I'm so unbelievably sorry it took me so long to update! High school can get pretty hectic, and the musical I'm in has me at the school until ridiculous hours. Don't worry, though, the show's in a couple weeks. Also, my computer was broken for a good week, and all my writing is on it, so that was another obstacle. But I'll hopefully get the hang of regularly updating pretty soon (I'm aiming for once every two weeks). In the time I didn't have my computer, I spent my time developing the plot further, and I think you guys are really going to like it! I've posted Carolina's outfits for the chapter on my profile, so you can go look at those sets. I'd like to thank Fawkestheangelinthetardis, Tarafina, jreads12, and the guests for reviewing my story. I love to hear what you guys think about my new chapters, so please please please review! Alright, hope you enjoy the chapter.
Hey guys, shocker: I don't own Teen Wolf.
Carolina gave an inward groan. Halfway through the car ride, she'd changed her mind - one science lab was definitely not worth her blowing her night on one stupid house party full of people she didn't even know. Right now could be at home, drinking tea and watching TV with her dad, who occasionally took a break from his obsessive writing to watch a couple episodes of NCIS or Supernatural with her. But no, she was going to a rowdy high school police magnet of a party.
It was now, standing in the foyer of the house, when she longed for the familiar comfort of the deep dent she'd worn into the couch from frequent internet surf sessions and horror movie marathons. But a deal was a deal, and Carolina was true to her word. She wasn't going to crap out on Harley just because she was missing an NCIS marathon. Carolina took a tentative step into the house, then another. And another, until she was steadily making her way through the stuffy rooms.
Whosever house it was, it was big and spacious, with plenty of room to fit the mass amounts of people that seemed to endlessly pour through the door. She found herself on the opposite side of the house in no time. Loud, obnoxious party music was blaring, and there was a sea of dancing, gyrating bodies outside on the patio. From where she was standing, inside the house, Carolina could see Harley already dancing with a few other girls she hazily recognized from one or two of her classes. English? Maybe Orchestra, she couldn't remember. Harley locked eyes with her and motioned for her to join them, but Carolina quickly shook her head. There was no way she would dance.
Instead of joining Harley, Carolina floated awkwardly around the house, occasionally returning smiles and waves directed towards her. It seemed that a large majority of people knew her, yet she couldn't remember a single person's name. She came to a stop in the kitchen, where a vast array of liquors were strewn across the countertop. Carolina made sure to take her time pouring various liquids in her cup, secretly wishing someone would come and talk to her - Allison, Stiles, she'd even take Jackson at this point. Anything to keep from looking like the loser new girl that was a charity case, dragged to the party and ditched like a sack of potatoes. And, to her surprise, when she turned around, she found her wish had come true.
Carolina found herself face to face with a boy her age. He seemed vaguely familiar, his blue eyes wide and quizzical, a whisper of a smirk on his face. She blinked a couple times, caught off guard by the sudden closeness. Clearing her throat, Carolina shot the boy a small smile.
"Um... Hi." The boy's grin grew wider, and he took a step back, sensing her slight discomfort.
"Hey, it's Carolina, right?"
"Yeah," She racked her brain, hoping to come up with a name to match his face, but to no avail. However, she could remember seeing a head of light brown hair like his in her first period class. "You're in my English class, right?"
The boy kept smiling and nodded. "Yup. I'm Matt." He stuck out his hand, which Carolina took, giving it a firm shake. Letting go of her hand, Matt stuck his hands in his sweatshirt pockets. "So, you just moved here? And the other new girl - Allison? Are you guys related or something?" He had a slightly cheesy look of curiosity on his face, like he already knew the answer. After all, it wasn't as if she and Allison even remotely resembled one another. But Carolina decided to humor him.
"Oh, uh, no, I only met Allison the other day. She's from San Francisco, I'm from New York."
"That's cool, where in New York?"
"Long Island City."
Matt let out a low whistle. "Wow, so you're a city kid. I guess Beacon Hills is quite a step down from the Big Apple."
Carolina shrugged. "I don't know, it's just... different. But a refreshing change. It's definitely interesting being in a town where everyone seems to know each other."
Nodding, Matt motioned around the room. "Yeah, most of us grew up together. We've been with the same people since preschool."
Ten minutes into the conversation, Carolina had learned that Matt was an amateur photographer, and never left home without his camera. She'd told him all about where she was from, from the school she went to, to the climate, to what New York City was like. But after another few minutes, there was a distinct lull in the discussion when Matt became a little sidetracked. He glanced around the room, eyes landing on a particular couple in the midst of the crowd. Carolina followed his gaze to see Allison and Scott standing at the outskirts of the dancers outside. Matt let out a sigh. "So, are they a thing?"
