"Do you think he'd take a bribe?" Rachel questioned Stiles, glancing over at Coach Finstock, who was currently watching Scott & Allison climbing the fifteen foot, plastic rock wall in the gymnasium.
"Probably." Stiles shrugged, furrowing his brows in confusion after a moment. "Wait, you don't want to climb? I thought you'd jump at the chance to show off."
Rachel huffed in annoyance, glancing around her to ensure everyone was distracted enough not to eavesdrop on her conversation. Once she was sure, she turned back to Stiles, her voice now lowered to a whisper. "I would, but I accidentally reflected Jackson this morning. He almost ran me over with that stupid Porsche. Y'know, I could be driving one of those, too; but Derek won't let me buy one."
"How heartbreaking." Stiles faked a sad voice, placing a hand over his heart. Rachel punched his shoulder, growling in annoyance as per the norm.
In all honesty, it wasn't the reflector dilemma preventing Rachel from climbing the wall. She couldn't have cared less who she reflected; she was Rachel Hale, and she once thought she could do anything. But clearly, after her pathetic fight with Isaac in the police station last night, that wasn't the case. If she couldn't manage to fight a beta, when she had the power of an alpha; how could she do anything anymore? Rachel wasn't going to lie, it definitely hurt her confidence.
But not to the point where she'd openly admit that to Stiles. To everyone else, she was going to play it off as though the fight had gone exactly how she wanted it to. She was merely worried about her image, and how it'd look to be beaten to the top of a rock wall by a nobody. That's why she soon found herself gravitating over towards Coach Finstock, an array of bills hidden in her pocket. Whether it be a ten, twenty or fifty; he was bound to accept one.
"Hey, Coach, is this whole rock wall thing entirely necessary?" Rachel questioned casually, her hands toying with the paper bills in her pockets. "Because I'm not really up for a fifteen foot climb, today."
"It is if you want to pass my classes." Finstock replied, diverting his attention from Scott & Allison momentarily. "Prettier faces than yours have tried, Hale. Don't think you can talk your way out of this. It's mandatory."
"Can I buy my way out?" Rachel raised a brow, pulling a twenty dollar bill out of her pocket & waving it in front of her.
"No."
"Fifty?"
"No."
"A hundred?"
"No!" Finstock screeched, glaring daggers at her. "And just for that, you're up next with Greenberg."
"A hundred & fifty?" Rachel whined sadly, her face contorting in disgust as Greenberg smiled & waved at her from the other side of the crowd. No formation of words within the english language (or any language, for that matter) could describe the intense need to vomit that Rachel felt whenever she looked at Greenberg. He was creepier than Matt Daehler, stranger than Stiles, and a downright horrible person. Everyone hated Greenberg, it was an unspoken rule that when you became a student at Beacon Hills High School; you automatically began to hate Greenberg.
"How'd it go?" Stiles questioned as Rachel walked back over beside him, a hint of humour in his tone. He'd heard the entire conversation, everyone had, but for some reason, he felt the need to ask. Which in turn, only annoyed Rachel even more.
"You know exactly how it went." She snapped, her eyes narrowing into slits. "Now, not only do I have to climb the damn wall, but I have to do it while pretending not to be extremely uncomfortable with Greenberg staring at my ass. Why did I choose today to wear yoga pants in gym? Why?"
Rachel shook her head, biting her lip, before turning back to Scott & Allison on the rock wall, only to see Scott fall off. Lucky for him, Coach had insisted they wear harnesses due to "safety regulations." Scott stopped just inches away from the mat, receiving nothing more than a rough jolt from the rope holding him up. As expected, Coach Finstock laughed loudly, pushing to the front of the group to see Scott sprawled out on the floor after disconnecting from the rope. "McCall, I don't know why, but your pain gives me a special kind of joy."
"Y'know Coach, I agree with you." Rachel ran up beside him, smiling sweetly. "Anything that inflicts pain on Scott, is a beautiful creation."
"You're still up next, Hale." Coach snapped, Rachel groaning in annoyance. That'd been her last shot at getting out, and by the looks of it; nothing was going to work. "Greenberg!"
