wolf moon; ❛ WONDERLAND ❜
❝ I don't need more friends ❞

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Beacon Hills was a small town where everyone knew everyone. Beacon Hills High School, on the other hand, was visibly an entirely different area.

Like many other high schools, there was a social pyramid. Their shitty little town was different from others regarding everything besides teen drama. Alice Whittemore, her brother Jackson and her best friends Lydia and Audrey thrived at the very top of the pyramid. Girls and boys wanted to both date them and be them and those who didn't, probably hated them. Then there were people like Danny Mahealani and Minho Park who were a part of the popular group but did not care much about popularity. Then there were the lacrosse players who tried to become popular but actually just wanted to become Jackson and date either his sister or his girlfriend, despite both girls having boyfriends.

Alice adored the big amount of attention she received at school. It is something she did not really receive at home unless it came from her brother and from time to time, her mother, who actually mostly spent her time at work, much like her dad who was often out of town. David Whittemore was something else entirely. He praised Jackson for every one of his accomplishments but would ignore his entire existence when he would fuck something up, like getting a bad grade or losing a lacrosse game. When it came to Alice, though, he ignored her entirely. From time to time he would go out of his way to buy her a present on her birthday (if he would actually remember it) despite her constant attempts to gain his attention by doing things like stealing his credit card or keeping her GPA high. She thought she was going to lose her mind when she bought herself a car with his credit card and he did not even bat an eye at it.

You would think that, when you adopt two children, you would give them attention and love them equally. Or at least spend enough time at home to get to know them. But Alice would not be surprised if they only adopted them so their reputation would be better or so they could raise them to be their doubles. Jackson was very much like his father and managed to pick up all of his bad traits. Alice, on the other hand, did not allow her mother to get under her skin and made it clear that she was not going to be married at nineteen and was actually going to get out of Beacon Hills.

When it came to the first day of school, all thoughts of her shitty parents were put aside and the night before she always made sure everything was ready. In the mornings, she would pick Lydia and Audrey up and they would come in together like they did almost every day of Freshman year. But this time it would be without Jackson. Her brother's ego was bigger and more fragile than her own so he wanted all eyes to be only on him which would only happen if he came to school by himself in the expensive black Porsche that mom got him for his sixteenth birthday.

Sometimes it really felt like he loved his car more than anything else which was the exact reason Alice rolled her eyes when she got out of her cherry red jeep and caught him yelling at a random kid for barely touching his car.

"Isn't he charming?" The strawberry blonde girl next to her asked with a dreamy look but there was a sarcastic undertone in her voice.

"Oh, yeah." Alice nodded with a sarcastic grin, slinging her arm through Lydia's when she locked her jeep, "If he was not my brother I would totally steal him."

"I have been planning it for years, actually." Audrey chimed in with a blank look on her face and wrapped her arm around Alice's free hand.

Lydia snorted at her comment and rolled her eyes with an amused smile, "Shut up."

The three girls chuckled and Alice made sure the purple dress she was wearing was straight before they made their way out of the parking lot and toward the school.

On the other side of the yard, in front of the doors, Stiles Stilinski was completely ignoring his best friend Scott McCall, who was standing right in front of him and kept his eyes solemnly glued to the brunette girl that just arrived. Well, to her and the red jeep that she got out of.

"I am even more in love with her now than I was before." He muttered to himself, his eyes still glued to Alice laughing at something Lydia said. As always, he was completely awestruck.

Scott rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers in front of Stiles' face, making him snap out of his daze and look at him. "Stiles, focus."

"Right, sorry."

"Anyway, it was too dark to see much but I'm pretty sure it was a wolf." The McCall boy stated, his words making Stiles instantly scrunch his face up in disbelief.

"A wolf bit you?"

Scott hummed as a yes and it only made Stiles shake his head in denial, "No, not a chance."

"I heard a wolf howling."

"No, you didn't." The buzz-cut boy scoffed as the two of them continued walking closer to the school entrance.

His best friend squinted in confusion, "What do you mean 'no, you didn't'? How do you know what I heard?"

