Disclaimer: I do not have any affiliation with Teen Wolf or the characters, nor do I own them. I only own my characters.
Thank you for reading the last chapter and specials thanks to the people who favorited, alerted and reviewed as well. I appreciate any comments, suggestions and criticisms; I really want to improve my writing as best I can. Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoy :o)
"Hey Scott!"
The tall brunette pulled the old friend into a tight hug, reminiscent of the hugs they used to share back when they were kids. Scott hugged her, a little taken aback from her actions. She pulled away and turned to Stiles, offering a meager smile to the boy.
"Hi Stiles."
With one hand in his pocket, Stiles raised his other hand as a gesture. "Uh hey."
"I'll be going but see you around!" she said, looking back from Stiles to Scott before walking past them and out the library with Matthew by her side.
"See? That wasn't so bad?"
Stiles glared at Scott. "Clearly."
"What?"
"She hates me, can't you see?" Stiles exclaimed.
"You're just overreacting. She doesn't hate you. Maybe she wants to punch you, but she doesn't hate you."
"Yeah, thanks buddy. I know I can always count on you."
"P.D.C. Remember that."
A little bit less than 30 students looked up at their economics teacher Coach Finstock in bemusement.
"Does anyone know what PDC stands for?"
Scott raised his hand.
"McCall, you just had lunch so you can go to the bathroom next period."
The whole class laughed. Even Sam had to stifle a chuckle.
"No sir, I know what it means."
Coach Finstock raised his eyebrows. "Really now? Tell us."
"Production, distribution and consumption." Scott answered, playing with the eraser on the ends of his pencil.
"Wow, McCall I am pleasantly surprised. Good to see this side of you." Coach Finstock noted, walking around his desk to the front of his class. His eyes scanned the room before they landed on Sam.
"You."
"Me?" She mouthed, as she looked around to see if he was looking at someone else maybe. Nope, it was her.
"Yes you, are you new here, or?"
She sighed lightly and laughed to herself. "No, I'm not Coach."
He grabbed his attendance clipboard along with a pencil. "Well you seem new. Tell me, what's your name?"
"Samantha Kerr, sir."
"KERR!" Finstock's loud voice boomed across the room causing Sam to jump in her seat. Good ol' Finstock. "Where the hell have you been?"
"Um on vacation?"
He seemed quite happy that she was back. More like elated. "Well are you gonna be on the team this year?"
He certainly got straight to the point.
"Coach, it's an all boys team is it not?"
He scratched his head. "Dang it, you're right."
"That's all right, Coach. She wouldn't make the team anyway," some random voice chimed in.
A familiar random voice.
A familiar asshole voice.
The class erupted into a chorus of "Ooooooo's" and everyone turned to Sam to see what she would say next.
"They do have a strict no animal policy too," she glanced at Scott momentarily and and gave him a wink, "but they seemed to have let you on the team."
"BURN!" some dude yelled in the back of the class. Bryan glared at him and the dude sank down lower into his seat.
Bryan then glared at Sam, muttering something under his breath.
"Now Kerr, we are down one man because Jackson's gone-," her body tensed up and Scott looked at her concerningly. "so if you can, try outs are today! I know the team is apparently "all boys", yadda yadda, but I'm going to look through the handbook and maybe contact the sports department to see if we can change that."
"It's okay, Coach you don't have to."
"Nonsense, Kerr. So you'll be there?"
"I guess?"
"GREAT!"
She mentally slapped herself. The track team was her plan for this year, but now she had managed to get herself into lacrosse team tryouts.
"Good, great. Now time to talk about production. Let's see, let's se-"
She turned around in her seat and leaned against Matthew's desk. "Apparently I do a good job disappearing because everyone seems to be surprised I'm back."
"You certainly do," he laughed "but I still don't get how everyone thought you were dead. Didn't at least someone-"
"Greenberg put your hand down!"
Poor Greenberg. He was a cool dude.
"-notice you were gone?" Matthew continued.
"Um I guess. I was away for summer vacation so maybe people assumed I moved out of town? I don't even know. This is all weird."
He nodded. "Yeah, this all seems weird. But your comeback to that Bryan kid was pure gold."
