act one , chapter 2

the party

RHEA LEFT CLASS IN a hurry, needing to get away from Scott. She hurried over to her locker and kneeled down, grabbing her books and pushing them into her bag. She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Allison Argent approaching her. The brunette offered her a sweet smile, for which Rhea forced one in return. She slammed the locker door shut, before standing up just to see Scott and Allison stare at each other, with growing emotion in their eyes. The blonde swallowed the twisting feeling in her gut and turned away, straight into a mane of strawberry blonde hair.

Lydia Martin threw her arms around the girl, squealing. "Rhi Rhi! I've haven't seen you since before the break, how are you?"

Rhea smiled, hugging her friend back. Her and Lydia were close, being the two smartest girls in their year ( not that Lydia ever showed it) often studied together and Lydia was the person Rhea went to when the boys got too much. "I'm okay."

Lydia pulled away, smiling, buying the lie. Then she turned to the brunette beside them. "That jacket is absolutely killer. Where'd you get it?"

Allison shrugged, playing with the straps on her bag. "My mom was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco."

Lydia smirked, pointing a perfectly done nail at the new student. "And you are my new best friend. Sorry Rhi Rhi."

Rhea forced another smile, as if the joke hadn't felt like a knife to the chest. She was already loosing Scott to Allison, now Lydia too?

Just then, Jackson, Lydia's boyfriend, strolled over to them as well. Lydia greeted him warmly as he put his arm around her waist, making Rhea roll her eyes in disgust. "Ew," she muttered, taking a step back.

"Hey," Jackson said, shooting Rhea his usual glare.

"Hey, Jackson." Lydia smiled, tugging her boyfriend into a kiss. Rhea cringed, looking away in disgust. She put up with Jackson occasionally, mainly for Lydia's sake then any other reason. Jackson was an ass and everyone knew it.

"So, this weekend, there's a party," Lydia begins, finally pulling away from her boyfriend.

"A party?" Allison asked, shooting Rhea a look of confusion. Rhea just sent an encouraging smile her way, wishing the brunette wasn't so damn nice. Maybe then she'd be easier to hate.

"Yeah, Friday night. You should come. You too Ashwood," Jackson said.

Allison looked slightly nervous and a little shy when she replied. "Uh, I can't. It's family night this Friday. Thanks for asking."

The it-couple looked disappointed by her response, but Rhea was smiling inside. She had planned to invite Scott and spend the night making fun of couples dancing skills, especially boys trying to get into girls pants, then going to get some pizza or something. She thought that was off the table due to his new feelings, but who knew?

"You sure? Everyone's going after the scrimmage. Even Ashwood here goes, and she hangs out with losers like McCall."

Rhea rolled her eyes at the Whitmore's jab. "At least someone wants to hang out with me," she muttered back.

"I have friends," he shot back.

"Hmm, the ones mommy and daddy bought?" she smirked.

"You mean like football?" Allison cut it, before Rhea could say something worse.

Jackson laughs as though she was kidding. "Football's a joke in Beacon. The sport here is lacrosse. We've won the state championship for the past three years."

Lydia looked at Jackson with a loving expression as she ruffled his hair. "Because of a certain team captain..." Rhea sighed, leaning against the locker above hers.

Jackson smirked smugly at the compliment from him girlfriend. "Well, we have practice in a few minutes. That is, if you don't have anywhere else-"

"Well, I was going to-" Allison cut him off in an attempt to talk her way out of it, but the strawberry-blonde wasn't taking no for an answer.

"Perfect! You're coming." She grabbed the brunette by the hand and dragged her to the lacrosse field, neither look back at the blonde left by the lockers.

She leaned back against her locker, breathing out a sigh as the smile slipped from her lips. Only a day had passed, and everything already felt like it was falling apart. She felt stupid an immature for feeling the way she did, but she couldn't help it. Everything was slipping from her grasp.

An arm was slung casually over her shoulders as a familiar voice filled her ears. "This day has sucked."

