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Summary: Veda's parents are hiding something; she is sure of that. After dragging her all over the country, like their on the run, they settle down in Beacon Hills where apparently everyone has a secret. She is tired of the lies and excuses and is determined to find the truth. As always, it is easier said than done. IsaacXOC
Teen Wolf – Reinventing Your Exit
Chapter 2 :: Stranger in a Strange Land
It was finally Monday; the sky was dark and cloudy with the promise of rain. Veda stepped out of her mom's SUV and watched the students file into the school building in front of her. "Have a good day hunny!" Her mother stated as she closed the door. She heard the vehicle pull away. 'Well guess I can't turn back now.'
This was always her least favorite part about moving all the time. Even though 'this time things are different' she couldn't help but think about how her parents will probably pack up in a few months. Making friends would just be a waste of time and she was awkward with people. After all, the last friend she made was when she lived in New Jersey. Veda smiled at the memory of the young girl with brown curly hair that liked to go on the swing set with her. Pushing the memories away she looked at the building again, it looked harmless but high school was usually anything but that.
Her shoulders slumped in defeat and she took a deep breath. 'Dad said positive thinking.' She straightened her shoulders again and held her head high as she started toward the school. She noticed that some people were already staring which she hated but ignored it. 'Can't people mind their own business?'
Just as she reached the doors she heard a cry of her name. "Veda!" She turned around, confused that someone knew her name. The voice came from the crowd again before the brown eyed boy stood out to her. "Wait up!" She had momentarily forgotten that Scott said he went to the same school as her when she met him on Friday. Once the boy reached her he gave her a toothy smile. "How are you?" They stepped into the building. "Good, I suppose." She answered.
"You suppose?" He laughed. "It's not that bad here. Why don't you come to my locker and I'll take you to the main office?" He offered. She weighted her options of wandering alone or not before nodding her head. "That would be helpful. Thank you." Scott frowned at her monotone voice and sighed.
The two made their way to his locker where a second boy was waiting. He looked pretty upset. "Hey Stiles. No sign of Lydia yet?" Scott questioned. The boys' shoulders slumped more, if that was even possible. "No and dad made me come to school today…" He trailed off as he looked up and noticed Veda standing next to Scott. He held her gaze for longer than a standard moment which made her raise a brow. Scott opened his locker. "Well if it makes you feel better I can hang after school. I don't have work." By now Veda was looking away from the boy, biting her lip nervously. 'Could he stop staring? It's rude.' She thought to herself. The boy shook his head. "Wait, since when do you have off Monday nights?" He looked back at Scott now.
Scott closed his locker and leaned against it. "When Deaton hired Veda here for extra help." He shifted toward the strawberry brunette girl. "She just moved here with her parents." The boy turned to her and grinned. "Stiles Stilinksi; professional video gamer and Scott's best friend" She smiled back. "Veda Devoto; socially awkward sandwich artist." Stiles laughed. "That is the best title so far. The sandwiches better taste as good as they look." Veda chuckled. "I didn't say I was a cook, just an artist." Stiles laughed again. "I like her. Can we keep her?"
"I'm gonna walk her to the front office if you want to join us." Scott stated. The three of them continued down the hallway, Stiles talking animatedly about someone named Lydia but Veda tried not to listen as it wasn't her business. She still noticed some stares as she glanced around the hallways. She wouldn't lie Beacon Hills had some handsome guys and really pretty girls. 'Must be something in the water.' She thought to herself jokingly. It wasn't long until they were at the front office; Stiles bid them a 'later guys' and called after a boy named Danny. She looked over at Scott to see him staring at a dark haired girl, who smiled at him and kept walking by. Veda was pretty sure there was some kind of story there by the smiles on their faces. She shrugged her shoulders and walked into the office.
The wait in the office wasn't long. Veda received an 'instant' photo id that took five minutes to print, a school map and her schedule. Scott said she was lucky to have the same lunch as him and his friends and they had chemistry together with a few friends. She apparently also had math with Stiles and possibly history with 'unfortunately' Jackson as Scott put it. The two teenagers received hall passes for being late and Scott walked her to history. "I'll see you third period." Scott smiled and departed to his own class.
Veda frowned and thought about going to find a bathroom to hide in. She really hated when people stared at her, you think after doing this all these years she would be used to it. She opened the door, disrupting the class – which of course caused everyone to stare. She walked over to the teacher and gave the woman the hall pass. The lady took the pink slip and smiled after reading it. "Welcome to Beacon Hills High Ms. Devoto. My name is Mrs. Phillips." She smiled and turned to the class. "Class this is Veda Devoto. Would you like to say anything to the class?" She asked.
