"the benefactor"

AFTER A LONG SHOWER AND a great night of sleep, Cassie was feeling as good as new and wanted to put the whole night of events behind her, forgetting about the whole fiasco and never speaking of it again, no matter what. She currently sat in front of her dresser, applying her makeup and curling her hair, wanting to look good for school, despite the small stitches in her hairline on her forehead, she had managed to cover it slightly, and once she had finished her hair, it was barely even noticeable, making her in a better mood than she had been before. She didn't have her bandage on her arm anymore, so you could see the stitches pretty clearly, so the only way to cover that up, was wearing a long sleeved top, meaning that she was now overly hot..

After finally getting ready, packing her bag and grabbing her things for school, she strutted down the stairs in order to grab an apple for breakfast. Once she had entered the kitchen with a smile on her face that she could get out of the house, she was met with Stiles and Malia, as the girl was sitting on the kitchen island, looking at her strangely.
"What? Do I have something on my face?" Cassie asked them, as she prodded her face, wondering why they were both staring at her like they were seeing her for the first time in a year, or something..

They both shook their heads instantly, as Stiles spoke quickly, not wanting her to believe that she looked bad or anything, "We just, ahh... We didn't think that you would be going to school today, after last night." He told her, scratching his head, "Dad did tell you that you could take the day off, right?" He asked, furrowing his brows in confusion. If this was him, he would have wanted to take a whole week off, and then some - she had a pretty rough night.

"Yeah, but I didn't want to take the day off." Cassie told him, before biting into her apple, ignoring the looks she received from the two of them. It's not like she enjoyed school, but she wanted to forget what had happened last night, and if she took the day off to lounge around the house, that will be the only thing she could think about, and that's the last thing she wanted.

"You didn't..." Stiles stuttered, in disbelief, not believing the words that were coming out of his sisters mouth. How were they related?

"You want to go to school?" Malia asked also, not understanding who would want to go there. "Why?" She asked, she hated school, it was the last place she wanted to be.

"Most of the teachers hate me already thanks to this one here." Cassie said, motioning to Stiles, who placed a hand over his heart in offence. "I don't want my attendance to further implicate their likeness towards me." She explained. Most teachers at their school just assume that she was just like her brother, disruptive and annoying, but she was the complete opposite, she actually got good grades.

"Teachers don't hate me." Stiles scoffed, he thought that they actually liked him..

Cassie gave him a look that said he was just stupid, "Have you seen you?" She asked, "They thoroughly dislike you." She told him, smirking slightly at the insult - the fact that Malia had also smirked at the girls words, just made it that much more funny.

Stiles huffed in complete offence, "That's offensive." He told her, not liking that he was being ganged up on by the two of them - but at least they were finally getting along.

Malia shrugged at his words, "You can be annoying sometimes." She told him, truthfully, not knowing that it was offensive to the boy. She still had to learn about what she could and couldn't say - after all, she had been a coyote for years without any human contact..

Cassie scoffed in humour as Stiles gave Malia a look of annoyance, "I can not." He complained, highly offended that his girlfriend was also talking smack about him.

Cassie had noticed that everyday, Malia was becoming more kind to her; which she enjoyed, as she was round her house every single day and night. It was kind of hard to avoid her. She even started to get her name right, she only called the girl 'Casey' at least once a week.. She was getting there.

Cassie's phone beeped, showing that she had a text, breaking her out of her thoughts about Malia, when she had read it, it was from Ellie, who was waiting outside in her car. Her mom was letting her drive her car before she had her test, so she could get some practice in. "Right, see you guys later." Cassie said, only for them both to ignore her as they were still bickering about wether Stiles is annoying or not. She rolled her eyes and left the house, ready for the day ahead of her.

Cassie and Ellie were walking alongside Mason, Garrett and Violet as they spoke about the weekend ahead of them, wanting to make some plans do they weren't bored again, "I'm not watching another movie on a Friday night." Garrett told them all, having done that the last two Fridays in a row, and he was getting bored of it at this point. "Guys, there's gotta be something going on." He spoke up, hoping that at least Ellie knew of something.

"You remember we're freshmen, right?" Mason scoffed at him, knowing that there wasn't much they could do at this point, "We just got off a school bus. We're not exactly gonna be hitting the clubs till four am." He laughed.

"We could get fake ID's." Ellie suggested, shrugging like it wasn't a big deal and like it wasn't completely illegal. Everyone looked like they enjoyed that idea, and was in for it, except for Mason, who simply glared at the girl, shaking his head in an instant - he was like the dad of the group, and there was no way he was going to let everyone get in trouble. The others sighed once they saw this.

