"Are. You. Insane?"
"No!"
"Could've fooled me!" Rowan groaned, slamming the door of her locker shut, and whirling to face her twin brother with exasperation etched clearly in her features, "You went looking for a dead body, Stiles! No wonder Dad was so upset!"
"But if you just give me a chance to explain-"
"Explain what? That you have an almost pathological desire for self-destruction? Because I've kind of already figured that out for myself."
"Can you just look past that for a second?" Stiles pleaded, jogging to catch up with his sister as she turned to storm off in the direction of her next class, and reaching her side just in time to note the obvious effort she made to roll her eyes, "Please. All I'm asking is for you to hear me out."
"Hear you out, so that you can convince me to go with you when you and Scott go back in the woods again."
"Well - yeah."
"Not a chance," Rowan retorted, clutching the textbooks in her arms closer to her chest to weave through a cluster of students gathered around another locker in hopes it would give her some distance from Stiles so that she could duck into her next class unimpeded…
As if she was going to be so lucky.
"Come on, Ro. You're really gonna let Scott go around without an inhaler?"
"Are you really trying to guilt me with his asthma right now?"
"He said those things were like - eighty bucks a pop," Stiles shrugged, aware of the slight lift of one of Rowan's eyebrows as she came to a stop outside a nearby classroom, and turned to face him with a look that was clearly meant to imply he should get to the point, and fast, if he wanted her to refrain from walking away while he was still mid-sentence, "You have to come with us. Partners in crime, right?"
"Emphasis on the crime part-"
"Rowan-"
Knowing that Stiles was only going to continue to hunt her down throughout the day until she relented, Rowan still spent a moment longer watching him squirm, her teeth biting down on her lower lip to keep the smile that threatened at bay. He had to have known she would agree, no matter how much she may gripe about the prospect in the interim. But even so, Rowan would have been a fool to pretend she was not more than a little apprehensive about giving in, whether or not she had been a part of her brother's antics all along.
She hadn't told Stiles about the feeling she had woken up with that morning. The feeling that was not all that far from a paralyzing apprehension, coupled with the unnerving idea that she was being watched…
Which was of course absolutely ridiculous.
"Fine. I'll go," She finally conceded, trying to ignore the relief and eager excitement that flooded her brother's expression over her consent, and reaching a hand out to snag the sleeve of his jacket as he turned to depart, stalling him for just long enough to amend her agreement with the caution she knew he would never exert, himself, "But we are not searching for a body. Only Scott's inhaler. Got it?"
"Ro, has there ever been a time you weren't the boss of me?"
"Sure. You had about fifteen minutes before I was born."
"Funny."
"I know."
"So you'll meet us after lacrosse?" Stiles asked, ignoring the stern look one of the teachers gave him as they passed, despite the fact that he was clearly about to be tardy thanks to his insistence on roping his sister into something she clearly wanted no part of, "Or you could just - come to practice-"
"I'll be there."
"Okay!"
"Get to class, loser," Rowan ordered, tempering the words with a smile, and giving Stiles a playful shove to get him headed in the right direction, just managing to get a glimpse of his answering grin before she turned to head to her own class, shaking her head in a combination of both resignation and amusement as she went. Not for the first time, Rowan caught herself wondering if Stiles - and by extension, Scott - would end up being the death of her, particularly if they kept traipsing around in the woods searching for bodies and other nefarious things.
Somehow, even then, a small part of her realized she wouldn't have it any other way.
…
"So let me guess. It's a twin thing."
"What's a twin thing?" Rowan murmured, only half paying attention as she finished jotting down the homework assignment that had been scrawled on the blackboard, until the exasperated huff her friend gave in response finally forced her to look away, "Sorry, Cass."
"Don't be. I'll just cash in my raincheck this weekend. Assuming Stiles doesn't drag you into something then, too."
"If there was any way I could get out of this-"
"You would. I know," Cassidy nodded, managing a smile as she shouldered her purse, and waited for Rowan to stow the last of her books in her backpack before heading toward the door, "Any chance your brother would accept a third wheel?"
"What, tonight?"
"Yeah."
"I don't think so," Rowan admitted, frowning as soon as she saw the dejection in her friend's expression, and hating that she had been forced to lie to her in the first place. Ordinarily, she highly doubted Stiles would mind an extra presence at all, but with what they were doing after school - with the very real possibility of coming across a dead body, of all things, while searching for an inhaler - she just couldn't bring herself to risk her best friend in the process. Something she hurried to make amends for as she reached for Cassidy's arm to slow her in the act of moving through the classroom door, and out into the crowded hallway beyond.
"Maybe we can catch a movie together this weekend."
"Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good."
"And this time, Stiles doesn't get to pick."
"Even better," Cassidy laughed, stepping out into the hallway with Rowan at her side, a smile flirting with her lips as she went on in a mock whisper, "Lord knows how you tolerated all of those werewolf and vampire flicks over the summer."
"Massive amounts of self-restraint and discipline."
"No alcohol?"
"Maybe a little," Rowan admitted, winking conspiratorially at her friend, and suppressing a grin as soon as she noticed Stiles approaching from down the hall with Scott in tow, "Hey Cass?"
