𝙳𝙾𝙻𝙻 𝙿𝙰𝚁𝚃𝚂⠀⠀⠀⠀¹
𝗩𝗢𝗟𝗨𝗠𝗘 𝗜. Cry Wolf

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄
▏𝗦𝟬𝟭𝗘𝟬𝟭︰𝗪𝗼𝗹𝗳 𝗠𝗼𝗼𝗻▕

❛ SCOTT'S A WEREWOLF. ❜

THE REFLECTION OF THE MOON GLISTENED IN BRIETTA'S EYES, tears cascading down her rosy cheeks as she chewed on her nails until they were shortened too far and sent spikes of pain through her.

               The six-year-old girl wanted to cry herself a river and drown herself in it due to this pit of uselessness inside of her. The frigid atmosphere chilled her cheeks while she took deep breaths. "Breathe, Brie." She inhaled deeply before glancing up at the moon, which was at its richest point.

               The last thing she saw was the moon before her eyes fluttered shut as her chest rose in an attempt to soothe herself. She loathed this sickening silence inside her head. Her quivering hands rose to her ears while she whimpered, her legs dangling off the edge of the hospital roof.

               Clang!

               Brietta gasped, jumping in her spot, nearly falling off the roof until she pushed herself back. She peered over her shoulder and her eyebrows furrowed once she caught sight of a boy with puffy cheeks strolling out of the door leading to the roof. A second later, another boy followed behind him.

               Brietta held her breath until the first boy glanced at her, his eyes widening as he took in her identical rosy cheeks. He stops in his tracks, but the second boy behind him didn't stop until he bumped into the first boy.

               "H-Hi." The boy muttered, straying away from the steel door while he toyed with his flannel shirt. The kid behind Flannel Boy just waved, his mouth turning up into a smile. That's when Brietta noticed that his jaw was slightly crooked.

               Brietta remained quiet, but her eyes wandered all over the two boys, prompting them to squirm under her sharp gaze.

               "A-Are you . . . in the species of non-hearing?" Flannel Boy blurted out in curiosity, and Crooked Smile hit his friend over the head, looking at the shorter boy with wide eyes.

               Brietta held back a smile as the boys wandered over to her with caution that would make it seem as though she were a time bomb —— which wasn't an improper assumption.

               "Are you asking if I'm deaf? Because I'm not." Brietta mumbled before directing her gaze over to the moon, which calmed her immensely. She detected Crooked and Flannel's footfalls creeping closer to her until two shadows appeared behind her.

               "Cool. I mean, you would be cool either way if you were deaf. Not that being deaf is cool, b-but not that being deaf isn't cool. It's on, like, the spectrum of normal. . ." Flannel trailed off as he awkwardly coughed before glancing at Brietta, who never took her eyes off the moon, but he could tell that she was listening by the smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

               A scuffle sounded behind her, followed by a soft smack and 'ow', until another voice spoke; this one deeper, "Sorry about my friend. He doesn't have people skills."

               A scoff followed as soon as he finished, "Neither do you!"

               Another scuffle sounded behind Brietta and she peered over her shoulder to see Flannel and Crooked flapping their hands at each other. A giggle bubbles from her chest and their fight–if you could even call it that–ended swiftly.

               Flannel and Crooked both look at Brietta with wide eyes and flushed cheeks, prompting her laughter to dull into a sigh.

               Flannel clears his throat, "You know, it isn't safe sitting on the ledge. It's like a really long drop if you fell, but if you did, you'd be right next to a hospital." Flannel cautioned, chuckling at his own joke, and Brietta giggled again, her face lighting up.

               The two boys felt their hearts warm with the gentle sound.

               Brietta patted the spots on either side of her, and the two boys took it as a wordless signals to perch themselves there. Flannel glanced at her and he finally noticed her puffy cheeks that matched his, and still, he found her captivating.

               "Why were you crying?" It wasn't him who said it, no, it was her.

               That's all it took before tears began rushing out of Flannel's brown eyes. His eyes were trained on his lap, his cheeks heating with embarrassment at the presence of the girl beside him.

               Brietta inhaled sharply before wrapping her arms around Flannel, and soon, Crooked moved closer and wrapped his arms around the two other kids.

               Brietta chewed on her bottom lips before pressing her head against Flannel's shoulder, prompting his breath to hitch as her tears dripped onto his flannel. "I'm Brietta, by the way. If we're going to cry with each other, we should be friendly."

               A broken chuckle escaped Flannel's lips before he spoke, "That's a strange name. I'm going to call you Brelly." Brietta rolled her eyes before tightening her grip on Flannel as he shifted to envelop his arms around her and Crooked, sandwiching Brietta between them. "Anyway, my name is Stiles, and that's my friend, Scott."

               "That's weirder than Brietta, Stiles." Scott spoke up, smiling against Brietta's head. "Yeah, Stiles, that's weirder than my name." Brietta attempted to speak his name with superiority, but her giggle following her words was a dead giveaway that she adored the name.

               "You guys can't gang up on me! It isn't fair." Stiles whined, sniffling lightly, but he had a smile on his face.

               Brietta and Scott looked at each other from the corner of their eyes before shrugging, "We'll only tease you some of the time." Brietta promised, but Stiles began to shake his head against her head. "No, none of the time!"

               However, Stiles' words fell upon deaf ears as Brietta and Scott broke down into a fit of laughter at his flushed cheeks, and Stiles couldn't help but join in.

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"I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU DIDN'T LET ME THROW YOU A PARTY, BRIE." Lydia Martin's shrill voice came in over Brietta's phone, making her wince before turning down her phone's volume.

               The trash bag in Brietta's hand drags along the floor as she inspects the disaster that is her connected living room and kitchen. "There are a lot of reasons, Lyds. Reason one is the fact that only six people were here and this place looks like I hosted a party for fifty." Brietta grumbles as she kicks around a pile of purple glitter. Damn it, Stiles, she curses internally.

               "You know I would've hosted, Brie. Anything for my favorite person," Lydia hums, and Brietta feels her heart warm as she slightly pouts, "Careful, Lyd, Jackson might hear you."

               It was no secret that Brietta didn't like Jackson, or Jackass as she liked to call him when Lydia wasn't around. The only reason he was invited to her birthday party was due to Lydia being at the party.

               "Well, Jackson should know that you're my favorite person, and my favorite person deserves a killer sixteen birthday party. That Miles kid killed the mood when he tried to glitter bomb you and ruined your crocheted flares."

               Brietta winces as she adjusts the phone on her shoulder before continuing to pick up small pieces of trash and discarded plastic cups, "It's Stiles, and he didn't mean to do that. He just isn't that good with glue."

               Speaking of the alleged glitter bomb, Brietta looks over at the cardboard poster on her kitchen island. In purple glitter, the poster reads; HAPPY 16TH, BRELLY. YOU'RE OLD NOW.

               Well, except now it's missing half of the glitter words due to them being on Brietta's ruined pants when Stiles tried to show her. He looked so proud when he brought it over that Brietta couldn't find it in herself to get angry.

               "Besides, he's–.The gesture is worth the ruined pants. I can get new pants." Brietta reminded, her cheeks flushing at her slight mistake.

               "Yeah, yeah. Whatever, but I'm planning your 17th. No objections, just bring a smile." Lydia asserted, prompting a smile to grow on Brietta's face. "Okay, Lyds," Brietta then scans the wide space and inhales deeply, "well, I've gotta go, I won't get any work done if I'm talking to you the whole time."

               Lydia chuckles on the other end, "I've been told that I'm very distracting," Brietta scrunched up her face before letting out a choked laugh, "Love you, Lyds."

               "Love you, Brie." Then Lydia hangs up the phone.

               Brietta takes her phone off her shoulder and begins pushing herself to work. With any luck, she'll get everything cleaned up in ten minutes.

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SHE DID NOT HAVE LUCK.

               Twenty minutes had passed and she only had gotten half done before exhaustion hit her like a freight train.

               Brietta yawned and tied the trashbag shut–at least she'd gotten all of the food and sticky substances. She rubbed her hands across her face before brushing her hair away from her face with her fingers.

               I can probably wrangle Eli into cleaning up the rest, she thought, walking up the stairs to her bedroom. Another yawn rips from her chest and her eyes water.

               She shakes her head before reaching her bedroom door, but just as she reaches the knob, she hears a thud inside. Brietta considers the possibility that her dog, Milo, could've knocked something over...but Milo went to bed with her grandmother an hour ago.

               The possibility of Milo being in her room soon evaporates as she hears murmuring coming from inside her room. Brietta used to be thankful for there being a tree right outside her window. A tree that Scott had installed metal steps into after Brietta's grandma, Vera, had asked, claiming that Brietta would need it in case of emergencies.

               Well, she wasn't feeling so thankful now.

               "If I die, I'm haunting you, Grams," Brietta whispered toward Vera's bedroom door on the opposite wall. Brietta looked around to see what she could use as a weapon, but she didn't have anything. She thought about running downstairs to get a knife, but what if the intruder left her bedroom to roam around and she didn't have the element of surprise?