"Okay." Violet spoke up, breaking the tension between the lot of them, "Movie at your place, nine." Violet told Mason, before walking away with Garrett, still holding hands. Cassie thought it was strange that the two never spent any time away from each other, but then again, they were in relationship.

"Are you guys 'gonna come?" Mason asked Cassie and Ellie, after the other two had walked away without another word.

The two girls looked at each other at the same time and shrugged, knowing that they had nothing else to do tonight, "Sure." They said in sync, smiling at Mason.

This was when Liam had ran up to them, panting from being out of breath, and sweating, loads, "Hey. Liam, why weren't you on the bus?" Mason asked him, looking at him worriedly.

"I ran." Liam panted.
Cassie hadn't spoken to Liam since she saw him running out of Scott's house in such a hurry, and she had to make a mental note to question him on it soon. She thought it was strange that he was even there, especially since Scott had broken his ankle that day - which just raised another question in the girls mind, how was he even walking right now?

Mason, Cassie and Ellie all looked at him in disbelief, like he was an absolute crazy man, as Mason spoke up first, "You ran three miles to school?" He asked, not believing it.

"Three miles? Damn Liam." Cassie commented. "Did you miss the bus?" She asked him.

Liam nodded, "Yeah. And I've just started running, so.." He trailed off, hoping they got the idea.

Mason motioned down to Liam's leg, also wondering how he was walking on it. "So I guess your leg's okay?" He asked him, before noticing the huge bandage on his arm. "What happened to your arm?" Mason asked again.

When Cassie looked over Liam, she noticed a bandage around his forearm, with a trickle of blood stained on it. She hadn't noticed it last night when he ran away from her, so it must have happened after - it looked like he had been bitten by something huge. Her eyes widened as he leaned over the railing and panted even more heavily. It looked as if he was on drugs or something, and having a panic attack, they really didn't know what was happening. Liam's three friends exchanged a worried look at their friends behaviour, and was wondering what the hell was up with him, as he was completely fine yesterday when he was talking with them all, and even asking Cassie on a date, which looked like it had been completely forgotten about by the both of them. It had been a long night..

"Dude, are you okay?" Ellie asked him, as he kept on panting, she didn't really know the guy, but he looked like he was really going through some stuff, and it was worrying her.

Liam nodded at her question, "I'm fine. I'll talk to you later. I gotta get to class." He told the three of them, before rushing off into the school. Before he had said this, it looked as if he had seen something that spooked him, and it's why he had ran off so suddenly.

"Well, that was weird." Cassie commented, watching him walk away. She really hoped he was okay. "I'm gonna go to my locker, see you guys later." She told the two of them, giving them a small wave, before walking away towards her locker. She was hoping that she would see Liam alone, so she could talk to him - even if she didn't know the guy that well, he was nice to her, and she actually liked him..

As Cassie was walking down the hall, after gathering her things from her locker, she noticed, once again, Liam flee past her, without noticing the girl, and when Cassie looked in the direction he was running from, it turned out that he was running from Scott and Stiles' presence yet again. She wanted to know what was up with them three. So, as Liam was finally out of sight, she waltzed up to Scott and Stiles and coughed, so they would turn around and see her.
"Are you selling to Liam?" Cassie asked them when they turned around to face her, getting straight to the point. She didn't want to believe that Stiles or Scott would do such a thing; especially since hers and Stiles' dad was the sheriff, it would ruin his career, but she wanted to know something, and why Liam was acting so strangely, it only happened after Scott had flung him over his shoulder, and the fact that Liam's leg was now fine, wasn't normal, it made her think that he was on steroids or something.

"Selling what?" Scott asked her, in utter confusion, Stiles looked equally confused at what she was talking about, as the two of them furrowed their brows in confusion.

Cassie looked around them all, to make sure that no one around them was listening in, before she leaned in closer to them, "Drugs." She stated, quietly, then leaned back, seeing the shocked looks on their faces at her words, "You know that our dad is the sheriff right? I mean, I know I said you get away with a lot of things but I don't think you'd get away with this." She told Stiles, knowing that drugs was a big deal. Maybe it was how Scott had gotten so ripped all of a sudden.

Scott and Stiles stood there with their mouths open wide in shock that she would even suggest that they would do such a thing, it's exactly what Jackson had suggested a few years before. "We're not selling him drugs." Stiles exclaimed, louder than necessary, causing some people around them to look at them in confusion, wondering why they were talking about drugs so loudly. "Why would you ask us that?" He asked.

Cassie furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, having thought that was what they were all doing, "Then why is he acting so strange around everyone?" She asked, "And why are you two talking to him so much? I thought you didn't like him? You literally told me to stop talking to him." She told Stiles.

