THE SCARS WE CARRY
By: Marloweee1856
CHAPTER TWO / FICTON
"Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't."
— Mark Twain
Taking a stroll in the middle of the creepy-ass woods where a possible serial killer could still be lurking behind the trees was not on JJ's To-Do List. But yet, here she was—with her idiot brother and his best friend. Going on a freaking scavenger hunt for Scott's inhaler that he dropped while an apparent wolf was attacking him. JJ shook her head and stared at the dirt-covered ground with a pinched-up expression on her face. "Ridiculous," she muttered under her breath. She spotted Scott glancing at her curiously, his brows furrowed deeply and a frown etched on his features as he observed her. She raised an arched brow in his direction, causing his eyes to grow wide, realizing that he was caught staring. Scott spun around and fell into step with Stiles.
No doubt, the entire action-packed scene that went down back at the lacrosse field had raised JJ's suspicions quite a bit. Scott has been practicing all summer, in hopes that he would finally be good enough to play first line this season. She had been there for quite a few of Scott's practice sessions and he was nowhere near as good like he had been today. It was strange to say the least. But who was she to judge? Maybe—by some miracle, Scott just so happened to get good—no, amazingly good—no, no, amazingly awesome at lacrosse? Then what was the weird staring stunt Scott pulled when the new girl and Lydia were talking about him on the bleachers, which was extremely far away for someone at his distance to hear, but from where JJ was sitting, it looked like Scott was able to hear every distinct syllable that came out of the girls' mouths. Maybe he has the strange talent to read lips? JJ mentally face-palmed herself. Scott McCall lip reading people? Yeah, right.
She tugged her red flannel closer to her for warmth and she crossed her arms to her chest. Living in California, the temperature changes along with the seasons, but not as much as some other places. She was grateful for it, but JJ dreaded this time of year and the cooler months to come. It was only September, but you could feel the air beginning to change already. Soon, the jackets would have to come out and god—JJ hated wearing winter jackets. She blew out a rather aggravated sigh and shook her head at the boys who were a few feet ahead of her, their eyes casually glancing around the trees in faint curiosity. She rolled her eyes knowing that her brother was set on looking for the missing half of the body—the same half that Scott accidentally stumbled across the same night he lost his inhaler. Her brother and friend were total idiots for coming up with the brilliant idea to search for a half of a body in the first place. Well, Jordan had no doubt that Stiles was the one who egged Scott on to go along for the ride since the mop-headed boy seemed to have a little more common sense at times than her brother. Sometimes.
A sudden splash was heard from right below Jordan's feet and she let out a loud groan as she stared up at the tall trees. She pursed her lips together before slowly lowering her head down to notice the small stream she was currently standing in, the water successfully destroying her ankle boots. "You've got to be kidding me," she muttered with the shake of her head.
Stiles let out a snort when he noticed his sister's current predicament and JJ sent a harsh glare in his direction. "Guys, come on! This is ridiculous! Absolutely pointless! It's like looking for a needle in an endless haystack. We aren't going to find this inhaler!" she complained, obviously annoyed that they went out on this stupid adventure into the woods for no reason. There was absolutely no way they were going to find one small inhaler out here. The preserve was huge. The cops couldn't even find a half of a human body. How the hell did they expect three kids to find an inhaler?
Stiles let out a loud scoff and shot his sister an incredulous and disappointed look. "JJ!" he reprimanded. "Get your priorities straight. Like I don't know," he said, pausing and pretending to think. "How about how freaking awesome Scott now is at lacrosse!"
Scott grinned like an idiot and jumped into the small stream that ran across the preserves. "I—I don't know what it was. It was like I had all the time in the world to catch the ball," he said. "And that's not the only weird thing. I can—I hear stuff that I shouldn't be able to hear. Smell things…"
JJ casted Scott a strange look, her thoughts going back to the lacrosse field from earlier while Stiles stopped in his tracks once again and stared at his best friend oddly. "Smell things?" Stiles questioned, making a face. "Like what?"
