"Now, I'm impressed." The vice principal said as he leaned back in his chair with a sigh. "Twice in the same day." Leah shrugged and threw back another handful of M&Ms from Ms. Richard's desk into her mouth.
"What can I say?" She asked around a mouthful of M&Ms
"And it seems that it's all because of a certain Chemistry teacher." The vice principal continued, folding his hands in front of him. Leah stayed silent. "According to the slip, you weren't paying attention and then insulted his sex life."
"Or lack thereof." Leah mumbled under her breath, glancing away from the vice principal as he slid the slip back to her.
"I have to say, Miss Kane, this is a new one for you. Especially considering your brother and all his achievements in this school." Leah looked up at him and felt her eyes narrow.
"Well, we aren't talking about my brother. We're talking about me, right?"
"Right." He sighed, refolding his hands in front of him, "You know I'm going to have to do something about this."
"What? Detention for a week? Just lay it on me." Leah settled back against the chair, letting her arms drop over the arms of the chair in a relaxed manner.
"No lacrosse." The vice principal said with a little uptick of his chin. Leah felt her jaw drop.
"Excuse me?!" Leah shouted, pushing forward in her seat, "You—you can't do that!" She sputtered out, not knowing how to argue her point
"Yes, I can, Miss Kane." The vice principal sat back in his seat, folding his hands on his lap, "You've shown me that you obviously can't handle the responsibilities that come with being on the lacrosse team."
"What?! This is t—total—bullshit!" Leah slumped back in her seat, "You can't forbid me from trying out." She grumbled, looking away from the the vice principal.
"And why not? You were late this morning, you ditched Allison, and then proceed to make crude sex jokes about Mr. Harris' sex life." He counted off each one with his fingers. Leah felt her jaw click she shook her head a bit. The vice principal looked at her as Leah gathered up her thoughts, trying not to explode.
"What am I supposed to do then?" She asked after a moment, looking back at him, "I've been practicing all break. There are no responsibilities for the lacrosse team. All you have to do is show up, practice, show up to the games, and keep your GPA higher than a two point zero. And if you read from my transcript, I've done all of that." She stared at the vice principal, daring him to retort. When he didn't, Leah continued, "I'm sorry about Allison. I was wrong in ditching her just like I was wrong with Harris." Leah paused and slid forward on her seat, raising a hand, "But for the record, I showed Allison to her French class because she was so lost. If it wasn't for me she still probably be…" The vice principal cut her off with a look, "Please, please don't take away lacrosse." Leah licked her lips and sat back in her seat again for a moment, watching the vice principal.
The vice principal studied her for a moment, letting Leah think the worst, before he sighed. He reached out and picked the slip up, glancing at it for a moment before looking back at Leah.
"Fine." He gave in, much to Leah's surprise. Leah let out a small cheer, only to be cut off by the vice principal again, "But!" He stopped her cheering, "You are on probation. You can go to tryouts, but you are on the bench until further notice." Leah weighed her options, making a face before agreeing with the vice principal.
"Yes. Totally. Completely. One hundred percent." Leah bobbed her head in a nod, grinning at the vice principal. "Thank you." Leah let out a sigh of relief, shoving a hand through her hair as she reached down for her backpack.
"No more sex jokes." The vice principal pointed at her and Leah nodded in response.
"Yes, sir." Leah saluted him as she got to her feet, turning and hurrying out of his office before he could take back his decision.
Leah let the office door shut behind her as she walked out into the hall. She went down the steps as the bell rang, becoming engulfed in fellow students as they all hurried to their lockers and various classes. Leah spotted Scott among the crowd and elbowed a few people to get to him.
"Hey!" Leah grinned at him, getting Scott to look down at her.
"There you are!" Scott returned the smile, "I thought you were suspended or something."
"Nah, they could never get rid of me." Leah made a face, "And I wouldn't go quietly."
"Very true." Scott nodded as they walked into the cafeteria for lunch. "So? Did you get detention?"
"Worse." Leah grimly said as they got into line, "I'm on probation."
"Probation from what?" Stiles butted his head in, getting into line behind Leah. Leah glanced over her shoulder at him.
"From lacrosse." She miserably said, waiting for Stiles' gleeful reaction.
She didn't have to wait long; Stiles immediately reacted, face breaking out into a wide smile as he grinned at Leah before looking at Scott.
"Wow, that's—that's some well deserved karma if I ever saw it."
"Stiles…" Scott warningly said, not wanting the two to fight again.
"Uhm, no it's not!" Leah scoffed.
"Oh, yes it is." Stiles started to explain as he took a basket of chicken fingers out from under the hot lamps and put it on his tray, "The universe hates you so much that it took away the only thing you really cared about because you're a bitch."
Leah glared at him in silence as she paid for her lunch. Stiles laughed to himself as he took in Leah's reaction while Scott, who was a few steps away, did a double take and watched as Leah stared at Stiles before she flipped his tray over, making all of his food that he had just paid for, spill onto the floor.