She huffed. "Tell me about it. Between Lydia eating Jackass' face and Scott's new crush, I officially hate my life."

Stiles frowned down at her. "You want to talk about it?"

Rhea shook her head. "Nope. Don't you have lacrosse now?"

"Yeah, but I don't think anyone will care if I'm late. I just kinda sit on the bench," the brunette replied.

"I'm not missing you trying to run a lap and tripping over your own feet," the blonde laughed. "Now come on. Maybe this is your year?"

As Stiles joined Scott on the field, Rhea made her way along the crowded bench to Allison and Lydia. She glanced towards her best friends on the pitch. Most of the players were warming up, passing the ball back and forth while the duo were in the middle of a conversation as they jogged out towards the field. Rhea stared at the two, noticing the difference between them now, and last night. Stiles was horribly out of breath, trying to keep up with Scott, who weirdly looked fine.

The blonde sat down beside Allison, shooting her a smile. She could do this. No way was she letting Scott get in the way. Allison smiled back, before turning back to the pitch.

Rhea followed her gaze, and saw Scott staring at the girl beside her, face bright with wonder. Ignoring the twist in her stomach, she watched as Coach roughly tossed a lacrosse stick with a much bigger net and a bigger helmet to Scott, who caught them after they smacked him in the chest.

Scott's eyes narrowed in confusion as the coach spoke, "You're in goal."

The boy frowned at him "I've never played..."

"I know-- scoring some shots will give the boys a confidence boost. It's a first-day-back thing." Coach smacked Scott on the shoulder for emphasis. "Get 'em energized! Fired up!"

Rhea couldn't hear the rest of the conversation as more students sat down in the empty seats, bringing up the noise level. Looking across at the strawberry blonde, she found her staring at Scott curiously, as if she had never noticed him previously.

Allison was also staring at him, but with a different look in her eyes. A look of immense interest and care. As they watched, Scott reluctantly took his place in the goal and prepared for practice to start.

"Who is that?" Allison asked, jerking her head in Scott's direction.

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

"He's in my English class." Allison answered.

"That's Scott McCall," Rhea said, trying to keep her voice light. "He's my best friend."

The whistle blew, starting practice. Scott grasped his head in pain, causing Rhea to furrow her eyebrows in concern. If course, Jackson took this opportunity to humiliate Scott even more. He took a shot at goal while Scott was recovering, hitting the boy in the face.

The ball him right in the front of his helmet with enough force that he was knocked backwards onto the ground. Rhea winced, exchanging a look with Stiles, who was still on the bench. The rest of the team, including Jackson and coach, immediately began jeering and laughing at him.

"Hey, way to catch with your face, McCall!" Jackson called.

Scott stood up firmly, determined to prove himself. He shook out his shoulders and stood ready for the next shot.

"Come on, Scott," Rhea muttered,

The next player tossed the ball towards him, and Scott caught it easily, stunning everyone watching, including himself. The team cheered, along with Stiles who yelled, "yeah!"

Scott caught the next one with the same ease. And another, and another. He just kept catching them. Coach Finstock stared at Scott in suprise, his mouth wide open, not believing what he saw.

Rhea was shocked. It was like he was a whole new player. He was quick, he was ready and he was amazing. Maybe his training over the break paid off. He looked up at Rhea and shot her a wink. She smiled back, giving him a thumbs up.

Allison smiled when she saw Scott's performance, and even Lydia was clearly impressed by what she saw.

"He seems like he's pretty good." Allison said.

"Yeah, very good," Lydia agreed.

Rhea turned to look at Stiles, who was grinning ear to ear. As they made eye contact, she mouthed, "I told you so."

He shook his head, turning back to Scott as his face fell. Rhea followed his gaze to see Jackson stepping up to the front of the line, looking angrier then the blonde had ever seen the lacrosse captain. He slammed his stick against the player at the top of the line and steps in front of him.

