Alina walked towards the field. Her eyes scanned her surroundings; the bleachers were full of people of all ages, the sidelines of the field had lacrosse players scattered as they prepared for their game, and coach was frantically scribbling on his clipboard while yelling at some poor kids. She began to make her way towards coach with a cheery smile.
"Hey, coach!" She says.
"Thomason! Where have you been?!" Coach swung his head in the direction of the first aid assistant.
"Um... well, I was at home, and then I biked her, and now I'm... I'm here?" Alina says nervously.
"You're late."
"I'm five minutes early, coach."
"No-" he looks at his watch to notice that Alina was in fact five minutes early. "Oh... well, go get the first aid kit from the locker room, and be ready for the game to start."
"You got it, dude," Alina nods before heading off towards the school.
Alina walked into the school only to bump into someone when she turned into the boy's locker room.
"Ow!" A voice squeals as the person falls to the floor.
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" Alina quickly helps the person up to their feet. "Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah, I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Mhm, I'm just overdramatic, and you're pretty strong," the girl laughs. Alina looked straight into the girl's chocolate brown eyes. Her blonde hair shined similar to Alina's while under the moon rays that were brought in through the small windows of the locker room. "I'm Shay LeBlanc," she stuck out her hand to Alina.
"I'm Alina Thomason." Alina slid her hand into Shay's which fit perfectly together.
"You must be new."
"Uh, yeah. Just started here at the school earlier this week."
"Oh, cool," Shay smiles to show off her pearly white teeth. "Do you know where Coach Finstock is?"
"Yeah, he's out on the field."
"Okay, thanks. I was just going to ask him about being the first aid assistance for the lacrosse team."
"Oh, I'm actually the first aid assistant lacrosse team... maybe he will allow there to be two, and then we can work together," Alina smiles.
"That would, honestly, be awesome." Shay laughs.
Alina headed over to the first aid kits and picked it up, tossing it over her right shoulder before heading back to where Shay stood.
"Come on. Let's go ask coach," Alina smiled, holding her hand out to Shay. Shay happily grabs Alina's hand and the two girls head down the school halls and back to the lacrosse field that is full of people.
"Hey, coach!" Alina called.
"What do you want, Thomason?!" Coach called back.
"This is Shay LeBlanc. She was wondering if she could also be a first-aid assistant. I mean, I'm sure the players are dumb enough to get hurt quite often to the point where I will need an extra hand."
"Yeah, sure. Whatever." Coach waves the two girls away.
"Wait, really?" Shay asks in surprise.
"Yeah, why not?" Coach shrugs, turning back towards the field.
"Aren't you going to ask me any questions? Like my qualifications?"
"You know what a bandaid is?" Coach questions without even moving his eyes away from the field.
"Yeah?" Shay answers, but it sounds more like a question.
"Perfect! Now, go make yourselves useful somewhere," he shoos the two girls away.
Alina pulls on Shay's hand to lead her to the bench on the side of the field. She sets the first aid kit down on the edge of the metal bench before she pulls on her red windbreaker that had white letters that spelled out 'student first aid assistant' on the back of the jacket.
"Here," Alina passes the extra windbreaker to Shay.
"Thanks..." Shay pulls the windbreaker over her head, "hey, uh- was it that easy for you to get the job?"
"Pretty much," Alina shrugs. Alina then notices Mason and Liam by the bleachers. She had been trying to avoid them since the incident from earlier today in math class, especially Liam who had been constantly asking questions about the night at Lydia's lake house. However, she felt obligated to wish him luck since this is his first scrimmage here at Beacon Hills. "Hey, I'll be right back," she tells Shay who nods with a smile and takes a seat on the bench beside the first aid kit.
Alina heads over in the direction of her two friends.
"I don't care if he's a foot taller than me. I think I can take him." Alina hears Liam tell Mason as he glared at Brett.
"Yeah," Mason nods, completely zoned out on the view of a shirtless Brett. Alina then notices the shirtless Brett too and... damn, were the only words she could think of. She found herself distracted by the sight of Brett's abs just as Mason is.
"What do you think you two are doing?" Liam hisses.
"What? Me?" Mason glances to notice Alina now standing beside him, still staring at Brett as he pulled his shirt over his head much to Alina's dismay. "Us? We're agreeing with you." Mason elbows Alina in the ribs.
"Holy shit! What the-" Mason glares at her, "uh, yeah, we're being agreeable." She quickly nods, looking from Mason to Liam who glared at her.
"You two think he's hot, don't you?" Liam raised his brows.
"No! No. Not at all... Maybe... Yeah, maybe a little." Mason moves his attention back to Brett.
"No way," Alina acts as if she's about to vomit causing Liam and Mason to lightly chuckle.
"He wants to destroy me," Liam informs the two.
"I think you could definitely take him... And, then give him to me," Mason tells Liam. Liam chuckles at his best friend while Alina hums in agreement even though she had acted disgusted by the boy only seconds ago. She looks over to where Brett stood as he put on his lacrosse gear, she notices that he now has a small smirk plastered onto his face. "No, no. Just go out there and kick their smug prep school asses." Mason tries to motivate his friend before heading up to the bleachers to sit with Violet, but Alina didn't move.
