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chapter one;
NEWEST ROBOTICS NERD

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      Ava McCall couldn't fall asleep to save her life, she kept tossing and turning. Mostly because of what she thought to be nerves for the next day but also because of her brother's loud music playing down the hall from his radio. The girl was known for being able to sleep through almost anything, storms, music, or the loud barking from across the street, but tonight was different.

She could feel chills and beads of sweat taking up residence on her skin. Something was supposed to happen tonight. And it wasn't good.

Ava had this pounding sensation in her head, but she'd already taken a few Tylenol's hours before. She'd been having the same headache for over a week now and it only managed to get worse.

Letting out a groan as she rolled over in her bed, slamming her pillow over her ears. "Scott!" she mumbled.

She knew he couldn't hear her, but she couldn't exactly think at the moment. Ava pushed herself up from her bed and considering her contacts weren't in, she grabbed her glasses from her nightstand, before walking down the hall to his room.

The room was completely empty, Scott nowhere to be found. Ava walked over toward his radio, shutting it off so she could finally sleep in peace. As she turned to walk away, she stopped at his bathroom before knocking, "Scottie?" No reply. She twisted the doorknob and pushed it open. Empty, again.

The mirror was still slightly fogged, so she knew he had to have used it recently. Her brows furrowed as she closed the door and made her way back to her room. However as soon as Ava's fingertips grazed her ice-cold doorknob, she felt a chill run down her spine before hearing a loud clash downstairs.

Ava straightened her glasses, "Scott?"

No answer.

God, this headache was making her crazy.

Her eyes searched for movement as she stared down the stairs from the top. Another loud crash sounded, sort of like pots and pans dropping. "Scott? Mom?"

No answer.

The brunette took a deep breath. As she turned on her heel, she felt a hand wrap tightly around her wrist. And she knew for a fact that it wasn't Scott. Her eyes slowly trailed up, coming eye to eye with two bright red dots...eyes. They pierced back into her, freezing her blood from the inside out.

"Hello, Ava."

Before she could acknowledge the words that shook her to her core, her feet disobeyed her and move on their own accord, causing her to lose her balance and trip. Being too close to the edge of the stairs, down she fell and a loud scream followed in her wake.

Ava quickly sat up, gasping for breath. Frantically looking around, she realized she was sitting in her bed. It was just a dream. She was okay.

For now.

Meanwhile, the boys had finally made it to the preserve. "Are we really doing this?" Scott spoke up.

Stiles nodded, "You're the one always bitching that nothing ever happens in this town."

"I was trying to get a good night's sleep before practice tomorrow."

Stiles scoffed. "Yeah, because sitting on the bench is such a grueling effort."

Scott rolled his eyes at his comment. "No, because I'm playing this year, in fact, I'm making first line." Scott told him, confidence lacing his tone.

"Hey, that's the spirit. Everyone should have a dream, even a pathetically unrealistic one."

Scott shrugged with a grin, "And tomorrow is Ava's first day on the robotics team." If Ava were here she would be hiding in embarrassment at how supportive her brother was.

Stiles stopped walking and quickly turned toward him, "Wait, she got in?"

"Yeah." Scott nodded. Usually, Stiles would be the first person she told about these things. "Why? You surprised?"

Stiles' eyes widened, "Yeah, I mean, of course not. I knew she was smart, I just didn't know she applied."

"Yeah. I don't know," Scott awkwardly let out. "She's not as excited as I thought she'd be. Something's been off with her lately."

"What do you mean?" Stiles asked as they trudged through the dry, stale leaves on the ground. "Is she ok?"

Scott pushed old tree branches away from him. "I'm not sure. She's been having these really intense headaches."

Stiles followed him, doing the same as the branches came their way. "But she's okay, right?" he asked, concern lacing his tone.

"I-I don't know."

It was quiet for a while as Stiles soaked in the new information about Ava. Scott could see that his friend grew worried for his sister so he attempted to change the subject. "Just out of curiosity, which half of the body are we looking for?"

