chapter 02

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Jean's peaceful slumber was abruptly disrupted by her blaring alarm clock, signaling the unwelcome start of the day. The decision she made the night before to venture into the woods with Scott and Stiles weighed heavily on her mind as she faced the prospect of returning to school. Despite her exhaustion, she begrudgingly prepared for the day ahead, her enthusiasm overshadowed by a sense of apprehension.

An annoyed grumble escaped her lips as she considered the possibility of skipping the first day. What significance could it possibly hold? First days are usually involved with subject introductions, and she couldn't help but think her presence might not be all that essential, but then her thoughts turned to Scott.

After Stiles' father dropped her off at home last night, she'd tried calling Scott repeatedly. She needed to ensure his safety after they'd left him alone in the woods. His lack of response left her wondering if something terrible had happened.

A faint inner voice urged her to shake off her lethargy and head to school. She began preparing, albeit lazily. Fortunately, her naturally straight, short hair required minimal morning maintenance.

Even in her laziest moments, Jean prided herself on presenting a well-put-together appearance for school, and today was no exception. She opted for a long denim skirt paired with a white tank top-a simple yet quintessentially 'Jean' ensemble. She had a soft spot for skirts, but despite her usual preference for pants, making sure to incorporate them into her school attire at least once a week is a must.

With her mother away, Jean had the freedom to drive herself to school. She excelled at many things, like, for example, swimming. She is the team captain of the swimming team, triumphing over Jackson White Ass, whom she loves to gloat in front of. However, driving wasn't one of her strengths. Her mother, Averie Marlowe, had witnessed firsthand the horribleness of her daughter's driving skills and harbored no trust in her behind the wheel. Fortunately, her absence today meant she couldn't voice her concerns-an unexpected perk of having the house to herself.

The school wasn't far, and despite arriving there in one piece, she still managed to park her car somewhat crookedly. Although she doubts anyone would notice, as she stepped out of her beautiful silver Toyota Corolla, she spotted Scott and Stiles loitering near the school entrance.

"Hey! Why didn't you answer any of my calls?" Jean interjected, her tone almost resembling that of a jealous, overprotective girlfriend.

"Sorry, I must've missed them. Last night was incredibly bizarre," Scott explained, offering Jean an apologetic look.

"You're not his girlfriend. Anyway, show me this thing," Stiles retorted dismissively, as if Jean's question held no significance.

This was just another reason for Jean to harbor a house full of resentment towards Stiles. She used to be Scott's only best friend, and now this sarcastic, boundary-defying buzz-cut boy seems to be replacing her.

Jean didn't take her dethronement kindly; in fact, she made it her life mission to take her rightful place back. No matter how weird, socially awkward, or uneven Scott's jawline is, he will always hold a special place in her heart. He's her first and only friend ever.

She had always been Scott's closest friend, but lately, it seemed like Stiles was interfering with their bond. Jean initially made an effort to befriend Stiles out of respect for Scott; however, his quirks and abrasive nature made it nearly impossible for her to find any redeeming qualities in him. It was driving her to the brink of insanity, prompting her to make a solemn vow to herself: she would not lose her best friend's title to him.

Scott complied with Stiles' request by lifting his shirt to reveal a gruesome bite, tightly wrapped in gauze and tape, with traces of blood seeping through.

Seeing that, Jean couldn't help but exclaim, "Jesus! What on earth happened in those woods?"

Rather than displaying compassion or even a semblance of concern, Stiles casually prodded at the bandage, eliciting a wince of pain from Scott.

Stiles, still wearing an incredulous expression, seemed utterly fascinated by Scott's injury. He emitted a noise of amazement, as if Scott's encounter had been nothing short of extraordinary.

Once Scott had lowered his shirt, he finally responded to Jean's question: "It was too dark to see much, but I'm pretty sure it was a wolf."

They all started to walk towards the school as Scott finished his part of the story. Stiles, sceptical and disdainful, immediately snorted, "A wolf bit you?"

Scott, affirming the statement with a nod, faced Stiles' doubt with a determined look, to which Stiles responded with a condescending shake of the head, silently conveying, 'You're hopelessly stupid' look and objecting, "No, not a chance."

