c h a p t e r o n e
body hunting

Harper Verum's room was tidier than it had been all summer due to her intense procrastination skills. Candles were lit nearby as the teenage girl sat hunched over her desk, scribbling answers to the homework she had regrettably left to the last minute.

The brunette had her earplugs in, blasting The Neighbourhood at full volume as she hummed quietly along. Less than an hour ago her grandma had gone to sleep, so she had to be quiet. Although, Harper was ninety-nine percent sure her grandma could sleep through a hurricane.

On her list of things to do, homework was her last choice, which was why it had taken her all summer to even pluck the courage of pulling it out of last years school bag. Who even sets homework in the holidays? Mr Harris, that's who.

Harper finally finished, a sigh of relief escaping her lips as she dropped her pencil onto the desk and pulled her earplugs out, just in time to hear a thump come from downstairs. Her heart skipped a beat and she sat up straight, listening intently.

Quietly, she grabbed the strong cardboard packaging from a poster that had been delivered days ago, raising it above her head like a bat. Adrenaline flooded through her as she opened the bedroom door. Harper tip-toed down the stairs, eyes wide as she tried to adjust to the darkness.

A bang and then a groan came from the kitchen. Harper's hands began to get a little sweaty as she clasped the nearly-useless-weapon in her hands tighter, wiggling her fingers. The light in the hallway switched on and the brown-eyed girl yelped, reaching out and smacking whoever was in the doorway around the head.

"Ow! Ow, Harper, stop!" A familiar voice hissed before large hands wrapped around the dented poster packaging, yanking it straight out of her hands, "it's me, it's Stiles."

Harper blinked, a blush coating her cheeks when she realised it was just her two best friends: Stiles Stilinski and Scott McCall. They towered above her 5'1 frame, looking at her with wide eyes. Stiles was still rubbing his head where she had hit it.

"Why'd you hit me?" He whined.

The girl scoffed, "maybe because I thought you were trying to rob me?"

Stiles stared at her, squinting his eyes. "Touché."

"Why are you here anyway?" She folded her arms across her chest, raising a dark eyebrow at the two of them, "it's, like, eleven at night and my grandma is asleep."

Scott rolled his eyes, "Stiles wants us to go to the woods with him to find a dead body," he muttered.

The oldest of them all hadn't wanted to go out body-hunting, but when Stiles had turned up at his house and insisted, Scott couldn't say no. He'd thrown on a maroon coloured jumper and jumped in the Stilinski boy's blue jeep so they could meet their other best friend.

Harper's mouth parted slightly as she stared at them both.

"How do you know there is a dead body out there? What have you guys been doing when I'm not around?" She was half joking, half serious.

"Nothing, we swear," Stiles quickly replied, "my dad got a call. Two joggers found half a body and the police are out looking for the other half right now."

She pushed some fallen hair out of her face. "Well, if they're out looking for the other half then we don't have to. I need sleep, Stiles. Like, badly. Do you see the dark circles under my eyes?"

Stiles frowned, scanning the girl over. Her skin was almost clear, only the odd blemish, but just like she had insisted, there were slight dark circles beneath her warm, brown eyes. Nevertheless, he still thought she was beautiful.

"Those weren't there yesterday," he raised his eyebrows.

"The power of concealer," Harper couldn't help but smile a little, "I'm not getting rid of you two, am I?"

Both teenage boys shook their heads, playful smiles on their faces, too. The girl sighed and rushed upstairs to get dressed into more suitable clothes. She was sure to freeze to death out there in only her pyjamas.

Scott scoffed, hitting his other best friend playfully.

"Dude, you were totally checking her out," he teased him. "Why don't you just ask her out already? You've been obsessing over her ever since she moved here."

The boy with the buzzcut frowned defensively, "I was simply checking her face for dark circles like she asked."

It wasn't completely untrue, but he had taken his time admiring his long-term crush.

Before Scott could get another word in, footsteps quietly came padding back down the stairs. Harper jumped the last couple, landing almost silently as she tugged her yellow raincoat closer to her body, zipping it up.

"It's not rain-" Scott began.

"It will," she cut him off, "in fact, there's meant to be a storm."

Stiles sighed, "great," he muttered as the brunette slipped on her Adidas shoes and grabbed her house keys.

"Let's a go," Harper mimicked everyone's favourite Italian plumber.

Both boys groaned and she giggled, a bounce in her step as she left the front door. Stiles couldn't help but shake his head and smile at her.

Harper Verum would be the death of him.

☹☻

Less than ten minutes later, Stiles' iconic blue jeep pulled up outside Beacon Hills Preserve, the headlights illuminating the trees for a few seconds before switching off. The three teenagers clambered out of the car, already shivering from the cool air.