"Huh, I didn't even think about that."

"And, uh, what if whoever killed the body is still out here?"

"Also, something I didn't think about."

As the duo began to climb the hill, covered in dirt and sticks, "It's comforting to know you've planned this out with your usual attention of details." Scott stated, now following after Stiles. "You know, maybe the severe asthmatic should be the one holding the flashlight."

Scott began wheezing as he pulled out his inhaler, standing still for a minute, before continuing along with the buzz cut boy. Stiles, then, jumped onto the ground, pulling Scott down with him. They watched as the deputies' flashlights circled the air.

Stiles looked up at the moving flashlights, before glancing back down at Scott. Before allowing Scott to get the memo, Stiles stood, running off, leaving his friend behind.

"Stiles! Wait up!" Scott called out.

The next morning, Ava bent down, staring at her reflection in her vanity mirror as she put her earrings in. "Well, don't you look beautiful." she heard behind her, looking up to see her mother, Melissa, in the mirror.

"Thanks, mama." Ava stood up, walking toward her bed to put an extra book in her backpack. As she reached around to clasp her necklace into place, her mother walked toward her with furrowed brows.

"What happened to your wrist?"

"Huh?" Ava looked down at her wrist to see a purple-ish bruise in the exact same spot that she was grabbed. But it was just a dream. Right? "Um, I'm not sure."

Melissa walked over to her daughter, taking her hand in hers as she examined her wrist. "Does it hurt?" Ava shook her head as her mother continued to check for a broken bone or sprain.

The younger girl too stood, staring down at her arm, trying to remember what happened. But she couldn't. "I didn't hear you come in last night." Ava stated, attempting to change the subject.

Melissa lightly dropped her daughters hand and glanced around the colorfully furnished room, staring at the newest robot drawings on the wall. "The hospital was a wreck last night and I kind of put in over time. I know what you're gonna say—"

Ava turned toward the curly-haired woman, "And I'm gonna say it anyway. Mom, you don't have to keep working over time, Scott and I have jobs now, we can help out."

"Sweetie, you're young." Melissa told her, placing her hands on either side of her face. "You need to spend your money on having fun, not bills. You have at least three more years before that." she joked.

"I just want to help out."

"I know you do, and I love you for it." Melissa smiled, walking back toward the door. "Now, hurry up. You're gonna be late." As if on cue, they heard three honks outside the house which meant her ride, Lydia Martin, was impatiently waiting outside.

Ava picked up her bag, heading for the door, before turning back around. "Uh, mom, have you seen Scott today?"

"Yeah, he left early." Melissa informed, crossing her arms. "Why? Is everything all right?"

The girl nodded. "I was just wondering. Love you."

"I love you. Have a good day."

Once outside, Ava headed straight for Lydia's car. She threw her bag in the backseat with Lydia's before hopping in the front.

"God, what took you so long?"

Ava playfully rolled her eyes, "We can't all just wake up drop dead gorgeous."

Lydia smirked, "Hmm, really?" the two girls burst out into laughter as Lydia drove off, attempting to be on time for once.

"So Ava Leigh, as of today, you are officially a robotics nerd." Lydia joked, glancing over at the brunette as she eagerly tapped on the steering wheel.

Ava scoffed as she applied her lip gloss, "And you could be too if you weren't so concerned about Jackass' image."

Ava knew how smart Lydia was, she was literally a genius and it was one of Ava's favorite things about her. She just hated how she dulled herself for Jackson Whittemore's ego.

Lydia shrugged. "I like having free time. More time for shopping."

"You mean more time for buying things you don't need."

"Who knows?" Lydia asked with a small grin. "The world could end today and all those things may come in handy."

Stiles stood in front of his best friend, clutching onto his bag. "Okay, let's see this thing." he watched as Scott lifted his shirt, showing off his bloody bandage. "Oooh, woah!"

