rest of our lives

If there'd been one thing Amelia had ever wanted, it had been a family. Growing up as an orphan, it was always lonely. Then, she met the man who took her in, adopted her, and she'd thought she'd been blessed, finally. Unfortunately, it had turned out to be a curse instead - he had been a curse. He'd bitten her and so many others and turned them into werewolves. And that would have been okay, if so many weren't dying from the bite, and then the Alpha had gotten abusive, and then progressively worse over time. She couldn't take it anymore, and she and Nancy had escaped.

They'd arrived in Beacon Hills that night and the first thing Amelia did was get them a motel room with some money she'd stolen from their Alpha. It wasn't much of a home, but she figured it would have to do. Slipping into the room, she looked towards Nancy, hoping things would be okay for them, that they'd be safe here. And maybe they could be normal, too, and go to school. "Home, sweet home," she murmured as she set her bag of minimal belongings down onto one of the beds.

Nancy was always considered the outcast. She had no family, no one to turn to in times of need. No one wanted her to be theirs, and no one wanted to claim her as a friend or a daughter or a sister. She was alone in the world. But then he came along - he picked her from the bunch and took her in, and gave Nancy what she had longed for - a stable environment. But he turned mean. He turned callous, and cruel, and he bit and scratched and hit and kicked and because of him, her 'Alpha', Nancy turned into a beast at every full moon. There was a boiling point, and as things got worst and worst, Nancy and her closest friend and pack sister, Amelia, ran, and ran, and ran, until they felt they were safe and away from their Alphas iron clutches.

"It's lovely," Nancy's voice dripped with sarcasm, although she adored Amelia, she shot a joking smile her way. "At least we're safe here." She sighed, getting onto her own allocated bed, throwing her bag at the foot of the bed. "Just gotta get into a routine, get back to normality. We'll be fine." She promised, hoping and praying that she was right.

Amelia offered a weak smile in response and nodded slightly. "Right, normality," she murmured, "I've kind of forgotten what normality even is, honestly."

It turned out that normality wasn't easy for them to get. But, when the opportunity came and Amelia found a way to get them into school, she took the chance. They'd been in Beacon Hills for about a week and the owner of the motel had gotten curious about them; they'd explained things in the simplest terms, that they had an abusive parent and that they were trying to just start over. The owner had led them to somebody who could forge documents for them and had even agreed to let them continue staying, so long as they worked every now and then, cleaning the rooms or working the desk. That was how their normal started - and, today, they were finally getting to go to school. While they walked towards the school, Amelia looked to Nancy. "Are you ready for this?" she asked quietly, because Amelia honestly wasn't sure that she was herself.

Meanwhile, Stiles had picked Scott up in his Jeep and was driving them to school, the two preparing for the day after everything that had happened recently. "Today's got to be a good day," he mentioned, because it had to be. With how hectic everything had been, especially after Scott had gotten bitten and turned into a werewolf, Stiles was determined to at least have one good day at some point. But, he was also well aware of how unlikely that would be. That didn't mean that he wasn't going to complain and raise hell when they weren't granted even an ounce of a regular school day. As he parked the Jeep, he climbed out first and looked over at his friend. "And we're going to get through this day without any problems." Oh, that was even less likely than them having a good day, and he knew that, but he could still try to be hopeful.

"Ready for high school?" Nancy asked. "I mean, sure, I guess. I just can't shake off the uneasiness." She exhaled, looking over her shoulder as other students started to pool in with the school busses arriving. "I just want to get today over with. If we can get through today, Mia, we can get through anything." She smiled, holding the textbooks that the manager of the motel had borrowed from the library for their studies, History being on top of the pile because, according to Nancy's schedule, that's where she was due first. "Room 304." She muttered to herself. "Where are you for first period?"

"What if something comes up?" Scott asked nervously as he walked alongside Stiles. "Derek's still on my ass, I don't know what to do." Scott kept his voice low so no other students overheard his troubles. A few weeks ago, all he had to worry about was overdue homework and making the Lacrosse team, and now here he was, trying to control his heartbeat to avoid showing everyone the beast he was made to be. "And there's hunters! Who knew hunters were a real thing? I thought that was for Twilight!" Scott's voice got a little louder with stress, and he took a deep breath as Stiles looked over to him. "You're right, you're right. Good day."