Alina and Liam stood there, staring at one another awkwardly, unsure of what to say.
"I- uh- um, I wanted to wish you luck for the game," Alina stuttered.
"Oh, yeah, uh- t-thanks." Liam stuttered as well.
"Hey! Liam! Think fast!!" Brett shouts from afar causing Liam and Alina to look in the direction of where his voice came from. A lacrosse ball flew from Brett's lacrosse stick and towards Alina. She was about to duck out of its way, but, luckily Liam's hand flew out only inches in front of Alina's face and he grips onto the lacrosse ball, catching it with ease.
"Oh, he plays!" Alina hears coach say.
Liam glared at Brett before looking back to Alina with concerned eyes.
"Are you okay?" He asks.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine, thanks." Liam nods before being told to head onto the field by coach. "Good luck," she tells Liam before standing on the tips of her toes to press a soft kiss onto his cold cheek. And, as her soft lips pressed against his skin, his cold cheek quickly turned warm. She quickly turned around and headed towards the bench where Shay was sitting with wide eyes.
"First of all, whomever that boy is, he is hot. Second of all, when he caught the ball, Hot! Third of all, you go girl!" Shay squeals. "You have to give me the details!"
"There isn't anything to say. He's my neighbour-" Alina is cut off by Shay.
"Ohh, your neighbour," she winks. "All romance novels where the two lovers begin as neighbours are amazing," Shay takes a deep breath leading to Alina chuckling at the girl.
"Anyway, he's just a friend."
"A friend whom you kiss his cheek and wish him luck before each of his lacrosse games?" Shay winks again.
"Well- I-" Shay laughs at Alina's stuttering.
"You two are absolutely cute! I ship it!" Shay claps happily.
• • •
Alina and Shay sat on the bench while they watched Liam run down the field with the ball in his lacrosse sticks net. Unfortunately, two boys from the Devenford's team ran towards Liam and successfully knocked him down to the ground which ultimately led to Brett getting the ball and shooting it into the net, earning a point for his team. Liam quickly got to his feet and shook his gloves off his hands and was ready to pounce on the two boys clad in their green jerseys.
Stiles and Scott rushed over and held Liam back. Scott directed Liam to face away from the field and faced him towards Alina. The two made eye contact and a fluttering feeling erupted in Alina's stomach. As for Liam, he felt himself grow calm at the sight of the blonde girl on the bench. She smiled slightly and Liam smiled back.
"She's his anchor?" Stiles asked surprised.
"What?" Liam tears his eyes away from Alina to look at the Stilinski boy. Liam knew that Stiles would often say some weird things, but this time he had no clue what Stiles even meant.
"Yeah..." Scott nodded with a sad smile as he looked back over to Alina and then to Liam.
"What is an anchor?"
"Someone or something that you can concentrate on to help you stay calm and in control," Scott explains.
"So, she's the reason why I don't tear people to shreds?" Liam asks for confirmation that he understands what an anchor is.
"Yep," Scott and Stiles nod before heading back into the game.
Later into the game, Stiles miraculously got the ball and he passed it to Kira who is now on the lacrosse team. Kira sprinted down the field towards the net. She dodged the Devenford Prep's players as she wore a huge smile in excitement for finally having the ball and having the chance to get a goal.
"Pass it!" Coach yelled to Kira. "Kira! Pass the ball!" He shouted. Kira hadn't heard coach's yells and continued to run until she threw the ball into the net. The crowd on the bleachers cheered at the point earned by Beacon Hills High School. Alina stood to her feet applauding the girl. "Yukimura!" Coach bellowed across the field. "Get over here!"
Kira's smile faded as she jogged towards the bench that Alina and Shay were sitting on.
"Take a seat," coach told Kira. "You're benched for the rest of the game."
"What? Why?"
"Coach, that's not fair," Alina spoke up.
"You didn't pass," coach ignored Alina.
"I had an open shot," Kira argued.
"The play was for you to pass. This is a scrimmage, it's about teamwork, Yukimura. So, you're benched."
Kira shrunk in her lacrosse uniform and sat beside Alina and Shay on the bench.
"You did a really good job," Shay tries to make Kira feel better.
"Thanks," Kira smiles sadly.
• • •
Alina was currently showing Shay how to wrap a sprained hand with bandaids from the first aid kit. Alina was demonstrating on one of the lacrosse players, Levi, that was sitting on the bench waiting for his turn to head onto the field.
"See?" Alina looks at Shay to see her very concentrated.
"Mhm." Shay nods in understanding.
"You try," She hands the bandaid wrap to Shay and she begins to wrap Levi's hand. Suddenly gasps erupted across the crowd on the bleachers. Alina looks up in unison to Shay and Levi. A couple of the players were laid out on the grass across the field. She picked up her first aid kit and rushed over to the scene, Shay following behind quickly. As Alina got closer she realized the red jersey of one of the boys had the number nine. "Liam..." she whispered under her breath.