"Like the mint-mojito gum in your pocket," Scott answered, staring at Stiles with his own weirded out expression. It was like he was even surprised at his own newfound abilities.
Stiles shook his head doubtfully and stuffed his hands deep into his dark grey blazer pockets, his face scrunching up slightly as his hands tried to feel for anything that would be there. "I don't even have mint-mojito—" he stopped short as his hand grabbed at something and he pulled out an extremely old gum wrapper that must have been in there for god knows how long. The mint-mojito flavored gum sat on the palm of his hands and the three teens stared at it, mouths agape. JJ's eyes met her brother's before she looked at Scott.
"H—how did you even know that?" she asked, sounding a bit awed.
Scott merely shrugged his shoulders, absolutely clueless. Stiles tried to stow away his own shock and looked at Scott curiously. "So, this all started with the bite?"
Scott nodded his head and looked at the Stilinski siblings with wide, worried eyes. "What if it's like an infection? he questioned nervously. "Like my body's flooding with adrenaline before I go into shock or something?"
JJ didn't know what to think. She mentally retraced Scott's steps from when this entire thing began. It started when Scott was bitten in the woods that night by a supposed wolf. Next day, Scott gets awesome at lacrosse. He says that he can see, hear, and smell crap that is way beyond the human capacity. JJ frowned in thought. Where the hell was this going?
Stiles on the other hand, had been staring at his best friend as if he had figured out life's biggest secret. "You know what," he said, his eyes widening in realization. "I think I've actually heard of this. It's a specific kind of infection."
Scott and JJ had both become incredibly still and looked at Stiles with wide, curious eyes as they waited for the teen to continue on with his theory. JJ spared a quick glance at Scott and took notice of his puppy eyes growing wide and panic-filled as he gawked at her brother. JJ felt her brows furrowing in both curiosity and some confusion as she turned to face her brother, seeing how his usual carefree expression had now disappeared and a serious one plastered on his young features.
"Are you serious?" Scott finally asked.
Stiles took in a deep breath and placed his hands on his hips. He looked at Scott forebodingly and nodded his head. "Yeah," he agreed quietly, making Scott stiffen slightly. "Yeah. I think it's called… lycanthropy."
JJ's mouth went agape and she stared at her brother incredulously. Was he serious right now? Scott was in mid-panic—wait never mind, he just entered full-panic territory now, and here is her idiot brother, fooling around. Stiles just bluntly stated that his best friend was a werewolf. "Oh my god," JJ muttered, incredibly annoyed at her brother. But unfortunately, Scott had taken Jordan's response to be one out of fear rather than annoyance and he became even more worried and panicked than he was moments before.
"What's that?!" Scot cried, glancing between the two. "Is that bad?"
"Oh yeah, it's the worst! But only once a month," Stiles replied, nodding his head and successfully ignoring his sister who was glaring daggers in his direction.
JJ felt her eyes close and she sighed in defeat. How was it that she was related to this idiot? And how was it that Scott could be this gullible. "Jesus," she muttered and placed her head into her hands while letting out a long groan.
"Once a month?" Scott repeated Stiles' words.
Stiles nodded his head and hummed in agreement. "On the night of the full moon," he specified before letting out a loud howl, "Aroooo!"
JJ had enough. She strut right next to her brother with a fake smile plastered onto her lips as she raised her right hand and successfully slapped Stiles on the back of his head. He let out a yelp and jumped forward in surprise before turning around to shoot a glare at his sister.
"Don't listen to him, Scott," JJ ordered with the roll of her eyes. "You're fine."
Scott slapped Stiles' chest, shoving him back and muttering angrily under his breath while following behind Jordan.
"Hey! You're the one that heard a wolf howling!" Stiles reminded him.
"There could be something seriously wrong with me!" Scott bit out angrily.
"I know! You're a werewolf!" Stiles joked, raising his hands in the air like claws and growled, which only gained him two unamused looks from Scott and JJ. "Okay! Obviously, I'm kidding."
"You're hilarious," JJ deadpanned.