"I know what you mean," Amelia admitted quietly, nodding slightly in response, because she was worried about how it would go. She'd never been in an actual school before; it'd usually been homeschool, even with their Alpha. And, even then, the focus wasn't much on school at all but on pack mentality. "But we will get through it, Nana." She smiled to her pack sister and nudged her gently. "Together." She nodded before settling her attention ahead. "306, so... I guess we'll be near each other, at least."

Stiles settled a hard look on his friend, narrowing his eyes. "Ah, no, we are not doing this. We are going to think positively! Hopeful and optimistic and we are going to get through... Whatever the hell you got us into," he decided, even though it was largely his own fault that they were in all of this, because he'd dragged Scott out to the woods that night when Scott had gotten bitten. Shaking the thought aside, he nodded. "Exactly. Good day. So put your big boy smile on and let's face the day and get through it."

Nancy nodded, looking at Amelia's schedule. "It looks like a pretty good day." She commented, feeling someone nudge past her. Turning to the source, Nancy glared at a red haired girl with her taller, more obvious douchebag boyfriend. "Do you mind?" Nancy frowned. "An excuse me would be nicer." Nancy folded her arms across her chest, turning to look at Amelia. "So, class starts in like, five minutes, so we should probably head there. Do I have to make friends?" Nancy frowned.

"Think positively, right," Scott murmured begrudgingly at Stiles' overwhelming happiness. "Hey, wait, you got us into all of this!" Scott protested. "Nice try, Stiles." Scott's voice turned from accusing to teasing as he followed his closest friend up the stairs that led to the high school. "I need to get to my locker, what's your first period?" He asked, expertly dodging his way through bustling students, seeing their Lacrosse teammate, Jackson, with his girlfriend Lydia, offering them both a nod.

Amelia blinked, watching the couple move past them, but neither the guy nor the girl said anything in response to Nancy. Making a face, she looked at Nancy and offered a weak smile. "Just ignore them," she suggested quietly, "Don't let it get to you." She wanted them to get through today without anything drawing them back or making it difficult for them. Shifting, she turned to start walking, shrugging gently in response. "Maybe give making friends a try, at least? What's the worst that could happen?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about! You're the one who went and got bit!" Stiles said quickly in response, refusing to acknowledge his whole role in it all right now. At least for now. A part of him felt mildly guilty for getting Scott into all of this, but he was determined to help Scott through all of it as well, because they were best friends and he'd never let Scott go through everything alone, not when there was some way he could help. "Oh, uh, it's 304. What's yours?" He looked back to Scott, curious.

Nancy huffed, shaking her head. "Ignoring people isn't my speciality, Mia." Nancy sounded deflated. Both girls had been homeschooled up until this point with the rest of the pack children - and even then, all they learned about was pack mentality and learning to control their transformations, so coming to an actual school and learning actual things while socialising with actual kids their age was so strange to her. "I'll try." Nancy exhaled nervously, following Amelia's lead. "You do the same though, it could do us some good to make friends, you know? But the worst that could happen? They find out about us and suddenly we're burned at the stake."

Scott chuckled lowly at Stiles' response, shaking his head as he opened his locker. "You're so dumb, Stiles." Looking at his own schedule though, Scott raised his eyebrows. "306." He replied. He was always so grateful to the help that Stiles gave him, but Scott was learning to control his primal side and it was so much more difficult than he or Stiles had actually anticipated. Suddenly, Scott paused, and he could hear his own heartbeat, hear the blood rushing through his veins. "I..." he blinked in confusion. "Is there a possibility anyone else in this school was bitten?"

Amelia offered a smile in response and nudged Nancy gently. "I know that. Never too late to learn, though," she teased lightly, though she was hoping that this fresh start would be good for them. They could discover what it was like to be actual, normal teenagers, normal high school student, just normal. Of course, it was a dream that they'd never be able to fully experience - they were werewolves. It was only a matter of time before they lost control somehow. She smiled to Nancy's words, though, and nodded. "I'll try, Nana," she promised quietly, "But, uh, I think that's for witches. For werewolves, I think it was a thing to skin them alive, see if they had fur under their skin."

"So we'll be pretty close to each other. Either right by each other's class or across from each other's class," Stiles said with a firm nod, relieved to hear it because maybe it'd be easier to keep track of his friend, to keep an eye on him, if their classes were near each other. He could be hopeful, at least. But, he blinked when Scott asked about the possibility of somebody else being bitten, and his brows furrowed. "Why? Why, why, why would you ask something like that?" he asked, making a face with concern, "You're going to jinx us, man!" He watched his friend for a moment before he shook his head. "What in the world would make you ask something like that? Is something wrong?"