"Yeah?"
"Incoming."
Biting down on her lower lip to keep the smile that threatened at bay as she watched Cassidy's cheeks flush in response to the information, Rowan turned to face her brother and his friend, her mouth opening to offer a greeting until Stiles rushed in to cut her off before she could manage a single word.
"You're coming with me to a party on Friday."
"I - I am?"
"Yep!"
"Exactly why am I doing this?"
"Because you love me," Stiles supplied, aware of Rowan's skeptically arched brow, and yet choosing to go on, almost as though he had never taken note of it at all, "And I need a wingman."
"A wingman."
"Well - wingwoman, I guess. Since you're a girl."
"Gee, thanks for noticing, Stiles," Rowan quipped, risking a glance towards Cassidy, and releasing a soft sigh as soon as she realized her best friend was not going to be any help backing her up when she was currently absorbed in looking at her brother as though he hung the moon, "Why do you need a wing-anything?"
"Because he's still trying to get Lydia to fall in love with him."
"Wow. Way to keep a secret, Scott," Stiles grumbled, elbowing his best friend in the ribs before turning back to his sister and Cassidy instead, "For the record, I'm not the only one trying to play Romeo."
"Oh?"
"Yep."
"Are you - going to elaborate on that at all? Or should I just start trying to guess what you mean," Rowan teased, looking between Scott and Stiles, and knowing in mere moments that neither one of them was prepared to come clean, "Okay, Cass. Care to take a few guesses?"
"Hmm...could be interesting."
"My thoughts exactly."
"New girl," Cassidy stated, a satisfied smile curving her lips as she watched Scott shift on his feet, refusing to meet her gaze head-on, "Allison something, right?"
"The one that was accosted by Lydia ten seconds after walking through the door?"
"Technically, Scott accosted her first," Stiles corrected his twin, ignoring the glare that Scott sent him in response, and addressing Rowan's skeptically raised brow firsthand, "He gave her a pen."
"Wow. Not sure I've ever read a romance novel where the guy wins over his soulmate by handing her a pen."
"No, I - I mean he just-"
"He just what?" Rowan pressed, noting the significant look that passed between her brother and Scott, and frowning as soon as she realized both of them had gone suddenly, mysteriously silent, "Okay. You two are acting weird."
"Weird?"
"Weirder than normal."
"You realize that's probably not - not really saying much," Stiles managed, backtracking a bit as soon as he recognized the familiar narrowing of Rowan's eyes, and lifted a hand to rub at the sudden tension at the back of his neck in response, "And we're going to be late to lacrosse."
"Convenient."
"No, really. We really are going to be late."
"Okay then, wise guy. Go to lacrosse," Rowan shrugged, once again biting down on the inside of her cheek to keep her amusement at bay in response to Stiles' skeptical expression, knowing he obviously had anticipated her putting up more of a fight, and that she was flying in the face of those anticipations by seeming to accept his assertion without question, "I'll see you out there."
"Cass, you ah - you coming?"
"Maybe tomorrow," Cassidy replied, offering Scott a small smile in response to his inquiry, and then turning to Rowan while simultaneously adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder, "Call me later?"
"Sure thing."
Only sparing a moment after Cass had started to move toward the parking lot, and Scott and Stiles headed to the locker rooms, Rowan turned to go in the opposite direction, her arms folding across her chest as she stepped through the double doors at the back of the hall in hopes of bracing herself against the sudden gust of wind that hit as soon as she had left the protection of the school's walls. On instinct, she started to walk towards the fields, while her mind wandered, her determination to get to the bottom of whatever it was Scott and her brother were keeping from her only growing as she moved. It wasn't like them to be so close-lipped. Not when they had been sharing one another's secrets ever since they could talk…
Rowan could only hope that they had only been so evasive because Cass had been around, too. That they would come clean after lacrosse, during their foolhardy journey into the woods.
Shivering in the wake of another cool gust of wind, Rowan continued toward the bleachers at the far side of the lacrosse field, one brow lifted in curiosity as soon as she noticed Lydia Martin was seated already, with the new girl at her side. Moving a few feet farther down from their spot, Rowan prepared to take her own seat, knowing Stiles would likely end up plopping down beside her whether the coach approved or not. But just as she had dropped her bag on the ground nearby, she found herself freezing in place, a cold chill racing through her veins as she turned to look to the trees at the far edge of the field in time to note the slightest flicker of red through the branches before the sharp blast of the coach's whistle caused her to flinch, and turn to face the field as the players took up their positions and prepared for practice…
When Rowan turned back to the trees a few moments later, whatever glimmer of red she thought she had seen was gone.
Gone as though it had never been there in the first place.
…
Well, here we go! The first chapter of an attempt at a story for Teen Wolf! It ended up getting away from me, in that it's quite a bit longer than my usual first chapters have been in the past. But hopefully that's nothing too objectionable, because I'm really very excited to see what the muses do with this little plot bunny floating around in my head. Hopefully at least some of you are, as well?
As always, I thank each and every one of you for taking the time to give this first chapter a chance! I hope you've found something worthwhile? I would love to hear your thoughts either way!
Until next time, loves…
MOMM