"muted"

CASSIE HAD FINISHED HER MORNING classes at school and was now half way through her afternoon lessons, when she made her way towards the lacrosse tryouts with Ellie, in their free period, as she had promised to watch Liam.
"The new kid is hot." Ellie told Cassie with a smirk, as they walked to the lacrosse field with their arms linked, just like always. You wouldn't normally see one of the girls without the other, "Looks like your type." She added, knowing that Cassie had spoken to the boy this morning, and that they would make such a cute couple. She was shipping the two of them, hard.

Cassie laughed, shaking her head at Ellie's words, "He thinks that he can take Scott's position in lacrosse." She informed Ellie, who scoffed at the information, both knowing that Scott was the best on the team, and had been for years, "I know, Scott's like, amazing at lacrosse." Cassie laughed, excited to see Liam get thrown on his ass.

"Well, I guess we'll see how he does then, won't we?" Ellie smirked, excited to see if Liam was right about beating the older boy. She hadn't seen anyone as good as Scott with lacrosse since Jackson, and he was pretty good, until he had to move to London, and now Scott was the captain of the team, instead of joint caption with Jackson.

When they finally showed up to watch the lacrosse tryouts, they had made it just in time to see the boys warming up by running laps around the field, which is one of the best things to watch, in Cassie's opinion, as a lot of the team would be topless as they ran around the field.
The two girls sat down on the bleachers, behind Kira and Malia, who were there for Scott and Stiles, as they watched the boys finish up their laps, most of them out of breath. However, Stiles had collapsed onto the floor when he was done, causing Cassie to laugh slightly, when Scott picked him up as he breathed heavily at the amount of energy he had used to catch up with the others. It always amused her seeing Stiles on the lacrosse team, just because he wasn't as athletic as the other boys, but it was nice that he tried, at least..

When the two girls noticed something that surprised Scott and Stiles, making them look angry at what they were looking at, Cassie and Ellie followed their eye line, only to see Liam; doing push-ups, while every other player on the field was resting from the long run. Most people would be out of breath and tired from the amount they had ran, but it didn't look like it had fazed Liam at all.
Cassie smirked down at him, noticing that he wasn't even out of breath or sweating. He was really fit, and it was definitely a sight to see. She didn't regret coming to watch him, that was for sure.

Later on in the tryouts, around ten minutes later, every single boy had now lined up in order to shoot their, Stiles had the first go, which just excited Cassie to see it. The girl wasn't surprised at all that he had missed his shot, but when he had looked over at her, noticing that she was watching him try out, she held up her two thumbs, indicating that he was doing good and that she was proud. Stiles smiled in response, now having more confidence as he strutted to the back of the line with a smug smile on his face,
Before anything else had happened, Liam ran up to Cassie with determination on his face, "If I score first time, will you go on a date with me?" He asked her, knowing that if he didn't shoot his shot now, he probably never would.

Cassie looked shocked that he had just ditched practice to ask her that, and Malia and Kira just looked annoyed while Ellie was smiling wide, egging her friend on to say yes. "You're missing practices!" Cassie told him, motioning towards the field where they were waiting for him.
The coach was calling his name as he stood waiting for an answer, Cassie didn't know what to do, she barely knew the boy but at the same time, he had to get back to practice. "Fine. I'll go on a date with you." She eventually told him, giving up, as everyone was looking at them.

Liam smiled at her answer, and sent her a salute before jogging back to the field, now even more determined to shoot first time - but he knew he could do it. Scott just watched Liam in complete annoyance, not liking the fact that he was extremely good, but now he was wanting to take Cassie, someone he saw as a little sister, out on a date..
"What'd he say?" Stiles asked, still kind of out of breath, having seen Liam run up to his sister and talk to her, obviously, without werewolf hearing, he couldn't tell what was said.

"He asked your sister out on a date." Scott answered, watching as Liam high-fived some other teammates as they all lined up to take their shots.

"He what?!" Stiles asked, before Coach had told the first boy to shoot, and they had to split up, getting ready for the line of boys attempting to make their shot.

