『Act I •  Side A』

CHAPTER THREE

✨🌙🔮🌙✨

Juniper Tanaka has always been a perfectionist, but never perfect. Since the girl was four years old, she has been striving to meet her parents' expectations, to make them proud of her. Even to this day, June remembers how her five year old self gave it her all, and she means all for a simple competition about rhymes. And when she won for making a rhyme on the topic if I were a Superman. She leaped into her father's arms when she came home, screaming "I won!" And although her parents didn't believe her at first, looking at the gift card in her pink-polished fingers caused her father to smile so widely that she was over the moon. He gave her a pat on her little back and she was happy that he was happy, her eyes twinkled brighter than the stars. But June grew up too fast, she knew she couldn't be as good as her parents and they knew it too. Because Juniper was not her parents— she was not perfect.

Still, something good had come out of it. In the contest where little June came first, Stiles Stilinski came second and he did not like that. As she received her gift card that day, she didn't fail to see Stiles in the corner with another gift card in his hand ( obviously a less cooler one ) and that seemed to make the little boy feral. For the next few months later it was only Stiles and June, trying to be the better student, working had for even the littlest of projects. They ended up spending quality time together and although most of it was of them bickering, they were just five years old so it did not take very long for the duo to grow utterly fond of each other. They have been inseparable ever since. June would often visit Stiles's house, sometimes even stay the night ( even though her parents weren't and still are not entirely comfortable with that ), and Mr. and Mrs. Stilinski were as welcoming as ever, treating the girl as their own. When Stiles revealed to her that he was in love with Lydia Martin— the cherry haired girl who newly joined their class— they immediately began planning their future wedding and June made Stiles swear that she would be the godmother or she'd break their friendship forever. It was a pinky promise.

The world around June crumbled when Claudia Stilinski died. She remembered frowning upon the dark box in front of a picture of Claudia, not understanding what was going on. Noah Stilinski's strong hands were on hers and Stiles's shoulders, holding them briskly as though he would lose them too. June could never forget the tears glistening in Stiles's eyes that didn't cease until a month later. Ten year old June made sure to spend most of her time with Stiles, staying the night at the Stilinski's, embracing Stiles to sleep as he wept on her shoulder. Mr. Stilinski would come whenever this happened, not allowing the girl to be alone when his son was grieving. June was sad too, but she was confused more than anything. She didn't know how to cry so till today, she feels like she hasn't grieved Claudia's death properly and that always manages to wrench her heart. 

June and Stiles were six years old when Scott McCall came into the picture. In just their first meeting, it was clear that Stiles and Scott were meant for each other. He started hanging out with the duo too-- and it wasn't like June minded, she did like Scott. But something made it different when she was alone with him, and June suspected that he felt it too. Whenever Scott would present her with his soft smile, her heartbeats would erratically fasten. She would grow nervous whenever she felt his warm presence next to her, along with an inexplicable excitement in her stomach. Maybe this was why they never truly communicated. They were always only smiling at each other, cheeks glinting red.

It was painful for her when Scott and Stiles suddenly put her in the dark and they began going out by themselves, leaving June out of the picture. Stiles would try and make time for her best friend, visiting her twice every week and a thirty days later it turned to once a month. June, being the close minded girl that she was, never really confronted Stiles. Scott would still pass here a smile from across the hallway, sometimes engaging in small talk-- she was honestly surprised that she knew Scott for so long when they only spoke so less. And June would always smile back, although seeing his smile again made her gut wrench. The dream about Scott and his red eyes only made everything worse, so much so that she didn't smile at him on the first day of their junior year.

So imagine her shock when a panting Stiles suddenly appears in front of her the evening after school as though he had been running. He blocks her way as he stands on the threshold, keeping June on the inside of school. He doesn't speak immediately, just raises his index finger, asking her to give him a moment while he catches his breath, holding his knees as though his life depends on it. Technically, it does, but June pushes that aside, raising her eyebrows questioningly, humour flickering on her lips. "Yes?" She playfully asks. Once Stiles catches his breath he smirks artlessly, resting his arm on the side. He takes it away almost instantly when an alarming senior boy questions him for standing in his way. June finds herself chuckling at his shaken reaction.