Stiles scoffed out a laugh and shook his head again, "Because California doesn't have wolves, okay? Not in like sixty years."

"Really?" Scott blinked in surprise.

"Yes, really." Stiles shot back, "There are no wolves in California."

Scott sighed heavily, knowing there was no way that he was going to convince him otherwise so he was quick to change the subject, "All right, well, if you don't believe me about the wolf, then you are definitely not gonna believe me when I tell you I found the body."

Stiles almost jumped in excitement at his words, "Are you kidding me?"

"No, man, I wish." Scott shook his head with a breathy chuckle, "I'm gonna have nightmares for a month."

Realizing another excited laugh, Stiles grinned brightly, "Oh, God, that is freaking awesome. I mean this seriously has to be the best thing that has happened to this town since..." he trailed off, almost dumbfounded when he caught sight of Alice getting closer to them and he flashed her what he hoped was a charming flirty grin, "since the birth of Alice Whittemore. Hey, Alice, you look..." He was left trying to catch his breath like a fish on the land when Alice turned her head towards him and flashed him one of her charming smiles that left both boys and girls absolutely swooning every single time. Stiles swore he almost fainted when she raised one of her hands to give him a wave before she continued her way into the school. "...gorgeous, as always." He breathed out, aware of the low chance of having her hear him now that she was already gone. He pursed his lips, realizing he probably missed the only chance he had of actually talking to her, and then turned to glare at Scott, "You're the cause of this, you know?"

"Uh-huh." came back Scott's amused reply. His puppy-like grin and the obvious amusement on his face only made Stiles' eyes narrow further, "Dragging me down to your nerd depths. I'm a nerd by association. I've been scarlet nerded by you."

-

"As you all know, there indeed was a body found in the woods last night. And I'm pretty sure your eager little minds are coming up with various scenarios as to what happened. But I am here to tell you that the police have a suspect in custody, which means you can give your undivided attention to the syllabus which is on your desk outlining this semester."

Alice nodded at the words of her English teacher while she was writing down "The Metamorphosis" by Frank Kafka in her notebook which was their first reading that semester. Then, she moved her gaze to the syllabus in front of her and tuned out the sound of her teacher's voice. She was a very organized person and despite her photographic memory, she still liked to keep as many notes as she could when it came to school because she never wanted to forget anything. The fact that none of her friends were in this class only made it easier for her to stay focused. And despite the fact that she was going to be in the running for prom queen, she did not want to be the girl that peaked in high school. Alice usually tried to listen to what her teachers were saying but she was not interested in an animal attack that happened over winter break.

Sure, a part of her felt a little bad for the woman that died but it was no one that she knew so she did not think too hard about it.

Alice furrowed her eyebrows and looked at the boy sitting at the desk next to her in slight annoyance. He has been fidgeting since the teacher stopped talking and constantly kept looking around the classroom. She watched his gaze turn to the window and it stayed there for a few moments until she broke him out of his daze.

"You okay?" Alice asked, making his gaze snap towards her. He blinked in confusion, not realizing why she was even talking to him in the first place.

"Me?" He blurted out. Alice raised an eyebrow and she gave him a nod. The dark-haired boy cleared his throat. "Yeah, my head just hurts a little. I'm fine."

They both simultaneously turned towards the classroom door when it opened and the vice principal walked in with a girl Alice did not recognize. She had long dark brown hair and flawless pale skin that honestly made Alice just a little bit envious.

"Class, this is our new student, Allison Argent." The vice principal announced as the girl, Allison, fidgeted in her spot next to him, "Please do your best to make her feel welcome."

While Allison made her way towards her seat in the back, Alice kept her gaze on her and almost as if she felt it, Allison turned to meet her gaze. While the brunette gave her a small smile, Alice simply nodded with a blank look on her face and looked back at her syllabus. She missed the way the new girl's face faltered just a little bit before she sat down behind the boy that was going to make her wish she chose another seat.

