First Grade

Age: 6

"Is something bothering you, Scott?" Melissa asked over dinner. Tacos were usually Scott's favorite dinner, but tonight he had barely touched his food, instead breaking small pieces off the edges of the shell and pushing the lettuce around on his plate.

"No," Scott mumbled from the other side of the table. He picked a seed out of his tomato slice and moved it to the far edge of his dish.

"Then stop picking at your food and just eat it." Silence fell between them as Melissa continued to eat and Scott continued to pretend to eat. Mr. McCall was putting in yet another late night at the office and Melissa found the house oddly quiet without him. There had been a palpable tension between them lately, so much that she feared even Scott had noticed a change in the household. All the same, there was a certain peace in having the house and her son to herself, even if just for an evening. That is, there would be if Scott would just stop picking at his food.

Scott crunched his taco shell with the heel of his fork, still not eating. Melissa had finally had it and slammed down her empty glass. "I made tacos especially for you. If I had known you weren't going to eat, I wouldn't have gone to the trouble. We could have had cereal for all I care. So you can either eat your food or go to your room."

Scott's face reddened and Melissa instantly felt guilty. "I'm sorry," they both said simultaneously.

"Mom," Scott began a moment later after taking a meaningful bite of his taco.

"Yeah, baby?"

"Is Dad gonna be home this weekend?"

"I don't know," she answered honestly. Her husband's schedule had been all over the place the last couple of months. He was putting in more and more late nights and long weekends, frequently leaving Melissa no choice but to call for a babysitter last minute or else drop Scott off with the Stilinskis so she could get to work on time. "Why? What's up?"

"I need to learn how to ride a two-wheeler bike."

Melissa was surprised. She was still impressed that he had made the jump from tricycle to big-boy-bike so easily. "I thought you liked your training wheels."

"I do," Scott admitted hesitantly. "But Stiles says his dad is gonna take the training wheels off his bike and that he's gonna ride his two-wheeler bike from now on."

"So what? Just because Stiles is taking his off doesn't mean you have to."

"Yes it does!" Scott's voice whined with insistence. "I'll look like a baby if I still have my training wheels on and he doesn't and he won't want to ride bikes with me anymore!"

"Baby, I'm sure Stiles Stilinski would not care if you rode a two-wheeled bike, or your training-wheels bike, or your tricycle as long as you rode it with him. He just wants to ride bikes with you, okay?"

"Okay." He sounded utterly dejected.

"Is this something you really want to do?" Melissa asked frankly. "Don't think about what you think Stiles wants you to do. Think about you. Are you ready to take off your training wheels? Nobody's going to like you any less if you're not."

"I am!" Scott insisted.

"Alright. If you finish your tacos, I'll call Stiles' dad and ask if he would mind teaching you to ride your bike as well."

"Really?" Scott's face lit up. He jumped out of his seat and ran around the table to hug his mom, his small arms squeezing tight around her waist. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! You're coming too, right?"

"What? You think I'd miss seeing you take off your training wheels? You must be crazy."

"Alright kids, quiet down," Officer Stilinski called over his son's excited screaming. "There's five of you and only two of us, so everyone needs to listen up." Somehow, Stiles has interpreted his dad giving Scott permission to come learn to ride bikes with him as permission to invite all his friends over for a bike riding party. Melissa agreed to help him out since Claudia had already made plans before one-on-one bike class had become a full-fledged ordeal. Stiles was scooting around on his newly training wheel relieved red bicycle, ramming into the back wheel of Lydia's hot pink bike. Danny looked over from his place beside her, but said nothing.

"Okay," Stilinski said once the kids had calmed down some. "I want everyone to line up right here." He drew an invisible line with his foot on the deserted cul-de-sac road. The children obediently lined their bikes up where he indicated, though Scott hung back with Melissa.

"I wanna go with you," he said timidly, watching as Allison rode in circles behind the rest of the group on her glittery purple bicycle. She already knew how to ride without training wheels.

"No way. I'm just here to supervise," Melissa insisted. "You said you wanted Stiles' dad to teach you, so there you go." She pointed to the rowdy line up where Stilinski was trying to give instruction, though Danny seemed to be the only one listening as Stiles was trying to run his fingers through Lydia's streamers and she kept slapping his hand away.