Without warning he grabs her by the arm, dragging her to the schoolyard. June protests on the way but she knows that it's of no use and just rolls her eyes on the way. When Stiles lets go, the first thing he does is cover his face with his hands as though he was in panic, he looks at June, who still looks unhappy and let's out a heavy exhale. "Stiles." She vents, calling for him to get to the point. The scraggy boy nods understanding, holding both her forearms tightly. He takes it back when June gives him a look but with the way he's acting more restless than usual tells June that something is bothering him. "On with it," She encourages, trying not to sound frustrated. 

"Okay listen. I'm gonna tell you something that sounds crazy that you're gonna think I'm crazy because I am gonna sound like I'm crazy, but I promise that I'm not being crazy."

June crunches her entire face, "What?"

Stiles hits his palm on his forehead, cursing himself. He looks back at June, digging his lower lip into his mouth. The dark haired girl held sheer confusion on her face, looking at Stiles like he has gone crazy-- the thing Stiles had told her not to. He contemplates for the next few seconds, opening and closing his mouth abruptly, wasting June's precious time. The girl groans, "Stiles, please--"

"--okay. Okay. Will you come with me?" He offers, looking at her with wide eyes. June scrunches her eyebrows, studying his over exciting state and hesitantly nods before adding, "Where?"

Stiles let out a long exhale in relief, closing his eyes thankfully that got June only to worry more. "Uh, to the animal clinic."

June's brain reacted quickly. Folding her arms, eyebrows raised, she asks, "Is this about Scott?"

Stiles's face looks like it suddenly lost all its colour. "How-how do you know that."

June simple shrugs her shoulders, "Lucky guess?"

Stiles exhales longingly again, causing his cheeks to puff up. "Look, I know that you're mad. But you need to understand that I did that to keep you safe."

June finds herself scoffing, eyes wide with disbelief. "Keep me safe? Are you serious?" She looks at him angrily, refraining tears. "Do you even know how lonely it has been?''

"I'm sorry, okay?" Stiles pleads, keeping his palm on his forehead. "But I guess I can't keep you safe any longer." He whispers the last line, covering his face with his hands with worry. June furrows her eyebrows, confused at what he had to say at the end. She remembers her dream suddenly and her heartbeats increase rapidly.

"What do you mean?"

Stiles doesn't reply, instead just chews the insides of his cheeks thoughtfully as though he doesn't know what to tell her. June groans, rolling her eyes incredulously. 

"Something's terribly wrong with this town." She rants, closing her eyes frustratingly, "That scary cat, the crows from the first day, that dream and those deer--"

"--wait," Stiles interrupts, eyes wide with realisation. "What dream?"

June feels her heart beats trying to scram away from her chest, her breath hitches. "Just-- it's just a dream." She lies, bringing locks of her dark hair behind her ears in panic. 

"They were right," Stiles whispers so feebly, it's almost like he is talking to himself. "They were right about you being involved."

June scrunches her eyebrows, hiding her fear behind a facade. "Involved in what?"

Stiles starts walking way before she even completed her sentence, dragging her once again out of school. June doesn't protest this time. "You'll find out soon."

They stop in front of Stiles's old faded blue jeep, and June finds herself smiling automatically at the sight of it. They were so many memories of Stiles and June (and Scott) in there. "Did you fix it?" She asks as she sits on the passenger seat, feeling relieved with the familiarity of it despite it being the most uncomfortable seat she ever sat on. Stiles turns around the keys, causing the engine to roar. He looks at her mockingly, "Fix what?" 

The engine snorted back into dust as soon as it came and Stiles throws his hands on the wheels annoyingly. He ignores June who looks at him like he was a big fat joke, which he probably is a she rotates the keys repeatedly, only to have the jeep grunting thrice before going back to sleep. "I don't have time for this," June announces, raising her eyebrows at him. He shushes her, "It'll work."

After two more minute of trying and trying, it finally does. The second the jeep roars to life, Stiles kick-starts the accelerator, driving both the teenagers to the Animal Clinic. 

"You know," Stiles begins, smiling like he accomplished something big. "Lydia and Allison didn't believe that I could bring you along willingly." He joyfully taps his fingers on the wheel. "Joke's on them."

"You did  technically drag me with you," June puffs, smirking slyly. "I wouldn't call this entirely convincing."

Stiles gives her a look, rolling his eyes. "Shut up."

