[ 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏𝒆 ]

i waited on the bleachers for my brother and scott to arrive at the lacrosse field. i was scrolling on my phone, which was a usual thing i did while waiting for them.

although this was more important, it was the first practice leading to tryouts and coach said they'd both have to go to tryouts if they wanted to be on the team.

i look up from my phone as i hear the two familiar voices, "we have 117 million problems and our status on the lacrosse team isn't one of them!" my brother threw his bag down on one of the seats.

"it is now." scott gestured to somewhere on
the field.

i followed their gaze to see two boys throwing the lacrosse balls towards someone, but he caught every one before it could get in the net.

"who the hell is that?" stiles' eyes grew wide as he watched the younger boy in pure shock.

that's when the mystery boy pulled off his helmet, he had short dirty blonde hair and a smirk plastered on his face.

"okay maybe we should just practice a little bit." they grabbed their sticks and helmets before running to train.

♥︎

after about an hour of training, they'd finally finished and went to get changed. i picked up my bag and slung it over my shoulder before heading back to school.

on my way to first period i stop at my locker to grab my math book, since that's what i had next.

i put in the code and swing my locker open it for it to collide with something. i see a figure stumble back and i gasp realising i had hit them in the face.

"oh my god, are you okay?" i frantically reach out to act as some type of support but ended up leaving my arms at my side.

his hand was clutching his bleeding nose "no not really." he laughed as he wiped away the blood, which had stopped flowing.

"i am so sorry." i mutter, my hand reaching the back of my neck and i pause studying his face "wait aren't you the new kid, from practice? number 9 right?"

"uh, yeah, yeah, that's me." a small smile etched onto his face. "you are the bleacher girl right?"

"bleacher girl?" i tilt my head to the side in confusion.

"i don't know, some kids said that you always sat at the bleachers during practice.

i nod my head "then yeah that's me or you can just call me valerie." i laugh grabbing my books. "are you new here? i don't remember seeing you around."

he nods "i just transferred from devenford prep, it's my first day." he leans against what i assume is his locker "i'm liam."

"hm, what class have you got now?" i close my locker my hand resting on it for a couple seconds.

"math, except i have no idea where it is, do you have any clue?" he hands me his timetable.

my eyes scan over it before grinning "yeah it's my class, i'll walk with you."

we walked side by side on the way as i told his where to find most of his classes "you know what, we actually have a lot of classes together."

he takes my timetable back "yeah, i guess we do." he grinned as we enter our math room.

most people were already seated, so i sat in the middle row with some freshman girl on my right and liam on my left.

the class went by pretty fast and before i knew it the bell rang signaling the class was over.

i picked up my belongings while people filed out of the class. liam was talking about lacrosse when he paused "you'll be at the tryouts right?

i look up at him "yeah of course my brother's trying out." we make our way out of the class.

"okay then, i'll see you there!" he grins before jogging off to his next lesson and i went to mine.

♥︎

the last bell rang signalling that the school day was over, i rushed out of my classroom and over to the field.

near the top of the bleachers i spot malia and kira, who were studying. i walk up the steps before taking a seat in the middle of the two. "hey." i place my bag down.

they both responded with 'heys' before returning to their previous activities.

my eyes scan the field, when they land on liam who was doing push ups like crazy. my crazy brother and his friend had ran off as he looked like he was about to puke.

malia suddenly inhaled deeply before looking past me at kira. "what's wrong with you?" she deadpanned.

"me? nothing!" she was talking way too fast and had a shocked look on her face.

this caused her to narrow her eyes "you reek of anxiety and it's distracting. what's going on?" she closed her calculus book.

"scott and i sort of had this thing happen-" she began explaining what happened between her and scott.

i was trying to be a good friend and listen but i couldn't help but look at the field, feeling drawn to number 9.

they'd all lined up and to practice shooting and first up was my idiotic brother. he tried to scoop the ball into his stick but failed so he just grabbed it and placed it in, himself.

he got ready to throw it, it left the stick and it was going in the direction of the goal, which is a new thing for him. but all hope was ruined as he perfectly got it in the goalie's stick.

this caused a few snickers from the other players. behind him was liam who was just smirking at him which caused him to scowl.

liam got ready as he scooped the ball in seconds before twisting his stick in his hands, causing it to spin.

he launched the ball, it made it into the net with ease. he grinned as whistles could be heard from the sidelines.

after many agonising tries neither scott or stiles made a goal once. something was off with scott, normally he was great at lacrosse, can't say the same for stiles though.

next was two on ones, the two total failures, scott and stiles, were covering goal.

liam put his helmet on, glaring at the two who was guarding the net. they all got ready, so far they was doing great, not a single player got past them.

until it became liam's go, the whistle blew and he ran right past stiles and he ducked under scott's stick and made a clear shot into the goal.

i cheered along with the others, minus the two girls beside me. kira looked at me with a frown while malia just looked entirely clueless. "what? he's good." i shrug.

liams eyes looked over to me and he waved at me smiling and i returned the gesture, which didn't go unnoticed by the boys on the field.

malia shot up out of her seat "that was luck! do-over!" she cupped her fists around her mouth.

