"Oh jesus, another one?" Finstock rolled his eyes, stopping the entire class when the door opened, and the principal entered with a young man. "Alright, alright."

The principal handed Finstock a slip of paper, and left, the new student standing awkwardly at his side, playing with the straps on his backpack. He was tall, looked to be in good shape, with his hair swept nicely off his face, but he looked nervous.

"Alright, class," he stated. "This is Kyle Parrish, he's new, obviously, so try not to be your normal little demonic selves around him just yet. Kyle, do you have anything you want to say to the class?"

"No, sir." Kyle shook his head.

"Sir, I could get used to that." Finstock smiled. "Alright, take a seat. McCall is absent today, again, so you can have the privilege of sitting next to Stilinski." He gestured to the open seat, and Kyle wondered if that had been orchestrated, too, or if that was just luck.

Stiles scrambled to get his backpack off of the spare chair, the chair that Stiles usually saved for Scott.

He got the chair clear just in time, and when Kyle sat down, he turned and smiled at Stiles. It was all about making contact. He had to get this kid to like him, because if he made a bad impression, and couldn't befriend Stiles, it was going to be one hell of a lot harder to be close to him all of the time, and right now, nothing mattered more than that.

His job, literally his only goal right now, was to protect this kid from harm while his father, and the rest of the precinct, tried to figure out who was threatening him, and why.

He gave Stiles a small wave, and Stiles returned it.

"Welcome to hell," he said with a wink.

"Oh god, is it really that bad?" Kyle asked.

"Hey, don't be nervous. The last new student we got that wasn't an asshole fell right in with everyone, and I'll bet you dollars to donuts that she's skipping school with my buddy who usually has your seat."

"Oh…gotcha…" Kyle laughed awkwardly. This kid talked openly and easily. He didn't think that it would be that hard to become his friend…especially not with all of the background information the Sheriff had given him in preparation.

This was his first real undercover work, but he felt that he couldn't have been better prepared. He had been sent in to protect someone, to get close to someone, and he had a lot of information, good, reliable information. And not only that, he knew Stiles was innocent. It was always easier to protect someone who meant no harm.

Scott did manage to show up around 4th period, just before lunch, and he slid into his seat next to Stiles for chemistry.

"Hey, did I miss anything?" He asked, keeping his voice a low whisper, even though Finstock had very much made it clear that everyone knew Scott was gone.

"New kid in Econ," Stiles stated. "And…there he is again." He gestured as Kyle walked into the room. "Move," he hissed under his breath to Scott.

"What? Why?" Scott asked.

"So he will sit next to me!" Stiles whispered.

"But I always sit next to you!"

"You do now that you're solidly dating Allison, what about before that, huh? How many times did you ask me to move so you could sit with her?" Stiles narrowed his eyes at his best friend. "You owe me!"

Scott's eyes widened as he realized what Stiles was asking him to do. He wasn't just asking him to move, he was admitting that there was something about this new guy that intrigued him.

When Stiles was 12, and first realized that he might not be 100% straight – though he was still definitely, and very much, also into girls – Scott had been the first person that he had come out to. Ever since then, it had been something that stayed between the two of them.

Stiles had always said that when he had a reason to come out, someone he was with, that he cared about, that was a male, if that ever happened, that he would do it then, but he didn't want to cause unnecessary drama by doing it sooner.

Scott grabbed his backpack and moved, going to sit with Lydia, and sure enough, Kyle spotted the open seat by Stiles and immediately took it.

"Jesus," he stated looking over to Stiles. "It's nice to see a friendly face. I think this kid Ethan wants to kill me. All I did was sit down in Spanish, and he just gave me this look…"

"Did you sit next to Danny?" Stiles asked, a knowing smile in place on his face.

"Who?"

"Danny. Tall, Hawaiian, athletic, dimples for days?" Stiles had to cut off his explanation there because, well, it had been Danny that helped him realize that he liked guys, of course Danny didn't know that, but Stiles' crush on him, while never rivaling the one he had on Lydia, had also been pretty strong, though by the end of sophomore year, it was pretty much gone. And as for Lydia? Now they were friends, and he was good with that.

"Oh shit…was that the wrong choice?" Kyle asked.

"Very much so." Stiles smiled. "Danny's dating Ethan, Ethan has a twin, Aiden, and they're not…well, they have issues. Deadbeat parents, emancipated, so they're surly and whatnot…"

Okay, so maybe not the full truth, but he wasn't about to tell Kyle the truth, that Ethan and Aiden were borderline psychotic werewolves and that he didn't know who or where their parents were.

"Oh damn." Kyle laughed nervously. "Maybe you should make me a chart of-"

"I can do that," Stiles said, almost too quickly.

And he wasn't at all picturing that scene in Mean Girls when he did so.

Not at all.

"Well, thank you." Kyle smiled, but fell silent, opening up his notebook while the teacher started talking. It really did seem like getting close to Stiles wasn't going to be very difficult at all. The Sheriff had been right, his son was open, friendly, and welcoming.

As for Stiles? Well, he spent the entirety of Chemistry working on that chart for Kyle, and hoping that he could find a non-weird way to ask if the new guy wanted to sit with him and Scott…and Allison and Lydia, and Isaac, at the lunch table. After all, they could use another totally handsome guy, right? Though Lydia would probably call dibs, and Stiles wouldn't be able to say anything.

"Okay, here you go," Stiles said as the bell rang, letting class out. "It's a list of names, here are people NOT to sit next to in class, here are people that are GOOD to sit next to in class. On this side, you have people to avoid all together, and this little bubble right here are the cool kids. Scott, Allison, Lydia, Isaac, and of course, yours truly."

"Oh, thanks." He smiled, taking a look at the list, and folding it up into his pocket. He had it memorized, he was just that good, but Stiles didn't need to know that.

"And Danny's actually a great guy, it's Ethan you've got to worry about with him. He's always worried that someone's trying to steal his boyfriend, well, because everyone, including Ethan, knows that he's not good enough for Danny."

"You're awfully hard on this Ethan guy," Kyle stated. "It sounds like he's had a rough life."

"Eh, we just don't get along…and in all reality, Danny's probably actually really good for him, we'll see what happens. I'm not really sure anyone at this place is really good enough for Danny."

"Sort of sounds like you wish you were," Lydia stated, walking up behind them, arms folded across her chest, eyebrow perfectly raised.

"Oh hey, Lydia," Stiles laughed, turning around. "Always with the teasing, you are."

"Right, okay." She rolled her eyes. "Are you going to introduce me to your new friend, or do I have to do everything myself?"

"Oh, right, right," Stiles nodded. "Lydia, this is Kyle, Kyle, Lydia."

"It's nice to meet you." Kyle reached out, all manners, and shook her hand.

"Likewise. Now, I'm assuming Stiles was too busy drooling over Danny to invite you to have lunch with us, so I'll do it." Lydia linked her arm through Kyle's, and started walking off with him towards the cafeteria, leaving Stiles behind, shoving books into his backpack before he could follow.

"Tough break, man," Scott stated, coming up behind his friend and patting him on the shoulder.

"Happens." Stiles shrugged, slinging his backpack over one shoulder, it was Lydia, after all, and if he was going to lose out to someone, it might as well be the hottest, smartest girl in school.


A/N Thanks for reading the next chapter! It's going to be some exposition and some pack hanging out before I can get to the more plot driven stuff, but I hope it holds up!