Harper quickly took the hairband off of her wrist and tucked her hair up into a messy ponytail as Stiles switched the flashlight on, lighting up their path. The brunette's hands retracted into her yellow raincoat, annoyed that she hadn't thought of bringing a pair of gloves with her.

"We're seriously doing this?" Scott thought out loud as he slammed the door of the jeep shut, causing the girl beside him to flinch slightly.

The hazel-eyed boy rolled his eyes. "You're the one always bitching that nothing ever happens in this town," he claimed, moving to walk beside Harper.

Scott frowned. "I was hoping to get a good night's sleep before practice tomorrow," he muttered, pushing a small tree branch out of the way as he followed behind.

Harper couldn't help the scoff that escaped her lips. "Yeah, okay, because sitting on the bench is so much hard work," she teased.

Stiles chuckled from the front- normally it was him making fun of their friend.

The oldest sighed. "No, because I'm playing this year, "he paused, "in fact, I'm making first line."

Stiles didn't bother to turn around as he replied, "hey, that's the spirit, "his tone was drenched with sarcasm, "everyone should have a dream. Even a pathetically unrealistic one."

It was Scott's turn to snicker, "kind of like your dream of-"

"Shut it!" Stiles raised his voice, cutting Scott off before he could even finish his sentence.

He stole a glance in Harper's direction to see if she had noticed, but she was staring at her shoes and using a leaf to wipe some mud off of them. It wasn't really helping much. In fact, it was probably just smearing it further into the material.

"Bloody hell. I shouldn't have worn these shoes," Harper wanted to cry at the sight of her brand new Adidas shoes.

She had planned on wearing them for the first day of school tomorrow, but now they were almost brown instead of white.

"What half of the body are we even looking for?" She tried to distract herself from the tragedy that was her shoes.

"Huh," Stiles paused as if he had just realised something. He laughed slightly, almost nervously. "I didn't even think about that."

Scott and Harper both shared nervous glances from behind him.

"What if whoever killed the body is still out there?" She questioned, Scott also looking curious for this answer.

"Also something I didn't think about," Stiles admitted with a slight nod.

They began to climb a small slope, Stiles going first. Harper's hand dug into the loose soil underneath her, going straight up behind him. She mentally cringed at all of the dirty going underneath her freshly painted pastel blue nails.

Scott was panting from behind the two of them, struggling to keep up. It wasn't like Scott was unfit- in fact, he was perfectly healthy both physically and mentally, but he had had severe asthma ever since he was only an infant.

"It's comforting to know you've planned this out with your usual attention to detail," Scott wheezed.

"I know," Stiles groaned loudly as he pulled himself up for the last time, getting to the top of the leafy slope.

He reached down and gently grabbed Harper's wrists, pulling her up almost effortlessly. The brunette smiled at him before turning around and helping Scott. Scott gave her a grateful look, letting her help him with the last step.

"You okay?" Harper asked worriedly, her eyebrows knitting together in concern as he panted, sending a quick nod in her direction to put her mind at ease.

Harper could be such a mum-friend sometimes.

"Yeah," he muttered before speaking louder for Stiles to hear, "maybe the severe asthmatic should be the one holding the torch, huh?"

He took out his inhaler and shook it. Scott didn't even get a chance to have a puff before Stiles was racing forwards, Harper and Scott following close behind less enthusiastically. Suddenly, Stiles dropped to the ground, pulling Harper down with him to lay on the leafy floor. Scott fell down on the other side of Stiles.

About fifty metres away, behind some trees, was a row of flashlights belonging to the Beacon County police. They shone their torches in all directions, the light emphasising the rain that was falling. Luckily the teenagers were protected by the thick layer of trees surrounding them, so they had yet to feel it.

A grin suddenly broke out on the Stilinski boy's face as he jumped up excitedly, grabbing Harper's arm and tugging her along with him.

"Come on!"

Scott hissed their names, begging for them to come back as Stiles dragged Harper closer towards the police. He followed cautiously, not wanting to get caught by the police. His mum would kill him if she found out he was in the woods this late at night while she was at work.

"What the hell, Stiles?" Harper hissed, sounding strangely like his father, despite her English accent.

Stiles didn't have time to reply as he stopped in a clearing. His hand let go of Harper's arm when a large police dog came out of nowhere, barking right in their faces. The brunette shrieked, falling backwards and taking Stiles down with her.

A torch shone right in their eyes. Harper squinted, just about making out the face of an angry police officer. Despite spending all of her time with Stiles, whose dad was the Sheriff of Beacon Hills, she had never seen this man in her life.