Stiles shrugged Jordan's remark off and continued on, "But if you see me in shop class trying to melt all the silver I could find, it's cause Friday's a full moon."
"And I am going to take that silver and shove it up your—" JJ started, but was unfortunately cut off by Scott, who had stopped dead in his tracks and his eyes trailed on the ground, "I—I could have sworn this is it. I saw the body, the deer came running, I dropped my inhaler," he said, crouching on the ground, moving the leaves around with his hands.
Stiles pouted out his lips and shrugged. "Maybe the killer moved the body?"
Scott looked up at his best friend. "If he did, I hope he left my inhaler," he said seriously. "Those things are like eighty bucks."
Stiles snorted at that and JJ smirked and shook her head. She looked back up and her eyes grew wide at the man who was glaring just barely twenty feet away from them. "Oh crap," she muttered shakily, not taking her fear-filled eyes off the stranger.
Scott, who was still oblivious to the fact that there was now a suspicious man standing behind him, nodded in agreement with JJ. "Yeah—'oh crap' is right. My mom is going to kill me," he said, his hands still weaving through the leaves on the ground in search for the inhaler.
Stiles looked at his sister and immediately caught the expression on her face. He spun around and jumped in surprise when he took notice of who JJ was staring at. Stiles smacked Scott's shoulder to get his attention and when he saw what the two of them were looking at, he jumped up from his crouched position and the three of them gawked at the man in black.
JJ gulped when he began to march his way over to them. His strong brows were furrowed angrily and his lips were pursed tight. His hard emerald green eyes narrowed at them and his shoulders were stiff—almost as if he was prepared to pounce at any given moment. She watched him squeeze his fists so tight that she was surprised that he didn't make himself bleed. His whole aura screamed hostile and threatening and intimidating. JJ wanted to do nothing more than run the other way, arms flailing and let a high-pitched sound escape her throat that would make the opera singers envious. The man stopped just barely a few feet away from the three of them.
"What are you doing here?"
JJ blinked when his already-defensive voice filled the air. She noticed Stiles couldn't hold his gaze and he turned his attention back to the dirt-covered ground and ran his hand through his buzz-cut awkwardly. Scott, like usual, stared directly at him with a dumb-founded, lost puppy-eyed look on his face. And JJ just gawked at him, her chocolate-brown eyes wide as saucers and her mouth agape. As she not so subtly gaped at the man, JJ couldn't help but feel like she's seen him before. Who the hell was this guy? And where did he even come from? Not one sound escaped JJ's lips. It was like she had suddenly gone mute, and perhaps she was a little grateful for it in the moment because god only knows what would have came out if she did speak. Yes, hello. I'm here with my idiot brother and his best friend to look for a small inhaler that was lost while searching for a dead body—oh my mistake—half of a dead body. In the woods. At night. Where a crazy person who probably cut this poor girl in half was probably still running around. Have you seen it? Not the body or the killer—the inhaler… obviously.
JJ knew that she would probably find a way to politely accuse the man of being the one who chopped that girl's body in half. Oh my god. Her eyes grew even wider and she could feel her heart pounding in her chest. What if he was the killer? He's seen our faces. We're dead! Oh shit, we are so dead. Our reason for even being in the woods didn't even sound plausible! Dad is going to get a call and find the chopped up corpses of his children in the woods—and Scott.
She watched the man's eyes narrow at the three of them, still waiting for an answer. Well, you're not getting one from me, buddy. His presence made JJ's skin crawl. She could practically hear her father's words echoing through her head back from when she was little: stranger danger! His green eyes that were just as bright as the leaves on the trees glanced in JJ's direction, causing her heart to jump slightly. "This is private property," he practically growled out.
Stiles looked just as weirded out as Scott and JJ. He still couldn't quite meet the man's eye as he mumbled out, "Uh—sorry, man. We didn't know." His hands were waving in the air spastically before JJ nudged him on the side to cut it out.
"We were just… looking for something, but…" Scott paused, causing the man to raise his brows at him, skeptically. JJ was ready to freak the hell out. Crap! He's not buying the story. He knows we're onto him. This guy is going to kill us before we can talk. We're dead! Standing on Scott's left, JJ elbowed him to continue on. Scott swallowed heavily. "Um, forget it."
