By the time Elsa's alarm – Get Low by Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz – blasted out of her phone and dragged the blonde reluctantly back to the land of the living Shane was long gone, disappeared into the small bathroom that joined the two girl's bedrooms. For a long sleepy moment as she stretched out her stiff limbs and yawned into the back of her hand Elsa wondered whether the night before had all been a dream, that was until her cerulean gaze settled upon the charred remains of the t-shirt she'd been wearing yesterday and she let out a long, slow breath. Her life – which she'd prided on being decidedly average – was about to get a whole lot more interesting, and it couldn't have come at a worse time. This was her senior year; she couldn't be worrying about spontaneously setting on fire she had college applications to be thinking about.
Happy in the notion that Shane was still in the shower and probably couldn't hear her, Elsa clambered out of bed bobbing her head and singing along to the song that still rang out of the small speakers of her iPhone. In front of her closet she sifted through various items of clothing, wiggling her hips as she did so.
"Stop, now wiggle with it." She sang lightly under her breath, her dancing becoming somewhat more vigorous as the song progressed. She stopped only when she spun on one foot and was greeted with the smirking face of her best friend who stood towel drying her hair in the doorway to the bathroom.
"Well it's good to see last night hasn't changed you completely." Shane mused, dipping into the bathroom to retrieve her toothbrush before popping her head back out the door with a grin. "You're still a fucking idiot."
Ignoring her best friend's comment Elsa moved to stand in front of the full length mirror that hung on her wall, holding various outfits against her body in an attempt to decide what to wear today. It was completely uncharacteristic of her to be doing to, and Shane raised an eyebrow, normally Elsa fell half asleep into her closet and put on the first thing her barely awake limbs could get a hold of, in fact Shane couldn't remember the last time the girl wore matching socks let alone a matching outfit.
"So…" Elsa began, tossing aside a pair of denim overalls and settling on her trusty ripped black jeans instead. "Scott has a thing at the vets this morning, but then he said he'd give us a ride to school if we wanted?"
"Doesn't Scott ride a motorbike, I really don't see all three of us fitting on one of those. I mean I know we're close E but…"
"A ride in Stiles jeep." Elsa explained, side stepping around Shane and ducking into the bathroom herself. "Unless you're going with Oli?"
Shane rolled her eyes. "Oli had early practice this morning actually, so yeah a ride with Scott McCutie and Bitchlinski sounds good. Better than walking with your lazy ass anyways."
"You know you should be nicer to him, he used to have such a huge crush on you."
Shane pursed her lips but did not say anything, instead she ran her tongue along her the top row of her freshly cleaned teeth and offered Elsa a grin before throwing her toothbrush back into the holder and exiting the room all together.
Elsa showered, got dressed and made her look as socially acceptable as she was physically able before heading down the stairs two at a time and straight into the kitchen where Shane was nursing a mug of coffee and staring at Viktor Kirsch with a look of pure confusion.
"It's just constant Swedish in this house." Shane muttered as Elsa entered the room, moving to pour her best friend a coffee and handing it to the blonde.
"Astonishing really, it's not like you moved in with a Swedish family or anything?" Elsa took a sip of the coffee and wiggled her eyebrows. Shane had to physically stop herself from hurling a bagel in her best friends direction.
It was as though the sound of his niece's voice brought Viktor back down to earth and he immediately stopped his mindless rambling, turning to Elsa with a rather flamboyant twirl of the makeshift loincloth he'd decided to wear this morning.
"Last night." He stated, speaking in fractured English for the benefit of Shane. "The stars had big plans. Did they come to fruition?" Elsa's mind wandered back to the brief conversation she'd had with her uncle before she'd even left the house last night – something told her Viktor Kirsch knew a lot more than she had previously given him credit for.
"I guess you could say that…" The blonde mused; behind her Shane sniggered into her bowl of Lucky Charms.
