Chapter 1: That's Called Curiosity
Derek sighed as he looked at the list of students on the sheet of paper he had in front of him. "What the hell do parents think naming their kids things like goddamn Apple or Lilac?" Derek said to himself and rolled his eyes. He got out of the car he was sitting in and flicked the cigarette he'd been smoking into the waste bin. Derek stretched his arms over his head and breathed in the cool morning air, the smell of wood and pine coupled with the smells of freshly mown grass and… ugh what the hell was THAT? Derek opened his eyes and a scowl flit across his face.
Right, school kids.
Derek walked into Beacon Hills High School and as he passed by a group of kids, he got the distinct feeling that he had attracted their attention. He glanced back at the group and they were all blatantly staring at him. Derek narrowed his eyes and stopped; he turned to them and spread his arms. "Why don't you take a picture, it'll last longer," he said sarcastically and they quickly turned and left. "Idiots," he muttered under his breath and went into the school office.
"Kill me, Susie," Derek said as he put the clipboard onto the receptionist's counter and slumped onto it, "Just stab me with a pencil or something." Susie, the motherly receptionist laughed and patted Derek on the hand. "There, there, Derek," she said with a sympathetic voice, "It's just a few more months of this and you'll be free to do whatever you like." There was a groan from where Derek had laid his head and as he brought his head up to look at her, he said, "Remind me why I signed up for this," he said and Susie's smile faltered a little. "You know very well why you signed up for this, sugar," she said and handed him a lollipop to which he gave a grumpy look. After a minute he took it and unwrapped it, popping it into his mouth.
"Well clobber me over the head with a fire extinguisher the next time I make some idiotic decision like this," he said but the feeling didn't really come through with a lollipop stick sticking out of his mouth. Susie just gave him a smile and ruffled through some papers. "Here, this is the updated list of student names," she said and Derek groaned. He took it and quickly read through the list. Only one more name had been added and he looked at Susie skeptically. "What this one fool needed a whole new paper printed out just so his name could be in Time New Roman size 12?" he said and Susie shook her head. "Sugar bee, you really need to calm down," she said and nodded to the door, "Good luck!"
Derek turned and saw a leggy blonde staring looking at him with the fakest smile he'd seen in a while. "Why, you must be Mr. Hale," she said with a voice so sickly sweet that Derek was pretty sure that if the lollipop in his mouth had a life of its own, it would've beat her to a gooey gumdrop. "Well, at least we know you're not blind," he said and walked out of the room. She followed him after a few seconds and an angry flip of her hair.
They walked out to the parking lot of the school and when Derek turned and began walking to the opposite side of the school, the girl stopped. "Hey where're you going?" she asked and he turned around, sighing. "We're going to Narnia," he said exasperatedly, "We're going where we gotta be okay?" He turned back and trudged off, leaving the girl wanting to slap the daylights out of him.
They got to another part of the school that opened out to the field on one side and the side of the school on the other. He stopped beside a car and leaned on the hood, looking at the girl. "So you ready for this uh…" he looked at his clipboard, "…Ariel?" He looked up at her and laughed, "So how'd you get your voice back from Ursula?" She crossed her arms and flipped her hair again, "What are you like, talking about?" she said, "Who's Ursula?" Derek didn't usually want to get run over by a herd of wildebeest, but he would have gladly accepted it then. "Never mind," he said and got up and opened the car door. He gestured to the driver's seat and said, "Welcome to your first driving lesson, Ariel."
By the end of the day, Derek sorely missed his bed and he was pretty sure that his insurance didn't cover heart attacks caused by juveniles. The last student, a buff jock called Brad got out of the car and Derek finally unclenched his shoulders. He'd be surprised if Brad didn't bang up the nice big CRV that his daddy was probably going get his precious boy for his sixteenth birthday. Sighing, he took out a cigarette and rolled down his window. As he took a long drag, he closed his eyes, savoring the smell and relaxing feeling.
"Excuse me?" came a voice from beside him and Derek groaned. "Whaaaat," he said and opened his eyes. Standing in front of him was a kid that looked like he'd been at the coffee a little too much. Fidgety little shit, Derek thought as he looked at the kid, "What, what d'you want?" The kid picked something off his jeans and smiled a big goofy smile. Derek really regretted asking him what he wanted because once he opened his mouth, he didn't stop.