               Surviving is hard.

               "I'm a final girl," Brietta assures herself quietly, curling her hands into fists before swiftly moving inside her bedroom door. She spots a shadowed figure a foot to her right and she kicks them in the thigh, earning a groan before she grabs the collar of their shirt, her fist winding back to punch.

               "Don't punch, I'm pregnant!"

               Suddenly, the lights in Brietta's room turn on and it takes a second for her eyes to adjust before she notices the person kneeling in pain before her.

               "Seriously, Stiles?"

               Stiles grumbles in front of her, rubbing his thigh with his hands, "You kick hard."

               Brietta's eyes bulge and she peers behind her to see Scott by her light switch with a forced smile–it looked more like a grimace if she was being honest. She turns back to Stiles and unfists her hands, dragging them through her hair.

               "I wouldn't have kicked you if you hadn't snuck in through my window!" Brietta whispered in a loud tone, careful of her sleeping family, "I could've killed you!"

               Stiles quirks up an eyebrow from his kneeling position, "I wouldn't go that far." However, as Brietta's eyes narrow at the teenager, he winces and looks away, "No, yeah, it's cool. You could totally kill me."

               Brietta looks between Scott and Stiles before helping Stiles up to his feet. Stiles staggers for a moment before leaning on his uninjured leg.

               "What are you guys even doing here? It's almost 11," Brietta turns over to Scott, "You should be in bed, Scott. You have lacrosse tryouts in the morning."

               Scott looked at Brietta with an appreciative look before pointing at Stiles, "He said he wouldn't tell me until we got here."

               Brietta motions to the ground below her, hinting at the first floor, "You could've knocked on my door like a normal person, Stiles."

               "Where's the fun in that?"

               "Where's the fun in getting kicked and almost punched?" Scott quipped, rolling his eyes at his best friend's shenanigans–which were becoming a normality.

               "Whatever, moving on. Look, I know it's late, but you gotta hear this. I saw my dad leave twenty minutes ago. Dispatch called–they're bringing in every officer from the Beacon Department, and even state police."

               Brietta and Scott shared a worried look; what would require the entire town's officers and even state police? "Is there a serial killer in Beacon?" Brietta sought, and Stiles shrugged with a smile. A smile.

               "Probably. Two joggers found a body in the woods."

               "What, a dead body?" Scott asked for clarification as he threw himself on Brietta's bed. Stiles looked Scott dead in the eyes with a scrunched-up face, "No, a body of water." Stiles rolled his eyes as Brietta chuckled beside him, "Yes, dumbass, a dead body!"

               Scott looks over at his friends with a frown, "You mean, like, murdered?"

               "No, fileted," Brietta whispered, earning a slight glare from Scott. "Nobody knows yet. Just that it was a girl, probably in her twenties." Stiles interjected, gently nudging Brietta with his elbow.

               Scott frowns and his eyebrows furrowed in what Brietta thought was the endearing way–woah, normal way– that they always do. "Hold on, if they found the body, then what are they looking for?"

               Stiles was practically glowing beside Brietta, hopping from foot to foot, "That's the best part; they only found half." Brietta and Scott shared a concerned look, but Stiles couldn't be bothered, "We're going."

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STILES' TEAL BLUE JEEP, known as Roscoe, rolls to a stop in front of one of the many entrances to Beacon Hills Preserve. Stiles hands out a flashlight to Brietta and hops out of the jeep as Brietta stares at the darkened preserve through the windshield.

               Her heart slows and pressure builds in her heart.

               "Brelly?" She snaps out of her stupor and looks at Scott, whose eyebrows are furrowed. Concern swam around in his eyes. Scott reaches out to her and Brietta fights the strange urge to move towards him. He swipes at the skin under her eyes, confusing her until she realizes that a tear had slipped out during her trance. "Are you okay?"

               "Uh, yeah, yeah. I'm just...a little tired." Brietta lied, rubbing her eyes to sell it, but, as she opened them, she knew Scott didn't believe her.

               His lips parted but, before he got a word out, Stiles' voice sounded from outside the jeep, "C'mon, guys!"

               Scott pursed his lips and stared at Brietta for a long moment before climbing out of Roscoe. He pushes the passenger seat forward, allowing Brietta to exit seeing as the jeep only had doors in the front.

               "We're seriously doing this?" Scott questions as he shuts the passenger seat's door. Brietta turns her flashlight on to see a sign outside of the preserve's entrance; BEACON HILLS PRESERVE, NO ENTRY AFTER DARK. "You're the one always bitching that nothing ever happens in this town." Stiles retorts, slapping Scott on the back as he passes him.

               Stiles crouches beneath the chains holding up the preserve's sign as Scott and Brietta stare after him, "I was trying to get a good night's sleep before practice tomorrow."

               "C'mon," Brietta whispered to Scott as they followed Stiles through the preserve, their flashlights leading the way.

               "Right, 'cause sitting on the bench is such a grueling effort."

               "Stiles," Brietta hisses before looking at Scott, "You'll get your chance this year, Scott. I even think you'll get first line."

               "Hey, that's the spirit! Everyone should have a dream, even a pathetically unrealistic one." Stiles quips as he stares at Brietta for a long beat. "Some dreams come true, Stiles. You just have to work for it." Brietta counters, making Stiles pause before he continues on.

               Leaves crunch beneath the trio's feet as they continue their trek. The three teenagers walk in silence for a long moment until Scott speaks up with the sarcastic tone that Stiles had used, "Just out of curiosity, which half of the body are we looking for?"

               Stiles slows down as he looks back at Scott with a perplexed look, "Huh! I didn't even think about that."

               "It's comforting to know you've planned this out with your usual attention to detail," Scott grumbled, rolling his eyes at his best friend.

               Wow. Brietta looks over at Stiles with an appalled look as Scott continues, "And, uh...what if whoever killed the body is still out here?"

               Stiles pursed his lips before tilting his head, "Also something I didn't think about."

               "Great," Brietta speaks up, "Stiles, you do realize that, if we find the body, it could count as tampering with evidence. You know, the crime people get arrested for?"

               Stiles scoffs before looking at the girl beside him, "Well, you came this far so you're as curious as I am."

               "I'm just here to watch over you two. Someone has to make sure that Tweedledee and Tweedlesarcastic don't run into the killer." Brietta remarked, however, she couldn't help but be slightly curious.

               Who slices someone in half anyway?

               Beacon Hills hasn't had a homicide case in ten years.

               Stiles scoffs, "Oh, and what are you going to do? Kick them in the thigh?"

               "Says the guy who's walking with a limp," Scott interjected, snickering along with Brietta as they watched Stiles limp slightly.

               "I need better friends," Stiles sighed as they approached a slight hill. "You love us too much to leave." Brietta countered, smiling brightly at Stiles as she nudged Scott. "Yeah, yeah..." Stiles huffed as he began climbing the hill, his friends in tow.

               Scott's breathing starts to become rapid, shallow, and wheezy as the three continue up the hill, "Maybe the severe asthmatic should be the one holding the flashlight, huh?"

               Scott's wheezing continues as he leans on a tree at the top of the hill. Brietta hangs back with Scott as he whips out his inhaler, taking a long pull out of it.

               "You okay, Scott?" Brietta asks as she rubs his back, waiting until he nods and puts his inhaler away.

               Brietta and Scott manage to catch up with Stiles who had gone ahead of them, but as they approached Stiles, he suddenly fell to the ground. Brietta and Scott went over to help him until they tripped over a hidden branch in the leaves.

               Brietta and Scott let out twin groans as they landed on their stomachs. "Ow, my boobs." Brietta wheezed, leaning up only to see flashlights in the distance and barking nearby. She quickly turns her flashlight off so as to not attract any attention from the BHPD.

               "Are you okay?" Stiles asks with bright pink cheeks, looking from Brietta's chest to her face. Her scrunched-up face straightens and she pushes away Stiles' face gently. "You should see how red you are." She jokes, her words choppy from trying to contain her laughter.

               Stiles' face reddens even more until he looks back at the group of policemen in the distance and rises to his feet, "C'mon!"

               "Wait!" Brietta and Scott call out, but Stiles keeps going. Scott takes one more breath from his inhaler before he and Brietta take off after Stiles.

               "Wait up!" Scott calls out, running after his friend. "Stiles, you're gonna get caught!" Brietta reasons, nearly catching up with Stiles, but she knocks into a branch, her flashlight falling out of her hands. She debates going back for the flashlight but decides against it.

               Stiles slows down and Brietta almost reaches him until Scott pulls her behind a thick tree with him. Brietta begins to object until they hear barking and a masculine voice calls out, "Hold it right there!"

               "Hang on, hang on..." A familiar voice sounds out next, and it makes Brietta and Scott cringe. It's Stiles' dad, Noah Stilinski. "This little delinquent belongs to me."

               "Dad, how are you doing?" Brietta hears Stiles ask, making her shake her head.

               The barking that they had heard continues on as Noah sighs, "So, do you, uh, listen in to all of my phone calls?"