"Oh hjärtat, it is time." With those final words Viktor Kirsch disappeared out of the kitchen and back into the basement in a flurry of long blonde hair and flailing loincloth.
"Time we checked him into Eichen." Shane piped up, shrugging when Elsa frowned at her suggestion.
"I think he knows something."
"Well I think he's burned one too many of those funky incense sticks."
Ignoring her best friends comment about the sanity of her uncle Elsa leaned across the marble worktop of the island that filled the centre of the Kirsch family kitchen, grabbing a bagel from the pile and taking a bite. Glancing at the large clock that hung on the wall opposite the window she grinned and with a quick nod of her head she silently motioned for Shane to get her ass up and ready. "The boys will be outside by now." She mumbled, a mouthful of half chewed bagel muffling her words. Shane pulled a face and Elsa stuck out her tongue, giving the brunette a better view of her breakfast.
"Why McCall hasn't fallen for you yet is completely beyond me. You're simply charming E."
Stiles' blue Jeep was parked up outside the McCall house four doors down from the house Elsa and Shane emerged from. Both girls grumbled irritably about the brightness of the sun and how it was still far too early in the day to actually be out of bed as they walked – arms linked instinctively – towards the car. For as long as she could remember Stiles had had the blue jeep, even before he'd received his drivers permit it had sat on his drive, waiting for him. The boy adored the blue tin can on wheels, and Elsa herself had to admit that its vintage look was somewhat appealing.
As the girls climbed into the back seats Scott and Stiles gave them all of two seconds to get comfortable before they twisted in their chairs to face them. Serious expressions etched upon their handsome faces. Shane raised a brow.
"Good morning to you too." The brunette muttered, narrowing her eyes ever so slightly and frowning at Stiles who was staring at her with the look of a boy crazed.
"How are you feeling today?" Scott spoke whilst Shane and Stiles glared at one another. Elsa merely shrugged a response. Not really sure how to answer him. She didn't feel like she was about to burst into flames and set Stiles Jeep on fire, but she did feel different to how she'd felt yesterday morning, and she was pretty sure she was running a fever.
"Did you tell her?" Stiles this time, giving a quick nod towards Shane who opened her mouth to snap back that 'her' had a name, but Elsa spoke before she got a chance to.
"Of course I told her."
Shane folded her arms across her chest and nodded, a smug smile causing the corners of her blossom pink lips to curve upwards ever so slightly. Stiles frowned again.
"Why would you do that?" He asked, there was a hint of irritation lacing his tones and Elsa frowned at it.
"Why wouldn't I? She's my best friend. Besides Scott told you." Perfectly shaped blonde eyebrows were raised in a silent challenge, daring Stiles to try and come up with sort of response.
In the front seat Scott scoffed quietly. Before last night he'd never really paid Elsa all that much attention. Sure as children they'd played together, out in the street riding their bikes and throwing a football between themselves but as they grew up they'd grown apart. He saw her about school, he knew she was pretty popular, and he'd heard a couple of the lacrosse boys talking about her in the locker room on more than one occasion – but all that had been superficial, he didn't actually know anything about her and the more she spoke the more he wanted to change that fact.
"She's got a point." He mused, grinning at the other boy.
For a while all four teenagers were silent, a quiet stalemate where no sarcastic comments were made and everyone simply exchanged glances. It was only when Shane cleared her throat to speak that the silence was broken.
"So anyway, have you two idiots banged your heads together and come up with an explanation for what happened last night then?"
Stiles ignored her insult and instead shook his head. "Nope, we've got a book, it's sort of like a dictionary of supernatural creatures…"
"A bestiary." Shane quipped. Stiles wasn't quick enough to disguise the impressed smile that flourished upon his features and Shane smirked at the sight of it.
"Uh, yeah a bestiary. Anyways I looked through every single page last night. There's nothing about spontaneously setting on fire."