"Awh, what the hell!?" Stiles cried out as Leah cocked an eyebrow at him and walked away. "This is exactly what I'm talking about!" Stiles yelled out after Leah, getting a middle finger in response. Stiles let out a huff before he dropped to his knees to help Scott pick up the food.
Leah walked out of the cafeteria with her tray of food. She sat down on the wide window ledge, putting her tray in front of her so she could reach out and eat her food.
"Leah?" Leah looked up at the sound of Allison's voice.
The new girl was standing above her, looking down at Leah with an amused expression, "What are you doing?"
"…Eating lunch?" Leah answered, waving a chicken finger in the air for emphasis. Allison gave a little laugh.
"No, I can see that, but why aren't you eating in the cafeteria?"
"Oh! Because I'm mad at someone and I don't want to see them." Leah made a face and Allison nodded.
"Understandable." She scrunched up her features and shrugged, "Do you mind if I join you?"
"Oh, no, go for it." Leah motioned to the space across from her.
Allison dropped her backpack on the ground and pulled out a brown paper bag lunch. She folded herself on the window ledge and grinned at Leah again.
"How's your day been?" Leah asked, trying to make conversation and put in a little effort.
"Uhm, good. I mean, I just came from French. Thanks again for helping me find it." Allison talked as she reached into her paper bag, pulling out an apple.
"Yeah, no problem." Leah nodded.
The girls sat in silence for a moment before Allison spoke up again, "Hey, so, Lydia invited me to watch the lacrosse tryouts with her after school." Leah raised her eyebrows as she looked up at Allison, "I was wondering if you wanted to come with." Allison offered.
"I would, but I'm actually trying out for the lacrosse team." Leah shrugged as Allison's eyebrows went up.
"Oh, seriously?"
"Yeah, well, I mean, I'm on probation, but I can tryout so…"
"Might as well." Allison finished for her. Leah nodded and Allison grinned at her, "I think that's really cool."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, girl power, you know?" Allison waved around her apple.
"Anything boys can do, we can do better." Leah grinned at Allison as she gave a little laugh in response.
The rest of the lunch period, the girls chatted about Allison's time in San Francisco and about Leah's opinions about Beacon Hills. They began to learn a little about each other and for some reason, Leah was happy Allison was so easy to talk to, but she was confused about why Allison chose to try to be friends with her.
The bell rang, causing the girls to gather up their trash as students streamed from the cafeteria. Leah spotted Scott and Stiles coming out; Stiles was animatedly talking to Scott and Scott glanced over to her. Leah gave him a little wave and Scott caught sight of Allison, quickly looking away and back at Stiles. Leah rolled her eyes at his antics; he obviously had a crush on Allison.
"So I'll see you at tryouts?" Allison asked, getting Leah's attention.
"Yes." Leah nodded, "I'll be the girl."
"Got it." Allison laughed a little. She got off of the window ledge and gave Leah a little wave before disappearing into the crowd of people.
The rest of the day passed by without incident and soon Leah found herself heading to the girls' locker room to get changed for tryouts. The girls' locker room was just as quiet as it was in the beginning of the day. No one used it unless there was a gym class going on. Leah wasn't allowed to get changed in the boys' locker room for obvious reasons, but she didn't really mind. It gave Leah the chance to be alone and gather her thoughts before going to the boys' locker room or out to the field.
Leah exchanged her regular bra for a sports bra and pulled on her under armor before shimming into her shorts. She sat down on the bench to pull on her socks and cleats, her helmet was at the bottom of the bag and she quickly braided her hair, flinging it over her shoulder, pushing her baby hairs back with some hair tape. Her regular clothes were shoved into her backpack and put back into her locker.
The sound the locker door made when Leah slammed it shut echoed around the empty room. Leah grabbed her lacrosse stick and helmet, slinging her duffel bag over her shoulder as she walked back out to the hall. The hallways were emptying, some going to watch the tryouts while others went home. Lacrosse was a pretty big deal at Beacon Hills High, so it was no surprise that most kids followed Leah out to the field to watch the lacrosse tryouts.
Leah climbed up the hill, spotting two familiar bodies. Scott and Stiles were a little further ahead of her and got to the field before her. She let out a breath as her bag dropped from her hand, next to the bench.
"What's up sluts?" Leah asked, getting the boys' attention. Scott grinned at her while Stiles gave her the stink eye.
"Aren't you on probation?" Stiles asked, "Why are you here?"
"Kane!" The three of the them heard their coach, Finstock, yell out. All of them looked up to see him storming over. The boys stepped back as he came over, leaving Leah front and center to receive Finstock's anger. Leah pulled on her pads as Finstock got to where she was standing.
"What's up, Coach?" Leah asked, tilting her head to the side, her hands on her hips.
"Wanna tell me why I was told to bench you?"
"Not really." Leah shrugged and made a face, "I'm just here to try out, Coach."
"Right. Well, you're first so….let's go!" He blew the whistle in Leah's face, who grinned at him.
