Her grandma had asked her the night before to spend the following day with her again. However, when she arrived at the hospital, abuela was fast asleep and nurse McCall had told her she had had trouble sleeping the night before. At this, Violeta decided to leave her grandma be and go to school.
It was hard. Knowing that her grandma was sleeping a prolonged period of time made Violeta uneasy and unsure. Hence why Violeta walked into school with a chip on her shoulder and a very clear sign of 'do not fuck with me today.'
Something Jackson did not clearly see nor understand.
She walked into English and did not even acknowledge the people around her. The boys all knew better to ask when they saw her, without a backpack or books, sliding into the desk with a huff and refusing to meet anyone's eyes. Violeta could feel Rico's eyes on her and she knew that one of his girlfriends was best friends with Luis' sister.
Meaning that he probably knew that her grandma had had a rough night. And when it was news like that, everyone knew. Even though Violeta rarely spoke of her grandma's wellbeing, everyone always seemed to know. So the entire crew of the far left side of the class knew that Abuela Maria was not well and to let Violeta Rodriguez be in peace.
Then Jackson Whittemore walked into class, a chip on his shoulder also. He made eyes with Isaac Lahey who smirked at him. This reminded him what had happened last night and the humiliation he had suffered. He had been paralysed when Lahey and that Erica chick asked him what to do next. It was the Boyd kid who brought up the name Violeta Rodriguez and asked if they should tell her, ask her, since she would know what to do... Boyd's exact words being 'she would definitely know what was up and have a better guess at who it was.'
Finding out that Violeta Rodriguez had more supernatural power than Derek Hale, a werewolf— a werewolf alpha, had set him on a misson.
People were still filtering into the class and the teacher had yet to come in. Jackson walked up to Violeta Rodriguez's desk and stood in front of it. "I need to talk to you."
She didn't even blink.
"Hey! Rodriguez! Are you listening?" He barked. This time several chairs scraped back as everyone on the far left of the class stood up. Jackson crouched back, losing confidence as all they all stood up. His eyes flickered between the faces of those thugs and gang members he didn't even know how could still come to high school considering all the... well, gang activity!
"You lost cuz?" One of them asked.
Jackson knew the few other people in class were staring at him. Him. Jackson Whittemore. Star athlete and high school king. He couldn't let anything bring him down. So he tried to muster up as much confidence as possible and raised his chin. "I'm talking to Rodriguez."
"And she ain't gon' talk to you."
Jackson huffed, trying to remain calm. He turned back to Rodriguez, "Look, it's about Derek Hale." He said, emphasis clear, his eyes flicking to Isaac who was watching the exchange with much interest. He looked back at Rodriguez and hoped she got why he stressed the name.
Violeta finally turned to look at Jackson. Derek had messaged her that he had tried kanima venom on Jackson and it didn't work. She hadn't replied, not bothering to tell him that the venom experiment wouldn't work in this situation. It was smart, she gave him that, but the kanima is a shape shifter and in this form, they would not be invulnerable. However, Derek's next suspect was Lydia which was beyond stupid because Lydia screams and that's a whole other species.
No, it was most definitely Jackson. Looking into his blue eyes, she knew it was him. She couldn't be sure, of course, needing to see the change firsthand to be sure and then could intervene. In the mean time, she would just sit here and stare at the jock.
Who was also a gigantic dick.
"Apologise to Lydia Martin."
"What?" He said, not expecting this.
"You were and have continued to be one a fucking asshole to her and whilst she's a stuck up, sure, she don't deserve ya shit." Violeta stared him dead in the eyes, keeping her voice and face serious. Jackson's face dropped and she knew he knew. She then stood up from her seat and moved around the desk. She met Jackson eye to eye. "Apologise. Then we talk."
She made a move to walk around the desk when Jackson grabbed her arm. "What - no!" At this, the entire crew yelled and rose to their feet. Violeta, however, wasn't even phased and swiftly grabbed his arm and spun it around, slamming him face down on an empty desk.
"Never, ever, lay another hand on me again." Her was voice was quiet and deadly. Jackson relented, stuttering out an 'okay, okay, okay!' when she gave him a shove and let him up. Without even so much as a glance back, she walked out of class.