               "No." Stiles denies before laughing sheepishly, "Well, not the boring ones."

               "Now, where's your usual partners in crime?" Noah questions after a long pause, and Stiles scoffs, "Who, Scott and Brie? They're both home. Scott said he wanted to get a good night's sleep for first day back at school tomorrow, and Brie is cleaning up after her party."

               Stiles inhales deeply as it begins to rain, "It's just me. In the woods...alone."

               "Scott! Brie! You guys out there?" From the corner of her eye, Brietta notices a flash of light surveying the area, and she presses herself close to Scott.

               Brietta tenses as she feels the prickling feeling of being watched, but Noah doesn't call out her name or Scott's. She looks over to see Scott looking down at her, but as soon as they make eye contact, he turns away. Her eyebrows furrow and her lips turn down into a frown, Weird.

               The light goes away and Noah sighs deeply, "Well, young man, I'm gonna walk you back to your car and then you and I are gonna have a conversation about something called invasion of privacy."

               Their footsteps travel away from Brietta and Scott as thunderclaps in the distance. Brietta brushes her wet hair away from her face, wiping the rain away from her eyes as Scott grumbles under his breath.

               The two wait until the coast is clear and then remove themselves from the tree. However, as they begin to walk in one direction, Brietta's soft voice speaks up, "We're lost, aren't we?"

               "Yeah." Scott sighed as they began to walk in one direction. "The preserve has a lot of entrances, though. We'll find one eventually."

               An owl hoots in the distance as the two begin to walk aimlessly, leaves crunching beneath their feet. A flapping sound was heard overhead, making the two pause before they continued into a foggy clearing.

               As Scott pulls his inhaler out of his hoodie, Brietta's spine straightens. It's completely quiet now. "Scott..." Brietta whispered as he raised the inhaler to his lips.

               Out of nowhere, the ground beneath them shook and a herd of deer began frantically stampeding toward the two. Scott pulled Brietta into him as a deer came at her, but another came at Scott, pushing the two to the ground, his inhaler flying out of his hands.

               More deer begin to come out from the distance, and Brietta feels one trample over her, running over her leg as she hears a snap. Brietta cries into Scott's shoulder as the deers clear out, their footfalls fading into the distance.

               "What the hell?" Brietta cried out as she and Scott sat up, their attention on where the deers had gone.

               Scott rises to his feet, and holds his hand out to Brietta, "Can you stand?" The girl only shrugs and reaches for his hand, pulling herself up, but as soon as she applies pressure on her left leg, she bites back a cry.

               "I'm fine," She bites out when Scott steadies her as she sways into him. His eyebrows shoot up at her tone, making her shoulders droop, "Sorry, I'm just tired."

               Scott nods, his gaze still darting from her injured ankle to her face to where the deers had gone. "Yeah, I just need to find my inhaler and we'll keep going."

               Scott turns on his phone's flash to survey the area where his inhaler might've gone as Brietta hobbles behind him, despite him telling her to sit against a tree until he found it.

               Scott slows his pace as Brietta gets closer and he sticks to one area, his flash illuminating the ground until he stops on something.

               No, someone.

               Scott gasps and Brietta goes pale as they see a young woman lying on the ground. She's covered in blood and her eyes are wide and unblinking. Despite himself, Scott trailed the phone down and his suspicions were correct.

               This is the top half of the dead body, and blood was still trickling from the cut.

               This is new.

               Scott inhales sharply and begins to back away, only to step back into a steep hill. Brietta's teary eyes widen and she attempts to grab him, only to fall with him, his weight pulling her down.

               Grunts and groans followed as they tumbled down; Scott hitting his back on a tree on the way down, and Brietta's injured ankle hitting a loose branch.

               They roll to a stop, and Brietta groans from her spot a few feet away from Scott. She bites back a whimper as she reaches for her ankle. She winces as her fingers come in contact with a smooth liquid. She comes back up and wipes the blood on her shirt, her face scrunched up as she does.

               "Brie?" Scott calls out as he uses a fallen tree trunk to help himself up. "Behind you," She manages to get out as she uses a tree beside her to stand.

               "I'm going to call Stiles' dad. I'd rather us be safe and yelled at than try to find out a way out while hurt." Scott explains, staggering over to Brietta as he grabs his phone that landed beside her. Luckily, his phone survived the fall.

               As Scott types in his password, a growling sound appears behind him.

               The two teenagers freeze, and Scott slowly turns around, only to find a large, bestial creature with glowing red eyes standing a few feet before him. Brietta straightens from the tree, feeling as though someone had just poured ice-cold water all over her. "Scott...run."

               Scott barely had time to move before the beast leaps toward him, causing him to fall backward onto the ground. Though Scott attempts to crawl away, and Brietta tries to move toward him, the animal grabs him by the ankles and pulls him backward before viciously biting him on his right hip, causing Scott to roar in pain.

               Adrenaline hits Brietta like a freight train and the pain in her foot goes away as she runs towards Scott, kicking the creature in the face before grabbing Scott. She pulls him along as she runs until adrenaline hits him, making him run faster and he pulls her along.

               They scramble through the woods, tripping and tumbling the whole way as they desperately try to evade whatever attacked Scott. The amount of trees begins to lessen and Brietta spots a road as rain thumps harder against them. "Over there!" She points to the road and picks up her pace, running a few feet ahead of Scott.

               As Brietta finally makes it to the road, lights blind her and hands grab at her waist, pulling her back before the car passing could hit her. Brietta's adrenaline rush fades away and the pain in her leg comes back as she leans against Scott, struggling to catch her breath.

               Finally more or less safe, Scott takes a moment to remove one hand from Brietta's waist and lift the hem of his hoodie up. Brietta's eyes widen as she sees the large bite wound on his hip. "Scott..."

               Suddenly, a loud howl is heard from in the woods.

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BRIETTA LIMPS INTO HER KITCHEN, rubbing the sleep away from her eyes. "Hey, sleeping beauty." Ellington quips from his spot in front of the stove, bacon sizzling on a pan. "Does Grams know you snuck out last night?" Brietta opens her eyes to see her brother hiding a smile behind a ceramic mug.

               Brietta narrows her eyes at Ellington and motions to her injured ankle, which she had wrapped in a bandage last night, "I already paid the price, Eli." She slid into a stool in front of her kitchen island, leaning forward to give her brother her attention.

               Ellington shrugged before turning his back to his sister, "Never said that I was going to tell her. I just would've liked to know where you were when I checked your room last night and you weren't there."

               A smile grew on Brietta's face as she tilted her head at her brother, "Aw, where you worried about me, Eli?"

               Ellington peers over his shoulder to roll his eyes at her, "Fuck off."

               Brietta snickers at him as footsteps sound behind her. Before she can turn around to greet her grandmother, the older Chastener presses a kiss to her head.

               Brietta sends Ellington a pointed look before rolling around in the stool, "Morning, Grams."

               "Morning, Butterfly." Vera greets, putting a smile on her granddaughter's face. Vera pats the top of Brietta's head before moving toward her grandson and squeezing his cheeks.

               "Grams," Ellington grumbles as Brietta grabs out her phone from her pajama pants and snaps a quick photo. The shutter of the camera catches Ellington's attention and, as soon as Vera turns to go to the fridge, he glares at his sister before mouthing 'delete that'.

               Brietta shrugs while–terribly–fighting a smile before hopping off the stool. "Save me some bacon, Eli." She requests as she hobbles her way toward the staircase, trying her best to conceal the pain she feels. "Only if you delete that photo!" Ellington calls out to her retreating back.

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BRIETTA WINCES AS SHE GETS OUT OF STILES' JEEP, her left leg had to hold up her weight as her right ankle ached.

               Brietta inhales deeply as Stiles hops out of the driver's seat, grabbing his backpack before tripping over himself to reach her.

               "I'm sorry, Brelly." Stiles frowned, his entire demeanor reminding her of a sad puppy. He grabs her satchel from under the passenger seat, despite her telling him that she could carry her own bag. "Stiles, you don't have to apologize and you don't have to carry my bag."

               Stiles shook his head before she even got his name out and pushed the passenger door shut, "This is the least I can do. I'm the reason why we went out last night, ergo I'm also the reason why you're hobbling around."

               "That's not how it works, Stiles. I chose to go." Brietta argued, attempting to walk normally, but it looked like she was sporting a wedgie.

               Stiles sighed as he followed beside her, putting a hand on her lower back. Brietta's cheeks heat, and she's sure it's due to the embarrassment she's feeling at the fact that she couldn't even walk without assistance.

               Stiles and Brietta eventually make it to the pathway leading to the school's entrance, but they stop halfway and look around for their missing piece.

               Soon enough, the two teenagers spot Scott McCall, and Stiles struggles to contain his curiosity as the Hispanic boy approaches them.

               Scott drops his backpack onto the ground and Brietta reaches to grab it until Stiles swats away her hand. "Seriously?" Brietta glares at Stiles as he picks up Scott's backpack.

               Stiles ignores Brietta's venomous stare and turns to Scott, "Okay, let's see this thing."

