The first day of school has finally arrived. Before riding the school bus, Liam informed me that Mason has been looking for creatures similar to the Berserker that he, Lydia, and I faced that night six months ago. Liam told me that he was merely preparing me for Mason's endless talking, and that I should expect it.

True enough, from the moment we stepped into the bus and then out of it to enter the school, he's been showing us numerous pictures from a bought he even book on beasts.

"This is the one I wanted to tell you about, Riley," Mason now says. "I got this from a rare book dealer in Germany, it cost me two hundred bucks but it was totally worth it."

"Two hundred? Seriously?" I say disbelievingly.

"You're still reading about this stuff?" Liam raises an eyebrow at his best friend.

"I was attacked by an armor plated giant wearing a bear skull. Riley was there, too! It left an impression." We have stopped in front of the History classroom, right before class begins, but Mason wouldn't stop talking. "Look, look! Have you ever seen anything like this?" He points at a sketch on the expensive book he purchased. Oddly enough, it looks similar to a Berserker.

"Um, no," says Liam, his voice becoming high-pitched, "never."

"Let's get to class, okay?" I tell Mason. Liam nods in agreement and is first to start walking, yet Mason obviously doesn't stop pestering us.

"Have you ever heard of a..." I hear him say, but I hurry and make my way into the classroom. I take my usual seat which is in front of Liam and across Mason, setting my bag down on the floor next to me.

"Take your seats everyone!" Mr. Yukimura orders just as the two boys behind me enter the room.

"Ugh," I hear Liam say. "Great." In confusion, I turn around and notice that he's frowning at a curly-haired girl on the seat next to his. I raise my eyebrows, urging him to explain, but he's looking back and forth at the girl and Mr. Yukimura as if he doesn't know what to do. Then, the girl faces Liam, pulling her hair back while chewing gum and blowing a bubble. I feel a weird sense of distaste towards her already.

"Liam, sit down," I mutter. He shakes his shad furiously at me then turns in his place, searching for a new seat. I face Mason and his eyes are wide as he shrugs at me.

"Liam," Mr. Yukimura finally calls his attention. "You're not just gonna stand there, are you?"

"Maybe."

"The whole semester?"

"Maybe," Liam repeats.

"Liam," Mr. Yukimura says with a tone of finality, "have a seat."

Liam sighs in defeat. He places his bag down and takes his seat behind me, looking uncomfortable. Before I avert my gaze back to the front of my classroom, Liam frowns before shifting in his seat and revealing that he sat on a piece of chewed gum. My jaw literally drops at that and we share a look of shock. I briefly glance suspiciously at the new girl next to Liam, and she turns to smirk at Liam and then me. I raise my eyebrows and finally face the blackboard again but not before catching the sight of Mason's amused expression.

"Alright! Welcome to History." The first class of the day and year has finally begun.

A little under an hour later, the first period has ended. Liam, Mason, and I now walk down the halls side by side. Until now, Mason is still talking about the Berserker- not that he knows that that's the actual name of the monster.

"Mason, you're becoming obsessed with these creatures," I say jokingly to him.

"Look, I'm not saying I believe all of it a hundred percent, but people around us seem to know things. Like Lydia, she knows things. And if you knew something about that dude who held us hostage, you'd tell me, right Riley?"

I look at Mason and nod too many times. "Yeah. Of course." Now, I feel bad for not telling him anything.

"Dude, it's the first day of school," Liam reminds him as we head to his locker. He's going to be placing his pants in there for now since he changed into a pair of shorts because of that gum incident. "Shouldn't you be thinking of other things like, soccer team?" He gestures to the row of guys in uniforms, walking towards the exit.

"What do you think I'm gonna do? Follow them out to the field and watch them practice whole I pretend to study?"

"It's warm up."

"Right, they're gonna be shirtless," I say in realization, also reminding Mason about this. At my words, Liam sends me a pointed look. "What?"

Mason is now quiet, so I look behind me because he's staring at something. I see that one of the guys holding a soccer ball has smiled at Mason.

Now, Mason nods determinedly and claps a hand on each of our shoulders. "I'll see you guys in Physics," he tells us before stalking off the follow the soccer team. Now, we have reached Liam's locker and he is starting to put in the combination.

"Hey, Liam, I need to head to the gym. My coach is calling for a meeting for the entire team," I inform him when Mason is gone. "I'll see you at Math?"

