[This chapter at least will be split into two chapters because altogether it's over 10,000 words to read, give or take. And that's a lot to read, so hopefully y'all don't mind the split.]
BEACON HILLS PRESERVE
On a dark, foggy night, several Beacon County Sheriff's Department deputies pulled up to the Beacon Hills Preserve in their police cruisers. At least a dozen officers got out from their vehicles, some with K9 unit dogs who were barking and whimpering amongst the radio chatter. Flashlights in hand, the deputies began their search in the woods.
MCCALL HOUSE
Scottie was getting ready for bed. As she laced up her lacrosse stick, she heard an odd sound. She grabbed a wooden bat and made her way outside.
Stiles Stilinski dangled from the roof, causing Scottie to scream.
"Stiles, what the hell are you doing?!" Scottie cried.
"You weren't answering your phone," Stiles replied. "Why do you have a bat?"
"I thought you were a predator."
"A pre -- I -- wha -- look, I know it's late, but you gotta hear this. I saw my dad leave 20 minutes ago. Dispatch called. They're bringing in every officer from the Beacon Department, and even State Police."
"For what?"
"Two joggers found a body in the woods."
"A dead body?"
"No, a body of water. Yes, dumbass, a dead body."
"You mean like murdered?"
"Nobody knows yet. Just that it was a guy, probably in his late 20s."
"Hold on, if they found the body, then what are they looking for?"
"That's the best part. They only found half. We're going."
---
Scottie let out an annoyed sigh as they reached the Beacon Hills Preserve. "We're seriously doing this?"
"You're the one always bitching that nothing ever happens in this town," Stiles shot back.
"I was trying to get a good night's sleep before practice tomorrow."
Instantly, Stiles' tone turned sarcastic. "Right, 'cause sitting on the bed is such a grueling effort."
"No, because I'm playing this year. In fact, I'm making first line."
"Hey, that's the spirit. Everyone should have a dream, even a pathetically unrealistic one."
"Just out of curiosity, which half of the body are we looking for?"
"Huh! I didn't even think about that."
"And, uh, what if whoever killed the body is still out there?"
"Also something I didn't think about."
Scottie rolled her eyes in amusement as the two began hiking up the hill. "It's comforting to know you've planned this out with your usual attention to detail."
"I know."
Scottie's breathing quickly turned rapid, shallow and wheezy as the two continued climbing, and she struggled to keep up with Stiles' quick pace. She gasped and said, "Maybe the severe asthmatic should be the one holding the flashlight, huh?"
Scottie leaned back against a nearby tree and pulled her inhaler from her pocket. However, since Stiles kept pushing on, Scottie continued making her way up the hill after her. When they saw a handful of people ahead waving flashlights around, the two dove behind a large fallen branch as they planned their next move, turning off the flashlight so they didn't attract attention. Quickly getting impatient, Stiles whispered back to Scottie as she jumped up and ran towards the action.
"Wait!" Scottie said.
"Come on!" Stiles told her friend.
Scottie, still wheezing, tried to stop Stiles, but couldn't. "Stiles! Wait up!" She quickly took a hit from her inhaler before scrambling to catch up with her. She tried to call after her best friend without alerting anyone they were there. "Stiles. Stiles!"
Stiles finally heard the last attempt to call her name, but the split second of distraction caused a nearby K9 officer to start barking at her, scaring her so she fell backwards onto the ground. The deputy with the search dog immediately pointed her flashlight at Stiles as she tried to recover from the shock.
"Hold it right there!" the deputy said.
Stiles put her hands up while Scottie, several meters behind, hid behind a nearby tree, pressing her back to it and closed her eyes hoping she wouldn't be seen.
"Hang on, hang on..." a woman said as Stiles stood, shielding her eyes from the bright flashlight held towards her by the deputy. The sheriff sighed. "This little delinquent belongs to me."
Stiles, trying to play it cool, greeted her mother warmly. "Mom, how are you doing?"
The sheriff looked at her daughter with a mix of frustration, exasperation, and exhaustion. "So, do you, uh, listen in to all of my phone calls?"
Stiles laughed sheepishly. "No. Heh..." Her mother gave her a look, and she finished her sentence. "...Not the boring ones."
Sheriff Stilinski sighed and nodded as though she'd accepted this truth about her daughter before looking around the surrounding area. "Now, where's your usual partner in crime?"