Perplexed by Stiles' unwavering disbelief in his account of the previous night's events, Scott felt compelled to counter Stiles' opinion. "I heard a wolf howling," he insisted.

Stiles responded with another dismissive headshake. "No, you didn't."

Utterly bewildered by Stiles' denial of his own experience, Scott lets out an exasperated groan. "What do you mean, 'No, I didn't'? How do you know what I heard?"

Stiles, realizing that Scott hadn't brushed up on local facts in Beacon Hills, California, decided to enlighten him. "Because California doesn't have wolves, okay? Not in, like, sixty years."

To be entirely honest, Jean wasn't privy to that particular tidbit of information either. It's not as if she had immersed herself in books about Beacon Hills, fact-checking its historical fauna. However, she desperately wished to prove Stiles wrong, purely out of spite. The satisfaction of winning an argument against him would be immensely gratifying, enough to carry her through the first day back at school without conjuring up an early exit plan.

Jean refrained from commenting on the newfound wolf knowledge Stiles had dropped on them, mainly because she had no expertise in lupus trivia. However, judging by Scott's surprised expression, it was evident he was equally unaware of these facts.

As they paused near the staircase before entering Beacon Hills High School, Scott expressed his astonishment. "Really?"

Stiles, with absolute certainty about his wolf-free California information, affirmed, "Yes, really. There are no wolves in California."

Not keen on delving into a debate about the creature's identity, Jean redirected their conversation. "You should go to the hospital and get that wound checked out."

Scott, surrendering to Stiles to end the debate, cracked a small smile towards Jean and admitted something even more unsettling than the nasty bite on his stomach. "Well, if you don't believe me about the wolf, then you're definitely not going to believe me when I tell you I found the body."

Jean couldn't help but wonder if either Scott or Stiles might have a touch of psychopathy in them, particularly Stiles, who seemed disturbingly cheerful upon hearing Scott's revelation.

Still in a state of surreal excitement, Stiles stuttered, "You-are you kidding me?"

While Stiles appeared to find the prospect of discovering a half-dead body utterly thrilling, Scott's perspective differed significantly. "No, man, I wish. I'm going to have nightmares for a month."

Almost jittery with exhilaration and delight, Stiles couldn't contain himself. "Oh, god, that is freakin' awesome! I mean, this is seriously going to be the best thing that's happened to this town since..."

Stiles' train of thought was abruptly derailed as a gust of wind announced the arrival of Beacon Hills High School's queen bee, Lydia Martin. His conversational journey came to an abrupt stop when he saw Lydia approaching them, heading to the school building.

In a futile attempt to catch Lydia's attention, Stiles made an ill-timed shift away from the current topic and continued, "Since the birth of Lydia Martin. Hey, Lydia! You look-"

As Lydia coolly brushed past them, ignoring Stiles' eager words, he appeared utterly deflated. The remnants of his sentence slipped from his lips in a melancholy tone, "like you're gonna ignore me...."

One of Lydia's signature signs is that she bleeds confidence and utterly disregards the presence of other people around her. Jean suspected Lydia's deliberate snub towards her was due to Jean beating her boyfriend, Jackson, to the swim team captain title. However, Jean relished Lydia's open animosity because it signified her success.

Jean firmly believed that success often attracted its fair share of hatred, and she embraced it wholeheartedly. Lydia and her popular clique do not intimidate Jean in the slightest; in fact, Jean relishes the antagonism. They couldn't truly harm her because, throughout her life in Beacon Hills, she had proven herself to be the predator, not the prey.

As Stiles looks back at Scott with an irritable expression, he mutters, "You are the cause of this, you know?"

Scott just casually rolled his eyes and simply agreed to whatever Stiles stated. Not done with his statement, Stiles continued, "Dragging me down to your nerd depths. I'm a nerd by association. I've been scarlet-nerded by you."

Hearing that, Jean rolls her eyes. Scott may look and act like a nerd, but Stiles is no better than him. "Yeah, like you are not a nerd at all," chimed Jean sarcastically.

After that, she walks off to class, knowing Stiles will reply to her sarcastic comment, and it will all lead to a very loud argument, one that Jean doesn't have any energy to finish.