"Yeah." he hissed, lowering his shirt before bending down to pick up his backpack. "It was too dark to see but I'm pretty sure it was a wolf."

"A wolf bit you?" Stiles scoffed, with a slight grin. The buzzcut boy instantly shook his head as Scott hummed in response. "No, not a chance."

"I heard a wolf howling."

"No, you didn't."

"What do you mean, no, I didn't?" Scott remarked, laughing at the boy. "How do you know what I heard?"

"Because California doesn't have wolves. Not in like sixty years." Stiles informed.

"Really?"

"Yes, really. There are no wolves in California." Stiles continued to say. He believed a lot of things, but this was not one of them. "Did you show Ava?"

"No, she was asleep when I got home."

As if summoned, the brunette and redhead duo exited Lydia's car. Lydia threw her loosely curled hair over her shoulder, "Are we still on for tonight?" she asked, closing her car door.

Ava groaned, "I wish. I had to pick up another shift." Lydia waited until Ava circled the car, linking their arms together. "But tomorrow, I promise."

Lydia rolled her eyes as they started walking. "Come on, why do you need a job? You're pretty."

"Lyds, we don't all have rich parents. Even if, that's a bad mindset to have." Ava told her with a smirk. "Plus, it gives me something to do when both my mom and brother are working."

Before Lydia could respond, the two girls felt arms wrap around their shoulders. "There's my favorite girl and her friend, Satan."

"Ughh." Lydia scoffed, playfully throwing Jared Whittmores arm off of her while Ava laughed in amusement. "I'll meet you in first."

Ava smiled, nodding her head before turning toward her cool blue-eyed boyfriend, who interlaced his fingers with hers. "So, what happened last night? You never texted me back." Jared asked as the two began to walk.

Ava looked up from their hands, slightly tensing up. She gave him a sweet smile as he smiled back down at her. "Nothing, I must've just fallen asleep."

His blue eyes eyed her with contempt, like he was reading her, seeing her for every thing she truly was. And not the good parts. "You sure? Nothings wrong with us?"

"Positive." Ava stood on her tiptoes and placed a kiss on his lips, before using her thumb to swipe off her lipgloss from his bottom lip. "We're good."

"But if you play, I'll no one to talk to on the bench." Stiles staggered, attempting to catch his breath as he and Scott ran up the hill with their lacrosse gear. "Are you really gonna do that to your best friend?"

"I can't sit out again." Scott affirmed. He placed his bag onto the bench, looking up at his friend. "My whole life I've been sitting out on the sidelines. This season, I make first line. That was the plan, Ava makes it into robotics and I-- I play."

Stiles sighed in defeat. "How'd that go anyway? The robotics thing?" he asked, curious about the girl, though he wouldn't admit it.

Scott shrugged, "I'm not sure. I haven't seen her at all today."

"McCall!" Coach Finstock called out. As Scott ran over to Coach, Stiles' eyes easily found the female McCall standing with her boyfriend. Stiles internally groaned, forcibly removing his eyes from the girl.

"I thought you weren't playing anymore." Ava stated, holding Jared's helmet in her hands.

Jared shrugged, staring at the field. "Change of plans, I guess." Ava furrowed her brows, seeing as she knew he didn't really like lacrosse but he would never tell her why he played anyway. "I'll see you in a bit, yeah?" Jared spoke, taking the helmet from her hands as the girl slowly nodded. He placed a kiss on her cheek before running off onto the field.

As Ava began to walk up the bleachers, she bumped into someone. "I'm so sorry, that was my fault." she apologized. She looked up to see a black-haired girl with the most beautiful smile. "New girl, right?"

"Allison, actually." The girl smiled at her before holding her hand out. "You're Ava. I promise I'm not a stalker or anything, I just overheard someone say your name."

Ava let out a chuckle. "No worries. It's nice to meet you."

