I hope you all enjoy!
Wow. News really did travel fast in Beacon Hills. Maybe Faith was a fool to not believe that Brony guy from the drugstore when he told her so. However, she was still pissed that he conned his way into getting fifty bucks from her so fuck that guy.
Faith really shouldn't be surprised that people were starting to find out that she was pregnant. It wasn't a secret that she expected to hide forever. But she thought it would be at least when she started showing. Yeah, Faith was seeing a slight bump since she was about twelve to thirteen weeks into her pregnancy, which was confirmed when she, Isaac, and Drew went to her first doctors appointment the week before. If she wasn't at home though, she always made sure to cover up her belly with a larger shirt or jacket so she wouldn't get any weird looks or anything.
There was no use in hiding it anymore now because apparently, the entirety of Beacon Hills High knew of Faith's little secret. She had come to that conclusion as soon as she stepped into the building. A majority of students had lowered their conversations to hushed tones while gawking at her stomach. Not many people had ever given Faith a second glance ever since she moved here from Los Angeles so she was no longer familiar with the feeling of being the center of attention. She forgot how much she absolutely hated it.
Besides Isaac, Scott, and Stiles, she never told anyone else that went here about her pregnancy. While two-thirds of them were idiots, Faith knew neither of them would have spread the news to anyone outside their circle so she had no idea who else could have done it. Quite frankly, she didn't care. It wouldn't help her anxiety go down anyway. Not when there was so many people in the hallway.
Only two options presented themselves in this predicament. One was to bolt back out of the school, make a run for it to her car, drive home, and hide in her plush bed for the rest of her life. While tempting, running away wasn't going to solve Faith's problems, unfortunately. So she had no choice but turn to option two- keep her head up and walk to her locker like everything was perfectly normal. It turned out to be easier than she thought once she learned to tune out the whispers.
Everything remained somewhat normal as Faith got to her locker and grabbed the books she needed for her first two classes. But when she shut her locker, nothing could have prepared her for Lydia Martin waiting for her on the other side.
"Uh… hi."
Lydia seemed to be inspecting the girl with the corner of her plump and shiny lips quirked up. Now Faith was scared. "Your eyes are super pretty. And your hair is looks so shiny and soft. What products do you use?"
"Shampoo and conditioner," Faith answered slowly, "The kind you get from the drugstore."
"Interesting." Lydia tugged on the other girl's sleeve. "Just think of how gorgeous you could be with just a little makeup and clothes that fit your body properly."
"What is happening right now?" Faith asked to whoever would listen to her. Lydia or even God would suffice.
"I was thinking that I could use a new canvas, and you and Isaac's situation has me feeling inspired. What would say about me treating you to a little makeover?"
She couldn't be for real. Could she? Lydia Martin is legitimately offering to give Faith a freaking makeover? Hell, no. This just sounded like an awful reboot of She's All That waiting to happen and Faith was not having it.
"Sorry, but I'm not interested in becoming your charity case," she told Lydia before walking away.
"Don't think of it as charity!" Lydia said, catching up to Faith and stopping in front of her. She noticed the book in her hand and a light bulb lit up in her pretty red head. This was why Lydia was a genius. "Think of it like Wicked. Remember the part where Glinda shows Elphaba that underneath her nerdy glasses and frumpy clothes that there really is a girl who's been beautiful all along? It's exactly like that!"
Faith squinted her eyes. "Should I be offended or…"
Right then, a couple of sophomores walked by them, eyeing Faith in particular. Neither she nor Lydia could make out the words, but it obviously had to do with the pregnancy with how they stared at Faith's stomach. Lydia was having none of that and she glared at the two lowerclassmen.
"Shoo," she ordered with authority, and the sophomores scurried away.
When she looked back at Faith, the girl was fighting to put on a brave front, but she couldn't fool Lydia. Not with the way she seemed to hug her books closer to her body even tighter. Lydia knew what it was like to be in Faith shoes, being judged and outcasted for being different than everyone else. It was depressing. And scary, especially if you were handling all of the gossip about you alone. Lydia remembered that all too well from when she had returned to school after breaking out of the hospital and running around the woods naked back in sophomore year.
From the looks of it, Faith looked like she could use a friend right now. Well, besides Isaac. And Lydia wouldn't mind getting close to another girl after losing her best friend. Yeah, she had Kira and Malia too, but they weren't Allison. Nobody could replace Allison.
But maybe having Faith around would be close enough.
"You know, I always feel better after a bit of dressing up," Lydia told her, "And maybe it'll give everyone something positive about you to talk about. What do you say?"
As against this Faith was, it didn't seem like Lydia was going to give up anytime soon. Besides, how bad could some makeup and new clothes possibly be? Faith let out a sigh of defeat.
"Okay, fine. I'm in."
"Great." Lydia beamed like she always did whenever she got her way. "Meet me in the girls bathroom on the west side of the school during the fifteen minute break. I'll have everything ready for you then." She then walked away, leaving Faith still standing there, baffled.
