September 2013
It was just one of those nights.
Stiles sat at his desk, staring directly at his laptop screen as the words began to flow out of him. It was Sunday night, and while Stiles knew he should be sleeping, he couldn't. Not while this idea was rattling his brain. That's just how it worked for him.
Sometimes, he wondered if he let his inspiration, his need to write everything he thought could work down, was insane. Everybody in his writing class was serious about writing, there was no doubt about that, even if it wasn't the profession they were going to go to college for.
And yet, all of his friends in the class, and sometimes even Ms. Blake, were surprised by just how much of his time was consumed by him simply trying to tell a story through words. He wrote and wrote and wrote, and while maybe not all of his ideas were ever finished, he would at least start it, get something down, even if it was word vomit.
Last year alone, he had written over sixty pieces. Some were poetry; some were prose; some were scripts; some were excerpts from a novel idea he had.
And yet, maybe about a third of what he wrote was what was actually assigned to him in class.
Stiles tried his best to maintain a good grade point average. He wasn't trying to get into the fanciest school ever, and he really didn't mind where he got in as long as it was a good school and he could continue writing. That was where most of his free time went, excluding hanging out with his friends or reading or playing video games for inspiration.
When he had first started to get so engrossed in writing, he remembered that his father was a little worried about him. After all, he used to do it as a hobby before his mom died, but when she passed, it was like one of the things in him that had changed made him want to do this as a career, as more than just something to do to pass the time.
That was why, on this Sunday night at 12:43 a.m., when he should be sleeping, he was up, sitting at his desk, writing.
It wasn't until finally, somewhere around 2 a.m., when he heard his father get home from work, that he quickly saved his work, shut off his laptop, and jumped into bed.
He could feel his dreams that night stirring his inspiration further.
"Please don't tell me you were up all night again," Scott asked as he got into the jeep, seeing the vague lines under his friend's tired eyes.
"If I say no, does that mean I don't get that coffee?" Stiles asked, pointing at the disposable cup his best friend held in his hand.
"Even if it was a no, my mom still wants me to give these to you. She thinks your lines under your eyes are from doing actual schoolwork," Scott replied, rolling his eyes.
"Your mom is the best," Stiles replied, taking the cup from Scott, and taking a nice sip. "And of course, she always makes my favorite."
"Not like you really ever drink anything else," Scott said, and threw his backpack next to Stiles' on the backseat.
"So, how you feeling? For the first day of our senior year, which is coincidentally our last first day of high school."
"Scared," Scott said, a nervous smile on his face. "This is the beginning of the end."
"And here I thought maybe I'd be able to be the one with the pessimistic take on this."
"I don't mean it like that," Scott replied, chuckling a little. "It's just, well, after high school, this will all be over. We'll be out in the real world. No more handholding, no more being able to pick and choose what we want to do and have to do."
"You don't really think it's that bad, do you?" Stiles replied, pulling away from Scott's house and driving toward the school.
"It's not bad, but it's different, you know? It'll be a lot harder, and yet, I feel like everything good that happens then will be that much better, you know? It's different, and we'll have a ot more to worry about, but at the same time, the things that make us happy will be a lot more special. It balances out."
"It sounds like you've been hanging out with your boss Deaton a little too much," Stiles replied with a mocking grin.
"He's right, though," Scott said, still smiling, a little lost in thought. "Things will change, for better or worse. I guess that's another reason I'm so worried for what I'll be like once we graduate. That, and well, I'm also worried about me and Kira, you know?"
"Realistically, you odds of you two staying together are pretty low," Stiles replied. "And yet, I can still picture the two of you in ten years with a white picket fence and a husky."
"That's actually pretty reassuring man, thanks," Scott replied, and they fist-bumped.
"I guess there's still one thing we do have to make happen before this year is over," Scott replied.
"If you don't say 'senior prank' and 'Coach Finstock' in the same sentence, I'm throwing you out of this car," Stiles replied.
"Yeah yeah," Scott said, ignoring the comment. "What I meant was, we need to get you someone."
Stiles nearly veered off the road from surprise, but luckily, there didn't seem to be any traffic at the moment.
"Why is that a priority?" Stiles asked.
