Chapter Thirteen

Stiles and I sat in class, waiting for Scott to arrive. Stiles was angry with Scott. A mountain lion attended the school last night at the parent-teachers conference. It was shot, by Mr Argent. Allison was about to cross a road and a car almost hit her but Scott had saved her, but instead, Sheriff Stilinski had gotten hit by another car. It happened all too fast, according to my Dad. And now, Stiles is pissed off with Scott.

Scott had entered just as I was thinking about him and made his way over to our usual seats. He sat down in front of Stiles. I was sitting beside Stiles. "You still not talking to me?" Scott questioned Stiles. Stiles says nothing in return. "Can you at least tell me if your Dad is okay? It was just a bruise, right? Soft tissue damage?" Stiles ignored him. "You know I feel really bad about it?" Scott continued, trying to get Stiles to talk to him. "Okay, what if I told you that I'm trying to figure this out? And that I went to Derek for help."

"If I was talking to you, I'd tell you that you're an idiot for trusting him. But obviously I'm not talking to you." Stiles blurted out. The room settles for the beginning of class. Stiles opens his notebook, pen poised for note taking. Then, unable to stand it, he whips his head around. "What did he say?"

⇉

"He wants you to tap into your animal side and get angry? Correct me if I'm wrong, but every time you do that you try to kill someone. That someone usually being me." Stiles tells Scott as the class had ended and we went into the hallway. I frowned.

"He tried to kill you?" I asked Stiles.

Stiles glanced at me. "Long story, I'll tell you later."

"That's what he means when he says he doesn't know if he can teach me. I have to be able to control it." Scott explained.

"How's he going to teach you to do that?" I asked him.

"I don't know. I don't think he does either." Scott admitted.

"When are you seeing him again?" Stiles questioned quickly.

"He doesn't want me to talk about it. He told me to act normal today. To just get through the day—" Stiles cuts off Scott.

"When?"

"He's coming to get me at work. At the Animal Clinic." Scott informed us.

"Okay. Then that gives me until the end of the school day." Stiles nods his head.

"To do what?"

"To teach you myself."

⇉

"The what of who?" Lydia questioned as Allison, Lydia, and I sat with each other during lunch in the cafeteria.

"The Beast of Gévaudan. Listen..." Allison flips through the pages of one of her books. She was telling us some research she found on her family for history. "A quadruped wolf-like monster prowling the Auvergne and South Dordogne areas of France during the years 1764 to 1767. La Bête killed over 100 people, becoming so infamous that the King, Louis XV, sent one of his best hunters to try to kill it."

I was interested, but Lydia was not. Is Allison getting closer and closer to the Supernatural world?

"Boring." Lydia lets out.

"Even the Church eventually declared the monster a messenger of Satan." Allison contniued.

"Still boring." Lydia moaned.

"Cryptozoologists believe it may have been a sub-species of hoofed predator, possibly the Mesonychid—"

"Slipping into a coma bored."

"—while others believe it was a powerful sorcerer who could shape shift into a man-eating monster." Allison finished.

"Any of this have anything to do with your family?" Lydia questioned her.

"Yeah, does it?" I followed up.

"This... It is believed La Bête was finally trapped and killed by a renowned hunter who claimed his wife and four children were the first to fall prey to the creature. The hunter's name was Argent." Allison looked at us, her eyes full of glee. My eyes widen slightly.

Lydia peers down at the book. "Your ancestors killed a big wolf. So what?" Lydia asked.

"Not just a big wolf. Look at this picture. What's it look like to you?" Allison flips the page in the book, turning it to reveal a drawing to us. The Beast stands enshrouded in mist, a powerful monster peering out of the darkness with red eyes and sharp claws. Bodies of women and children lie at its feet, looks of pure terror frozen onto their dead faces. I inhaled sharply, sitting up straight. I gaze at it, the drawing literally drawing me in. Like I was being hypnotized. "Lydia? Paige?"

I snapped out of it. I looked over at Lydia who blinks and then looks up at Allison with her usual expression of disdain. "It looks. Like a big. Wolf. See you in History." Lydia gets up, leaving Allison and I alone.

"Paige?" Allison turned to me.

"Lyds is right, looks like a wolf. Or Mountain Lion." I shrugged and continued to eat my sandwich I had forgotten that was in my hand.

"A Mountain Lion? Are you kidding me?" Allison scoffed. "Paige, are you blind?"

"Honestly, I could be." I lied. "Been meaning to—"

"Paige, I love you, but no." Allison gives me a serious look. "All of this is true, okay? It's literally history." Before I could say anything else, the bell rings. I looked over across the cafeteria to see Scott and Stiles jumping up out of their seats. Before I could distract Allison, she spots him. "Scott?"