June shakes her head, smiling lightly at their little reunion after a long time. "I was right though, wasn't I?" She asks in a more serious tone. Stiles looks at her cautiously, "About what?"

"Something is incredibly wrong with this town."

The lanky boy next to her scoffs sarcastically, "You don't even know half of it."

━━☆⌒.⌒☆━━

When they finally reach the clinic, what June expects is dull room covered in four concrete wall, completely scarce with only a few people. June does not expect an actual group that's actually waiting for her in the operation room. She stops and stares midway, eyes wide at the eerie feeling she gets at many eyes staring intently at her. Too many to count. The beady eyed girl is already familiar with some of them who go to her high school as well whereas others looked disturbingly intimidating, June feels like a tiny ant in a room of wild elephants. She is in a little bit of relief when she finds the familiar face of Lydia, her ginger hair as poised as ever. She smiles at June, although the dark haired girl is too shaken to respond to that. She finds Scott at the far end, his loving brown eyes locked on her. When he notes that she's looking, he passes a smile to her as well-- a smile that he's been showing her for many years now.

"Junie," Stiles calls her cheerily as he hold her back for comfort. June heart feels like it's being pressed by a large hand-- he hadn't called her that in months. "Meet. . . the gang."

"Gang." The most intimidating man in the room repeats in an unpleasing tone, glaring at Stiles. His heavy shoulders and muscular arms are folded in front of him, giving him the benefit of an authoritative figure. Dark stubble sprayed across his chin, his hooded green eyes frown at Stiles. June wants nothing to do with him. "Ah, Derek," Stiles indicates to the man, nudging June. "He's the mom of the group." He tickles into June's ear that causes her to smile lightly.

"You know I can hear you, right?" Derek scolds Stiles, eyebrows furrowed angrily. Stiles ignores it, pulling June further into the room. "Time for introductions--"

"We don't have time for that." Derek groans irritably, now directly looking at June. The dark haired teenager wants nothing else now but to run. "You," He means her, "What do you know?"

"What-what do I know?"

"You're scaring her." A familiar soothing voice intervenes. June is only half surprised when Scott McCall looks at Derek with wide eyes, asking of him to calm down. "She's new, and it isn't exactly easy explaining to someone about the supernatural."

Supernatural. June's heart thuds loudly against her chest, Scott looks at her like he hears it.

"I'm open to suggestions," Derek raises his hands in surrender, waiting for Scott to say whatever he wished. The tanned-skin boy isn't ready for that. "M-me?" Scott stuttered, looking at Derek hopelessly. 

"Or maybe I should just bite her." The green eyed man implored, eyes sharp at June. The petrified girl takes a step back, standing behind Stiles as though he could protect her. A young woman who has been standing next to Derek holds him back from doing anything further. Her cherry red lips smile kindly at June who is in a little bit of comfort when she sees Derek heave a breath. His head slightly turns to look at the honey skinned woman, his intimidating figure suddenly growing soft at her touch. June sighs in relief, holding onto Stiles's forearm for her own comfort.

"No one is biting anyone." A new voice states firmly, causing everyone in the room to turn their heads. A dark skinned man no older than forty stands authoritatively, his dark dotted eyes sharp as a hawk. With his shaven head and the trimmed mustache that is dressed on his lips, June knows that he is the doctor of this clinic, Deaton. "Miss Tanaka here, is already a supernatural. Like Lydia had predicted." June's eyes immediately shift to meet the redhead, eyes wide with confusion. Lydia doesn't meet her eyes as she chews on her bubblegum lips, nodding to no one specifically. "If I'm not wrong, she has to be a witch."

June almost chokes on her own breath while others look at the veterinarian like they are considering what he just claimed. She forces Stiles to turn around who now looks like he has just seen a ghost. "A witch?"

Stiles gulps, "He's usually never wrong."

June gawks at him more incredulously, "A witch?"

"So her superpower is magic." Lydia states, pretending like she can't hear the banter between June and Stiles. 

Deaton nods, "There are three covens of witches. Question is, which one does she belong in?"

"Fire, water and earth." The same woman next to Derek speaks up, causing Deaton to nod with agreement. "That's right, Maeve."

June lets out a heavy breath that came out longer than she anticipated. All eyes in the room are once again on her alone, and this time she doesn't hesitate to speak out her mind. "Are we actually having this conversation?" She almost shouts in disbelief and fear, "Me? A witch? What's wrong with you?"