"My pleasure." Leah looked over to Scott, who gave her a thumbs up. Stiles still had a stink eye look on his face. "Watch and learn, boys." Leah said before pulling on her helmet.
She jogged out to the center of the field, the rest of the players lining up behind her. Leah dropped her stick to the ground so she could yank her gloves up over her hands before picking the stick back up.
There were a few whistles and catcalls as Leah rolled the lacrosse stick in her hands. Leah smirked to herself; knowing it was her fellow teammates giving her a hard time. She looked around the bleachers, eyes landing on Allison and Lydia climbing up to an empty bench. Allison caught sight of Leah and gave her a little wave.
"First tribute, eh?" Leah heard from behind her along with feeling the slap of someone's hand against her shoulder. She looked over her shoulder to see Danny smirking at her.
"Gotta set the bar low so we can feel better about ourselves." Jackson quipped as he walked by. Leah's eyes narrowed at him.
"We'll see about that." Leah said under her breath.
"Oh, leave her alone." Kyle Farris, a junior, quipped out. Leah turned to see him walking to get into line, "She's ten times better than you'll ever be, Whittemore. And more good looking." Kyle added as an after thought. Leah rolled her eyes as Kyle winked at her.
"Kane!" Coach's voice made Leah turn back around. "We haven't got all day!"
"The princess just needs to make sure her manicure isn't ruined." Jackson called out from behind her.
"Hey, Jackson, shut up!" Leah said, over her shoulder, raising her eyebrows at him before turning and falling into a crouch. She straightened out of her crouch as she realized that Scott was in the goal. His hands were tight around the goalie's stick and Leah could tell he was a little nervous.
Leah shook her head and crouched back down; it didn't matter, Scott's stance looked ready and it would be just like when they were practicing over the break. Leah blew out a breath and kicked off into a run. She scooped up the ball in her cradle and flicked her wrist, sending the ball flying, right to Scott.
The ball thwacked against Scott's helmet, making him stumble back. Leah's eyes went wide and she brought her gloved hand to cover her mouth on instinct. There were laughs around the field as Scott shook his head, disorientated. Leah dropped her stick and ran over to the goal, ready to apologize to her best friend.
"I'm so sorry." Leah hurriedly said as she got to him.
"I'm fine." Scott quickly responded, "It's okay."
"You looked ready!" Leah cried out, raising her shoulders up as she defended herself.
"I got distracted." Scott shook his head, "I'm okay, Leah." His eyes met her. "Seriously." Leah stared at him, doubtful, before Finstock's whistle made her jump a bit.
"Kane! Get your ass out of the way!" Leah nodded and reached out to pat Scott's shoulder before drawing her hand back.
"Leah!" Finstock hollered, sounding like he was going to pop a vocal chord.
"Okay! I'm going!" Leah put her hands up and turned away from Scott.
"Your boyfriend's fine, Kane!" One of her teammates called out as she walked back to where she dropped her stick.
Leah grabbed it and rolled her eyes at the comment before going over to the bench. She pulled her helmet off and slumped onto the bench, letting her helmet drop to the ground as she yanked off her gloves for the time being.
"Nice going." Stiles mumbled out. Leah slammed her fist into his shoulder before remembering he was wearing pads.
"Ow! Fuck!" Leah cried out, shaking her hand out. Stiles gave her a smirk, which Leah quickly wiped off his face by using her other hand to jab him in the throat, making him choke.
"Jesus!" He coughed out, making a noise. Leah smirked at him as she continued to shake her injured hand out.
Leah felt a tap on her shoulder and looked around to see Allison giving her a timid smile, "Hey, sorry. But, uh…is the goalie really your boyfriend?" She asked. Leah stopped shaking her hand out and looked to Scott just in time to see him catch a ball. She was a little thrown, forgetting Allison's question as Scott caught another ball.
"Uh…." Leah started blinking as Scott caught yet another ball. "Holy shit." She whispered. And then Leah saw Jackson force his way to the front of the line, stopping Kyle from going.
"Hold on." Leah held up a finger and watched intently as Jackson scooped up a ball and started running towards Scott. Her eyes darted from Scott to Jackson then back to Scott as Jackson threw the ball at Scott.
Scott deftly caught it and a second later, cheers erupted from the crowd. Leah let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding in order to cheer for her best friend. "Yes!" Leah jumped to her feet, clapping her hands together. "Go, Scott!" Leah said, cupping her hands around her mouth. Stiles was cheering just as loud,
"That is my friend!"
"My friend too!" Leah yelled out.
Stiles glared at her and Leah made a face back at him before returning her eyes to the field as Scott tossed the ball to the referee. She couldn't stop smiling as the cheers died down and the boys went off to do different drills for tryouts. Leah picked up her helmet and stick, turning back to Allison, a bit breathless from all the cheering.
"I'm sorry, what did you ask me?"
"I was wondering if the guy in the goal was your boyfriend." Allison gestured to where Scott had been standing moments before.
"Oh, uhm—"
"Kane!" Kyle yelled out, getting Leah to look over her shoulder at the boys on the field, "Come on! We need one more and Stilinski is opting out."
