In Search Of

Piper wiped her hands on the back of her jean shorts, hoping to rid them of the nervous sweat they had built up. Her fingers trembled as they toyed with the ends of her sleeves, and she refrained from biting her lips to avoid any tearing of the skin. Her bag was slung over one shoulder, leaving her other shoulder to keep excited students from running her over. And the halls were filled with them.

The amount of chatter around her was deafening. Girls were talking animatedly about their time spent at the beach, the boys were ranting on about the start of lacrosse season, and even the teachers were making some noise, (they were mostly just yelling at students to get to class). The uproar was enough to make Piper’s head start pounding. It was a miracle she could even hear herself think, which wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

Actually, she was thinking a bit too much. All last night and most of this morning, Piper had been coming up with as many unappealing scenarios that her mind would allow. Tripping down the stairs, spilling soda on her shirt during lunch, making an ass out of herself during class – and those were just the beginning. She slept maybe a wink, and before she could even dream, her alarm was already wailing in her ears.

And now here she was.

It was officially her first day at Beacon Hills High.

- - - - -

“Um, excuse me? Do you know where…oh, okay, ignore me. That’s cool, too,” Piper muttered as she shouldered her way past the group of girls. She was hoping to get directions to her first period class, with being the new girl and all, but students were either ignoring her or staring at her.

Neither of which were very helpful.

When she asked one of the lacrosse jocks where the classroom was, his only response being how nice her “rack” looked in her shirt. Piper shot him and his friends a harsh glare. “Look at my “rack” again and I’ll make sure it’s the last pair you ever see,” She threatened, leaving the group with wide eyes and open mouths.

It wasn’t until she was around the corner that she slapped her hand to her forehead. She couldn’t believe she had actually said that. “Smooth, Evans,” Piper scolded herself. “Threaten one of the lacrosse players. That’ll definitely win you some social points.”

“Uh, is there a reason you’re talking to yourself?” A voice asked from behind her. Piper nearly jumped out of her skin. She swung around and met a set of confused, honey-colored eyes. They were so pretty, and clear, and wow, I’m a creep, Piper thought, snapping out of her stare. She cleared her throat and shrugged her shoulders at the boy. His lips curved up into a smile and he ran a hand over his buzzed-cut hair. Piper noticed how his cheeks were tinted red, and she wondered if they were naturally like that. “I saw you go off on Greenburg. You, uh…you must be new, huh? I’ve never seen you around before.”

Piper nodded and gave the boy a small smile, hoping to cover the fact that she was completely mortified that he had seen her little spat with the lacrosse player. “Yeah, I just moved here. From Detroit. Like a month ago. And now I’m here…and I’m still talking. Wow, okay, um...,” She shook her head, attempting to clear her frazzled mind. She finally realized that he was the first person to talk to her all morning. “Could—could you maybe help me with something?”

The boy nodded, but first stuck out a hand. “I’m Stiles, by the way,” He smiled, and Piper had to cough just to keep herself from blurting out how cute his smile was. She placed her hand in his, watching as it dwarfed in size. She blushed when he added a soft squeeze.

“I’m Piper.”

Stiles nodded. “Well, Piper,” He grinned. She liked the way he said her name. “What can I help you with?”

“Um, actually, I was wondering if you could tell me—“ A mop of black hair swooped in beside Stiles, cutting Piper off. Stiles looked a little less than pleased. Piper watched the two boys have a silent discussion, using their eyebrows and lips as expletives. The newest boy was tanner than Stiles, with thick hair and dark eyes.

“Scott, bro, what’s up?” Stiles finally said behind clenched teeth.

Scott grinned and motioned to Piper. “Hey, man. Who’s this?”

“Piper,” Piper cut in, giving the boy a polite smile.

“Yeah, Scott,” Stiles muttered. “This is Piper. She was about to ask me a very important question before you interrupted her.”

The grin on Scott’s face deepened and he clamped a hand onto his friend’s shoulder. “Well, Piper, it’s very nice to meet you,” He stretched out a hand. “I’m Scott.”

Piper shook his hand, noticing the difference between his and Stiles. Not as soft, she concluded. “Nice to meet you, too.”

“Anyway, Piper, what was your question?” Stiles shoved Scott back a bit, focusing solely on the blonde in front of him.

She smiled and handed him her schedule. “I can’t find my first period class and—“ She was cut off for the second time, but instead by a shrill ringing that echoed throughout the entire school.