Scott shook his head and pushed his green bike back subtly. Now that he was there, he wasn't so sure that he was ready after all. Especially since it wasn't just him and Stiles now and Allison was already so good at it. "Please," he whined. "I don't wanna go with him."

Melissa groaned. "That's why we came over today, so he could teach you to ride your bike. I'll be right here but Mr. Stilinski is going to be with one going with you. That's just the way it's going to be." She couldn't have Scott hanging on her all the time. He needed to be with his friends and have fun without constantly needing to have her pat him on the back.

Scott took a shuddering breath and rubbed his hands on the rubber grips of his handles. "Mr. Stilinski's a good teacher. Neither him or I will let anything bad happen, alright? I promise."

Scott looked at her warily, but nodded.

"Wait, where's Scoot," Stiles called from his place in front of his dad. "Scoot!"

"Go on," Melissa gave her son a gentle shove, propelling him towards his friends. "I'll be right back here."

"Okay, everyone," Stilinski was telling the rest of the kids. "Right now I just want to practice balancing. Leave your kickstands down for now and pick your feet up and try to balance."

Scott leaned forward and stood up on his toes. Suddenly, the ground seemed a lot farther away. Tentatively, he picked his feet up and immediately the bike swayed to the side. He slammed his feet back down and looked around to see if anyone saw. Danny was the only one who was successfully balancing. He was sitting up perfectly straight with his legs stiff out on either side of his faded yellow bike. He stared straight ahead as if his every fiber were focused on staying balanced. Lydia glared at him out of the corner of her eye as she struggled to stay stable. As soon as she got her balance, it would go just as quickly.

"Sit up straight," Stilinski advised. "Don't lean forward so much, Scott. You're riding a bike, not taking a nap." Scott's face flushed in embarrassment and he straightened up. He sat as straight as he could in his seat, trying to mimic Danny's posture as much as possible. He lifted his feet from the ground, wobbling slightly but staying upright this time. He looked over his shoulder at his mom, grinning ear to ear. She gave him a thumbs up.

Beside him, Stiles didn't seem to be trying at all. Rather than lifting his feet slowly from the pavement to try to find his balance like everyone else, Stiles enthusiastically kicked his feet out in front of him and instantly fell to the right, the opposite side of his kickstand. He hit the ground with a light thud, his thick helmet scraping the gravel.

"Stiles, what the hel- heck?" Stilinski pulled his son to his feet, his bike still between his legs. "What did you think was going to happen?"

"I was tryin' to balance!"

"No, you were trying to be funny. Here," Stilinski held Stiles' handlebars, keeping his bicycle steady. "Pick your feet up really slow and sit up straight. Straighter. There." He let go and took a step back. Stiles stayed upright, a look of shocked delight on his face. "Right, good job," Stilinski praised. "You got it, Lydia?"

"Yes," Lydia answered through gritted teeth. In truth, she was still wobbling a bit more than the boys, but she was doing better than she was before.

"Good. Alright, now we're going to do the same thing, but with the kickstand up. If you start to fall, put your feet down," Stilinski said as an afterthought, glancing at Stiles.

After everyone had gotten the hang of balancing, it was time to start actually moving. Scott felt his heart beat faster. What if he couldn't do it? Just plain couldn't do it? What if he fell? Or worse, what if he fell and nobody else did?

"Who wants to go first?" Stilinski asked. Everyone was suddenly quiet. Scott must not have been the only one feeling a little nervous.

Stiles' hand shot into the air. "Oh, I do! I do, pick me! Dad! Dad, pick me!"

"N-no," Stilinski said hesitantly. "Let's have ladies go first. Lydia, are you ready?"

"Okay," Lydia answered, suddenly shy. She pushed her bike out of line over to where Stilinski was waiting for her a few yards away.

"You're gonna do real good, Lydia!" Stiles called as she joined his dad.

"I'll watch everybody else while you go," Melissa told the man, coming forward from her place in the back. Allison rode forward with her, coming to a stop next to Danny to talk.

"What do you need me to do?" Lydia asked, sounding determined though her face was a little green.

