I'm so sorry for the wait, I have no excuse other than lack of motivation. I've probably lost all my readers from such a long hiatus but here's the next chapter!
○○○
Athena rolled off the couch with a grunt. You would think that in such a big loft there would be more than three bedrooms, but apparently not, and neither she or Cora were all that keen to share a small space together after their three months in a crammed vault. So Athena had the pleasure of staying on the couch.
Today was her first day of school and she wasn't looking forward to it. She had better things to do than sit around in stuffy classrooms full of snobby teenagers who thought they were above everyone else.
Yesterday Derek had spent most of the day out, most likely brooding in dark alley ways. Athena hadn't seen much of him, but she'd seen enough to know that he was okay and her wounds finally started to heal with the knowledge.
While their brother was out, Cora, Stiles and Athena grilled Peter on Derel's past. Athena had heard the story of Paige only once before, but not in as much detail. She could just about remember when Derek was fifteen and he was completely enamoured by this girl, but she was too young to fully understand the circumstances.
It was a tragic tale and Peter told it well, but he was unreliable and Athena knew it. She had no doubt that he had twisted some of the facts in his own favour.
Athena could also remember that, while Derek was out falling in love, there was a scandal with the Argents and some of the surrounding wolf packs. Her mother would never allow the packs into their home, but she would meet regularly with them, trying to maintain the peace as she always had done. Athena admired her mom for that, sometimes she wished that she had inherited her kind nature, but she was bound to remain bitter and untrusting.
Meanwhile, Scott and Allison had visited Gerard Argent. Athena had wanted to go, but the idea was rejected by everyone who didn't want the old man to be murdered. She was annoyed about not being allowed to go, but knew that she wouldn't be able to stand being near the slimy bastard without attempting to rip his throat out.
When Scott reported back, he told them about how Deucalion wasn't completely blind - he could see when he was in wolf form. Athena shuddered at how powerful he could be with proper vision, she was glad that his sight was only temporary.
Whilst thinking about all the things that had happened recently, she pulled on her clothes. Aiming to make an entrance, she dressed in black skinny jeans, a loose top and one of Derek's many leather jackets, which was far too big for her. She had her own leather jacket (it was practically illegal to not own one in the Hale family) but on the first day of school she could do with the comfort of her brother's scent.
Throwing on a pair of sunglasses to complete the look, she was ready to go.
Derek had suggested that Stiles could pick her up in his jeep, but she shot that idea down immediately. Not wanting to have to deal with the sarcastic boy for longer than she had to.
Picking up an apple, grabbing her bag and calling out a short 'bye!' to all the sleeping occupants of the apartment, Athena began to descend the stairs. She took her time to head down and eat the apple, not particularly caring if she was late.
Taking the last bite of the piece of fruit, Athena chucked it into a trash can and jumped onto her bike, obnoxiously revving the engine before soaring down the street.
She pulled up in the school's parking lot, stopping next to a few other motorbikes that were near the entrance. She sniffed the air, crinkling her nose in disgust at the strong scent coming off two of the bikes, she knew immediately that they belonged to the twins. Athena considered kicking one over to get back at them, but knew that they would retaliate by taking revenge on her own bike and thought better of it. She didn't love much in this world; she wasn't about to let one of the few things she did care about get caught in the crossfire.
The parking lot was mostly empty by this point, but the few other stragglers who were still there observed her in confusion. Athena liked how they all stared at her, it made her feel powerful.
She smirked as she walked through the doors, strutting confidently despite having no clue where she was going.
Fake it til you make it.
Looking around the almost empty corridors, Athena wondered which way to go, when a voice called out to her.
"Athena Hale?" A loud voice asked uncertainly.
Pushing her sunglasses onto the top of her head, she turned around to see a man dressed smartly in a suit, he seemed friendly enough, wearing a big smile on his face as he hurried towards her.
"It's good to have you here Athena." The man stuck his hand and she shook it firmly, nodding in response rather than replying with actual words.
"I'm the Vice Principal and I'm here to welcome you to Beacon Hills high school," the man introduced, "Here's your timetable and I'll take you to your first lesson now."
Athena could only nod once again and accept the piece of paper before she was being rushed down a corridor presumably her first class.
The Vice Principal stopped in front of a door and knocked loudly. A familiarly annoying voice calling "Come in!".
Athena groaned silently and rolled her eyes, her first teacher was the coach from the cross country meet.
The Principal pushed open the door and lead a reluctant Athena into the room. She scanned the sea of faces, smirking when her eyes fell on the two boys sat in the middle row.
