Invisible.
For many, many years, I had no problem being invisible at school. No one really knew who Sage Danvers was or apparently, no one has even heard of me. But very recently, since that damned fail of a dinner conducted and left by my dear brother…I've become a target of Scott McCall & friends. I don't know what Scott's told them about my…incident, but every single one of them apparently just wants to have a chat with me.
"Sage, cute…braid," Lydia drawled at the hallway as I exited my Calculus class. I rolled my eyes at her hesitation to pick something she liked about me. She latched her body to mine and grabbed my hand, "Let's go to lunch, shall we?"
I tried to wiggle myself out, but girl got some guns. Probably from carrying her numerous shopping bags…or does the Martin have a maid for that?
"I don't want to eat lunch with you." I said.
She looked offended for a minute; "No one wants to not eat lunch with me!"
I finally saw Kira's head throughout the crowd and dragged her with me. She stumbled and nearly tripped, but Lydia's balanced walking (even with those freaking heels) kept us stable, "Where are we going?" she asked.
I shrugged, "Apparently, eating with the devils."
Lydia shushed me with a look and plopped me down their usual table. The group looked at us like we're animals in a caged glass.
Exactly why I kept my distance.
Scott relaxed with Kira sitting in front of him. I nearly gagged at the shyness between the two. He looked at me and coughed, seriousness dawning his face, "So…Sage."
I nodded, "So…Scott."
We had a pretty intense staring contest, wondering who would break first. As weird as it is, Scott, whose life was made hell by King Jackson is now the reigning king of the cool club. Lydia, who used to be top queen, was replaced by Allison who now had become…Lydia again? God, I can't even comprehend their status anymore. Point being, they all listen to Scott, who listen to Stiles….
So does that make Stiles…king?
I glanced at the said person, who was munching on fries after fries and thought…nah.
"Okay, are we just gonna sit here and look at each other?" Lydia exclaimed, flipping her hair back. Kira's made herself comfortable, fishing out for her lunch in her bag. "You bring lunch?"
I narrowed my eyes at Lydia, "Got a problem with that?"
"I have a problem with your attitude." Lydia barked.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa…ladies, ladies," Stiles said, "Be nice."
Allison cleared her throat, "Actually, Sage, we just wanted to ask you about some things…"
I crossed my hand on my chest, "No, what you wanted was to corner me into answering those questions, which I won't be giving, by the way…"
"Why not? Do you have something to hide?" Isaac accused. What a pretty, pretty face…too bad that hideous scarf makes it looks too feminine, if you catch my drift.
"Actually yes, Isaac. As a matter of fact, I seem to have heard a little something about your past last year…did you see me backing you up against a wall and prodding you about it?" That shut him up.
Stiles pushed his food away, "No wall here…definitely no wall and no…prodding. Just, friendly asking."
"Friendly? What's so friendly about this? You didn't even know I existed till a week ago!" I raised my voice, standing up to clear our things.
I don't really like being forced to do something I don't want. Obviously, they want something from me that I don't even know the answers to myself. It really irks me how they're inserting themselves in my life like this when god knows I've wanted their attention for the whole half of my life.
I guess I'm just being really defensive about this because I don't want them to think of me as weirder as I am now.
And a part of me don't even want to know what happened that night.
"Look here, Sage…" Lydia started.
"No. I'm going to call hypocrisy on all of you. Well, the two of you!" I pointed to Scott and Stiles, "I asked you some questions previously and all you did was try to get out of it. Doesn't feel to good to be on the receiving end, does it?"
Kira stood up with me, "Look, just don't push…please." She was talking to Scott the majority of the time. Maybe it was her calming tone, or the fact that no one can really argue with Kira, but they finally backed down.
Kira didn't push me either. But I know she wanted to know as well. The whole day pretty much went on peacefully. Stiles and Scott continued to eye me throughout our shared classes, but I didn't budge. For once, I minded that Stiles was actually paying attention to me. I just didn't want this kind of attention…from him, nonetheless. They all think there's something going on about me, which I'm hoping to god there isn't.