In a matter of a few minutes, both Rachel & Greenberg were starting up the wall, each equipped with a harness to catch them if they fell. Though, Rachel had a sneaking suspicion that Coach may have intentionally rigged Greenberg's to break. Pushing back the feeling of discomfort, Rachel started off strong, climbing up the wall as fast as she could. Even though the bite hadn't worked on Jackson, (for some unknown reason, that she had no understanding of) she'd certainly gotten some amount of strength from reflecting him.
Rachel knew how it felt to be entirely human, and this certainly wasn't it. By the time Greenberg had made it a fourth of the way up, Rachel was less than two feet away from the top. The brunette was just about to reach for the last rock she needed to pull herself up, when something on her arm caught her eye. Her brows furrowed in confusion as her movements halted, all her attention being directed to the strange pattern beginning to appear.
To her, it looked almost as though it were lizard scales; but that wasn't possible, was it? Rachel moved her hand away from the top rock, leaning forward to get a closer look at the markings. Another series soon appeared on her hand, sending a wave of fear through her. A muffled shriek escaped her lips as her foot slipped from one of the plastic rocks. Gravity quickly took effect after that, sending her crashing to the ground much like Scott had, but from a higher point.
The brunette landed on top of her arm with a loud smack against the mat, the supposed safety harness failing to catch her. The impact hadn't caused her an immense amount of pain, due to the preexisting fear still surging through her veins from the sight of freaking scales on her arm. Clearly Finstock had noticed her lack of crying & pained screams, because after a moment of worrisome silence from the crowd, her busted out into laughter. "Hah! Nice going, Hale!"
Rachel groaned loudly, pushing herself up off the mat whilst still attempting to keep her arm hidden from the array of clueless students. Stiles seemed to notice her distress & hurried to help her up, then proceeding to drag her off to the back of the crowd. "What happened?"
"Stilinski, Erica, let's go!" Coach shouted, ignorant of Greenberg standing proudly at the bottom of the wall. Rachel doubted he'd even write down that Greenberg had beaten her to the top.
"It's nothing." Rachel shook her head, gesturing to the rock wall. "You're up."
Stiles hesitated for a moment before nodding, hurrying over to the front of the crowd & suiting up to climb. Utilizing the few minutes of spare time, Rachel glanced around her to ensure nobody was looking before moving her arm away from her shirt. To her shock, her skin was perfectly clear (with the exception of a few little birthmarks) & void of any scale-like formations.
She swore she'd seen them; it had to be real. She couldn't have imagined the entire thing. She saw actual scales magically appear on her skin, as if it were as simple & natural as a werewolf growing claws from their fingertips. Rachel knew what she'd seen, and she wasn't about to let it slide by as nothing.
But for now, it had to be stored in the back of her mind; particularly due to the increasingly eye-catching scene playing out in front of her. Stiles had already made it to the top of the wall (leading Rachel to question how long she'd stood there, lost in her scale covered thoughts) & was repelling down to the floor with ease. The spastic boy proudly pumped his fists in the air, unaware of why no one else was applauding him.
It was only when he looked up did he realize that everyone was far too focused of the trembling body of Erica Reyes to notice his accomplishment. The blonde was halfway up the rock wall, clinging onto it for dear life as though she were a thousand feet in the air. Rachel pushed through the crowd, this time joined by Allison & Lydia, to the front beside Stiles.
"Erica? You dizzy?" Coach yelled up at her, seeming to finally become worried. "Is it vertigo?"
"Vertigo's a dysfunction of the vestibular system of the inner ear." Lydia corrected, her gaze moving up to Erica on the rock wall. "She's just freaking out."
Rachel turned to Lydia, a signature what-the-fuck look on her face. "Tone it down a notch, Regina George."
"I'm fine." Erica shakily called out, still holding tightly to the wall. It was more than evident that she was far from fine, but she didn't want everyone else to know. If she quit now, everyone would just laugh at her.
"Coach, maybe it's not safe." Allison cut in. "You know she's epileptic."