She pretended to dust something off her shoulders. "Yeah you know, it's all in a day's work."
"True. Listen, I think I'm gonna try out for the team with you, if you don't mind. I played lacrosse back at my old school and I was the captain so I think I have a good shot?"
He did this cute little face as he finished his sentence and fuddled with his hands. He seemed embarrassed to talk about his last school and the fact that he was captain of the lacrosse team. Like a lost puppy he was. "We can try out together if you want?"
"I'd like th-"
"KERR!"
"Sorry Coach" she stammered, turning back around to face the board and trying her best to hide the embarrassment on her face.
"The universe is out to get me, Scott."
Scott rolled his eyes. "The universe is not out to get you, Stiles. Calm down."
"No, no, no," he said over and over "it is."
Scott watched his friend pace back and forth across the field. He would walk 10 inches to the right, bite a nail, turn around and walk back to the left 10 inches, bite another nail, turn back and repeat. "And how is it out to get you?"
"First, she's in almost all of my classes. Second, she's going to try out for the team. Third, SOMETHING ELSE THAT WILL BE BAD BUT HASN'T HAPPENED YET!" He jumped up and down in frustration.
"You're quite amusing to watch you know." Scott pointed out, as he watched Stiles be frustrated from his seat on the lacrosse field stands. The poor dude was practically ripping his hair out.
"Well you know what, I'm glad that MY pain can bring you JOY!" Stiles' voice was laced with sarcasm, as he retorted to his best friend.
"Calm down bro, it's not the end of the world. So what if she tries out? What's the worst that could happen?"
Stiles shot Scott a glare.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that." Scott joked. While Stiles continued to pace back and forth, Scott took the time to put on his lacrosse uniform.
"I'm leaving" Stiles piped, grabbing his stuff and making a beeline for the gates. Scott grabbed him with one hand and pulled him back down.
"You are not leaving."
"Yeah? And who's going to stop me? A teenage werewolf? Please, I've heard that one before."
Scott just chuckled and let go of his friend's shirt. In turn, Stiles ran his hands over his matted shirt, trying to fix the 'mess' that Scott had made. The two overheard a wolf whistle, ironically not for Scott, and looked up to see who it was aimed at.
"That's it, I'm leaving" Stiles insisted yet again, getting up off the stands. But for the second time, Scott pulled him back down and the two watched as Sam and Matthew walked across the field. Bryan had wolf whistled at Sam, as she passed by him and his group of friends.
"Wooo baby, come over here" he hollered.
Interesting. One moment he's putting her down, the next he's calling her over to him.
She whispered something into Matthew's ear and Stiles watched as Sam walked over to Bryan. In five seconds flat, Stiles watched as the blond boy ended up on the floor with his hands behind his back and a foot pressed to the back of his neck.
"I am not your baby, nor am I your girl, or your bitch, or anything of that kind. I am a human being and therefore, you treat me with respect." Sam hissed into his ear, further pushing his face into the ground. "Got it?"
The boy nodded fervently, his cheek rubbing against the grass soil.
"Good."
She got off the boy with ease and wiped her hands clean. The boy slowly picked himself up, along with the help of his friends and the three moved further back away from Sam.
"What happened to sweet, innocent Sam we all know?" Scott joked, as Sam sat down next to him to fix her knee pads.
"I'm still the same Sam, just a little bit more tougher. Plus, when it comes to assholes like that, I don't have to be sweet. I have to defend myself whatever way I can."
"True, sorry you had to hear that."
"Him? Oh no problems. I've heard worse things. It's just sad that people feel the need to disrespect others like that you know?"
By this time, the whole team had gathered around the stands and Coach Finstock began appointing positions for tryouts.
"Kerr behind Stilinski! Heinz behind McCall. Greenberg, damn it, Greenberg get over here!"
Poor Greenberg.
Stiles chuckled a little bit. He was right in front of Sam and she took her time, her eyes wandering over every part of his body.
Taller.
Leaner.
Softer hair.
"You grew out your hair," she said aloud, only realizing a few seconds afterward she had meant to keep that to herself.
He turned and looked at Sam. "Me? Yeah, I've decided to grow it out this time." His hands found their way to his hair which he started ruffling up a bit and smoothing over.
