A/N: Hey guys! Kate here. It's been ages since I've written, but I've decided that even though this virus thing has cancelled a lot, it's a great opportunity to get back to what I love (writing!). Last week I started re-watching one of my old faves, Teen Wolf, and it inspired me to start this. This story will follow Sierra Collins, a new resident of Beacon Hills; she's a 17 year old junior lacrosse player with a mysterious past. This story starts right before Season 2, and will follow it somewhat loosely. I'm going to try to update this often, so please send your reviews/private messages my way with thoughts or suggestions :)

Jesus, are we ever going to get to play?

My cleats pounded the grass practice field in rhythm, each step forcing out a ragged breath. We'd been running suicide laps around the field for what seemed like days. "Conditioning," Coach Magee had told us on the first day of winter workouts, "is the most important foundation for any championship season. If you can't run, you can't win."

Challenge accepted, I thought to herself, extending my stride with legs made lean and hard by years of training. It wasn't the running I disliked; I'd grown up running for hours with my father. It was the monotony of the endless sprints, morning weight training and mandatory team building I'd grown impatient with. I wanted to play.

When my father told me his job was relocating him back to Beacon Hills, California, I'd been less than thrilled, until I'd had searched the school online and learned about the prowess of their high school's women's lacrosse team. Lacrosse was my entire life, and it had been ever since my mom had died in middle school. After the accident, I'd been permanently angry, acting out at school, even getting a 10-day suspension for fighting an older boy. I had needed an outlet, and as soon as I gripped the metal stick for the first practice, I'd lived and breathed the game. I loved the physicality, the fact that just because I barely measured at 5'1 on a good day didn't mean I couldn't outrun and outscore my opponents. Most of all, I loved having a team, a pack of people I could rely on. Which hasn't exactly happened yet here, I reminded herself.

The abrasive tweet of the whistle snapped me back into reality. "Okay, ladies, that's enough, circle in," Coach Magee shouted from the benches.

Slowly, the herd of girls in front of me slowed to a walk, wiping sweat from their foreheads and tightening ponytails. I followed them as I caught my breath, acutely aware of the camaraderie of the others I didn't yet share. The girls on the Beacon Hills team were friendly, if not somewhat wary of outsiders. I had been politely welcomed to after-practice breakfasts and added to team group messages, and while my new teammates made no outward signs of exclusivity, I couldn't help but feel like I was on the outside looking in even after three weeks of winter conditioning.

I reached up to tighten my own auburn ponytail, wiping the sweaty red tendrils away from my face.

"Good hustle out there, guys," Coach Magee began. "I know it's been a tough schedule these past couple weeks - Coach Finstock and I have been trying to work out a schedule for the winter season so that we can share the main field and do some scrimmages but..." she broke of and shot a look at her assistant, Maggie. "As you probably know by now, Coach Finstock is not a reasonable man when it comes to his guys." The girls around me laughed, some muttering to each other. I'd never met Coach Finstock personally, but since the girl's and boy's teams practiced at the same times, I'd heard him ranting at his players on more than one occasion. "With that said, I've negotiated for us to start scrimmages and tryouts for first line starting on Monday. For those of you returning, the format will be mostly the same as in previous years: you can tell me what position you prefer to play or have played, but for tryouts I will tell you which positions you'll play in the scrimmages. We'll plan to do light morning weight training each day, but this was the last of the main conditioning days." The girls all turned to each other, grinning, but I felt nerves beginning in my stomach. Back in Raleigh, I'd played midfielder with my club team for years, and the thought of having to prove myself in front of these other girls was daunting.

"Unless there's any questions, you're all free for the day after you stretch," Coach Magee said. As the other girls dispersed over the field, she turned to me. "Sierra, can I talk to you for a sec?"

I nodded, feeling the butterflies thicken in my gut. "Yeah, Coach, is something wrong?"

The coach shook her head, her blond ponytail swinging. "No, not at all. I just wanted to see how you were settling in here with Beacon Hills lacrosse. Have you been getting along with the team all right?"

"Everyone's been great so far," I said, hesitating. "It's been a bit of an adjustment, but everyone's been sweet."

Coach Magee's blue eyes narrowed a bit, reading the hesitancy in my voice. "Most of these girls have been playing together since they were little," she said, her voice softening. "As I'm sure you've realized, Beacon Hills isn't a big town, and we don't get many mid-season transplants, especially ones who play lacrosse. This is a tight-knit group of girls." She broke off, calling to the field of girls stretching. "Monroe! Got a minute?"

A tall, lanky girl broke from the group and jogged over, her black braided ponytail whipping over her shoulders. "What's up, Coach?"