"Hold it right here!" He commanded furiously.

"Bloody hell!" Harper held a hand to her heart, trying to calm down her breathing.

Scott quickly hid behind a tree, not prepared to go down with his best friends. He squeezed his eyes closed together, mentally cursing the spastic hazel-eyed boy for dragging them out body hunting.

"Hang on, hang on," the two teenagers on the ground had never been so thankful to hear the familiar voice of Sheriff Stilinski, "this little delinquent belongs to me."

The police officer raised his eyebrows. "And this one?" He gestured towards Harper who smiled sheepishly, sending Noah Stilinski a small wave.

He sighed, "her, too."

Stiles winced at the bright light shining in his eyes, pulling Harper up off of the ground with him.

"Dad. How are you doing?" He awkwardly stood, trying to avoid any eye contact with the oddly calm man stood in front of him.

"So, do you listen to all of my phone calls?" Noah asked with a sigh as the rain poured down from above them, causing his hair to stick to his forehead. Stiles remained okay with his buzz cut and Harper had pulled her hood over her head.

Stiles shook his head, "no, "he hesitated, "not the boring ones."

The Sheriff just gave a nod in response. "I see you've dragged Harper out into this mess, so where's the other one?" He briefly turned his head around to see if Scott was there.

"Who, Scott?" Stiles laughed nervously, and Harper already knew that they were screwed if he was the one coming up with the lie, "Scott's home. He said he wanted to get a good night's sleep for the first day back at school tomorrow. It's just us. In the woods. Alone."

Harper realised how bad that sounded, her nose crinkling up as Stilinski raised his eyebrows.

Stiles began to stutter, "no, uh, not like that. We're- we're just friends. Best friends. Right, best friend?" He turned to face Harper frantically.

Rolling her brown eyes, she nodded, "yes, best friend." Her tone was laced with sarcasm.

The Sheriff shook his head, sighing as he turned his flashlight back on, pointing it towards the trees behind them.

"Scott, you out there?" He yelled as thunder rumbled in the distance, "Scott?"

Scott gritted his teeth from the tree he was hiding behind. He didn't reply, hoping Stiles' dad would give up and just take his friends home.

His wish was granted when Noah turned his flashlight off, turning to Harper and Stiles and sighing. "Well, kids. I'm going to walk Stiles back to his car and you, Harper, are coming with me. I don't think your grandmother is going to be too happy with you."

Stiles jolted as he spluttered, "what? No, dad! Let her off this time, it was my fault. She didn't want to come and I dragged her out here."

Harper couldn't help but smile slightly when Stiles tried to defend her, but Noah still shook his head.

"What kind of sheriff would I be if I let her off? I'm sorry, Harper, really. I'd want to know if my kid was out in the woods at night, too," he sighed.

Stiles sent an apologetic look Harper's way. She shook her head at him, as if to tell him thanks anyway. After Noah had practically forced Stiles into his jeep, they made it to his car and he began to drive them to Harper's house.

Noah didn't need to ask for directions to Harper's house since he knew exactly where it was. When Harper moved to Beacon Hills at age nine, she had immediately become best friends with Stiles and Scott. All of their parents had gotten along too until people started leaving and dying.

When Noah Stilinski pulled up in front of the small house, he climbed out of the car and met Harper by the front door. Sighing, he knocked the door. Less than a minute later the door opened revealing Harper's grandmother, Rose Verum.

The old woman squinted her eyes, as if not believing the sight in front of her. Her granddaughter and the Sheriff of Beacon Hills at her doorstep at midnight.

The brunette smiled weakly, her heart hammering in her chest. Her already-weak grandma just looked more defeated as she sighed, rubbing her forehead. All Harper ever wanted to do was make her grandma proud, but it felt like she had been failing a lot lately.

"Sorry to disturb you evening, Rose," Noah gave her a look, "I'm afraid I found Harper and Stiles running around in the woods."

Rose didn't even look at her granddaughter, causing the teenage girl's heart to break. She gulped as her grandma smiled slightly at sheriff Stilinski.

"Sorry about that, Noah," Harper's grandma sighed, "thank you for taking her home in one piece."

Noah nodded, "it's all part of the job, "he smiled slightly, "I'm guessing I'll see you soon, Harper. Have a good night, Rose."

Rose smiled back, quietly closing the door. Harper slowly put her dirty shoes in the shoe basket next to the door and hung her yellow raincoat up on one of the pegs. Slowly, she turned to face her grandma.

"I'm sorry, " the English girl looked down at her feet.

"Why were you out in the woods?" She asked softly, her eyes filled with worry, "is there something going on? Something I should be worried about?"

Harper shook her head quickly, finally looking up.