A couple of boys had completely missed the goal, with Scott defending it each time, but the next boy to shoot, was Liam, who shot the goal without even trying, causing most people in the bleachers to clap for him, including Cassie and Ellie, who cheered at the sight, wanting to cheer him on as he was extremely good at this sport. It just made Cassie that much more attracted to him, and was definitely going to go on a date with him after all of this.

Liam had turned around and smiled up at Cassie, happy that she had taken up his offer to come and watch him play at tryouts, and she blushed in return, sending bright and flirty smile back. This action was not missed by Stiles and Scott, who simply glared at the boy for smiling at Cassie.
"He's perfectly good at everything." Stiles commented, after watching him shoot the goal with no effort whatsoever, "And what the hell was that?" He asked in annoyance, gesturing to his little sister in the bleachers, who had smiled back at the stupid kid who was good at this game. "I hate this kid." He mumbled, hating any boy that showed interest in his little sister. The same with Scott - the two boys had managed to scare away any boy that even attempted to talk to Cassie, and it's why they all stayed clear of the girl.. Mostly because of Scott, not Stiles..

The next up to shoot the goal, was Scott, who surprisingly, had missed the goal like he hadn't even tried, causing everyone in the team to laugh at him, not expecting that shot from someone who was supposed to be the team captain. Cassie was surprised that the only current decent person on the team, looked to be Liam, and he was the only new kid on the team. He had scored every single goal that he shot, not missing a single one, and he seemed to be the most fit, having ran the furthest, and worked out the most.. It made Cassie wonder why he had been benched at his old school, causing him to graffiti the man's car, ultimately leading to him now attending this school - not that Cassie was complaining..

After Scott and Stiles had been put on defence, to stop any of the team members from getting past them and shooting, they had succeeded so far. Until Liam had finally become next in line, causing every person in the bleachers to sit up in anticipation, no one had been better that Scott in years, and this new kid was quickly taking Scott's role..
Liam stood firmly in the front of the line, with his lacrosse stick, knowing that he had this, and he just needed to concentrate. After what felt like a whole eternity, he finally picked up his ball with his lacrosse stick, and took off sprinting towards the goal, where Stiles and Scott were guarding.

Stiles had dove for him first, attempting to tackle the boy to the ground, but Liam had easily dodged, like he didn't even care, spinning around Stiles; causing the boy to fall down onto the ground in exasperation. What surprised everyone around them, is that Liam had made it past Scott within a few seconds, and successfully scored the goal.
Liam turned around to wink at Cassie, who was sat in the bleachers, and she smirked back at him, fully impressed with his tryouts and now believing that he could actually take Scott's place as team captain, that, and he was younger than Scott - the whole situation was just amazing to watch and mostly everyone around them couldn't wait to see Liam join the team, they were definitely going to win every game with him on the team.

From the corner of Cassie's eye, she saw Malia suddenly stand up in complete anger. "That was luck!" Malia yelled. Everyone looked at her in disbelief as she didn't even care, "Do-over!" She shouted, wanting Scott and Stiles to show the kid who owned the pitch, and it wasn't him.

The coach glanced over at Malia, with an annoyed look on his face that she had interrupted their tryouts, "Sweetheart, there's no do-overs. This is practice." He told her, crossing his arms over his chest. He was just happy that someone as good as Liam had tried out for the team - he may even replace Scott as the team captain..

Malia stood her ground, not wanting to see this Liam kid beat her boyfriend and her alpha, "Ten bucks on Scott and Stiles." She then told him with complete determination.

"I'd like to see that." Cassie muttered to Ellie jokingly, who nodded in agreement. She hadn't expected to come here and see Liam completely batter Scott and Stiles, if anything, she had expected Scott to completely beat everyone on the team, but what she had seen was the complete opposite - it was strange to see.

"I'll take that action!" Coach then shouted, he could use the ten bucks.. "Hey! Get back on the field, Liam!" He then shouted to Liam, who didn't look bothered at all by Malia's demands, he knew he could score again, no problem.

Cassie saw as Liam sent her one last wink, before returning back to his spot at the front of the line; with a look of pure determination on his face. If he wanted to impress Cassie even more, then he needed to shoot again. This was while Scott and Stiles got back into position and prepared for him to come, Stiles feeling tired as he knew he wasn't going to stop the boy.. Once again, Liam had passed Stiles like it was nothing, but then everything went downhill from there.

