We Bleed Silver

Stiles dramatically put his free hand on his heart and nodded his head. “A girl after my own heart. How can anyone do anything on an empty stomach? Food before everything is my motto. And it’s served me well since I was born.” He dropped his hand and then winked at her. “Well, then, Allison, let’s go get some food. Taco Bell is calling our names.”

He started walking towards the parking lot. “Oh, I can drive if you want. I don’t know if you have a vehicle on campus or not but my jeep is parked nearby and it’s no trouble. I mean, you can get there however you want but I wanted to offer so you don’t think I am totally lacking manners.”

“Food before everything. You should put that on a t-shirt, y’know. You could really profit on something like that.” Allison only half joked. She knew a ton of people, including herself, would most likely buy it trying to be quirky. “Sounds perfect. I do have a car, but it’s on the other end of campus, so a ride would be lovely.” She said, nodding. “What compelled you to name your jeep Roscoe?”

She flopped on her bed and closed her eyes for a few minutes hoping she could just rest for a bit. But of course her father decided to choose that moment to call and check on her. Sleep as a college student was a luxury. Who needed them anyway? After a nice conversation with her dad and catching up with him, Kira was now wide awake. She decided to take some time to write in her journal before she headed out tonight. 

Allison came in not too long after. The two roommates hadn’t really had time to hang out or get to know each other since Kira moved in. The musician didn’t mind too much however. Allison was a very nice but also very busy person. She understood that college was a busy time. Plus, though Kira was a generally positive and happy person, she always had a some what difficult time making new friends. So when Allison started a conversation with her after a few minutes, Kira was slightly shocked by the turn of events. Looking up from her note book she turned her attention to her roommate. “Piano, guitar, flute, viola, violin, drums, and I sing. What about you? Do you play any instruments?”

“Uh, instruments, no. I listen to music a lot. But I don’t think that’s the same thing, honestly.” She said, shrugging. “I do archery, though. And I did gymnastics for a while as well as fencing. So, I guess weirdly unconventional sports are my musical instruments.” Allison glanced over at her desk where a couple ribbons were placed as well as a small trophy. She never realized how much of an over achiever she looked like until this moment. 

“What do you want to do once you graduate? Do you have any plans?” Allison continued. “And I’ll have to see you play or sing sometime. If you guys have a recital or something, let me know. I can bring my friend Lydia, too. She’d love it.”

“Parents do text and call at the wrong moments. I know how that goes…my dad is always calling during class. Even when I tell him that I have class at that time…” He gave her a small smile and nodded his head. “It’s nice to meet you, too, Allison. Even under these very strange circumstances. But at least neither of us were holding hot coffee because that would make it so much worse.”

Stiles laughed and then shrugged his shoulders. “I will take full blame and responsibility for that one. Are you headed to class? Because if not I’ll buy you lunch and we can call it even. But if you are then maybe a rain check? I would hate for you not to fully experience the crunchwrap with me. Because I make it a wonderfully delightful experience.”

“Well, I was going to a study session, but now you’ve made me hungry. I can’t reasonably study on an empty stomach.” Allison explained, making sure to dramatize the whole thing. “And honestly, now is the best time for me to experience how wonderful a crunchwrap can be around you.” 

In all honestly, Allison was passing the class she was in with flying colors. Study groups were just something she did to stay on top of things. But college was a time for fun just as much as anything else.

“Oh, sorry about that,” he said as he picked up some of her papers and handed them to her. Scott was the gentleman and he would know what to do this situation. Stiles, however, had no idea and it was a little bothersome. He rubbed the back of his head before dusting off his jeans. He was cursed with being clumsy and getting distracted. He blamed his ADHD. And he was pretty sure he hadn’t taken his pill this morning. Definitely not a good thing.

“So, this is awkward…” He laughed a little and then sent her a small grin. “I’m Stiles and apparently my thoughts on possibly crunchwraps caused me to lose focus and almost run you over. Don’t day dream about food and walk. Lesson learned.” Yeah, he was not good at small talk either. 