Carolina watched as the two disappeared among the energetic bodies on the patio, no doubt going to go dance. She frowned slightly. "I'm not sure. But it sure looks like it." She bit her lip and looked at Matt, who had a look of defeat on his face. Carolina felt a pang of pity for the boy, who was so obviously smitten with Allison. "Hey, there's always a chance for you. After all, she just moved here. She barely knows him."
Matt met Carolina's eyes. "What? N-nah. That's not what I meant. Me? Like her? No way." The boy continued to splutter, but before Carolina had the chance to reply, her view was blocked by a warm, solid wall of fabric. She looked up to see the face of none other than Stiles Stilinski beaming down at her.
"Hey, Carolina." The boy had a goofy grin on his face, but there was a strange look of underlying urgency laced in his features.
"Hi Stiles..." Carolina shot him a questioning look, which was deftly ignored. Instead, Stiles turned around to face Matt.
"Hey man, mind if I just steal Carolina for a bit?" He grabbed Carolina's arm, steering her away from her new friend before he could open his mouth. Once they were a few feet away, Stiles called out over his shoulder. "Thanks!"
Carolina glanced back, shooting Matt an apologetic look and a small wave. The poor boy had a stricken, bewildered expression, which quickly turned indignant. Mouthing a quick "sorry", she let Stiles drag her outside. They got outside, to the side of the patio farthest from the house before Carolina grew annoyed and ripped her arm from Stiles' grasp.
"Okay Stilinski, spit it out. What's with this whole weird behavior?" Carolina crossed her arms and gazed at Stiles expectantly. The boy spluttered for a moment, attempting to come up with a viable excuse.
"Well... Matt just... He's odd. Something's up with... I don't know, maybe it's his face." Stiles finished lamely. Carolina raised her eyebrows in disbelief.
"You're telling me you don't like him because you think his face is weird?"
"No! Well, sort of. But that's not the point. There's just something up with him. I'm just saying, you might want to steer clear of him." He rubbed the back of his neck, at a loss of words. Trying again, he took a breath. "His face just has a sort of... evil look to it. Like a ferret. Or... a cat! Yeah. Those things are pure evil, let me tell you."
Carolina snorted. "O-kay... Well, no offence, but I'm not really looking for advice on choosing friends. I'm a big girl, don't worry."
She started walking back to the house, but Stiles grabbed her shoulder. "Just... think about it, okay? I'm telling you, something's off about him." Carolina was slightly annoyed, but she could tell that he was serious, so she just nodded her head before walking off. When she entered the house again, she saw Matt talking to a couple other people, a camera now in his hands. She didn't want to bother him now, and despite the slightly controlling air of Stiles, she decided she would at least heed his advice for the night. She'd apologize to Matt later, if given the chance.
After wandering around again, she spotted Allison out of the corner of her eye, just arriving at the party, fashionably late. The girl was holding Scott's hand, and they were smiling and being disgustingly cute. Carolina rolled her eyes. God, they were so into each other.
She walked over to the couple, pulling Allison away quickly. "Hey Scott, could I borrow her for a second? Thanks!" She brought Allison a few feet away from the boy, out of hearing distance, and the two ducked their heads down for a little privacy.
"So, what did you want to tell me?" Carolina spoke in a hushed tone, in order to avoid any eavesdroppers. She eyed Scott suspiciously. The boy was standing stock still, almost as if he was concentrating on something. Weird.
Allison let out a girlish giggle, face splitting into a huge smile, dimples and all. "Okay, well, last night I ran over a dog." Carolina gasped. It was horribly disconcerting, as Allison still had a Cheshire grin on her face.
"Oh my god! Was it okay?"
Allison sobered up slightly, but there was still a slight hint of a grin on her face. "Yeah, I was freaking out. I brought the dog to the animal clinic, and guess who was there?"
Carolina rolled her eyes. "Lemme think - puppy boy?" It figured. Scott resembled a puppy so much, it was only logical he'd want to spend time with his kind.
Allison's smile grew, and she nodded violently. "He asked me if I wanted to go to the party, and I agreed, obviously."
"Wow. That's romantic. I can just imagine you two lovebirds flirting over a dead dog," Carolina deadpanned.
Allison gave her a playful shove. "Shut up, it got a broken leg."
Carolina grinned. "Okay then, I won't waste any more of your time. You two crazy kids have fun."