               Scott lifts his shirt to reveal the bite he'd gotten. A bite that was covered in gauze and tape with a small amount of blood leaking through.

               Stiles gasps excitedly while Brietta frowns, the sound of Scott roaring in pain playing in her head. Stiles, however, poked at the bandage, causing Scott to flinch back in pain.

               "Woah." Scott hisses before pulling his shirt back down and snatching his backpack from Stiles. Once Scott turns around to walk toward the school's entrance, Stiles points his middle finger at Scott's retreating back.

               Brietta snickers and shoves his hand down as Scott begins to talk, "It was too dark to see much, but I'm pretty sure it was a wolf."

               Stiles' head snaps toward Scott in disbelief, "A wolf bit you?" Scott nods and hums, making Stiles shake his head. Stiles stares at Scott for a long moment, "No, not a chance."

               "Brelly, back me up," Scott begs, looking over at the auburn-haired girl. Brietta looks over at Scott and then Stiles before shrugging, "I don't know. I mean it sounded like a wolf, but it was...bigger. And I think it had red eyes, but I could've been seeing things."

               Stiles pursed his lips before shaking his head with a small chuckle, "You guys weren't attacked by a wolf," Then Stiles looked at Brietta with outstretched hands, "or a mutant wolf."

               Scott grumbled under his breath, "What do you mean we weren't attacked by a wolf? You weren't there, Stiles."

               Stiles scoffed out a laugh, "Because California doesn't have wolves, okay? Not in, like, sixty years."

               Scott's eyebrows shoot up as the trio reaches the staircase leading up to the entrance, "Really?" Stiles turns around to face his best friends with a deadpanned expression, "Yes, really. There are no wolves in California."

               "Well, clearly," Brietta motions to Scott's stomach, approximately where his wound is, "the wolves are back."

               "All right. Well, if you don't believe us about the wolf, then you're definitely not gonna believe me when I tell you that we found the body." Scott shrugs as Stiles' demeanor instantly changes from exasperation to gleeful at the sound of this news.

               Usually, Stiles' excitement lights up something in Brietta, but this time it made something in her ache. She couldn't pinpoint why she felt off today, but her closest guess was slight trauma from yesterday night's events.

               "You–. are you kidding me?"

               "No, man, I wish. I'm gonna have nightmares for a month." Scott cringed as Stiles beamed, "Oh, god, that is freakin' awesome. I mean, this is seriously gonna be the best thing that's happened to this town since..." Stiles trails off and stares at Brietta for a long moment, causing her eyebrows to furrow.

               "Stiles?" Brietta snapped her fingers in front of his face, but she wasn't too concerned. Stiles spaced out sometimes due to his ADHD. Stiles soon snapped out of it, his mouth agape. "You were saying that finding a dead body is the best thing that happened to this town since..."

               "Since..." Stiles furrowed his eyebrows and chewed on his bottom lip, "uh, the Blockbuster opened up."

               Brietta hummed, not completely believing Stiles but, before she could say anything, a hand wrapped around her bicep and tugged her away from Stiles and Scott.

               "They've had enough Brie Time, I need my best friend," Lydia muttered as she pulled Brietta along with her. Brietta peered over her shoulder to mouth an apology to her friends as Stiles tossed Brietta's bag to her before she walked inside of the school building with Lydia.

               Outside, Stiles turned to Scott with an irritated look, "You're the cause of this, you know." Scott rolls his eyes in response to Stiles' comment, "Uh-huh."

               "Draggin' me down to your nerd depths. I'm a nerd by association. I've been Scarlet-nerded by you."

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"I CAN'T SPEND TOO MUCH TIME HERE," Brietta warned as Lydia pulled out a lip liner from her makeup pouch, "Thomas asked me to give this new student a tour." Brietta finished, referring to their principal.

               Brietta leaned against the school bathroom sink as Lydia uncapped the lip liner, "Do they seem like anyone we'd want to be friends with?"

               Brietta shrugged while Lydia sharpened the liner, "All I know is that her name is Allison Argent. She and her family move around a lot; a new place every year. She was left behind a year because of all the moving, but she gets good grades every year. That's all I know."

               Lydia grinned before looking over at Brietta, "Sounds interesting. Lots of stories," Lydia fully turned to face Brietta before holding up the liner, "Now, smooth out your lips."

               Brietta grumbled under her breath, "I don't get why we need to do this," Brietta complained but smoothed out her lips anyway as Lydia approached. The strawberry-blonde girl began to trace Brietta's lips as she spoke, "You'll thank me when Miles and Sean trip over themselves trying to kiss you."

               Miles and Sean?

               "You mean, Stiles and Scott?" Brietta managed to get out while barely moving her lips. Lydia shrugged before finishing up, "I guess, but it doesn't matter. You're too gorgeous to still be on the market."

               Brietta snorted out a laugh before shaking her head, "Stiles and Scott don't like me like that. We're friends, Lyds."

               "Then that boy that you tutor, or that guy you babysit for." Lydia listed, making Brietta gasp, "Lydia, I am not dating Isaac or Dominic. I'm pretty sure that Isaac is gay, and Dominic...well he's Dominic."

               Lydia capped the lip liner before rolling her eyes, "Well, then accentuate your features for the sake of doing so."

               Brietta watched as Lydia rummaged through her makeup bag and grabbed out a clear lip gloss that still had the tape on it, "Bought this for you. I forgot to give it to you yesterday."

               "No, you don't have to Lyds." Brietta frowned, but Lydia pushed the tube into Brietta's hands, "I want to, Brie."

               Brietta sighed, a small smile growing on her lips before she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Lydia, "You're amazing, you know that?"

               "Yes, but feel free to keep reminding me," Lydia winked as she leaned back into Brietta, smiling against her shoulder.

               Brietta rolls her eyes with a smile before pulling away, "Okay, well, I have to go but I'll meet you by locker 638. It's the new girl's locker."

               Lydia nodded before blowing Brietta a kiss as the latter began to leave the bathroom. Brietta walks out of the school building, tucking her hair behind her ears as the wind picks up outside.

               At the end of the school's path, Brietta catches sight of a teenage girl on a bench, rummaging through her backpack with her phone wedged between her ear and shoulder.

               As Brietta approached, she heard Allison speak into the phone with a panicked voice, "Everything except a pen. Oh, my God, I didn't actually forget a pen."

               Allison pushes her hair away from her face, catching Brietta in her peripheral. Allison shoots Brietta a small smile before speaking into her phone, pulling it away from her shoulder and holding it, "Okay, okay. I gotta go, my guide is here. Love ya."

               Allison hangs up and puts her phone away before standing up. She outstretches her hand and Brietta takes it in a quick handshake, "Sorry about that."

               "No, it's fine," Brietta waves Allison off as she pulls her hand away, "You can spend as much time as you'd like, I'm getting out of Mr. Curtis' boring syllabus talk."

               Allison chuckles, her body relaxing as she nods, "Well, I'm glad to be of service."

               Brietta motions for Allison to follow her and they begin to walk toward the school's entrance. A prickling feeling of being watched hits Brietta and she looks around before her eyes reach a window that looks into the English classroom.

               She makes eye contact with Scott through the window and she narrows her eyes to see him looking at her with a slightly alarmed expression. She furrowed her eyebrows before looking around her, but she couldn't see what he was so freaked out about.

               What?, she mouths and Scott shakes his head before mouthing back, Nothing.

               Brietta shrugs off his weird behavior before she reaches into her back pocket and hands Allison a folded paper, "That's your schedule. We have English and Economics together," Brietta explains as Allison unfolds the paper, "and my best friend, Lydia, has History with you. I'm sure she'll be nice."

               Brietta was not sure that Lydia would be so nice, but she could incentivize her.

               "Thank you," Allison smiled as she tucked her schedule into her bag. The two teenagers approached the door as Brietta clapped her hands, "So, lay of the land. English with Mr. Curtis, he's sort of laid-back, but do not test his patience. Chemistry with Mr. Harris, he's a creep and an asshole, but he knows his stuff. French with Ms. Morrell, she's sweet, and kinda looks like Beyoncé."

               Brietta's breakdown of some of the teachers makes Allison laugh, "Got it. Don't worry, I've been to more than ten schools, so I think I'll be good with getting on the teachers' good sides."

               Brietta nodded with a small hum, "Principal Thomas told me about that. If you don't mind me asking, why do you move around so much? Are you guys evading the police Supernatural style?" Brietta quips, making Allison snort out a laugh.

               As Brietta opens the school's front door for Allison, the brown-haired girl answers, "No, my family's not that cool. My dad has a job that requires him to move around, so multiple schools."

               "Well, hopefully, you'll get to stay in Beacon for a while," The auburn-haired teenager nodded in acknowledgment, though an inquiry of what her father worked as was on the tip of her tongue. "There's the English classroom." Brietta pointed at the classroom to the right of them.

               "I'll give you another lay down after class, and then I'll take you to the lacrosse field after school," Brietta assured before the two girls wandered toward the door and knocked before they entered.