Yeah, she was sure she was going to regret saying yes to this.
For a man who was well into his late twenties, Derek was sure at this high school a lot. Everyone else here was probably so used to it at this point that they don't pay him any attention anymore. Well, he sure as hell never expected to be popping in at the school from time to time either when he came back to Beacon Hills a year ago, but that's what happens when you play mentor to a young and naive werewolf. Quite a few young and naive werewolves, to be frank. What can you do though?
Derek had only planned on stopping by to check and see if Scott was finally able to talk some sense into Liam about accepting his new transformation or at least getting him to agree to go to Lydia's boathouse on Friday for the full moon. According to Scott, everything seemed to be going 'under control', so Derek decided to accept that and let the true alpha handle it from there. He had to admit, it was almost a relief to not be the one on top anymore. Being alpha might have been something almost every werewolf dreamt of, but we all know how much of a disaster that was when Derek claimed that title. He was now exhausted, physically and emotionally, and was more than willing to let someone else take over the reigns. So now he was ready to head on back to his loft and do whatever Derek does, but he stopped when he passed the open door to the music room.
It left a slight pang in his heart when he made the decision to step into the empty classroom. All he could think about was his own teenage romance all those years ago with Paige. She had been that one hope that there was a way Derek could live a somewhat normal and happy life with a girl he loved. Like everything else, that didn't last long, and Derek still blamed himself for it every day. The sting wasn't as harsh as the days went by, but it was there. But it's like the saying goes, "Don't cry because it's over- smile because it happened."
The room looked to be just about the same as it did when Derek was in here for the last time seven years ago. Right down to where he and Paige shared their first kiss in the front row of chairs. Funnily enough, there was even a triangle hanging over in the percussion section, and Derek couldn't help but to flick the metal instrument. He chuckled slightly at the small sound it made.
"You don't look like a student."
The voice made Derek turn around towards the front of the room where a woman about his age stood. Her light brown hair was shoulder length, curled with a bright and obnoxious pink streak peeking out underneath. Tattoos covered her arms like sleeves of a sweater which Derek wouldn't expect from someone who worked at a school. Understandably, her hazel eyes were narrowed at the werewolf in suspicion as she set her stuff down on the desk. Derek crossed his arms, going into defense mode, and nodded at her.
"Well, you don't exactly look like a teacher," he quipped back.
"Yeah, I get that a lot," the woman shrugged, "The school board was horrified when they saw the tattoos and pink hair, but they still hired me so who's laughing now?"
"Congratulations, I guess," Derek said.
She grinned. "Thanks." Her smile slightly dimmed as she tilted her head. "Can I help you with something?"
"No, sorry," Derek assured, looking around the room, "I just kinda got lost in my head for a moment there."
"Oh, so you're one of those weird alumni that likes to visit their old school on his spare time? You know, to relive the 'good old days'?"
From the smirk on her face, Derek could tell that she was teasing him, and he strangely didn't mind. So he chuckled back. "Something like that."
"I see."
She turned to the chalkboard and began to jot down the lesson plan for her classes. As Derek looked up at the board, he took note of her last name, Olsen. Pretty generic. Then his eyes traveled down Ms. Olsen's body. Not because he was 'checking her out' (okay, fine, he might of glanced over her round backside), but to make sure that this wasn't another Jennifer ordeal.
Nothing smelled out of the ordinary, which should be a good thing. All Derek got was her citrus scented fragrance, which was actually quite nice. But he could never be too sure. There were always various types of creatures coming and going out of this town. New faces, new threats. For all Derek knew, Ms. Olsen could be dangerous. She may appear innocent, yet so did Jennifer. That woman had everyone fooled. Him especially. He learned the hard way that not everyone can be trusted in Beacon Hills so he had to tread lightly.
"Since it seems like you're not leaving any time soon," Ms. Olsen said, interrupting Derek's thoughts, "you might as well help me get ready for my next class." She held out to him a score book, filled with dozens of music sheets, and a separate paper. "Here's a list of the number of instruments and different parts needed for the jazz band class. Start organizing."
Derek didn't say anything, but when Ms. Olsen gave him another playful smirk, it did release some tension from his shoulders for some reason. It even had him cracking a chuckle himself as he took the list and score book. He started on his task, surprising both himself and Ms. Olsen. The music teacher continued to write on the chalkboard, stealing peeks over at Derek every so often.
"Stevie," she said after a few minutes.
The werewolf turned around with a raised eyebrow. "What?"
"My name," Ms. Olsen clarified, "It's Stevie."
"Like Nicks?" She nodded and once again, Derek snorted. Who was he? "How fitting for a music teacher."
"Right? My parents were pretty big hippies back in the day. They even named my sister after 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'."
"Well, it suits you. I'm Derek. I'm not named after anyone specific. My parents just liked the name, I suppose."
Stevie nodded, testing out the way the name it sounded in her head. She actually quite liked it. "It's nice to meet you, Derek."
"You too, Stevie."