'Babe. I mean - butt. He was a butt, remember that. He was the one who pushed you away.'
"So how was your summer?" he asked her. Like Sam, Stiles was hoping to at least have somewhat of a conversation with her. And if it was going to be an awkward one, then that was fine by him.
Stiles leaned back and forth on the heels of his sneakers, waiting for her to reply. "Oh me?"
He nodded.
"Really nice, peaceful, safe. You?"
"Cool."
"Cool."
"Cool." Scott added.
Sam laughed at him and padded her helmet. Her hair reached a little bit past her shoulders so she figured, it would probably be best to tie it up before putting on the helmet. She pulled her hair, tying it back into a high ponytail and putting the helmet on.
"Listen up. Each of you have a partner, now I want the first partner to run across the field right no- Actually let's do an example. Stilinski, Kerr, up front and center right now."
They fumbled over to Coach Finstock and stood in front of him. "Okay you two are gonna be the examples."
'Great.'
"Stilinski, you are going to run across the field with the ball and Kerr will be here. When I say go, your job is to run down the field and get past Kerr without her knocking you down."
Stiles raised his hand. "Um, I don't think it's best I go against Sam. Can I switch with some-"
"Nonsense!" Coach Finstock interjected as he pushed Stiles out onto the field. "When I say go, you start running, okay?"
"Can I run home?"
'Same old Stiles.'
"I'll still chase you down!" She commented, to which he groaned. He clearly wasn't excited to be her partner.
She fixed her helmet and leaned down, her vision focused on the field. She could feel the eyes of all the boys on her, especially on her backside since she had decided to wear shorts. 'Oh, you know what they say. Rock that butt.'
'Or something like that.'
The whole field seemed to double in size as Stiles' figure seemed to shrink in the distance. Everything stood still for a moment and then Sam heard Coach Finstock's loud "GO!" and she took off dashing across the field.
Her feet moved fast underneath her body, pushing the ground beneath her as Stiles and her moved closer to one another. He faked left, tried faking right but ended up fumbling which gave her the perfect chance to push forward and tackle him to the ground. Their bodies collided and he fell down to the ground, with her directly on top of him.
Groans, moans and everything in between.
After a few seconds of struggling with her helmet, which managed to twist to the left therefore obstructing her vision, Sam somehow managed to fix it enough to realize she was directly on top of Stiles. She knew that before but now that she saw his face and body underneath hers it made it THAT more real.
"You know I'd love to stay and chat Sam, but I've got places to be."
She smacked his helmet. Lightly.
"OWWWWWWWW!"
Maybe not so lightly.
"Sorry not sorry," She pushed her hands against the grass and started pushing herself up, when Stiles' hand reached out and grabbed her Lacrosse jersey, and pulled her back down.
"May I help you?" She asked, through gritted teeth. The impact of her body against his had hurt. A lot.
"Listen, can we talk?"
She gave him a look. The 'Are you serious?' look.
"I'm serious. I really need to patch things up with you."
Sam's eyebrows furrowed and she laughed, one of those fake laughs, as she looked out into the distance before turning to look back at Stiles. "Well Stiles, that's too bad because I don't need to patch things up with you."
By this point, they had both gotten up of the grass and were standing in the middle of the field, facing one another.
Sam was angry. Scratch that. She was fuming. Her knuckles were clenched and her heart was beginning to beat faster. Like a teapot ready to blow steam, Sam was about to blow her own steam.
"You don't like feeling bad or guilty so to get rid of that guilt you think apologizing to me with a simple 'I'm sorry' will make it up. Because that's where you're wrong, Stiles." Her voice got higher with each and every word and slowly but surely, she moved closer and closer to Stiles. In turn, he moved backward with each step, slightly intimidated by Sam.
She didn't stop however. "God, Stiles. Your idea of protecting me left me all alone. I was by myself for the longest time. How was that protection? I had NO ONE to talk to and if I tried even looking at you or smiling, you immediately looked away like I was the scum of the Earth. I remember once," a sad laugh escaped her lips, as she continued "we were doing a group project and we had to work together. Remember what you did, Stiles? Do you remember?" she asked, looking directly into his eyes.