"Have you gotten a chance to talk much with Sierra Collins, the newest addition to our team?" Coach Magee looked between the two us.

"Not formally, no." The tall girl grinned sheepishly. "I was on vacation in the redwoods with my family, Coach!" She stuck out a sweaty hand. "I'm Quinn Monroe, but everyone calls me Q." She laughed.

"Sierra Collins." I felt the warmth and strength in the other girl's handshake and knew I liked her immediately.

"I was hoping that you'd be willing to take Sierra under your wing this season," Coach Magee said. She turned to me. "Normally, we pair freshmen with upperclassmen mentors to get them involved in the team. I know you're not a freshman, but I can imagine how tough it is to start a new high school halfway through, so I thought maybe Quinn could show you the ropes a little bit. How does that sound?"

"I'm so down." Quinn grinned wide. "When I heard someone from the East Coast was transferring into Beacon Hills to play lacrosse, I was so excited. Nobody new ever comes here, let alone someone who plays the best game known to man."

I couldn't hide her smile. "I'd like that. I'm super excited to start playing with you guys. Are you sure it's not going to cramp your style to show me around?"

"Not at all." Quinn grabbed a gear bag from the bench and nodded towards the field. "Me and some of the girls were actually about to grab lunch at The Griddle in town, want to ride with me?"

I nodded, reaching for my own bag and water bottle. "That sounds great!". I turned to Coach Magee. "Thanks Coach! I'll see you Monday at tryouts."

"Bye, Coach!" Quinn chirped, heading back towards the parking lot.

We walked past the boy's lacrosse practice, which was finishing up as we went by. I felt their eyes on us, and one of the boys let out a low wolf whistle, which was quickly reprimanded by a shout of "Greenberg! Take a lap!" I looked over at the team, and immediately found my gaze locked on the brightest, widest blue eyes I'd ever seen, set into a strong-boned face with sweat-matted curls. He put up a hand and waved.

"Hey, Lahey!" Quinn shouted beside me, waving back. I remained frozen, unable to tear my eyes from his face.

Quinn noticed me staring and elbowed me hard in the ribs. "Take a picture, Sierra, it'll last longer." I whipped around to face her, feeling my cheeks turn as red as my hair. She burst out laughing. "Relax, Collins, I'm just messing with you. I don't blame you, Isaac Lahey is easily one of the most gorgeous guys in the state of California."

"Is he new?" I asked, feeling butterflies begin for an entirely new reason. I snuck a look behind me as we turned towards the parking lot, but the blue-eyed boy had his back turned.

"To the team, yeah I think so. He's from here, but I think he switched from swimming to lacrosse this winter." She clicked the keys for a sleek black Jeep, tossing her bag and sticks in the open back. "He's kind of quiet, though, nobody knows much about him."

I swung myself into the passenger seat. "You know the guys team pretty well, then?"

Quinn turned the key and flipped to the country radio station. "Yeah, we all are pretty close. A lot of them are cocky assholes but they throw good parties and hey, us lacrosse kids have to stick together!" She laughed. "But tell me about you, though! I've never met anyone from North Carolina."

I told her most of the story, about how my parents met in California and raised me in Sacramento, but after my mom's hunting accident in middle school, my dad took me back to live closer to his family in Raleigh. But now his job had relocated him back to California for at least the next 5 years, which meant another year and a half of a new high school to adjust to before college. I didn't tell her that my mom had been mauled by a wild animal when she had taken me hunting alone, or how I'd blacked out in the woods after the attack and woken up in the hospital with a 5-inch-long purplish scar on my chest. I gave her the same safe version of the tragedy I'd been telling ever since I was twelve.

Quinn was appropriately sympathetic, offering polite condolences and encouragements about how great the Beacon Hills team was going to be with me on it. She told me she was a junior as well, born and raised in Beacon hills. She was a sweetheart, exuberant and unfiltered, and I almost found myself believing her and forgetting my past.

Twenty minutes later, Quinn and I were crammed into a booth at The Griddle, the team's favorite diner, with another junior and two seniors. Quinn introduced me to the others, who seemed as laid-back and down-to-earth as she was. Maddie, the other junior, was Quinn's best friend from kindergarten, and Riley and Sam had been their mentors when they were freshmen.

"So, Sierra," Riley said, ripping the paper wrapper from a straw and sticking it into her milkshake. "How has it been living in Beacon Hills?"

"It's a lot smaller than Raleigh," I said truthfully, laughing. "But I like it. It's..."

"Way too freaking quiet," Maddie chimed in. "Trust me, if I had the opportunity to live in a big city, I'd take it in a heartbeat."