Speaking of unwanted attention, I almost turned away and walked home after school when I saw Stiles leaning against my car waiting for me.
They really weren't going to leave me alone.
"I come in peace!" He yelled when he saw me hesitate. He seemed to be looking for something from his pockets, but decided to tear a piece of paper from his notebook, "See…white flag, paper. Think of it as a white flag!"
I wanted to laugh.
There are some people it's hard to stay mad at for so long.
I sighed, "Look Stiles-"
"I'm sorry!" He blurted out. "To cut you off and for the lunch thing. You were right…we did…ambush you and it was mean."
I nodded my head, "Apology accepted."
He smiled, "Good! Do you mind driving me home?"
"I…what? Don't you have your car?"
He shrugged, "Scott is driving it."
"What happened to his motorcycle?"
"Uh…well…can you just drive me or not?"
I paused. This is so…unusual. Why in the world would he ask me to drive him? But the girl in me accepted, "Fine. Get in!"
We sat in complete silence exiting the school. We were both wary of what to say to each other, but after a while, Stiles managed to finally spit out what was on his mind. He was solemn, the twitching and the blabbering almost gone, "Malia Tate was an old case of my dad's."
For a bit I didn't really know how to respond. I also didn't know where I was going. He hadn't really given me a direction so I kept going straight, "James did tell me you were poking your nose where it didn't belong."
I saw a small smile from him, "Scott's dad is in the FBI and recently he's been sort of on my dad's case about work. They think he's not doing a very good job…so I wanted to help him solve a case just to prove Scott's dad wrong."
"James has nothing but nice stuff to say about the Sheriff," I said, "I'm sorry if I've been too nosy about the Malia thing."
"You were right about us being hypocrites. We wanted something from you when we haven't really given you anything in return."
I felt myself stiff, "Is that what this is?"
"What – no, no! I just, well…I just wanted to apologize and give you some explanation…and well, since you made such good food for us I was thinking…well, don't think this is too weird or anything. But, well…invite you to a Stilinski dinner!"
I was so stunned that I braked in the middle of the road. Thankfully no one was behind us, "What?"
"Drive, we're in the road! Sage…please drive!" He begged, "I said don't be weird about it!"
"Well maybe next time you shouldn't ask me while I'm driving!"
"Okay! I'm sorry! Your brother is working late with my dad so I thought you'd be having dinner alone and I'd also be having dinner alone. So…."
I rolled my eyes, "You better not poison me, Stilinski!"
"Please, you'll be begging me to make you dinner in no time!" He said arrogantly, "And you're going the wrong way."
I punched him on the shoulder, "Why don't you start giving me directions, smart ass."
We ended up parking at Jerry's, a little café midtown. I stared at him, bewildered until he shrugged and opened the door, "What?"
I nearly stammered, "I thought you were making me dinner!"
He chuckled nervously, "I thought you said you didn't want to be poisoned?"
Good defense. I'll accept that. This wasn't a date, let me be clear on that. So, no hand holding or opening doors or being gentleman-y like, which is what I wanted. As much as my heart is beating tremendously, my mind knows what this truly is. A simple dinner between…well, sort-of-friends?
We sat on the corner of Jerry's where a lady winked at us, "Ah, young love," Both Stiles and I started choking in our own spit, getting flustered and awkward, "I remember when I had my first date with my first boyfriend…he took me to this ice cream shop and we ordered a banana split and ate it together. Seems so long ago…"
She literally isn't helping the stereotypical view on café waitresses. Stiles finally said, "We aren't – we're just—you know, um…well, we're kind of just…friends."
The waitress, whose name plate says Tanya, laughed. Her voice sounds like pure caramel being poured onto sugar, "Pfft. We women know your tricks, sir. You take us to dinner pretending it's not a date, then you want to go see the movies and just when the romantic scene plays out…you yawn and slyly put your arms around our shoulder. Next thing you know, you're up puckering your lips for a big smooch at the end of the night."
It amuses me to see him get so worked up, "Can we just order…Tanya?"
Tanya sneered at him, turning her back and facing me, she nicely said, "What would you like, sweetie?"
"Bacon cheeseburger please." I answered.