Both of them shared small smiles with each other, neither of them being used to doing so in quite a while. But it wasn't as awkward as either of them thought it would be. It felt good. Pleasant, so to speak. Even when they turned back to their tasks, neither of their smiles faltered.
Staying true to her word, as soon as the bell signaled the end of second period, Faith begrudgingly headed towards the other side of the school to the girls restroom to meet Lydia. While it was probably stupid to get nervous over the idea of a makeover, walking into a full set of makeup displayed on the sink and clothes folded in the corner, Faith was about ready to make a run for it out of there. Lydia just rolled her eyes and practically ripped the other girl's arm out of her socket when she yanked her further into the restroom and sat her on a stool that the banshee must have stolen from a classroom.
The first task Lydia started on was getting Faith out of her 'drab' clothes and into an olive green, off-the-shoulder, chunky knit sweater and a denim mini skirt, despite it being 65 degrees outside. She didn't expect to fit into them, figuring that she was at least a size or two bigger than Lydia with her growing belly, but to her surprise, the clothes flattered her figure well. Her stomach was still hidden, which Faith very much appreciated. After that, Lydia started fixing her hair, taking the raven waves out of the hair tie, brushing it out, and styling it in a half-up half-down hairdo with a braid positioned like a headband. What seemed like a complicated hairstyle only took Lydia five minutes, which impressed Faith. Then again, the girl only knew how to do two styles and anything outside of her usual ponytail was fascinating.
By the time Lydia started on Faith's makeup, third period was about halfway through. Who knew that getting beautiful would be so goddamn time consuming? Girls who actually took their time with this crap before school must have way too much time on their hands. At least Faith was skipping out on that pop quiz in Coach Finstock's class, thank god. However, getting her eyebrows plucked in the girls restroom wasn't much better.
Pluck. "Ow." Pluck. "Ow." Pluck. "Ow!" Faith pulled away and covered her eye with her hand.
"Stop whining," Lydia said, pushing Faith's hand away so she could continue her work, "I'm just cleaning up the ends."
"I don't get why you're doing anything with them anyway," Faith said, "I wear glasses. No one can even see my eyebrows."
"You have contacts?" Lydia asked. The other girl nodded. "Good. Start wearing them because from now on, you'll be going without your glasses. They hide your eyes too much anyway."
"Oh god, please do not tell me that you think this is gonna be like those teen rom-coms where the nerdy girl takes off her glasses and all of a sudden, she becomes hot."
Lydia rolled her eyes at the comparison. "You already are hot. You just need to… find ways to bring out your hotness for everyone else to see."
Just the thought of it made Faith want to cringe. "Do I want people to find me hot?"
"If you wanna find a boyfriend soon, then yes, you do."
"Uh, I don't think I should be worrying about dating when I'm carrying my best friend's child." Faith circled her finger around her stomach for emphasis.
Let's not forget the fact that she was completely head over heels for said best friend, but she wasn't about to open up that can of worms to the banshee.
This didn't seem to phase Lydia and she just shrugged. "Well, for when the time comes."
According to the banshee, Faith's skin was so porcelain-like that her face didn't need to be caked by twenty pounds of makeup. Only the basics like mascara, eyeliner, lipgloss, and the tiniest hint of blush and glitter would do the trick. Faith supposed that wasn't so bad, although she could do without the glitter.
Not many words were exchanged as Lydia applied the makeup, her because she was focused like a chemist and Faith because, well, she was in her own head as always. This was the longest she and Lydia had ever interacted with each other. Come to think of it, this was the only time they had ever interacted with each other during Faith's two years at Beacon Hills. All this time, Faith was so intimidated by Lydia, the queen bee that ruled these hallways. Not that Lydia was ever mean to her. They just never seemed to cross paths. And now Faith was becoming a Barbie doll in the hands of Lydia Martin and she just wasn't sure how to feel about it.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked after Lydia finished putting the eyeliner on.
Lydia furrowed her eyebrows as she went for the light pink blush. "What do you mean?"
"It's just that you've never talked to me before," Faith clarified, "No one really does. Which I don't necessarily mind, that's been my intention for the past two years. So I guess my question is, why are you being so nice to me now? Especially when everyone else is being… not nice."
This made Lydia frown. People were jerks, she knew that firsthand. After all, she used to be one of them. She's changed over the past year. You tend to do so after facing monsters and death almost every day. Watching your friends die also does something to you too.
"First of all, screw those people," Lydia told Faith, "All they thrive off is gossip. Give it two days and then they'll move onto the next topic and leave you alone. Second…" She took a deep breath and did her best to not break. "Isaac's had it rough throughout the past few months. Especially when Allison died. You know that." How could Faith forget? "When he told me that he was having a baby, I think that was the first time I had seen him smile in months."
"Really?" Faith asked, that fuzzy feeling building in the pit of her stomach.
"Really," Lydia nodded, "It's good to see him finally looking forward to something. I wouldn't expect it to be a baby, but I digress. And he really does care for you a lot from what I've heard. So any friend of Isaac's is a friend of ours. Consider yourself to be part of the pack now. Both figuratively and literally speaking."