"Oh shit," Rhea muttered. She watched nervously as Jackson ran full sprint towards Scott, leaping into the air before bringing his stick down, the ball flying towards the boy. Scott moved quickly, catching the ball in the next perfectly. Stiles let out a cry of "Yeah!" as he jumped to his feet, Lydia and Rhea following his lead. "Woo!!" she yelled, clapping excitedly.

"That's my best friend!" Stiles yelled.

Rhea laughed at the shocked look on Jacksons face, that someone could be better than him. Lydia sent him a pointed look, which set him off even more. She missed the smiles and looks between the brewing couple behind her.

A splash landed on her white shoes as she, Stiles and Scott strolled through the woods. Stiles was determined to find and, Rhea thought, in a typical stiles manner dragged her with him. She supposed if she wasn't there, she would be crying at home.

She wasn't sure to thank him or not.

Meanwhile Scott was explaining what had happened at practice the day before.

"I-I don't know what it was. It was like I had all the time in the world to catch the ball. And that's not the only weird thing. I-I can hear stuff I shouldn't be able to hear. Smell things."

"Smell things?" asked Stiles. "Like what?"

"Like the mint mojito gum in your pocket." the boy replies.

Stiles made a face at Rhea before turning back to Scott. "I don't even have any mint mojito—"

The blonde watched with raised eyebrows as the Stilinski boy checked the inner pocket of his blazer and pulled out, surprisingly, a single piece of folded up gum. Her eyes flicked to Scott, looking impressed.

"Did you plant that there or something?"

Scott shot her a look, as the other boy spoke. "So all this started with the bite?"

Stiles sounded excited and intreguid, while Scott looked terrified. Rhea grinned. At least that was still the same.

"What if it's like an infection? Like, my body's flooding with adrenaline before I go into shock or something?" Scott wondered aloud as he wandered through the trees.

Stiles had a small smirk growing on his face, a look which Rhea knew meant he was about to pull a prank. "You know what? I actually think I've heard of this-- it's a specific kind of infection."

Rhea turned to him in confusion. She had no idea what was wrong with Scott, how did he know?

"Are you serious?" the other boy asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I think it's called lycanthropy."

Rhea groaned quietly and shook her head. While Scott looked back at Stiles, starting to panic. Clearly, he didn't realise what Stiles was doing. "What's that? Is that bad?"

"Oh, yeah, it's the worst." Stiles nodded convincingly. "But only once a month."

"Once a month?" questioned Scott.

"Mm-hmm. On the night of the full moon. Aroooo!"

Stiles pretended to howl like a wolf as Scott, annoyed, shoved him away. Stiles started laughing. "Hey, you're the one who heard a wolf howling!"

"Shut up Stiles," Rhea said jokingly, not really meaning it. "I'm sure your fine Scott."

"Hey, there could be something seriously wrong with me!" Scott said in protest.

"I know! You're a Werewolf! Rawrrr!"

Scott looked at the Stilinski, as Rhea whacked him on the back of the head. Stiles yelped, but he became slightly more serious. "Okay, obviously I'm kidding. But, if you see me in shop class trying to melt all the silver I can find, it's 'cause Friday's a full moon."

"Stiles!" Rhea exclaimed. "Shut up!"

He grumbled under his breath but didn't complain. Scott stopped walking and looked around, a frown on his face. " No, I-I could have sworn this was it. I saw the body, the deer came running. I dropped my inhaler..."

"Maybe the killer moved the body?" Stiles suggested.

"Probably," Rhea agreed.

"If he did, I hope he left my inhaler. Those things are, like, eighty bucks," the McCall complained.

The trio are searching when suddenly a man in his early twenties with pale skin, jet black hair and a scowl on his face appeared.

Literally appeared. Rhea didn't even notice him until he was stood in front of them. "What are you doing here?"

The trio exchanged nervous looks, unable to respond. "Huh? This is private property." The man responded, even more aggressive.

"Uh, sorry, man, we didn't know." Explained Stiles.