Stiles added, "Make that two. With extra curly fries."
"Got it! Thanks hun!" Tanya said, without looking at Stiles.
"Make sure it's the curly fries!" He yelled at her retrieving back.
I looked at him smugly, "So…are you taking me out to the movies?"
His eyes bulged, "No! I mean…that wasn't my plan but I could certainly, if you really want to go."
I chuckled, "Shut up, Stiles."
He hung his head low, ashamed. "Can we stop making fun of me now?"
"So…anymore cases you're burying your nose in to?" I quipped, mildly curious as to what kind of shenanigans he'll be doing now that the 'Malia Tate' case had been closed.
He shrugged, "Nothing that sounds interesting yet. How about you, what do you do outside of school?"
I sighed, "Nothing really. I like to run…I guess. Kira would come and play video games sometimes or we'd go have a picnic somewhere."
He scratched his head, "So to get this straight, you've been in my class forever and Kira has recently just joined? How are you two so close?"
"Kira's family originally started here then they moved to New York and now they're back. My mother was Mr. Yukimura's classmate back in the ancient times. We'd visit them before."
"Wow…you've been to New York." Yup. Something even Lydia hasn't been to. Not that we were rich or anything, those visits usually came for free from my mom's work. But I find a sense of pride for being to New York when the Martin's, haven't even stepped foot out of the town.
"My mom was a history buff too."
In the middle of our getting-to-know each other, the food arrived and he seemed happy to receive his precious curly fries. Talking with Stiles is probably one of the most comfortable thing in the world. He seems to get it…losing a parent, feeling like an outcast, being different from your best friend but loving them as a sibling. He just gets it, which puts me in a very difficult situation.
I've liked Stiles since I was a kid and at first it was just his unusual self that attracted me. Then came the awkward puberty where he kept messing up constantly and now…now I see him grow up to someone who hasn't accepted the hype. He knows he isn't considered 'cool' or 'popular' but he's pushing the boundaries instead of trying to fit in.
"Hey, are you listening to me!" He laughed, clapping his hands in front of my face.
"I like you." I drawled. It was one of those things that wake you up from a deep slumber – a kick, they call it. I think my brain mentally kicked myself to wake up after that. He looked taken a back, really confused. His mouth wide open. "Um…no…that's not what I mean at all. Please stop thinking. Stiles!"
"I c-can't unthink that! There is no going back. Ha! You said you like me! How much do you like me? Thank god someone likes me." He continued on, feeling good about himself.
I couldn't help but laugh, throwing a curly fry at him which the corner of his mouth caught midway. I don't know where this rush of confidence occurred, but suddenly I don't feel so little and shy with him anymore. "Actually I've liked you for a long time."
The small sense of seriousness dawned on him and his brow cocked questioningly, "Really?"
I nodded, taking a sip of water, "Remember in sixth grade when you thought it'd be cool to rock a tail like Anakin Skywalker?"
Stiles laughed at the memory, "Oh my god, I got picked on so much because of that! Jackson would always pull on it!"
"Yeah and there was a whole week when you talked to Ms. Steinbeck like Yoda."
"She definitely called my dad after two days," Stiles explained, "Even Scott was annoyed of me."
We went on and on about our silly childhood stories, remembering youth like it was yesterday. It was only until Stiles got a text message that interrupted a pretty cool night. He paled a shade lighter and his cheery mood turned real serious.
"Something wrong?" I asked, worried it might be something going on in the Sherriff's department.
He shook his head, "Uh…" the stammering came back, "Well-just uh, it's Scott. Is it-is it okay if you drop me off back at-at school?"
"At school? At this time?" I wondered out loud. Stiles kept looking back and forth to his phone and to me, explanation on the tip of his tongue. I shook my head, "It's cool, you have your secrets and you don't have to tell me."
His head hung low, "I'm sorry."
We both took out money from our wallets and paid for our food separately. With a shrug, "Stiles, we all have our secrets."
He let out a small smile, "Thanks."
Looking at him with sincerity, "Maybe in time we can share them with each other." And there was something in his eyes that gave me hope.