Once he had got to Scott's position, Liam was flown over Scott's shoulder, landing with a loud thud onto his back. Everyone in the bleachers, and the entire whole team, gasped in shock at the loud noise that had just echoed throughout the field. Liam had just been thrown, hard. Oh my god." Cassie gasped, eyes wide, standing up to get a better look at Liam, making sure that he was okay.

Liam groaned in a lot of pain, as he tried to stand back up, but he couldn't, he could barely even move, it looked as if he had a messed up ankle, big time.. Scott and Stiles went to move closer to Liam, but Coach had shouted at them for them to get away and not touch the kid, afraid that any movement would further mess him up and he wouldn't be able to play on the team because of it. Eventually, though, Coach had allowed Scott and Stiles to drag Liam away, who was still grunting in pain from the injury on his ankle.

Cassie felt bad for Liam, he just wanted to join the team, but got absolutely dominated by Scott, who was just trying to prove that he was the team captain, and no one else. She didn't think that Scott had meant to hit him that hard, as he wouldn't intentionally hurt anyone. But it did seem a bit fishy to her, that Scott had literally thrown the boy over his shoulder - like he hadn't even realised his own strength..

Ellie and Cassie, now bored as Liam was gone, left the bleachers and back to their lessons.




——

Later on in the school day, Cassie had text Stiles, hoping to find out how Liam was, only to find out that he was currently stuck at the hospital with Scott, with a busted ankle, which may in fact be broken, and she couldn't feel more bad at the fact he had hurt himself. After all, he had only been so determined to get the goal so she would go out with him, and she just felt bad about it.
Ellie, however, had convinced her to skip their last lesson and go to visit Liam at the hospital, as they needed to talk and set up their date. So that is what they were now doing. It wasn't that much of a walk from school, so it gave them some time to gossip over the day and what happened, which wasn't that entertaining, compared to what had happened at tryouts with Liam and Scott.

By the time the two of them had made it to the hospital, Liam was still in his hospital room, lying on his bed with his injured foot raised up, just like his dad had instructed him to, so he was incredibly bored. Ellie had gone off to call someone, so Cassie was left on her own to talk to him.
"Hey, Dunbar." Cassie smiled at him, as she walked in, he was shocked to see her, having expected her to never talk to him again after he had embarrassed himself on the pitch, "How's your leg?" She asked, standing in front of the bed, almost awkwardly as she looked at his puffy foot.

Liam sat up quickly upon seeing her enter his room, "You're here?" He asked, in slight excitement, he had really expected her to refuse his offer on a date and just pretend he didn't exist.

"Well, yeah." Cassie told him, unsure if why he thought she wouldn't come along to see him. She sat on a chair across from his bed and smiled at him warmly, "Ellie's here too, but she's calling someone right now. Mason would have come, but he was too scared and wouldn't ditch his last lesson." She smirked, knowing how much of a goodie two shoes Mason was. He laughed at her words, "So, how's your leg?" She asked again, showing concern. It didn't look good in the slightest, and it worried her that he may not be able to play lacrosse again.

Liam shook his head and looked down at his foot in disappointment, "Not good." He admitted to her, upset that he had busted it. If only he hadn't tried to show off, then maybe he wouldn't have a puffy foot and a destroyed ankle.

Cassie smiled sadly at him, "I'm sorry about Scott and Stiles," She eventually told him, feeling as if she had to apologise to the boy as that was technically both of her brothers, "Scott wouldn't intentionally hurt you, he's a good guy, I don't know what came over him, honestly." She told him.

Liam nodded in understanding, knowing that he shouldn't have boasted so much and tried to over throw Scott in his role, "I shouldn't have gone up against them." He told her, shaking his head in annoyance.

Cassie shook her head at him, "It's not your fault." She told him, knowing that it could have happened to anyone. The girl noticed that sometimes Scott would forget his own strength, he kind of reminded her of Lenny from 'Of Mice and Men'. When she noticed he still looked pretty sad, she spoke up again, "If it changes anything, you were really good." She told him, this had made him smile, but it disappeared when he moved his foot and winced in pain. "Shall I go and get some sweets from the vending machine?" She asked, knowing that snacks always cheered her up..

