For the third time this week, I couldn't get to sleep. Something about the change in environment was keeping me awake.
It was three o'clock in the morning.
If I'm unable to sleep by now, I'm probably just going to be unable to sleep tonight. Screw sleep.
I decided to just quietly go outside to the forest again. Sure, maybe it's not the best idea to go to a forest at night by myself, but what else did I have to do?
...
The forest was even more quietly beautiful at night.
Everything was silent and tranquil.
Everything was silent until I heard howling. It sounded like wolves.
Howling? Wolves? No, California hasn't had wolves since-
I was thrown to the ground by someone. A hot someone.
He had his brown hair in a quiff, and he was now right on top of me.
He clumsily got up, brushing the dirt off of his red hoodie. I decided to break the ice.
"You could've just bought me dinner if you were that desperate to get close to me." I gave him a friendly smile.
He laughed, glanced at the ground, and then ran his fingers nervously through his hair. "I'm sorry, I'm not usually this clumsy. Except that I am, very much so. I'm not really good with my feet sometimes and you probably think I'm an idiot, don't you?" He was breathing heavily, like he had been running for a while.
"I'm not exactly an Olympic gymnast either, it's totally fine. I'm Dylan." And you are? Please tell me your name, you handsome stranger...
He had a questioning expression. Oh, come on. Please, please don't be one of those people who asks me about my masculine name.
"Dylan. You're Dylan. I think you might have met my friend, well not so much friend as person who threatens to rip my throat out and makes me question my sexu- his name's Derek. And I'm Stiles." He took in an exhausted breath.
"Stiles. That's a pretty cool name. Stiles. Well, Stiles, why are you alone in a forest at four-thirty in the morning?" I looked up into his eyes. He was at least a foot taller than me. It wasn't difficult to be taller than me, seeming as I'm only five feet ta-
"I'm looking for a friend. His name's Scott." He stepped closer to me, looking me up and down. I'm wishing now that I had put some makeup on, it felt like he was seeing me naked.
"Now is this person actually a friend, or someone who threatens to rip your throat out and makes you question your sexuality?" I licked my lips. Was he gay? Please don't be gay. You're really attractive. Maybe I'm reading him wrong, he didn't technically say that Derek makes him question his se-
"This person's strictly a friend. A best friend, actually. And I never said that Derek makes me question my sexuality, for the record." Stiles did a cute little thing with his nose, like a little bunny rabbit.
"Oh, so you're entirely sure of your sexuality?" I laughed.
He paused for a moment.
"Well I mean... sexuality isn't really something that's black or white. There's lots in between and sometimes it's confusing. But I'm straight. At least 60% straight anyway. Mostly straight," He looked down at the ground then our eyes met, "what about you?"
"I feel the same way. To me, sexuality is kind of like colors. There are generic colors, but a million different shades of each. Sexuality isn't something that you can really pinpoint. It's different for everyone. If I had to identify, I'd probably say that I'm bisexual, but I'm definitely not entirely sure." I looked to see his facial expression. He looked almost relieved, but I wasn't sure why.
"It's good to know that I'm not the only one who feels that way." Stiles looked ahead of us, and made a signal at the person coming towards us. It was probably Scott.
Does everyone in Beacon Hills look like some sort of model? Here this guy comes, with beautiful tanned skin and a jaw that was just slightly crooked. He was just as gorgeous as everyone else that I've met here. There must be some sort of law against looking norm-
He caught up with us, and gave me a friendly smile. "I'm Scott, and you must be Dylan. Right?"
Does everyone know my name here? Not that I'm complaining.
"Yeah, I'm Dylan. How does practically everyone know my name here, is there some billboard I don't know about?" I looked up into his chocolate-colored eyes.
"Actually, I overheard your conversation a little bit and I caught your name." He put his hands in his pockets and looked at me.
I laughed. "You must have really good hearing."
Stiles and Scott shared a look, and they both laughed to themselves. There must be some inside thing I don't know about yet.
"Like you wouldn't believe." Scott smirked at Stiles, and Stiles winked at him.
Yeah, there's definitely something about these two I don't know yet.
...
Scott lightly brushed against Stiles' arm with his elbow, and Stiles looked like he remembered something important.
"We've gotta go. We're going to Derek's. You probably shouldn't be alone in this forest at night, do you- do you want to come with us?" Stiles was looking around for something, I didn't know what. He said I shouldn't be alone in this forest, what does that mean? What's so special about this forest?
I took in a nervous breath. "Sure, I'll tag along with you guys."
Most people wouldn't meet two strangers in the middle of the night and then get into that stranger's blue Jeep to go someone's house. But I'm not most people.
We were going to Derek's house. I was hoping right now that they weren't serial killers who were luring me into their trap.
Andri always said I should take risks more often. This probably isn't what she had in mind, but hey, talking to strangers is how you make friends.
...
We arrived at the place. They said that we were going to Derek's loft, but they seemed to forget to mention the ten flights of stairs we'd have to go up first.
The building was pretty... abandoned. I felt like I was in the first five minutes of a Supernatural episode, about to be lured to my death.
After we'd made our way up all of the stairs, I noticed that it didn't exactly look like the kind of place someone would actually live in.
Oh. My. God.
This is a murder shed. I knew it! Why the hell would they be murderers when all of them could've been models or actors... or something?!
I heard voices. One of them sounded like Derek's voice. Well, at least they didn't lie about that part.
"Erica, you are going to have to learn to be able to control your shifting before the next full moon." Who's Erica, and why was Derek telling her to control her shifti-
Werewolves. Now maybe it's not the best idea for me to jump to conclusions, but his word choice. Shifting. Full moon. Control. That sounds a little fishy.
