Summer tugged my schedule out of my bag and checked which class I was in first while Sarah fanned my face with her hand and Jane shoved her water bottle down my throat.
"Drink, drink, come on hun." She cooed, her large brown eyes helplessly watching me.
I tried to breathe, drink, remember.

Batting them all away from me with my hands, I tried to get my breathing back to normal. The girls were used to my anxiety attacks and always tried to do the best they could. Actually, I've not had a bad attack in years, and these girls probably had something to do with that. But right now, I was freaking out. I leant back against a locker and closed my eyes. Breathe.

"Em, you've got Chemistry first with me." Summer read off my schedule. I focused on her voice. And not on the dead body. The dead body that I painted. Oh god. Oh god.

My ears heard a familiar voice down the corridor. My next door neighbour: Stiles. And if Stiles was here… I jump away from the lockers, eyes wide open and find the two boys walking towards us. Joined at the hip like always. Scott and Stiles. Scott. He's not dead. He's not dead! I knew it couldn't be real.

I feel a wave of relief wash over me. It washes deep into my bones and my heart and my lungs decide to work as normal again. Colour rushes into my cheeks and I start to hysterically laugh, covering my mouth with my hands.

Sarah raises her eyebrows, "Well, no more coffee for you this morning."
"We should get to class." Summer nods at me, "If you're feeling better?"
I smile at my girls, "Yeah. Yeah. Thanks guys. I'm alright now. Just… nerves I guess. First day back and all. I'll be fine."
Jane squeezes my hand and we part ways down the corridor.

…

Summer and I were among the last few to arrive thanks to my attack holding us up slightly. The benches in the Chemistry room sat two people at each desk and thankfully there was a spare one for me and Sum at the front of the class. Last year, when I ended up partners with Scott, our teacher Mr. Harris had seated us by drawing names out of a hat. I hoped that this year, he'd just let us pick.

But then again, Harris was never the most pleasant of teachers.

Summer and I had hardly taken our seats when the bell rang and Harris stood up.
"Up. Everyone up." He ordered.
We all shuffled to our feet at the speed of a group of sleepy teenagers.
"So I've taken the liberty to choose your lab partners for this year." A muffled groan let out around the room like a punctured tire. I glanced wide eyed at Summer and she shakes her head at me, her short blonde hair whipping around her cheeks. She always gets the top grades and would make the perfect partner, at least where my anxiety is concerned. Please don't partner me with anyone really popular or intimidating, I prayed silently.

Harris read a few names out before he got to mine.
"Emily Hoskins, Isaac Lahey."
Thank you Mr. Harris! I turned my head and looked at my partner. He blinked at me shy and uncomfortable. If there was anyone more anxious than me, it was Isaac. I hardly noticed him at all last year – only speaking when he was spoken to, keeping his head down, filling up as little room as possible. Oh god, what grades does he get? What if I'm going to be dragging along dead weight? No, he's probably really smart… right?

Harris finishes reading the pairs out and we all relocate. I assume that Isaac won't make the first move, so I pick up my bag and carry it over to his desk.
"Hi," I smile at him warmly, hoping to break the ice there and then. I always strive to treat everyone equally and kindly, so I hope any awkwardness dissolves quickly.
He lifts his head and the sides of his mouth give a little tug.
Okay. Great start.

Harris turns to write on the board behind him and calls out, "So everyone will find a syllabus for this term already on your desk. If you want to open your text books to the first chapter, we'll begin."
As I go to put my textbook out of my bag, I notice that Isaac's white knuckles are gripping the edges of his book. His eyes are focused on the front of the class, but his hands are giving him away. I can pick up anxious behaviour on other people really easily, being an expert on what to look for.
"Hey," I whisper to him. His eyes lock with mine. I try to make my expression soft and relaxed, "It's okay. It's only the first day. You're gonna do great this year."
He brow furrows in confusion and he stutters quietly, "H-how did you-?"
I placed my hand on top of one of his and pried it off the textbook.
Isaac gulps and removes his other hand.
"It's my worst subject…" He whispers to me, running his fingers through his light brown curls.
Oh no, my suspicions were correct. I'm so gonna fail. But I didn't want to make him feel bad.
"Well not anymore. You have me as a partner and I happen to be extremely good at drawing diagrams."
He lets out a little snort of laughter.
Harris shoots us daggers and we both shut up. I sneak a grin at Isaac and start to get to work.

…

We all manage to survive the day and I meet up with the girls by Jane's locker. I see Summer scrolling on her phone again, Jane rambling on about something while twirling her hair and Sarah picks at the gum in her mouth, listening but not really listening. The familiar sight warms my heart in a way nothing else could.
"Have you heard?!" Jane almost pounces on me when I approach.
"Woah, um, no?" I respond, accepting the piece of gum Sarah offers me.
"The new girl!" Jane exclaims, waving her hands above her head.
I raise my eyebrows, "Who-?"
Sarah turns to me and puts on a high pitched voice imitating Jane, "Oh, she's just darling. Gorgeous. From heaven. Lydia picked her out to be her best friend as soon as she laid eyes on those beautiful brown locks. Everyone will want to be Allison Argent's friend!"
We all laugh, even Jane who points to herself, "Girl, you can't even pretend to be this perfect."
I grin at my friends, "Come on, let's go watch hot guys beat each other up."