Scott had been avodiing Allison all day because Derek had told him too. To be able to control his wolf, he needed to stay away from her. Pretending to not hear, Scott darts through the doors of the cafeteria, moving quickly. Allison just follows him, looking annoyed.

Stiles walked over to me. "You ready?"

"For what?" I asked.

"We're gonna train Scott." Stiles began to walk towards the doors. "Come on."

⇉

Stiles, Scott, and I walk out to the field with their lacrosse equipment. At the benches, Stiles pulls out a black strap with a digital display at its center. "Put this on." Stiles tells him.

"Isn't that one of the heart rate monitors for the track team?" Scott asked.

"Yeah, I borrowed it." Stiles lied.

Scott gives him a look. "Stole it?"

"Temporarily misappropriated. Coach uses it to monitor his heart rate with his phone while he jogs. You're going to wear it the rest of the day." Stiles exlpained to him.

"Isn't that Coach's phone?" Scott asked, eyeing the phone he had brought out.

Proudly, Stiles smiled. "That I stole."

"Why?" Scott questioned.

"Your heart rate goes up when you go wolf, right?" Stiles continued to explain. "During lacrosse, when you're with Allison, when you get angry. So maybe learning to control it is tied to learning to control your heart rate."

"Like the Incredible Hulk?" Scott grinned.

"Kind of like the Incredible Hulk." Stiles nodded.

"I'm the Incredible Hulk." Scott seemed to enjoy the idea of this. I rolled my eyes at the boys.

"Shut up and put the strap on." Stiles seemed to grow annoyed with this, too.

Moment later, Scott stands with his hands behind his back as Stiles duct tapes his wrists together. "This is not exactly how I planned to spend my free period." Scott informed him.

"Me either. But I'm kind of enjoying it." I grinned and Scott gives me a look.

Stiles picks up a lacrosse stick and glances down at his phone to look at the heart monitor. "Ready?" Stiles asked.

"No." Scott responded.

"Remember. Don't get angry." I reminded Scott as I picked up one of the lacrosse sticks. Stiles drops a handful of lacrosse balls at his feet and picks up his lacrosse stick. I do the same.

"I'm starting to think this is a really bad—" A lacrosse ball soars right into Scott's leg before he could finish the sentence. "Ow." With a smirk on my face, I pick up another ball and toss it. This one nails Scott in the shoulder. "Okay, that kind of hurt."

"Quiet. You should be thinking about your heart rate. About staying calm." Stiles informed him, the two of enjoying this more than we should be. We both grinned at each other before Stiles holds up his phone to show Scott's rising heart rate.

"Okay, stay calm. Staying calm. Staying totally calm..." A lacrosse ball whacks him in the knee. That shot was from Stiles. "Son of a bitch!" Scott staggers, nearly falling. As he attempts to right himself.

Stiles twirl the lacrosse stick in his hands. "I think my aim is improving."

"I wonder why." Scott grits out.

"Don't get angry." I remind him.

"I'm not getting angry—" Before he could finish, I throw a ball towards Scott right in the stomach. He gasps for breath, doubling over. Then another shot nails him in the thigh.

"Maybe I should join the team. I'm getting pretty good at this." I stiffle a laugh.

"All right, hold on. Just stop." Scott choked out. But the next ball hits him right in the neck. Scott stumbles. With his hands taped behind him, he falls to his knees.

Stiles moves to pick up another ball with the lacrosse stick, but he pauses at the sound of gravelly rumbling coming towards him. A growl. Stiles and I looked at each other, and I was prepared to run if I needed to. Then a beeping sound catches our attention. It's the heart rate monitor on his phone. Stiles picks it up to see the numbers climbing at an alarming speed.

"Scott?" Stiles called out worriedly.

We looks from his phone to see Scott kneeling on the grass. Both of his hands digging into the dirt, strands of torn duct tape around his wrists. He ripped the duct tape apart. "Stay back." Scott snapped.

And then Scott looks up, sweat dripping down his forehead. "You started to change?" Stiles questioned.

"From anger. But it was more than that. The angrier I got, the stronger I felt." Scott informed us.

"Then it is anger. Which means Derek's right?" I asked, looking at Scott for confirmation.

"I can't be around Allison." Scott tells us.

"Why? Just because she makes you happy?" Stiles asked him.

"Because she makes me weak."