Stiles immediately tried to play dumb as it started to rain. "Who, Scottie? Scottie's home. She said she wanted to get a good night's sleep for first day back at school tomorrow." Her mother looked at her in disbelief as she continued to lie. "It's just me... In the woods... Alone..."
The sheriff didn't buy what Stiles was saying, and she lifted her flashlight and tried to get a look around to find Scottie, who was still hiding behind the tree. "Scottie, you out there? Scottie?"
After a moment, when Scottie didn't materialize in front of her, Sheriff Stilinski reluctantly determined that Scottie wasn't with Stiles after all. She then sighed before grabbing Stiles roughly by the back of the neck and steering her towards the entrance to the preserve.
Sheriff Stilinski said to her daughter, "Well, young lady, I'm gonna walk you back to your car... And then you and I are gonna have a conversation about something called "invasion of privacy.""
As Stiles and the Sheriff left, Scottie closed her eyes and hit the back of her head on the tree, mouthing "Damn!" under her breath when she realized that by hiding herself, she lost her way home. Scottie waited until the coast was clear before heading in the opposite direction through the woods, following the same path she and Stiles took to get there.
Thunder and lightning flickered overhead as Scottie carefully made her way back, pulling up the hood to her sweatshirt to try to keep her head dry from the steady rain. She was unnerved by the sounds of the forest animals around her, but when she made it to a foggy clearing, she became unnerved by the fact that it fell totally silent. She pulled her inhaler out of her hoodie once again and shook it, intending to take another hit when suddenly, a herd of deer began frantically stampeding towards her, trampling her over and causing her inhaler to fly several meters away.
Once the deer had cleared out, Scottie, still in shock, got to her feet and started looking for her inhaler using her cell phone as a light source. She was about to search through a pile of dead leaves when she was startled when she instead uncovered the top half of the body that Stiles had told her about-- young, white, with dark hair and very clearly bisected at the waist. The shock of this sight stunned her so badly that she lost her balance and tumbled down the hill behind her and into a ravine.
Scottie, shaken, stood with a groan, using a fallen tree trunk to help herself up due to the aches and pains caused by her fall. She made her way quickly through the woods, wanting nothing more than to get out of there as soon as possible, when all of the sudden, a growl heard behind her caused her to freeze in fear. She slowly turned around, only to find a large, bestial wolf with glowing red eyes standing before her.
Scottie barely had time to gasp before the beast leapt towards her, causing her to fall backwards onto the ground. Though Scottie attempted to crawl away, the wolf grabbed her by the ankles and pulled her backwards before viciously biting her on her right hip, causing Scottie to roar in pain.
"AHHHHH!" Scottie screamed.
Panicked, Scottie scrambled through the woods, tripping and tumbling all the way as she desperately tried to evade whatever bit her. The beast tripped her and pulled him backwards before biting her on her right hip. When Scottie finally made it to the nearest road, she stopped just before being hit by someone driving a burgundy SUV, who managed to swerve away from her just in the nick of time. Finally more or less safe, Scottie took a moment to lift the hem of her hoodie up, examining the large bite wound on her hip with horror as the rain continued to pour down around her. Suddenly, a loud wolf howl was heard from in the woods, which only made Scottie more concerned.
BEACON HILLS HIGH SCHOOL
Scottie was riding her mountain bike through the school parking lot, where she jumped off just as she made it to the bike rack in front of the school. She took off her helmet and hung it on the handlebars, adjusting her backpack with her lacrosse stick strapped to the back just as Jaxon Whittemore, driving a silver Porsche, pulled into the parking spot next to her. Jaxon got out of the car, hitting Scottie in the back with the door before shooting her a nasty look.
"Dude!" Jaxon said. "Watch the paint job."
Scottie looked at her with an offended expression, but before they could interact further, a female student called out to her.
"Yo, Jaxon!" the girl said. "Let's go."
Jaxon walked away without another word, though she did turn her head back to shoot Scottie a glare before she left.
Scottie met up with Stiles and as they walked towards the entrance, they discussed the events of the previous night.
"Okay, let's see this thing," Stiles said and Scottie lifted her shirt to show Stiles her bite wound, which was covered with gauze and tape that had a small amount of blood leaking through. "Ooh!"
"Yeah..." Scottie trailed.
Stiles poked the bandage, which caused Scottie to flinch in pain. "Whoa!"
