The New Wile E. Coyote

Hey there! Name's Elliot, or Leo. Whichever's easiest, really. I just moved into Beacon Hills from some small town you've probably never heard of, and I'm really excited to join the Lacrosse team... whatever that is.

[just-katie-griffith-blog]

“Just because she’s unpredictable doesn’t mean you can ki- nevermind.” Katie shook her head. She understood how he could think werewolves were dangerous. She’d read Harry Potter. At his response, Katie smiled and exhaled slowly in relief. “Thank you. I know it’s probably hard for you to agree to that, so thank you. I’ll let her know and set it up, okay? Thank you. Really.” She kissed him lightly on the cheek and immediately texted Chloe.

[the-e-stands-for-elliot]

“More than probably hard, people like-” He cut off as Katie kissed him on his cheek. He raised an eyebrow at her, but her face was already buried in her phone.  “Whatever.  Just know if she tries anything, that’ll be the end of peacemaking.”

[just-katie-griffith-blog]

“Anything has the potential to kill people. She’s in control, and she’s a person too. You can’t just…” Katie sighed. She had not expected her life to involve so much talk of murder. “She’s had plenty of opportunities to kill me, and I’m still here. She’s my friend, Leo. Why would she kill me?” She paused to take a deep breath. “A disagreement. Fine.” Katie wished her friends could just get along, childish as she felt for thinking it. "You should just talk to her. Open conversation, no claws, no… whatever it is. Silver. I’ll mediate.”

[the-e-stands-for-elliot]

“You can think she - She can think she’s in control all she’d like, but believe me,” Leo closed his eyes for a second, remembering how utterly out of control the moon had always made him feel.  “They’re unpredictable.”  He sighed, holding back so Katie could speak her so called solution.  “Wolfsbane,” he corrected her, almost smiling, “But fine, I’ll talk if it’ll make you feel better.  No promises, though.  Talking it out usually doesn’t work too well.”

[just-katie-griffith-blog]

“The simplest explanation is usually the correct one, and in this case, werewolves fit the bill. Plus, it would have been hard to fake the spontaneous claws and glowing eyes. So yeah.” Katie shook her head. “She doesn’t seem to think you have a disagreement. She said your family hates hers and she’s estranged from her family but you still hate her or something, I don’t really know.”

[the-e-stands-for-elliot]

“It’s not her family, it’s what she is.  Werewolves have the potential to kill people.  Chloe could kill anyone, even you, when she turns, and I’m not going to just let her do it.  But right now, we’ll just keep it at a disagreement.”   

[just-katie-griffith-blog]

“I’m fine, I think. Thanks. I’m just going to… I know about werewolves, Leo. Okay? I know that you’re trying to kill Chloe, and you need to stop, or tell me your side of the story or something, because I’d love to be wrong. Please tell me I’m wrong.”

[the-e-stands-for-elliot]

For a moment, Leo didn’t speak.  She knows? Shit, what else did Chloe tell her? “So you’re just believing what anyone says now?” He tried to laugh it off, but Katie’s expression dismissed that option.  “Alright, fine. I can’t tell you you’re wrong. But she’s not completely right either.  I’m not trying to kill Chloe, we just have a disagreement. At least until...” I can prove she intends to kill someone.

[just-katie-griffith-blog]

“About some, um, things… Look, Chloe told me, okay?”

[the-e-stands-for-elliot]

“Chloe told you ... what things?  Are you okay?”

[just-katie-griffith-blog]

“Leo, I really need to talk to you. Not about cabbage, unfortunately.”

[the-e-stands-for-elliot]

“...Okay, uh, what’s up?”

[the-e-stands-for-elliot]

“Okay, I know it doesn’t sound serious, but I really need to know where I can buy fresh cabbages.  All I can find anywhere is lettuce.”