⇉

A pile of books drops down on the teacher's desk as students hurry in for the start of class. Coach glares up at them. He looks hung over as he drops a handful of antacids into his mouth and starts crushing them up with his teeth.

"Sit down. Sit, sit, sit. Lots to cover." Coach snapped.

Scott, Stiles, and I take seats in the classroom as it fills up quickly. "No, Stiles, take the seat behind me. Stiles—" Scott quickly tried to say, but it's too late. Allison takes the empty seat behind him.

"Hey, I haven't seen you all day." Allison tells him.

"Oh. Sorry? I've been super busy." Scott explained to her.

"When are you getting a new phone? I feel like I'm totally disconnected from you." Allison pouted.

"Soon. Really soon." Scott assures her. He's lying, he's already got a new phone.

"I switched lab partners by the way." Allison informed him and I frowned, over hearing this new information.

"To who?" Scott asked, cocking his head.

"To you, dummy." Allison smiled.

"Uh, Allie, I'm your lab partner." I point to myself and Allison glanced at me, giving me a sorry smile.

"Sorry, Paige. I should've told you sooner. I just want to spend more time with Scott, and figured you could spend more time with Stiles." Allison shrugged.

I made a small face. "Really, Allison?"

Allison smiled. "You'll thank me later." She winked slyly.

"Me? Why me? I mean—Are you sure?" Scott quickly cuts us off and Allison turned to Scott.

"Yeah. This way I get an excuse to bring you home to study." Allison grinned.

"Oh..." Scott trailed off.

She looks at him, taking his reaction as disappointment. "You don't mind, do you?"

"I just don't want to bring your grade down." Scott tells her quietly.

"Maybe I can bring your grade up. Come to my place tonight. 8:30?" Allison suggested.

"Tonight?" Scott choked out.

"8.30." Allison nodded, confirming.

Coach Finstock smacks a book on his desk like a judge's gavel to get the class's attention. I turned away from their conversation. "All right, settle down. Let's start with a quick summary of last night's reading. Greenberg, put your hand down. Everybody knows you did the reading. How about... McCall?"

"Huh?" Scott looked up, looking completely lost.

"The reading, McCall." Coach deadpans.

"Last night's reading?" Scott repeated, stalling.

"No, the reading of the Gettysburg Address." Coach sarcastically rolled his eyes.

"What?" Scott blinked.

"That was sarcasm, McCall. Familiar with the concept?" Coach questioned him.

Scott looked back at Stiles, who smiles proudly. "Very." Scott muttered.

"You do the reading or not?" Coach asked.

"I think I forgot." Scott shyly admits.

"Okay, then. Nice work. Because it's not like you're averaging a D in this class. You do know I can't keep you on the team with a D, McCall?" Coach glares at Scott. He waits patiently for Scott to respond. Everyone looks at him. Someone giggles from across the room. "How about you summarize the previous night's reading? No? How about the night before? How about you summarize anything you've ever read? In your entire life."
Flustered, Scott blinks up at him. "Uh... uh..."

"Anything at all. A blog? The back of a cereal box? The adults only warning on your favorite website." Coach narrowed his eyes at the nervous boy. Sweating, Scott stares blankly, not knowing how to respond. "Thank you, McCall. Thank you for extinguishing every last flicker of hope I have for your generation. Next practice you start with suicide runs."

I glanced at Scott worriedly. As the class laughs, Scott sinks into his seat in utter humiliation. I frowned sadly and moved my head forward, to pay attention to Coach.

⇉

Stiles and I followed Scott into the hallway after class. "It's her." Stiles started off and I frowned at him.

"What do you mean?" Scott asked.

"Yeah, what do you mean?" I asked, too.

"It's Allison. Remember what you told me about the night of the full moon? You were thinking about her. About protecting her." Stiles explained and that made so much more sense to me now.

"Okay." Scott mumbled.

"So remember the first lacrosse game? You said you could hear her voice out on the field." Stiles continued.

"Yeah. I did." Scott recalled.

"That's what brought you back so you could score. And then in the locker room, you didn't kill her. At least not like you were trying to kill me. She brings you back." Stiles fully explained.

"But it's not always true. Because literally every time I'm kissing her or touching her—" Stiles cut off Scott.

"That's not the same. When you're doing that you're just another hormonal teenager thinking about sex. See, you're thinking about sex right now. Aren't you?" Stiles gives him a look.

Gazing off with a slight smile at his lips, Scott snaps back to attention. "Sorry." Scott apolgised and I shuddered.

"Now when she was holding your hand in class, it was different. I don't think she makes you weak. I think she actually gives you control. It's like she's a kind of anchor..." Stiles trailed off.