"It's my decision!" Stiles yelled back, "I know my worth!" He made a face as Kyle shook his head at him. Leah turned back to Allison, who raised her eyebrows.
"Scott isn't my boyfriend." Leah pointed her helmet at Allison. She threw her arms out as she walked backwards for a moment before turning around and jogging out to the field.
After running around the field and doing drills for another hour, Coach let them go with a reminder about the elimination round on Friday. Leah jogged over to the side bench, grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder, wincing a bit. She was sore from all the drills and getting knocked down multiple times.
"Hey, Stiles and I were gonna go out and look for my inhaler." Scott breathed out as he jogged up to Leah. He began to pack up his gear as Leah glanced over to him, just noticing that he hadn't had his inhaler during tryouts.
"Wait, you lost your inhaler?" Leah asked, standing up a bit straighter, "Scott, how are you still standing?"
"I'm fine." Scott shrugged, "I don't feel winded or anything."
"You needed your inhaler after you climbed into my room." Leah stared at him, "And that's like three feet."
"Leah, I'm good. I feel great." Scott bounced on his toes as she eyed him warily.
"So why do you need to go searching for your inhaler if you've been miraculously cured?" Leah asked, hiking her duffel on her shoulder.
"Because the thing's like eighty bucks." Scott pointed out.
"Good point." Leah raised her eyebrows and nodded, "Meh, I don't know." Leah shrugged, "I need a shower first. So, I'll text you?"
"Good job out there today." Scott nodded at her, "And I forgive you. For the whole hitting me in the head thing."
"That was partially your fault." Leah pointed her lacrosse stick at him, "So…I…forgive you." Scott grinned at her.
Leah felt someone shove themselves between the two of them and she was forcefully moved to the side as Stiles stepped up, "Dude!" He looked to Scott, "You were incredible." Scott grinned to himself and looked down.
"Leah was pretty good too." Scott looked to Leah, who gave him a grateful smile.
"Eh." Stiles shrugged, brushing Leah off, "But those saves!" Stiles laughed, "So making first line." He grinned at Scott before patting his shoulder again and running off.
"Idiot." Leah rolled her eyes. "He barely made it through the sprints. And opted out of three of the other drills." Scott laughed as they got to the locker rooms.
"But he sure enjoyed knocking you down during the two on ones." Scott pointed out.
"Oh, really? I had no clue." Leah made a face as Scott rolled his eyes.
"You had just as much fun blocking him, don't lie."
"Never got him to the ground." Leah grumbled, hiking her duffel up on her shoulder. Scott shook his head and patted her shoulder. He bid Leah goodbye and they went their separate ways; Leah went into the girls' locker room while Scott went into the boys'.
Leah stripped out of her gear and pulled off her under armor, letting them drop into a pile as she turned on the crappy locker room shower. She stepped under the low pressured shower head and let the dirt wash off of her body from being knocked down countless times. She could take some of the boys when they hit her, but Jackson and Stiles both got the most joy from knocking her to her ass as often as they could.
Lacrosse was a sport Leah got into because her brother played it. Connor was the star lacrosse player all throughout high school and Leah remembered going to countless games with her family while she was growing up. She would practice with him when she was younger, Scott right next to her. Connor taught them everything they knew.
Then Leah begged her parents to let her try out with Scott for league teams. Tara and Drew were wary, as all parents would be, but eventually gave in after Leah gave a presentation about why she should be allowed to play.
When Leah hit high school, she tried out for the team right along with Stiles and Scott. There was no rule against it because there wasn't a gender specific noun in front of lacrosse. It was just lacrosse. There was nothing anyone could do but be annoyed. Finstock didn't care; he just wanted a full team. The other guys were wary at first, just like her parents. They wouldn't hit Leah as hard until Leah hit them first. Once they saw that she could match them and even started beating a few of them during sprints and other drills, they became a little more rougher on Leah, treating her as an equal.
Leah made second line in freshman year with Scott and, unfortunately, Stiles. They went to every practice and every game, just in case the team needed more players, which they didn't. Leah didn't even step on the field for a game in freshman year. She hoped her sophomore year would be different, but like Stiles had pointed out—the universe had other plans.
When Leah had finished showering, she pulled on her clothes that she wore throughout the day. She repacked her duffel and grabbed her skateboard from the locker before heading out to the empty hallway. Everyone had gone home, except for some of the lacrosse senior guys, who were meandering around the hall, talking about tryouts. Leah gave them a tight smile as she passed, receiving nods in response.
Leah managed to rearrange her backpack and her duffel back on her body like she had them earlier in the morning. She set her board down and stepped on, pushing off with her other foot and skating down the hallway. It was a smoother ride than she was used to and it was nice to just glide along without angling to avoid cars or sticks or other harmful things of nature.
Once she got to the front door, Leah kicked off her board and pushed open the double doors to see that Scott had already left. Leah let out a breath, hurrying down the steps and getting back on her board, skating towards home.