Lacrosse practice is something of a tradition for us. I make sure to get Monday nights booked as unavailable off work in term time just so I can spend time watching people throw balls at each other. Makes sense. I mean, Summer goes to watch her boyfriend while Jane checks out the other guys who play (namely Jackson) and Sarah checks out the girls who come to watch. I've never really had, or wanted to be honest, a boyfriend. I already have enough stress on my plate. But that doesn't mean I don't find Lacrosse practice enjoyable. I do. Especially in Fall, when we can get wrapped up in scarves and coats and my coffee warms me to the core.

Everyone was already out on the field when we got there. A smile appears on my lips when I see Scott McCall in goal, safe and alive. I give Stiles a wave where he sits on the bench. I used give him lifts home but he got his jeep this year.
We end up sitting right behind him so I tap him on the shoulder to see how he's doing.
"Hey Em!" Stiles turns and flashes me a smile.
"Gonna make the team this year, Stiles?" I ask grinning. Being his next door neighbour I used to watch him and his Dad or Scott endlessly trying to practise in their backyard, to no prevail. I even went round a few times just to throw the ball around as he tried to catch it. I think that Stiles's talents lie elsewhere. Just not in sports. Definitely not sports.
"Well, I like to dream big, but not that big."
The whistle blows and we see the coach order the first person forward to shoot. To our dismay, it goes right between Scott's legs and he ends up with a crash on the floor.
"…Doesn't look too good for Scott either." I say, twisting my mouth.
"It's Michael's turn to shoot!" Summer stands up and starts to yell encouragement for her boyfriend.
"Come on, Scott," I hear Stiles murmur.

Michael takes his shot, aiming right at Scott's shoulder… and it lands right in Scott's stick. Everyone looks surprised, especially Scott.
He catches the next one. And the next. And the next.

Jackson shoved a player to the ground as he pushed himself to the front of the queue. No one helped the boy on the floor, everyone was too focused on Jackson.
That's when I noticed who it was. Isaac. No one helps him up. I felt a pang of sympathy for him as he rubs his arm and clambers to his feet clumsily.

"Oh no, Jackson's getting angry." Jane whimpers, clutching her sleeves.
"His crown is being challenged," Sarah snickers.
Jackson was doing everything he could to get the ball past Scott, but not one could get past.
Stiles began to tense up and look worried. He was nearly at the edge of his seat.

This definitely wasn't the Scott who I'd seen going over to Stiles's house all summer. He was leaner, more muscular, more… better at lacrosse? We all stared in disbelief as he jumped and flipped over two players blocking his path and scored without taking breath.

A figure on the edge of the lacrosse field caught my eye. It was only for a second and all I could make out was the black clothing.
"Who's-?" I started, but the person was already gone.

…

When practice was over, the four of us began to walk back to the parking lot. Jane was exclaiming excitedly about how hot Jackson had been when he was getting angry and clenching that god damn square jaw of his, when someone rushes past us in a hurry and knocks my shoulder. I catch a blur of red lacrosse gear before I land forward on my knees. A pain shoots up my arms.
"I'm so sorry! I- sorry- Are you okay? I-"
Sarah pulls me to my feet and my eyes meet with Isaac's worried ones.

"Isaac!" I smile at him, "It's all good, I'm not hurt," I assure him, even though I know there will probably be two circular bruises on my knees when I wake up tomorrow. But he looks so concerned, I didn't want to make him feel even worse.
Brushing my skirt down, I see him glance to me, look to his bike where it was locked up and back to me.
"I'm fine," I raise my pink hands to him.
"I'm sorry…"
"Go, it's fine."

Isaac takes one more lingering look at me before unlocking his bike with shaking hands and pedalling away as if Satan himself was chasing behind.

"What was that?" I hear Jane ask.
I turn to face all three of my friends looking at me with matching expressions: Eyebrows raised, lips pouted, head cocked to one side.
"…What was what?" I shrug.
"Was that Isaac Lahey?" Sarah interrogates, placing her hands on her hips.
"…Yes?" I reply. If they are going somewhere with this I totally don't know where.
"His Dad nearly drowned some kid at a swim team party once." Jane stated with a matter-of-fact voice.
"He doesn't have any friends." Sarah chimed in.
"And I saw the two of you in Chem."
This time everyone looked at Summer with wide eyes.
"What?" My heart starts to pound in my head. They are making me nervous. They know better. They know better.
"You two were definitely hitting it off. I saw you hold his hand!"
What kind of friends do I have? Oh god, I can see that they will not let this go.
"I- I did not! I was- I was just… He told me he is bad at Chemistry, that's all it was!"
"Not with you, eh?" Sarah made eyes at me and nudged Summer in the waist mockingly.
"I'm going home."

"Awh, Emi! We were only teasing!" Jane hurries after me.
The other two follow and Sarah squeezes us all in a group hug and says, "Sorry, Em. If you want to hold Isaac Lahey's hand you have my permission."
I wriggle and laugh, holding my friends close, "You guys are so weird!"

"…But FYI, I don't like Isaac."

A.N.:

I have only just started writing this but I think that chapters will be updated pretty quickly! I hope you are all enjoying :D I can't wait for more werewolf-y things to get more involved.