Faith was not about to get teary-eyed at the thought of being part of a group, as abnormal as it may be. Not if she wanted her Lydia to kill her for ruining her makeup she spent almost an hour on. So Faith just smiled shyly, showing no teeth. "Thank you."
Her new friend smiled back. Then she pulled out a tube of clear lip gloss from her makeup bag. "Pucker up." Faith obeyed and let Lydia apply the lip gloss on her full lips. "Alright, makeup's done. Now one last thing."
As soon as she took the pair of shoes out of her bag, Faith's reaction was to snort.
"Heels? You can't be serious."
"They're wedges," Lydia corrected, "It's the perfect last touch for your new look."
"Do you really think I should be wearing those while I'm pregnant?" Faith asked incredulously.
"You're still really early on so you should be safe in these. And when you do start showing and your ankles and feet start to swell, then you can switch over to flats."
"Isn't that something."
Shoving the wedges in Faith's face, Lydia proceeded, "Just put the damn shoes on."
The banshee taking no for an answer was clearly out of the question, so with a quick roll of her eyes, Faith kicked off her Converse and socks before taking the wedges. At least these things were slip-ons because she did not have the energy to hunch over and buckle them up. Faith was finally allowed to stand up from the stool, butt numb from sitting for what felt like hours. Her lack of experience in wearing anything other than sneakers was obvious and she immediately started to stumble when she tried taking a step, but Lydia was right next to her to keep her upright. Lydia helped guide Faith to the full-length mirror on the wall so she could finally take a look at what the hell had been exactly done to her.
Well, she'll be damned.
Faith looked… good.
More than good. For once in God knows how long, she looked pretty. One might even say beautiful but that might even be pushing it in Faith's opinion. Still, the denim skirt was short but long enough to not violate the school dress code. A bonus was that her ass looked amazing. The sweater was so warm and comfy and now Faith was considering buying more in every color. While the shoes might have been not as pleasant, Faith decided to just suck it up and live with it for Lydia's sake. Her midnight black hair looked soft, shiny, and framed her done-up heart-shaped face like it was a photograph. An unfamiliar yet pretty photograph, so to speak. One that already came with the picture frame.
And the most impressive part of it all was how natural the makeup looked despite it feeling like a million different products were on Faith's face. Instead of covering up her flaws like she expected, it just seemed to highlight the beautiful parts of her that she never really cared to pay attention to before. Like her eyes. Faith always liked the color, but the blue really popped thanks to the white eyeliner that Lydia had put on her. Going without foundation was the smart choice because covering up those freckles that resembled starry constellations would have been a sin. The blush added some life that she apparently so desperately needed to her light complexion. And finally her lips- Faith never realized just how plump they were if it weren't for that clear lipgloss that tasted like vanilla. Almost like the revamped version of her usual birthday cake chapstick.
In the end, Faith was blown away by herself, all thanks to Lydia. Score one for the banshee.
Chuckling softly, Faith twirled the ends of her long hair with her finger. "I can't believe that that's actually me."
"You've always had it," Lydia ensured from behind her, "but sometimes it just takes a little push for you to see it for yourself."
Faith placed her hand on her stomach, hidden and protected by her new outfit. Were the changes going to stop her peers from talking about her pregnancy and giving her judgmental stares? Highly unlikely, but maybe now Faith could gain a little more confidence, stand up straighter (mostly because the wedges left her no other choice), and tune out the rest of the world.
Even if it was just for a few more hours of the day.
Safe to say that Faith's new look was certainly giving the school more to talk about. It all started when she walked into the music room fourth period. All eyes instantly fell on her, some jaws even dropping. The dramatics were a bit unnecessary in Faith's opinion but oh, well. It hopefully gave everyone something else to talk about rather than the news that she was sixteen and pregnant.
Unless everyone else thought that her makeover was compensating for the fact that she was pregnant. That was probably not the intention Lydia was hoping for when she decided to turn Faith into her new project.
The chatters never stopped throughout the period along with the stares. Ms. Olsen did try to keep everyone on track, even though she seemed to be in a world of her own every once in a while. Her attempts failed, but Faith appreciated the effort. Once the bell rang to end class, Faith packed away her violin and grabbed her backpack as fast as she could and rushed out of the room. She immediately wished that she had stayed in there when she stepped into the hallway, filled with more students and gawks and talk. Where was Lydia so she could rub some of her 'bad bitch attitude' on Faith?
Not everyone was looking at her in appall, however, which should have been a good thing. Except now boys were staring unapologetically like Faith was a piece of meat. They had no shame in looking up and down at her, pausing a little too long at her bottom half. A couple of them even had the audacity to whistle at her. Ugh, what dogs. Had they any respect for the female species whatsoever? So gross.