[just-katie-griffith-blog]

I Could Take The Back Road - Katie&Leo

[just-katie-griffith-blog]

Katie continued to zoom down the road, enjoying the feel of the cool night air that was slinking through the slightly open window and whirling her hair around. Something about Leo’s response to her question felt a bit off, but she didn’t want to pry. She definitely understood not having parents at home very often. “Right. How are you, then?” She glanced at him with a quick smile before turning her attention back to the road. Katie assumed he’d at least know how to answer that one, though she was sure she’d asked similar questions already. She always ran out of things to say, which was why she typically stayed at home, but felt the need to fill the silence. She was somewhat pleased when Leo turned the radio up, and grinned when she realized she knew what was playing.

 “Oh, I used to love this song. I mean, I still like it, I just haven’t listened to it in a while. Do you know it?” She bobbed her head to the beat and sang the words under her breath. She couldn’t remember all of them, though, so she found herself slurring gibberish every now and then. Katie would’ve kept quiet to avoid imposing on her passenger, but she figured he’d been humming before so he’d probably tolerate it. “This is gospel for the fallen ones, locked away in permanent slumber, assembling their philosophies, locked away- oh, damn it, that’s the second verse- memories…” She laughed. “Sorry. Bad habit.”

[the-e-stands-for-elliot]

“Me? I’m absolutely grand,”  he returned her smile.  At least that statement was almost the truth, oddly enough.  Or maybe it wasn’t too odd, who knew? Leo shook his head as he listened to the song more closely, just to make sure he hadn’t heard it before.  “Nope, just sounded cool.”  He bobbed his head along with her, chuckling as she started to sing along.  “No, you’re fine, I - Oh, it’s coming up on your right,”  He cut off as he began to recognize the area.  The smile disappeared from his face as he leaned forward.  “White mailbox.” He told her for further explanation.  

The place didn’t look too terrible; the grass was overgrown, and one of the old trees was leaning a bit too close to the house, but the building itself wasn’t too bad -  a window in the back was broken in, but Katie wouldn’t see that from the road.  Either way, the house looked like it’d been deserted for forever, and the darkness of the night wasn’t helping.  Was it too much to hope she wouldn’t notice?  “Thanks for the ride, Katie, see you Monday?”  He said as he waited for the car to stop moving.

[just-katie-griffith-blog]

I Could Take The Back Road - Katie&Leo

[just-katie-griffith-blog]

Katie tapped her fingers lightly on the steering wheel to the beat of whatever song was quietly humming on the radio. She must have left it on last time, set on some station she couldn’t recall. “You can change that, if you like,” she said, nodding at the radio. “I don’t care.” She loved music as much as the next teenager, but she didn’t foster any strong negative opinions about it. Katie wasn’t much good at small talk, though, or at least she wasn’t fond of it if there was an alternative. She certainly would have preferred something more real in this situation, since they never would have needed small talk when they were little. Then again, Katie considered, do children ever use small talk?

Katie laughed. “I hope so. If all that came from one small house party then I can’t imagine what ragers are like. I’ll probably never have an opportunity to compare the two, though, if my luck holds out. I mean, no casualties from that utter catastrophe must mean we’re all pretty fortunate, right?” She stopped at a stop sign and counted to three under her breath before pressing on the gas again. “All right, just let me know when you see it. Right, sorry, it’s probably still really new for you. How is everyone doing at home?”

[the-e-stands-for-elliot]

“No, it’s fine,”  Leo smiled at the song.  He’d heard it once, maybe twice before, but he liked it anyway.  He almost sang along, but he didn’t exactly know the words, so he sort of hummed along, tapping his foot on the floor of Katie’s car. “Yeah, fortunate’s the word” Leo muttered. All the girls at that party would’ve been fine on their own, except Katie and maybe Lydia - he still wasn’t too sure what to make of the redhead. 

As they pulled up to a stop sign, Leo’s humming paused and he leaned forward, but the spot didn’t seem too familiar, though he knew he’d passed it on the way to the party.  Settling back into his seat, the boy winced at Katie’s next question.  “Uh.  Fine, I guess.  Parents aren’t really home much, so I don’t really know,”  He didn’t want to lie, but by now it was too late to go back.  Vaguely, he wondered if that statement he’d just made contradicted something he’d told Katie earlier.  Hopefully not,  but it wouldn’t matter when they got to - My house, he suddenly realized, she’s not stupid.  She’s lived here long enough to know where the abandoned places are.   Crap.  He could feel his heart rate rising at the thought, so he focused on breathing.  In, out, in, out, okay.  The song had changed to something Leo had never heard before, but he reached over and turned the radio up a notch anyway.  Anything to keep Katie from noticing that something was wrong.