Scottie pulled her shirt back down as the two resumed their walk into the school and Scottie said, "It was too dark to see much, but I'm pretty sure it was a wolf."
Stiles looked at Scottie with disbelief. "A wolf bit you?"
"Uh-huh."
Stiles shook her head and gave her a look that said she thought Scottie was being dense. "No, not a chance."
Scottie was confused. "I heard a wolf howling."
Stiles scoffed and continued to shake her head in response to Scottie's argument. "No, you didn't."
Scott grew frustrated. "What do you mean, "No, I didn't?" How do you know what I heard?"
"Because California doesn't have wolves, okay? Not in, like, sixty years."
Scottie looked surprised by the news as the two stopped on the staircase. Stiles turned around to face Scottie with a serious expression.
"Really?" Scottie asked.
"Yes, really," Stiles replied. "There are no wolves in California."
"All right. Well, if you don't believe me about the wolf, then you're definitely not gonna believe me about when I tell you I found the body."
Stiles' demeanor instantly changed from exasperation to gleeful at the sound of the news. "You -- are you kidding me?"
"No, I wish. I'm gonna have nightmares for a month."
"Oh, god, that is freakin' awesome. I mean, this is seriously gonna be the best thing that's happened to this town since-" she lost her train of thought when she saw Lyndon Martin, King of Beacon Hills High School, walking up the stairs toward the school, and abandoned her train of thought in order to glare at him, "-Since the birth of Lyndon Martin. Oh wait. That wasn't the greates thing. Don't look at me, don't look at me."
Lyndon continued to walk right past Stiles, smiling at her as he passed her.
"And he noticed me." She looked back at Scottie with an irritable expression. "You're the cause of this, you know."
Scottie rolled her eyes in response to that comment. "Uh-huh. He clearly likes you. Can't you just give him a chance?"
"No. First of all, you've dragged me down to your nerd depths. Which means I'm a nerd by association. Meaning you've Scarlet-nerded me. Secondly, no way am I giving any acknowledgement that he noticed me."
"Stiles, this has gone on way too long."
"He ruined my sandcastle and threw sand in my face!"
"You two were eight. It's been eight years. I think it's time for you to get over it."
"Not a chance, Scottlyn."
Scottie shot her a look and turned to walk inside. "It's Scottie. You know that."
ENGLISH CLASS
Scottie and Stiles entered their first period English class and took their seats, where the teacher, Mrs. Curtis, immediately began the lecture without introduction.
Mrs. Curtis said, "As you all know, there indeed was a body found in the woods last night." Scottie grinned and looked over at Stiles, who was in the desk one row and one column behind her and who winked at her knowingly. "And I am sure your eager little minds are coming up with various macabre scenarios as to what happened. But I am here to tell you that the police have a suspect in custody, which means you can give your undivided attention to the syllabus, which is on your desk outlining this semester."
Scottie and Stiles once again shared an unexcited look before suddenly, Scottie heard a phone ring so loudly that she believed it to be right next to her. However, when she looked around the room, she saw no one else reacting to the noise, causing her to frown in confusion. Eventually, the sound of a male voice drew her attention to the row of windows to her left, through which she saw a young brunet man sitting on a bench at the bottom of the stairs to the front entrance to the school. He had just answered the phone, which he had braced between his ear and his shoulder so he could dig through his gray backpack. The fact that she could hear him speaking like he was sitting right in front of her only made her more confused.
"Mom, three calls on my first day is a little overdoing it," Alec said.
His mother said something unintelligible on the other end of the line.
"Everything except a pen. Oh, my God, I didn't actually forget a pen. Okay, okay. I gotta go. Love ya."
Alec hung up and put his phone away. Scottie continued to eavesdrop as the vice principal of the school came out to greet him.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," the vice principal said. "So you were saying San Francisco isn't where you grew up?"
"No, but we lived there for more than a year, which is unusual in my family."
Scottie, still looking alarmed, tracked Alec with her eyes until he was walked into the school and through the hallway by the vice principal.
"Well, hopefully Beacon Hills will be your last stop for a while."
The vice principal walked Alec into the classroom, where she introduced him to the other students. "Class, this is our new student, Alec Argent. Please do your best to make him feel welcome".
Alec, who looked nervous, smiled weakly before finding the only open seat in the class, which just happened to be the seat behind Scottie and to the right of Stiles, the latter of whom smiles at him awkwardly as he sat down. Scottie, having heard his conversation with his mother earlier, knew that he forgot a pen and offered him one of her own.