Classical music welcomed Leah home as she walked through the front door, which meant her dad was home and cooking. Leah glanced at her phone, seeing it was almost five, and there were no new texts from anyone. She maneuvered out of her bags, letting them drop to the floor as Webster scampered up to her. Leah reached down to pick him up, walking into the kitchen as she scratched behind his ears.
"Lele!" Drew cheered as Leah walked into the kitchen, "How were tryouts?" Leah put Webster down and went around to where her dad was mixing up a salad. He kissed her cheek as she walked up next to him to survey the salad.
"Good." Leah nodded, picking out a crouton. "Really good, actually."
"Good enough for first line?" Drew asked, swatting at her hand as Leah reached for a cucumber. Leah popped the crouton in her mouth and raised her eyebrows, not saying anything and letting her dad come to his own conclusions, "That's great! Proud of you."
"Mhm." Leah nodded as she walked away from Drew. "Mom home?" Leah asked, changing the subject.
"Soon." Drew nodded, turning to pick up a cookie sheet that had three chicken breasts waiting to be marinated.
"Don't marinate hers remember?" Leah reminded him. Drew gave her a thumbs up and nodded, "Also, don't make me any, I'm going out with Scott to look for his inhaler that he dropped last night." Leah said as she picked Webster back up from the floor.
"Mom said you said Scott wasn't there." Drew raised an eyebrow at his daughter.
"I didn't say where we were going to look for it." Leah said, making her eyes wide. Her dad tried not to smile at her.
"Be careful." Drew said, going back to cooking dinner.
"Always am." Leah grinned at him before turning on her toes and walking from the kitchen.
"And make sure you put your lacrosse stuff out to air!" Drew yelled after her.
"Got it!" Leah yelled back, going to the front hall to get her duffel. She slung it over her shoulder and went to the kitchen door, still cradling Webster. Leah dropped her bag and set Webster down so he could sniff at the plants. She laid out her gear on the porch, propping her lacrosse stick up against the railing.
"Let's go, buddy." Leah mumbled out nudging Webster to go back inside the house. Leah followed, shutting the door behind herself. She walked back through the kitchen as Drew's classical music played and he hummed along. Leah smiled to her as she walked up the stairs to her room, Webster scampering after her.
Leah nudged her bedroom door open with her hip and looked up, only to jump in surprise. Scott was lounging on her window seat, texting on his phone.
"Jesus, Scott." Leah breathed out, getting his attention.
"Sorry, the window was open. I just got here." Scott pushed up into a sitting position before getting to his feet. He went over to pet Webster, only to have Webster hiss at Scott, baring his teeth before scampering under the bed. Scott and Leah shared a look before Leah dropped to her knees, going over to her bed.
"Webster?" She asked out, pulling up the bed sham. Leah looked under to see Webster curled in a ball, staring at her. "Web, it's just Scott."
"Hey, buddy." Scott cooed as he dropped down next to Leah. Webster hissed again and lunged for Scott. Scott barely had time to pick his head up as Webster shot out from under the bed.
"What the fuck?" Leah whispered, getting to her feet. Scott did the same, except he stayed where he was while Leah moved towards her cat.
"Webster." She cooed before making a little noise and rubbing her fingers together, "Webster, come here, buddy. It's just Scott." Leah managed to corner Webster and pick him up in her arms. Leah turned to Scott and grinned as she scratched Webster behind his ears. "Just Scott."
Scott came up a bit closer, reaching out to pet Webster. In response, Webster wrenched out of Leah's grasp, meowing over and over before hissing and scratching at Leah to let him go.
"Webster! What the fuck, dude!" Leah cried out as she dropped him. Webster didn't even look back as he scurried out of the room. Leah looked to Scott, who looked crestfallen.
"Wonder what got in his catnip." She mumbled as she went over to her bed, rubbing her hand where Webster scratched her.
"Are you okay?" Scott asked, coming to sit next to her. Leah showed him her hand and shrugged.
"Not the worst of my wounds from today. I have blossoming bruises from a certain Douchecanoe." Leah sighed and fell back against her bed, staring up at her ceiling. Scott looked over to her and gave her a small smile before he looked to the door where Webster disappeared.
"I wonder why he did that." Scott mumbled.
"So weird." Leah agreed.
Scott and Webster had always had a pretty good relationship. Scott had come with Leah when she had gotten Webster and more than once, she had found Scott cuddling with Webster, even falling asleep with him once or twice. They were buddies, so it was strange for Webster to be acting out at Scott and scratching Leah.
"Are you coming with us?" Scott asked after a moment. Leah looked over to him, resting her hands on her stomach as she scrunched up her face.
"As much as I love Stiles…" She trailed off. Scott rolled his eyes, "I'll come."
"Really?" Scott brightened up a bit. Leah nodded, pushing up on her elbows to look at her best friend.
"Yeah. God knows Stiles won't help you find it."
"Hey…!" Scott started before slumping down and choosing not to fight. Leah patted his arm as she pushed herself up into a proper sitting position.