               All eyes in the classroom went to them as Brietta leaned toward Mr. Curtis, who was at the front of the class next to the whiteboard, and whispered to him who she had brought in and he introduced Allison to the class.

               Brietta motions for Allison to sit somewhere as she takes her usual seat in front of Stiles and to the left of Scott. A syllabus waited for her on the table, and Brietta dug into her bag as Allison took a seat behind Scott.

               Brietta whips out a pen and turns to hand it to Allison to see that Scott had beaten her to it. Her eyebrows downturn, and Allison herself looks surprised by the gesture but smiles at him gratefully. However, Brietta could've sworn that she didn't hear Allison ask for one.

               She thanked him before Scott turned back around in his seat, facing Mr. Curtis. Brietta watches Allison with a feeling she hadn't had before, and she catches Allison looking at Scott's back with a slight frown. As soon as Allison's head turns in Brietta's direction, she snaps her head away.

               Brietta shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she felt the fiery sting of eyes staring at her. She looked around before peering out the windows, seeing a blurry figure in a black jacket staring at her. She narrowed her eyes before rubbing them gently with her palms, but then when her eyes fluttered open, the figure was no longer there.

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"AND HERE'S YOUR LOCKER." Brietta motioned to the creme-colored locker that had been assigned to Allison. "You know your combination, right?" Brietta sought, earning a nod from Allison. "If you ever forget it, it's on your schedule and you can head to the main office if you can't find your schedule."

               Allison began putting in her locker combination as she smiled at Brietta, "Thanks a lot for showing me around and making me feel like Beacon Hills can be a home."

               Brietta felt her heart swell at that and she leaned against the row of lockers, "What are soon-to-be friends for?" Allison's eyes lit up at Brietta's question as she opened her locker, "Well, then I'm glad to have you as my first soon-to-be friend in Beacon Hills."

               From the corner of Brietta's eyes, she spots Lydia waving at her to get her attention. Brietta turned her head to Lydia as Allison began to put some of her notebooks in her locker. Lydia points to Allison and mouths, Allison?, earning a nod from Brietta, and Lydia begins to strut over.

               "That jacket is absolutely killer. Where'd you get it?" Lydia complimented, scanning Allison's appearance. Allison fidgeted in her spot, tightening her grip on her satchel strap, clearly bewildered by the intrusion, before she answered, "My mom was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco." Lydia glanced at Brietta with a grin, her right hand reaching out to gently drag Brietta closer, "And you are our new best friend."

               Jackson Whittemore unexpectedly appeared beside his girlfriend, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend and passionately planting his mouth on hers, neglecting the presence of Brietta and Allison.

               "You'll get used to it," Brietta whispered to Allison before turning to the couple who were still making out, "or not." Brietta grimaced at their display of romance.

               Brietta's phone vibrated in her back pocket, prompting her to glance away and reach into her back pocket to get her phone.

2:36 P.M.

scooter:
▏do you have to babysit after tryouts?
▏i have to look for my inhaler 😔

               A weird feeling washes over Brietta and she looks up, scanning the hall until she lands on Scott over at his locker. He was staring down at his phone and Stiles looked over Scott's shoulder to see as well.

               Brietta chewed on her bottom lip before she looked back down and began typing.

brelly:
▏yeah, but i could bring nathan along

               Brietta almost erased the last few words, but decided against it. It was bright out, and Stiles had informed her that Mr. Curtis let it spill that there was a suspect in custody, and the BHPD was rarely wrong with their suspects.

               Brietta taps the side of her phone as Lydia begins talking about a party, making Allison nervously laugh. A frown grows on Brietta's face before she shakes her head and begins typing.

brelly:
▏why were you acting so weird in english?

               Bubbles appear as Scott begins to type, making Brietta look up to see Scott looking nervously at his phone.

scooter:
▏i wasn't acting weird.

brelly:
▏yeah and you aren't asthmatic.
▏is it because of last night?

               Brietta looks over at Scott, and notices him let out a sigh of relief before her phone vibrates in her hands.

scooter:
▏yeah

               Brietta narrows her eyes at her phone before shutting it off just as Jackson turned to her, "Brietta's going, aren't you?"

               Brietta's eyebrows crinkle together, "Going to what?"

               Lydia tilts her head and looks at Brietta with a stern look, "To my party this Friday."

               Brietta shrugs, "I might have to babysit."

               Beside Brietta, Allison tilts her head toward the former, "Uh, I can't go. It's family night this Friday. Thanks for asking." She appeared quite bashful when she spoke, only increasing the adoration Brietta harbored for her.

               "You sure?" Jackson pressed, not catching Allison's discomfort—in Brietta's opinion, with Jackson's intelligence status, she was certain that he wouldn't detect it if it soared at his head with fairies trailing behind. "Everyone's going after the scrimmage."

               "You mean like football?" Brietta mentally face-palmed herself at the inquiry, knowing Jackson would brag, which he did, "Football's a joke in Beacon. The sport here is lacrosse. We've won the state championship for the past three years."

               Brietta rolled her eyes before glancing away, "As if you had actually participated in all of those successes." She mumbled, very cognizant that he had only been present for the first championship during his freshman year [ which he was not a captain for until this fall ], though it was obvious Jackson had heard due to the look he sent her.

               "Well, we have practice in a few minutes," Jackson informed, redirecting his gaze from Brietta to Allison, "that is if you don't have anywhere else—."

               "Well, I was going to–." Allison cuts him off in an attempt to talk her way out of it, only to be interrupted by Lydia, who makes the decision for her, "Perfect! You're coming."

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BRIETTA, ALLISON, AND LYDIA CONGREGATED WITH OTHER STUDENTS ON THE BLEACHERS, Brietta watching in perplexity as lacrosse players warm up by passing a lacrosse ball back and forth. If Brietta had an out, she would take it, but, unfortunately, Nathan's primary school doesn't let out for thirty more minutes.

               The cerulean-eyed Chastener scans the field for Scott, and she catches his eye before sending him a thumbs up. He sends her a wide smile before Coach Finstock approaches him, forcing him to look away. Brietta then looks over to the bench designated for players and sees Stiles already looking at her.

               Brietta frowns at the fact that Stiles isn't even trying to get off the bench this year but mouths to him, Coach won't bench you forever, with a smile. Stiles nods before a small smile grows on his face.

               "Who is that?" Allison's voice beside Brietta pulls her attention away from Stiles, and she looks over at the brunette. Brietta's eyebrows turn down before she looks over to where Allison's eyes are trained, and a pit in Brietta's stomach grows. Allison was looking at Scott.

               "That's Scott McCall," Brietta answers despite a little voice in her head telling her not to. "Is he, uh, is he your friend?" Allison questioned, and Brietta nodded, "Yeah. I've known him since we were seven."

               Allison's lips part to ask another question but the assistant coach blows the whistle before she can get anything out. The whistle indicates the start of practice and, as Brietta turns to Scott, Brietta's eyes widen.

               Scott cries out in pain and sheathes his ears. He sways in his spot as Jackson cranes back his lacrosse stick with a ball in the mesh before launching it at Scott, who is still recovering from his anomaly. The ball soars through the sky and thrusts into his helmet with a force that knocks him onto the ground.

               Brietta cringes from her spot, pondering if their coach, Bobby Finstock, had purposely put the inexperienced player as a goalie just for entertainment. The entire field breaks out into laughter as Scott rises to his feet with flushed cheeks.

               However, Scott stuns everyone when Isaac Lahey jogs over and swings his loaded net at Scott, who catches the ball with ease.

               Stiles and Brietta both cheered from their benches in support of their best friend as everyone else stayed quiet, even Coach Finstock looked stunned.

               Various passes later, the asthmatic never missed a ball. He caught them all with ease, earning astonished expressions from everyone. "He seems like he's pretty good." Allison grinned, impressed by his skills on the field. "Yeah . . . freakishly good," Brietta muttered, her eyebrows furrowed.

               This couldn't be the same boy who tripped over himself often, bumped into walls occasionally, and could barely catch a remote even if you threw it to him from five feet away.

               All the confidence Scott had acquired washed away as Jackson's face warmed with irritation, slamming his lacrosse stick into another player's chest and forcing himself into the front of the queue.

               Apprehension spiked in Brietta as Jackson charged forward at Scott, swinging his arm and hopping into the air to propel the bolting ball at Scott. Applause exploded in the assemblage as Scott snagged the ball with animalistic velocity.

               Stiles sprang from the bench, and a content yelp escaped his lips. He enraptured his best friend, and many others ascended to their feet to cheer on the new player. Brietta only furrowed her eyebrows; she knew something was up, but she couldn't pinpoint it. Yet.

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"ARE YOU A PROSTITUE?" A choking sound escaped Brietta's lips at Nathan's question. Sweet, seven-year-old Nathan Greenberg.

               Brietta looked at Scott and Stiles for assistance, but they both hung back as Stiles muttered, "That's all you, Brelly."

               "Wha—. Why would you—. Do you know what a prostitute is?" Brietta sought, and she swore her heart stopped when he nodded. "Yeah, it's someone who gets paid to hang out with someone. My brother pays you to hang out with me."