Refusing to make eye contact with anyone, Faith pushed past the sea of students so she could get to her locker and grab her lunch. Honestly, she just wanted shove her face in her locker and remain there for a good while. Or at least until the hallway had cleared up a bit. But unfortunately life couldn't be that easy so Faith needed to get a grip and calm down. First things first, she couldn't see a damn thing so going against Lydia's wishes, Faith slid her glasses back on. She then tossed her hair over her shoulders and smoothed out her outfit before reaching in her locker to grab her lunch.
"Whoa."
"Jesus-" Faith yelped as she jumped and spun around to see Isaac standing right beside her. Stupid supernatural beings trying to give her a damn heart attack. "Okay, you and your posse really need to learn to stop sneaking up on people. It's rude and very creepy and not good for a pregnant person." Isaac just continued to stare at her, eyebrows practically hitting his hairline. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"No reason," Isaac shrugged, "It's just… you've been Lydiafied." He pretended to toss his hair over his shoulders, just like Faith did.
Damn it, this really was like Wicked. She really was Elphaba. Thanks a lot, Lydia.
"Funny," Faith deadpanned. She shut her locker and walked away.
Of course Isaac was right on her heels though. "You don't have to do that, you know."
"Do what?"
"Wear fancy clothes and makeup," Isaac specified, "I don't know what Lydia's intention with you is but I do know that you don't need to change yourself to get approval from everyone else."
"Isn't that what you did?" Faith asked, implying her friend's decision on becoming a werewolf.
That's what he gets for telling her the whole story of how it happened. Isaac sighed. "Not entirely, but fair enough."
"And besides," Faith continued, "so what if I got an upgrade? If I'm gonna have the whole school talking shit about me because I'm pregnant, I might as well look good while they do it. Lydia was doing me a favor."
"Well, for what it's worth, I think you were already perfect just the way you were."
Isaac's words almost had Faith dropping her lunch onto the floor. She turned around to face Isaac and saw that his expression was nonchalant and cool, like he didn't just rock her world with a compliment that she had always longed to hear from him.
"You do?" Faith asked. A little confirmation wouldn't hurt.
The beta shrugged like it was no big deal. "Yeah, why wouldn't I? You're smart, talented, kind, beautiful… quite frankly, I think anybody would be lucky enough to know you, let alone be as close to you as I am. If anyone gives you the time of day just because of your new…" he waved his hand at her clothes, "look, then they're idiots and don't deserve to have you in their presence."
Cue the butterflies fluttering around in the pit of Faith's barely swelling belly. Little did Isaac know that in that moment, he had just become her Fiyero. Minus the parts of him reciprocating Faith's feelings and him turning into a scarecrow at the end. Then again, Isaac was a werewolf so close enough.
Like all moments, the sweet one between the two best friends was short-lived when two guys from the lacrosse team passed by them. One of them looked Faith right at the stomach and whistled at her.
"Wassup, baby mama?" he said with a cocky nod. His buddy high-fived him like he had just made the best joke in the world and continued walking.
Well, Isaac for sure wasn't laughing. If anything, he gripped onto the strap of his backpack tight and even growled lowly. He was ready to drag their asses to the ground but Faith grabbed his arm before he could make any sort of move.
"Don't," she ordered, "They're not worth it."
"How is everything that everyone is saying about you not driving you crazy?" Isaac snarled.
"It is, but what can I do? Eventually they'll just tire themselves out and move on with their lives as always."
"I still don't like it," Isaac said. He looked back down at Faith. "Do you want me to say something? I have no problem with getting everyone to back off of you. Just say the word and I'll-"
"No," Faith protested, "It's best if you don't get involved."
A scoff slipped out of Isaac's mouth as he looked down where his baby rested. "It's a little too late for that."
"You know what I mean, Isaac," Faith sighed. She made sure nobody was in earshot of the two and pulled Isaac around the corner of the lockers. "One of the rumors going around is that I got knocked up by someone outside of the school. Maybe we should just keep letting them think that so you're in the clear."
He tried to not be offended by the idea, but the scowl he was sporting was not hiding it. "Are you ashamed that I'm the father?"
"No, I'm not-"
"Well, it sounds like you are, Faith."
"I'm not!"
Faith closed her eyes before she could take her frustrations and anxiety out on Isaac and took a couple deep breaths. Boy, he had no idea just how wrong he was about her being ashamed. The truth was that Isaac being the father was the only thing that had Faith believing that was going to be okay. But she refused to pull him down this rabbit hole that she couldn't get out of. Isaac didn't deserve it even though he was the partner of the fatal horizontal tango. So Faith was going to protect him.
She refused not to let his agonizing yet beautiful blue eyes jostle her when she opened her own.
"Look, I already have a not-so-good reputation here. I'm the lonely hermit who hides in the music room and doesn't talk to anyone. Me being pregnant just makes me even more of a freak. And I'm not gonna have your reputation ruined because of me."
"I don't care about what people think of me," Isaac told her softly, shaking his head, "You know that."
"I'll see you after school on the lacrosse field so I can give you a ride home," Faith said as she began to back away, "Just… just stay out of it. Please."
