☾

I check my reflection in the mirror, swiping stray strands of my hair away from my face and sighing. After lunch yesterday, I gave my phone number to Stiles, telling him I was serious about going out with him after school at my house today. Only until he has to go home because of the curfew due to the attack and the body found in the woods a couple weeks ago.

All day I've been nervous about it, which is something I haven't felt in a while. And it's usually because of Stiles, nowadays.

"What's wrong?"

I jump at the sound of my sister's voice, turning around to see her standing in the doorway of my bathroom. "Huh?" I ask, trying to act innocent. "What do you mean?"

She smirks knowingly, "You look nervous. What, got a hot date tonight?"

I smile and lean my hip against the counter, crossing my arms over my chest. "Uh, it's not a date but he's pretty cute. We're hanging out today and he should be here soon." Right after I say that my phone buzzes on the counter, moving quickly to view the text I received.

Unknown Number:
Hey, it's Stiles. Just wanted to tell you that I'm on my way there.

I look up to see Nessa smirking. "So, what's his name?" She asks.

"Stiles," I answer, a stupid grin on my face. "Weird name but it suits him."

Something flickers in her eyes, her smirk faltering slightly, but it vanishes as quickly as it came so I shrug it off. For now. "Well, I'm heading out, so no funny business."

I feel my face flare up, groaning, "We're just friends."

She wiggles her eyebrows, still smirking. "If you say so. See you later, love ya," she calls out, leaving.

"You, too!" I yell after her.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and look down, inspecting my outfit. It's the same thing I wore to school; comfortable black skinny jeans, a white t-shirt underneath a blue and white plaid shirt, just without my shoes and jacket. Nice but casual. Hopefully.

I think back to earlier today, back to my conversation with Lydia when classes were over. What she said is giving me a bit of confidence for what's to come.

"So, what are you Stiles going to do at your house?" She asks innocently as we walk down the hall after classes ended and head out to leave, but I can hear what she's really curious about and her question isn't innocent at all.

Lydia thinks "hanging out" will lead to the horizontal dance. It's either that or studying.

"If you're thinking with a dirty mind, you're wrong," I tell her. "We're just... Hanging out." I wince a bit at the term. "I just want to get to know him better, see if we have anything in common. Find some mutual ground, and possibly just start off as friends before anything else, if it'll happen." She gently grabs my wrist to stop me and I turn my body to face her, quirking an eyebrow. "What?"

"Don't be scared to do anything with him. See if he's interested in you and if he is, go for it," she advises me with a warm smile.

I look down at my shoes briefly before meeting her eyes again.

"But what if he isn't interested in me in that way?" I ask her quietly. "What if he doesn't feel the same way and I make a total fool of myself and then it'd be really awkward between us."

She rolls her green eyes. "He'd be crazy and blind to not be interested in you. You are an amazing girl, Mary Anne, beautiful, funny, and smart. You're the total package, so don't think like that."

Overwhelmed with emotions, I pull the taller girl against me in a hug which she returns.

"Thanks, Lyds," I mumble against her shoulder.

"No problem, Mare. And besides, it's totally obvious that he's into you after all the staring at lunch yesterday. You may say you're 'just friends' now, but 'just friends' don't look at each other like that and I've seen the way you look at him, too. Just take my advice and go for it."

I don't know how long I'm in my own world but the doorbell ringing breaks me from my thoughts. Stiles must be here. I check myself in the mirror for a second before racing out of my bathroom and my bedroom, going down the stairs and taking two at a time. Yeah, I'm pretty excited for this.

As I stop in front of the door, I straighten out the hem of my shirt and take a deep breath, placing my hand on the doorknob and twisting, opening the door to a smiling Stiles Stilinski.

"Hey," I say, returning the smile.

"Hey," he repeats, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

I bite the inside of my bottom lip, moving aside and wave at him to tell him to come in. He shuffles in a little awkwardly, eyes searching around the foyer of my house. The house isn't really that big, kinda old since it's been in my family on my Mom's side for about three generations, so the door creaks slightly when I close it. Stiles turns around to look down at me.

"So, what did you have in mind for us to do?" He asks.

