Stiles tapped away furiously with his pen. His mind buzzed with the desire to focus intensely but not on the stupid English paper in front of him. He had a mission, a lone mission and he wanted to accomplish it, not write a stupid paper about stupid Wuthering Heights, a stupid book he hadn't even read. He'd taken probably more Adderal than he should've but he needed to get this done so he could figure out the mystery of the brain dead werewolves.
"Are-are you ok, Stiles? a soft voice called to him from over his shoulder, making him jump.
"Wha? Oh! Hey, Ana, yeah, fine!" He looked up at the girl standing behind him in. "Why?"
"You appear to be, um, buzzing," she pointed to the pen still tapping on his empty notebook.
"Oh, yeah. I'm just trying to write this stupid paper!"
"You may want to uncap the pen, then. Might be easier that way," Ana said, smiling a little.
"Ah, yup. That maybe the secret to ultimate productivity!" He uncapped the pen with a flourish, and heard her make a tiny giggle.
"Do you - would you like some help?" Ana asked, looking concerned. "Is this the essay for Jane Eyre?"
Stiles moaned and let his head hit the library desk. "Nooo, the one before that."
"Oh… isn't that due tomorrow?" Stiles thumped his head on the desk as an affirmative.
He heard the chair next to him slide out and felt the vibration of a bag settling on the table next to his stuff. He wanted to just lay there, Batman defeated, until he felt a small hand rest on his shoulder.
"Hey, it's ok. Have you tried just writing an outline yet?"
He lifted up and sighed, feeling a bit calmer, and shook his head.
"That could help. Really, if you start with a basic outline, then fill it in, and give it a proof ready it could be much more manageable."
That actually made sense, Stiles thought and he turned slightly to face Ana with a smile. She looked down and moved her hand to the notebook in front of him. This was the first time he got a close look at her and he noticed that despite her small frame and the high levels of introversion, she seemed… solid. Like, compact but not bulky. Her light brown hair was short and practical, but a bit frizzy and unkempt. She had some freckles across her cheeks and a round face and green eyes. She pulled out the assignment sheet trapped underneath his notebook and looked over it. Her quiet voice pulled him back from his creepy staring: "Which are you choosing?"
"Uuuuhhh…" Stiles scratch his neck absently.
"Have you read Wuthering Heights?" Ana asked, hesitating.
"Depends on what you mean by reading."
She looked at him with raised eyebrows and brought her hand to her chin and with her pointer finger, absently tapped her lips. "Hmmmm…" her expression thoughtful, the movement of the tapping causing a shiny charm on her hemp bracelet to jingle slightly.
"Uh, cool bracelet there."
Ana's eyes narrowed briefly and she dropped her hand to her lap. "Yeah, it's just an old thing I made. Anyways, um, how about Topic 3? There was a whole bunch of handouts on Heathcliff's' character development. You could work off of those and maybe pull some things right from the book. It won't get you an A+ but it'd be better than submitting late or nothing at all."
"Sounds good to me. Except I don't know if I have the said handouts." Ana rolled her eyes and dug out her own copies. She warned him this was a one time deal and that he couldn't use anything she had written in the margins. Stiles nodded, not wanting to directly cheat off of her. As she stood up he back out and stood up too: "Hey, thanks a lot! I'll get these back to you as soon as I'm done."
"Which will be tonight, right?" Stiles nodded. "Good." She picked up her bag and went to leave but Stiles asked her to wait. "Hey, why don't you join me at lunch sometime?"
Ana stiffened a bit and looked down. "I - I don't know. I'm not much of a, um, group person."
"Dude that's cool! Scott and the rest of 'em don't bite or anything, although Lydia can be a bit much-" Stiles stopped, noticing Ana flinched when he said Scott and downright jumped at 'bite'.
"No, that's fine, thanks though, maybe some other time," she said, each word getting quieter and then she high tailed it out of the library.
Later that night, Stiles slammed down his pen triumphantly and spun around in his chair. He had just finished a crap-tastic essay and all he had to do was type it up. It was strangely relieving and Stiles sighed a bit. He glanced down at his scribbles and at the handouts spread around him. Ana's advice helped significantly. Like she said, it wasn't supreme material but a C is better than a 0.