"No, grandma," she insisted, "it's just Stiles being Stiles. He wanted to go out and help his dad and I went with him. That's all, I swear."

Rose nodded, "okay. We'll talk more about this in the morning, I'm too tired for this right now," she spoke, "I love you, sweet pea. Please don't ever worry me like that again."

"I won't," Harper reassured her, "goodnight, grandma. I love you too."

The girl squeezed the older woman into a quick, gentle hug before rushing up the stairs. As soon as Harper made it to her bedroom she ripped off her leggings and black shirt, throwing it into the corner of her room by her door. Sighing, she flicked off the fairy lights and flopped into bed, climbing under the covers.

Harper couldn't be bothered to change into any pyjamas, so her bra and underwear it was. She shivered slightly as her damp hair touched her bare back but she couldn't be bothered to dry it or put a shirt on. She pulled the duvet covers up to her face, warming herself up.

Her heart ached as she recalled the look on her grandmother's face. Upsetting her grandma was her least favourite thing to do. Even homework was better, now that she thought about it.

The worst part about disappointing her grandma was that she never yelled at her. Maybe if she yelled then Harper wouldn't feel so bad, but Rose was so sweet and kind that it made Harper wish she would just ground her or scream at her. That and her grandma was already so weak.

After losing her husband, her daughter and her son in law, she was left broken with only her granddaughter- but still kind and loving. She didn't bake or sew or dance anymore, she just worked and cooked and slept.

Harper's phone kept buzzing from her bedside table but she ignored it, too upset to reply to anyone. It was probably Stiles asking if she was okay, but she didn't feel like lying to him.

☹☻

When Harper woke up the next morning, she was still tired. She had woken up at six in the morning so that she could properly get ready for the first day of school. That meant showering, doing her hair and makeup, getting dressed, having a decent breakfast and talking to her grandma.

But the first thing she did was check her phone, obviously.

Stiles: hey are you home?

Stiles: is your grandma mad at you?

Stiles: why aren't you replyingggg???

Stiles: are you mad at me???

Stiles: I'm sorry Harper :((

(3) missed call(s) from Stiles

Lydia: what are you wearing tomorrow? <3

Scott: you good?

Lydia: wear the dress we bought last week or I will disown you. I'm not kidding.

Lydia: um, reply, bitch.

Scott: I need to talk to you and Stiles before school. URGENT. meet me by the benches near the main entrance.

Harper frowned at the last text message from Scott, suddenly feeling awful for not answering her phone last night. But she strangely felt worse for Stiles who was probably upset in case he had done something to upset her.

She decided to text Stiles back first.

To Stiles: omg I'm so sorry for not answering yesterday. im not mad i swear.

The brunette tossed her iPhone onto her bed before going to the bathroom. She washed her hair and her body thoroughly until she smelt like her fruity shower gel. Harper also shaved her legs, since she was apparently wearing the dress Lydia had bought her today.

Once she made it back to her bedroom, she dried her hair and curled the ends to perfection. Satisfied with the way she looked, she began to button up her casual black dress. After checking the weather app and seeing that it was meant to be cold, she slipped on a pair of tights, too.

"There was literally no point in me even shaving my legs," Harper muttered to herself, rolling her eyes, "six cuts and all for nothing."

Her phone buzzed.

Stiles: i'm glad. Do you want me to pick you up at eight?

To Stiles: yes please!

Harper then did her makeup- one of her favourite things to do. She decided against foundation since her skin was pretty clear, just adding concealer to the dark circles rimming her eyes. She did her eyebrows and some mascara before packing all of her stuff away.

07:53

Groaning, the petite female jogged down the stairs and grabbed her backpack which she had packed the night before. After making sure her homework from last night was in there, she went to the kitchen.

Rose sat at the breakfast bar eating her porridge happily. The radio played through the speakers behind her, playing old music from the '80s.

"Good morning, love," the old woman smiled as Harper grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl, taking a large bite, "will you be joining me for breakfast this morning or is Stiles already here to pick you up?"

Harper frowned, "he'll be here in a couple of minutes. Sorry, grandma."

Rose just nodded. "That's fine, honey. Can we just talk for a second, though? About why you were in the woods last night?" She asked softly.

The younger girl froze in her spot. "Sure..." She was hesitant.

Her grandma took a deep breath. "Does this have anything to do with your parents, sweetie? I knew there would be a time when you would feel the need to rebel-"

"No," Harper chocked, cutting her off, "it has nothing to do with mum and dad. Just a stupid mistake that will never happen again, I swear."

Rose's face slowly turned up into a smile. "Good." She gave a short nod. "Because there are lots of dangerous things in those woods, Harp. I don't want you to ever feel like you can't trust me. I love you."