"So you don't know what I am?" Elsa's voice was quiet in the back seat, a lot less confident than it had been only moments previous when she'd challenged Stiles. Shane reached out a hand and took the blondes in her own, giving it a light squeeze. Elsa squeezed back and flashed her best friend a light hearted smile – doing her best to hide her fear from showing on her face. If she wasn't anything supernatural then what the hell was she? Was it going to happen again? Was she dangerous?
"Of course we do. You're Elsa..." Scott replied, his voice was calm and his eyes kind. "…and we're all going to figure this out together. But not right now, because right now we need to get to school or we're going to be late for the first day of our senior year."
A small smile danced on Elsa's lips and she nodded slowly. "Yesterday morning all I had to worry about was college applications." The blonde mused as she leant back in her seat – which vibrated as Stiles kicked the engine into gear. "At least now I can burn down the colleges that don't let me in."
"That's the spirit!" Shane grinned beside her, glancing out the window as she spoke, she watched their street disappear into the distance. "We could even pimp out your powers, fire for hire."
In the front seat Scott and Stiles exchanged a worried glance, they'd not spent anywhere near enough time with the two girls to know whether or not they were joking, and Shane's tone was unnervingly serious.
Whilst the two girls plotted serial arson in the back seat, Stiles tapped his fingertips agitatedly against the steering wheel, an annoying tick that didn't go unnoticed by his best friend, or the two girls in the back either.
"Would you cut that out, you're drowning out the sweet sounds of Greenberg's anguished screams in my mind." Shane snapped, earning a chuckle from Elsa.
Stiles' fingers stopped their rhythmic tapping and he glanced at the two girls in the rear view mirror. "Uh, sorry, I mean, what? That's mildly concerning?"
"It was a joke dumbass."
"You okay dude?" Scott questioned and from the back seat Elsa silently wondered whether his sultry tenors were ever not laced with at least a little concern.
Taking one hand off the wheel to run it slowly down his face Stiles allowed an exasperated sigh to fall from his lips. "I asked my dad to look into the Raeken's this morning…and he said no."
"What?" Any hint of concern had all but vanished from Scott's voice and had been replaced by one that sounded, to Elsa, to be much more accusing than anything else. "Well of course he said no, there's nothing to look into."
"Okay, yeah Scotty fine, you want to believe that he conveniently shows up just in time to save you from getting the life sucked out of you by some crazy eagle werewolf dude then go for it. But I don't trust him. Besides, Parrish did a little digging for me. They have an outstanding speeding ticket."
Scott turned from Stiles and shook his head. "He's not done anything to make you believe we can't trust him…and you have seventeen outstanding speeding tickets."
Stiles didn't have an answer for that, what Scott had said was true. Theo Raeken had turned up at precisely the right moment and saved Scott's life, something that Stiles would probably never have been able to do himself and although he knew he should be thankful, he simply wasn't. In fact, although he would never admit it to himself, Stiles Stilinski was quickly growing tired of being the only god damn human left in Beacon Hills – hell, even Elsa Kirsch had sprouted supernatural powers out of nowhere.
Shane Campbell leant forward in her seat leaning her elbows on the back of Scott's chair and shrugging. She hadn't been there for the commotion last night, but she had met Theo and had the whole tale recounted to her by Elsa whilst they lay in the dark. So she liked to think she knew enough of what was going on to throw in her two cents.
"Theo Raeken put gum in my hair in the second grade." Scott blinked slowly, not quite believing that given all that he had been through in the past few years – this was the worst thing Shane could come up with.
"It's true." Elsa piped up, leaning forward and mirroring Shane, leaning her own arms on the back of Stiles' seat just as he pulled into the Beacon Hills High parking lot. "She made me cut it out for her, it's how we met. I mean I guess we should actually thank him."
"Fuck no, he's the reason I had a bob until the fourth grade. The guy might be hot but he cannot be trusted."