The man pulled something out of his pocket; JJ thought that they were all about to die. This was it. He was going to take out a knife or a gun and end their adolescent asses. JJ knew that one day the adventures of Scott and Stiles would get the three of them killed. And today was that day. Something went flying through the air and landed in Scott's hand. JJ flinched ever so slightly when Scott caught it. Her eyes grew wide when she noticed that the 'something' was actually Scott's freaking inhaler. "Holy crap," she breathed out, staring at the inhaler with wide eyes. JJ glanced up and saw the stranger walking away and disappearing within the trees. She looked at her brother was staring with his mouth open at the retreating figure, realization dawning on him.
Still holding the inhaler in his hands, Scott mumbled, "All right, come on. I gotta get to work."
"Dude!" Stiles said, placing a hand on Scott's chest, stopping him from moving. "That was Derek Hale!" he said, excited that he had finally put a name to the mysterious and threatening-looking stranger.
"Hale?" Jordan questioned, her brows furrowing in realization. "What the hell is he doing back?"
Stiles nodded his head eagerly. "You remember, right? He's only like a few years older than us."
"Remember what?" Scott asked.
"His family? They all burned to death in a fire like ten years ago," Stiles explained.
"Wonder what he's doing back," Scott said quietly as he looked between Stiles and Jordan.
Stiles could only scoff and shake his head. "Come on," he said and began walking back the way they had come.
JJ spared a glance around the trees once more; having the eerie and paranoid feeling that someone was out there watching them. Not seeing anything out there, she shook her head and quietly followed behind her brother and Scott. Derek Hale. That was why he seemed so familiar. She knew who he was and she knew who his family was until the Hale house went up in flames like six or seven years ago. She remembered her father had still been a deputy at the time when the fire was reported. The case was closed shortly after, the cops claiming that it was probably the faulty wiring in the house that caused the fire. The only two people that survived were Derek and his sister. Lauren or Laura was her name. They left shortly after the flames consumed their home, obviously wanting no part of this town anymore, which was completely understandable. But it left JJ with the unanswered question that plagued her thoughts:
What is Derek Hale doing back in Beacon Hills?
Things didn't exactly get any easier within the next twenty-four hours. Nope. In fact, JJ thought it was getting insanely worse. After their little trip into the woods, Stiles had driven JJ to work—the sheriff's station where they overheard their father speaking to someone on the phone about getting the results to the fiber analysis on the half of the body they had recovered the other night. JJ felt her heart drop when she heard her father question whoever was on the phone if he heard them right. "Wolf hairs? There aren't any wolves in California," is what their father said, sounding absolutely baffled. She looked at Stiles nervously and he did the same. Luckily for JJ, her brother decided to stick around the station for a bit and give her a hand with sorting out the files in the back room. Though, it didn't last long because he was too busy searching up the wolf population in Beacon Hills on his phone the majority of the time. Before they both knew it, their father peeped his head inside the file room around 8:30, exhaustion etching every bit of his features. "Come on, kids. Time to head home."
Sleep didn't come easily for JJ. She felt incredibly anxious. There were so many questions that no one had the answers to and whatever answers they did have weren't adding up. Scott got bit by something—that said something was possibly a wolf, according to Scott. But wolves haven't been around California for over sixty years. But the fiber analysis says otherwise. Even if a wolf did bite Scott, what the hell did it have to do with Scott's new athletic abilities? Could it be that all the time he put into practicing had finally paid off? But that wouldn't explain the enhancement in his hearing and smelling? JJ saw it at the lacrosse field—Scott was listening to Lydia and the new girl's conversation as if he was standing merely two feet away from them. And let's not forget him being able to catch the scent of Stiles' old gum that had probably been sitting his pocket since the last time he wore it.