I shrug, moving towards the stairs. "I honestly don't know. I was thinking we could figure that out along the way." After going up about three steps, I stop and turn around to see Stiles standing at the bottom of the staircase. "Come on," I tease lightly. "I don't bite."

He visibly gulps at that but the sound of his footsteps behind me tells me he's following me. "We could watch a movie or something," he suggests, walking behind me as I lead him to my room.

I nod my head as I enter my room, flopping down on the bed. He stands there in the doorway, eyes moving around my room. "Seriously?" I ask him, raising my eyebrows. He flushes and comes in slowly, hands by his sides as he evaluates my room even more, but I can tell he's nervous by the way he's tapping his fingers against his thigh. "Why are you so nervous?"

He snaps his eyes to me, bashful as he shrugs. "I've never really been in a girls room before, at least not in years," he states.

I smile at that. "It's just like any other bedroom, except only a girl sleeps here," I quip.

He chuckles, still standing in the middle of my room like he's on another planet and doesn't know what to do. I pat the space next to me, inviting him to sit there as I move up on my bed to press my back against the iron cast headboard. He quickly moves to sit at that spot, angling his body towards me. I bring my knees up and hug my legs to my chest.

"We could just get to know each other like you said at the hospital," I suggest.

He nods eagerly, shifting and licking his lips before blurting out, "Marvel or DC?" He cringes a little, probably thinking I'm not into that stuff.

"Both," I say, his surprise clear by the way his eyebrows jump. "I can't decide since they're both awesome. But I do love X-Men and Batman." His face lights up like a child on Christmas morning, which is totally adorable, by the way.

"Really?"

"Totally. I've always loved those movies."

"You don't seem like the kind of girl who would."

His eyes widen at that, but I shrug. He probably thought I would be offended by his assumptions but I'm not. "Maybe I'm not the person everyone thinks I am," I say a little cryptically. "That's why I get a little overzealous when someone wants to get to know me."

He smiles a genuine smile that gives me hope that there is something between us. Last time I felt this way, it lasted for almost a year and then it turned south. It hurt me badly and that's why I came back, to get over them and I didn't expect to do that so quickly. And even though I'm kind of suspicious of him and Scott, I'm not going to let that get in the way of my feelings.

"I really do want to get to know you, Mary Anne."

My heart flutters and those cliche butterflies erupt in my stomach. I swallow down any leftover nervousness I have and move a little closer to him, shifting my legs to sit Indian style. "And I want to get to know you," I say, tilting my head to the side. "So, what's your favorite movie?"

"Star Wars," he says without hesitation.

My eyes widen, my smile turning into a huge grin. "Same," I gush. "I absolutely love those movies. One of the best cinematic productions of the twentieth century."

"Seriously? Not a lot of people at school like it, I don't even think Scott's seen it yet."

I gasp dramatically, placing a hand over my heart. "What? How can he live with himself?" I try to say without laughing, but I can't, giggles slipping from my lips by the end of my sentence.

He laughs loudly, a full-body laugh, the sound so infectious that I can't help but laugh along with him. I exhale deeply after a couple minutes of laughing, trying to calm down my racing heart, wiping the tears from the corners of my eyes. "I haven't laughed that much in a while," I breathe out.

"Well, you should laugh a lot more. You have a really beautiful laugh."

Both of our faces go blotchy and I look down at the black and white floral pattern of my covers, tracing it with the tip of my index finger. "You too," I murmur, moving my eyes to look back at him.

His eyes flicker over my face before meeting mine. "Favorite color?" He asks quietly, like he's afraid of popping the peaceful bubble we're in.

"Can't pick," I answer, just as quietly. "I like a lot of colors and I can't pick a favorite. But what about you?"

"Blue," he states, eyes wandering to the two bookcases on the wall adjacent to my bed. "That's a lot of books," he changes the subject.

"I happen to love reading," I shrug bashfully.

"And you've read all of them?" He's squinting and his lips are parted in astonishment, like he can't believe I'm a bookworm. He seems to be surprised by a lot of things about me.

I nod my head. "Yep. Some of them multiple times."

He finally turns his head to look at me. "What's your favorite series, then?"