               Brietta harbored a million discussions in her sixteen years of life; half of them were bizarre, but this one takes the cake. Brietta's lips parted for a moment before she shut her mouth. She glanced around as if she could find a way out of this conversation, but she groaned and kneeled beside Nathan, halting both of their movement, "Well, prostitution is a different kind of hanging out. Tell you what, I'll explain what a prostitute is when you're thirty."

               Nathan frowned before nodding, casting his gaze down as he continued ahead of the three teenagers. Brietta heard snickering behind her and looked back to see Stiles chuckling behind his hand. She narrows her eyes before bending down and grabbing a fallen twig, launching it at Stiles, "Could've helped me."

               The quartet comes up on a creek in the nature preserve, and Nathan looks back at Brietta. She sighed before crouching until Scott spoke up, "I'll carry you across, Nate. Brie hurt her ankle last night." Brietta looked back at Scott to insist that she was fine [despite the dull pain she felt in her ankle] but Nathan was already climbing onto Scott's back.

               Brietta sighed before straightening and wiping the dirt off her jeans. However, she couldn't stay upset long as she watched Scott dramatically hop across the trail of rocks to get to the other side of the creek with Nathan giggling on his back.

               She shook her head with a smile before she and Stiles began hopping along the rock trail. Scott set Nathan down on the ground before pulling out an iPod with headphones attached, "I have a bunch of Blink-182 songs downloaded on this. Why don't you listen to a few songs?"

               "What's Blink-182?" Nathan asked, making Scott grin, "Only the best band ever." Nathan's eyes light up at that and grabs the iPod. He clicks on the iPod, playing a song from Blink-182 before putting the iPod away and settling the earbuds in his ears.

               The quartet begins walking with Nathan swaying his head as Brietta begins to talk, "So, what happened out there on the field?" Scott shoots her an offended look and she cringes, "I mean you're a great player, don't get me wrong, but...what you did out there was something else."

               Scott shrugged before explaining, "I—. I don't know what it was. It was like I had all the time in the world to catch the ball," Then Scott sighed and shook his head, "And that's not the only weird thing. I—. I can hear stuff I shouldn't be able to hear. Smell things."

               "Wait, did you hear Allison and I when we were outside?"

               "Smell things? Like what?"

               Brietta and Stiles both asked their questions at the same time, spooking Scott for a moment, and making Brietta send him a guilty smile. She knew they were overwhelming him, but he answered anyway, looking at Brietta. "Yeah, I heard you guys. That's why I gave her a pen," Then he turned to Stiles, "And I can smell things that I shouldn't be able to. Like the mint mojito gum in your pocket."

               Stiles makes a face as though he thinks Scott is crazy, which Brietta believes a bit too. Stiles begins to search his pockets, "I don't even have any mint mojito–.'' Much to his surprise, that there is a single piece of folded-up mint mojito gum, just as Scott said. Scott raises both of his arms to the side as if to say, I told you so.

               Brietta and Stiles lock eyes before the latter brings up a question, "So all this started with a bite?"

               Stiles seems to find this intriguing and Brietta eyes Scott warily, while Scott, ever the nurse's son, is concerned that something is wrong with him, "What if it's like an infection? Like, my body's flooding with adrenaline before I go into shock or something?"

               Stiles gets a small smirk on his face before trying to make himself look as serious as possible, which Scott, who is walking in front of him, doesn't catch. Brietta nudges him, but Stiles swats at her, "You know what? I actually think I've heard of this–it's a specific kind of infection."

               Scott stops and turns around while Brietta grabs Nathan, pulling him to a stop, "Are you serious?"

               "Yeah. Yeah, I think it's called lycanthropy." Brietta rolls her eyes at Stiles' diagnosis, while Scott, still not realizing that Stiles is messing with him, starts to panic, "What's that? Is that bad?"

               "Oh, yeah, it's the worst. But only once a month," Stiles confirms, making Brietta shake her head with a small smile. Scott furrows his eyebrows, "Once a month?"

               Stiles hums, "On the night of the full moon." Then Stiles fake-howls softly, and Scott, annoyed, shoves him away, causing Stiles to giggle. "Hey, you're the one who heard a wolf howling."

               "Hey, there could be something seriously wrong with me." Scott scoffed as he began to walk away with Nathan on his tail.

               "I know! You're a Werewolf!" Stiles then fake growls with his hands clenched as he and Brietta follow behind Scott. Scott is clearly not impressed by this joke, and Stiles' demeanor becomes serious. "Okay, obviously I'm kidding. But, if you see me in shop class trying to melt all the silver I can find, it's 'cause Friday's a full moon."

               Scott stops walking and looks around, frowning when he doesn't see anything, "No, I–. I could have sworn this was it. We saw the body, the deer came running. I dropped my inhaler..."

               "Places look different when it's dark, Scott," Brietta reminded as Stiles shrugged, watching Scott crouch to pat at the leaves, "Maybe the killer moved the body?"

               "If he did, I hope he left my inhaler. Those things are, like, eighty bucks."

               Brietta watches Scott and Stiles look around when she feels a prickling feeling, making her turn around. As she does, she catches a man in black glancing at the quartet, particularly her. She realized it looked like the figure she'd previously seen in her first period. There was something about him, but she couldn't pinpoint what it was; she felt as though she couldn't pinpoint anything lately. Brietta tapped Nathan, who tapped Stiles, who tapped Scott, and they all looked at the ghostly-looking man.

               "What are you doing here? Huh? This is private property." The man walked up to them. Brietta crossed her arms and ambled forward, intentionally shielding Nathan with her body as the latter took his headphones off. "The woods are your property? You should consider changing properties. I mean, anyone could—." Stiles pulled Brietta back behind him, earning a slight grumble.

               "Uh, sorry, man, we didn't know." apologized Stiles, sending Brietta a look that matched her grimace. "Yeah, we were just looking for something, but . . . uh, forget it," Scott spoke, quite frightened of the man.

               The man suddenly threw Scott something before tossing something to Brietta with his other palm. It was Scott's inhaler.

               "All right, come on guys, I gotta get to work." Scott sighed, starting to walk away despite the weird interaction that had just occurred.

               "Guys," Stiles stopped Brietta and Scott from walking away. "That was Derek Hale. You remember, right? He's only like a few years older than us." The name then rang a bell, and Brietta felt her heart clench at what happened to him ten years ago.

               "Remember what?" Scott asked, confused.

               "The Hale fire. His entire family died ten years ago." Brietta feels her eyes heat, despite not even knowing the guy. Hormones.

               Scott looked towards the direction that Derek had left in, but the man was long gone. "I wonder what he's doing back."

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MILO BARKED AT VERA AS SHE DUG INTO HER PASTA, making the elderly lady frown at the dog. "I just fed you, Milo." She reminds him, but Milo barks anyway, standing on his hind legs with his tongue out.

               "You make it hard to say no," Vera hummed, grabbing a piece of carrot from the middle of the table and handing it to Milo. The dog bites into the carrot, allowing Vera to let go and continue eating her pasta as Milo begins munching.

               "So, how was school? Work?" Vera sought as Brietta forked a few pasta noodles, shoving them into her mouth. As she chewed, Ellington shrugged from across the table, "School went well, and I have another shift tonight. Promised to cover for Isaac."

               "Brie?" Vera sought, and Brietta swallowed before nodding, "Well, Nathan asked me if I was a prostitute today," Vera and Ellington both gaped at Brietta and she snickered, "I didn't tell him what a prostitute was, but I did tell him that I wasn't one."

               Brietta feels an itch in her ankle and goes to scratch it, but winces as she scratches her wound. She holds back a hiss as Milo begins to bark again. A ringing disoriented her, and she lifted her hands to her temples.

               "Baby, are you alright?" Vera asked, placing a hand on Brietta's shoulder. Brietta nods, despite the ringing, "Yeah, I just have a headache. Uh, I'm going to go up and rest for a second." She rises from her seat and staggers up the stairs as Milo follows.

               Brietta made it to her room as the ringing made her sway. She grunts as she drops onto her bed and takes deep breaths. Milo continued his barking, making Brietta's headache worse, "Milo..." She mutters as the ringing begins to go away.

               She continued her deep breath as the ringing lulled into silence.

               Brietta inhales sharply, rubbing her temple. Milo barked once more before nudging his head against Brietta's ankles. She expects to feel pain, but she doesn't.

               Her eyebrows furrow before she reaches down and unbandages her ankle, seeing blood on her ankle and the bandage. However, when she began to rub the blood away from the ankle, the skin beneath was unmarred.

               It was like the injury had never happened.

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"SO, YOU WOKE UP AND YOU WERE IN THE WOODS?" Brietta summarized to Scott as he ended his recount of this morning's events.

               "I also saw the wolf that bit me. I tried chasing it, but it was foggy and then I fell into someone's pool." Scott finished, making Brietta's jaw drop. "I'm sorry. You tried to chase after an animal that attacked you?" Brietta hit Scott on his arm as they approached the lacrosse field, "Do you have a death wish?"