The two returned to where Scott was standing. Once they were a couple feet away from him, he quickly snapped out of his daze and studied a picture hanging on the wall. Carolina shook her head, gave a fleeting wave to Scott, and left the couple to their own devices.
She went back to the kitchen, where her cup was still on the counter. Picking it back up, she made her way to the front lawn, where it was significantly less crowded. Carolina let out a sigh and plopped down on the porch steps. There was a couple passionately making out in the driveway, pressed up against the garage, and a few kids were over by the edge of the lawn doing god knows what. She turned her phone on. No new messages.
Carolina began to fake text some imaginary person. Not that she really needed to, because everyone out front was preoccupied. Or so she thought. As she was about to take a sip from her cup, a hand roughly stopped her.
"I wouldn't drink that if I were you."
Carolina jumped violently, nearly spilling her entire cup all over herself. But the unidentified stranger grabbed the cup before she spazzed out. He had quite the reflexes. Carolina studied the man standing in front of her. He had on a leather jacket, and had the wonderfully clichéd tall, dark, and handsome look going on. She looked up at him with wide eyes. "Why?"
"I saw someone slip something in it a couple minutes ago."
Carolina's breath hitched. She quickly wrenched the cup out of his hand and poured it into the garden. How could she have been so stupid? That was party 101 - never leave your cup unattended. She shivered, wondering what might've happened if this guy hadn't stopped her.
"Yup, that's definitely a valid reason. Wow. Um... Thank you so much."
The man just grunted. Well, wasn't he the charmer. Initially, she'd thought he was handsome, but there was a scowl etched into his face that distorted his features. Perhaps some people would find it attractive, almost mysterious, but it made her wonder when the last time he'd smiled was.
Carolina cleared her throat, afraid that the situation would become awkward any second. "So... What's your name?" No reply. "Do you go to the high school?" Once again, silence. "I just moved here, so I don't really know anyone yet. Just Harley, Allison, Stiles, Scott..." She started to ramble, but was quickly cut off when she mentioned Scott's name.
"Scott McCall?" The man gave her a severe look, as if she'd done something wrong. "Are you friends with him?"
By this time, Carolina was getting extremely irritated. "Why do you care? If you won't answer any of my questions, do you really expect me to answer any of yours?" She let out a huff and stomped up the porch stairs. Before entering the house, she turned back around. "Thanks again for that, but I'm fine on my own." She disappeared into the house, but not before catching the last thing he said, scoffing. "Clearly."
Carolina stood in the foyer for a minute, collecting herself. She really needed to stop getting annoyed so easily - it was something that happened a lot, and often resulted in feelings hurt. Clearing her thoughts, she set out to find Harley. She'd had enough of this party.
Harley was waiting with Ilana on the ridiculously long line to the bathroom. Carolina cut into line behind them, hearing a chorus of groans and muttered obscenities behind her. After a quick talk and a little begging on her part, Harley agreed that they'd leave once she'd gotten to the front of the line. Carolina impatiently waited, listening to the two discuss the hottest boys in school.
"Well, there's Jackson... But it's too bad he's an absolute jerkwad. Plus he and Lydia are practically attached at the hip." Ilana counted on one hand. "Most of the lacrosse team is pretty attractive, so any of them would be acceptable to hookup with."
"Really? You think so? Even Lahey and Greenburg?" Harley wrinkled her nose, but Ilana nodded her head fervently.
"Oh, especially Lahey. Greenburg is so-so, but I would hookup with Lahey any day." Ilana twirled a piece of her hair. "It's too bad he, like 99% of the male population in this school, has a crush on Lydia."
Carolina rolled her eyes. It didn't really surprise her to hear that Lydia had most boys wrapped around her finger. There was always that one girl in high school who was the subject of countless boys' fantasies. And let it be Lydia. As long as it wasn't herself, she was fine with it. Carolina had always been fairly uncomfortable and inexperienced when it came to the opposite gender. Now that she thought about it, Lydia had probably gotten more action in her sixteen years than Carolina would ever get in her entire life.
Harley nodded in agreement. "Yeah, but I don't think any one of them could ever surpass the massive crush Stiles has on her."
Carolina raised her eyebrows. "Really? He likes her?" She wouldn't have expected the sarcastic boy to be into the air-headed, barbie doll type. But hey, to each his own right? But she couldn't deny that it annoyed her a little more than it should have.
Harley let out a bark of laughter. "Oh yeah, he's been in love with her since we were really little. It sucks, because she acts like he doesn't even exist."