"I love you, too," she kissed her grandma's head when she heard the familiar horn of the jeep outside, "I have to go now. I'll see you when I get home."

"See you," she waved.

Harper left quickly, shutting the door behind her and racing down the steps to the familiar blue jeep. Stiles was sat in the drivers seat, smiling as his best friend headed straight towards him. She climbed inside.

"Hey," she smiled sweetly, "thanks for driving me there."

"I always drive you to school, " the Stilinski boy chuckled, rolling his eyes as he started up the engine, pulling out of the drive and down the road, "like, every single day since I got the jeep."

"And every day since you got the jeep I have said thank you," Harper retorted, "it's called being polite, Sti."

Stiles squirmed at the nickname she had given him. If anybody else had called him 'Sti' then he probably would have insulted them or kicked them out of his jeep, but he couldn't help but think it was cute coming from her. It was what she had always called him, ever since they met when they were only nine years old.

"I can be polite," he replied defensively.

Harper giggled. "Sure. You're an arse to everyone apart from me, Scott and your dad, " she paused, thinking for a moment, "actually, you're kind of an arse to Scott too-"

"Okay, okay..." He cut her off, laughing slightly. "I'm an 'arse'," he mimicked her accent.

Harper slapped his arm lightly, smiling a little.

"So..." He began as he turned a sharp corner, not keeping his eyes off of the road. "How did your grandma react to you being out in the woods at midnight?"

The brunette sighed, "too well."

Stiles groaned, "lucky, I got an entire lecture on the invasion of privacy. Apparently, it doesn't look good when the Sheriff's son is running around a murder scene at midnight."

"I guess it doesn't," Harper hummed in agreement, peeling her eyes away from the window to look at her best friend, "we have, like, four classes together this year, right?"

"Right," Stiles confirmed, "English first, right?"

Harper nodded, "yep."

Stiles pulled up into the car park, parking his jeep at the very back. He claimed that if it was at the back then nobody could 'hurt it'. In his top five favourite things is his dad, Harper, his jeep, Scott and Star Wars.

He would defend those five things with his last dying breath.

The school bell rang as the two teenagers climbed out of the car, rushing towards where Scott had asked them both to meet him.

Everybody was buzzing around either anxiously or excitedly, sharing hugs with people they hadn't seen for ages, freshman huddling together in small groups.

Harper had never really liked the atmosphere of schools. It made her feel anxious for some reason.

After waiting for about a minute by the benches, Scott finally came over, putting his backpack and lacrosse stick onto the bench. Stiles grinned, moving closer to Scott who reached down to the bottom of his shirt.

"Did you ask us to come here so you could show us your body?" Harper raised an eyebrow, folding her arms across her chest.

Scott just shook his head, rolling the shirt half way up. On the side of his torso was a large bandage with blood seeping through it.

"Ooh!" Stiles went to touch it excitedly.

Scott slapped his hand away and Harper's mum-friend tendencies came out. She quickly grew worried, her brown eyes wide as she ran a hand through her hair.

"What happened!?" She asked urgently, "are you okay?"

Scott sighed, "it was too dark to see much, but I'm pretty sure it was a wolf." He reached down and grabbed his things off of the bench, slinging them over his shoulder again.

"A wolf?" Harper repeated, frowning.

She could have sworn that there weren't any wolves in California. When she was eleven she had googled the state. The scariest thing they had were mountain lions.

Scott nodded while Stiles laughed. "No, not a chance," he told him.

A frustrated look washed upon the oldest boy's face. "I heard a wolf howling," he claimed.

"No, you didn't."

Scott scoffed, "what do you mean 'no I didn't'? How do you know what I heard?"

"I swear California doesn't even have wolves?" Harper spoke up, though she wasn't completely sure. She wasn't there, after all.

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, not for the past, like, sixty years." He confirmed the brunettes suspicions.

Scott's entire face fell. "Really?" He asked, even stopping in his place right in front of the stairs.

The McCall boy could have sworn he heard a wolf howl last night after he had been bitten. And when he managed to catch a glimpse at the animal, it had looked a lot like a wolf, too. He thought it was too big to be a mountain lion.

"Yes, really," Stiles repeated, "there are no wolves in California."

Scott gave a slight smile, lowering his voice. "Okay, 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."

Harper's eyes widened as Stiles jolted spastically from beside her, his hand moving to rest on Scott's shoulder as he grinned at him like a mad man. It was times like this that she contemplated why she was even friends with Stiles in the first place.

"Are you kidding me?" Stiles gaped.

"No, I wish," Scott sighed loudly, "I'm gonna have nightmares for a month."