"sweetheart, there's no do-overs. this is a practice." he waved his hand at her dismissively.

"ten bucks on scott and stiles." she yelled back at him.

"i'll take that action." he pointed at her grinning "hey! get back in there, liam."

he got ready to go again, the whistle blew and he sprinted as he picked up the ball, making his way past stiles.

when it got to scott, he crashed into the freshman and he toppled over, landing on his back with a crack.

gasps could be heard from the other players as coach ran over to the three.

the two boys ended up carrying him off the field and i ran to follow them, muttering a small 'goodbye' to the two girls.

i make it to my brothers jeep just as he's about to leave the parking lot, i stand in front of the car which takes a sharp stop.

"valerie. what are you doing?" stiles yells rolling his window down.

"i'm coming too," before he can answer i had already jumped into the back, next to liam.
he huffed in annoyance but continued the journey to the hospital.

the ride was quiet except from the occasional groans from liam, which made scott look at him in pity, feeling guilty about before.

stiles and parked the car outside the hospital,
i opened the jeep door slamming it behind me. the boys hold liam up dragging him through the hospital doors.

we made our way over to the front desk as stiles explained what happened, leaving out the fact that it was scott that caused it.

i notice someone nearing us and it seems both scott and stiles did too, we all turn to see melissa.

well, this isn't great.

"hi, mom." scott sighs as his mom gives us a disapproving look.

she walks away and comes back with a wheelchair "don't worry liam. we'll take good care of you."

he doesn't respond, he keeps his eyes fixated on the ground an unreadable expression on his face as she wheeled him away.

"i got to get going. i promised malia i'd help her study." he looks over at me "you coming val?"

"uh.." my eyes flick between the two boys
"i think i'll stay, but i'll see you at home
later?"

he nodded and walked out towards the jeep and drove off to see malia.

"he's going to be okay scott, it's not your fault." i place my hand on his arm.

"yeah but i'd i hand t been so focussed on being team captain then he wouldn't be hurt." he sighs

i furrow my brows at him "you know it's okay to want something for yourself. you've always been captain, it's good that you want it."

i pause chewing on my lip "you're only human, scott." i walk away going to find liam's room.

after wondering around i hear two voices one i knew was liam but the other i didn't recognise.
"it's broken and it's my fault."

"you wanna tell me what happened?" the unfamiliar voice spoke.

there was a pause "i went up against two juniors. one of them is captain of the team."

shuffling could be heard, which was followed by a hiss of pain "remember what we always say? play smart not hard."

"are you mad at me?" i peeked into their room to see liam's head hung low, ashamed.

"no, of course not." the doctor shook his head "your mom may be mad at me for getting you into lacrosse, but maybe we should both wait for the x-ray before we panic. and trust me, i have more reason to panic than you."

he let out a small chuckle "it's not over yet." he backed away from liam and came closer to the door, before leaving he gave me a small smile.

i brought my hand up to the door before knocking gently and poking my head inside. "hey, liam."

his head shot up, "oh, its you."

i close the door behind me "you sound disappointed." i let out a small laugh.

he furrows his brown "no i mean its just you're friends with those juniors, right?"

i let out a sigh "yeah, one of them is my brother." i take a seat next to his bed "you know scott didn't mean to hurt you. he's just stressed out lately and i know it's no excuse but he's been through a lot."

"you're right it isn't an excuse, you, your brother and his friend are both assholes. everyone goes through shit, it's how life is." he doesn't maintain eye contact, as if he's trying to look anywhere in the room but at me.

"look, liam i just wanted to-" i was cut off when a loud bang came from outside in the hallway.

"what was that?" he asks, sitting up in his bed,

"how am i supposed to know? i'm not psychic." i say getting up, how could he be so stupid they didnt mean for this to happen. i was slowly walking towards the door, leading to the hall.

i heard groans from behind me, i turn around to see liam limping towards me. i let out a sigh and walked over to him, placing my arm over his shoulder supporting him. "you should stop walking on your ankle, it's not healed, you'll just damage it more."

"whatever, i can take care of myself." he tried to walk on his own but ended up almost falling but i caught him before he could.

"yeah, whatever you say dumbass."

we walked into the hall "hello?" he called out.

i shoved him in the ribs "why would you call out? have you never seen a horror film?"

he rolled his eyes "there's no one here. i could have sworn i heard something."

a snarl came from our left, both our heads whip around to see a young boy covered in blood, his eyes white and sharp teeth that he showed off.

"oh shit." i mutter i grab a hold of liam before trying to run away but i fail miserably as im practically carrying him. the guy grabbed my ankles, causing me to fall, which also dragged liam down to. i let out a scream as i collided with the cold floors of the hospital.

i tried to fight him off as he dragged us both up to the roof, id managed to get loose and tried to help liam but as i did i felt something hit my head.

i groan, my hand reaching the front of my face where blood started pooling from the wound.

i feel my legs giving in as i fell on the roof, darkness fading around me. listening to his screams as i slipped out of consciousness.

♥︎

chapter 1 finally!!!