He looked away and licked his lips. She reached out with her hand and pushed his cheek so he would look at her.
"Well do you?"
"Yes." It was more of a whisper, but she heard what he said.
"So you don't want me to remind you how you raised your hand in the middle of class, told our teacher how you didn't like working with me and then you grabbed your stuff and asked to move your seat far far away from me because you didn't even want to be "near Sam"?"
"I'm so-"
"No you're not."
"What the hell do you want me to tell you, Sam? Because you sure as hell don't want to hear my explanation."
"You're damn right I don't." She sighed and looked away again. This time, when she spoke, it was softer. "Who were you really protecting, Stiles? Me or you? And when, when will you finally man-up and just take responsibility for your actions?"
And without even bothering to hear him out, she turned around and walked back to Coach where she put down her stick and the ball before his feet. "I don't feel so good and I think it's best I don't join the team. You still have a great team here, Coach. Good luck this season."
"Are you sure, Kerr? We could use a player like you. It'd really mean alot if you would join."
As she looked up and at Coach, she found herself trying to hold back a smile. He was doing his famous puppy dog face and she just couldn't resist smiling.
"Theeeere you go!" Coach pointed to her smile. "So is that a yes?"
"It's a maybe." She replied cooly. "I'll let you know soon, but I really should be getting home. I'm sorry for this whole mess and all. Have a nice practice, guys."
She felt embarrassed as she waved at the boys and they all waved back, except Bryan. Making her way down the field towards the parking lot, she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. Sam turned around, totally surprised to see who the hand belonged to.
"Bryan?"
He scratched the back of his neck. "Listen, I was an asshole toda-"
"Yes you were." But she felt bad. "Sorry."
"'No, no. It's I who should be sorry. I really made myself out to be some pig-headed, asshole jerk when I'm really not. I'm not the nicest guy but I'm trying and I know today wasn't a prime example of that. What I'm trying to get at is that I'm sorry and I really didn't mean to offend you."
Wow. He had surprised her. "It's okay."
"Can we still be friends?" he asked her. His voice was filled with sincerity and she could see in his eyes he had felt bad about how he treated her.
"Yeah, I'd like that."
"Great!" he exclaimed, clasping his hands together. "And another thing, that tackle was really impressive. It'd be really great if you would join the team."
"I thought it was an all-boys team?"
He smirked. "I checked the handbook at lunch to make sure and apparently it's co-ed."
"Oh wow." Suddenly, she had the urge to go back onto the field and tackle someone else. "I'll think it about."
"You better! See you in class tomorrow."
"Yeah, see you" her voice dragged on. Bryan had ran back to the field to stand next to the guys.
Sam pondered the thought and figured 'Why the hell not?'. The walk home was about 15 minutes and along the way, the light brunette had stuck her headphones into her ears and listened to the music on her phone. The weather was strangely hot despite the fact that it was early September which usually meant chilly air and cloudy skies. But as Sam looked up at the sky, she was pleasantly surprised not to find a cloud in sight and only the bright shining sun.
So she smiled. Sure, her first day of school was somewhat of an absolute mess but at least the weather wasn't. The whole fight with Stiles had completely left her mind and now she was just enjoying the moment. And as she made her way up the walkway to her house, she couldn't help but to dance along to the song she was listening. She reached for the door handle, only to have her mother open it with a huge, satisfied grin.
"So I take it was a good day?"
"Maaaaaaaybe" Sam said in a sing-song voice, as she dropped her bag near the staircase.
"Lacrosse?"
"Huh?" Oh yeah," Sam remembered about the jersey that she was wearing. "I think i'm gonna join the team this year."
"Yeah?"
"Mhm. Whatcha cooking?" Sam said, taking a sniff of the concoctions her mom was making. "Looks delicious."
"No, no, no" Sam's mother playfully slapped her daughter's fingers away from the freshly cooked meal. "Not until you wash up, missy."
Sam grumbled and trudged her way up the stairs to the bathroom. The small bathroom itself had a sea-like feeling to it: the soap was shell-shaped, the shower curtain was adorned in mermaids, and the mirror was covered in tiny, blue waves that Sam had painted on. Even when you stepped into the bathroom and took a breath and closed your eyes, you suddenly would feel as if you had been transported to a beautiful seaside shore.