A thought pricked at the back of his mind but now that he had just finished the essay his mind was losing its focus again so he blinked a few times and took a breath. Just let it come, he thought. When he opened his eyes again he looked down at the handouts and he looked at Ana's notes in the margins and then her name written across the top. Ana Kaizer. What a weird last name...
A knock at his door startled him and he flailed. "Uh, I'm not interrupting anything am I?" Stilinski asked, concerned.
"Oh, no you just startled me," Stiles said, embarrassed.
"Just letting you know I'm off to work, checking in," he said, eyeing him significantly.
"Cool, have a good shift." The Sheriff stared him down. "Yes I'm doing homework, see?" He waved to the papers everywhere. The Sheriff nodded and closed the door and Stiles turned to his computer.
About halfway through typing the first page when he decided he needed to stretch and get a drink. He got up, reaching for the ceiling and then turned to head for his door - and gave of a shrill scream and spazed when he saw Derek sitting in the chair behind him with one of his books.
"You! Not ok!" Stiles managed and tried to get his breathing under control. "What is with alphas? There is a thing called -knocking-! God, you're such a fucking creeper!"
Derek barely looked up, a single eyebrow arching and a hint of a smug smirk. Stiles huffed and went to go for his door for his drink when Derek's smug expression changed and his eyes narrowed. He stood up and shut the door as Stiles tried to exit. "What now?" Stiles demanded.
Derek leaned in and Stiles leaned away. "You smell off."
"Oh, my god, can you guys stop saying that?" Stiles pulled futile at the door trying to get by. Derek didn't let up, trying to sort out why he couldn't identify the smell. It was almost making him dizzy trying to focus on it.
The look on Derek's face was starting to freak out Stiles. It looked like he was going to blow a fuse or something. "Hey, Derek, don't pull a gasket on me," he said, trying to joke.
Derek blinked, "what."
"You looked brain constipated." Derek glared at him. "What are you even doing here?"
Derek let go of the door but Stiles didn't move to open it again. Derek leaned back crossed his arms and looked like he was about to say something but then frowned. "I don't remember," he said, somewhat astonished.
"Ugh, why am I surrounded by fail-wolves lately," Stiles rolled his eyes and went to open his door once more, muttering about brain dead werewolves when he stopped. "You don't remember," Stiles said, ignoring the door and looking at Derek carefully.
"No," Derek gritted out, obviously annoyed by the statement.
"You wouldn't come here without a reason." Derek nodded. "But you don't remember…" Stiles started pacing his room, his mind racing ahead of him. "Ok bear with me," Derek rolled his eyes, "what were you doing before this?"
"Patrolling."
"Why patrolling here?"
Derek frowned deeper and concentrated, "I don't know," he said finally.
"Ok, scratch that, you said I smelt off, off like what? Like…" Stiles paused looking at Derek expectantly before sighing, "like a mystery wolf you were out patrolling for?"
Derek shot a shocked look to Stiles who clapped and stopped pacing. "Yes! That's it! Ok, so what does this mean?" Stiles closed his eyes and tried to slow his racing mind. It took a good moment before his mind clicked. "I've run into this other wolf." Stiles jumped slightly when Derek growled under his breath, breaking the sudden quiet.
"Ok, ok, ok focus. Who have I run into today? Focus. I had to stay late and finish that stupid essay and I had to skip lacrosse practice. I ran into Scott just before and he didn't say anything, and he did before about a week and a half ago… so… who did I run into between then and now…"
Derek just watched with raised eyebrows as Stiles stopped pacing but started to talk faster, trying to follow. "Get to the point, Stiles."
"I was in the library and then came right back here to finish when they were kicking everyone out," Stiles's eyes went wide and he dove for his desk and grabbed a paper and shoved it at Derek, "what does this say?"
Derek blinked at having his space invaded but backed away. It was just a handout from an English class. "Stiles, get that out of my face," Derek said, annoyed.
"No, wait, right here," Stiles pointed to the top where there was a space for a name, "work with me here, what does it say right here?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" Stiles pulled it away to double check before a huge, victorious grin broke his face. "Ha! Oh my god, I know who it is!"