Harper squirmed uncomfortably as Stiles laughed. "Oh, God. That is freaking awesome. I mean, this is seriously gonna be the best thing that happened to this town since..."

His hazel eyes automatically cast towards Harper, but he quickly stopped before he could finish his sentence. No need to ruin a perfectly good friendship, he had decided. Stiles just coughed awkwardly, his excitement dying down.

Harper's dark eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. She opened her mouth to ask what Stiles was talking about when somebody called her name.

Lydia Martin.

Most people thought Lydia was the bitchiest, most spoiled brat going; that she was heartless and only cared about popularity, but after one shopping trip with her in middle school, Harper had come to the realisation that Lydia Martin was a lot more than what met the eye.

For starters, she is incredibly smart. Harper always wondered how she was in top classes for everything. People said that her family paid for her to be in them, but she could probably quote the entire periodic table in three minutes if Harper asked her to. She's also a lot nicer to people that she likes. Luckily, Harper is one of those people.

"Harper! Oh my gosh, I haven't seen you in like a week," the strawberry blonde squealed, ditching the girl that she had walked over with to wrap her arms around Harper in a tight hug. "We need to go on a shopping trip after school someday this week for Jackson's party on Friday. You're still coming, right?"

The brunette nodded. "Of course, "she replied, "except I don't think I can do a shopping trip this time."

"Why not?" She raised her eyebrows, looking suspicious.

"I'm broke," Harper shrugged with a small smile, "In case you forgot, my job at the video store is minimum wage."

"Well, that's what friends are for. I'll pay," Lydia chirped, glancing behind the girl to look at Scott and Stiles who were awkwardly standing there, "are you sitting with me at lunch or these losers?"

Harper didn't like how she called her best friends losers but she ignored it, forcing a tight smile. "I'm sitting with them. Thanks for the offer."

Lydia didn't pay attention to Harper's clearly fake smile, shooting her one back before leaving, flipping her hair in the process. Harper turned back to her best friends and sighed, sending them an apologetic smile.

"It's okay," Stiles rolled his eyes before turning to Scott, "you're the cause of this, you know."

"Oh, yeah?" Scott hummed in amusement.

"Dragging me down to your nerd depths," Stiles muttered as the bell rang and the three teenagers began to make their way to class. "I'm a nerd by association," he claimed, "I've been scarlet nerded by you."

Harper snickered, shaking her head. Oh, how she loved her boys.

☹☻

English. Fun in middle school, but high school? Not so much.

It was literally just quote finding, Shakespeare, poetry, exam preparing, analysing extracts, all of the boring stuff that only edgy teens and teacher pets cared about.

Luckily, Harper had managed to get a seat in front of Stiles and next to Scott. It was a pain in the arse that she had to turn around to talk to Stiles every five minutes, but at least she was beside her other best friend.

"As you all know," Mr Bridge's monotone voice carried out across the classroom as he began to write on the whiteboard. "There was indeed a body found in the woods last night."

Scott turned his head to grin at Stiles who just smirked back. Harper, however, rolled her eyes, leaning forwards and resting her head on her hands. They were such boys, getting excited over a dead body.

"And I'm sure your eager little minds are coming up with various macabre scenarios as to what happened," Mr Bridge didn't turn around as he continued writing, "but I am here to tell you that the police have a suspect in custody."

Scott looked at Stiles in confusion, but he just frowned, holding his hands up to say he didn't know anything about his dad having a suspect. Harper studied the board, seeing that 'Kafka's Metamorphosis' had been written in capital letters.

She had to restrain herself from throwing herself out of the window right there and then.

"Which means you can give your undivided attention to the syllabus which is on your desk outlining this semester," e finished, giving everyone a smug look.

He lifted a copy up from his own desk. The entire class groaned while Harper just simply let out a huff, picking up the stapled pieces of paper from her desk and turning the cover page. The room was completely silent as everybody began to read, the occasional page turn, sigh, or sniffle filling her ears as she forced herself to read the rubbish in front of her.

Kafka's Metamorphosis.

World War 2 poetry.

Exam revision.

End of term exam.

Romeo and Juliet recap.

The brunette had to pause at the fifth subheading, her head actually starting to hurt at the thought of having to study the crap that Shakespeare called 'art'. It was boring, super unrealistic, and she had no passion for it whatsoever.

This year was going to be great, she could just feel it.

Take note of the sarcasm.

About a minute later, the door quietly swung open as Principal Thomas entered, a tall girl nervously following behind him. She was very slim, her brown curled hair falling past her shoulders, her brown eyes darting around the room as she automatically looked for somewhere to sit. She was forcing an awkward smile, her hands playing with the thin blue scarf wrapped loosely around her neck. Harper thought she was really pretty.