The mans attention was focused on Scott, but it was Rhea who spoke. "Yeah sorry, we dropped something here and we were just trying to..." she stopped speaking as he glared at her. "But never mind."

Suddenly, the mysterious man tossed Scott's inhaler at him before turning and heading back the way he came without a word, giving Scott one last look and ignoring Stiles and Rhea.

"Um... All right, come on, I gotta get to work," said Scott. As he turned to move away, Stiles reached out and stopped him.

"Dude, that was Derek Hale!" Stiles exclaimed. Scott and Rhea just stared at him blankly.

"You remember, right? He's only like a few years older than us."

The other two frowned. "Remember what?" Scott asked.

"His family." Stiles explained. "They all burned to death in a fire, like, ten years ago."

"Oh my god that's terrible," Rhea sighed. "No wonder he didn't want us here."

"I wonder what he's doing back..." Scott mumbled, looking intrigued.

Stiles shook his head scoffing, before turning and walking away. "Come on."

Rhea Ashwood was a lot of things, but she was not an idiot. Sitting alone on her bed, she knew she stood no chance against the beautiful brunette from English. And now all she could do was stand and watched as they fell into each other.

She sighed, looking at the dresses scattered across her floor. Her phone screen lit up with a text. The blonde reached to get it. She had multiple missed messages from Lydia, asking if she was coming, and whether she wanted to get with the "hot guy" Lydia had set her up with. Underneath that, was about 90 missed calls from Stiles, which she had been ignoring all day. He had sent her messages, but most of them were going on about "an update on our wolfy situation".

She cleared the messages, looking at the most recent one

SCOTT
hey sorry, im gonna have to cancel. Allison said yes to going to Lydia's party !!

Before she knew what she had done, she had thrown her book across the room with a frustrated yell. Her phone screen lit up again, Stiles calling once more.

"What?!" she yelled, probably harsher than needed.

"Where the hell have you been? You were like a ghost through school and have been ignoring my texts and calls! We have a major emergency here."

"I've been busy," the girl mumbled.

Rhea could hear him sigh through the phone. "Rhi Rhi, im so sorry about what happened with Scott and Allison, but you have to come to my house right now. Remember the joke from the woods? Well its not longer a joke."

Rhea laughed, before stopping. "You're kidding right?"

Silence. "Just get here Rhea."

She huffed. "How am I supposed to do that? I don't have a car-"

He had hung up. "Fuck you Stilinski," she murmured.

Rhea hopped off her bike as she pulled into the Stilinski driveway. It wasn't the most ideal way to get around Beacon hills, but it was all she had. Wheeling her bike to the side of the house, she dropped it just out of sight, so no one would steal it.

She came up to the door and knocked on the wood. Running footsteps echoed through the hall before the door was thrown open and Stiles appeared. Without saying a word he grabbed her and dragged the blonde up to his room and slammed the door.

The room was a complete mess, papers strewn all over the floor, the chair knocked across the room and Stiles had a panicked expression on his face. "So I was thinking. The wolf, the bite in the woods... I started doing all this reading. Do you even know why a wolf howls?"

Rhea stood in the middle of the room, staring at the boy in concern. "I'm lost..."

Stiles sighed. "Just listen! It's a signal, okay? When a wolf's alone, it howls to signal its location to the rest of the pack. So if you heard a wolf howling, that means others could have been nearby. Maybe even a whole pack of 'em.

"A whole pack of wolves?" Rhea giggled.

"No-- Werewolves. Like I said in the woods."

Rhea looked at him. "Okay, you've lost your mind."

Stiles gently pushed her so she was sitting down. "Look, you saw Scott on the field today, okay? What he did wasn't just amazing, all right? It was impossible.

Rhea rolled her eyes. "He made a good shot. He practised all summer!"

"No, he made an incredible shot! I mean, the way he moved, his speed, his reflexes? Y'know, people can't just suddenly do that overnight. And there's the vision, and the senses, and don't even think I don't notice that he doesn't need his inhaler anymore."

