CHAPTER THIRTEEN:
BECAUSE I LOVE HER

ELAINE MADE IT BACK TO the school just in time for Coaches class. She was one of the last one in, quickly taking a seat in front of Stiles and moving her hair from her face as she handed the boy his keys, giving him a thankful smile. She hadn't gotten what she had been looking for, but instead she discovered something she wished she hadn't. She focused on her hands that were placed on her desk, her mind continuously replaying the Latin word she had spoken in order to shut the woman up.

"Let's start with a quick summary of last night's reading." Coach spoke up. "Greenberg, put your hand down. Everyone knows you did the reading. How about, uh. . . McCall!" The two quickly looked up towards the man, both of them asking 'what?' in unison.

"Not you." Coach spoke, waving the girl off before looking towards Scott.

"What?" Scott quizzed.

"The reading?" The man asked.

"Lat nights reading. . .?"

"How about, uh, the reading of The Gettysburg Address?" Coach sarcastically answered.

"What?" Scott asked, utterly confused.

"That's sarcasm. You familiar with the term 'sarcasm,' McCall?" Coach asked the boy.

"Very." He spoke, glancing towards Stiles who wore a proud smile on his face.

"Did you do the reading, or not?"

"Uh, I think I forgot. . ." Scott mumbled, making Elaine let out a soft sigh.

"Nice work, McCall! It's not like you're not averaging a D in this class." Coach started. Though, it didn't stop there. "Come on, buddy―︎you know I can't keep you on the team if you have a D. How about you summarize, uh, the previous night's reading? No? How about the, uh, the night before that? How about you summarize anything you've ever read in your entire life?" Scott stuttered, Elaine glancing towards Stiles when she heard the heart monitor started to beep way too fast for Elaine's liking. She glanced towards Stiles who shared a look with her before they turned back towards Coach who only continued. "No? How about the adults-only warning from your favorite website you visit every night? Anything? Thank you, McCall. Thank you. Thank you, McCall! Thank you for extinguishing any last flicker of hope I have for your generation. You just blew it for everybody. Thanks. Next practice, you can start with suicide runs, unless that's too much reading." The heart monitor started to slow down, making them both glance towards the boy, only to notice his hand interlaced with Allison's.

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"It's her." Stiles spoke as the three left the classroom.

"What do you mean?" Scott questioned.

"It's Allison. Remember what you told me about the night of the full moon? You were thinking about her, right? About protecting her." Stiles explained

"Okay."

"Remember the night of the first lacrosse game? You said you could hear her voice out on the field." Stiles continued.

"Yeah, I did."

"Well, so that's what brought you back so you could score. And then, after the game, in the locker room, you didn't kill her―︎at least, not like how you were trying to kill us." Stiles spoke, glancing towards Elaine who frowned at the memory. "She brings you back, is what I'm saying."

"No, no, no. But it's not always true, because literally every time I'm kissing her, or-or touching her―︎" Elaine's face scrunched up in discomfort and disgust.

"No, that's not the same. When you're doing that, you're just another hormonal teenager thinking about sex, you know?" There was a pause before Stiles asked, "You're thinking about sex right now, aren't you?"

"Yeah, sorry."

"And I'm uncomfortable." Elaine spoke.

"That's fine. Look, back in the classroom, when she was holding your hand, that was different, okay? I don't think she makes you weak―︎I think she actually gives you control. She's kind of like an anchor."

"You mean because I love her." Scott asked.

"Exactly." Stiles spoke while Elaine was looking at her brother with wide eyes. He glanced towards his sister, who was clearly just surprised as he was at the fact that he had just said that out loud. "Did I just say that?"

"Yes, you just said that." Stiles nodded.

"I love her." Scott smiled.

"That's great. Now moving on-"

"No, no, no, really―︎I think I'm totally in love with her." Scott interrupted the boy, and Elaine couldn't help but softly smile at this, watching as his face lit up with pure happiness.

"And that's beautiful. Now, before you go off and write a sonnet, can we figure this out, please? Because you obviously can't be around her all the time."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, sorry. So, what do I do?"

"I don't know. Yet." Stiles spoke, earning alarmed looks from both Scott and Elaine.

"Oh, no. You're getting an idea, aren't you?" Scott asked.

"Yeah." Stiles nodded.

"Is this idea gonna get me in trouble?" Scott asked with a sigh.

"Maybe."

"Is this idea gonna cause me physical pain?" Scott frowned.

"Yeah, definitely. Come on."

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They walked outside, watching as a truck was parked and the owner of the vehicle got out of it, walking over to his group of friends. Stiles stopped them from moving turning towards Scott. "Alright, stand right there. Do you have your keys?" Scott pulled them out and Stiles moved them so that Scott was holding one of them upwards. "Hold them up like so. Now, whatever happens, just think about Allison. Try to find her voice like you did at the game. Got it?"

Scott nodded his head, making Stiles say okay before glancing towards the group of boys. Elaine gave Stiles a questioning look, the boy grabbing her hand and pulling her along with him as he got out his own keys and drug it along the truck so that it created a long scratch. Elaine's eyes widened in surprise as they stepped away, Stiles calling out: "Hey, hey, hey, dude! What do you think you're doing to that truck, bro???"

"What the hell?" The guy yelled before walking up to Scott and punching him in the face.

"Oh my God!" Elaine whispered, covering her mouth. Stiles continued making comments, focusing on the heart monitor whilst Elaine focused on her brother getting the crap beat out of him. That was until Mr. Harris stepped in, yelling at the boys to stop before he glanced down at Scott.

"What do you idiots think you're doing?"

Now, lucky for Elaine, she wasn't given detention seeing as she had a really good grade in her chemistry class, but also because Mr. Harris didn't hate her as much as he did Stiles and Scott. And so Elaine made her way home, not having to go to the animal clinic for a little while. She noticed the woman claiming to be her mother sitting on her porch steps. She looked at the woman with a sigh, walking up to her and grabbing her attention.

"Fine. You want to talk? Let's talk."