Chapter Text
April’s fingers danced along the shelves filled with books, running along the spines of a few and plucking them off the shelves like ripe fruit in an orchard. The lights buzzed above her as a reminder that the school library was rather lacking in atmosphere; it was somewhere she didn’t particularly like. And in this library of hundreds, maybe even thousands of books, somehow there were only three on the occult in folklore. Maybe it was an odd choice in books, but it wasn’t for light reading. April’s mind had been on an assignment that had already been given for History, despite it being the second day back at school. And upon hearing the words ‘myths’, ‘legends’ and ‘folklore’, April was giddy with excitement, thrilled to have an opportunity to work with something she found immensely interesting. Without any classes left to attend and no need to be at the school, April checked out the books she needed and walked home, avoiding her bike because of some kind of post-traumatic stress attached to it. The wind was cool, but the late afternoon sun was warm. Her hands hid in the pockets of her jacket as her fingers played with the keys hidden in there with them. The cool metal of the keys and then the oddly warm smooth of the crystal keychain attached. She pulled the keys from her pocket, looking at the crystal she held between her fingers. Something her mother had given her when she moved to San Francisco for work. April frowned as she thought of her. A pang in her chest, missing her. And although she understood the reasoning, the need, for her mother leaving, April was still upset. The pale yellow of the stone seemed to glow in the afternoon sun, that’s place in the sky was being slowly being replaced by the moon.
Letting her bag drop off her shoulder, April locked the door behind her as she stepped inside. April called out, wondering if anyone else was home yet and with no response she guessed not. She dragged herself up the stairs and into her bedroom, dumping her bag beside her desk. Her hand ran through her hair as she pulled the tie that had it collected behind her head. She sat on her bed for a little before deciding to have a shower before doing anything else. Pulling her jacket off, her shirt over her head, then stepping out of her jeans, April turned the water on, letting the cold water turn warm before removing everything else and stepping into the water, letting it shower away any tension from her day. Her mind ran through the day, thinking about things it hadn’t gotten the chance to yet. She wrapped her towel around her body as the water dripped across the wooden floor of her room, then dripping onto the rug at the foot of her dresser. She quickly pulled on her clothes, picking up the big warm jumper with her parents’ university lettered across it. She looked at it in the mirror, thinking of her parents before the thought was interrupted by the ringing of her phone. She quickly walked across the room, following the sound. The name across the screen was unexpected.
“Stiles?” She said, accepting the call. “What’s up?” she asked, her tone clearly confused.
“Where are you?” Stiles asked, an urgency in his voice.
“I’m at home… why?”
“I’m coming over.” He said, hanging up before she could protest. April pulled her phone from her ear, her face holding the look of confusion it had had throughout the entire call. She shoved the phone in her pocket and went to see if her brother or dad were home yet, hoping they weren’t so she didn’t have to explain why there was a boy over. April didn’t have to go far out her door to notice music playing from her brother’s room. It occurred to her that he probably wouldn’t be able to hear anything if he had his music on. April called his name, as a test. Nothing. April walked down the stairs and stood on the porch, waiting for the boxy Jeep to round the corner. And soon enough it did. Swinging the door open as soon as the headlights dimmed, Stiles basically jumped from the car and sprinted up to her door. April was still unsure of why Stiles had rushed over to her house late on a Tuesday night. Or even how he knew where she lived, but then again she knew where he lived… it being a small town and all. Stiles was half way in her house before she could even ask.
“Can you tell me why you’re here?” she said, gripping his arm in her hand. Their eyes connected in the midst of his invasion of her home and his panicked energy was suddenly calmer. “Stiles.” She said firmly, bringing him out of his mind that was moving a hundred miles an hour, filled with scattered thoughts, focused on one thing, and into the moment as he stood there with her.
“You- you know a lot about this thing I’m researching for uh, fun?”
“Yeah and what would that be? Gossip Girl or occult lore knowledge from T.V. and comic books?” He cocked his head and raised a brow before nodding.
“Actually, yeah.”
“Gossip Girl.”
“No, no. Not Gossip Girl, the other thing. I wanted to get those books you borrowed from the library but well, you’d already borrowed them.” April let go of his arm, now realising she’d been gripping it the whole time they’d been standing there, all through the conversation.
“Right, well. Come in.” April lead him up the stairs, to the door of her room. Stiles’ head turned to the sound of Casper’s music playing through the walls from his room. April stood in her room, waiting for Stiles to walk in. He pottered at the door for a few seconds before stepping in. April gave him a weird look from the corner of her eye as she walked to her desk, hands gripping the books and lifting them off the desk, putting them on her bed. Stiles’ eyes wandered around the room, looking at the photos pinned to the wall; photos of flowers and tall trees, of her parents, her friends, of shadows of a female silhouette. Was it her? His head whipped over to her as she cleared her throat. “What do you want to know?”
“Anything and everything. My main interest is in if, hypothetically, someone human was to be, I don’t know, bitten and turned into a werewolf, what would happen… hypothetically?”
“Well, hypothetically,” she began, opening the book at her fingertips and flipping to the chapter on werewolves, “they would notice fundamental changes. Every human sense they have is heightened, amplified. They're smelling things far away, seeing things the human eye can't see." Stiles looked at her as if urging her to continue. "They're faster, stronger, and I guess most notably; they shift shape on a full moon."
"Smell things… can you smell what's in my pocket?" April looked at Stiles, a confused look on her face.
"Uh, no. Are you hiding something… weird in there?" Stiles' eyes moved to his hands as he pulled the item in question out from the pocket of his jacket.
"Just Mint Mojito gum…"