Stiles groaned at the sight of her, his head falling on to the table with a thump. Her smirk grew wider, you could almost call it a grin, but Athena would adamantly deny it.
"Class, this is Athena Hale, she'll be joining us from now on and I expect you all to give her a warm welcome," He sent a pointed look at Stiles, who didn't notice as he was still faceplanting the desk.
With a nod towards the coach, he left the room, closing the door behind himself.
"Welcome to home economics Gale," The coach introduced blandly, Athena frowned at his error but ignored it for now "take a seat by- hey wait a minute!" The coach stopped all of a sudden, looking at Athena in surprise.
She raised her eyebrows at him, a cue to finish his sentence.
"You're the girl who hijacked our bus!" He accused, grabbing the interest of the rest of the class.
She heard someone, who must have been on the bus, mumble "She's the one who tackled Stilinski," and smirked again, pleased that she already had a good reputation at this school.
"I didn't hijack it," she denied, "I just hitchhiked on it."
"Ugh, I can already tell you're going to cause trouble." The coach glared at her, "Just take a seat," he ordered.
Shrugging, Athena walked to the back of the room where there was an empty space. She dropped her bag under the desk and sunk into the seat.
The coach went back to whatever topic he was rambling about before and Athena let out a heavy sigh, she was bored of this already.
As soon as the lesson finished, she speed walked to catch up with Stiles and Scott.
"So what do you for fun around here?" She questioned, slowing her pace once she had reached Scott's side.
"Go to lessons, fight the occasional supernatural serial killer every now and then, sometimes we order take out, all the usual stuff," Stiles listed.
"Sounds boring," Athena stated bluntly.
"It's better than living alone in the mountains for six years, who are you, Frankenstein?" Stiles retorted, overly defensive for such a miniscule comment, Athena thought.
"What, are you scared that I'll send my monster after you?" Athena questioned mockingly, deciding to roll with the accusation instead of arguing against it.
"You're already enough of a monster, I don't think you need another one," Stiles said, his tone deadly serious.
Athena blinked slowly, processing the boy's words.
Beside them, Scott had tensed up, "Stiles," he warned, a vaguely annoyed expression on his face. Stiles reluctantly stepped back, signalling that the two's face off was over.
Athena didn't speak, afraid that the anger she felt bubbling in her chest would rise up and explode out of her. That was create a mess that no one wanted to deal with.
"Where are you next?" Scott asked quietly, trying to difuse some of the tension.
Athena fished her timetable out of her back pocket, it had already become crumpled. Glancing at it she read, "Chemisty then English."
"That's what we have too!" He exclaimed happily, shooting her a grin accompanied by bright puppy dog eyes. Athena hated that they made her melt just a little.
"Great," She replied shortly, her tone emotionless.
Scott's face dropped and she felt guilty, despite having done nothing wrong.
"I'm sorry about Stiles," Scott apologised, talking as if said teenager wasn't right next to them.
"He has no filter," he continued when Athena didn't reply.
"I've noticed," Athena nodded.
"You're not one to talk sweetheart," Stiles snapped, not turning in her direction.
Athena sent him a low growl under her breath, not loud enough for anyone to notice, but enough for Stiles to hear.
Stiles gulped and Scott placed a hand on her arm, probably to restrain her if she tried to do anything. She shook his hand off as they stopped in front of a door, walking in and waiting impatiently for the teacher to arrive so she knew where to sit.
She growled slightly as the twins entered the room, their eyes immediately zeroing in on her. She sent them daggers, which they returned right back at her.
When the teacher walked in Athena didn't bother to hide her distaste. It was the coach. Again.
"Why are you still stood up?" He asked as he rushed in, barely glancing up from the box of papers he was carrying, "Sit down!" He demanded.
"I don't know where to sit," Athena replied, rolling her eyes at the man.
The coach looked at her properly for the first time and Athena watched as he registered who she was.
"Oh, it's you," He said blankly, before surveying the room, "Take a seat next to Greenberg."
When she realised that the coach was going to offer no more information other than that, she spoke up "Who the hell is Greenberg?"
"Do I have to do everything around here?" The teacher muttered angrily, "He's the creep over there, Greenberg raise your hand."
A boy who was sat on the left of the middle row raised his hand, looking very pleased with the situation.
Athena's lip curled in disgust, but she made no complaint, walking to the desk and sitting down without a fuss.
School was a nightmare, she couldn't believe Derek had forced her to do this.
○○○
How did you all like it? I hope you enjoyed it, you deserve to after such a long wait 😅 I'm going to try and update more frequently from now on, we'll see how that goes...
Thanks for reading!