If that wasn't weird enough, what the hell was that scene in the woods with Derek Hale? He hadn't stepped foot in Beacon Hills for six years, since the fire. JJ didn't blame him for it, though. Why the hell would someone want to come back to the same town that their entire family died in? If she were in his shoes, JJ knew she wouldn't have either. But why the sudden reappearance? And why did he give the 'creepy serial killer' vibe to her? Maybe because he looked like a creepy serial killer, Jordan thought humorlessly.
She stared up at her orange-painted ceiling while chewing on her thumb. It was a horrible habit that she picked up and unfortunately, her brother did too. JJ finally succumbed to what her body was trying to tell her: she was exhausted. It was a long, stressful day at school and she had fallen into a restless sleep. It wasn't long before her alarm clock was beeping loudly at 6:30 in the morning, causing JJ to whack it off her nightstand and have in collapse on the floor. She crawled out of bed and went out into the hallway, on her way to the bathroom she stopped in front of Stiles' room and pounded her fist against her brother's bedroom door. "Stiles! Up and at 'em!" she yelled tiredly. "You got morning practice," she grumbled before dragging herself to the bathroom and slammed the door shut.
"It's not like I play on the field anyway!" she heard her brother holler from the hallway. JJ snorted as she let her hands rest on the edges of the bathroom sink. She looked up into the mirror and grimaced at her reflection. She had a serious case of bedhead along dark circles that rested under her eyes. She began to open some of the cabinet drawers in search of concealer. Mumbling curses and "where the hell is it?" several times over until she found it shoved deep in one of the drawers. Concealer was something that JJ didn't use unless it was absolutely necessary and today was absolutely necessary. She placed it on the counter before taking a quick shower and finishing up the rest of her toiletries.
JJ rushed out of the bathroom about twenty minutes later with her concealer in hand, passing her younger brother in the hallway who was muttering things under his breath like: "finally, I had to pee!" and "what is it that you girls do in the bathroom—jeez!" JJ simply rolled her eyes and continued walking towards her room. She quickly changed in a pair of her old ripped up jeans, a black Beatles t-shirt and her signature black and white pair on converse sneakers. She glanced back up at the mirror and figured that she would need a jacket. She felt her breath catch in her throat when she glanced at what used to be Ariana's leather jacket. Ari had let her borrow it what seemed to feel like forever ago and JJ had forgotten to give it back. She slowly ran her hand across the worn leather before letting it go. She couldn't make herself wear it. It was another grim reminder that her best friend was truly gone for good. There was no coming back. And it absolutely freaking sucked. So instead, she grabbed her black windbreaker jacket and tossed it onto the bed before moving to her small vanity to do her routine makeup.
JJ felt like she had put herself on autopilot. She was coursing through all the motions, but her mind was totally elsewhere. Why the hell did she have to go see that stupid freaking jacket? Better question: why the hell did Ariana think it would be a good idea to go cruising in her car that late at night by herself?
But she shouldn't have been alone. The original plan had been for both JJ and Ariana to be in that car. And the fact that she wasn't in that car made JJ feel even guiltier.
With shaky hands, JJ shoved her small makeup bag into one of the many pouches in her grey messenger bag. She glanced in the mirror and grimaced at the frizziness of her hair and the dark circles under her eyes that didn't seem to lessen even with the concealer. JJ shook her head and huffed out a sigh before grabbing her bag and jacket and walked down the stairs to meet her brother.
Both siblings were in the jeep and on their way to Beacon Hills High School by 7:15. Inside the vehicle had been quiet for the first few minutes, though, JJ could see her brother tapping his fingers against the steering wheel, sending concerned glances her way from the corner of her eye. She ignored them and continued to stare out of the passenger window, watching the trees and houses breeze by. JJ knew the silence wouldn't last, it just wasn't possible if Stiles was in the general vicinity.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
She heard Stiles scoff at her answer, which obviously had been a lie, and they both knew it. "Nothing my ass," he muttered darkly. "You got that look—"
JJ scowled. "What look?"
Stiles stopped at the light at an intersection. He jerked his head to the right and stared at JJ, his mouth opening and closing several times before he finally spoke. "You know," he said with a slight nod, "the look."