"Class, this is our new student, Allison Argent," Principal Thomas introduced her, "please do your best to make her feel welcome."

As the principal left, Allison kept her head down and walked towards the seat behind Scott. She sat down and put her bag underneath her desk. Before Allison even had the chance to turn back around, Scott was sticking a pen in her face, causing Harper to frown.

What the hell was he doing? Is this his way of flirting?

Allison looked confused before a grin took place on her face. "Thanks," she smiled, taking the pen from his loose grip. How did he know she needed a pen?

The shorter brunette shook her head, turning back to face the front as the teacher began to talk again. "We'll begin with Kafka's Metamorphosis on page 133."

☹☻

To say Harper was glad when the bell rang for the end of the day would probably be the biggest understatement of the year. She was so glad to be going home. Well, after she watched Scott and Stiles fail at lacrosse, but whatever.

She walked over to Scott who was at his locker, rummaging through it. Across the hall stood the new girl, Allison Argent. Before meeting Scott, she decided she would talk to Allison first. Maybe even make a new friend.

"Hi, my name is Harper," the shorter girl beamed at her, trying hard not to intimidate her in any way, "did you move from far?"

Allison offered a shy smile. "Not really, only San Francisco. You're in my English class, right?" She asked politely, tucking a brown lock behind her ear from where it had fallen in front of her face.

"Yep," Harper confirmed, "did sir almost bore you to death, or was I the only one?"

Allison giggled, shaking her head. "Oh no, you're not alone." She moved her finger and thumb so they were only a tiny fraction apart. "I was this close to falling asleep."

Harper laughed just as a familiar strawberry blonde waltzed over, stopping right in front of the two girls.

"Hey, Harps," she acknowledged her friend's existence briefly before turning to the new girl. "That jacket is absolutely killer, "she admired. "Where'd you get it?"

Allison looked nervous as she replied, "my mum was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco."

"And you are my new best friend," Lydia pointed at Allison with a sly grin before smirking at Harper. "Sorry, Harps. Maybe you should have texted me back last night," she added sarcastically.

Harper rolled her eyes.

Jackson Whittemore suddenly appeared beside the strawberry blonde, wrapping his arm around her as she lifted her arms to go around his torso. Lydia and Jackson were known as the power couple at Beacon Hills High. They were the most popular people there.

He nodded at Harper and shot a wink at Allison before grinning at his girlfriend.

"Hey Jackson," Lydia smiled sickly sweet. "This is Allison Argent, she's the new girl. Did you know her mum was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco?"

The star athlete didn't reply, clearly not interested in this fact. Lydia began to talk about the jacket that Allison was sporting, something about the material. Harper looked around, suddenly very bored. She looked across the hall and saw that Stiles was now with Scott, talking to a girl named Harley who was in a few of her classes last year.

"So, this weekend, there's a party," Lydia mentioned as she dropped Allison's arm, now finished with the topic of her jacket.

"A party?" Allison repeated.

"Yeah, Friday night. You should come." Jackson invited her, his arm not leaving Lydia's waist as she leaned into him further. "Harper's going, aren't you, Harper?"

She gave a slight nod and Allison frowned. "Uh, I can't. It's family night this Friday night. Thanks for asking."

It was an obvious lie that Allison hoped nobody would pick up on. So far she hadn't made any friends at Beacon Hills High and she didn't really feel like mingling with a bunch of people that she didn't know at a party where there would be alcohol, and if it was anything like her old school, drugs.

"You sure?" Jackson pressed again. "I mean, everyone's going after the scrimmage."

"You mean like football?" Allison asked innocently.

Jackson scoffed. "Football's a joke in Beacon. The sport here is lacrosse. We've won the state championship for the past three years," he bragged.

The strawberry blonde stuck to his side giggled, moving his hair out of his face as she pointed out, "because of a certain team captain." She pecked his lips.

"Well, we have practice in a few minutes. That is if you don't have anywhere else..." Jackson hinted.

"Well, I was going to-" Allison began.

"Perfect," Lydia cut her off with a sickly sweet smile, grabbing her wrist. "You're coming." She insisted.

Allison turned to face Harper worriedly, only feeling comfortable around this girl. "Are you going?" She asked.

"Yeah, my ride home is on the team," Harper smiled comfortingly at the concerned girl.

Lydia rolled her green eyes. "He sits on the bench. You need to get yourself a car already, Harper. Now come on," she tugged Allison's wrist.

The brunette sighed, rolling her eyes and following behind them.