"June," Lydia calls out softly, her down-turned eyes carefully study the shaken. "I know it sounds crazy, but you have to believe us." 

June doesn't heed her words, only keeps shaking her head. A part of her knows it's true, with all the inexpiable things that has been happening around, and especially her haunting dreams about Scott McCall. But June would rather live in the dark than be a part of a life so ghastly, so unreal. The world around her, the one that believes science and scoffs in the name of myths crumbled around her and turns to dust. She doesn't know what to believe.

"Have you had any strange dreams lately?" Deaton asks on cue, as though he could read her mind. June stares at him wide-eyed, the dream repeating over and over. She finds her eyes landing on Scott who has his eyebrows furrowed, like June is  a puzzle he isn't able to solve. 

June hesitates before saying, "Yeah, I have."

"You have?" The woman next to Derek, Maeve, asks, her almond brown eyes wide with curiosity. June slowly nods. "What is it about?" Derek demands, his shoulders growing tense again.

June opens and closes her mouth several times, unsure of what to say. "Uh," She begins, biting her lower him. "There's this guy on a full moon night. . . he had red eyes. Scary ones."

Almost everyone in the room looks at each other knowingly and Scott encourages her to carry on. His own eyes narrowed curiously. "It's a werewolf. An Alpha."

June look at Scott like he just said a joke but the seriousness in everyone's face tells her otherwise. "Do you remember what he looks like?" Derek quickly asks. June looks down and shakes her head, instantly lying. She felt her heart race.

"You're lying." Derek angrily spat. June looks at him with wide eyes, overwhelmed by fear. "Your heart is racing. I can hear it."

"Tell us the truth." Scott adds, sounding slightly guilty at June's shaken state. Her breath hitches again, allowing her to remain breathless again. Stile's large hand holding hers calms her down but only a little bit.

"I've seen him before." June croaks, her own voice betraying her. Scott nods at everyone. "She isn't lying."

"It's not Derek, though. Right?" Maeve questions, smiling softly in hopes to comfort the young girl. It helps only barely. June doesn't reply, only shakes her head.

"What are the odds of her having dreams about an Alpha when a pack of them invaded our little town?" Derek says sarcastically. June didn't know a guy like him can be sarcastic. "Slim to none."

"So it's not a coincidence," Stiles states, nodding understandingly. His hand doesn't leave June's and she is thankful for it.

"You mean guys with. . . red eyes exist?" June says unbelievable, clearly the most gullible one in the room. Derek chuckles, eyeing the oblivious girl. "Well, I'm living proof of it." He reveals, stepping closer to her. "And we aren't. . . guys."

"We're werewolves." Scott continues, June furrows her eyebrows yet again. They were serious about that? Scott sighs at her reaction. "And Derek's an Alpha. I'm a Beta."

June shakes her head, still unclear about what's going on. She looks at Derek curiously, living proof, he said. But all June can see in soft green eyes. As if he could read her thoughts, the alleged werewolf closes his eyes tightly, and a moment later when he opens his eyes a gasp leaves June's mouth as she jumps backwards fearfully.

Derek's eyes seethed scarlet— just like Scott's in her dreams. She turns around to look at the teenager, as it expecting him to show his red eyes too but the boy still intently stares at June, still looks at her like she is a puzzle he's been dying to solve. She slowly turns back to look at Derek, her breath hitching. She yells when he growls at her and if not for Stiles's support behind her, she would've fallen down. 

Maeve from behind Derek pulls him back angrily, she isn't even a little intrigued by Derek's intimidating demeanor. "What are you doing?" She scolds him, gripping his arm tightly. Derek's eyes close again, and when they open they're back to their usual shade. He looks at Maeve, some sort of an apologetic look on his face but when he looks back at June, smirking, she knows that he did it on purpose. To scare her.

She clears her throat, looking at Deaton. Time to accept her new reality. "So. . . werewolves."

A/N:

after writing about June's childhood with Scott & Stiles I really got inspired lmao so here you go;

It was hard finding age appropriate pictures of nana komatsu & dylan o'brien but I had to make this!! also LOOK HOW CUTE TYLER IS OMGGG

also! peep stansholland original character from her upcoming derek fic, maeve montoya!!! she plays an important character in the book and is a recurring character!!!