Apology written all over, Faith didn't give Isaac the chance to continue to fight. Her clutch on her belongings were tight as she left him standing there defeated to who knows where.
If he has to hear one more person talking shit about his best friend and the mother of his child, he swore to God that this entire school was going to feel his wrath.
All day long, Isaac just could not avoid it. Faith's pregnancy and unexpected makeover (by the way, Isaac needed to have a long chat with the banshee responsible for that) was the talk of the school. Like, seriously. No one on this entire campus had anything better to do than spread lies and call Faith a whore? People really needed to fucking grow up already. And knowing that Isaac couldn't do anything about it without Faith ripping him a new one was killing him. The things Isaac would do for that girl, he swears. He couldn't say the same about the unlucky pen he accidentally snapped in half when he overheard a couple of guys in chemistry talking about how if Faith was really was that easy, at least she's dressing the part now.
That was another thing that bothered Isaac for reasons he was unsure of. Why did Faith feel need to dress the part of something that she wasn't? Not that she didn't look good in what he assumed Lydia had lent her. Isaac was a boy with working eyes, after all. Of course he thought that Faith was beautiful. But she was already beautiful before and didn't need to look like Lydia to show it. How could she not have seen that already? And when Isaac caught people staring at Faith's ass in that damn mini skirt for a second too long, he didn't know whether he wanted to demand that she put her regular clothes back on or tear the limbs off the sickos one by one.
Was Faith doing all of this for a boy? She couldn't be. She's never mentioned any crushes to Isaac before and they tell each other everything. Or at least now they do. Surely if there was a boy, Isaac would know. In his opinion, Faith should not be concerned about boys or dating right now. What both of them should be focusing on is making sure their baby was healthy and doing everything they need to for when it comes. Isaac was not about to let her lose sight of that. Mainly because the idea of any guy trying to get at Faith was still unsettling for the beta.
Isaac wasn't stupid. He knows that Faith is bound to get a boyfriend eventually despite him always believing that no guy deserved to be with a girl like her. But Faith couldn't be alone forever. There was going to be someone that came along and accept that she was a single mother and volunteer to be a part of her child's life.
Correction, both her and Isaac's child. And he would be damned if another guy tried to swoop in and claim Faith and their child and push Isaac out of the picture to be his or her dad like a twisted son of a-
"Yo! Earth to Isaac."
Said beta was literally snapped back to reality, which featured him sitting on the bench on the side of the lacrosse field. The team was setting up for practice while onlookers got comfortable on the bleachers so they could watch the action go down. If it wasn't for Scott and Stiles sitting on each side of him, Isaac had almost forgotten where he was.
Stiles nodded at his hands. "Not to interrupt your inner dialogue, but I think that ball has been tortured enough."
When Isaac looked down and opened his hand, the lacrosse ball he didn't even remember picking up to hold was dented and becoming unstitched from being squeezed to death. So much for him keeping his cool. He rolled his eyes and dropped the ball onto the grass.
"You really need to take it easy, man," Scott told him, "I get that hearing people talk about Faith isn't easy, but if you lash out-"
"I know, I know," Isaac said exasperatedly, "She already lectured me. But I still have every right to be pissed off for her no matter what anyone says."
"No one is saying you don't," Scott assured.
Shaking his head, Isaac leaned over and rested his elbows on his knees. "This is all my fault."
The two best friends exchanged looks over him in confusion. "How is it your fault?"
"Well, I am the one that got her pregnant. I'm the other half that's responsible for this mess. And now I have to hear the whole school make up stories and assumptions on who the father could be while I just stand there and play stupid. I should be defending her right now. Or at least tell people the truth so they won't put everything solely on her. God, why does she have to be so fucking stubborn?"
"Girls," Stiles sighed, "They always gotta make things so complicated. The tables have turned, huh, Avril Lavigne?"
"Stiles, I don't think you're helping," Scott said. His best friend just sputtered as he twirled his lacrosse stick in his hand. Scott patted Isaac's back. "You may not be able to say anything right now, but you can still offer Faith as much support she needs. Don't worry. This will all blow over soon." He paused. "Hopefully."
"Gee, thanks," Isaac replied sarcastically.
The boys' poor attempt of a pep talk was disrupted when Coach stepped on the field and blew his shrill whistle. "Alright, let's go! Everyone get your asses on the field ASAP! And put a little pep in your step, this isn't a walk-a-thon!"
After patting Isaac on the back on last time, Scott and Stiles went to join the rest of the team on the field. The beta tapped a rhythmless beat with his thumb on his thigh, looking around and wondering if Faith was heading over there any time soon so they could leave together after the practice. It was only a matter of a few minutes when she finally made her appearance next to the bleachers, same Lydiafied get-up on and everything. But Faith seemed a lot less tense than she did earlier, giving Isaac a bit of hope that the gossip was coming down to a minimum on her end.