Alec looked surprised by the gesture, but smiled at her gratefully. "Thanks."
Scottie smiled back at him in a way that indicated that she was starting to fall for him already, or that she at least found him incredibly attractive, before turning back around in her seat so he couldn't see her blush.
The English teacher picked up where she left off as Alec looked confused by the interaction. "We'll begin with Kafka's Metamorphosis on page one-thirty-three."
BEACON HILLS HIGH SCHOOL
After class ended, the students filed out and went to their lockers. Scottie's locker was across the hallway and several meters down from Alec's, and when Scottie caught his eye, Alec smiled at her. Just then, Lyndon approached Alec and struck up a conversation, and Scottie continued to watch them from afar and eavesdrop on them with her newly-enhanced hearing as Stiles and their friend Harley join her by her own locker.
"That jacket is absolutely killer," Lyndon said. "Where'd you get it?"
"My mom was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco," Alec replied.
"And you are my new best friend." He caught Stiles' eye and smiled, but she glared.
Just then, Jaxon, Lyndon's girlfriend, joined them as well. Lyndon greeted her warmly as she put her arm around his waist, though it made Alec feel uncomfortable.
"Heyyy," Jaxon greeted.
"Hey, Jax," Lyndon said.
Jaxon and Lyndon shared a kiss. Meanwhile, across the hall, Harley, who was also watching the scene go down in front of them, looked at Scottie and Stiles incredulously, though Scottie was too busy listening to Alec, Lyndon, and Jaxon's conversation to hear him.
"Can someone tell me how New Guy is here all of five minutes, and he's already hanging out with Lyndon's clique?" Harley said.
Though Harley was obviously being facetious, Stiles replied with a genuine answer. "Because he's hot." Harley gave her a look, but Stiles still didn't get it and shrugged before finishing her thought. "Beautiful people herd together."
Scottie was so distracted by listening to Alec, Lyndon and Jaxon talk that she didn't even react to Harley and Stiles' argument.
"So, this weekend, there's a party," Lyndon said.
"A party?" Alec repeated.
"Yeah, Friday night," Jaxon stated. "You should come."
Alec looked slightly bashful when he replied. "Uh, I can't. It's family night this Friday. Thanks for asking."
Lyndon and Jaxon both looked disappointed by his response. Meanwhile, Harley and Stiles had a very animated debate going on that couldn't be heard because the entirety of Scottie's attention was being focused on Alec.
"You sure?" Jaxon asked. "Everyone's going after the scrimmage."
"You mean like football?" Alec questioned.
Jaxon laughed as though he was kidding. "Football's a joke in Beacon. The sport here is lacrosse. We've won the state championship for the past three years."
Lyndon looked at Jaxon with a loving expression as he ruffled her hair. "Because of a certain team captain..."
Jaxon smirked smugly at the compliment. "Well, we have practice in a few minutes. That is, if you don't have anywhere else-"
Alec cut her off in an attempt to talk his way out of it. "Well, I was going to-"
"Perfect!" Lyndon interrupted, making the decision for him. "You're coming."
Lyndon grabbed Alec by the wrist and dragged him to the lacrosse field, with Alec giving Scottie one last look before he went.
LACROSSE FIELD
The lacrosse team had gathered on the lacrosse field, where the players were warming up by passing the ball back and forth as other students congregated in the bleachers to watch the team play. Scottie and Stiles were in the middle of a conversation as they quickly jogged toward the field. In a change in dynamics from the previous night, it was now Stiles who was out of breath and trying to keep up with Scottie, who seemed unfazed by the exertion.
"But if you play, I'll have no one to talk to on the bench," Stiles said. "Are you really gonna do that to your best friend?"
As much as Scottie felt bad for that side effect of potentially making first line, she wasn't going to be talked out of trying out. "I can't sit out again. My whole life is sitting on the sidelines." She dropped her bag near the bench. "This season, I make first line."
Scottie was distracted by the sight of Alec and Lyndon sitting down in the bleachers so they could watch the team play. Alec smiled at her, but before she could smile back, Coach Bobbi Finstock appeared in front of her and yelled her name.
"McCall!" Coach called.
"Yeah?"
Coach roughly tossed a lacrosse stick with a much bigger net and a bigger helmet to Scottie, who caught them after they smack her on the chest which caused her to wince slightly. Scottie's eyes narrowed in confusion.