Liam smiled slightly at her offer, knowing that he would love some chocolate right about now to make him feel better, "Yeah, that would be good." He told her.

"Alright." Cassie said, standing up, "I'll be right back." She told him, before she got up and walked away.

Cassie left the room and was currently making her way down the hallway, in search of the vending machine, when she got a call from her dad. She sighed at the caller I.D and eventually answered, knowing she was about to get an earful from her dad, and she couldn't exactly avoid it forever.
"Hey dad, how're you?" She asked in an innocent voice, hoping that he didn't know about her ditching her last lesson.

"Cassie." Her dad said on the other line, in a scolding tone, "Why weren't you in last period?" He asked. When Noah found out that Cassie wasn't in her last lesson, he had panicked and thought that something had happened to her, but when Stiles told him that she probably ditched to visit the new boy, he had calmed down only slightly.

Cassie coughed awkwardly, not knowing how to answer his question without it sounding completely stupid, "Umm, well..." She trailed off, "My friend kinda got emitted in the hospital after Scott broke his ankle, so me and Ellie came to visit him and give him company because he's all alone." She said. As she spoke, she had reached the vending machine and slid in a couple of dollars, and selected some random snacks for herself and Liam.

"Didn't Stiles tell you to go straight home after school?" Noah in annoyance, wondering why she hadn't done what Stiles had told her to do..

Cassie sighed, "Yes..." She admitted, "But when do I ever listen to Stiles?" She asked, wondering why he would believe she would listen to a single word Stiles said..

Her dad sighed from the other end of the line and she knew that he was pinching the bridge of his nose is frustration, "You can stay with your friend a little while longer, and I'll come and pick you up in a bit, okay?" He eventually told her, knowing that the hospital is the safest place she could be, so he hadn't worried that much.. Cassie smiled to herself at his words, maybe she had gotten away with skipping, "I'm not forgetting about you ditching. We'll talk about that later." He added, causing her to groan in annoyance, but she kind of expected that from him..

"Fine, see you later. Love you, bye." She told him, before she hung up, putting her phone back into her back pocket. Cassie sighed, when she had noticed that one of her chocolate bars was stuck on its holder, not dropping down so she can get it. She rolled her eyes and began to rock the machine side to side, trying to get it to fall out, only have it not work for her, which just annoyed her even more. "Damn." She muttered in annoyance.

Cassie looked around her to find the whole floor deserted, and although she thought it was a little weird she didn't question it, because it meant that she could bang the vending machine to get her chocolate out and not have anyone interrupt her or get her in trouble for doing it. She reached her arms around the machine one more time and began to sway it back and fourth, when suddenly, it leant forwards too much, and almost toppled on top of her, nearly squishing her in the process.
She gasped and jumped out of the way, just before it could squish her. It landed with a loud crash, causing the glass to scatter everywhere on the floor around her. Her mouth opened agape as she looked around the hallway, scared that someone had seen her break it, but luckily for her, no one was there, meaning that she had gotten away with it.

Cassie suddenly felt something trickle down her arm, and when she peered down at it, she noticed a piece of glass that was wedged into her forearm, the reason as to why she was bleeding. "Ew." She muttered, and quickly jogged to the bathroom, leaving the destroyed machine on the floor, pretending that she was never there..

Cassie rushed to one of the sinks in the room and rinsed her arm around where the glass was stuck, with a disgusted face, at the sight, she lightly picked it out and gasped slightly in pain. As she held her arm under the tap, she felt a presence behind her, which was weird as she didn't hear anyone walk in after she had entered, and was pretty sure that the whole floor was currently empty, for whatever reason, she didn't know. Cassie slowly looked up at the mirror in front of her, to see a boy, with razor sharp teeth behind her, covered head to toe in fresh blood. She let out a loud scream at the sight of him, and had attempted to run away, before he grabbed her and shoved the girl down, causing them to plummet into the sink next to them.

Cassie's head hit the sink and she was instantly sent into darkness..