"Why doesn't anybody tell me this stuff?" Coach shrieked, his voice reaching a pitch so high Rachel swore her ears were about to bleed. "Erica.. Y-You're fine. Just- Just kick off from the wall, and don't do what Hale did. There's a mat to catch you, c'mon."
"My name's actually-"
"There!" Coach shouted once Erica had safely repelled to the ground, landing steadily on her feet. "You're on the ground. You're alright. Let's go, shake it off. You're fine."
Erica hurriedly pushed through the crowd, rushing off into the locker rooms as the class broke out into quiet laughter. Rachel wanted to yell out an array of curses, but she knew she was better off remaining silent. She'd already been the target of their laughter once, and she didn't want it to happen again. As a matter of fact, that last though sparked a devious idea in her mind. One of which could very well drag a knife through her friendship with Scott & Stiles.
But in turn, it would save Erica another humiliating incident with her epilepsy. Scott & Stiles never even had to know it was her idea; they could blame the entire thing on Derek, for all she cared. Rachel wanted to do something good, for once. Derek owed her more favours than she could even count, from the various times she (and/or Scott) had saved him from a life threatening situation. Surely he could managed to pay her back, for once. Rachel hurried off to the locker rooms, quickly digging her cellphone out of her bag. She typed in her passcode, tapping on the messenger app before selecting a name she'd just recently unblocked.
To: Wolverine
I'm calling in a favour. Text me back, asap.
⠀⠀⠀⠀↻
"I always did hate trains." Rachel muttered, slouching back in the old, torn seat of the broken down railroad cars located within the warehouse she & her brother were staying in.
To summarize the past hour in short, Erica had attempted to climb the rock wall once more (this time without a safety harness) and had ended up falling due to a seizure. Luckily for her, Scott had caught her before she hit the floor. Rachel had overheard him saying something about feeling the seizure, which didn't surprise her. Dogs were often used to detect seizures before they even happened, so it made sense for a werewolf to have the same ability.
During that time, Rachel had been arguing with Derek via text messages. While he seemed adamant on choosing his pack members by himself, Rachel had a feeling he'd be showing up at the hospital, which was where Erica had been sent, after her seizure. And knowing that a curious (and clueless) fugitive beta was still taking refuge in their hideout, Rachel had decided to pay him a visit during her free period. Anything was better than studying for an upcoming Chemistry test.
All Rachel needed to know in Chemistry, was that the chemical symbols for Bismuth, Technetium & Hydrogen spelled out BiTcH. In her mind, that was all she'd ever need in order to graduate with honours. She hadn't tested the joke on Harris yet, but she could only hope he wasn't smart enough to figure it out. Otherwise, she'd be joining Stiles in detention for "the rest of their high school careers" as Harris would put it.
"What are you doing here?" A voice called out from behind her, causing Rachel to jolt in surprise. The brunette kicked her feet down off the seat in front of her, spinning around to face Isaac. That was the second time in twenty-four hours that a werewolf had snuck up on her, and there sure as hell wasn't going to be a third.
"Enjoying the view." Rachel answered, gesturing to the dirty-covered window. It was nearly impossible to see past the grime, and even if that was managed, the only thing on the other side of the car was a wall.
"Do I know you?" The werewolf questioned, narrowing his eyes at her in confusion.
"You should." Rachel laughed dryly, falling backwards back onto her seat. "You kicked my ass last night."
"Oh- I, uh- sorry about that." He apologized, scratching at the back of his neck nervously. The memories were hazy, but he could vaguely remember the fight within the police station whilst the full moon shone brightly. "I couldn't-"
"You couldn't control it, I know. You're pretty new to all of this, aren't you?" Rachel questioned, a smirk playing on her lips. She couldn't lie; it was almost humorous to her, to see someone so new to everything supernatural. "I could teach you a few things, if you wanted."
"Yeah- I mean, if it's not too much trouble.."
"No trouble at all." Rachel's smile widened. The brunette stood up, pushing past Isaac & walking out of the railroad car. "So tell me, what has Derek taught you?"