"You're on goal."
Scottie frowned. "I've never played..."
"I know -- scoring some shots will give the girls a confidence boost. It's a first-day-back thing." She smacked Scottie on the shoulder for emphasis. "Get 'em energized! Fired up!"
" ...What about me?" Scottie asked in a nervous tone.
"Try not to take any in the face." Coach smacked Scottie lightly on the cheek with the palm of her hand before turning toward the field to start the try-outs. "Let's go! Come on!"
In the stands, Lyndon looked at Scottie curiously, as though he had never noticed her before, and Alec was staring at her as well. Lyndon's gaze shifted to Stiles who was near the bench. Scottie reluctantly took her place in the goal and prepared for practice to start. Just then, her superhuman hearing kicked in once again, allowing her to listen in on Alec and Lyndon's conversation.
"Who is that?" Alec asked, jerking his head in Scottie's direction.
"Her? I'm not sure who she is. Why?"
Scottie cocked her head in confusion as she stared at them, but they didn't seem to notice.
Alec smiled in response to Lyndon's question. "She's in my English class."
Unfortunately for Scottie, the fact that she was distracted and her extra-sensitive ears caused her to flinch and cover her ears in pain when the assistant coach blew the whistle to start practice. This made her a prime target for Jaxon, who took a shot at the goal while Scottie was still recovering. The ball hit her right in the front of his helmet with so much force that she was knocked backwards onto the ground. Coach Finstock, Jaxon, and the rest of the team members immediately started laughing and making fun of her.
"Hey, way to catch with your face, McCall!" Jaxon said.
Scottie, now determined to prove herself, stood to her feet and shook out her shoulders in preparation for the next shot. The next player tossed the ball towards her, and Scottie caught it easily, to the point where she was visibly stunned that she was able to do so. This sentiment was shared by all the rest of the teammates, Stiles included, who then cheered happily for her friend.
"Yeah!!!" Stiles exclaimed.
The second, third, fourth, and fifth shots were caught by Scottie just as easily, and Coach Finstock simply stared at Scottie with her mouth open as though she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Alec smiled when she saw Scottie's performance, and even Lyndon was clearly impressed by what he saw. Scottie's hearing once again picked up on their conversation while she got ready for the next shot.
"She seems like she's pretty good," Alec commented.
"Yeah, very good," Lyndon said.
Scottie was practically giddy as she bounced on the balls of her feet and smiled, which only made Jaxon more angry. Intent to take Scottie down a peg so that she was back in the spotlight, she slammed the top of her stick against the player who was set to practice her goals and ditched her in line.
Scottie tensed when she saw this and prepared for the worst and muttered, "Oh, God..."
Jaxon ran as fast as she could towards the goal and tossed the ball with all the force she could muster, but to Scottie, the ball seemed to be moving in slow-motion, allowing her to catch it without hesitation. Both Stiles and Lyndon stand to cheer Scottie on, much to Scottie's surprise.
"YEAH!!!!" Stiles cried.
"WOOOO!" Lyndon cheered.
"THAT'S MY FRIEND!"
Jaxon was appalled by the fact that Scottie got one over on her, and Lyndon gave Jaxon a pointed look, as if to say, "Is that all you've got?" The look only made Jaxon more furious with Scottie for taking her glory as the best player on the team. Alec watched Scottie with interest as she threw a back-shot at the assistant coach, who just barely caught it with her own stick.
BEACON HILLS PRESERVE
Scottie and Stiles had just crossed the creek in the nature preserve as they attempted to find both the top half of the body Scottie found the night before as well as the inhaler she dropped in the process. As they walked, their feet got wet in the water.
"I-I don't know what it was," Scottie said. "It was like I had all the time in the world to catch the ball. And that's not the only weird thing. I-I can hear stuff I shouldn't be able to hear. Smell things."
"Smell things?" Stiles repeated. "Like what?"
"Like the mint mojito gum in your pocket."
Stiles made a face as though she thought Scottie was crazy. "I don't even have any mint mojito-" She checked the inner breast pocket of her blazer and found, much to her surprise, that there was a single piece of folded-up mint mojito gum, just as Scottie sensed. Scottie raised both of her arms to the side as if to say, "I told you so." Stiles considered the idea for a moment before she continued. "So all this started with the bite?"
"What if it's like an infection? Like, my body's flooding with adrenaline before I go into shock or something?"