"Case closed." Stiles muttered as he turned off the engine turning to Elsa and Shane with a grin before climbing out of the car and instantly being greeted by Malia who had pulled up in Lydia's car in the space beside them.
"I hardly thing putting gum in Shane's hair is cause for…" Scott began as he clambered out of the car. Stopping himself mid-sentence to help the girls out the back seat – ever the gentleman.
"Someone put gum in your hair?" Lydia Martin's voice was like honey and the petite redhead frowned. She never could understand why someone would do such an injustice, especially to Shane whose long brunette waves Lydia had always admired from afar.
"It reeks of tension in your Jeep." Malia commented, sniffing the air inside the car with a frown. Stiles rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, well Scott and I had a little disagreement over whether or not we should trust Theo." He explained, scratching the back of his head as he talked. Scott frowned but otherwise remained silent. He didn't want to argue with his best friend, especially not today, the first day of their final year of school together.
"No not that kind of tension. Like…sexual tension."
Malia sniffed again and Elsa's mouth fell open in shock. The blonde had known about the existence of the supernatural world for less than twenty four hours and so far it hadn't failed to both surprise and amuse her – it also absolutely terrified her but she was doing her best to supress those particular thoughts.
"Elsa." The werecoyote addressed her suddenly. "Do you like Scott?" Malia's tone was deadly serious and suddenly all eyes were on the blonde. Scott shifted uncomfortably where he stood, Lydia smirked and Elsa desperately prayed that the ground would open up and swallow her whole.
Her cheeks flamed red and a worryingly familiar tingling sensation ran from her fingertips up the length of her arms, she was burning up and apparently only Shane noticed. Linking her arm expertly through that of her best friends Shane quickly steered Elsa away. Shouting back a quick 'well it's been swell thanks for the ride' and dragging Elsa out of the parking lot as quickly as she could.
"E stop it." She demanded, shaking Elsa's shoulders hard in an attempt to snap the blonde out of it. "Elsa I swear to god if you set on fire in front of the whole school I will never talk to you again."
Elsa's arms were burning and she clenched her teeth together, breathing hard through her nose. In front of her Shane tried to demonstrate some calming breathing techniques, the kind of thing she'd seen on tv when women were about to give birth, but her efforts were to no avail.
"She just said it, like it was nothing." Elsa mumbled, folding her arms across her chest tightly and tucking her hands under her arms.
"Yeah the girls got no filter it's nothing to get flamey over." Shane was trying to make light of the situation, but Elsa knew her better than that – there was real concern in her best friends eyes, and Elsa couldn't bare the sight of it.
Looking past Shanes head she focused on the cars pulling up to the school. She gave all her attention to the students climbing out of various vehicles and ignored the searing pain that licked at the skin of her arms. Her cerulean gaze settled on a silver 4x4 and she watched as a boy stepped out of it. He turned to close the door and he smiled at his mother who waved as she drove away, and when he caught sight of Elsa he grinned holding up his hand and waving. Without thinking Elsa did the same, freeing her left hand from its previous position under her right arm and giving him a wave in return.
Shane took a step back, glancing over her shoulder and nodding slowly at Theo Raeken before turning back to Elsa. "Has it stopped?" She asked, a thick brow rose in suspicion.
"Yeah…" Elsa watched Theo walk into the school before finally giving Shane her full attention once again. "Yeah it's stopped."
"Senior year is going to fucking suck." Shane muttered, linking her arm through Elsa's once again and heading towards the double doored main entrance of the high school.
"I wouldn't be too sure."
A/N: Hey guys, sorry it's been so long since the last update + I'm sorry this chapter is super short. I had a couple of days where I lost all confidence in writing after a few negative messages but i'm back now! Anyways, hope you like the chapter + sorry again that its so short. As usual if you have time please leave a review because they always motivate me so much. If you want to see more Elsa (and my other From Ashes OC's who've yet to make an appearance) then head over to my blog (lydamartin) on tumblr. Thank you again for all your wonderful support!