Rolling her eyes, "I don't know what the hell you're talking about, Stiles," JJ snapped, crossing her arms across her chest.
"It's the 'I feel guilty' look." JJ opened her mouth to argue, but Stiles raised a hand in her direction that made her pause. "No. You had that same look smeared across your face the entire summer. What happened to Ari wasn't your fault, JJ. Stop blaming yourself." A small smirk crept on his lips. "She'd kick your ass if she saw you now, you know," he said softly.
"Well, she's not here. There will be no ass-kicking—wait hold that thought. There's you."
"You mean I'll be the one kicking ass… right?" Stiles asked, sounding hopeful.
"No."
"Well—that is really not the point of this conversation, is it?"
JJ huffed. "Enlighten me then. What is the point of this conversation?"
"Stop feeling guilty for something that was out of your control. You weren't in that car, JJ—"
"You're right!" JJ practically shouted, making Stiles jump. "I wasn't in that car when I should have—"
"If you were," Stiles said with a slight edge in his voice. "You'd be dead too, JJ."
JJ could only shake her head as she absently stared out the window. "You don't know that," she replied, exasperated. "She might not have died in the first place!"
Growing frustrated, Stiles said, "Where are you going with this, huh? There isn't anything you can do. It happened. And it sucks, believe me I know. Ariana was my friend too, but she was your best friend. Just…" he hesitated slightly, "just because she isn't living anymore doesn't mean you cant live either. You're alive, JJ. You're living, breathing, and in full health—live. And I mean actually live. Go out—have fun, be reckless—not too reckless, but who am I kidding—you're you. Reckless isn't in your vocabulary unless you're talking about me."
"Because everyone in their right mind knows that Stiles Stilinski is the definition of reckless," JJ replied with a small smile.
Stiles scrunched up his face at that. "I wouldn't say I'm reckless," he speculated. "Impulsively curious, maybe."
JJ couldn't help but scoff. "Yes, Stiles. You act on impulse and it's your curious mind that gets you and your idiot friend into trouble every time." She raised her brows at him. "If that doesn't say reckless, I don't know what does."
"Okay, okay, okay!" Stiles interjected. "Name one time—"
"Really?" JJ bellowed. "Are we seriously going to go there? Just the other day you thought it would be a brilliant idea to go into the woods with Scott to look for half of a dead person! That's not reckless?!"
"Yeah, that was a little reckless," Stiles muttered.
"A little?!" JJ retorted incredulously.
"Okay! A lot reckless!" Stiles said loudly. "Very reckless move on my part. Oops."
"Yeah," JJ scoffed, shaking her head. "Oops."
"Hey—we were supposed to be talking about you!"
JJ huffed. "Let's not." She really didn't want to discuss Ariana with her brother. In fact, the topic of her late best friend was a topic that JJ didn't want to touch with a ten-foot pole. The whole thing was still fresh in her mind. Ignore it and it will go away was JJ's motto for this particular situation. Besides, didn't they have more pressing matters at hand? Scott wasn't lying when he said a wolf attacked him in the woods that night. The phone call JJ and Stiles overheard last night proved it. JJ sent her brother a side-glance and asked, "What are we going to do about Scott?"
Stiles shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "We tell him that he was right. It was a wolf." His grip on the steering wheel tightened inexplicably, making his knuckles turn white. "JJ, I don't think it's a joke anymore," he said barely above a whisper.
"What are you talking about?" JJ questioned with furrowed brows. "What jo—" her eyes widened and she stared at her brother with eyes full of incredulity. "Oh my god, Stiles. No. You are seriously over-killing your own joke. Stop. Please, just stop."
"I'm not kidding," Stiles assured seriously. "In fact, I am very, very serious right now."
"Then that makes it worse!" JJ nearly shouted. "Are you kidding me? Seriously? You honestly believe Scott is a—"
"Werewolf?" Stiles finished. He gave a firm nod. "Yup. I do."
"Why?"