"We've got our fair share of excitement around here, though." Maddie gave the other girls a significant look. "You all remember what happened to Lydia at Winter Formal, right?"

All the girls nodded. Seeing my confusion, Quinn said, "Lydia Martin is in the class below us. Right before you got here, we had our winter formal and she got attacked on the lacrosse field and had a mental breakdown. I don't think she's even been at school since."

"Is she okay?" I asked, mystified at their lack of concern. "Did they catch who did it?"

Sam snorted. "She's fine, it was just a rabid animal or something. And trust me, she's not missed. Now that the Queen Bee is gone, people can finally breathe around this school, and the lacrosse guys can stop doing pushups every time she walks by."

"Well, I don't know if that's a good thing. Greenberg's been after me like crazy, texting me every day of break now that Lydia's our of the picture." Maddie rolled her eyes and took a swig of her Coke. "Sierra, if there's one piece of advice I can give you, do not engage with Greenberg."

"Most of the guy's team is pretty chill," Quinn told me. "They think they're hot shit because they've won the championship three years running, and don't get me wrong, they're good. But there's a couple of them that I personally wouldn't mind disappearing from Beacon High for good."

"I'm just really glad McCall made first line this year," Maddie said. "He's like a breath of fresh air for those guys, they needed some new blood to water down Jackson's douchiness."

At that moment, the waitress brought our plates: waffles for Quinn and Riley, blueberry pancakes for Sam and Maddie, and a Denver omelette for me.

"McCall," I said, unable to place where I'd heard that name. "Why does that sound so familiar?"

"Scott McCall?" Sam asked. "Sophomore, crooked jaw, puppy eyes. Good hair, really good at lacrosse."

I shook my head. I couldn't picture the face to match the name, but hearing his name stirred something inside of me, something familiar, and I could have sworn I felt the scar on my chest start to throb. "I probably just have seen him around the field," I lied.

"Well, he's taken," Riley said. "That one dark-haired chick he's always with. Allison?"

"But there's plenty of other cute options," Quinn said, nudging me knowingly in the ribs. "Speaking of which, are we still on for tonight?" The others nodded.

"What's tonight?" I asked apprehensively.

The girls shared a look. "Every winter, before the start of the winter season, both the lacrosse teams throw a party, a little team bonding if you will." Quinn shot Riley a glare when the senior muffled a snort. "It's just lacrosse people, and it will be a great chance for you to meet everyone before the season kicks off and we all are crazy busy."

I hesitated. My dad worked late hours at the hospital, so I wasn't worried about getting caught - there was just the slightest devilish glint in the eyes of the older girls that made me pause. But you're on the team, I reminded herself. It's just a party - nothing you haven't done before. "Sounds fun," I said, ignoring my apprehension.

"Great!" Quinn's grin was wide and genuine. "I can pick you up at 8 tonight from your place? Jackson's hosting it again this year, and he doesn't live close to anyone."

I nodded, slipping back into the booth as the other girls moved on with the conversation, chatting about which teams they thought would pose the biggest threat, which players had graduated and all the latest drama from the team. I had nothing to contribute, so instead I soaked it in, content to listen. I'd never been big on school friend groups; there was no school lacrosse back in Raleigh, so I'd never had many friends at my high school. It was a strange adjustment to make lacrosse friends at school at the same time.

We finished their meals and stood, hugging each other goodbye. "Super nice to get to know you better, Sierra!" Riley said. "It's going to be great to have someone new on the team to keep us on our toes a little bit."

"You guys are too sweet," I said, smiling in spite myself. "I can already tell it's going to be a great season!" It wasn't a lie; though the girls were tightly knit, they were genuine and kind, and I could see myself bonding with them.

Quinn drove her back to her house, cranking up the radio and singing along at max volume. I couldn't stop herself from singing along too; Quinn's bubbly energy was infectious. When they reached my drive, Quinn turned down the music and turned to me. "I'll text you when I'm on my way over! Just wear something casual, it's not going to be a formal thing." She rolled down the window as I hopped down from the seat and swung my bag over my shoulder. "I'm super happy Coach Magee asked me to hang out with you, Collins! Can't wait for tonight!"

Before I could answer, Quinn sped away, and I could hear the radio resonating off of the street behind her, leaving me in front my empty new house with I stomach full of butterflies.

*This was very much an exposition chapter - trust me, in chapter 2 we will meet all the characters you know and love! I just wanted to give a good introduction for Sierra and the girl's lacrosse world at Beacon Hills. Much much more is in store!

Thank you for reading, as always!

xxxxx Kate