"Because, you haven't exactly had a good track record as of late. You crushed on Lydia for practically our whole lives, then went out with Erica for awhile before she moved, then went out with Danny a few times in-between him breaking up with his ex and then getting with Ethan, and then finally we have the Heather Disaster of 2013."
"First of all, I would consider that a good record for me. And secondly, it wasn't that much of a disaster."
"She slept with you so she wouldn't be a virgin and then wanted nothing to do with you afterwards."
"What can I say? I have a way with women," Stiles replied, waving his hand in the air dramatically.
"My point is, you deserve someone to hang out with man. Well, I mean, in ways we can't hang out. Or at least, someone to give you some action," Scott replied.
"This sounds like a really bad plot for a Dave Franco movie."
"I'll take that as a yes then. Even if it was a no, Lydia told me that you have no choice in the matter."
"What?! Lydia is making decisions for me already?"
"We both are. You have no choice, we are hooking you up with someone before this year ends even if it kills me."
"One could only dream," Stiles muttered under his breath.
They arrived at school a few minutes before the bell, not worried about having to find parking since majority of those who drove didn't show up until the last second. After they got their backpacks, they got out of the car and began walking through the parking lot toward the main building.
"At least we won't have to worry about boring homeroom advisory periods this year to get our schedules. It's about time our school adapted that style," Stiles replied.
"I have English first," Scott stated. "You?"
"I have the greatest class of all," Stiles replied with a triumphant grin.
"You can call it the greatest class of all when you write something that would leave even Lydia speechless," Scott replied. "Anyway, better head over to class now. Wouldn't want to be late for my first period."
"I'll see you later at Lacrosse practice," Stiles replied as they separated, waving goodbye to each other.
It wasn't until Stiles turned around and continued walking that he saw it.
The Camaro was back, parked and driverless. Stiles groaned. Evidently this meant whoever had been the driver of that car was a new student, and he was definitely not looking forward to that encounter. Another cocky student on campus? He had hoped Jackson and Aiden met the school quota.
Stiles decided to push the thought out of his head immediately, and walked to his writing class. Everyone was already there, and most of the students were catching up with each other about what had happened over their summer. Stiles saw Lydia and Kira sitting together at a table, so he joined them. As soon as he approached them, Lydia made a motion for Kira to be silent and then gave him an innocent smile.
"Please tell me you're not including her in your ridiculous plan with Scott," Stiles replied.
"'Ridiculous plan'? Whatever could that be? I don't get ridiculous ideas, sweetie. When I get an idea, I carry it through," Lydia replied, and Stiles couldn't help shuttering a little. Lydia was scary when she decided to have things her way
"If it helps, Stiles, we all will be helping," Kira said with a smile.
"No, that doesn't," Stiles said as he took his seat. "The fact that 'we all' means that more of you are involved is not good news at all. I have too many other things I have to focus on this year. Like our literary magazine."
Ms. Blake walked into the classroom just as the bell rang, and the sounds of conversation slowly died down as she waited to get everyone's attention.
"Well, I hope you all had a great summer vacation," Ms. Blake began. "Since this period is mostly just juniors and seniors, we can pretty much launch into a nice intro activity for the year, but before that, I want to introduce you all to our TA who will be joining us this year. He's a student studying English and Creative Writing at one of the local universities."
"Looks like we get to finally settle the bets of whether or not this one's a beauty or not," Lydia said, directing her comment moreso at Kira than Stiles.
"I already told you, this school already has several guys running around here that might as well be models. No way are we going to get a TA who is even close to the same quality," Kira replied.
"Get ready to pay up," Lydia said. "Let's just say I have a gift for guessing if someone new will be someone who belongs on the cover of GQ. I made the prediction with Allison. I made the prediction with the twins. I made the prediction with you. I'm never wrong."
The two stopped talking then, redirecting their attention to the front of the class, as Ms. Blake finished a few last minute introductions.
"Anyway, without making this even more drawn out than it is, let's say welcome," Ms. Blake said with a smile, and when she opened the door of the classroom, a man stepped in that made Stiles immediately jerk up.
It was him. Camaro guy.
"Say hello to Mr. Hale."