"Nothing, really. He told me about the Argents & what would happen on the full moon, but that's about all." Isaac answered honestly. "I was kind of arrested before he had the chance."
"Hm." Rachel hummed, nodding. She had a feeling her brother probably wouldn't have taught him anything yet, anyways. It was too close to the full moon to bother with it, he would've just ended up losing control like he did. But now that it's passed, they've got a full month to work on control, (that is, as long as the mysterious scales don't make a reappearance on more than just Rachel's arm.) A month is more than enough to teach the basics of being a werewolf. "Have you figured out how to flick your claws yet?"
"What?"
"I'm gonna take that as a no." Rachel pursed her lips, leaning against the railroad car. She muttered a quiet, "watch" before curling her hand into a fist, then proceeding to flick her fingers out. At first she stared in confusion, wondering why she was staring at her own, uneven fingernails. Then it registered in her brain that she was no longer a werewolf, courtesy of Jackass Whittemore; and in order to regain her claws, she'd need to reflect one of her many werewolf friends.
Isaac furrowed his brows, looking at her as if she were crazy. "Aren't you supposed to have claws?"
"Usually." Rachel sighed, tucking her hands in the pockets of her leather jackets. "Just try it. You have to concentrate. It'll work for you."
Isaac nodded, seemingly unbelieving of her statement, but he wasn't about to disagree. The werewolf repeated her actions, curling his hand into a fist before attempting to flick out the claws rumoured to be there. The first attempt was a failure, which only added to his disbelief; but Rachel wasn't fazed. The brunette only nodded, encouraging him to try again, which he did. The second time, unlike the first, he succeeded, earning a round of applause from Rachel.
"You might actually be good at this." Rachel commented. "Now all you need to work on is your confidence."
"What's wrong with my confidence?" Isaac questioned curiously. He knew he was somewhat of an outcast & an introvert, but he did have some confidence. Probably not as much as everyone, but it was still something.
"Everything." The brunette deadpanned, rolling her eyes as she pushed herself off the side of the railroad car. "You're a freaking werewolf, Isaac! Act like it. Do you want to be a bench warmer like Stiles, or a star player like Scott? Maybe you haven't had the time to sit down & think it over, but you've got a once in a lifetime opportunity to be everything you've ever wanted to be."
"Yeah.." Isaac muttered, thinking over what Rachel had just said. She was right. He didn't have to sit around & watch everyone else get what he wanted, not anymore. No more sitting at the back of the class in silence, pretending as though he was invisible, because in truth, he wasn't. And it was time people started realizing that.
"Just because Derek gave you a leather jacket, it's not going to make you popular." Rachel stated, taking a few steps closer to him. "Yeah, you look hot, but you've gotta act it, too. People,they don't just want a pretty face. Take it from me, if you wanna get noticed, you need to make them notice you. What you really need to do, is put Jackass Whittemore to shame. Think you can do that?"
"Yeah." He stated with newfound confidence, a smirk soon appearing on his face. "I can do that."
⠀⠀⠀⠀↻
As you can see, Rachel's taking her own advice. The era of insanely badass Rae is officially upon us, and I'm not gonna lie; I'm super excited.
I wanted to do something different, and yeah I think I succeeded. We never really saw how Isaac went from a scared teenager, to a complete badass pretty much overnight (he basically just got the bite & then BAM), so I decided to do this. I really shouldn't tell you how badly I wanted to end this with a hot make-out session, BUT I COULDN'T. I have this shit planned, and I need to stay with the plan. In all honesty, this was really fun to write, because this is only the start of season two Rachel. I'm trying to power through all of this though, because tbh season two was my least favourite. What I'm excited for, is 3B. It's my absolute favourite, and I'm gonna go full Satan (and a little Normal Bates) on that shit.
Lastly, you can thank all one thousand of my beautiful followers (I prefer to call them friends, tbh) for this double update. There's one thousand people who put up with my outrageously annoying posts, swearing & excessive awkwardness, so I'd just like to give them all one big shoutout for that. You guys never fail to amaze me.
Anyways.. Comment opinions?