Her first period is English, just like Scott and Stiles. Jean sat directly next to Scott, a privilege she got by arriving first in class before Stiles. Now, that is something she really loves to rub in Stiles' face.

Jean practically silenced her hearing senses by getting lost in thought and staring at the whiteboard blankly. It's too early for her mind to listen to the crap that Mr. Curtis is saying. She started to pay attention again once the vice principal came in and introduced a new girl to the whole class.

With an outfit and face like hers, Jean is sure as hell the whole school will be talking about her. The new girl sat right behind Scott, and Jean was a little bit shocked when she saw Scott turn around and give a pen to the new girl. Now, she knows Scott is a goodie two shoes, but he isn't someone who has the courage to flirt, especially with new girls.

Jean could figuratively smell Scott's awkwardness from a mile away; she could also see the sparkle in his eyes. Whatever it is, she has a feeling Scott will change.

When the class ended, Jean went straight to her locker and put back all her textbooks. She's grateful that the first day is finally over.

"Jean!" called Scott, signaling her to go to him and Stiles, who stood there with his eyes rolled.

Right after she stood beside Scott, he immediately asked, "Are you gonna watch us practice?"

Since she had nothing to do, she agreed to come. Jean figured that it's always fun to mock Stiles when he plays in practice, he usually wears an I'm-gonna-vomit face after one run.

"Hey, I saw the look on your face." Jean is teasing Scott after catching his intense gaze on a certain someone.

He's busy staring at Allison-the new girl-and got awkward when Jean found out. "What? What look?" mumbles Scott awkwardly. Geez, he is a nervous wreck.

Jean gives a playful, annoyed look towards Scott for his poor excuse of acting nonchalant and states the obvious, "You have a look."

Full of shame, Scott denies with all his might the accusation by saying, "I don't have a look. It's just my face." While fumbling and closing his locker fast.

"I have known you since kindergarten, I know when my best friend has a crush on someone," replies Jean casually.

Scott and Stiles exchanged a bewildered glance, their eyes questioning Jean's unexpected insight. "Is it true?" asked Stiles, his voice tinged with disbelief. He couldn't believe it-his best friend finally had a crush on someone.

Jean snorted, "You should've known the best, you have that face every day when you see Lydia, it's sad, dude."

Suddenly, a voice next to them saved Scott from having to explain his current predicament. "Can someone tell me how the new girl is here all of five minutes, and she's already hanging out with Lydia's clique?"

That catches Scott, Stiles, and Jean's attention. They all look at the so-called clique that's standing across the hall from them. Lydia, Jackson, and the new girl seem to have a good conversation going on, as evidenced by the way they all smiled at each other.

Stiles simply stated the fact by saying, "Because she's hot. Beautiful people herd together."

Jean quickly countered his statements by saying, "Or they're all freaking sociopaths. I mean, no one in their right mind hangs out with Lydia or Jackson, for that matter."

Although Stiles and Jean left comments about it, Scott seems so focused on the interaction the new girl has with Jackson and Lydia. Jean noticed that Scott was still in a trance because of the new girl, smacked his shoulder weakly, and said, "Don't you two have practice? Coach will be pissed if you guys come late."

Jean comfortably sat at the bench, waiting for Scott and Stiles to arrive on the field after changing into their lacrosse attire. When she heard Scott proclaim that he would make the first line again, Jean just sighed. She feels incredibly bad knowing Scott's dream will be crushed. He's not that good, and he has asthma, the chance of him getting picked first line is extremely, more like impossibly hard.

Right after Scott's bag dropped down, Coach Finstock called his name. Coach throws a large lacrosse stick with a larger net and a larger helmet at Scott, who catches them after they smash him across the chest. Scott's eyes widen in bewilderment.

The coach confidently said, "You're on goal."

When Scott heard that, he frowned in confusion and replied, "But I've never played."

Without a care in the world, Coach simply reasoned, "I know. Scoring some shots will give the boys a confidence boost. It's a first-day-back thing."

Jean always knew Coach was a cold-hearted bastard, she often contemplated whether it's worth it to smack his God-annoying face or not. His only advice to Scott was to not take any in the face. As if that helps anything!

Scott looked so lost going in the field, Jean felt incredibly bad for him. His jawline might even become more uneven. "Why are you sitting here, Jean?" Coach inquired.