Oh, that's a hard one. I like too many to pick just one. "I can't pick one, so I'm just gonna say a few. Uh, The Mortal Instruments, Divergent, The Sisters Grimm, Percy Jackson, and Beautiful Creatures. By far the best books I've read... Oh! And Harry Potter!"

He chuckles at the enthusiasm in my voice, "You're adorable."

Both of us freeze at what he says, eyes widening and staring at each other. Did he just call me adorable... Yeah, I heard that right. I didn't just imagine it, good to know.

I open my mouth to say something but before I can, the notification sound for his phone goes off.

He mutters a curse under his breath and digs into his pocket to get his phone. Another muttered curse falls from his lips when he sees who texted him. "It's Scott," he apologizes, looking up at me with remorseful eyes. "I'm gonna have to go."

My face falls for a split second before I smile, nodding to show that I understand. "It's okay, go be there for your friend."

He smiles, still looking a little guilty but he furrows his brow, obviously trying to decide about something. Quickly he pecks my cheek before getting up from my bed. "I'll talk to you later?" He asks, walking backward only to bump his shoulder against the door frame. I let out an unladylike snort at his clumsiness but nod anyways.

"See ya later, Stiles."

"Bye, Mary Anne."

When he closes the door behind him, I fall back onto my bed, a small smile taking over my lips as I realize something.

I didn't kiss him, but when I get the opportunity again, I'm definitely gonna go for it.

☾

"Wait, what happened between you two?" Danny asks, blinking twice and looking at me like I'm an alien.

My cheeks go warm as I look down at the floor, twirling my pen between my fingers. While we're waiting to get back our tests to see what grade we got on it, I told Danny what happened between me and Stiles the other day. Ever since the moment we had I haven't been able to really think about anything else. It's ridiculous how easily and how quickly he's wormed his way into my mind.

"We had a moment but Scott texted him and he had to leave," I repeat slowly, my voice quiet since Stiles is sitting close by us, even though he's busy talking to Scott who looks a little distracted.

"What do you even see in him? He's annoying," he mutters.

I playfully slap his bicep. "Hey, I don't criticize your crushes, so don't criticize mine, alright?" I ask quietly. "And he really isn't bad. If it doesn't work out, I think we'd be friends, or at least awkward acquaintances... Well, right now we are friends. We're friendly towards each other."

The teacher passes by us, giving us out tests so I turn back around in my desk. I smile softly at her in thanks as she hands me my paper. As usual, I got an A+. "What'd ya get?" Danny asks, peering over to see my paper.

Quickly, I flip over the paper and shrug a little at him. "Uh, a C+," I lie smoothly.

"You need to study more," he states the obvious, turning back to his test.

I slump my shoulders and purse my lips. Lately, I've been getting tired of hiding my intelligence, and I'm trying not to hide it anymore, but it's a bad habit and it's hard to break it. It's still a work in progress, so that's something.

"Hey, Mary Anne."

I look up at the quiet voice, seeing Stiles leaning over his desk, towards me with a determined and hopeful look on his face. "If you need help studying, we can go over to my place after school and study together," he proposes quietly.

Okay, I don't need help studying, but it's an opportunity. And like Lydia always says, "'Just studying' never ends with just studying."

"I'd like that," I whisper back, smiling softly. "Thanks."

He nods and as we lean back in our chairs simultaneously, he does a little victory fist pump that he probably thought was discreet and that I wasn't looking. Yeah, this guy is so nerdy.

I feel someone's eyes on me so I look behind me to see Danny smirking at me while wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Shut up," I mumble, rolling my eyes with a blush heating up my cheeks.

☾

"Scott's coming over? Tonight?" Lydia asks Allison as we walk towards the staircase. "And you're hanging out with Stiles again?" That question is directed towards me.

"We're just studying together," Allison and I say in unison.

"'Just studying' never ends with just studying. It's like... Getting into a hot tub—somebody eventually cops a feel," she says knowingly. I roll my eyes, already knowing this was going to happen. And I did nothing to prevent it, so this is on me. But not for Allison.

"Well, so what are you saying?" Allison asks, confused, stopping us again.