"What just happened?" Stiles said, having walked in the moment Jackson grabbed Violeta. He sat down in his spot behind Scott and watched as Jackson tried to regain some dignity after embarrassing himself in front of half the class. He marched to the back and sat, head down and glaring at anyone that looked back at him.
Scott explained that Jackson tried to talk to her but she had walked in upset about something. He wasn't sure but when he picked up his mum from the night shift early this morning, she had said that Maria was getting worse and she, Violeta, had come in. That she had looked visibly worried.
Stiles scrambled out of his seat. He dashed out of the class without a word to Scott who just whisper yelled after him. He wasn't sure where Violeta had gone, the hallways near empty as people had left to go to first period. He wasn't even sure that Violeta wanted people around her right now. But he still kept running, trying to find her.
Which he did, outside by the bleachers. She was sitting, watching the empty field. He walked up slowly, waiting her for to her to tell him to go away. She didn't. He came up to where she was and sat beside her.
"I'm guessing Melissa told Scott who told you." She spoke, continuing to stare ahead at the empty tracks.
"He did."
She laughed and looked down. "You and Scott remind me of my aunts who stay up summer nights, drink tea and gossip."
"Oh, we don't tell each other everything." Stiles said.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, like I still haven't told him that his jawline's a little uneven." Stiles said, making her look down, but there was the unmissable turn up of her lips into a small smile. "Oh, and this one time he didn't tell me he had Allison over one night when I walked in on them. He still hasn't told me sorry about that."
Violeta was silent and Stiles took a leap of faith. "And I still haven't told him that the first time the kanima attacked, this really cool girl with some really abilities I'm still trying to figure out protected me until it ran off." He said.
"He knows that it attacked us." She said, finally turning to look at him.
"And I said that you honked the horn and it scared it off."
She snorted. "Really? That worked?"
"He's not very bright." Stiles said. "When I told him we were looking for Gerard's bestiary to figure out what the kanima was, he laughed and corrected me, thinking I meant bestiality." This time, Violeta threw her head back in laughter. "Seriously!" He added, happy that he had made her laugh, especially with how she's feeling. "He's the supernatural one and I know more about it than him! I'm seriously undervalued." At the self-depreciating joke, Violeta turned to him, the amused smile falling off her face. Replacing it was a smile that was... fond?
"You're not undervalued." She told him with such earnestness that he couldn't help but break their eye-contact. He felt his face heat up and he tried to be subtle in breathing in and out, keeping his heart rate at a normal rate. He wasn't sure but imagine if she could hear his heart?
That would be awkward.
Then a terrifying thought hit him — dear God... WHAT IF SHE COULD READ MINDS?!
Stiles froze. Violeta felt a ripple of fear rush through the boy beside her and her shields went up, thinking he had seen the kanima or something that caused the reaction.
"Uh, um, can you uh, like read minds?"
She frowned. "No..."
"Oh." He said. He felt himself exhale in relief and sag down. Then he felt himself freeze when she asked him why. "Oh, um, nothing. Just was wondering and, uh stuff..."
"You sound like Scott right now."
"Hey! I take offence to that!" Stiles said. "Actually, no, I don't. He's a very attractive young man who's actually managing to get his grades back up and doing really well at this teen wolf thing, like, I'm very proud of my best friend."
Violeta wanted to say that she was proud of him also. Well, maybe proud was not the best choice of words. Impressed. She was impressed with how well he, a mere human who was pulled into all this mess, was dealing. Moreover, he had taken it all in his stride and immersed himself into it, using his knowledge and intellect as his advantage.
She couldn't tell him all that but she could do something else.
"I can't read your mind but I can do something else pretty cool." She found herself blurting it. Too late. Stiles blinked and stared at her, bewildered. "I, uh, you know how I said I could calm you with powers? I was going to do it with my own emotions. Like Scott can sometimes sense emotions, I can do the reverse and let others feel my own."
"But how would that have calmed me down?"
"I would've forced myself to calm down and let you in to feel the... calmness, I suppose."
"Oh..." Stiles said, taking a moment to process that. Then, "... wait, you said 'force myself to calm down' weren't you calm?"
"Of course not." She said. "Danger was close to you. How could I be calm?"
It Stiles a spluttering moment to digest what she had said before he could think of something to say. "But I'm with Scott all the time?"