"Because since when are there wolves in California, JJ? Much less Beacon Hills? Then after Scott gets attacked in the woods by an apparent wolf, he gets all these weird superpowers? Come on, JJ! It's like when Peter Parker got the spider bite and gets all his spider-powers!"
JJ blinked and stared at Stiles with her mouth slightly agape. "You're not… you're not seriously comparing Scott's situation to Spiderman right now," she said slowly. "You aren't."
"Oh, I am."
"It's a fictional story, Stiles! Fictional—as in not real! Pure freaking imagination. You know what else originates from imagination? Werewolves!"
"Then explain what's happening to Scott, oh wise one," came Stiles' quick retort. JJ opened and closed her mouth several times before she looked away. She didn't have a logical reason for what was happening to Scott McCall. Stiles didn't say anything else until he had put the jeep in park in the school's parking lot. He let out a sigh before turning to face JJ and said, "Look, I get it. This entire thing doesn't make any sense. But… what if this isn't supposed to—I mean what if this isn't really a joke? That would mean Scott is a werewolf and that there's another somewhere in Beacon Hills… who might quite possibly be turning other people."
"Don't forget brutally murdering people," JJ grimly reminded. "Stiles, that girl in the woods had been torn in half."
Stiles' honey-colored eyes stared at JJ pleadingly. "You starting to believe me now?" he asked with raised brows. "Do you know what human being can actually rip a person in half? Because I don't."
JJ let out a shaky breath. "Okay, so if this is real. What do we do?"
Swallowing hard, Stiles opened the car door and got out. He turned around to face his sister, a grim expression on his face as he said, "I'll let you know when I figure it out."
"Crap."
JJ's knee bounced up and down uncontrollably as she watched Coach Finstock give out instructions to the lacrosse team out on the field. She couldn't help but send Scott and her brother nervous glances as they along with the rest of the team began to spread out across the field to get into their designated spots for the first elimination run. It was play hard or go home and by the looks of it, Scott McCall was definitely going to play hard.
Stiles' theory of Scott being bitten by a werewolf and giving him these newfound abilities was definitely too farfetched for JJ's taste. Werewolves? Really? What is this? Twilight? Should JJ be keeping an eye out for Jacob to be strolling out of the preserve with his undeniably attractive werewolf pack? Although, Stiles wasn't entirely wrong. There was most definitely something going on with McCall. Whether it was him going through the transformation of lycanthrope or whatever the hell else it could be… JJ really didn't have any idea.
And not knowing the answer made JJ even more fidgety.
By the time she had gotten on the lacrosse field, she saw Stiles practically chasing Scott away from the bleachers, spewing out what they overheard at the station the night before. Wolf hairs had been found on the body. So Scott actually being bitten by a wolf that night is actually plausible. The question still remained: was this apparent wolf a werewolf?
It was obvious that Scott didn't give her brother a second of his attention, his mind was solely focused on the elimination round that was about to take place. She understood how much Scott wanted to make first line… but at what cost? Even if Stiles' theory turned out to be incorrect, then what caused Scott's remarkable and not to mention completely impossible newfound abilities?
And no, it was definitely not luck.
JJ's thumb flew up to her mouth and she nervously bit on her nail as she watched the scene play out. It was no surprise that Stiles had gotten tossed out of the game so quickly, even though he was most likely going to be positioned on the bench for yet another season, JJ couldn't help but feel relieved. She could tell that Scott was ready to flip out on the filed—thank you, Jackson Whittemore. It was obvious to everyone on that damn field that Jackson—the current lacrosse team captain was edging Scott on. The sly smirks and the dirty moves couldn't be any more distinct. And quite frankly, it was starting to piss JJ off.