               Scott groaned, rubbing his arm, "I was trying to get a closer look at it."

               Brietta gaped at Scott and rolled her eyes, "You are so..." Brietta groaned before shaking her head and holding her hands out as soon as they reached the benches, "At least you're fine. We'll talk about the whole waking up a whole three miles from your house later." Brietta planted her hands on Scott's shoulder, shaking him a bit, "First, you need to get first line."

               Scott stared at her for a moment, making her move her hands and clear her throat. Scott snapped out of his stupor and nodded at Brietta before preparing to go on the field for tryouts when Stiles frantically ran up to talk to him. "Scott! Scott, wait up."

               "Stiles, I'm playing the first elimination, man. Can it wait?" Scott tries to walk away, but Stiles grabs him by the shoulders and looks him in the eyes as Brietta listens in from a few feet away. "Just hold on, okay? I overheard my dad on the phone. The fiber analysis came back from the lab in L.A. They found animal hairs on the body from the woods!"

               "Stiles, I gotta go." Scott, distracted by the prospect of making first line, picks up his lacrosse stick and helmet before jogging onto the field. "Wait, no! Scott! You're not gonna believe what the animal was!"

               Stiles stops and stares after Scott. His voice lowers to almost a whisper as he finishes his own thought, "It was a wolf."

               Brietta's eyes bulged, "I'm sorry, a wolf? So, a wolf killed the girl? How would a wolf slice someone in half?" Brietta then shivers and pales at the thought of a wolf chewing into the innocent girl they'd found in the woods.

               Stiles shrugged with a frown, prompting Brietta to rub his back as they returned to the bench. Technically, Brietta wasn't supposed to be on the same bench as Stiles, but Coach was too busy, well coaching, to say anything.

               Practice begins with the players doing a drill in which they pass the ball back and forth between each other. Scott bounces on the balls of his feet while he waits for the ball to be thrown his way. Once again, when the ball heads his way, Brietta and Stiles are shocked when he catches it with minimal effort.

               This continues until Scott and Jackson are up against each other for the lacrosse equivalent of a kickoff, and the two stare at each other for a long moment until Coach Finstock blows the whistle. Much to Jackson's dismay, Scott easily snatches the ball before he can even react, forcing him to chase after him as fast as he can.

               Brietta and Stiles watch with wide eyes as Scott performs a hands-free round-off flip over three players who attempted to knock him down together. He lands with ease and easily ends with a goal by throwing the ball between the goalie's legs.

               When Scott pumps his fists into the air, the other players run up to him and smack him affectionately on the shoulders, and Brietta begins to clap, despite her confusion and utter...well confusion.

               Coach calls Scott over, causing Brietta's heart to drop, but she and the others on the various benches listen in. "What in God's name was that? This is a lacrosse field. What, are you trying out for the gymnastics team?"

               Scott shook his head, "No, Coach."

               "What the hell was that?" Coach points back to where Scott had performed his circus act. "I don't know. I–. I was just trying to make the shot." Scott explained, looking a bit pale, and Brietta waited for Coach to say whether or not he wanted Scott to play.

               "Yeah, well, you made the shot. And guess what? You're startin', buddy. You made first line." Scott bounces on his heels with a goofy smile. Everyone on the benches stood to cheer except Brietta and Stiles, who were starting to believe that whole lycanthropy spiel.

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WEREWOLVES, LYCAON, AND WOLFSBANE.

               It was all starting to become real for Stiles.

               After practice, Stiles headed straight for his bedroom, where he began researching Werewolves on his computer. Stiles read articles, book excerpts, and theories before going back to the computer and searching online for articles about silver as a weakness of Werewolves.

               Suddenly, the sound of knocking at Stiles' door startles him so badly that he nearly falls out of his chair, revealing that the floor is covered in computer printouts from his research.

               Stiles thinks for a moment about what to do next, ultimately closing his MacBook and walking over to open his bedroom door. When he finds Scott in the doorway staring at his phone.

               "Get in." Scott walks into Stiles' bedroom just as Stiles closes the door, "Where's Brelly?" Stiles asked, making Scott stare at his phone with a weird look that Stiles couldn't decipher before looking up, "She's helping Lydia set up for the party."

               Stiles grumbled under his breath before continuing, "Well, you gotta see this thing. I've been up all night reading; websites, books, all this information."

               Scott takes in Stiles' bedroom, his eyes widening when he sees all the paper covering the floor and desk. "How much Adderall have you had today?" Scott blurts the question out as Stiles plops himself onto his desk chair, grabbing a stack of papers from his desk, "A lot." Stiles shakes his head before changing the subject, "Doesn't matter, okay? Just listen."

               "Oh, is this about the body? Did they find out who did it?" Scott throws his backpack onto Stiles' bed before taking a seat.

               "No, they're still questioning people. Even Derek Hale." Stiles informed, making Scott's eyes light up with remembrance, "Oh, the guy in the woods that we saw the other day?"

               "Yeah!" Stiles then shakes his head as he tries to concentrate, "Yes. But that's not it, okay?"

               Scott frowns in confusion, "What, then?"

               "Remember the joke from the other day? Not a joke anymore." Stiles' trepidation about what he's going to say only deepens when Scott shakes his head, not understanding where Stiles is going with this. "The wolf, the bite in the woods. I started doing all this reading."

               Stiles stands to his feet, already sidetracked from his original point, "Do you even know why a wolf howls?"

               "Should I?"

               Stiles taps the paper in his hand, "It's a signal, okay? When a wolf's alone, it howls to signal its location to the rest of the pack. So if you heard a wolf howling, that means others could have been nearby. Maybe even a whole pack of 'em."

               "A whole pack of wolves?" Scott summarized, causing Stiles to shake his head, "No...Werewolves."

               Scott scoffed, rising to his feet, "Are you seriously wasting my time with this?"

               Scott picks up his backpack and gets ready to leave, but Stiles grabs him by the arm with one hand and presses his other against his chest so that he's forced to stay where he is while he tries to convince Scott that he's telling the truth, "I saw you on the field today, Scott, okay? What you did wasn't just amazing, all right? It was impossible."

               Scott tries to shrug off Stiles' accusation and once again tries to leave, "Yeah, so I made a good shot."

               Stiles grabs Scott's backpack and tosses it onto his bed, forcing the latter to stay and listen, "No, you made an incredible shot! I mean, the way you moved, your speed, your reflexes? Y'know, people can't just suddenly do that overnight." Stiles frowns as Scott shakes his head with disbelief, "And there's the vision, and the senses, and don't even think I don't notice that you don't need your inhaler anymore."

               "Okay! Dude, I can't think about this now. We'll talk tomorrow." At the sound of this statement, Stiles becomes panicked, "Tomorrow?! What? No! The full moon's tonight. Don't you get it?"

               Scott scoffs, stuttering through his argument, "What are you trying to do? I–. I just made first line. I–. I got a date with a girl who I can't believe wants to go out with me, and everything in my life is somehow perfect. Why are you trying to ruin it?"

               Scott's second announcement makes Stiles tense, "Wha–. You got a date? With who?" Stiles sought, making Scott look away for a second, "Brie. She texted me to go to the party as her date."

               Stiles inhales sharply, registering what Scott just said. Once it sinks in, though, Stiles wishes that he'd never asked. Wishes that he hadn't felt his heart practically shatter.

               Stiles stammers on his own words for a moment before taking a deep breath, deciding to help his friend instead of revealing his hurt, "I'm trying to help you. You're cursed, Scott. You know, and it's not just the moon that will cause you to physically change. It also just so happens to be when your bloodlust will be at its peak."

               Scott remained eerily silent for a moment. "Bloodlust?" He repeated.

               "Yeah, your urge to kill."

               "I'm already starting to feel an urge to kill, Stiles." Scott narrowed his eyes at Stiles, making the latter roll his eyes before swinging around in his seat to face his desk.

               "You gotta hear this." Stiles frantically grabs The History of Lycanthropy book off of his desk and starts reading a paragraph from it, "'The change can be caused by anger or anything that raises your pulse.'" Stiles turns to Scott and shuts the book, and, as much as Stiles' next words hurt him, he has to help his best friend, "All right? I haven't seen anyone raise your pulse like Brie does. You gotta cancel this date."

               Stiles grabs his phone from his pocket, making Scott furrow his eyebrows, "What are you doing?"

               Stiles begins to type into his phone as he speaks, "I'm canceling the date."

               "No, give it to me!" Scott growled, and he grabs the phone out of Stiles' hand. He drops it on the floor before shoving Stiles against the wall and raising his right fist, preparing to punch him in the face. However, after taking a deep breath, Scott lets go of Stiles and instead throws his desk chair across the room before coming back to himself.

               Stiles looks horrified, and Scott immediately begins to regret what he's just gone. He looks at the floor with a shameful expression before muttering to Stiles under his breath, "I'm sorry. I–. I gotta go get ready for that party."