"Come on, let's go." Leah waved her hand to motion for Scott to follow her. She walked out of her room and went down the stairs, Scott following her.
"Dad, Scott and I are going." Leah said, sticking her head into the kitchen.
"Hey, Mr. Kane." Scott waved at Drew, who lifted his wine glass in the air at Scott.
"Scott." He took a sip, "How many times have I told you to call me Drew?"
"I don't know. A lot." Scott shrugged. Drew chuckled.
"Be home in an hour." Leah's dad pointed at her. She nodded, giving him a thumbs up; she had work in an hour and a half and was sure it wouldn't take more than an hour to find Scott's inhaler and get home.
There was an incessant amount of beeping to announce Stiles' arrival. Leah closed her eyes and let out a slow breath only to open them and find Drew trying to hide his smile behind his wine glass. Leah rolled her eyes and spun around, stomping off to the door as Scott followed behind her.
"Bye, Scott." Leah heard Drew say as she rummaged through her backpack to find her phone. There was a stream of new texts from Stiles telling her not to come and how much she sucked at tryouts. Leah sighed and cleared the screen as Stiles continued to beep.
"He's gonna blow his horn out." Leah muttered as Scott came up to her, opening the front door. She followed him out to where Stiles' Jeep waited. Leah could clearly see him pressing down on the horn over and over again.
"Would it kill him to be less annoying?" Leah grumbled as Scott pulled the passenger side door open.
The beeping ceased as Scott slammed his door and Leah opened hers. She barely had time to shut the car door because Stiles decided to slam his foot down on the gas, making the Jeep, lurch forward.
"Fucking ridiculous." Leah sighed as she braced herself against the passenger seat.
She looked to see Stiles' smirk in the mirror as he started the drive to the preserve. Leah slumped against her seat and scrolled through her phone as Scott and Stiles talked about where exactly Scott lost his inhaler.
The drive was short and it was luckily still light out when they got to the preserve. Leah hopped out of the Jeep and shoved her hands into her pockets as she ambled after the boys. They had moved onto the lacrosse tryouts, talking about Scott's performance.
"I think you should just go for goalie." Leah said, making a face as she hopped onto a fallen tree log, "I mean, you caught every shot."
"Except for yours." Scott said, shooting a grin over his shoulder.
"That's because I think Barbie was maybe aiming for your head." Stiles made a motion with his hand, "I'm telling ya dude, she's out to get you."
Leah shoved Stiles from up on the log, making him stumble a bit as he laughed at her, "Shut up, Stiles. You weren't even that good."
"I'm not trying out for first line. I am perfectly okay with sitting on the sidelines." Stiles pointed to himself. Leah rolled her eyes, "But I did enjoy knocking you to the ground. That was fun." He bobbed his head.
"And I will enjoy watching you sit on the bench during Saturday's game while I score the winning goal." Leah shot back.
"No, ya won't!" Stiles sputtered out, "Probation. Remember?" Leah made a face as she jumped through the shallow creek turning to look at the boys.
"Whatever. I can still watch Scott and his amazing overnight abilities that seem to just have appeared." Leah waved her hands around in the air.
"Yeah, man, what was up with that?" Stiles asked as he stomped through the creek after Scott. "I mean, it was awesome, don't get me wrong…"
"I don't know what it was. It was like I had all the time in the world to catch the ball. And I can hear, see and smell things that I usually wouldn't be able to." Scott walked in front of Stiles, wanting to catch up to Leah.
"You can smell things? Like what?" Stiles asked, following behind Scott. Leah pushed a lone branch aside and looked over her shoulder as Scott turned to face Stiles.
"Like the three day old mint mojito gum in your pocket." Scott said. Stiles furrowed his brow and stopped walking.
"I don't have any—" Stiles reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of gum, "Huh." Stiles said before shaking it off and unwrapping it.
"Oh please don't…" Leah started, but Stiles popped the gum into his mouth and chewed. Leah grimaced as Scott turned back around to keep walking.
"And you can hear things like Allison talking to her mom?" Leah asked as Scott ambled up to her.
"Yeah, she was on the phone with her. That's how I knew she needed a pen." Scott said. Leah felt her brow furrow.
"Maybe it was whatever bit you." Leah shrugged as Stiles pushed in between her and Scott.
"What if it's like an infection? Like my body is flooding with adrenaline right before I go into shock or something?" Scott looked at Leah, leaning forward a bit with wide eyes full of worry. Stiles put his hand out to stop them from walking any further.
"You know what? I actually think I've heard of this." Stiles said, "It's a specific kind of infection." Scott stopped and looked at Stiles, still worried, while Leah gave Stiles an unamused look; he was being his usual sarcastic self and Scott sometimes, almost always, never caught on until it was too late.
"Are you serious?" Scott asked, right on cue. Stiles smirked, hands on his hips
"Yeah, I think it's called lycanthropy." Stiles bobbed his head in a nod. Leah looked to Scott, crossing her arms over her chest. Scott probably had no clue what lycanthropy even was.
