
"Hear him?"
"Yeah." The girl took in a breath, "Him and the rest of the basketball team sometimes practice out in the hall."
"Don't they have, like, a court for that?" Amanda felt her eyebrows furrow. She went to go play with her necklace as she watched the girl roll her eyes and nod.
"Apparently they like the hallway better."
"That's stupid." Amanda let her weight fall onto her left foot.
"Tell me about it." The girl blew out a breath, "Sorry, I didn't mean to rant or whatever." The girl glanced at Amanda before looking away and then back again.
"No, it's okay." Amanda shook her head.
"I'm Paige, by the way." Paige gave her a small smile, "We have English together." Amanda smiled at that. Paige did remember, it just seemed like she was a little wary of new people, just like Amanda was the same way.
"Amanda." Amanda introduced herself to Paige's nod,
"I know." Paige raised her eyebrows a bit, "You were introduced earlier this morning."
"Right, yeah." Amanda laughed a little, "Sorry." She went to scratch her temple, "Uh, it's nice to meet you." Amanda nodded at Paige, "And thanks for answering my question. I'll let you get back to your cello." Paige gave her a grateful smile and turned her attention back to the sheet of music.
Amanda took a step back, turning on her heel to walk away from the music room. She pulled her Discman out of her backpack and slipped the headphones on over her head. Amanda let the same song play that was on earlier, play as she walked down the hall. There were a few people left milling around in the hallway, but it was mostly empty. Amanda asked a random person where the gym was, letting them point her in the right direction. She headed down the stairs, turning left and facing the open double doors.
The sound of basketballs hitting the floor and sneakers squeaking could be heard over Amanda's music. She kept her headphones on, but paused the song, walking on the sidelines by the bleachers. The team was running some type of drill—some were wearing red pinnies and others wearing blue. Amanda took her time walking to the other side of the gym, listening and watching the basketball team.
"Hale! I'm open!" Amanda let her eyes travel over to where there was a guy around her age holding a basketball and looking around the court.
"Bingo." Amanda whispered to herself. She only saw the back of Derek's head, so she paused, waiting for him to turn around when he had to run down the court.
Derek's pass was intercepted by one of the other guys and so he and the rest of his team went running to the opposite side of the court. He glanced over to the bleachers to see a tall, lanky girl intently watching the team. It wasn't uncommon for people to watch the team practice after school, but there was something about her that caught Derek's attention. He had a feeling he had seen this girl before.
Since Derek was pretty much focusing all of his senses on Amanda—which she was aware of, the rebound smacked him right in the head. And that's when Derek remembered where he knew the girl from: she had run into his locker door earlier in the day. While the rest of his teammates laughed at his pain—which subsided in less than a minute, Derek watched the girl laugh to herself before turning and walking out of the gym. Derek shook his head, getting back into the scrimmage.
Amanda continued to laugh to herself as she walked down the hall. She did have to admit that she felt a little bad for making Derek not realize the ball was coming. He would've if Amanda hadn't messed with his senses. But he had been staring at her a little too long, plus Amanda figured it was a little payback for earlier when she had hit her head on his locker door and he was mean to her about it.
She felt her phone buzz in her bag and took it out to see Nick's name on the screen. She flipped open the phone, pressing the green button and holding it to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Where are you?" Nick greeted her, sounding worried.
"At school."
"I've been outside waiting for you. I thought you were done school at three?"
"I am." Amanda went up the stairs and turned so she could go down the hall that led to the double door exit. "I was trying to be normal. Make some friends." Nick let out a laugh as Amanda pushed through the doors. She saw Nick leaning against his motorcycle and snapped her phone shut at the sight of him.
"You should've called." Nick raised an eyebrow at her.
"Sorry, Nickel." Amanda gave him a apologetic smile. Nick sighed at her and waved his hand at her, indicating that she was forgiven. Amanda ran her fingers through her hair and sighed before motioning at Nick, "Come on, I have homework to do."
"Ah, the toll of being a high school student." Nick straddled the motorcycle, letting Amanda swing her leg over the back and wrap her arms around him.
"Hey, what'd you do all day?" Amanda asked.
"Took your advice." Nick grinned, revving the engine before kicking up the kickstand and letting the brake go.
Amanda raised her eyebrows and gave a wide smile to the back of Nick's neck as she held onto Nick; she was extremely happy Nick had actually gotten a head start on finding the emissary. It seemed like both of them had a productive first day on the job.
A/N: Tell me all of your thoughts please and thanks!