Pissed at what he was doing to Scott, Jean just glared at him. When Coach screamed at her to move away, Jean huffed and moved to the bleachers right behind the bench. She could honestly continue ignoring whatever Coach said, but he gets a hundred times more annoying by the second.

As predicted, the first ball hits Scott right in front of his helmet, and to make it even more dramatic, Scott is knocked backwards onto the ground. Jean flinches at that sight. She remembers that Scott still has a wound on his stomach, she even contemplated going and talking to Coach to get him excused.

But the scene afterwards shocked her. Scott managed to catch the ball easily, which caused Stiles to scream in the most ugly, dramatic way as a form of support. Jean was too stunned to even cheer for Scott.

The practice kept going on, and Scott managed to catch every single ball coming right at him, even the ones from Jackson, who clearly has a vendetta for Scott. Jean just sat there in silence, she truly wanted to cheer, but the changes happening right in front of her are just too shocking. She's happy for Scott, truly, but she's also confused.

A few weeks ago, she watched Scott practice his lacrosse abilities, and he sucked. All of a sudden, he became this pro-player and even defeated Jackson, which Jean supported all the way.

After the practice was over, Scott asked Jean and Stiles to accompany him to retrieve his inhaler that he claimed fell in the woods. Being the ever-loving-kind best friend that Jean is, she agreed, even though all she wanted was her bed.

Just as Jean and Scott are trying to locate the inhaler, Stiles is trying his luck by searching for half of the body that Scott discovered in the woods last night. They had all just crossed the creek in the nature preserve when Scott confessed, "I don't know what it was. It was like I had all the time in the world to catch the ball. And that's not the only weird thing. I can hear stuff I shouldn't be able to hear. Smell things."

Scott's revelation ultimately struck Stiles' all-fact-believer core, in which he inquired more, "Smell things? Like what?"

Scott casually blurted, "Like the mint mojito gum in your pocket." When Stiles checks his pocket and what Scott blurts out turns out to be true, Jean gets more unsettled.

"We should go to the hospital," suggests Jean. She continued her theory of whatever was going on with Scott, "The bite could be a sign of disease; I mean, you don't really know what animal bit you; what if it's venom or whatever is poisonous?"

Scott, who is walking in front of Stiles and Jean, misses the tiny smile Stiles puts on his face before attempting to project an air of seriousness. "You know what? I actually think I've heard of this. It's a specific kind of infection," remembered Stiles.

Panickly, Scott interrupted by saying, "Are you serious?"

In Stiles' natural response to any serious situation, he throws an insinuation as his form of sarcasm, "Yeah. Yeah, I think it's called lycanthropy."

Looking at how panicked Scott is, since he doesn't have a clue what lycanthropy is, Jean immediately warned Stiles for joking around when Scott needed him, "Try to actually be useful, Stiles."

"Hey, he's the one who heard a wolf howling!" countered Stiles.

Scott noticed that Stiles wasn't taking him seriously, so he stressed to Stiles, "There could be something seriously wrong with me!"

Still not taking the hint, Stiles casually replied, "I know! You're a werewolf! Rawrrr!"

Stiles's tone turns serious as Scott is obviously not amused by his prank. "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."

Clearly not listening to Stiles' ramble, Scott pauses for a moment and scans his surroundings. When he finds nothing noteworthy where they are, he frowns. "No, I could have sworn this was it. I saw the body, and the deer came running. I dropped my inhaler," recalled Scott.

Stiles quickly suggests, "Maybe the killer moved the body?"

Hearing that, Jean snorts and mumbles, "The killer could've moved your brain too."

That snide successfully earned Stiles' attention. Unwilling to back down, he rebuked, "Hey, my brain is fine the way it is."

Scott, forever Switzerland whenever Jean and Stiles fight, begged, "If he did, I hope he left my inhaler. Those things are, like, eighty bucks."

Feeling bad that Scott can't afford another inhaler, Jean stops her snarky comments and starts looking at the ground, trying to locate the inhaler. Which proved to be hard since there are thick, muddy leaves covering where they're standing.

All of a sudden, they all hear the voice of a man. When they looked up, they saw a man in his early twenties, wearing a black leather jacket, having black hair, and having a pale complexion, all while sporting an obnoxious scowl.