"What's that? Is that bad?" Scott asked, confirming Leah's assumptions.
"Scott, it's—" Leah started to reassure Scott that Stiles was just being a little shit, but Stiles placed his hand over her mouth.
"Oh yeah. It's the worst. But only once a month." Leah licked Stiles' palm, making him drop it from her mouth.
"Once a month?" Scott asked, still not getting it.
"On the night of the full moon." Stiles said. Scott furrowed his brow. Then Stiles let out a howl. Scott promptly shoved him and continued to walk through the forest.
"Idiot." Leah said, looking to Stiles and following her best friend. "Lycanthropy is just something made up for movies."
"Hey! You're the one who heard a wolf howling." Stiles said, holding his hands up and coming after them.
"Yeah, but there could be something seriously wrong with me!" Scott cried out.
"I know! You're a werewolf!" Stiles cried out, falling behind Scott as he walked. Stiles growled and made his hands into claws.
"Scott, don't listen to him." Leah said, shaking her head, "Obviously it has nothing to do with the bite and it's probably just an adrenaline rush." Leah's phone started to buzz in her pocket, causing her to stop walking.
"Let's move it along, Barbie. We got inhalers to find." Stiles said from behind her. Leah rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone to see Connor was calling.
"I'll catch up." Leah said, flashing the phone to Scott so he could see Connor's name. He nodded to Leah.
"It's right around here, I swear." He nodded again. Leah gave him a small smile as she answered the call and placed her phone to her ear as the boys started to walk away.
"Hey, sis!" Connor said before Leah even said hello.
"Hey, Connor." Leah smiled to herself, going over to lean against a tree.
"How were tryouts?"
"They went really well. You should've seen Scott though. He was like twenty times better than when we were practicing over break."
"So you're both making first line then." Leah pulled in her bottom lip; she didn't want to tell Connor about the probation— he would just overreact and yell at her.
"Well, that's the goal." Leah finally settled on.
"That's great! I'm really proud of you, Leah." Connor paused, "So tell me everything. How was Stiles? And what his face, Jackson?"
"Both hit me pretty hard, but Stiles is going to be second line and Jackson's still captain."
"For now. Did you hit them back?"
"Tried to." Leah smiled to herself. "Scott did a lot of goalie work and he caught literally every single ball, Con. It was amazing."
"Hey, listen, I'm glad Scott's okay and felt well enough to make it to tryouts." He paused, "How's the bite?"
"Uh, healing, I think. I haven't asked him." Leah made a face, making a note to ask Scott if he was going to get it checked out, "I think he's still on a bit of an adrenaline rush, which was probably why he was so amped up today. Stiles went and worried him by talking about how he could be a werewolf since he heard a wolf howling and everything." Leah let out a sigh, "He's such an idiot sometimes." Connor hummed in agreement.
Leah looked out to where the boys had disappeared to; she didn't want to get too far behind them, "Hey, Con, I gotta go. We're looking for Scott's inhaler. And Stiles practically dragged Scott away from me to like lose me in the woods or something." Leah exaggerated a bit.
"Be careful." Connor reminded his sister, "And get out of there before dark. I don't need you to be the next body found."
"We will." Leah nodded to herself, "Later."
"Bye, Lele."
Connor hung up with his sister and let out a breath. Leah was oblivious, as usual. Not that he blamed her; after the incident with Cora, Leah didn't remember anything that concerned the Hales or what she saw. Connor felt bad for keeping her in the dark, but at the time, he knew that it was necessary. Now, he wasn't so sure.
Connor and Derek had grown up together, becoming friends before high school began. Derek let him in on the family secret, making him promise that he wouldn't tell anyone and Connor agreed. Since Tara and Drew were working most nights, Leah sometimes stayed over with Connor at the Hale house, being babysat by Derek's older sister Laura and playing with his younger sister Cora. But Leah didn't remember any of it.
And when the fire happened, Derek and Laura disappeared without a word. Connor didn't hear from his friend for months and Leah didn't remember anyone named Derek or Laura or Cora—Tara and Drew attributed it to shock and Connor went it it, since he couldn't tell them what actually happened. A few months later, Derek resurfaced, telling Connor what had happened and how he was on the run with his sister.
Connor went on with his life, looking at his town through new, tired eyes. Every couple years, Connor received short updates from Derek, telling him he was okay. Connor thought it was all over, that the fire had, unfortunately, taken care of the supernatural beings in the town. It did, for a few years, long enough for Connor to make it through high school, stop worrying about his sister finding anything out, and move across the country to begin a new life.
Then Leah texted him about Scott being bit. Connor immediately thought to contact Derek, to see if he was back in town, which he was, and if he knew anything. Derek didn't know anything concerning Scott, but agreed to keep an eye on him if he could, even though it was probably nothing.
But his phone conversation with his sister, gave him enough to become worried. He went to his inbox, pulling up his conversation with Derek Hale. He composed a new message, quickly typing out I'll be home in a few days. Continue to keep an eye on Scott for me.