“Shit,” Piper and the boys cursed, realizing that was the first bell. Stiles quickly glanced at Piper’s schedule and let out a short laugh. “You have first period English with the both of us,” He said and motioned down the hall. “Mr. Rydell’s room is right down there.”

Piper frowned. “But we’re late. He’ll be pissed, won’t he?”

Scott and Stiles each shook their head. “Nah,” Stiles answered. “He’ll, uh…well he might be.” That made Piper’s frown deepen. Stiles must have noticed and sent her a smile. “Don’t worry, Scott and I will back you up.”

“Yeah, totally,” Scott agreed. Piper noticed that his eyes kept flickering back and for the between her and his friend. She chose to ignore it.

Piper nodded. “Thanks, but I don’t want you to get—“

“In trouble? Nah, no way. Mr. Rydell loves us!” Stiles grinned, lightly bumping his elbow into Piper’s arm. The blush that scorched her face could’ve been noticed by anyone.

Finally, the three teens made their way to the classroom, the two boys each a bit more confident then Piper. Her confidence felt like it had been ripped out, thrown in a blender, and turned to goo. She’d already insulted a jock, made two of her classmates late, and now she had to deal with being late herself. Let’s hope tomorrow’s better, Piper thought before opening the door to the classroom.

“Ah, Miss Evans. I was wondering if you would show up. Welcome to English II,” An elderly man bellowed. His glasses were at the tip of his nose and he gave her a polite smile. His smile soon faded when he caught sight of Scott and Stiles. “Mr. McCall. Mr. Stilinksi. Would you mind telling me why you’re late?”

Stiles cleared his throat and tossed an arm over Piper’s shoulder. “Well, Mr. R, we were just showing the newbie around. Ya know… just, uh…making sure she knew where to go and all that jazz,” Stiles turned to Scott and widened his eyes. “Right, man?”

Scott stuttered but quickly nodded his head. “O-Oh, yeah,” He said. “Yeah, we were just helping out.”

Mr. Rydell gave the two boys a disbelieving look; he knew they were lying. But, as luck would have it, his tense shoulders dropped and he motioned towards the desks. “Just take a seat. Since it’s the first day,” He looked over at Piper. “And because you’re new, I will let it slide. Don’t let it happen again.”

“Yes, sir.” All three replied, swiftly taking a seat.

Mr. Rydell turned back to the chalkboard and continued writing. “As I was saying, you all know there indeed was a body found in the woods last night,” A body? Piper thought to herself. What the hell? “And I’m sure your eager little minds are coming up with various scenarios as to what happened,” Mr. Rydell continued. “But I am here to tell you, that the police have a suspect in custody. This means, you can give your undivided attention to the syllabus that is on your desk…”

Piper glanced down and noticed the white sheet of paper that outlined the semester. She sighed, reading all of what their class would be doing this year, and realized that this class would suck. English was never her strong suit; she always did better in her math and science classes. English was just too much literature. She wasn’t good with poetry or plays, and half the time, she could barely remember the difference between a noun and an adjective.

As Mr. Rydell droned on, Piper decided that this class would be spent sleeping, so she folded her arms on her desk and rested her head, nuzzling into the soft fabric of her sweater. It didn’t take long for her breath to start evening out and she was nearly asleep when the door opened and in walked Mrs. Thatcher. Behind her was a girl around Piper’s age, with curly brown hair that fell past her shoulders and dark brown eyes. She seemed…nervous. “Class, this is our new student,” Mrs. Thatcher began, but her eyes drifted to Piper. She smiled and nodded towards her. “Actually, this is another new student. I’m sure some of you have already met Piper Evans.” Piper’s cheeks reddened as everyone turned to look at her, and she ducked her head, hoping to cover her face behind her blonde hair. Mrs. Thatcher grinned and turned towards the new girl. “This is Allison Argent. Please do your best to make her feel welcome.” With one last smile, Mrs. Thatcher turned in her heels and left the room.

Alison sat directly next to Piper and right behind Scott. Piper gave the girl a small smile and welcomed her before shoving her head back in her sweater sleeves.

The morning hadn’t been so bad for Piper. She’d met two seemingly nice boys and she found out she wasn’t the only new girl around. But, it was only first period. She still had the rest of her classes and her lunch to get through before she could finally leave.