A small smirk formed on Stiles' face before trying to make herself look as serious as possible, which Scottie, who was walking in front of her, didn't catch. "You know what? I actually think I've heard of this-- it's a specific kind of infection."
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I think it's called lycanthropy."
Scottie, still not realizing that Stiles was messing with her, started to panic. "What's that? Is that bad?"
"Oh, yeah, it's the worst. But only once a month. Just like the "wonderful" thing we get."
"Once a month?"
"Mm-hmm. On the night of the full moon. Aroooo!" She fake-howled like a wolf, and Scottie, annoyed, shoved her away, causing Stiles to giggle in amusement. "Hey, you're the one who heard a wolf howling!"
"Hey, there could be something seriously wrong with me!"
"I know! You're a Werewolf! Rawrrr!" Scottie was clearly not impressed by this joke, and Stiles' demeanor became serious. "Okay, obviously I'm kidding. But, if you see me in shop class trying to melt all the silver I can find, it's 'cause Friday's a full moon."
Scottie stopped walking and looked around, frowning when she didn't see anything remarkable where they were standing. "No, I-I could have sworn this was it. I saw the body, the deer came running. I dropped my inhaler..."
"Maybe the killer moved the body?"
"If he or she did, I hope he or she left my inhaler. Those things are, like, eighty bucks."
Scottie and Stiles were still looking around when suddenly, a woman in her early twenties with pale skin, black hair, a black leather jacket, and a scowl appeared in front of them.
"What are you doing here?" the woman asked.
When Scottie and Stiles, both of whom were visibly panicking, didn't respond, the woman's tone got even harsher.
"Huh? This is private property," the woman told them.
"Uh, sorry, ma'am, we didn't know," Stiles replied.
The woman's attention was focused on Scottie, who picked up where Stiles left off to try to relieve the tension. "Yeah, we were just looking for something, but..." She was about to continue until the woman glared at her, after which point Scottie lost her nerve and dropped the subject. "...Uh, forget it."
Suddenly, the woman tossed Scottie's inhaler at her before turning and heading back the way she came without a word, giving Scottie one last look and seemingly paying Stiles no attention whatsoever.
Scottie sighed and got ready to turn back the opposite direction. "Um... All right, come on, I gotta get to work."
Before Scottie could move, Stiles held up her hand to physically stop her from walking away as she said, "Dude, that was Danica Hale!" When Scottie looked at her blankly, her expression became incredulous. "You remember, right? She's only like a few years older than us."
Scottie frowned. "Remember what?"
"Her family. They all burned to death in a fire, like, ten years ago."
Scottie looked both intrigued and concerned by the news. "I wonder what she's doing back..."
Stiles scoffed, as though she thought that nothing good could come of it before walking away. "Come on."
Stiles finally turned back, and Scottie, still looking towards where Danica headed out, slowly followed behind her.
BEACON HILLS ANIMAL CLINIC
Night had fallen, and another thunderstorm had just started up as Scottie walked to the front entrance of the animal clinic where she worked as a veterinary technician. She looked outside with a concerned expression before locking the door and turning the sign on the door so it read "CLOSED" instead of "OPEN".
In the employee bathroom, Scottie had just set a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and some bandages on the shelf above the sink before lifting her shirt to change her dressing. However, when she peeled away the tape and bloody gauze covering the bite she sustained the previous evening, she was stunned to find that it had already miraculously healed in less than one full day, with no scar or any mark whatsoever to indicate she had been injured at all. Scottie gaped at herself in the reflection of the mirror for a moment while she pondered the situation.
After shrugging off the strange healing of her wounds, she got back to work. She was dragging a large bag of cat food into the "cat clinic" when she greeted the cats who were boarded there.
"Hey, kitties," Scottie greeted.
Suddenly, the cats got extremely stirred up and started growling, meowing, and pawing at the cages in an attempt to get out to either flee or fight. Scottie was so overwhelmed by the bizarre situations that kept happening to her that she hurried quickly out of the cat clinic before any of the boarders could hurt themselves or her.
Scottie was just about to close up the clinic for the night when she sensed something outside. Just then, a soaking wet Alec appeared at the front door, frantically pounding on the door with his fist. After Scottie got over the shock of seeing him so unexpectedly, she unlocked and opened the front door before greeting him awkwardly, unsure of what she should be expecting.
"Hi..." Scottie began.
