𝐀𝐋𝐏𝐇𝐀 (ᴅᴇʀᴇᴋ ʜᴀʟᴇ)

𝐢 𝐜 𝐞 𝐩 𝐢 𝐜 𝐤

I walked out of the gym to find Erica in the bathroom looking at herself in the mirror, crying.

"Erica?" I said softly.

"Oh, hey Dillon." She whispered.

I grabbed a few paper towels before walking over and handing them to her.

"Thanks." She muttered.

"I don't know what's wrong with people, laughing at people about stuff they can't control." I told her.

"It's fine, I'm used to it." She pointed out.

"Fuck what other people say, right?" I said with a small smile, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

She looked at me with glossy eyes before tightly hugging me.

"Thanks Dillon." She mumbled into my shoulder as more tears fell down her cheeks.

Erica and I had never been close but she always was very sweet to me.

✰✰✰✰✰

l had calmed down Erica before going to my next class. Currently, I was headed to my locker when I caught the scent of this fear. It was complete and utter fear. It was almost overwhelming. I felt my hands start shaking as I heard hyperventilating and detected it to the gym. Erica. I immediately took off running towards there. I ran in to see Erica on the climbing wall before she started shaking and fell backwards. I ran over and caught her just before she hit the floor. I sat her on the ground, hearing the gym doors open behind me. She tightly intertwined her hand with mine as she started seizing. I quickly turned her on her side as Scott and Stiles appeared beside me.

"How did you know?" Stiles asked me.

"I just felt it." I informed him.

"Same here." Scott told us.

Stiles had called an ambulance and they came to pick up Erica. A few minutes later, I found myself in the office, checking myself out, so I could go check up on her. I walked outside, getting in my car, and pulling out of the school parking lot just as my phone started ringing.

Incoming call from: Sourwolf <3

"Hey, what's up?" I answered.

"I heard about what happened at the school." He replied.

"Yeah, what about it?...You want to turn her, don't you?" I questioned. 

"Think about it, a girl with a severe medical condition, that gets constantly bullied, she would love to feel powerful." Derek pointed out.

"Fine, but you have to explain every single pro and con of it, and if she doesn't want it, you can't force her. It's her decision." I told him.

"I will, I promise you. I'll head there now." He answered.

"I think I should do it." I stated.

"Why?" He wondered.

"Four reasons. One, my mom is a nurse so it will be easy for me to get back there. Two, I'm only five minutes from the hospital. Three, she's familiar with me. And four, she swings for my team more than she does for yours." I informed him.

"Fine, I'll see you later." He said before hanging up.

I slid my phone back in my pocket before pulling up to the hospital a few minutes later. I walked inside and made my way to the floor my mom works.

"Hey sweetie, what are you doing here?" My mom greeted me.

"My friend, Erica Reyes, is here. I just wanted to check on her." I replied.

"Oh, I was just about to go check on her myself, come with me." She answered.

I followed my mom into a room where Erica was lying on a bed. She seemed to have calmed down.

"It's been a while since we saw you Erica," My mom said standing beside her bed while I stood at the end of it, "You were being so good about taking your medication."

"Are you going to tell my mom?" She asked her.

"Well, I swear, I don't want to but there's this team of lawyers in the back who would break my legs, and I don't know if you've seen, but for a girl my age, they're still pretty hot. So..." Mom told Erica making her laugh, "Doctor's gonna be in in a minute, okay?"

"Okay." Erica replied.

My mom smiled at me before walking out of the room.

"Feeling better?" I asked Erica.

"Yeah, I just feel kind of stupid for trying to do that." She admitted.

"You shouldn't, I get it, you were trying to prove yourself, not a lot people are brave enough to do that, it's hot." I told her.

"Really?" She asked and I nodded at her before she continued, "Well, can I tell you something?"

"Yeah." I responded.

"I-I have had the biggest crush on you since the first day of my freshman year." She informed me.

"Is that so?" I wondered with a cocky smile.

I already knew. I could tell by her racing heartbeat that I heard every time I talked to her.

She nodded, almost nervously, as I picked up the medicine from the table next to her bed.

"Side effects may include," I started as I read off the bottle, "Anxiety, waking, acne, ulcerative colitis. Yikes."

"Yeah." She mumbled as I sat the medicine bottle back down.

"Erica," I said as I returned to my previous spot at the end of her bed, I could hear her racing heartbeat, "You get a warning right before you have a seizure, right?"

"It's called an aura," She said leaning up, "It's...It's like a metallic taste in my mouth."

"You don't have to lie. What does it really taste like?" I asked leaning forward slightly.

"It tastes like blood." She admitted.

"What if I told you that all of this could go away? The side effects, the symptons...all of it. And what if all those things not only went away...but everything else got even better?"

"How?" She whispered with a nervous laugh.

"I know someone who can show you." I said as my eyes changed to purple.