Ilana and Harley continued to chat about other guys, instructing Carolina as to which were dating material, and which were strictly meant to be kept as hookups only. She nodded and pretended like she cared, but it wasn't exactly her idea of a fun conversation. They were back to the topic of Greenburg, arguing as to whether he was proper hookup material or not. Harley was in the middle of explaining why he was most definitely not worthy, when Scott came stumbling through the crowd, sweating and looking completely out of it. The girls abruptly stopped talking, concerned for their friend.
"Are you okay?" Harley took a tentative step towards her distressed friend, but he was completely unresponsive, stumbling past her in a daze. Carolina watched as Scott lurched out of the house. Alone. But she could've sworn he'd come to the party with Allison. As if on cue, the tall brunette ran past, following him out the door.
Harley frowned, crossing her arms. "I hope he's okay. He didn't look like he should be driving."
Carolina nodded in agreement. Struck by another thought, she scanned the crowd. "Hey, I'll be right back. Just... text me when you're done, okay?" She weaved her way through the seemingly never ending groups of people, not totally sure what her plan was. Luckily, the answer became clear as, for the second time that night, she found her way blocked by a wall of fabric.
"Stiles!"
The lanky boy gave jumped, whirling around to face Carolina. He gave her a little spastic wave, but turned back around and continued on his way, hurrying through the rooms. Carolina realized he was looking for something after he clumsily sifted through the various objects strewn on the kitchen table. She followed him, easily keeping pace. "What's up with Scott?" She chirped curiously.
Stiles shook his head, rummaging through the various papers and cups on the counter for the second time. He ignored her, still desperately looking for something. Carolina let out a huff and continued in her attempt to speak to him.
"Do you think he had too much to drink?" Nothing. Carolina's eyes widened she considered a possibility. "Is he on drugs? Maybe the same douche that tried to slip something to - Okay, what are you looking for?"
Stiles paused his search briefly, finally acknowledging her. "Listen, Carolina, I'd love to stay and chat, but I can't right now, sorry. I lost my phone, and I really need to go help Scott. Like, right now. So if you'd excuse me..." He brushed past her, entering the den.
Normally she'd be insulted, but Stiles looked so distressed that Carolina didn't take it to heart. No doubt, if it were so imperative to find her phone, she'd have been much more... abrasive. But she was too curious by now to give up her mini-interrogation. She shuffled into the den in Stiles' wake, watching as he ushered people off the couch and overturned the cushions. Taking a breath, she was about to ask more questions about Scott, but stopped short as she spotted a phone on the window pane. One that looked suspiciously like Stiles'. She raced walked over to the window and snatched it up before dangling the device in front of his face.
"This yours?"
Stiles nodded, diving for the phone. But before he could grab it, Carolina pulled it away, clucking her tongue. "Just... text me when you're sure Scott's okay?" Stiles made another scramble for the phone, but she switched hands, placing the free one on his chest. Giving the boy a stern glare, she tried again. "Okay?"
Stiles nodded eagerly, and Carolina, letting out a sigh, tossed him his phone and turned to leave. He grabbed it out of the air and booked it out of the house, giving a brief wave over his shoulder. However, he was gone for less than a second before racing back into the room.
"Carolina!" She turned around, eyebrows raised. Stiles was breathing heavily, a serious expression on his face that was strangely out of character. "Don't... Don't go outside tonight. Okay?"
Carolina rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Stiles, because I was planning on going on a three mile hike at one in the morning."
Stiles shook his head. "No, seriously. Just please stay home. In fact, you should probably go home now. Y'know, they never caught that animal that killed the girl."
Carolina, still suspicious, nodded slowly. "Fine."
Stiles gave a nod and sprinted out of the house yet again, speeding away in his beat up Jeep. Carolina watched his taillights disappear as he turned the corner.
Suddenly, a hand clapped down on her shoulder. Carolina jumped and let out a small shriek, whirling around in a standard defensive position. She found herself face to face with Harley. "God, don't do that!"
Harley snickered. "Jeez, sorry, I was just thinking we should probably head home. My mom gave me a curfew, and I actually have to follow it since she's already mad at me for last time I was late."
Carolina smiled, relieved. "Don't have to tell me twice."
That's the end of this chapter! Oooh, Carolina's starting to get suspicious. In the next few chapters, she'll start poking around Stiles and Scott's shenanigans, and it'll be so fun! Next chapter will pick up from when she gets home from the party. Sorry this one was sorta short, but I needed to get something up, since it's been WAY too long. As always, feel free to follow, favorite, and review! I'm always looking for ways to improve, so critique and such. See you guys in the next chapter.
~Erin