"Close enough." Nancy chuckled. "But please chomp someone who tries to skin me alive." Her eyes widened with false fear, and she stopped outside 304, clearly anxious. "Good luck. I love you!" She reminded her 'sister'. Amelia was all Nancy had ever known, and the two of them were as close as anything with a strong, pack bond. Chewing her nails, Nancy rolled her eyes as she saw the boy that bumped into her earlier standing across from her, silently hoping he wasn't in her class. As the teacher came and unlocked the door, Nancy followed him inside, grabbing a seat at the back of the room.

Scott blinked, still trying to snuff out the situation. "Heightened senses, remember?" He asked Stiles. "I - I'm almost positive there's another werewolf in this school, maybe two, or more, I don't know, Stiles." Scott sounded a little scared. "Just, keep a look out for suspicious behaviour in your class. See if there's anyone new or something." He patted Stiles' shoulder in a quick goodbye, going to stand outside 306 patiently, still trying to find the source of his interest, but trying to avoid gaining attention of other students and being as subtle as he could be.

"Promise," Amelia joked lightly, offering a small smile but nodded slightly. "Good luck, I love you, too." She smiled, hoping to encourage her sister - Nancy was the closest thing Amelia had to any sort of family in general. For a few moments, she watched Nancy head into class, watching the guy from earlier, a little worried about how that would all go, but she took a breath and turned to head into her own class, idly tensing when she passed a guy who smelled like a werewolf, but she didn't acknowledge it otherwise. If she did, she was worried that she'd lose her hope to be normal, and she ducked her head, going to an empty seat quickly.

"I don't know, I thought maybe you were just asking in general, that maybe you were suddenly freaking out about just the possibility," Stiles insisted to Scott, watching him, but eventually nodded. "Just, stay calm. I'll keep an eye out, promise. Don't lose control." He couldn't stress that enough and he worried about his friend, but he sighed. Turning, he quickly made his way to his own class, pausing at the entrance when he saw a new girl sitting in the general area where he sat. Was she who Scott had smelled? Curious, he made his way over to sit down, though he found himself watching her, trying to figure her out without seeming like a creep - which he was sure he was failing at, anyways, but oh well.

Nancy sat at the desk, looking indifferent about the class in general. She could feel eyes on her, and Nancy found it difficult to ignore. Looking around subtly, she found a cute boy with short hair and wide eyes glancing at her every so often, and she internally groaned. She'd heard all about the 'new kid' thing, and she was desperately hoping that she or Amelia wouldn’t draw attention to themselves. As the teacher explained to open their text books, Nancy followed the order and started to read through, unsure if she was bored or excited or a little bit of both. God, was this what public school was like?

Scott, a little more on edge now, looked up as the source of his curiosity passed him - a young woman, couldn't have been less than six months younger or older than him, with her head down and focused entirely on not standing out. He watched as she walked to the seat by the window, and Scott's eyes followed her as he furrowed his eyebrows. Was she the one? She couldn't of been the only one, and the possibility made Scott all kinds of nervous and sort of... rushed... in a strange way. Taking his own seat, Scott pulled out his textbook, exhausted after a busy night of working closely with Stiles to learn to control himself.

Stiles found himself watching Nancy for a long while, wishing that he could sense whether she was a werewolf or not, but resolving himself to the impossibility of that because he was human. Still, while he couldn't figure out whether she was a werewolf or not, he could at least acknowledge that she was really pretty. It was another thing he'd mention to Scott, he decided.

Amelia chewed on her lip once she was sitting down, and she refused to lift her gaze, too worried about making eye contact with the other wolf. Keeping her head ducked, she set her textbook onto her desk and pulled out a notebook and pencil so that she could try to focus on the class.

Nancy watched as the teacher walked around the room, studying his students and ensuring they were actually working. "Mr Stilinski," he called, looking at the boy who Nancy had noticed at the beginning of the class, belittling him about using his highlighter liberally. Nancy frowned, clearing her throat as she spoke up from the back. "I don't think you're in a position to say that, seeing as he's the only kid here to probably give a damn." She frowned, looking at Stiles with curiosity, throwing him a wink when the teacher went to write up notes on Nancy's behaviour.