There was a knock on Connor's apartment door, getting him to exit out of his messages. He left his phone on his desk as he went to answer the door, leaving it next to a picture of him as a teenager, standing in the middle of Derek and Paige, all of them smiling.
"Look who decided to show up fifteen minutes late." Stiles mockingly said as Leah found the boys. They were walking towards her, "Did you bring Starbucks?"
"Did you find your inhaler?" Leah asked, ignoring Stiles' crack as she directed her question to Scott.
"Yep." Scott opened his palm to reveal his inhaler all in one piece.
"Did you use it yet?" Leah asked, looking up at Scott.
"Nah, I'm good." Scott made a face, "Come on, I'm gonna be late to work."
Leah let her eyes dart over to Stiles for a quick second to see he had an uneasy look on his face. But then he noticed Leah looking and the expression was replaced by raised eyebrows and wide eyes.
"What? You finally realizing my godlike physique?" He asked. Leah snorted and rolled her eyes.
"If you're a god, then you must be Hades." Leah shot back.
"Ruler of the underworld? Sure." Stiles easily shrugged and walked past her, "I'll take it." Leah rolled her eyes and followed after him, walking next to Scott as they got out of the Preserve.
Scott had Stiles to drop Leah off at work first and Stiles begrudgingly obliged, seeing that it was on the way to Scott's job at the vet. Leah was early, for once, and she went over to the gas station to grab a drink and a snack. A light rain had started as she hurried over to VIDEO 2K to work the five hour night shift.
As the only movie rental store in town, Leah would think it would be busier, but there were only two other people, one in the morning and another guy who worked with her at night. All Leah did was sit behind the desk and do homework, checking someone out once in a while the other guy, Mike, did shelving and stuff. Sometimes they switched, depending on the night and how hung over Mike was from his night before. It was a boring job, but it paid semi-decently so Leah wasn't complaining.
Leah walked through the aisles, going for the horror section as she ripped a Twizzler in half with her teeth. She chewed on one half as she reached for the classic Wolfman. Stiles' words from the conversation in the woods, echoed in the back of her mind, but she didn't linger on them, figuring he was just being a dumbass.
Leah didn't have time to stop home—nor would Stiles have agreed to stop back at her house before, so she didn't have her school work with her, which meant she was stuck with nothing to do behind a counter for five hours. Her dad had texted her asking her if she wanted him to drop off dinner on the way to his shift, but Leah declined, taking a picture of her "healthy" dinner.
The bell above the door dinged as someone walked into the store. Leah didn't even look up from her phone as she bit down on another Twizzler; she didn't have to do anything until the person came up to the front to check out, which was inevitable.
"Leah?" Leah heard a familiar voice ask. She looked up to see Allison smiling at her, "I didn't know you worked here."
"How could you? You just moved here." Leah said back with a tight smile. Allison nodded at her.
"Right. Yeah." She laughed a little, "Sorry." Leah shrugged as Allison handed her the movie.
"Did not take you for an action movie girl." Leah said, making a face as she looked at the title. Allison laughed again.
"Yeah, most people don't." She quipped out Leah scanned the movie and waited for the price to come up. "I didn't take you for a lacrosse player."
"Yeah, most people don't." Leah repeated her statement giving her a smile, "It's gonna be three dollars." Leah said, handing Allison the movie as she handed Leah the money. Leah rolled her lips in and took in a breath before looking up at Allison, "I'm—I'm sorry I ditched you today." Allison raised her eyebrows at Leah and Leah shifted a bit, "I'm not…good with people."
"No, you're not." Allison laughed at Leah. Leah made a face, taken aback by her frankness, but she quickly got over it.
"Thanks for your honesty." Leah said, eyebrows quickly raising as Allison smiled at her. "And about Scott…I, uh, think you should go for it."
"Oh, no, I don't—"
"Ally." Leah fixed her with a look, "Scott's a good guy. He's my best friend and honestly, you can't really do much better in this town." Leah shrugged, "I'd date him, but I've seen some unfavorable things."
"Like what?" Allison asked, eyebrows raising.
"I'd tell ya, but then I'd have to kill you cause Scott would kill me if I told you." Leah said with a small smile. Allison laughed a bit.
"Right, gotcha." Allison nodded, "I'll see you in school tomorrow?"
"If I survive this shift." Leah sighed. Allison smiled at her and then looked to the television.
"Well, at least you have the Wolfman to keep you company."
"Is it still raining out there?" Leah asked. Allison nodded and Leah made a face. Allison laughed a bit at her reaction before shaking her head.
"You did really well at tryouts today." Allison gave her a small smile.
"Awh, thanks, Ally." Leah grinned at her, "Now I just gotta get through the elimination round and then I'll pray."
"I'll keep my fingers crossed." Allison smiled at Leah, "Thanks for the movie."
"Thanks for distracting me for a bit."
"Anytime." Allison nodded at Leah, "Have a good night."
"You too." Allison turned away and a moment later Leah heard the door chime again to signal Allison's exit. And once again, she was alone with the Wolfman.