"I'm going to hold on to the back of your seat, right here," Stilinski put his hand on her seat to show her and the waiting group. "You're going to ride as you normally would and I'm going to run behind you so you won't fall. If you see a car, stop and go to the side of the road. We'll go again once they've passed us. You ready, Lydia?"

She nodded. "So I just go?"

"Whenever you're ready. I'll follow your lead."

Lydia nearly fell three times before she got the hang of it. Stilinski caught her every time, but seeing her lose her balance made Scott anxious. He'd never seen Lydia not be good at something right away. Stilinski let go of her seat as she picked up speed and she had shrieked once she realized he was no longer trailing behind her. She rode back to the group, beaming proudly.

Danny had an easier time of it, only losing his balance once before taking off like a pro. Lydia decided his success was due to the wonderful example she had set by going first. After all, she hadn't had someone to set an example for her like she had done for him.

Scott hung back, letting Stiles go next.

Stiles had barely started before he slammed on his brakes, causing his dad to hit his shin on Stiles' back tire. "Car!" Stiles shouted, pointing.

"Parked cars don't count, Stiles."

"Oh. Well, you said…"

They started again. After several attempts, Stiles was riding on his own. However, when he looked behind him to see if his dad was there, he lost his balance and hit the pavement hard.

"Stiles!" Stilinski ran over to his son. "Are you alright? Let me see."

"I did it!" Stiles proclaimed. "I did it by myself, Dad! Oh," he looked down at his scraped palms. "Ow."

"Yeah, I know," Stilinski smiled. "You're alright. Good thing you had this thing on, right Bud?" He knocked on Stiles' helmet.

Stiles laughed. "Yeah."

"Ready to go again?"

"Yeah!"

Finally, it was Scott's turn. He pushed himself over to Stilinski, butterflies in his stomach. "How are you doing, Scott?" Stilinski asked quietly. "Are you ready?"

"I don't know," he answered truthfully. Everyone else had done so well.

"You'll be okay. I'll be right behind you the whole time."

"You won't let go?"

"Not unless you want me to," Stilinski assured.

Feeling a little better, Scott pushed off and started pedaling slowly. He felt himself losing his balance and put his feet down. "Sorry."

"No, that was good," insisted Stilinski. "Getting started is always the hardest part. It will be a lot easier once you get going. Let's try again."

Scott started pedaling again, this time picking up a little more speed. He could feel Stilinski's hand barely brushing against his back has he held onto the seat and could hear the pounding footfalls of him running along behind the bike. Feeling a bit more confident, Scott went faster. Stiles' dad was right, it was easier the faster you went. The front wheel of his bike hit a rock, breaking Scott's concentration. Startled, Scott squeezed the handbrakes and skidded to a stop. Stilinski was still holding on to the back of his seat.

"That was really good, Scott. You were nearly there."

"I was?" Scott asked, surprised. It hadn't felt that much different to him.

"Yeah. Let's go again."

Scott picked up speed much faster this time, knowing that it would help him keep his balance. Despite his misgivings, he was actually enjoying himself. Why had he been so scared of this in the first place? Mr. Stilinski wasn't going to let anything happen to him. Scott was coming to the end of the street and knew he would have to turn back soon. Hopefully Stiles' dad would feel him turn so he wouldn't have to stop. He turned around just before he reached the stop sign at the end of the street was startled to see that he was by himself. He hadn't felt Stilinski let go at all. He was standing quite a ways back, clapping as Scott made his way back to the group. His mom whistled at him and he could see the delighted expression on her face even from a distance. Stiles, Allison, and Danny were all jumping up and down, cheering him on. Even Lydia was clapping.

He skidded to a stop just in front of his mom. He couldn't help but feel proud of himself.

A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing! We're still taking prompts so if you have any ideas, please PM us or leave us a message on Tumblr (dylanajane and itsmechaseanderson). We would love to hear from you and talk about your ideas. If any of you are following our other story, In Exchange, we're sorry about the long wait for updates. This next chapter is going to be hella long, so it's taking a long time to write. If you have any questions about our update schedule or the status of the chapter, leave us a message and we'll let you know. As always, thank you for your continued support. Read and review if you can.