"Scott's not dangerous and I trust that he can protect you." Violeta said. Then she blinked and cleared her throat. "Not that, uh, what I think really matters but, uh, yeah."
Stiles felt his mouth fall slightly ajar that Violeta was awkward. She was feeling really awkward. Not only this, he was surprised about how much she cared about him. That she thought about his safety so much, that when she panicked it was not because of any threat to her life - but to his. And what did that make him think?
Take that Lahey.
"Can you, uh, do it right now?"
Violeta looked at him, her green eyes meeting his brown ones. "Do what?"
"Your... emotions thing?" Stiles asked. Then he remembered the reason why they were out here right now. "Or not, I mean, I realise how personal that is and you may not, like, totally trust me and—"
"I trust you." Violeta cut him off. "I don't know if you trust me." She recalled how hurt he had been that she had been suspecting what the creature was and hadn't told him.
"I do!" Stiles said. "I, uh, I get it. Derek said you have a code and all. You saved my life and, like, you're really badass and can do anything... like Batman."
"I'm not Batman."
"Well... Ferris Bueller then."
In that moment, Violeta couldn't describe how she felt.
This boy, this very boy right here, had just called her Ferris Bueller. This boy. Stiles Stilinski. The scrawny, awkward yet loud teenager who was both a geek and nerd. The Adderrall-infused boy who's life felt like a whirlwind of spontaneity and witty remarks that made you want to roll your eyes but smile at his antics. Him. The boy who, in her eyes, resembled everything Ferris Bueller was to her. Ferris could do anything and she knew Stiles could too.
But here he was, saying that she was Ferris.
"If I'm Ferris... then you're Batman." She said.
"Totally. Stiles is Batman. I think you forget that I'm just a human."
"Bruce Wayne is human." Violeta reminded him. "But what set him apart was his intellect. How smart he was and how he used his knowledge as his primary advantage." She said. "Don't undervalue it."
Don't undervalue yourself.
Feeling that now was as good a time as any, she moved her hands over to his. She sandwiched his in-between hers and leaned her head down, closing her eyes. Her lips were moving but Stiles didn't hear what she was saying. Seeing her like this, realising what she was doing, he felt the need to close his own eyes.
When he did, he felt it. He felt... it. He couldn't describe to you what it was, only that it wasn't one thing. It was like a colour wheel. And each colour was a different emotion. He felt anguish that wrenched his heart, he felt pain and anger that made his blood boil and his stomach clench. He felt exhaustion seep down his shoulders. He felt worry, anxiety wrap around his head and neck, giving him a headache and make him want to throw up at the same time.
Then he came the flashes of excitement. At first he thought it was effects of the worry but it was... nice. Nicer. Then came the few parts of joy that made his toes curl in his rundown sneakers. After this was the peace. It was quiet and not very strong, but it was definitely there and definitely growing. But it needed something... it was need. He felt need.
He opened his eyes and saw that Violeta's eyes were still closed. Her lips were no longer moving and he was the tears that had silently streamed down her closed eyes. It was seeing that that made him realise he had tear-streaked cheeks also.
He pulled his hands out of her grasp and pulled her close to him. He wasn't sure why he did it but all the doubt of whether this was right could wait. Right now, he wanted to hug Violeta and he had seen— felt, that she needed it too.
Feeling his arms around her, Violeta didn't bother hiding that she wanted it. He had seen more than she had expected. She had only wanted to show him the amusement she had felt when she saw him that night in the hospital, sending a to crash on the floor. However, a flood came crushing over her and into their conjoined hands. Maybe she wasn't as good as she had previously thought with this. She had only done it with her grandma and even Lola and Tomei once of twice. But with Stiles, everything came out.
Maybe it was the conversation they had just had before hand? Maybe. All she knew was that Stiles had seen everything... and he had felt that she just wanted someone to hug her. To tell her it would be okay. That they would be there for here. To do the thing she had been doing to everyone else.
So when Stiles wrapped his arms around her, she let herself give into him. She tucked her head into him and gripped onto his jacket. In that moment, she let it all come out. She didn't care that they were out in the open. She didn't care that anyone could see them. She didn't care that anyone, even Stiles, was seeing how vulnerable she was being.
Violeta Rodriguez wanted a hug.
And more importantly, she had been wanting it from this very boy who could do anything.