"Yeah." He nods. He lets go of the lock, puts one hand on my back, and presses me slightly closer to him as he gives me a quick kiss. I smile, but the loud sound of a locker shutting close makes me jump.

Liam and I separate and behind him stands that new girl from History class. She even has the locker right next to him?

"How cute," she says too nicely. I don't know what to say to her, so I keep quiet and try to observe her instead. Then, she looks down at Liam's shorts. "Nice shorts."

"Yeah, thanks," Liam says sarcastically. "You know, I was wondering if you were still pissed off about what happened in sixth grade, but uh, I guess you cleared that up."

She laughs humorlessly. "I'm not pissed off, Liam. I'm vengeful." Then, the girl sends Liam one last intimidating look then leaves.

I'm still extremely dumbfounded. Liam doesn't say much as he sighs and faces me, putting his forehead down on my shoulder. "She's a handful," he says, his voice muffled.

"Mind telling me who she is and what happened in the sixth grade?" I say curiously, looking down at my watch at the same time.

"Well-"

"Crap, the meeting is about to start," I cut him off. Liam lifts his head up and stares at me. "Sorry, but I've got to go. I'll see you in Math!" I repeat and give him a short kiss on the cheek before running down the hall and heading to the gymnasium.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

At the end of the day, I don't even remember that Liam should be explaining about that new girl that he must know from the sixth grade. My mind is buzzing as I try to plan what tests to start studying for already and what homework I should begin doing once I get home.

Just as I'm heading to the back parking lot, someone sticks an arm in front of me.

"Whoa," I say. I almost lose grip of my second bag that contains my bow and arrow, so I readjust it. Beacon Hills High School seriously have such bad security since they've never seen me carry that weapon. I'm supposed to be bringing it home now since nothing out of the ordinary has been happening, and just takes up way too much space on my locker.

"Sorry." Liam now steps out from behind a corner. He has an excited look on his face, making me curious.

"What is it?" I ask immediately.

"I overheard Stiles talking to Scott and the others. He's pretty suspicious of that Theo guy, so I'm gonna see what he's up to."

"Aren't you supposed to meet Mason at the gym later, though?"

"I am, and I will. I'm sure Stiles won't make us stay late. So, you in?"

I bite my lip. I want to get started with my school work so that I can keep up with my good grades, but I don't want to pass on this adventurous opportunity. Finally, I sigh and nod. "I'm in."

On the way to where Stiles' jeep is parked, Liam informs me a bit about what he's heard. "I also saw him carrying some papers," he tells me. "He told the others something about signatures of Theo's parents."

"Maybe they're not the same signature," I say thoughtfully, shrugging. "Maybe that's what's making Stiles so skeptical about him."

"I have a weird feeling about him, too."

"Why?"

"I don't know... yesterday night, I just had a suspicion that he was different, and it turns out he's a werewolf. Now, I'm just..."

"Suspicious?" I guess, copying his previous words.

"Uh huh."

We approach Stiles' jeep. As Liam walks closer, he calmly says, "I call shotgun."

I groan at him while he merely smirks. "Jerk," I mumble. "I'm calling shotgun on the way back."

"Fair enough."

I hop in the backseat while Liam gets in the passenger's side. Only a minute later, we can see Stiles looking frustrated as he walks to his jeep, holding papers like Liam mentioned moments ago.

He doesn't seem to notice us at first as he gets in the driver's seat, slamming the door shut. It's quiet as he just places his hands on the steering wheel and sets the papers down. Then, he starts the engine, and Liam finally breaks the silence.

"What's a criminal tremor?" he asks, unfolding one of the papers and looking down at it.

Stiles sighs. "Give me that," he says, roughly grabbing it from Liam. The jeep suddenly speeds backwards, taking me by surprise. "We're gonna go on a little field trip."

A/N: This is an unusually short chapter... only less than 2000 words oh 😅 Nevertheless, I hoped you liked it! It's already the evening of July 7th here in my country and I greeted Dylan Sprayberry on Twitter hours ago then I realized it technically wasn't even his birthday wherever he is yet. Oh well, it's some time in the afternoon of the 7th in Paris where he is at the moment (I think... I checked haha) ✌🏼️

P.S. DO NOT FORGET TO GREET DYLAN SPRAYBAERRY A HAPPY 17TH BIRTHDAY! 🎉🎈🎁