The man looks like a serial killer with a good look, which isn't the first time the world has seen that. He rudely inquired, "What are you doing here? Huh? This is private property."

Stiles, being the nervous wreck that he is, apologized, "Uh, sorry, man, we didn't know." Even though it didn't sound genuine at all, Jean appreciated him speaking up. The way the rude guy was staring at her and Scott was unsettling. He's like looking at their soul with that intense gaze, and Jean didn't even know who he was.

Scott added Stiles' statement by explaining the reason why they're there. "Yeah, we were just looking for something, but..."

With just one look from that rude guy, Scott loses all his confidence in talking and drops the subject, "Uh, forget it."

Out of nowhere, the rude guy throws Scott's inhaler at him, then turns around and walks away without saying anything, after giving Scott one final glance and a side glance at Jean. Scott lets out a sigh of relief at the same time as Jean starts talking. "That guy is creepy and rude as fuck."

They began to walk away from the property as Scott announced, "Um, yeah. I gotta get to work." Stiles now looked fascinated by that encounter and enthusiastically exclaimed, "Dude, that was Derek Hale!"

Weirdly enough, the guy's last name rang a bell in Jean's head. She remembered her mom talking on the phone and mentioned that family name. Scott was completely lost at whatever Stiles was saying and just stared at him blankly.

When Stiles notices that Scott is completely clueless, he tries to jog Scott's memory by hinting, "You remember, right? He's only a few years older than us." Even after that sentence, Scott is still clueless. That's when Stiles decides to rant, "His family, they all burned to death in a fire, like, ten years ago."

It also jogs Jean's memory; she remembers the moment the fire news broke out. It was a huge deal for their town since a lot of people died that day.

Sporting an intrigued look, Scott muttered, "I wonder what he's doing back." That thought filled their entire journey back to their cars.

The next day, as Jean cleaned her locker in the deserted corridor, a queasy sensation crept in the pit of her stomach that she was unable to get rid of. She looked around anxiously, feeling as though something wasn't quite right, but she wasn't able to identify what it was. She looked up to see a sudden ruckus just as she was reaching for her backpack. Stiles came running down the corridor toward her, his face was desperate.

Jean's annoyance at being dragged to the lacrosse field by Stiles was evident in the way she narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms defensively. "Dude, stop touching me," she snapped, her tone sharp with irritation.

Stiles silenced her by saying, "Shhh! It's important!" Jean scoffed loudly upon hearing that. This scrawny boy better have a good reason to drag her ass to the field abruptly when she was tidying her locker in the hall.

Once they're on the field, Stiles lets go of her forearm and shouts at Scott. Seeing Stiles and Jean practically running to him, Scott interrupted, "Stiles, I'm playing the first elimination, man. Can it wait?"

Stiles, his face flushed with panic, rushed to explain the urgency of the situation, his words tumbling out in a frantic rush.

"Yeah! Why are you so jittery, anyway?" huffed Jean, feeling tired after practically getting dragged to the school field. It better be a life-or-death situation, or Jean will be absolutely pissed. She doesn't think she has even closed her locker; Stiles was too in a hurry to let her close and lock her locker. If her stuff went missing, she would bill Stiles for the damages.

With an out-of-breath voice, Stiles began, "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!"

Scott, not seeing the point of this conversation, stated, "Stiles, I gotta go." As he jogged onto the field, his jaw clenched with determination, his expression betraying a mix of apprehension and determination.

Not giving up yet, Stiles exclaimed, "Wait, no! Scott! You're not going to believe what the animal was!"

Seeing Stiles' panic state, Jean could guess what animal it was. They practically talked about one animal yesterday. "Let me guess, it was a wolf," voiced Jean after looking at Stiles' defeated face because Scott wouldn't listen to him.

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⌦ .｡.:*♡ Side note!

Sorry for the super late update. I have been emotionally and mentally drained because of uni (dead inside for awhile). Anyway, I hope this long chapter makes up for the fact that I was MIA for, like, a long time. Let me know if there are any grammatical errors, I finished writing this around 3 a.m. lol. Thank you to those who still wait for me to update this fic <3. I am beyond grateful for you.