"I didn't see it," Alec said. "I took my eyes off the road for, like, two seconds to change the song on my iPod, and then this dog, it just came out of nowhere!"
Scottie, who was listening to Alec intently, immediately tried to calm him down to get more information. "It's all right. It's all right. It's all right. It's all right. Do you remember where it happened, so I can send Animal Control to find it?"
"No!" Alec cried as his breath caught momentarily. "I mean, yes, I know where I hit it, but the dog is-"
Scottie spoke in a patient tone. "Where is it?"
"It's in my car."
Scottie followed Alec out into the pouring rain, where he had the dog, a white and gray collie, in the trunk of his hatchback car. The dog instantly started growling at them, scaring Alec and causing her to jump backward.
Scottie, concerned, grabbed him by the shoulders to steady him and asked, "You okay? Usually the guy comforts the girl. Not the other way around." Alec nodded as he caught his breath, and Scottie smiled gently. "He's just frightened."
"That makes two of us."
"Let me see if I have any better luck."
Scottie looked at the dog, maintaining eye contact and a stern look, which seemed to instinctively trigger her newly-gained animal instincts. Suddenly, her irises glowed bright gold, and the dog ultimately submitted to her and stopped growling.
Inside the clinic, Scottie and Alec had brought the dog to the exam room, where Scottie was checking the dog for injuries.
"I think her leg is broken," Scottie said. "I've seen the doctor do plenty of splints. I can do it myself and then give her a painkiller for now." Alec nodded gratefully, and Scottie noticed that he was shivering from the cold and the rain. "I have another shirt in my bag..."
"Oh, I don't want to trouble you," Alec told her.
Scottie grabbed the shirt and handed it to him. "Here. I like big clothes on nights like this, so it should fit. Hopefully."
Alec took the shirt and goes into the other room to change. Scottie caught a glimpse of Alec's bare back after he took his shirt off, and the dog made a harrumphing noise and sat up to give her a look, as though he was judging her.
Scottie made a face at the dog in response. "Here. What? I didn't see anything."
Alec returned wearing her ivory long-sleeved T-shirt, looking slightly embarrassed. "Thanks for doing this. I feel really stupid."
Scottie frowned. "How come?"
Alec looked at the floor bashfully. "I don't know... 'Cause I freaked out like a total girl."
Scott looked confused by that statement. "So? I'm a girl. No judgments here."
Alec laughed tiredly. "I freaked out more than you. But you seem pretty tough."
Scottie smiled and tried to make him feel better. "Hey, I'd be freaked out too. In fact, I'd probably cry. And not like a tough girl, either. Like the biggest girly-girl ever. It'd be pathetic."
"Yeah, right..."
Scottie looked down at the dog, whose arm now had a yellow splint that Scottie had doodled on, and started petting him comfortingly. "So... It looks like he's gonna live. And I'm pretty sure he'll even let you pet him now, if you want."
Alec looked nervous about the prospect. "I don't think so."
Scottie smiled mischievously at Alec as if daring him to do it, knowing he'd feel better if he did. "Oh, come on. You don't want her to sue. I hear this breed is very litigious."
Alec slowly reached out and pet the dog along his side, and when he didn't growl or try to move, Alec smiled and continued to pet him.
Scottie said happily, "You see? He likes you."
Scottie and Alec stared at each other for a long moment before Alec looked confused and asked, "What?"
Scottie, realizing her staring was a little intense, looked away bashfully. "Uh. Sorry. You have an eyelash on your cheek."
"Oh... from the crying. And yes, I'm fully willing to admit when I cry."
Alec wiped at his face to try to get it off but missed it, so Scottie reached out and gently brushed the eyelash off of his left cheekbone. Alec smiled, seemingly developing feelings for Scottie just as she was for him.
"Thanks," Alec said.
"Yeah," Scottie replied.
Scottie walked Alec out to his car. She looked nervous as Alec opened the driver's side door and tossed his wet shirt on the passenger seat, stammering as she tried to summon the nerve to ask him out.
"So, um... I was wondering... I mean... Is it really family night on Friday, or do you think maybe you'd like to go to that party with me?" Scottie asked nervously.
Alec smiled when he realized that he got called out on his fib from earlier. "Family night was a total lie."
"So, is that a yes? You'll go?"
Alec smiled and nodded in agreement. "Definitely yes."
Scottie looked so awestruck that she hardly could believe she had successfully asked him out.