[goalicearkens]

As she looked through the library, Alice had been trying to find a book for class. “Why, can’t we use the internet,” she growled, as she just knocked a book into the other side of the isle to only hear someone. Peeking through, she only noticed she had startled someone. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she apologized, as she walked around.

[the-e-stands-for-elliot]

Leo glanced up, spotting a girl through the space where a book had once been.  “No, you’re fine,” he replied, almost reflexively, as he picked up the book.  “You need this?”

[just-katie-griffith-blog]

I Could Take The Back Road - Katie&Leo

Katie smiled as her car’s ignition purred to life. She’d been half afraid it wouldn’t start at all. It was a used car, and the dealer guy had said it was pretty old. She’d needed some way to get around, though, and her house wasn’t exactly close to school. She’d never been much of a car person, but now she had affection towards it. Katie glanced over at Leo in the passenger seat, trying not to think about what Chloe had said before. “Shame that house burned down, hm? It looked expensive.” She shook her head. “I am never going to a crazy teenage house party ever again. Drunk people, I expected. A near death experience and delusions not caused by alcohol or drugs, I did not.” 

She mostly kept her eyes on the road, but kept Leo in her peripheral vision. They were hardly as close as they’d been when they were kids. She hoped they’d get back to something more like that soon. It was unrealistic to expect completely picking back up right where they left off, but he seemed nice and he didn’t appear to hate the modern her or anything, so that was a good sign. “Sorry, where do you live now? I totally forgot to ask. I didn’t pass it already, did I?”

[the-e-stands-for-elliot]

“Huh? oh, yeah.”  Leo practically grunted the reply; he’d only been half - paying attention to the girl that was probably the only person he could trust from now on.  He’d have to be more vigilant - how could he have even let his guard down so easily in the first place?  Because there were apparently other hunters here?  Wherever that idea was taking him, it was pointless.  

Now, Leo looked at the charred remains of the home.  It was a nice house, despite what had been inside.  It was a shame.  The boy shook his head, then grinned at Katie, “Well, on the bright side, you’re prepared for anything and everything now.” 

He sunk back in his seat, letting the vehicle’s radio fill the silence as Katie drove.  He glanced out the window every so often, but really there wasn’t much to be on the lookout for.  “I forget the address, but it’s way off on the far side of town,”  Leo replied when Katie finally asked where they were going - he hadn’t actually been thinking about it, anyway.  “I think it’s straight down this road a little ways anyway, you’re fine.”

[the-e-stands-for-elliot]

Miss Missing You - Elliot Asper & Katie Griffith

[just-katie-griffith-blog]

Katie laughed. “Uh, yeah, the Econ teacher’s also the lacrosse coach, and he’s very, um, passionate.” Coach Finstock was difficult to describe. Something about him made him lovable despite his hateful exterior, but you couldn’t really get it until you got to know him. It helped that Katie usually wasn’t the one he was yelling at, since she did decently in Econ and didn’t actually play Lacrosse. “Are you planning on joining the team?” she asked, tilting her head to the side. She hoped Leo could withstand Coach’s wrath. “The building over there used to be an antiques shop. The owner skipped town and it got foreclosed. They found out he also owned this space, so they planted some grass and got halfway into making it a park before they lost funding,” she recalled, gesturing to the skeleton of a building to their right. “So not a common hangout spot. I just figured it would be a quiet place to meet up.”

[the-e-stands-for-elliot]

“Maybe.  It’s the only real sport around here.  I’d love it if the sport was soccer though.”  He looked around as Katie pointed out various spots.  It was a neat little place.  Quiet, like she said.  “I appreciate it.  Not much traffic, either.”  He wandered around a bit, inspecting a few abandoned structures.  A glint of brass caught his eye a little ways away.  “What’s that?” He asked, nodding towards a twisted brass structure that vaguely resembled... something.

