For the first time in months, Jules didn't have any nightmares. She managed to get a full night of sleep without ever waking up in the slightest. She didn't realize how much she needed sleep until she woke up feeling like her normal self. She checked her phone to see that she had slept through her classes as it was 11. She didn't really see a pint of going to school that day.
The thing that left her confused was when she moved her body to the other side only to see her bed empty. She was about to question whether Brett really had come to her room last night until she smelled the scent of freshly made pancakes. She smiled a bit before slowly making her way down to the kitchen to see Brett flipping pancakes and humming a song she didn't know. She smiled at his goofiness as he danced while placing the pancakes on a plate.
"I didn't know you could cook so well." Brett jumps in surprise, almost dropping his spatula as Jules speaks up. He grabs his chest dramatically as he smiles walking up to her. He grabs her waist and pulls her closer to him. "My Mom always made us pancakes for breakfast, after she died I started making them for Lori. I'll probably never be as good as my Mom but I try."
Jules smiled adoringly at his genuine gesture. It was one of the things she loved about him. He was never afraid to be vulnerable around her which was something she appreciated.
"Did you sleep well?" She nodded at his question. "It's the best I've slept in awhile." She made her way over to the kitchen island taking in the smell and smiling widely. "I called your Mom, told her you were sick so she called the school." Brett tells her as she starts eating.
"Liam told me to meet up with him after school to help him recruit new players. Wanna come with?" He asks her as he starts eating as well. "Yeah he needs all the help he can get. He's been having problems controlling his anger, only this time he seems to be having a harder time." She explains to him.
"Well let's hope he isn't angry on the field."
***
"I was saying that if we're talking about some sort of mythical creature that's so powerful the only safe place to put it is in the Wild Hunt, then we have a serious problem." Mason says apprehensively. Liam doesn't look as anxious as Mason as he's focusing his mind only on lacrosse. "Can we figure it out while I'm running drills? Brett's meeting me to help the freshmen that wanna make First Line." Upon hearing Brett's name, Mason looks at Liam suspiciously and seriously while he points his index finger at him for emphasis to what he's about to say.
"Brett?" Mason then changes his serious expression to an attractive one. "Incredibly hot Brett with the eight-pack abs?" Mason asks him making Liam scoff. "Pretty sure his name is just Brett." Liam says slightly annoyed as he looks behind Mason to see Jules slowly creeping up behind him. He tries to hide his smile as Mason continues to go on about how attractive he thinks Brett is.
"He has an eight-pack. Do you, do you know how hard it is for the human body to have an eight-pack? God." Mason imagines what would be like to have an eight-pack abs while Jules tried to laugh quietly from behind him. "Wait, why is he helping you?" Mason asks him with confusion laced in his voice. "I couldn't get anyone else to volunteer."
Mason turns to look at all the other lacrosse players, who are also getting ready for drills, before he sees where Liam is going with his last statement. "Well. Yeah, that's because there's no way any of 'em are gonna make First Line. I mean, no one does before junior year." Liam grimaces, clearly he's little hurt by what Mason just said.
Jules also feels a bit offended so she decides to finally make her presence known. "Liam, Scott and I all did it." She whispers in Mason's ear, scaring him and making him hug Liam. "I thought you were sick!" Mason says as he recovers from the scare. "That's what I wanted you to think." Jules says as she smiles creepily making his eyes widen. "Kidding. I overslept." Jules laughs out as Mason lets out the breath he didn't know he was holding.
From behind them Aaron, a freshman player interrupts their conversation. "Thanks for the gear, Liam. And the drills and the chance, you know." Aaron's smile fades away and he becomes glum as he begins to believe he won't be able to make First Line. "Even if there really isn't one."
Mason, in an attempt to boost his self-confidence and motivation, gives him an advice. "Unless you practice. Like, today. I mean, you could totally have a shot at making First Line." Mason starts encouraging the other players as Liam has ran out of patience to wait. "Yeah. No, you all do, seriously. You guys could do it, seriously." Annoyed Liam lifts Mason and puts him over his shoulder but Mason doesn't care about it and keeps encouraging the other lacrosse players as Jules follows from behind them.
"I've seen you guys out there, you guys are gonna kill it. Go Cyclones!" Mason says pumping his fists. "See you all on the field." Jules says loudly as she holds the gear she had brought with her. "Go lacrosse! Yay, sports!" Liam puts Mason down once their in the hall and the trio run their way to the lacrosse field but they run into Ms.Monroe, who presents them with opening forms.
"There you are! I've got openings tomorrow, if you're willing to talk, of course." She says directing her voice to Liam. "Well, I don't have anything to talk about." Mason places his hand on Liam's shoulder and remarks the opposite to Ms. Monroe. "He has a lot to talk about." Jules nods along to Masons statement. Monroe, agreeing with Mason, tries to convince Liam he can speak everything he wants with her. "We all have things to talk about, Liam. You don't wanna start senoir year with any heavy burden on your shoulders, do you? How about 2:00 PM, tomorrow?" To avoid speaking with her, Liam gives a reasonable excuse.
