𝙽𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚊'𝚜 𝙿𝙾𝚅

"Of course you're still the team captain" Stiles assures Scott as I walk with the boys to the lacrosse field "You got your grades up, just like Coach told you to, right?"

"Yeah, but he never told me I was back on the team-- he just told me to show up at try-outs today" Scott counters.

"We got bigger things to deal with, anyway. Did you tell Argent yet?" Stiles asks.

"Uh, I texted him, but he didn't get back to me" Scott replies hesitantly and I look at him in disbelief.

"Are you fucking joking?" I retort, smacking my brother upside the head and he whines with a glare.

"You told him his sister Kate came back from the dead over a text?" Stiles questions incredulously.

"I didn't have the money to call France" Scott answers sheepishly.

"Yeah, you think you got money problems? Try paying for an MRI and a visit to Eichen House" Stiles scoffs and I frown sympathetically, patting the boy on the arm.

"Another notice?" Scott guesses.

"Yeah. This one said 'final.'" Stiles confirms with a nod and then sighs "Now, what the hell are we doing here, anyway? We got like, one hundred and seventeen million problems, and worrying about our status on the lacrosse team is not one of them"

"It is now" Scott corrects and I follow his line of sight to the boys on the field.

I watch with raised brows as multiple boys rapidly throw balls at the goal and the goalie catches every single shot, not missing a single one. The skill this boy has is almost supernatural and it is very impressive to witness, even from a distance.

I whistle lowly, leaning against the railing with a grin as I watch the show and Stiles yanks me back next to him with a scowl.

"Who the hell is that?" The Stilinski boy demands in irritation.

"Nice, Liam! You might just be our first ever freshman captain" A boy I know as Garrett shouts, giving us the answer to Stiles' question as Liam pulls off his helmet to reveal his adorable smile.

"Awe, he's so cute" I coo and Stiles pokes me in the side with a deep frown.

"Okay, maybe we should just practice a little bit" Stiles mutters and I roll my eyes with an amused smile.

I sit myself down on the bottom set of bleachers and pull one of my great grandma's grimoires out from my bag, determined to read through them all. The boys jog away to the other goal to practice and I open the book to where my bookmark is, continuing from where I left off.

The feeling of a presence near me breaks my concentration after a while of reading, but I don't look up or let on that I'm aware the person standing there is watching me. I flip to the next page and cross my right leg over my left one, my denim skirt riding up a little as someone clears their throat.

"That's a pretty old looking book" The masculine voice finally speaks up and I tear my gaze away from the grimoire to see that it's Liam.

"Oh, the cute one" I chirp perkily and he raises a brow in surprise, but grins happily "Yeah, this thing is ancient. It's been passed down through generations"

"Wow, that is cool" He comments, taking a drink from his water bottle and I grin at how interested he looks in what I'm saying "I'm Liam"

The boy holds out his free hand to me and I place my grimoire down on my lap, taking a hold of his hand with my own. He shakes my hand gently and grins down at me in a friendly manner.

"I'm Natalia, but you can call me Nat" I introduce myself to the boy.

A deeper voice clears their throat and Liam drops my hand when we turn to see Stiles stood glaring at us, Scott jogging up to him with an exasperated look on his face as if he has tried to stop the Stilinski boy from interrupting.

I roll my eyes and shove my grimoire into my bag, throwing the strap over my shoulder as I stand up. Scott elbows his best friend in annoyance and I stand next to the confused Liam, offering him a reassuring smile which he returns.

"What's going on here?" Stiles questions, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'm going to find Malia or Lydia or Kira or literally anyone else" I declare and the boy frowns at me.

"I'll be here for try outs. Don't worry, dork" I assure him, pressing a kiss to his cheek and then to Scott's too "See you later, Scotty"

"Stay out of trouble, Natty" My brother warns me and I grin at him mischievously.

"See ya, Liam" I wink at the boy and he blushes as I hear Stiles choke.

"Later, Nat!" Liam calls out after me as I walk away.

❦  ❦  ❦

Malia and I make our way to the mathematics classroom reluctantly after a lecture from Lydia and we both pause at the door, spotting the complicated looking question on the blackboard at the same time.

"I'll hide in the library if you will too" I offer the girl and she looks at me with wide hopeful eyes. nodding quickly "Quick, before we're spotted"

We both turn and dart out of the classroom together, thinking that we've successfully escaped math. With both of our bad luck combined we run straight into Stiles and he looks at us in disappointment, grabbing us both by the arm.

"Fuck" I curse as he drags us towards the class.

"I hate math. It's pointless" Malia whines as we enter the room.

"I second that" I agree with her.

"It's school! School is important, and math is essential" Stiles tells us matter of factly as I sit behind Lydia and he sits next to me, Malia sitting in front of him.

"To what?" Malia questions.

"Knowing how much to tip at restaurants" Stiles winks, but it looks more like he's having a mini seizure.

"And other less important things, like medicine, economics, engineering..." Lydia drawls off in annoyance.

"Tipping" Stiles repeats, ignoring Lydia.

"You're so smart, Lyds" I lean forward on my elbows, flirting with the girl as I smile at her dreamily.

"I'm not doing your math homework for you" She counters and I groan, letting my head drop onto the desk.

"All right, volunteers to the board!" Miss Flemming announces "Lydia, Natalia, Malia..."

"Um... I didn't volunteer" Malia replies in confusion.

"Funnily enough, neither did I" I add, raising my head from my desk.

"You did now. To the board!" Miss Flemming demands.

"Bitch" I mutter under my breath as Malia growls lowly.

The three of us pull ourselves to our feet and head up to the blackboard, grabbing pieces of white chalk. I start to work out the question i've been given and although I'm not nearly as smart as Lydia, I seem to be faring better than Malia.

"Did you go over the notes I gave you?" Lydia asks the Tate girl who is staring at the board in confusion.

"I didn't understand them" Malia stresses and Lydia sighs in pity.

"X equals twenty-five" The strawberry blonde tells her the answer before finishing her own equation "And sweetheart? Put away the claws"

Lydia walks away from the board as I finish my own equation and I glance at Malia's hands, the girl looking at me in worry before hiding her claws in her pockets.

"Just breathe, Mal" I whisper, reaching out and squeezing her arm gently.