-

Lunch was definitely Alice's least favorite part of the school day. The food in Beacon Hills High was the worst thing she ever ate, she could only (barely) tolerate "Pizza Fridays". She grimaced as she swallowed a little bit of meat and placed her fork back on the table.

"I'm not eating this." The brunette shook her head and quickly drank some of her water to wash out the taste of the disgusting food.

MInho narrowed his eyes at her. then lifted an apple (that he brought from home) from his plate and placed it onto hers. Quietly, he added, "I doubt you'll starve. You had a pretty big lunch yesterday."

Alice clenched her jaw but ate her apple and said nothing. It was not out of character for Minho to comment on how much she ate. Despite them only dating for a couple of months, he liked to pretend that they were these high school sweethearts that were going to get married when they graduate and have five kids. In all honesty, she had no idea why she was still with him. Maybe it was the need to look wanted or the need to get some sort of romantic affection even if their relationship was more bad than good. Lydia claimed that he only ruined her confidence but it was not like Alice had much, to begin with.

"I'm thinking about throwing a back-to-school party this Friday." Lydia announced with a bright and excited grin as soon as she and Audrey reached the table.

Audrey furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head to the side as the two sat down. "Didn't you do the same thing after summer break? And as far as I remember, the sheriff crashed it. So, I don't think that we need a repeat of that."

"Yeah." Minho snorted at the memory of last year's party, giving his girlfriend a humorous look, "I don't think I've ever seen you run faster. In heels too."

"Not my fault Audrey's brother got pissed that he didn't get an invitation and decided to call Stilinski." Alice shot back and gave Audrey a pointed look.

Audrey pursed her lips and hesitated before shrugging, "He's adopted."

Alice let out a breathy chuckle and turned back to Lydia. "The party is an amazing idea but change it up a little."

"Like make it a themed party?" The strawberry blonde sat up straighter with a curious look in her eyes that were glued solemnly onto her boyfriend's sister.

"No, save that for your birthday or something." Alice shook her head and paused before adding, "Or mine. But for this, I was thinking of making it more of a cheap beer casual party rather than an all-out party with vodka and whiskey. This seems more authentic. And we are going to get in less trouble if we are caught drinking beer rather than something else."

"True." Lydia nodded with a smile as she took a bite out of her salad.

Alice smiled back, pleased with the fact that she liked the idea, and turned to Jackson. She opened her mouth to say something, only for him to cut her off with a half-hearted roll of his eyes and a hand in the air. "Yes, I'll tell the lacrosse team to come and invite everyone they know."

"Perfect." His sister smiled back at him, leaning into Minho's arms and taking another bite out of her apple.

-

At the end of the sixth period, Lydia dragged Alice down the school hall as soon as they left their books in their lockers. At first, Alice was confused, until she realized her best friend was dragging them toward the new girl. Allison Argent.

"That jacket is absolutely killer." Lydia complimented as soon as Allison closed her locker and turned around, "Where'd you get it?"

Alice leaned against one of the lockers and watched the interaction with a bored look on her face. Allison nervously smiled at them before answering Lydia's question, "My mom was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco."

Allison really reminded Alice of a scared deer. She looked fragile in a typical girl next door type of way. She saw her as someone that Lydia could play around with for a couple of weeks before she would get bored and ditch her. Which was why Alice was going to do nothing but observe. She did not want to play Lydia's stupid games.

Lydia narrowed her eyes with a growing smile and then pointed a finger at the brunette girl, "And you are our new best friend."

Alice resisted the urge to roll her eyes, her mood dampening when Jackson came up behind them and wrapped an arm around Lydia. The couple instantly started a small make-out session which made Alice gag a little. She didn't comment on it and only turned to the new girl.

"You get used to it." She informed her, feeling Jackson's arm casually being thrown on top of her head and ruffling her hair as soon as he and Lydia stopped kissing. Alice scowled and pushed his arm away which made him chuckle.

The Whittemore siblings were very close since their early childhood. Their parents adopted them when they were still babies and since they were the same age, they grew attached together.

"So this Friday, there's a party." Lydia stated and turned back to Allison, who raised an eyebrow. She did not seem that thrilled and looked like she already knew in what direction that conversation was going.