Veda wanted to die. 'Not really.' She deadpanned in her head. "Nice to meet you all." She blinked twice and turned back to the teacher waiting for some kind of instruction. Mrs. Phillips had her sit behind the boy Danny that Stiles knew. He raised his hand to point himself out. With all the eyes still on her, she made her way down the aisle; stepping over two backpacks that were in the way. Once her behind hit the chair she let out a small sigh of relief and looked around, everyone's attention was back at the teacher who continued with lecture. Well all except one pair of dark brown eyes staring at her. "Nice shoes." The girl looked slightly nervous. "Uh, thanks." Veda mentally face palmed. She definitely needed to work on her people skills. "The name is Erica Reyes. Sorry to bother you." The girl whispered. Veda shook her head. "Not a bother." Veda cursed herself in her head. 'Now you look like a jackass.' She gave what she hoped was a friendly smile. "It's nice to meet you." Erica smiled back and went back to her note taking.
Class wasn't so bad and it went by pretty fast. As the bell rang Veda gathered her things and turned to Erica. "Hey Erica, you can totally say no but I was wondering, if your next class was near mine, would you want to walk together." The blonde's eyes snapped up to hers. "I-I don't think you want to do that." Veda frowned, 'I knew I was awkward with people'. "Oh, I'm sorry. It was rude of me to ask, you probably have friends you walk with." Veda stood from her seat and began to walk away. "W-wait," Erica called out. "It's not that. I'm not exactly popular here and I don't want you to ruin your image here before you even had time to establish yourself." Erica was looking at her shoes and Veda blinked rapidly three times. "Excuse me?" Erica flinched at her sharp voice. "If people are going to judge me by who I want to talk to then that's their own problem. People need to grow up and stop being so childish over the most stupid shit. Erica I would love to walk in the hallways with you, so as long as you want I'd love to keep you company." Veda, now determined to make Erica her friend, smiled at the shocked expression on Erica's face.
"I would like that very much." The brown eyed girl stated. "Good! Let's be on our way and you can point out those judgmental jerks along the way so I know who I should be wary of. I'll make my own decision of them but I'd like to know who to look out for." Veda started for the door and Erica rushed to her side. "That I can do."
Second period was just was quick as the first. Stiles saved her a spot, Scott must have told him in the hallway or something. The boy was still as out of it as he was this morning but he did help Veda figure out some problems that she was having with the classwork. Veda felt bad because he seemed to extremely worried about this Lydia girl, which Veda decided not to ask about for once again it was none of her business.
Stiles offered to walk to chemistry with her as they were in the same class. Once again she was introduced to the class; same quick 'nice to meet you all' came from her lips before she was asked to find a seat. Since Scott and Stiles were already lab partners and Erica was also sitting next to someone already she took her spot next to a curly haired boy. Taking her seat, she turn slightly to her partner. 'Don't be awkward. Just say hi and smile.' She coached herself. "Hope you don't mind me sitting here." She whispered to him. The boy looked at her timidly. "No it's fine." What was up with these people she sat near, they were all shy or upset? "As you already know I'm Veda, it's nice to meet you." She smiled at him in hopes that he would see that she wasn't a horrible monster. "I'm Isaac Lahey, nice to meet you too." He smiled nervously. She noticed a healing bruise under his left eye and fought back a frown.
"Mr. Lahey is there something that you would like to share with the entire class or can your whispers to Ms. Devoto wait until after class?" Mr. Harris, the chemistry teacher questioned from the front of the class. Veda immediately disliked how Isaac was talked to. "I'm sorry Mr. Harris that was my fault. I was asking Isaac what chapter we were on as you didn't exactly tell me, leaving me to be a mind reader." Okay so maybe she should watch her temper and maybe that's not the best way to talk to a teacher as now all eyes were on her. "Ms. Devoto you should know I don't take to sharp tongues too kindly in my class. You'll be landing yourself in detention if you can't keep your attitude in check. Do you understand?"
Veda bit her tongue knowing her parents wouldn't be too happy if she got a detention on her first day. "Yes sir." She answered in a slightly mocking voice which the teacher glared at her but let it go at that and turned back to the chalkboard. "Pretentious prick." Veda muttered under her breath which caused Isaac to chuckle a little. Veda looked at the boy and smirked. "Well I'm right." She whispered at him. Isaac nodded and gave her a real smile before looking back at his book. It was in that moment that the gray eyed girl decided that she liked Isaac's smile and was sure it wasn't something she would see a lot due to his shy nature.
Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, chemistry seemed to drag on. There was a small lab which gave Veda some time to talk with Isaac. She learned he was on the lacrosse team, which was apparently the sport for this school. He insisted she came to a practice or a game once she told him she never watched a game before. When the bell rang he looked slightly annoyed like he wasn't done talking with her. "V-Veda?" He questioned nervously as she gathered her things. "Would you like to sit together at lunch?" She frowned slightly. "I'd love to but I told Scott I'd sit with him this morning when I got my schedule. Do you want to join me?" He shook his head. "No, that's fine." He looked upset. "Can I sit with you tomorrow? I would really like to." She asked, not liking the look of disappointment on his face. "That'd be great." He smiled at her again. "Good, then it's a deal. Don't forget." She grinned teasingly.