               Scott picks up his backpack and heads for the door, giving Stiles one last apologetic look before he goes. He'd only seen the boy this dejected twice in his life—once at his mother's funeral, and the second when Brietta had gone missing when she was eleven. "I'm sorry."

               Scott leaves, and Stiles lets out a long breath of relief. Still clearly upset, Stiles roughly picks up his desk chair and sets it to rights, freezing in horror when he sees that the leather cover on the chair has four long slits on the back that look like claw marks.

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"LYDIA, DO YOU KNOW WHERE MY PHONE IS?" Brietta calls out as she begins to eye the drink table, looking for where she might've left her phone.

               At the silence that follows Brietta's question, she looks up and over at the living room where Lydia is moving her couch to the wall. Brietta narrows her eyes at Lydia, who doesn't turn to her.

               "Lydia..." Brietta mutters, making Lydia groan from her spot. Lydia finishes pushing the couch against the wall before turning to Brietta and grabbing Brietta's phone from her pocket, "Don't be mad."

               Brietta gapes at Lydia, "Lydia."

               Lydia scrunches up her face with guilt before walking over to Brietta slowly, "I might've texted Sean. Scott, sorry." Brietta crinkled her eyebrows together; what could Lydia have texted Scott that made her feel guilty? "Lydia..." It seemed like her name was the only thing that Brietta could get out.

               "I may or may not have texted him that you wanted him to come to the party as your date."

               Brietta widened her eyes, "Excuse me? You did what?"

               Lydia frowns and hands Brietta her phone, "I'm sorry, Brie, but I've noticed the way that you've been looking at Scott since Allison came, and I knew you wouldn't take initiative."

               "I haven't been looking at Scott any type of way." Brietta countered before taking her phone and scrolling through her phone contacts, finding Scott's number.

4:57 P.M.

brelly:
▏do you remember lydia's party happening tonight?

scooter:
▏yeah
▏why?

brelly:
▏you should totally be my date

scooter:
▏totally?
▏is this a joke?

brelly:
▏no, come over 🙃
message loved by scooter

               Brietta stares up at Lydia with a deadpanned expression, "Totally?" She shakes her head before raising her phone, "We need to work on boundaries, Lydia." Brietta sighed but couldn't say mad at Lydia. The strawberry-blonde meant well and Brietta knew that she had her best intentions in mind, even if she didn't show it the best way all the time.

               "It's already done, so we might as well just finish setting up." Brietta shoved her phone in her pocket before moving back over to the drink table.

               Tonight is going to be disastrous.

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THE PARTY WAS IN FULL SWING.

               Dozens of teenagers hung out in the yard, dancing and drinking around the swimming pool with fire pits scattered across the yard.

               Brietta waited by the front door of Lydia's house for Scott to explain the situation, which she was terribly dreading.

               Tire screeching down ahead of her made Brietta look up, but her dread vanished as she saw a jeep and not Melissa McCall's car. She watches Stiles exit the vehicle, and, as he turns to her, she waves at him. However, he doesn't wave back nor does he even smile at her.

               Brietta furrows her eyebrows, feeling a ball of pain hit her straight in the chest. Stiles approaches her, and she goes to call his name, but he walks past her while he shakes his head. "Stiles..." Brietta whispers, looking at his retreating back as he disappears into the crowd of teenagers.

               "Brelly." Brietta almost jumps out of her skin as she turns to see Scott in front of her. Her heart races, and she fidgets with the hem of her shirt. "Scott," She whispered before taking a deep breath, "we need to talk."

               Scott nodded with a relaxed expression, making Brietta wince, "So, uh, the text you got from me about this being a date wasn't actually from me."

               Scott's face contorted in confusion, but Brietta kept going, "Lydia sent you the text. She thought...it doesn't matter. Um, the point is that I think we're good at being friends, you know?" The words felt like a knife twisting in both teenagers' hearts.

               Brietta watched as Scott frowned before shaking his head. A smile replaces his frown and he nods, "No, yeah, friends. That's what I came here to say. We're friends." Scott's words trailed off at the end, leaving them both to just stare at each other.

               "Great," Brietta whispered, fist-bumping Scott's shoulder hesitantly before cringing. What the hell was that? Brietta stared at Scott for a moment before speed-walking back inside the house.

               Brietta sighed before heading over to the drink table where Ellington and Dominic Greenberg were conversing. Ellington stops talking when he sees his sister and narrows his eyes, "One drink, Ettie."

               Brietta rolls her eyes, but grabs one red cup and fills it halfway with the strawberry mojito that Lydia had whipped up. She pointedly lifts the drink in his direction with an are you happy? expression before walking out to the backyard.

               Once she does, she spots Scott staring at something near the back gate. No, someone.

               She walks closer to see Derek Hale standing in the shadows behind a fire pit. Derek stares at Scott before his eyes move over to Brietta, freezing her in her spot. Scott catches the fact that he no longer has Derek's attention and follows his gaze.

               Brietta and Scott stared at each other for a second before looking back at Derek...who was no longer there.

               Brietta furrows her eyebrows, blinking rapidly, but he is gone. Suddenly, Scott groans as he clutches his temples with both hands.

               "Hey, Scott, what's wrong?" Brietta walks over to him, but he shakes his head and his eyes open, "I'll be right back."

               Scott heads inside the house, leaving Brietta alone in the backyard, but she follows him as he staggers around the house. However, the crowd of people stops Brietta from chasing after him, and by the time she pushes past everyone, she sees him get into the car and drive off without another word.

               Brietta stares after Scott until she hears a voice behind her. Stiles' voice. "We need to go help him."

               Brietta swings around and holds out her hands, "What's wrong with him?"

               Stiles exhales slowly, "Scott's a Werewolf."

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BRIETTA AND STILES HAD WENT TO SCOTT'S HOUSE, but he wasn't there. His mother's car was so he must've been there at some point, but when Brietta and Stiles had snuck into the house, his bedroom window was open and there were tracks outside.

               Brietta and Stiles then got in Stiles' jeep with the idea that Scott would go to the place where he was bitten for an answer. They drove on the outskirts of the preserve in tense silence, both of them remembering how Stiles had acted outside of the party.

               The sun was coming up and, luckily for the trio, Melissa McCall was on the night shift at Beacon Hills Hospital, giving Brietta and Stiles the opportunity to cover for Scott and themselves. They both had sent messages to their respective parents, telling them that they were having a sleepover at Scott's house to celebrate him making first line.

               Wind blew in Brietta's hair as she shifted in the passenger seat, her arms crossed. Occasionally, she felt his on eyes on her, just like she was feeling now.

               Instead of ignoring it like all the other times, she turns to him. Stiles looks away, but not before she catches him. "Why did you ignore me earlier?" Brietta tries to hide the pain from her voice but, as Stiles looks at her with a hurt expression, she knows that she doesn't hide it very well.

               "I, uh, I heard about your date with Scott," Stiles answered, shrugging as he rounded the outskirts of the preserve. "I wasn't the one who texted him about that. It was Lydia. She thinks that I like Scott."

               "Do you?" Stiles sought, making Brietta furrow her eyebrows. She stares at Stiles for a long moment before shaking her head, "No."

               Stiles looks at her with a tilted head before turning his gaze back onto the road while Brietta stares at the side of his face, "That still doesn't explain why you got mad at me."

               Stiles shrugged, keeping his eyes on the road, "I just like the way things are."

               Brietta doesn't completely believe him, but she leaves it at that. The last thing she wants is to continue fighting with Stiles. "Okay."

               Stiles suddenly perks up a moment later, making Brietta look onto the road where she sees a shirtless Scott walking on the road.

               Stiles presses his horn, making Scott jump and turn around to see the jeep. A small smile appears on his face as the jeep slows to a stop.

               Brietta climbs into the backseat as Scott opens the passenger seat, both of them getting situated before Stiles begins driving again.

               Scott looked over at Stiles, "I'm sorry. About everything." Stiles looks over at Scott with surprise before nodding with a smile, "Yeah, you were a dick, but now we can revel in the awesomeness of the fact that you're a frickin' Werewolf."

               Scott narrows his eyes at Stiles, making Brietta snicker and Stiles begins to backpedal from that statement, "Okay, bad idea. Hey, we'll get through this. Come on, if I have to, I'll chain you up myself on full moon nights and feed you live mice. I had a boa once. I could do it."

               "Uh, Bowie died, like, a month after you got him." Brietta reminded, making Stiles roll his eyes and look at her from the rearview mirror, "For the millionth time, I didn't know that fireflies had toxins."

               Scott snorted a laugh, and for a moment it felt like it was before January 9th. However, Brietta couldn't stop herself from wondering what would happen next.

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𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄

SO, this chapter is almost 14K words...longest chapter I've ever written

Anyway, if Brietta seems more in love with Scott...she's not. It's equal in different ways, but Scott has more screen time right now. Stiles will get his well-deserved spot light in the next episode. <3

Don't forget to vote & comment! The next chapter comes out when this chapter gets five votes <3

▍PUBLISHED . . 08/29/23 — ♡︎ ୫
© POETICLULLS,                    2023