Lydia walked over to them with a smirk and clasped her hands together. "Yay, you guys met!"

Comic Central wasn't her first choice for a job but it was lowkey and manageable so what the heck. Ava liked her job, busy or not, it was relaxing. She loved seeing the kids come in and out buying comic after comic. It was a beautiful thing for children to still have their imagination and innocence.

Ava stood on a step ladder, stocking some of the stores newest comics on their respective shelves. She admired how shiny and smooth the comics were. They sort of reminded her of newborn babies —— delicate and beautiful.

Turning over one of the comics, Firefly Lane, in her hand, she read the back of the cover. Usually when the store wasn't busy or when she was on one of her many breaks, she read the new comics cover to cover.

She'd never really liked comics before but it reminded her of a time in her life. A time where all she did was laugh and survive off of cheddar goldfish.

"Avie!" Ava looked up at the sound of her name being called. She placed the comic on its shelf before climbing down to find the voice. "Avie!"

Ava already knew who the voice belonged to—— Raina Finstock, the coaches daughter. She was exactly like her father, always saying the first thing that came to mind but she was also a great listener. Raina worked at Comic Central for a few months before Ava came along.

"I'm coming!" The girl huffed, heading straight for the checkout counter. "What do you wa-"

Her words hitched in her throat when she saw Stiles standing across from Raina, at the counter. Raina gave her a pointed look as she motioned with the remote in her hand. "You have a customer in need."

Ava rolled her eyes, "Why couldn't you have helped him?" Stiles gave her a strange look but she ignored it, keeping her eyes on Raina.

"Because A, I didn't want to. B, he requested you." Raina stated nonchalantly as she held up two fingers, "C, I can't leave the counter unattended and D, The Fairly Oddparents just came on. Plus, he's your boyfriend."

Ava scoffed, "He's not my boyfriend and you know that."

"I don't think I'm liking this customer service." Stiles chirped in, looking between the two.

"There's the trash," Ava pointed. "Leave a complaint."

Raina chuckled before turning back to watch the small television as Ava walked away causing Stiles to eagerly follow behind. "What do you want? I have work to do."

Stiles stared around the store in awe. He hadn't come in a while due to, well, the customer service. "It's still so crazy that you work here. Remember when we use to-"

"Stiles." Ava stopped him. "What do you want?"

"Right." His smile lightly faded as he stopped him front of her. "Do you have anything about lycanthropy o-or wolves?"

The girl placed a hand on her hip with a light shrug. "I think so. It would be over in the supernatural or fantasy aisle."

Ava guided him over to the aisle with the big lit up yellow sign that read SUPERNATURAL. There were all kinds of comics in this aisle—— witches, vampires, child-feared monsters, sirens, and...wolves.

"Here are some.." Ava pointed over to the shelf, watching as Stiles ran over to them. "Since when are you into wolves?"

"I-It's for a, um, project."

"A project?" Ava raised a brow. "So why not go to the library?"

Stiles filled his hands with the comics before turning around. "I did."

Ava looked down at his hands which held at least eight single comics about wolves. "You're getting all of them?"

"Yeah, yes!" Stiles exclaimed without thought. "It's a really big project."

"About wolves?"

"About wolves, exactly." The boy gulped and looked down at the books. "Thanks for your help. I have to go...study?"

"Okay?" Ava watched as he ran to the front counter, attempting to get Raina to look away from the Tv. Once she rang him up, he looked back at Ava before leaving the store in a hurry.

Ava walked toward the front of the store, "Was he weirder than usual?"

"Um," Raina hummed, staring at the television. "I didn't notice but who knows? He's Stiles."

Ava stared at the door for a minute in thought before brushing her worries to the side and heading back to work.

Back on her step stool, she heard the bell chime above the door and hurried steps. Once she looked over, Stiles was bent over attempting to catch his breath. Ava furrowed her brows, stopping what she was doing.

"Eight wasn't enough?"