Just when Veda thought that making friends was going pretty well she was suddenly overwhelmed in the lunch room. Scott dragged her to the table he sat at and introduced her to Allison, the girl she saw in the hallway that morning. There was also Danny from her first period sitting next to a boy named Jackson. Stiles sat with them as well. At first it wasn't too bad, they asked her simple questions about her likes and dislikes, where she moved from, and what her parents did for work. During this lunch period Veda decided she didn't like Jackson very much, he scoffed at a bunch of her answers and made himself seem much more important that he was. He actually left the table in annoyance and didn't return. Shortly after that the group began to talk about that Lydia girl again but Veda could tell they were keeping details out and it was becoming awkward for her to be there. "I'm going to go see some people I met in my other classes. I hope you guys don't mind." She excused herself from the table and looked around the room.
She couldn't locate Isaac at all and gave up looking after a minute as her eyes landed on a table where a student from her math class was sitting alone. Shrugging her shoulders she made her way over. "Uh, excuse me. My name is Veda, I'm pretty sure we have second period math class together. Do you mind if I take a seat." The boy watched her for a moment and nodded to an open chair. "Help yourself, the name is Vernon Boyd. Just call me Boyd though." She nodded back. "Okay, will do." She started a small chat with Boyd but he was even quieter than Erica and Isaac combined. She mentally sighed. 'Why do I keep picking the quiet ones to try and be friends with? Maybe it's because I'm normally quiet myself. Guess I'm drawn to those most like me.'
The rest of school flew pass Veda, mostly because all she really wanted to do was go home after lunch. It was nice to see she had gym/ health with mostly everyone she became friends with, even though the coach was a little insane. At least he was the most fun class she had that day. Isaac and Boyd were also in her English class which brought a smile to her face. Erica was in German with her and both of them agreed that it was a hard language to learn and Veda was actually nervous since they were ahead of her than her previous school. In last period, photography, she met this guy Matt who had this really awesome camera. He showed her some really great photos of the school events and the lacrosse team, which he was also on. As she looked at the pictures she noticed just how many of her new friends were actually on the team.
Her father was there to pick her up when the final bell rang. Erica walked out of the building with her, which her father was more than happy about and started questioning her first day as soon as she got in the car. They talked the entire ride to work about Erica, Scott, Stiles, Allison and Isaac. She wasn't too sure where she stood with Boyd, he seemed happy to not be sitting alone but he wasn't a talker. With a kiss on the cheek she hopped out of the car once they reached Beacon Hills Animal Clinic. "I'll let you know what time I get off as soon as I know." She waved goodbye as he drove off.
"Hello Veda; how was school?" Dr. Deaton asked as she hung up her hoodie. "Pretty well - made a few friends." The veterinarian nodded at her. "Very good." He pointed to the appointment book. "We don't have any appointments made for tonight yet so in the meantime I'm going to show you how to care for some of the animals, such as distributing medicines and some cleaning."
"Whatever you want me to do boss man." She stated. "After that I will show you how to help your dog with her therapy stretches for her leg." He added on. "Did you pick out a name yet?"
"Actually I did this morning before school. I want to name her Luna."
Work wasn't bad, there was an emergency call where a small Labrador puppy got into a purse and ate the top of an Advil container off and a large dosage of the headache medicine. Dr. Deaton had the dog eat some charcoal to have it vomit it back up, which was unpleasant. Dr. Deaton also gave the woman some tips about puppy proofing her house as she just got the dog last week. Veda hung out with Luna as the vet talked her through the leg stretches that the canine needed to do to help build up the muscle she has lost during her recovery. By the time she got out of work the rain the clouds promised this morning fell from the sky drenching her as she ran to her parents' vehicle.
The boxes in her room that she refused to unpack made her frown. Her day went so well she almost forgot that her life could be picked up and moved again shortly. She didn't like the thought as she got ready for bed. This was the first time in years that she made, what she kept calling, friends this easily. She liked the people; they were so nice to her. She didn't think she'd be as talkative as she was and it surprised herself. Maybe this was a sign that it REALLY is different this time. As she pulled the covers over her body, she stared at the rain on her windows and hoped tomorrow would be as good as today. Little did she know how different tomorrow would be.
A/N: I know it's shorter than the previous chapter but I feel like here is a good spot to stop. What did you think? Please review. =) Also don't expect all updates to be this quick. I'll do my best but no promises. I work full time, got to school; also I'm planning a wedding and trying to move.