"I'm just saying, you know, make sure he covers up." Allison looks even more confused now, showing that she was definitely innocent in this area. "Hello, Snow White! Do it with him with a condom."

Allison chuckles lightly, "Are you kidding? After one date?"

"Don't be a total prude. Give him a little taste. And don't worry, Mary Anne is a bit of prude as well as she is still virgo intacta."

I glare at her, slapping her arm lightly while trying to fight off a furious blush. So what if I'm still a virgin? I haven't met the right person to do it with yet and that's perfectly fine.

"Well, I–I mean, how much is 'a little taste'?" Allison asks Lydia quietly making us stop again.

"Oh, God. You really like him, don't you?"

"Well... He's just different. When I first moved here, I had a plan - no boyfriends till college. I just move too much. But... Then I met him, and... He was different." I smile at her as she gets a dreamy look in her eyes. "I–I don't know. Can't explain it."

"I can," Lydia shrugs and I finish her sentence with her, knowing what she's gonna say. "It's your brain flooding with phenylethylamine."

Allison lets out a breathy chuckle. "What?" She asks, even more confused.

"I'll tell you what to do. When's he coming over?"

"Right after school."

I smile and back up a bit as the bell rings, telling us school is over. "And I don't need to know this, so I'm gonna go find Stiles. See ya later!" I call over my shoulder as I leave the two girls, my own brain flooding with phenylethylamine at the thought of studying with Stiles.

☾

Somehow I had gotten out of school before Stiles, so when he gets to his blue jeep, I'm already there. He stops for a second, eyes wide in surprise. "That was quick," he mumbles. I smile but say nothing, walking around the car to hop in the passenger side while he climbs into the driver's seat.

"Thanks, Stiles, for offering to study with me," I finally say as he pulls out the parking space and heads down the road.

"No problem—" he cuts himself off when someone walks out in front the jeep which stops abruptly, making me jerk forward a bit since I didn't put on my seat belt. Yeah, not making that mistake again. "Oh, my God."

I get a good look at the guy, easily recognizing the black jacket. Derek Hale. What the hell is he doing here? And then he falls backward onto the road. Great. Just awesome, really.

"You've gotta be kidding me. This guy is everywhere..." Stiles mutters. I look over at him as the cars behind us start honking their horns, annoyed by our abrupt stop.

"You know him?" I ask him, a little incredulous. I find it odd how both my crush and my friend's boyfriend knows this dude.

"Sadly, yes," he sighs.

Scott comes into view as he rushes past the jeep, muttering, "What the hell?" To Stiles who starts to get out. Right before he shuts the door, he looks at me.

"Stay here, okay?" He orders, shutting the door and rushing towards Derek and Scott.

My jaw drops in disbelief; really? This has to happen now? I groan and tip my head towards the roof, wondering why the universe seems to hate me so much.

Scott is helping Derek over here so I quickly move out of my seat and into the back as carefully as I can, holding my backpack to my chest. Said teenage boy places Derek where I was sitting a few seconds ago, and now I can get a better view of him. His skin is a sickly pale, light perspiration coating his skin. What the hell happened to him?

"I need you to find out what kind of bullet they used," Derek tells Scott, probably not even caring I'm in the back and can hear them. Wait, bullet? He was shot and he's not going to the hospital?

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?" Scott hisses at him.

"'Cause she's an Argent. She's with them." Allison. What do Allison and her family have to do with this? Maybe this has something to do with what Scott and Stiles were talking about the day after the bus driver got attacked.

"Why should I help you?"

Maybe because he's dying? Although, the dude seems like an asshole and I can tell these two don't like him, so they have reasons not to help him.

"Because you need me," Derek says.

Scott looks down the road for a few seconds before turning back to the older guy. "Fine. I'll try," he gives in just as Stiles climbs into the driver's seat. "Get him out of here."

Have they really not noticed me? Wow, that's kinda harsh.

"I hate you for this so much," Stiles informs Scott, taking off.

What the hell is happening?

☾

How did you guys like the Stary Anne moments?

Stick around to see what happens next, and thanks for taking the time to read this!

Void_Stiles_is_Life xx