☹☻

Harper took a seat on the benches in between Lydia and Allison, pulling her phone out to send a quick text message to her grandma. Over the summer she had taught Rose how to text on her phone so that she didn't need to call her every time she needed to tell her something.

To Grandma: hey, grandma. won't be home until about 5. I love you x

Grandma: love u 2 xxxxxx

The pale girl smiled, switching her phone off and putting it in her coat pocket before switching her full attention back to the lacrosse practice happening on the field right in front of her.

Coach Finstock, either everybody's favourite or least favourite teacher, yelled from across the field to Scott. "McCall!"

Harper couldn't hear the rest of the conversation but mentally cringed when he chucked Scott a lacrosse stick with a larger head. She wasn't an expert at lacrosse or sport in general, but she knew what that meant. Scott was in goal.

Scott sucked at being in goal. In fact, he sucked at anything to do with lacrosse. Harper sucked in a breath, and although she wasn't religious, prayed for the best.

Allison squinted her eyes from beside Harper as Scott put his helmet on and went to stand in front of the goal, rolling his shoulders. Harper hoped he would be okay with his injury.

"Who is that?" She asked curiously.

Lydia glanced over in the direction Allison was looking in, finally tearing her gaze away from Jackson who was warming up on the field with the rest of the lacrosse team.

"Him? I'm not sure who he is."

Harper smiled slightly, "that's Scott McCall."

Lydia ignored Harper. "Why?" She asked Allison as she continued watching Scott.

Scott cocked his head to the side like he was listening to the conversation. Harper smiled slightly at him and he pursed his lips into a thin line, sending her back a nervous nod.

Allison looked away, shaking her head and smiling softly. "He's in my English class," she explained. "How do you know him?" She asked Harper.

"We've been best friends ever since I moved to here," Harper couldn't help but grin, fond of her best friend, "I can put in a good word if you'd like."

Allison quickly became flustered, not having any time to respond before the whistle blew loudly on the field. Harper turned her attention back to the game that was about to stop. Scott's head fell into his hands for a second until the whistling stopped, and then he stood back up.

Her mum-friend instincts quickly kicked in as she frowned, watching intently as the ball went hurdling from one end of the field to the goal that Scott was stood in. It hit him right in the centre of his helmet, the force sending him backwards.

Scott landed on his back, letting out a loud grunt. Harper winced, sharing a worried look with Stiles who was sat two benches down dressed in his maroon lacrosse uniform.

The lacrosse players on the field began to laugh. Someone yelled, "hey, way to catch the ball with your face, McCall."

Harper wanted to punch whoever had said it, but Scott was already back up on his feet, paying no attention to the boys, ready for another go. The next player ran up, cradling the ball in his net before shooting it.

Scott lifted his lacrosse stick, catching the ball with ease. The petite girl gasped loudly. Stiles quickly turned to meet her eyes again, disbelief and amazement written all over his face. Everybody was shocked, even Scott himself.

"Excuse me," she quickly muttered, leaving the two girls' and climbing over the next few benches until she was sat next to Stiles. "Um, what the hell?"

"I know," Stiles murmured, concentrating on Scott.

Everybody was even more shocked when Scott caught the next ball and the one after that. And the next one. And the one after that. And again. And again.

Scott was grinning from where he was on the field, a new found confidence on his face as he bounced on his feet, clearly ready to take on the world. Harper was happy to see him so happy. He deserved it.

But she was still highly confused.

Scott's happy expression didn't last long when Jackson pushed through the line of lacrosse players waiting to have their shot, clearly pissed at Scott for getting all of the attention. Harper nervously watched in anticipation, Stiles leaning forwards on the bench, biting his nails- one of his many nervous habits.

The captain of the lacrosse team cradled the ball in his net before taking a run-up. He jumped in the air before flinging the ball towards Scott, but Scott, almost effortlessly, moved to catch the ball. Stiles and Harper jumped up in their seats, both their faces showing pure amazement.

"That's our friend!" Stiles yelled happily at her, fist pumping the air. She laughed, nodding eagerly back at him before turning back to cheer on Scott further.

—alishas
alisha
♡☆

hello hello hello

my name is alisha and i basically love mieczyslaw stilinski

tysm for reading the first chapter of my book (even though it's complete crap !)

I've already written the entire book to this, but I'm not gonna upload all of the chapters in case people don't like it.

I am so excited to write the second book- and I already have up to the last season planned out on paper.

It literally took me about five months to write this book with so much editing and proofreading, so it would mean the world to me if you told me how it was or left a vote :)

Please leave constructive criticism (tell me if something is wrong, if I accidentally used the wrong tense, grammar, spelling etc. or if you think something could just generally be improved). I am so open to it!

Thank you guys <3