Just as he was about to beckon her over to where he was, Lydia and Kira had beaten him to it from where they were on the bleachers with Malia, who once again had been transfixed on the textbook on her lap. It caught Faith by surprise but it didn't stop her from shyly joining the girls. Much to Isaac's relief, they fell into an easy conversation from what he could hear. Yeah, he knew it was wrong to eavesdrop. But it wasn't his fault that he had extraordinary hearing that picked up things easily.
Okay, maybe it totally was but that's not what this was about.
The one good thing to come from this clusterfuck of a day was the support that not only was he receiving from the pack, but Faith as well. One day she was going through life with no friends or social life and then the next being surrounded by people Isaac himself had grown to trust. And it couldn't have come at a better time when the teenage parents needed it the most. It was a breath of fresh air for Isaac when Faith relaxed into the group of supernatural girls easier that she had probably thought it would be. He could still detect some anxiousness coming from her chemosignals, but she wasn't pushing Lydia, Kira, nor Malia away. In fact, she even started to break out into a small smile when Kira asked when Faith would find out the sex of the baby or when Malia wondered if she'll have a litter of werebabies. That part made Faith's eyes widen like saucers but she still entertained her thought with a laugh.
Seeing the mother of his child finally making more friends filled Isaac with a sense of pride. Nothing was more breathtaking than seeing her face light up even in the direst of times. He really hoped that things will start to look up for her from here on out.
"How about that McGregor chick from home room, huh? It looks like we got a real life Juno on our hands here."
"Dude, I'm telling you, it's always the loser girls that get knocked up. They always gotta go seek validation from whoever they can or some shit."
And the hope was gone.
Isaac's head went back to facing the field to search for which punks had just said that. He singled out two other juniors that were chuckling, one of them named Tyler and the other Isaac couldn't remember and couldn't care less to learn.
"I heard it was from some guy back from LA over Christmas," Tyler continued, "Now he won't even call her back." He snorted like the jackass he was. "Probably didn't wanna be tied down to a loser like her for the rest of his life."
Growls started to rumble within Isaac's throat upon hearing such appalling lies about his best friend. He could feel his claws beginning to protrude from his fingertips and he had to dig them into the metal bench he was sitting on.
From the field, Scott could see that his pack mate was starting to lose control so he went into alpha mode and whispered so only he could here. "Ignore them, Isaac. Don't do something stupid and lash out."
"Come on, guys," Stiles said to Tyler and the other junior, "That's enough."
"What?" Tyler shrugged 'innocently', "You know it's true. But hey, maybe it's his loss. Now that McGregor actually looks somewhat hot, maybe the whole school can get a piece of that action. She'll be the school slut in no time.
Alright, that's it. No more holding back. Sorry, Faith, but not really.
Eyes flashing to amber before back to blue, Isaac pushed himself off the bench and marched onto the field. The girls on the bleachers took notice of this, including Faith. Her back straightened in alert at how tense Isaac looked.
"What is he doing?" she wondered out loud.
"I don't know," Kira winced, "but from the looks of it, I don't think it's gonna be pretty."
Back on the field, Isaac's steps were long, demanding, raging. His jaw was so tight he could actually break it if he applied just an ounce more pressure. Anger blinded him as he swiped the lacrosse stick out of Stiles's hand without a word being said and scooping up the ball abandoned on the grass. For once in the past few months, Isaac was thankful for his supernatural abilities when he swung the lacrosse stick like a baseball all-star and hurled the ball at his goal. The goal was evidently Tyler, who didn't even see nor have time to prepare for the flying ball coming at him and it hit him smack dab in the eye.
"Ah, fuck!" he cried out at the impact. He covered his eye as he whipped around to see a still seething Isaac throwing down the lacrosse stick and stomping towards him. "What the hell is your problem, man?!"
Isaac fisted Tyler's jersey and got up right in his face. "If you knew what was good for you then I highly suggest keeping Faith's name out of your fucking mouth."
"Oh, Mr. Tough Guy, aren't you?" Tyler taunted, "What are you gonna do, Lahey? Kick my ass?"
"Keep talking shit about her and you'll find out real quick," Isaac warned.
"You don't scare me," Tyler said, pushing the beta's hands off of him, "But, hey, since you're feeling so touchy over McGregor over there, I bet you coming to her rescue is gonna make her spread her legs for you in a heartbeat-"
He was cut off with a swift deck to the nose and he fell back onto the grass. Isaac showed no mercy and went to town on beating the shit out of the guy. Now every player on the team and even the bystanders on the bleachers were completely invested in the scene. This had the girls standing from their spots as they watched the fight take place, afraid of the possibility of Isaac slipping up and shifting in front of everyone. Well, not all of them had that same worry.
"Yeah, Isaac!" Malia hollered, "Rip his head off!"
"Malia, stop it!" Kira hissed at her friend.
But Faith was too engrossed in what her best friend was doing to even pay attention to what everyone else was saying around her. God, please do not let Isaac blow this.