Liam must have heard Alina whisper his name as he looked up in the direction of where the girl was running. She picked up her pace and headed in his direction, however, coach intercepted her path.
"Thomason! LeBlanc! Help those players!" He directed them to another lacrosse player that was clad in a green jersey. He looked like he was in more pain than Liam as he groaned and rolled against the grass, clutching his chest. She looked back over her shoulder to see Scott helping Liam.
Alina didn't understand what was fully going on with Liam and the others, but she knew it wasn't normal and she also knows that Liam will be fine. So, she reluctantly heads over to the Devenford Prep player.
Once Alina and Shay had gotten closer to the player, she noticed the player was Brett and internally sighed. And, when she saw the cut on his chest, a look of panic took form on her once expressionless face. She knelt in front of Brett and examined his chest.
"Holy shit," Alina muttered.
"Oh my god," Shay said with wide eyes.
"Is it that bad?" Brett gritted through his teeth.
"Uh- no, no. It's not that bad."
"You lied," he told her.
"Did not," Alina said defencelessly even though she did lie. She turned away from him to open the first aid kit. She grabbed a piece of gauze and cleaned up the bit of blood that dripped from the cut on his chest. "Where's the polysporin?" She asked aloud.
"Is it not in there?" Shay asked, taking a look through the kit herself.
"I think I saw it in the locker room," a familiar voice informed her. She looked up to see Garrett who was the one that had collided with Brett and Liam moments ago. An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of Alina's stomach as she remembered what Liam had said earlier to Scott and Stiles.
"Oh, okay, thanks." Alina nodded before looking back to Brett. "Come on, I'll take you to the locker rooms to clean your cut." Alina stood up and picked the kit up with her. She held out a hand for him and Brett had seemed unsure of going with her, but he took her hand anyway and was brought to his feet. His arm slung over Alina's shoulders to help him stand up and walk. "Shay, go check on Liam for me, okay?"
Shay quickly nodded and headed over to Liam as Alina and Brett headed to the school.
Alina struggled to push open the door of the locker room while she held onto almost all of Brett's weight. It was almost as if he was getting weaker with each step they had taken. Alina was able to get Brett to the bench and he fell onto the seat, holding himself up with his shaky arm. Alina looked around the room for the bottle of polysporin. She didn't see it though.
She looked in the cupboards of coach's office, but still, she did not see it. Alina walked back out to where Brett was sitting, he rested with his eyes closed. Alina could hear his heartbeat and breathing slowing down.
"Brett? Hey, keep your eyes open for me, all right?"
"Anything for you princess," he smirks slightly, though the smirk drops, and a grimace of pain takes its place. His shaky arm that holds him up collapses and he falls off the bench, face-first to the floor.
"Brett!" She exclaimed, trying to help him back up.
"I-I'm okay," he tries to say. Alina can tell that he is far from being okay though.
"I think we need to get the school's nurse or call an ambulance-"
"No!" Brett spoke loudly, "I'm okay. Just get the polysporin to clean the cut." He demands.
"I can't find-" Alina is cut off by the door of the locker room open. "Oh, hey Violet," Alina speaks in shock, not expecting to see Violet.
"Looking for this?" Violet asks, holding up the bottle of polysporin. A nervous feeling takes over both Brett and Alina.
"Yeah..." her voice faded, her face contorting in confusion.
"Here," Violet walks closer to Alina handing the polysporin to her. Alina stands from where she was kneeling beside Brett and takes a cautious step toward the other girl.
"Thanks..." She reaches out to grab the bottle, but Violet drops the bottle and grabs her hand, flipping Alina over her shoulder. Alina's body collides to the floor with a thump, her heading hitting the tiled ground. "Shit-" She gasped, holding onto her head. Speckled dots take form in her vision and she gets a sudden feeling of déjà vu.
An eruption of pain spreads through Alina's stomach when she feels Violet kick her. A growl sounds from beside her and she looks over to just make out the vision of Brett with glowing yellow eyes that are similar to Liam's. He lays on the ground still but tries to push himself up to help Alina. Unfortunately, before Brett could do anything to help Alina, his arm collapses under his weight and he falls back over to his spot on the ground beside Alina. He tries to move but can't.
"What did you do to me?" He asked.
"You were cut with a poisoned blade. It was laced with wolfsbane," Violet explains to Brett as she begins to take steps towards his motionless body. "It won't kill you, but this will."
"Why? Why are you doing this?" Brett heaves.
Because you're worth a lot of money, Brett, and so is your 'princess'," She mocks. Violet quickly rips off her necklace that hung around her neck and tries to wrap it around Brett.
Luckily, Alina manages to stand up and goes over to Violet. She pushes Violet over, taking Violet's attention from Brett and putting it on Alina. Alina attempts in fighting Violet off, but Violet manages to get the necklace around her neck and pulls it tightly. The necklace begins to glow a bright red colour and a burning sensation spreads across the skin of her neck.
"40 million..." Violet chuckles. "That means you're very powerful, Alina. It's truly a shame that so much power goes to someone so weak, useless, and easy to kill." Violet whispers into Alina's ear as her grip on her thermal wire tightens.