—
Ryder leaned her back against the bookshelves, watching Austin carefully as he put away the books.
It seemed like only him and Matt were the ones actually doing the punishment that Harris had given them, unless you count Allison who occasionally threw a book on a random shelf.
"Can I ask you something?"
Her eyes snapped up to his face, "Sure."
"I wouldn't really consider it 'asking' since I'm only repeating what I was told but—"
"Austin."
"Right, sorry. Uhm—Do you like Isaac?"
The girl snorted, "What?"
"Lahey, Isaac Lahey? Do you like him? Because I got the impression that you liked me as much as I like you, and while I would be disappointed if you didn't like me, I wouldn't hold it against you."
"I don't like Isaac. Not in that way, anyway."
The George teen chuckles in relief, "Good, I thought I was going to have to throw away my whole plan."
"What whole plan?"
"The plan to ask you to be my girlfriend."
His words came out with ease, so quick that he shocked himself with how fast the words left his mouth, with absolutely no hesitation. Austin was never the best when it came to keeping secrets, even if they were his own.
"I had a whole thing. I asked my mom and Josie for help. Josie doubted it, obviously, saying something about how you would reject me before I even got the chance to ask, but my mom was supportive." He rambled, a smile subconsciously making its way onto his face, "And I'm now suddenly realizing that I just exposed the entire thing in the middle of school library—"
Ryder laughed.
She couldn't help it, honestly. The kid was hilarious in her eyes. The way is cheeks grew red under her gaze was what did it for her.
She couldn't help but stare in admiration as he let out a nervous breath.
"Okay- just, please, give me a second to recollect my thoughts."
Ryder nodded, sucking in her cheeks as she held back a smile.
"Ryder."
"Austin."
He cleared his throat, "I know this isn't what I had planned. In fact, I had been planning the way I wanted to ask you since before the Winter formal, but you and Lydia ended up getting bit and everything kind of went downhill from there- aside from our relationship, which probably got ten times better than i imagined. And honestly, i'm actually really happy about that since you're the first girl i've ever had an actual crush on, which is mind-blowing considering the fact that you hated me when we first met."
Ryder hadn't moved from her stop as she watched him step closer, eyes focused on his hands as he kept wringing his fingers together, refusing to look into her eyes, that he knew were staring into his.
She tilted her head, doing her best to lock eyes with him.
"—I actually wouldn't even really say you hated me, but you were definitely hard to convince to even be friends with, which, then again, turned out to be really understandable once you explained everything." He narrowed his eyes, focusing on what he was trying to say, "I'm getting side tracked, I don't want to bore you. I— Ryder."
"Yes?"
"Is it—Can I be your boyfriend?"
He looked so adorable as he stood there with his hands locked together, letting out breaths as he tried to calm his nerves.
"Yeah, sure." She chuckled, watching his eyes light up, they went to seal the question with a kiss, only to be interrupted.
"Ryder!"
She groaned, "What?"
Her eyes widen as she feels herself being shoved down by Stiles, her body being flung into Austin's, knocking him down just in time to notice the kanima jumping on top of the book shelves.
The light burst, sparks falling to the ground, hitting the Miller as she managed to cover Stiles and Austin with her body.
She lifts herself up quickly, glancing to the two in worry, thankful that they were both okay. She immediately noticed the flickering of the lights, while she wasn't completely sure, she was almost certain that her wolfiness didn't completely cure Erica's epilepsy.
"Where are the girls?"
"Other side." Stiles pointed, keeping himself low.
Ryder wasted no time in jumping to her feet, ignoring Austin's shouts of worry, letting out a breath as she noticed Matt's body laying face down on the ground, Scott checking on him.
"Is he alive?"
"He's fine." Scott nodded, standing up, gesturing for Ryder to follow him. "Erica?!"
Ryder went the other way, wincing as a book fell and cut her cheek. She brushed off the inkling of pain she felt, catching sight of Allison's pink shirt, and the tilting shelf.
She ran forward, eyes glowing bright yellow. The girl struggled, having only ever fully turned into a wolf, not only half transforming. She huffed, the sound coming out as more of a growl as she fought the urge to fully turn, instead shoving Allison's body to the ground to avoid the girl getting seriously hurt.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm alright."
"Go." She motioned for the Argent to crawl forward, directing her to the row that Austin and Stiles were held at.
She looked up, noticing just in time that a book shelf was falling towards them. She forced Allison to move quicker, not being as lucky as the girl to get away.
She lifted her hands, claws creating scratch marks against the wood as she pushed it away from her. Unknowingly, she had knocked it over hard enough to create a domino effect, accidentally breaking a few items on the way down.
She let of a breath of relief, glancing over at the three teens who stared at her in shock.
Scott's hand pulled her up, dragging her to squat near them to avoid any further damage.
They watch as Jackson began to write on the chalk board, seemingly not in control of his body.
STAY OUT OF MY WAY OR I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU
"Fitting."
The Whittemore then jumped out of the window, only breaking more glass.
"Whoa, hey, hey, hey, hey!" Stiles suddenly shouted, "I think she's having a seizure!"
Ryder snapped out her her daze, quickly jumping up to assist in helping the Reyes teen. She had seen the girl like this before, but now that Erica was a werewolf, she didn't know to do to help.
Allison called out, "He's alive."
No doubt she was talking about Matt. Ryder had forgotten about him.
"Hey, we need to get her to a hospital." Stiles looked up at Ryder, the Miller shook her head.
"We can't."
"Derek - only to Derek." Erica got out.
"When we get her to the hospital—"
"She can't go to the hospital, Scott. It's too risky."
Allison looked at her boyfriend, "Go."
"Hey, Scott!"
"Jesus Christ." Austin muttered, dustin himself off as he kneeled down by Erica's body.
"I'm staying here with you."
"They can't take her alone. Not like this. And Matt - I've got to call an ambulance for him, just go."
"This doesn't feel right." Scott shook his head. Ryder could have sworn she saw his eyes fill with tears, now was not the time.
"We don't have time for this, Scott!" Austin snapped, earning a glare from the wolf, who quickly backed down upon seeing the one he was getting from Ryder.
"It's okay."
—
A/N: Thank you guys so much for all the love and support you've given this story. I love you guys so much ! 😭🫶🏾 I honestly can't thank you enough <333