Rhea sighed. "Look I get that its weird, but werewolf's? That's stranger."

"I know," Stiles said. "And Scott didn't exactly take kindly when I told him his bloodlust would be at its peak because of the full moon, so-"

"Bloodlust?"

"Yeah, his urge to kill."

"He's not the only one with an urge to kill," the blonde muttered.

"Just shush! I told him, and he wacked the chair away..." The boy spun the chair to reveal claw marks through the back of it.

"Holy shit," Rhea said.

"Holy shit," Stiles agreed.

Rhea arrived at the party, slowly stepping into Lydia's backyard. She wore a casual dress, nothing too fancy. There were dozens of teenagers dancing and drinking around the swimming pool and the fire pits scattered across the yard. She had managed to avoid Lydia so far, but she wasn't going to press her luck.

She wandered over to the drinks table and was handed red solo cup, that smelled spiked, but Rhea was too stressed to care.

Her best friend was becoming a were-wolf. Her crush was getting a girlfriend. Her mother was being her usual self. It was a lot.

She felt the liquid burn slightly on the way down, but didn't stop until she drowned her glass. She filled it up again, before wandering over to a few friends.

"Hey," she said, sitting down. The girls smiled over at her.

"You planning to get with anyone?" one of them, Alanna, asked.

Rhea shrugged. "I saw a cute guy earlier, might get with him. Also have you seen Scott?"

Dylan grinned. "Why? Are you astonished by his glow up too? He's so cute its strange."

Elisha nodded. "Literally. He's changed so much." They turned to Rhea. "I saw him looking at you earlier, in maths."

Rhea tried to hide her smile. "I highly doubt that."

Alanna laughed. "C'mon Rhea, we've been friends since we were kids, we all know you like him."

The blonde turned red. "I never said I didn't like him... I just said I wasn't sure if he liked me."

"He likes you," the four other people chorused.

"Really?"

"Yes !" the others said, before the five burst out laughing. She wasn't extremely close with these girls, but they never failed to include her. Her and Alanna were neighbours who's parents were close, so Rhea was always at her house. They continued to laugh before something caught Rhea's eye. Scott and Allison, walking hand in hand into the back garden.

Her smile faded. Dylan noticed this, following her gaze. "Oh shit."

Rhea forced a smile. "Its fine."

"I swear I will march over there and kick his ass-"

"Its okay Dylan!" Rhea said, but she couldn't pull her eyes away as the two began to dance, "Its not like we were together or anything."

"Hm," Lottie said, and Rhea knew the brunette still wanted to punch him. "For now, I wont do anything."

Rhea sighed. She knocked back the rest of her drink before standing up. "I'm gonna go."

Alanna stood infront of her. "No you are not. You will stay here, and get with the cute guy you saw earlier. Alright?"

Rhea made a face. "I'm not sure that's the smartest thing to do."

Alanna rolled her eyes, before leaning in and kissing her gently. It was quick, two or three seconds, before Alanna pulled away. "That wasn't so hard was it?"

Rhea stuttered. "Um yeah, it wasn't..."

Alanna winked, before something behind the blonde caught her eye. Her expression turned to one of amusement. "Damn, I didn't realise I had that much impact."

Rhea whirled around to see Scott returning back inside, leaving Allison stranded on the porch. Rhea stood confused. Was Scott really jealous?

Then she caught sight of a man lurking in the shadows. She flashed Alanna quick smile before following Allison in her search for Scott.

She followed them through the house to the front, just in time to see Scott get in his car and drive away.

"Allison, Rhea."

Rhea turned around to see Derek standing behind her with a charming smile. He looked completely different to the man she saw a few days ago in the woods. "I'm a friend of Scott's."

Allison glanced towards the road Scott took home, before turning back to Derek, who took another step towards them. Rhea took a single step back.

"My name's Derek. Do you need a lift?"

haii im back !!