"Oh no!"

Stiles leaned around his open locker door, "Erica? Everything okay?"

Next to him, Erica was searching her locker, frown on her face. "No… not okay…"

"What's wrong?" He hadn't really seen Erica in such a frantic state before, she was usually really organized. She'd only lost her homework once and she had been in a tizzy then too.

Erica frowned and leaned against her locker, "I left my book at home… and the test is today! Miss Thompson lets us do open book tests and I forgot my book at home!"

"Oh, you have Miss Thompson? Hold on," Stiles quickly rummaged through his messy locker, producing a book. "You're reading Kindred too right? That's the book our test was on…"

"Oh my gosh, you're a lifesaver!" Erica said, brightening as she took the book. "Thank you!"

"Hey, what are locker buddies for? And the test isn't that hard, I promise, I have her for second period," Stiles told her before closing his locker. "Good luck!" And just like that he was gone, off to his next class.

Erica sighed, hugging the book to her chest… she wanted to be more than just locker buddies… Stiles was so funny and cute, but he didn't even give her a second glance. But at least they did talk- having adjacent lockers was one good thing about this year. And he never mentioned that damned video, or her Epilepsy in general. He was sweet, genuinely sweet, she could just tell. Maybe one day…

Erica's 'one day' came sooner than she thought, in the form of Derek Hale. He found her at the hospital and convinced her to accept the Bite. Erica felt powerful- sexy even! She couldn't even explain it… just knowing that she had this strength now, the heightened senses, it just filled her with confidence! So she went out and bought all new outfits- clothes that she had never imagined having the courage to wear. And boy did everyone notice! It was just like Derek promised! Boys (and some girls) were dropping books in the hallway as she walked by, in awe of her new beauty. Even Jackson was gaping at her, slack-jawed, it felt amazing! She couldn't wait to hear what Stiles had to say!

"Hey Stiles," she purred out, opening her locker, hoping that her nervousness wasn't showing.

"Hey Eri- holy hell! I… um, hi," he finally managed to squeak out. His heart was hammering in his chest and his system flooded with arousal. Perfect, just the reaction she'd been hoping for!

"That's um, a new look for you, it's um, very, uh, WOW to say the least. Is that a leather jacket?" Stiles asked, tripping over his words. Wow, she probably thought he was a complete idiot, drooling over her like all the other boys… how typical! Stiles wanted to be better than that though… she deserved better than that…

"Yea, finally decided to put on a little makeup before school, try out some of my new outfits- I finally spent my birthday money on something. Do you like the new me?" Erica asked, smiling and spinning in a quick circle.

"You're uh, quite the looker- not uh, that you weren't before, um I didn't… uh…"

She laughed and rolled her eyes, "You aren't going to hurt my feelings Stiles, I was invisible before, I know that. I was shy and afraid to call attention to myself because I thought people were going to laugh at me. But I realized something… I don't give a shit. I want to look nice, I want to feel sexy!"

"Well, you've definitely achieved that," Stiles told her with a smile. "I'm glad you're coming out of your shell. Don't let the guys pressure you into anything though! You kick their ass if they try anything you don't want them too."

"I will, don't worry," she answered, flashing him a predatory smile. Stiles had no idea what she was capable of now. As Stiles looked her over again, his appreciation of her new look evident- this was it! Stiles would surely ask her out now! But when Stiles closed his locker and just offered her a wave, Erica felt crushed. Why… hadn't he made a move? Surely she compared to Lydia now! Sure… she wasn't a redhead but she was a bombshell in her own right! She could offer Stiles a whole helluva lot more than Lil Ms. Popular could! Erica slammed her locker shut and stormed off to her class- Stiles was an idiot!

The next few days went much the same way, Stiles not acting any different towards her, no matter what new outfit she wore! All the other boys noticed so why hadn't he? It wasn't fair! At first she thought that maybe he was waiting to make sure she didn't have some other guy in mind- and Erica had turned away all the boys that approached her… Did he need to work up the courage? But no… he hadn't made any move to ask her out. Even now as she stared at him while he looked through his locker, he was just… oblivious! Erica slammed her locker shut, causing him to jump.

"Whoa, hey, the locker didn't do anything to you…" he mumbled, surprised as seeing her so mad.

"Damn you Stiles!"

"What'd I do?" he cried out.

"Nothing! And that's the problem! Why haven't you noticed me!"

Stiles was so confused, "I've noticed you- how can I not notice you? You look amazing!"

"They why haven't you asked me out? Am I still not good enough for you- is that it? Will I ever be good enough?!" Erica cried out.

"I… you…" Stiles ran his hand through his hair… oh. "I didn't know you were waiting for me… I swear! God I'm an idiot… I.. even before your new look, I had gone back and forth with myself about asking you out… But you were my locker buddy and I didn't want things to get awkward between us if for some reason you didn't want to be more than friends… No one… no one has ever seemed interested in being more than 'just friends' with me… And then when you got your new look I thought it would be such a cop out! I didn't want to seem like all those other guys that was only interested in you now because of your looks! You deserve better than that. I thought you'd just think I was the same as everyone else and that you wouldn't even want to be my friend anymore… I didn't want to be 'that' guy, you know? Erica… crap, I'm sorry!"

Erica smiled as his words sunk in- he did like her! His sweet side had just worked against him this time- he didn't want to look shallow. But of course Erica would have known that he wasn't into her for that! They talked comic books all the time, they had mutual interests. She had just thought that maybe if she looked nicer… that he'd be willing to be seen with her, that that had been the reason he'd never asked her out. Talk about a huge miscommunication! So she slipped him a piece of paper, "Pick me up at 7- we're going to the movies."

Stiles unfolded the paper and saw that she'd written her address down for him; he looked up at her in surprise. "Yea, um okay! I'll be there!"

Satisfied, Erica spun on her heel and walked away, not wanting him to see just how excited she was, the huge smile on her face a dead giveaway. She couldn't hold in a giggle though when she heard Stiles flailing his arms in celebration- Stiles was just so cute sometimes!