The ball landed in McCall's net much to Scott's surprise and JJ watched him stare at his stick for a long moment before it finally triggered in his brain that he should in fact run and score. With great speed, he ran passed the players of the opposing team with ease until a big figure slammed him down on the grass hard. Jackson pulled his helmet off and glared down at Scott before running off with the rest of the players, back to their original positions. JJ shook her head as she watched Scott push himself off the ground. What a dick. The anger towards Jackson diminished as quickly as it came when JJ took notice off Scott's chest rising and falling at a very fast pace. Uh oh. She glanced at her brother who happened to look her way, the two of them had the same expression smacked across their faces. Oh shit, shit, shit…
Scott and Jackson met at the center of the field, their helmets practically touching one another as they crouched down to wait for the whistle to blow. When the referee blew the whistle, Scott reacted fast; quickly scooping the ball into his net and running across the field like the goddamned Flash. JJ watched in awe as he raced, twisted and turned his way across the players. What really had JJ's eyes practically popping out of her sockets had been when three players from the opposing team were ready to tackle him down, Scott threw himself in the air and flipped over them before tossing the ball in the net. The crowd began to roar and cheer loudly as Scott finally realized that he had actually made the shot. A herd of lacrosse players suddenly appeared around Scott and lifted him up in the air for his victory.
Finstock stared at the scene in front of him incredulously. "McCall!" he shouted from his spot near the bench. "Get over here!"
Scott tore himself away from the crowd and approached Coach. He slowly took his helmet off his head and stared at Finstock with the same dumb-founded expression he always wore.
"What in god's name was that?!" Finstock demanded. "This is a lacrosse field! What are you trying out for the gymnastics team?"
"No, Coach," Scott replied, softly shaking of his head.
Making angry gestures, Coach demanded once more, "Then what the hell was that?!"
Scott blinked in surprise. "I—I don't know. I—I was trying to make the shot," he said, pointing a finger towards the goal net where the ball had hit moments before.
"Yeah? Well, you made the shot. And guess what? You're starting, buddy," Coach stated, slapping Scott's shoulder pad. "You made first line!"
The crowd roared once again at Coach Finstock's proclamation of Scott making first line. People on the bleachers stood up in their seats and cheered loudly, clapping their hands; all except Stiles and JJ, who stared at Scott with nervous and fearful eyes. The two of them connected eyes again and the panic and anxiety were present on both of their faces. They had no idea how the hell Scott could have managed to score that shot. But, there was one thing that couldn't have been clearer to the both of them:
Something was definitely wrong with Scott McCall.
A/N: Hello, again. I bet you thought you've seen the last of me. *laughs evilly* Okay, yeah. It's been forever guys, I know! And I am super-duper sorry for the long delay. College is a pain in the ass and the motivation to write… anything lately has seriously been lacking. Which also sucks. But anyway, I wanted to thank all of you who followed, favorited, and reviewed so far! I really had myself convinced that I would be able to wrap up the first episode within the first two chapters, but there is just so much stuff that has to be written! Bear with me, people! I've got the first two seasons planned out and we will get there… eventually. I just can't wait for you guys to read more Derek/JJ interaction. They are going to be so fun! Well, don't forget to leave a review on your way out. I promise that you'll get an update way sooner (and a lengthier one too!) next time! :)
Review Responses:
Cameron: Ah thank you so much! Hope you enjoyed this chapter too! Thanks for the review, darling! :)
Guest: Your review had me grinning like a total idiot! Haha, thank you so much! I'm so glad you like the story so far, you have no idea how happy that makes me! Oh my god—I already have scenes between Derek and JJ written for later chapters when Derek gets more involved in the plot. But I am so with you, hehe! Thank you for your freaking awesome and sweet review and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)
Marine76: Ah thank you! So glad you're liking it so far! Thank you for the review! :)
RiverWinchester: Thank you so much! Hope you enjoyed this chapter too! Thank you for the review!
January Lily: Thank you so much for your review, girly! I gotta say, you really motivated my ass to finish this chapter so I thank you for that! Sorry it's slow going right now, but it will definitely pick up pace within the next few chapters. Teen Wolf is honestly one of my favorite shows! I love all the characters so much! And I am so glad you like JJ so far and I can't wait for her character development throughout the story. She's definitely a bit different from the kind of OCs I've written before so you saying that really makes my day! I'm hoping to finish up the episode by the next chapter and hopefully that will be posted soon, haha! Thanks for reading girly! Hope all is well! Love you!