Thankfully Scott and Stiles rushed to grab Isaac and yank him off of Tyler. Isaac struggled to break out of the other boy's grasp, nowhere near done teaching the nose-bleeding douchebag a lesson.
Coach also interfered and blew on his whistle. "Alright, knock it off, both of you! Break it up! Now, does anyone wanna tell me what the hell is going on?"
"Lahey is psychotic, that's what's going on!" Tyler exclaimed, pointing at said boy.
"Don't you ever call Faith a slut just because she's pregnant!" Isaac yelled, "None of you know the first thing about that girl or what she's going through!"
"And you do?"
"Yes, because I'm the father of her baby!"
Fuck.
You could hear a pin drop after the collective gasp spread throughout the field. No one was sure whether to look at Isaac or Faith, the girl undecided between horrified or livid. All she knew was that Isaac was in big trouble, both with the public and her.
"Okay, you know what?" Coach Finstock waved his hands and shook his head. "I've had it up to here with you teenagers acting like you're in some dramatic TV show. Watkins, get your ass on the bench, you're out of the game on Friday night. Lahey, get off my field and go home."
Unbelievable. Isaac scoffed and shrugged Scott and Stiles off of him. "Whatever. Fuck this." The two boys watched helplessly as they watched their friend walk away upset and defeated.
"As for the rest of you, suicide runs. Now! Move it, ladies!"
When Isaac returned to the bench, he avoided Faith's stare that was burning holes in his head. He picked up his backpack and placed it over his shoulder. "Come on, let's get out of here." He continued to walk without even waiting for Faith to say anything or walk with him.
"Aw, crap," she groaned.
She grabbed her own back and began to chase Isaac throughout the school. But it was proven to be very difficult for Faith to catch up for many reasons. Why did he have to be so damn fast?
"Isaac, wait! Isaac!" Finally Faith had to take a quick break to take off the godforsaken wedges she had managed to wear throughout the entire day. "Stupid fucking shoes." She then continued to run on her tippy toes. "Isaac!"
They entered the parking lot where Faith's truck waited for them on the other side. Isaac was still ahead of Faith by a good six feet but she wasn't slowing down no matter how on fire her lungs felt right now.
"Hey!" She was able to get closer to Isaac but he still didn't stop. "What the hell was that back there? You could've gotten yourself suspended!"
"It would've been worth it," Isaac said, tossing his backpack in the trunk, "You didn't hear what they were saying about you out there. You would have wanted to do the same thing."
"Still, you can't just…" Once Faith had finally caught up, she grabbed onto any part of the truck she could doubled over. "Holy shit, you need to learn how to slow down. My body's not as athletic as it once was."
"Were you ever really athletic to begin with?" Isaac pointed out.
Faith glared at him. "Rude. Hey, don't change the subject here! The point is is that you completely went against what I asked of you, which was to not get involved. And what did you do? The exact freakin' opposite!"
"And I'm not sorry for it so you can stop lecturing me. Is it really so wrong of me to want to defend you?"
"I don't need you to defend me, Isaac. I can take care of myself." Faith noticed how Isaac stilled his movements and his frown deepened even more, as if it were possible. "What's wrong?"
"Just when you said that, it reminded me of… never mind."
Isaac shook his head to rid himself of the memory of the late huntress. It was time that he let that go already. Allison needed to remain a memory if he were to move on with his life. She was in the past, this was now his reality. And Faith, this incredible human being, and their baby was his future. Harping in what could've been was doing a great disservice to girl who was giving him the beautiful gift of a son or daughter. Who still stuck by him through the worst of times. Isaac needed to do the same for her. No, he wanted to.
Sighing, he shut the passenger door that he opened a few moments before and went up to Faith. "Let me make something clear to you, Faith. I know you might think that you can handle all of this on your own, but this whole thing isn't about just you now. You and me, we're in this together. This baby is just as much mine as it is yours. And I'm not going to let anyone or anything cause harm to you both. So if it means breaking a few noses, then so be it. Are we on the same page?"
Almost hypnotized by how passionate Isaac was getting about the whole thing (and a little bit turned out, but that'll be her secret she'll take to the grave), Faith nodded. There was no sense in arguing with a guy who only wanted to protect her and their baby. Who was she to fault him for that?
"Yeah, okay," Faith gave in, "But can you at least keep the fighting to a minimum? I don't need to see my baby daddy on the news and getting in trouble with the law."
"God, please don't call me that," Isaac groaned.
"Too late, I'm sticking with it," Faith grinned toothily, "Now get in the truck. I'm in the mood for an Oreo milkshake and because of the spectacle you caused, you're buying." She strutted to the driver's side with her chin up and smirked at Isaac's direction. "Let's roll, daddy."
That earned a small laugh from Isaac, he couldn't help himself. Leave it to Faith to always get him to crack a smile even when he didn't want to. Isaac followed suit and got into his side of the truck, trying to ignore the funny tingle deep inside when he replayed Faith calling him 'daddy' inside his head.
Review, favorite, follow, all that fun stuff! Xoxo, Maddie