She returned his smile, and nodded. “Just a tiny bit.” She returned his laughter, trying to defuse the situation. “Nice to meet you, Stiles. I don’t think I can put it all on you. I was reading a text from my Dad, and looked up just too late to stop the collision myself. So, don’t read texts from family members and walk either.” She said, shrugging. “I’m Allison. It’s nice to meet you.” 

She paused for a moment. “You know what I can blame you for, though, is the fact that I now want a crunchwrap, too. That one is all you.” She told him. She hadn’t even realized how little food she had eaten all day until Stiles had said something about food.

Finally biology class had let out and he could be on his way back to his place where he could take a nap. Or he could go grab food. Either way he wanted to be off campus for a while. The boy left the science building and was headed for the parking lot. However, he still had to go through campus a ways to get to the particular parking lot his jeep was parked in. Roscoe, as he called it, had a particular spot in the parking lot and he always parked there. He paid for that parking spot.

Stiles was rushing through campus, his biology book, notebook and cell phone in his hands. His stomach was definitely telling him that food would have to come before the nap and he was already thinking of where he was going to eat. Thankfully he didn’t have a strict diet like Scott did. He too had tried out for lacrosse and had not made it. Sometimes he thought about trying out again by why give up the delicious fast food for a sport he wasn’t good at? Sure, he played in high school, but that was mainly to make his dad proud. 

Not paying attention to where he was going (he was thinking about food, let’s be real,) he ran into someone. Hard. Various school supplies went everywhere as did Stiles. He was sprawled out on the pavement and ready to give whomever it was a piece of his mind. Until he saw the girl picking up her things. He scrambled to his feet and tried to help her. “I’m sorry. I mean…watch where you’re going…” By his tone it was easy to tell he was only joking. “Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you right?”

Allison was half way to class by the time she finished reading the text, and looked up just in time to see a guy walking full speed directly at her. She opened her mouth to say something, but by the time she reacted, he had already rammed into her. Very hard. Hard enough to knock her off her feet, and the all her school work out of her hands. Textbooks fell to the ground with a thud, and loose papers from her notebooks fluttered to the ground fairly calmly. 

She was in too much shock still to even address the boy that had run into her so aggressively. She just started to gather her supplies hoping it would help her regain her composure a little bit. She made eye contact with him as he spoke to her. His feelings on the subject of colliding with her were varied, but she could tell that being angry about it wasn’t exactly at the top of his list. “No, I’m fine, thanks. My notes took a little bit of beating, though.” She said, as she flipped through the pages, many of them being folded from the way they had hit the ground.

The library was not a friendly place for Scott McCall. He was far too accidentally loud to thrive there. Whether he was knocking books off the desk with his elbow, or his phone was blaring music when his headphones cord popped off, or even if he just had the sniffles, the young man felt like a nuisance to everyone around him. 

That was why he was happy to find a place to call “his usual”. It was halfway between campus and his own apartment, and though it didn’t look like much on the outside, it was perfect. The Black Bear cafe had everything he could want. They made amazing sandwiches (which he dined out on far too often) and despite not being much of a coffee drinker, he rather liked what they brewed. It wasn’t too loud, nor too quiet for studying, and after long labs, it was the best place to go to get his readings done.

ACTH is released in the peripheral vasculature, which allows it to travel to the cortex of the adrenal gland to bind receptors, causing the production of glucocorticoids…

Scott rubbed at his eyes with a closed fist, the highlighter slipping from his fingers. Animal behaviour was one of his favourite courses, but it was by no means light stuff. Glancing up from the blur of words in front of him, his dark eyes landed on a familiar figure standing near the counter. “Allison?” he called lightly, raising a hand to wave. “Hey!”

Allison dropped her bag at her usual table in the corner by the window and walked up to the counter to order her usual drink. It had taken a while, but she was finally at the point where she was forming “usual” habits. 

She heard her name from the opposite side of the cafe. She made eye contact with Scott from her Biology class. She grinned, waving back. The pair had been partnered up in class previously and hit it off. She handed her money over, and made her way to his table. “Scott, hey. I didn’t know you came here. I figured it was UCLA’s greatest kept secret.”