"You mean because I love her." Scott tells Stiles and my eyes widen at the news. Scott loves Allison?

"Exactly." Stiles pauses, noticing Scott has stopped walking, surprised at his own words. I too, stopped walking.

"Did I just say that?" Scott asked.

"You just said that." I grinned widely. "Oh, my God, this is the cutest thing I have ever witness.

"I love her." Scott repeated, his eyes shinning.

"That's great. Moving on—"

"No, I do. I really do. I think I'm totally in love with her." Scott turned to Stiles.

"And that's beautiful. Before you go off and write a sonnet can we figure this out? Because you obviously can't be around her all the time." Stiles brought us back into reality.

Stiles paces, then stops walking. "You're getting an idea, aren't you?" I asked him.

"Yeah."

"Could this idea get me in trouble." Scott added.

"Maybe."

"Is this idea going to cause me physical pain?" Scott questioned.

"Definitely."

⇉

Scott and I followed Stiles around the school to the edge of the parking lot where several large dumpsters sit concealing a few seniors. They hang out there laughing and talking while smoking. I crunch my nose up at the scene. Smoking? Seriously?

One senior climbs out of a smoke filled truck to join the others. "Over here." Stiles gestured to follow him, and I do, too.

"What are we doing?" Scott questioned him.

"Yeah, Stiles, we shouldn't be—"

"You'll see. Stand right here. Do you have your keys?" Stiles had cut me off, looking at Scott. I frowned. Scott takes out his house keys. "Hold them up. Like this. Now, whatever happens I want you to think about Allison. Find her voice like you did at the game? Got it?" Scott nods. "Good. Keep holding the keys."

Stiles grabbed my wrist and dragged me over to the Senior's truck and takes out his own car keys. Then in a quick few seconds, Stiles drags his key across the side of the Senior's truck, digging a hideous scartch into the paint.

I cringed at it. Stiles pocketed his keys, placing me behind him. "Dude. What do you think you're doing to that truck?" Stiles poke loudly. The Seniors turn around to see Scott holding his car keys up. My mouth dropped a little.

"What the hell?" A senior raged. Scott steps back as Stiles gives him a devilish smile. The Seniors are on him in a nanosecond. Scott puts up his arms trying to protect himself. But they literally start beating the ever-loving crap out of him.

Stiles eyes his phone to note the rising heart rate while Scott crumbles to the pavement under the merciless pummeling.

"Stiles." I whispered, worried for Scott's state.

"Don't worry, he can handle it." Stiles rolled his eyes and I give him a disappointed look.

"Stop! Stop right now! What do you idiots think you're doing?" Harris' voice had snapped, breaking up the scene. Blood was dripping from Scott's nose. Scott slowly turned to Stiles, who holds up the phone, showing the screen at a steady heart beat.

⇉

We had earned ourselves detention after school, which I was not happy about. Never once in my entire life had I gotten a detention, but here I am, sitting behind Scott and Stiles in detention with Harris. It was an empty classroom, consiting of me, Scott, Stiles, and Harris.

"Excuse me, sir, I know it's detention and all, but I'm supposed to be at work. And I don't want to get fired." Scott tried to excuse himself but Harris simply ignored him. Then, Scott turned to whisper to him. "You knew I would heal."

"Yep." Stiles responded back.

"So you did that to help me learn." Scott figured.

"Yep." Stiles replied.

"But partially to punish me." Scott added.

Stiles nodded. "Yep."

"For not being there the other day. When your Dad got hurt." Scott continued to explain his punishment. Stiles doesn't respond this time. Just staring ahead. "You're my best friend. I don't want you to be angry at me."

Now, Stiles turned to Scott. "You have something, Scott. Whether you want it or not. You can do things other people can't. That means you don't have a choice anymore. It means you have to do something." Stiles tells him.

Scott and Stiles make eye contact. "I know. And I will."

Harris eyes them over his newspaper. Then puts it down. "All right. Both of you. Out of here."

"What about me?" I asked, raising my hand up and Harris stares into my soul.

"You have to stay." Harris decided. I pouted, slouching down in my seat.

"Sir, Paige had nothing to do with this." Stiles spoke up as he gathered his things. "I swear, it was just me and Scott. She just so happened to walk by and saw the whole thing."

"Go now, Mr Stilinski, before I change my mind. She has to stay." Harris gestured towards me. "It's only another hour and a half, I'm sure Miss Madden can survive."

"I'll be fine guys, go." I whispered glumy, starring down at my desk. The boy hestitnatly left, leaving me alone with Harris in silences.