She lathered her hands, and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her chocolate brown eyes looked a little tired and her hair had gotten a tiny bit frazzled from the helmet. As she finished lathering up, her stomach let out a loud grumble. She laughed.
"There, there little one. Soon you will be fed," she jokingly mumbled to her stomach. She dried her hands and then proceeded to run down the stairs to the kitchen, where her mother had just finished setting the touches on dinner.
"You seem excited?" Sam's mother noticed. She placed the two plates onto the kitchen counter and took a seat on one of the chairs, watching as her daughter did the same.
"I am. I'm STARVING!"
"Don't worry, I made one of your favorites, salmon with vegetable soup on the side."
Sam closed her eyes and smiled widely. "Music to my ears, Mom."
The two laughed. "So how was school? Meet a cute boy?" Her mom winked.
"I did meet a nice, cute boy." Sam blushed and looked at her food as if she was in utter awe of what was before her.
"And?"
"And his name is Matthew and he tried out for the lacrosse team so if he made it, which I'm sure he did, I'll be seeing him there too. That is if I made it, which I think I did? But I don't know? Annnnyway..."
She took a deep breath.
"Well I'm glad you had a nice first day."
"It was a weird, nice first day. Half the school thought I was dead or had disappeared and the other half were surprised at how much I changed." Sam said in between mouthfuls of her dinner. She wiped her mouth clean and looked up at her mom. "And then I kinda, almost, punched Stiles, but I refrained myself from doing so."
"Punching? Stiles? Why?"
"He got me mad."
"Honey..."
"Mom, you don't understand. Because of him, I had to deal with everything for the most 3 months ALL BY MYSELF. Even whe-"
"Sam, it's no-"
"Mom, it is. You know I always take responsibility for my actions and I don't like to blame others for it, but this time I don't care. It's his fault and," she paused, "remember the bio incident?"
The mother nodded, giving Sam the notion to continue talking.
"Mom, it's just ugh, he didn't even apologize for it and that's what bothered me. And then another time, I bumped into him at lunch and spilled everything all over myself and he didn't even look at me."
"Sa-"
"Whatever, it's stupid. If you need me, I'll be up in my room. Thanks for dinner." Sam placed her fork over her unfinished meal and got out of the chair. Her mother didn't say anything, but continued to eat her meal as she watched, out of the corner of her eye, Sam go upstairs.
She sighed as she entered her room, falling onto the bed. Sometimes she wished things were different. With her mom, with her friends, with her life in general. After her dad was killed, things were different. Her mother and her got closer but she also felt like her mother wasn't always telling her everything. Even as Sam got older and wanted to discuss the case, her mother would always try to change the topic. Thinking back to the two years after her father's murder, she would remember staying up most nights in her room, with Stiles, going through case files after case files of similar type murders. On the other nights, it was her and Stiles sneaking into his Sheriff Stilinski's office to go through case files. They pretended to be spies, wearing all black and everything, and giving into Stiles' request, the two even wore ski masks to hide their faces. At home, the two would stay up in her room and go through each case file, noting and highlighting certain points to remember. That was something she adored about Stiles. He was there for her through everything. Now he wasn't.
Eventually, Sam had memorized her entire father's case file to the point where she could recite it down to every last word and period to anyone who asked. But even with all that down, she still couldn't figure out the who and the why?
"I need some air."
This was all becoming too much for her again. She didn't like to think a lot about her father's case or else her breathing would get faster and her heart would race and her throat would eventually choke up. Rather, Sam got out of her bed, threw a black sweater on and walked over to her window. She opened it enough for herself to climb out and be able to get back in without being noticed. Sitting atop her window's ledge and staring down at the ground, Sam felt the sudden urge to be comforted. To be held. To be told "Everything will be okay". The feeling was soon gone as Sam let go of her position on the ledge and jumped down towards the ground, sticking the landing perfectly.
The moon was rising in Beacon Hills and as Sam stared at the tall, dark forest, her adrenaline kicked in and she suddenly felt like running.
Who said you couldn't run away from your problems?
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Once again, all comments, suggestions, and criticisms are greatly appreciated. Have a lovely day :)