"Well, that's my study period." He says smiling smugly. "Which is why I suggested it? Just take the form and think about it, okay? Hope to see you tomorrow. Remember, I have an open door policy." She walks away smiling leaving the trio slightly annoyed at how persistent she was. Jules always though something was off about the woman. Yes she was a guidance counselor but she seemed to always want to know more than she was supposed to.
She pushed it aside however and ran onto the field with Liam as Mason went to sit on the bleachers with Lori who was there to cheer on Brett. Jules quickly waved at the younger girl who clapped for her. Ever since Kira left, Jules had to try 10x harder to prove she deserved a spot on the team and Liam always made sure to defend her against anyone who thought otherwise. Jules missed Kira terribly and she would call Noshiko once in awhile to see if she knew how Kira was doing with the skin walkers.
Taken away from her thoughts, Jules put on her helmet and started practicing with Liam and Brett. Brett scores and his friends applaud him as he looks at the other players cockily. "Oh! That's called a perfect hitch." Liam sighs and rolls his eyes before heading back to defense with Jules as does Brett, who passes smiling because of his abilities. Brett takes the ball and manages to easily pass through Liam and again, causing his friends to applaud him even more.
"Perfect split dodge." Liam hits himself in the helmet with his lacrosse stick in order to psych himself up. Brett scoops the ball and Liam this time is able to put himself in front of Brett but Brett hits Liam's shoulder with his own so hard that both Liam and his stick fall to the ground and Brett scores yet again.
"Perfect rocker." Liam stands up and turns to the freshman students who looked impressed by Brett's skills. "Just remember to cover your back, especially if your opponent's a dick." Liam says which makes Brett chuckle a bit. "You got some pretty big cleats to fill with Scott leaving. You ready for all this?" Brett asks, unsure of Liam's abilities. "I managed all summer." Liam answers. "Summer's over." Brett tells him as he gets back into position and Lima turns to look at Jules.
"Seriously how do you date him?" Liam asks making her laugh as they walk back to defense. "He gives me pancakes and sex. What more do I need?" She answers leaving Liam in disgust. "Did not need to know that." Jules turns her head slightly. "Hey! You asked. Besides this is revenge for all the times you and Hayden made out in front of me." Jules starts running for the ball after her statement and manages to make it past the many players finally scoring a point for their team. The freshman players cheer for her along with Mason and Lori who had been concerned with Corey throughout practice.
"Corey's been training all summer to play goalie. He's actually gotten really good." Mason brags as
Brett shoots the ball and Corey tries to defend but he not only misses the shot but falls to the ground. "The season doesn't start for at least a week." Lori encourages as Mason shakes his head in relief. "Thank God."
Brett runs toward the goal with the ball and Liam puts himself in front of Brett. Jules tries to get the ball from Brett along with Liam but he only pushes them back until they reach Corey and the four fall to the ground inside the goal making everyone in the stands gasp. "Um, was that Liam, Jules, Brett, or Corey?" Mason asks Lori—appalled at the situation. "I think that was all of them."
Brett gets up, helping Jules as well and looks at Liam disappointedly as he expected better from him."You're losing it, dude." Brett moves back to his position and Jules and Liam do so too. But it is more than clear Liam's anger is reaching its limits and his left hand's claws extend and bore through the glove's tips. Liam grabs the ball forcefully before throwing it to Brett and putting himself in a defensive stance with a look of intense determination. He firmly grabs his lacrosse stick to the point he uses his strength to twist the stick's metal shaft. Brett scoops the ball only to see that it had holes made by Liam's claws.
Brett runs toward Liam, who gets under him and flips him over, inducing Brett's friends to gasp in shock. Suddenly, Liam, blinded by his rage, takes the ball and heads toward his own team's goal while growling and panting simultaneously. Corey becomes scared, afraid of what Liam would do. Liam shoots the ball with incredible force toward Corey's head but he ducks right before the ball could hit him, allowing Liam to score for Brett and tearing a giant hole in the goal.
Jules stares in shock by the whole ordeal and runs up to Liam with Brett racing behind her. "There he is. That's the IED I know. What's it stand for? Intermittent Explosive Disorder? What's it gonna take for you to explode, Liam?" Brett says mockingly as Liam's eyes begin to glow gold and Jules places herself in between the two boys as to not start a fight. "I'm trying to help you. You're not in control, and if you don't fix it, someone's gonna get hurt." Hearing Brett's words Liam finally manages to calm himself down.
Unbeknownst to them the ball marked with Liam's claws was left in the school parking lot. Monroe had pulled out her car keys to open her car until she noticed it and picked it up seeing the marks. She looks toward the lacrosse field intriguingly where Brett launches another ball at Corey and Corey defends by catching it with his stick but is thrown backwards because of the force Brett threw the ball at him. Brett removes his lacrosse helmet as he smiles at Corey.