"A party?"

Jackson nodded, giving the girl his usual charming grin, "Yeah, you should come."

"Uh, I can't." Allison said nervously, her lie painfully obvious, "It's family night this Friday. Thanks for asking."

"You sure?" Jackson raised an eyebrow, looking unimpressed at her rejecting all three of the most popular sophomores at once, "I mean everyone's going after the scrimmage."

That clearly piqued Allison's interest. "You mean like football?"

Alice could not help but scoff at that, "Football? Hell, no. That sport is a joke in Beacon High. Everyone plays lacrosse. Or basketball but only girls play and we don't make a big deal out of it because our egos are not as fragile."

Lydia giggled at her words, while her boyfriend immediately used the theme of lacrosse to start bragging, "We've won the state championship for the past three years."

"Because of a certain team captain." Lydia giggled once again and placed a sloppy kiss on his cheek.

Alice smiled slightly at the small act of genuine affection. They might have seemed like the usual couple that only used each other for popularity but they did really love each other. It was mostly Lydia, though, and it was something that made her feel sorry for her. Jackson kind of left his feelings behind after the "honeymoon phase" while Lydia was still as in love with him as she was back at the beginning of Freshman year. He still cared, Alice could clearly see that. Sure, their public display of affection was disgusting but Jackson was not usually big on physical touch so she knew how he really felt despite the fact that he never said anything.

Sometimes, Alice wished she could say about her and Minho's relationship. She was not in love with him. She never was.

"The basketball team brought back much more trophies than you guys." Alice stated proudly. "And we are going to bring more when I become the captain next year."

"Well, we have practice in a couple of minutes." Jackson told Allison and brushed off her words (the action that made Alice falter a little). It was an obvious invite and a little 𝘵𝘰𝘰 perky to be genuine, "That is if you don't have anywhere else to go."

"Well, I was going to..." Allison trailed off, clearly trying to avoid actually going but she did not get a chance to find an excuse because Lydia grabbed her by the crook of her elbow.

"Perfect. You're coming."

-

Soon enough, the first week of school passed and Alice found herself in Lydia's bedroom an hour before the party was supposed to start. She was in nothing but one of her black skirts and her strapless bra as she looked through her best friend's closet with a small frown on her face, not being able to decide what to wear.

"Which one?" she asked as she held up a red sleeveless top in her right hand and a sleeveless blue shirt in her left hand.

Lydia squinted her eyes in thought and then pointed toward the red one. "That one."

Alice nodded, having been thinking the same thing moments ago, and then put the shirt on while looking at the full-sized mirror in Lydia's huge closet.

The brunette moved towards the vanity and hesitated, before asking, "What's the deal with you inviting Allison?"

"I just think we need to extend our friend group a bit." Lydia shrugged and swiftly took the mascara out of Alice's hand and applied it for her.

There were a lot of things that Alice hated, but change might be at the top of the list. That might be just because of her trust issues and the dislike for feeling even a little threatened but she never cared enough to think about it because something like this never happened. It was always her, Lydia, and Audrey (and sometimes the guys). Other people who sat around them during lunch or during parties were not their actual friends.

Of course, it would be different if Alice actually liked Allison but she just had an odd feeling about her. It was almost as if a dark aura surrounded her or something.

"I don't need more friends, I already have you guys. Just because you had the big need to take Snow White under your wing does not mean I have to do the same." She stated as soon as Lydia put the mascara down and picked up lipstick.

She originally assumed that Lydia was just playing with Allison but over the week, she could notice how fond her best friend was of her and could sense that there was some sort of bond slowly growing.

Lydia halted in her movements, the lipstick stopping midair, and her face momentarily softened, "You and I are always going to be friends. No one can change that."

Alice gave her a tight-lipped smile, not sure how true that actually was but trying to shake all negative thoughts off. Sophomore year was supposed to be unforgettable but she did not really look forward to it as much as she did before winter break.

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a/n: yes alice is petty and needs a lot of character development but we'll get there