Stiles lifted up one finger, still dramatically breathing. He stood up, leaning against the shelf. "I lied. I lied about the books."

Ava rolled her eyes, "Yeah, no shit."

"They're for Scott." As Ava returned to stocking the shelf, Stiles stood straighter. "Something happened to Scott.."

This really caught her attention. Ava turned and cocked her head to the side. "What happened to Scott?"

"Well, um..." The buzz cut boy fiddled with his fingers, looking for a way to say what he needed. "Scott was, uh..."

"Stiles!"

"He was bitten by a werewolf."

Ava stared at the boy for a second. He really knew how to get under her skin. The girl ran a hand through her hair and rolled her eyes. "Really? Is this how you get off? By wasting my time?"

Stiles' face scrunched up and he shook his head. "What? No! I'm serious." As Ava got back to work, ignoring him, he walked closer to the step stool. "Okay, think about it. You saw him today at practice. He was good. Freakishly good. When has Scott ever been good at lacrosse?"

Ava looked up but didn't turn toward him. That was a question that had been on her mind since the occurrence. Scott was more a bench warmer than player but she wanted to be supportive so she didn't say anything.

"H-His reflexes, his speed," he continued. "Over time, sure. But overnight? Av-"

"That's impossible, Stiles."

"Maybe not." Stiles stared up at her even though she ignored him. "Just come to my house after your shift. The key will be-"

Ava looked down at him. "I know."

It had been a while since she'd even been to the Stilinski household but she still remembered all the ins and outs. Where the key was hidden, the best hide-n-seek hiding spots, where the best snacks were hidden, where the Stilinski/McCall time capsule was buried, etc.

After an almost hour long debate about going to Stiles' house or Lydia's party, Ava found herself on the Stilinski doorstep. The baby blue jeep resided in the driveway but there was no sight of his fathers sheriffs cruiser so the bent down and grabbed the key.

Walking up the stairs of the Stilinski house, Ava took a deep breath. Why she was even giving in to this insanity? She didn't know. But Stiles had gotten into her head.

Her hand grazed the stair rail as she thought back to the last time she'd even been in this house. It had been almost two years. Everything looked the same but was still so incredibly different.

"Stiles, wait!" Ava hurriedly followed Stiles down the stairs,"Come on, you're my best friend."

"That's the problem, Aves."

Ava swallowed, removing her hand from the rail before continuing up the stairs. Once she made it to Stiles' room, she wasn't sure if she should knock or just walk in. But as she raised her hand to knock, she heard a loud crash so she opened the door instead.

Her eyes widened at the sight of Scott pinning their... his best friend to the wall with his fist raised at him.

"Scott!"

Scott's head snapped over to his sister and he quickly let go of the boy. He angrily pushed the desk chair onto the ground before coming to."I'm sorry. I gotta go get ready for that party."

Ava stood in the doorway watching Stiles expression change as he glanced up at his friend who walked away to grab his backpack. Scott then walked toward the door. "I'm sorry." he said again before looking at his sister as he passed her.

Once he left, Ava shut the door behind him and ran over to the Stilinski boy. "Are you okay? What happened?" She quickly scanned his body for any injuries.

Stiles ran a hand across his face, "Nothing."

"Stiles-"

"I'm fine." He brushed her off and walked around her. She knew he wasn't fine but dropped it. She could worry about him anymore. That was no longer her job. Stiles lifted up his desk chair and his eyes widened. "Ava, look."

The girl turned around to see three claw marks on the back of the chair. As she took a few steps forward, she noticed all of the papers loosely placed all around Stiles room—— some filled with paragraphs and some with different portrayals of werewolves.

"Do you believe me now?"

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LOVE LETTERS,
   dear readers

      - the first chapter is always the worst smh but here it is.
      - Allison was literally the cutest in the pilot episode 😚 yall i love her and Isaac sm so there's probably gonna be a few rants about them throughout this story lmaoo

ravensshome_