"I'm not actually invisible right now, am I?" Brett puts his helmet back on and helps Corey get back up. The group continued to practice as Monroe observed them from afar, already planning her next move.
***
Night came faster then expected and Liam rushed to the Boys' locker room dropping his lacrosse equipment before he leans against his locker and begins to speak his mantra. "The sun. The moon. The truth." Liam's anger keeps rising and rising and his fangs come out as a result. "The sun, the moon." He gets so frustrated to the point he starts punching his own locker's door with both his fists, one each time as he keeps repeating the mantra word by word.
"The sun! The moon! The moon!" He backs away and pants in exhaustion as it seems he has calmed down. His locker's door is full of fist marks and he looks horrified with what he just did because of his uncontrolled rage. Jules who had been observing the whole thing finally walks up to him as places her hand on his shoulder. "I'll be okay." Liam reassures her.
Jules only purses her lips and hugs him. "You know you can talk to me if you need to right?" Liam only nods as he hugs her back. He had been so frustrated with everything from Hayden to Lacrosse and Jules' gentle nature was just what he needed. He reassures her again and she leaves to put away her stuff.
She had been feeling a bit cold even after hours of practice which was weird to her but she out on one of Brett's jackets anyways. She met him outside and together they walked to his car. "So, Lori's staying at a friend tonight." Brett starts leaving Jules intrigued. "And that means if you stay over we'd be alone." Brett says smiling playfully. "And if we're alone you know what that means?" Jules asks catching on. "Oh I know exactly what that means." Brett answers raising his eyes brows repeatedly.
"We can watch Scott Pilgrim!"
"We can have se—I mean watch Scott Pilgrim!"
Every time Jules would stay over at Brett's it would end up with her and Lori singing Brie Larson's rendition of Black Sheep very, very loudly. It would annoy Brett to no end and he expected her to catch on to what he was saying but apparently not. "Scott Pilgrim! Again!" Jules smiles widely at him as he could never win against her. "Fine!"
She jumped up and down in excitement and reached into her pocket for her phone to text Melissa and Scott that she was gonna stay over only to realize she didn't have her phone on her. She checked her bag frantically only to see it wasn't there and finally realized where she had left it. "I left my phone in my locker." She says annoyed as Brett takes her bag. "You get your phone and I'll get the car started. And if it makes you feel better since Lori's not here I'll even sing along to Black Sheep with you."
She smiles widely as she kisses his cheek and starts sprinting to the locker room. Brett uses his keys to open his car, he placed their lacrosse equipment in the trunk, minus his lacrosse stick before Monroe shows up and calls his attention as she holds up the lacrosse ball she found earlier. "I think you dropped this. I saw you playing. You're something else, aren't you?" Brett appreciates Monroe's praise on his lacrosse skills before he answers her question confidently. "Something like that, yeah."
Monroe returns the ball to Brett by throwing it. He touches the ball and frowns once he sees purple smoke coming out from the claw marks in the ball, which makes him collapse and fall to the ground as he realizes the purple smoke is wolfsbane. Monroe slowly walks toward him with a seemingly apologetic expression as he gathers enough strength to put himself in a seated postion before she drops her gaze and reveals her true nature.
"I'm sorry. I should've told you. It's wolfsbane."
Brett is still seated on the ground, weakened by the wolfsbane as Monroe begins to reveal her intentions. "I have nothing against you personally." Monroe breaks Brett's lacrosse stick's net with her foot and points it to him. "But you don't deserve to have this much power. You don't deserve to terrify people."
Brett, who was starting to bleed black blood from the wolfsbane, glowers at her with despise. Monroe then stabs him in the chest with the pointy end of the stick, removes it and socks it across his forehead. She is then starstruck when the wound on Brett's forehead heals within the matter of seconds.
"That's incredible!" She says in amazement. She holds up the large knife she found in her office, ready to finally kill him. "No one should be able to do that." Monroe tries to stab Brett with the knife but he, having recovered enough, partially-shifts, dodges the blow and scratches Monroe's neck with his claws before he escapes. Monroe touches her bloody neck marks and gasps in pain before looking around and noticing Brett is gone.
She flees realizing that Jules would be back any minute and hides behind a tree since the woods were close to the school. Jules runs back smiling only to notice the car hadn't been started and Brett was no where in sight. She slowly stops running and stands frozen in place as she takes in the scene. She notices the broken lacrosse stick and the ball in the ground.
What surprised Monroe was that Jules wasn't affected by the wolfsbane that was interlaced into the ball.
Jules could smell the wolfsbane on the ball and her stomach began to drop. She pulls out her phone and call the first person she thought of. "Scott! I need your help." She says nervously making Scott become worried. "What? What is it?" He asks as he gets his keys ready to go wherever she needed him to.
"It's Brett. I think he's in trouble."