Scott and Stiles were overwhelm by all of her questions, not knowing how to answer all of them "He's just going through something at the moment, so we thought we'd be there for him, considering he's on the team." Scott told her, not knowing what else to say. He thought that it was a pretty good reason, and that she would believe it.

"Why are you so interested in Liam?" Stiles asked her, with an eyebrow raised in surprise. He didn't want Cassie going near Liam, especially now that he was a werewolf, he didn't like the kid near her before, but now he hated it even more - he could hurt her, and that's the last thing he wanted.

"He's my friend?" Cassie told him sarcastically, "Am I not allowed to look out for my friends?" She asked. When they didn't reply to her, she scoffed, "You know, he ran to school today." She told them, knowing that it was a big deal, considering where she lived, he didn't exactly live close.

They both looked at her confusingly, not seeing her point, "So?" They asked her in union.

Cassie lifted her hands up in frustration, not knowing how they couldn't see her point, something was clearly up with Liam, and it was like they didn't even care. "His house is three miles away, that's not exactly close." She exclaimed.

Scott shrugged at her words, "Maybe he likes running." He told her, trying to act clueless, which just angered her even more. She knew that they knew something, and she was going to get it out of them somehow..

"How do you know where he lives?" Stiles asked her with an eyebrow raised and a slight frown on his face, he didn't like the fact she knew where he lived.

Cassie gave him another look of disbelief, "That's what you got from that?" She asked, before scoffing at them, "You know what? I can't be bothered anymore." She mumbled, before waltzing away from the two without another word, knowing she wasn't going to get anything out of the two today. She would wait until her time came, and she would catch them in the act of something.

Cassie walked to Ellie's locker after she left her brother and Scott, and had met her there just before the bell went off, just about catching her before they both had class.
"You find out about Liam?" Ellie asked, once she saw that it was Cassie that had approached her quickly.

Cassie sighed in frustration and leant against the locker next to Ellie's, folding her arms in annoyance, ignoring as the people walked by, getting ready for their own classes, "Well, he's not doing drugs, that's for sure." She told her, shrugging, "At least, that's what Scott and Stiles are telling me." She said.

"Do you think they're telling the truth?" Ellie asked.

Although they haven't known Liam for long, they did consider him a friend; Mason had known him for the longest, and if Mason thought of him as a friend, then so would the two of them. If there was one thing about Cassie and Ellie, it's that cared for their friends and would do anything for them, and Liam was now their friend. "I don't think Stiles would do that to our dad." Cassie told her truthfully, "If Liam is on drugs, he didn't get them from Scott and Stiles, that's what I think, if he is on drugs, that is." She said.

"Mason's really worried." Ellie informed her, shrugging, "Liam isn't normally like this, and Mason said it looks like he's taking something. He just wants to make sure he's okay." She said.

Cassie sighed at her words, "I know, we'll get to the bottom of it soon, don't worry." She said.
Ellie nodded at her friend, before they linked arms and walled to their next lessons..




——-

In the meantime, Scott's pack were all in the car park, trying to figure out a plan on how to get Liam to the lake house for the night, as it was a full moon, and he needed to be watched over to ensure he didn't kill anyone. "Well, I say if it keeps him from murdering people, we just chloroform the little bastard and throw him in the lake." Stiles told the group, not liking the Liam kid, mostly because he had an interest in his sister, and he hated it.

"I'm in." Malia agreed, holding up her hand at his words. She didn't like the kid either - she had actually taken a liking to Cassie, and didn't want the girl to get ripped apart.

"We're not killing or kidnapping him." Scott told them, disapprovingly.

"Well then, let's be smarter. We tell him there's a party and invite him." Lydia announced.

"So, you're going to ask out a freshman?" Stiles asked in disbelief.

"No, I'm done with teenage boys." Lydia shook her head, before everyone had looked at Stiles with one single idea in their heads, "But we do know another freshman." She said, hinting at Cassie to do it and bring him to the lake house.

Stiles looked around casually, not thinking about Cassie, until he suddenly noticed all of the looks he was getting from them, causing him to instantly shake his head at what they were implying. "No way." He instantly denied, not wanting to bring Cassie into this whole mess.

"But Stiles, Liam likes Cassie, we know that for a fact." Scott said, trying to convince his friend; he didn't want to bring Cassie into this mess, but they didn't know what else to do, they needed to get him to the lake house tonight.. Cassie was the best solution they had.

"Nope." Stiles instantly denied, crossing his arms over his chest in defeat, "No, no and no. I said she wasn't getting involved with this, and I intend to keep it that way." He told them, and Malia actually agreed with him in this subject, as she nodded her head at his words.

Upon seeing how stubborn Stiles was, the rest of the group sighed in frustration; now they had to figure out another plan..