Scott watched Amelia for a long moment, his eyebrows furrowed as he decided that talking to her after class would be a good idea. He'd not known of any other wolf - apart from whoever bit him, and now Derek Hale, who stepped forward to reach out to Scott, and who Scott wanted to avoid at every opportunity. Grabbing his own notebook, Scott began to take notes, trying to time his heartbeat to know he was calm and not a risk to anyone around him.

Stiles had lifted his gaze to the teacher when he made a comment about his highlighters, though it wasn't much that he wasn't used to. Stiles liked to be prepared, but the teachers saw it more as playing around, for some reason. A highlighter in his mouth, he peered over at Nancy when he heard her speak up on his behalf and his jaw dropped a little in surprise, just enough for the highlighter to fall to the desk, then to the floor. Still, he offered a quick, quiet, "Thanks," before he reached to grab his highlighter off the floor.

Amelia listened quietly to everything around her - a benefit to her own silence, but also just because she preferred to observe her surroundings, always cautious, always careful. Her gaze settled on the other werewolf for a long time, tense and worried, knowing she needed to mention it to Nancy. Aside from their pack, they hadn't been around other wolves and Amelia didn't know if it was safe to be in a town that already had wolves there. Shaking the thought away, she settled her gaze on her notes.

Nancy nodded in response, before returning to her own work, figuring she had put herself in enough trouble for her first day at a public high school. Nancy had promised herself (and Amelia) that she wouldn't draw too much attention to herself, and she had already gone back on that promise - but being raised in a pack of unruly teenagers was enough to get anybody into a bad attitude, it was just the case of adapting.

Scott was distracted, even more so than usual. He couldn't seem to focus on anything the teacher was babbling on about, he couldn't bring himself to keep his head down any longer. He was curious, and he knew his curiousity was bound to get him into trouble, but knowing there were others of his kind - more than just him, more than just Derek Hale, it was fascinating. Finding himself staring at the new girl, Scott blinked a few times, turning his head quickly as she looked up. Was it worth going over to introduce himself, or was that a move that made school dangerous? He couldn't quite decide.

For the rest of the class, Stiles tried to pay attention, but his attention kept going to Nancy as he became increasingly curious about her. When class finally ended, Stiles stood up, grabbing his things and packing them up before he quickly approached Nancy, offering a smile. "I'm Stiles," he introduced quickly, unable to really help it. When his mind was set on something, he didn't usually just give up on it. "You're new, right?" And she was, quite possibly, the werewolf Scott had sensed that morning.

Amelia paused from taking the last of her notes when the bell rang for class to end. It wasn't going to be easy, adjusting to school life, she could tell that already. Finishing up the last of her notes, she stood quietly, packing up quickly, mostly wanting to escape the classroom and find Nancy, glad that their classes were close together.

Nancy studied Stiles, before offering him a smile. "I'm Nancy." She remained curt, not wanting to get too close to anyone in the school. She and Amelia had ran from so much, Nancy was always considering the fact it might come back to bite them - quite literally. "Yeah, yeah, I am." She led the way out of the classroom, still unsure about the conversation. "Does the Mr Dickwad always treat you like shit?"

Scott followed Amelia to the hallway, clearing his throat. "Uh, hey," he greeted with a nod. He wanted to speak to her, learn more about her, the desire to get some answers to his questions was too strong. "I'm Scott, it's nice to meet you." He offered a shy, lopsided smile. "How are you enjoying Beacon Hills so far? I, uh, haven't seen you before, you must be new." He rambled in, his cheeks reddening slightly.

Stiles nodded with the name she gave him, following her as he took her in, trying to figure her out. "Uh, yeah, he tends to," he confirmed with a nod, "He's usually just an all around ass in general. I've gotten used to it." He shrugged slightly as he watched her still. "Now that you've spoken up against him, he's probably gonna do the same to you. He tends to do that to the students who are probably actually smarter than him."

Amelia paused with surprise, looking at Scott, uncertain and tense. For a moment, she peered around for Nancy, chewing on her lip anxiously, though she tried not to be too worried. "Right, uh, hi, Scott, nice to meet you, too," she said with a small nod and cringed when she realized how rude that sounded, "Um, I'm Amelia, but..." She shrugged. "I haven't really formed an opinion of Beacon Hills yet, and, yes, I'm new."