[the-e-stands-for-elliot]

Miss Missing You - Elliot Asper & Katie Griffith

[just-katie-griffith-blog]

Katie was pleased to see that at least Leo hadn’t grown up to be what someone other than Katie might describe as an asshole. They’d been quiet close for a time when they were younger, but Katie was hardly the most socially apt and she didn’t know what the dynamic was supposed to be now. Just because someone came off as a decent person didn’t mean they actually liked you. “That’s good. I’ve been doing pretty well, thanks. Lots of new students, so it’s a little chaotic. That’s probably good for you, though, right? Less intense new kid syndrome?” She shifted her weight back and forth between her legs a few times, running on nervous energy. “Right? I don’t know, considering I totally didn’t recognize you until you re-introduced yourself, we might just not have noticed.”

[the-e-stands-for-elliot]

“Really?  Everyone’s new to me, anyway.  But yeah, I guess it helps,” he laughed, wondering just how many people he’d met were recent additions to Beacon Hills. “Although, the Econ teacher yelled at me for asking what Lacrosse was.” Thank god Leo’d already taken that class.  He shrugged, more out of needing to move than to actually indicate anything, as Katie talked.  “True.  It’s been a while.  Still, what’re the odds that we don’t have a single class together, right?” He kicked at a clump of grass, but it barely budged.  “So, what is this place, anyway?  Never seen this side of town before.”

[the-e-stands-for-elliot]

Miss Missing You - Elliot Asper & Katie Griffith

[just-katie-griffith-blog]

Katie grinned brightly when she saw a vaguely familiar face. “Hi! It’s Leo still, right?” She gave him a quick hug, hoping it wasn’t too friendly when they hadn’t seen each other in years. “How’ve you been?” She was amused to see how the little boy she remembered had grown up into what now looked like an actual person. “It’s so cool you moved to Beacon Hills. Have we freaked you out yet?” Katie knew a lot of people were scared of the little town. She never understood that, but she figured that was just because it was home to her. She hoped her childhood friend would adjust well, and not think she was completely crazy. 

[the-e-stands-for-elliot]

Wow, she had changed.  His mental image of her had been way off - probably because the last time they’d seen each other, they’d been like ten or something.  “Yep, unless you can think of something more interesting,” he hugged her back, though he felt awkward about it, after so long.  “Uh, fine. Good, actually.  You?”  Leo lied through a smile; he still hadn’t told her about his parents’ deaths, because he didn’t want her worrying over it.  Katie didn’t know about the monsters (at least, he thought she didn’t), so Leo couldn’t see any point to bothering her with it.  “Yeah, I’m starting to get used to it.  Helps that nothing can really freak me out,” He laughed.  How true that statement was, Katie’d never know.  “I’m surprised I haven’t seen you at all before now.  Do you have classes on another planet or something?”

[jcdireject]

“Really, I passively insist. It’s on my way, anyways.”

“Really? Maybe a more preppy name like Tiffany or Brittany would be more fitting.”

[the-e-stands-for-elliot]

“Passively insist? How does that work?”

“How is Tiffany a preppy name?  Preppy names are like... Ashley or Caroline.  Which actually do seem to fit.”

[betawithabite]

“Same to you, Leo.” She looked down to see the book he held, smiling as she recognized the author. “Of course, he’s one of my favorite beside Patterson.”

[the-e-stands-for-elliot]

“I’ve actually never read Patterson’s stuff.  He’s the guy that wrote Maximum Ride, right?”

[betawithabite]

Erica shook her head, giggling. “No, it’s fine. I was actually trying to put it back when it um… attacked you.” She laughed. “I’m Erica, by the way.”

[the-e-stands-for-elliot]

“Well, no paper cuts, so I guess I can forgive you,”  He glanced at his hands, as if to double-check the statement, “Nice to meet you, Erica.  People call me Leo.  You’re a fan of Dashner?”