Or should I say werewolf-y? No, I really shouldn't. That was horrible.
"Now, Dylan, we're at Derek's house right now," Stiles said in an overly loud voice. I wondered if he was trying to get Derek to shut up because I could hear him.
Wait. At the forest, Scott and Stiles' looks at each other. When I made the comment about Scott's amazing hearing, the way they both shared a glance
-dogs have great hearing. Werewolves must have pretty good hearing, too? Right?
That's the inside thing. Probably.
Derek opened the heavy sliding door. Then, he looked at me. His face showed a mix of surprise and horror.
Oh, come on, I can't look that bad without makeup?
I awkwardly smiled and waved to the people I didn't know. "Hi."
A thin brunette had a confused expression, then crossed her arms. "Scott, Stiles... who's that?" She sounded annoyed. Someone wasn't feeling hospitable.
Now Derek crossed his arms, just like the way the brunette did. "I see you guys met Dylan."
The brunette pursed her lips. "And decided to bring her here..."
I looked at Scott and Stiles. They didn't say anything back to the brunette.
"It's okay, I don't bite. But you guys might..." I smiled to myself at the joke I made.
Stiles flung his arms in the air. "I couldn't just leave her there! She could've gotten viciously killed by some psychopath in the middle of the night! Viciously killed, with blood and stabbing and the whole nine yards." Some of them nodded in agreement with Stiles.
Derek signaled Stiles to come closer to him and pulled him aside from the group.
I tried to listen to what they were saying. All I could make out is something about business they had to attend to.
I looked around the loft. There were weapons on the table.
"What are those," I asked, trying to keep cool, "on the table? Are those guns?"
The brunette sighed in frustration and glared at Derek.
Stiles looked up, probably trying to come up with a plausible lie. "Those are paintball guns, we like to play with them on the weekends." He smiled, impressed that he was able to come up with something to say.
Unfortunately for them, I have an interest in psychology. Lie detection, specifically.
"Yeah, you might be an above-average actor, but I'm an above-average audience." I licked my lips, quite proud of myself.
"Whatever secret you're keeping from me, I'm pretty sure that I could handle it." I looked to the three people I knew.
Scott raised his eyebrows. "I'm not so sure that's true."
Stiles signaled Scott to stop talking. All of them looked like they were worried Scott would tell me something he shouldn't.
I pursed my lips, because I knew something they didn't know I knew.
"I've always had a natural ability to deal with big news in a positive manner. You might even say that it's supernatural." Look at how smooth I am. Badass.
Everyone looked at each other nervously.
I started pacing around the room. "The way that you guys were worried about me in the forest, how Scott could hear the conversation from over ten feet away, the guns, this freaky murder shaft of a loft, everything I overheard Derek saying about the full moon... Is there some suspicion you'd like to confirm for me or would you like me to go on?"
A hot guy with curly hair stepped in front of me and raised his eyebrows. "What's the suspicion that you have?"
All or nothing. Crap. What if they aren't werewolves and I say that I think they are werewolves and they think I'm crazy? I'll say it in a joking tone. Then I can save myself if I'm wrong.
This was the frightening, tell-all moment.
All or nothing. Okay Dylan, just say it.
Or I'll just hint at it.
"Full moon. Controlling shifting on the full moon. Good hearing. Like, crazy, amazing, spectacular supernatural hearing. How many conclusions could I come to?" There we go, just play it cool. Let them answer the question.
Scott's mouth dropped open. "You know? About us? How?"
I rolled my eyes impatiently. "For God's sake! Okay, we aren't talking about Voldemort, we can say the fucking word. We're talking about werewolves, right?"
They looked at each other. Oh shit, I wasn't wrong was I? Now they'll think I'm crazy. Good job, Sherlock.
The brunette looked impressed. "How do you know? You're not one of us; we would've been able to smell it. What are you? I'm Cora, by the way."
I took in a breath of relief. "Honestly I don't know what I am exactly, do you guys know what a synthe is? Because I don't, that's why I came here. Beacon Hills is kind of the supernatural crap capital."
Derek took a step towards me. "A synthe? They're a sexual energy healer of some sort. They're pretty rare. That's all I know. Are you sure that you're one of them?"
"My father told me the other day. Given, he was intoxicated, but he said that I'm some sort of a healer, and that I'm a synthe. That seems to coincide with what you know, yes?" I looked around the room to see everyone's expressions.
Derek looked intrigued. "And where's your father now?"
I looked down and bit my lip. My father and I never had a good relationship. Since my mom died ten years ago, he had become an alcoholic. He got physical sometimes. I didn't really like to talk about it.
"I moved here earlier this week to get away from him, actually. Plus the whole supernatural thing. That's all he told me. My friend, Andri, she's a witch and she didn't know any more than I did." The curly-haired hot guy gave me a sympathetic look. It's like he could sense how I felt about my father.
Scott came over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "It'll be alright. I know someone who knows a lot about this stuff. And we can figure it out together, you're not alone."
There was a moment of silence, but then the three people I didn't know introduced themselves. The curly haired guy's name was Isaac, and then there were two other people named Erica and Boyd. Erica and Boyd looked like they might be together, or at least just close friends.
After a couple of minutes of small talk, I decided to head back to my apartment. Stiles drove me home and we talked about things we liked. He seemed sweet.
...
Only one week here, and I've already met tons of new people. I felt like my life was coming together like pieces of the puzzle.
Now I just need to find out what I am.
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