"Welcome to the Pit," Melissa said dramatically, grinning as Stiles walked past her, gaping in shock.

The room extended downward, the seats in a hexagonal formation as they wove down in rows towards a circular stage in the middle of the room. Stiles looked down to it, and let a brief smile flicker onto his face at the sight. Fairy lights were strung up around the tops of the seats, and as he stared at the seats he saw they were engraved with words. Squinting, he tried to read them, but the symbols were too small.

"They're goodbyes," Melissa said behind him, Stiles jumped, forgetting she was still near him. He turned to look at her, confusion evident on his face. She smiled softly, and sat on one of the seats, beckoning for him to sit by him. He did so, tentatively perched on the edge of his seat.

"Every time a student leaves, they leave their own mark, their own words behind. Its to show not only do we now have utter trust in them- they engrave the marks themselves-but that everyone can get to a happier place, with time and the right things." She smiled again, and Stiles stared at her, an uncertain look of shock dawning on his face.

"I really like that," He admitted, fiddling with his sleeve as he stared down at the stage below them. Melissa looked at him and thought that perhaps he may be closer to his recovery than she had initially thought, his shut off attitude had gradually diminished, and he seemed even now to be letting his guard down

A door opened below them, and a gaggle of teens, around Stiles' age, walked onto the stage, talking amongst themselves. Melissa promptly stood up, waving at them and gesturing for Stiles to follow her down to them. He edged past the seats warily, feeling his heart beat faster at the prospect of meeting new people.

They looked up at him, nudging each other knowingly before separating, dragging seats into the centre of the stage, forming a circle. As he and Melissa walked over, Stiles recognised Isaac as he sat down in the circle. He waved at Stiles, who smiled back at him, grateful to know at least one person there already.

Melissa sat down and gestured to the only other empty seat, next to her. He perched on the edge of his seat, frown on his face as his cheeks heated up, aware of the stares of the other people in the group.

"Hey everyone, thanks for getting here on time-" Melissa started, smiling at the various teens slumped on chairs around her. "This is Stiles, he's a new member of your group! Do any of you have anything you want to say?" Melissa asked, looking persuasively round the circle.

A girl waved at him, a small smile on her face. "Hi! I'm Cora, nice to meet you." She said sweetly. Stiles nodded at her, too overwhelmed to respond. Her smile wilted, and he felt guilty. This is why he didn't talk to people, damn his dad for making him do this!

Melissa smiled at her, and an uncomfortable silence began to fall. Taking a deep breath, Melissa consulted the clipboard propped in her lap and clapped her hands, making Stiles, and a few others in the group flinch at the sudden loud noise.

"Right, well we'll go round the circle-" Everyone groaned. "-and introduce ourselves." Melissa smiled at Stiles and nodded purposefully to the girl sitting on the other side of her.

The girl sighed and sighed uncomfortably. "I'm Erica. Hi." She said flatly, sinking further into her seat. Her blonde hair swept into her face as she batted it irritably away, her movements jittery and sudden. Melissa gave her an amiable smile and looked expectedly at the boy next to her.

"Jackson." He said, a bored expression on his face as he looked anywhere but at Stiles.

The teen sat hunched over in his seat and appeared to be even less welcoming than Erica. Stiles frowned as the panic in his stomach began to tug on his ribs, tickling his throat.

Isaac was sprawled into a chair next to Jackson, fighting a yawn, yet brightened up when he saw Melissa and Stiles' attention had turned to him. "Hey! I'm Isaac, which you already know, and you're Stiles, cool name." He said with a big grin on his face, eyes a little too bright to be comforting. Stiles nodded at him, a small, uncertain smile on his face. Melissa chuckled and nodded again.

A girl sat in the seat next to Isaac, Stiles watched as she fiddled absentmindedly with her long hair, before tucking it behind her ear. She looked up in surprise, to see everyone's eyes on her, an apologetic smile on her face. "I'm Cora Hale, nice to meet you." She seemed confident, and relaxed in her surroundings, making Stiles wonder why she had been admitted to Rosedale. When she'd finished speaking, she elbowed the boy next to her, who gave her a disgruntled glare and sat straighter in his chair.

Looking up, Stiles froze in shock. He stared at the boy, his eyes transfixed on the burn marks marring the side of his face, trailing under his collar and creeping up from his sleeves over the backs of his hands. The boy saw him looking, and glared at him, making Stiles wince and slump further into his seat, trying to escape his rage.

"Derek." The boy ground out, frown set on his face, but Stiles refused to look up as his cheeks turned red. He gritted his teeth and tried to calm himself down, but couldn't stop feeling ashamed at how he'd stared at the Dereks scars. People had done the same to him countless times, so why did he do the same to someone else? God, the guy probably hated him now, and Stiles hadn't said a single word.

Melissa let out a soft sigh, and Stiles cringed, aware he'd added to the tension in the room. There was a beat of silence whilst everyone sat awkwardly in the circle, trying to think of ways to avoid or diffuse the situation.

The girl sitting next to Derek suddenly clapped her hands, and gave the room a blinding smile, before daintily crossing her legs. "Hello Stiles, I'm Lydia." She said, a pompous look on her face, which intimidated Stiles greatly. He waved meekly at her, aware of her eyes boring holes into his skull. She nodded decisively at him, and he almost missed her glance at Melissa, who smiled reassuringly.

She sat back in her seat, smoothing out the wrinkles in her skirt and staring expectantly at the boy next to her, who also sat next to Stiles. He looked at her and gave a small huff of indignation, before turning and smiling at Stiles. "Hi, I'm Vernon, but everyone calls me Boyd. Nice to meet you." Stiles smiled at him, ducking his head as all the people around the circle once again started to stare at him. Stiles began to tug on his sleeves, twisting the fabric around his fingers in an attempt to distract himself from the people around him.

"Right, now everyone's acquainted, I have some good news," Melissa said, eyeing the manilla folder on her lap excitedly. Everyone looked at her dubiously, what could good news at Rosedale possibly be?

"It's group project time!"