"Driving lesson right? They told me to come here. Well not they, there was one person, the receptionist, Susie? She said that you'd be here and she told me to give you a lollipop for some reason but I didn't have some so I asked her if she had one and she said she did have one. Hey did you know she gave out lollipops for free, that seems nice of her, but anyway, I asked her for one and she gave me two, but then I just took one because I really shouldn't eat so much sugar…" "Okay, okay please shut up," Derek said, stopping him and put a finger to his temple, rubbing it. "What's your name, kid," he said and looked at the kid, "JUST your name."
"The name's Stiles, sir, Stiles Stilinski," he said and Derek looked at his list. He didn't remember seeing another name there, but sure enough, right at the bottom, Stiles Stilinski was there in Times New Roman size 12. "So you're the fool," Derek said and Stiles' smile faltered a little. "Well I'm kinda clumsy," he said, "There was once that I knocked over a vase, a cup and a teapot off the kitchen counter because I was reaching for the cookie jar and everything smashed and my mum had to clear it all up…" "Okay, I'm proud for your mum and all, but you can go home and tell her all about it again," Derek said and threw his cigarette out of the car, "Just get in the car now, huh?"
Stiles got into the car and buckled up, checked his mirrors and adjusted his seat, doing everything perfectly to which Derek gave a surprised look. "Been through this before?" he asked and Stiles smiled at him. "My dad taught me how," he said and then looked out the windshield, his face suddenly dropping a little, "Right after my mum died he taught me how to drive, cause a drunk teenager crashed into our car and she died."
Derek looked up from the clipboard that he had been looking at and then at Stiles who looked at him again and smiled innocently. "I have a scar, wanna see?" he asked and Derek felt terrible. "I'm sorry about your mum," he said and Stiles shook his head. "Don't worry about it," he said and looked at the road again, "So are we gonna drive or not?"
When Stiles jerked the car back to the starting position an hour later, Derek felt sick and he was wondering when he had had garlic pesto to eat. "Stiles I thought you said your dad taught you how to drive," Derek said, swallowing the vomit that was threatening to make an appearance. "I said that he taught me, I didn't say I was good at it," Stiles responded with an apologetic smile. Derek closed his eyes and put his head in his hand, trying to dispel the dizziness he was feeling. "Okay, next week, same time," he said and Stiles nodded. "Okay, see you then!" he said happily and exited the car. He walked around to the passenger seat and looked in.
"I'm sorry my driving is really bad, I'll try harder," Stiles said and Derek looked at him, managing a smile. "It's okay, kid," he said, "I wasn't expecting a Beethoven classic on the first try anyway." Stiles nodded and smiled broadly, "Although his first composition was from when he was before he was 13." Derek laughed and got out of the car, immediately feeling better as he stood up. "You know your Beethoven," he said impressed and Stiles shrugged. "I don't get much sleep, so I read a lot," he said and Derek's eyebrows knit together.
"Insomnia?" he asked and Stiles nodded. "It's either because of the ADHD or because of the epilepsy," he said and Derek raised his eyebrows, a little lost for words. "W-Wow… okay," he said and tried to smile, "Kid you have issues." Stiles laughed at that and nodded, "Tell me about it."
When Stiles left Derek, Derek watched him walking away with mixed feelings. "See something you like?" someone said and Derek jumped a little. "Susie!" he said and Susie laughed at him. She came up to him and put her arm through his. "Who is that kid," he said and Susie smiled up at him. "Someone with a story a little like yours, Derek," she said and he looked down at his friend. "What d'you mean?" he asked but she just gave him a smile.
"Well if I told you that, I'd have to kill you," she said and Derek smiled at her. "C'mon Sue," he said, "Just one thing." She looked at him and chuckled. "Well for one thing, he just couldn't wait to be taught by the dish that is Derek Hale," she said and Derek's cheeks reddened a little. "You're making fun of me," he said grumpily and she laughed. "Yes I am," she said and let go of him, "If you want to know about Mr. Stilinski, you're going to have to get it out of him yourself. And that, Mr. Derek Hale, is all the fun of curiosity." Derek scowled at her, saying, "Ever heard the phrase, "Curiosity killed the cat"?" and Susie laughed at him.
When she left Derek sitting grumpily against the hood of his car, cigarette in hand and eyes cast towards the setting sun. He was thinking about Stiles and idly thought if Stiles was seeing anyone. And all he could think was:
DAMN it…
