*Locker Room*
Scott was babbling on and on about tryouts but Stiles was hardly listening; he was trying to see if Scott had any strange marks on his body… but he had to do it without openly staring. Enough of the other players already made fun of them. He was certain that if it wasn't for Danny and the fact that he was gay, a lot of the players would be calling them some really hateful words. Besides all that, Scott was trying to keep the attack from Stiles so if he noticed that he was being watched, he'd probably head to the bathrooms to get dressed. So now Stiles was trying to keep up conversation with Scott while also keeping an eye on him. "So, are you sure you're ready?" he asked as he pulled his jersey down over his shoulder pads.
"Dude, I'm beyond ready! I feel so energized and just… great! You're going to try right? I don't want to be on the team if you aren't…"
"Well, I'm going to try… And I don't see too many new faces so I think there might still be a spot for me this year. Especially if some of the party-goers are feeling less-than-perfect. I mean-" Before he could say anything else, the locker room door opened and Jackson's loud laughter could be heard. Stiles rolled his eyes and hunched his shoulders, "Typical, he comes in here 10 minutes late and will make the same 'grand' entrance after we're all out on the field and somehow Coach won't be pissed at him." When he looked to Scott for some sort of follow up comment, he realized that he was alone again, "Seriously?!"
Scott had snuck away and was peeking around one row of lockers, spying on Jackson himself. He knew that Jackson had said he'd healed but Scott had to see it with his own eyes. But the locker room was starting to clear out and he didn't want to be seen spying on Jackson. So he'd do quick glances and then hide behind the lockers again; he just needed to see Jackson's back, if he had any scarring at all. There was no reason for Jackson to lie to him about his miraculous healing but Scott needed to know he wasn't crazy. He was so focused on his own task that he didn't notice Stiles watching him.
"Scott, what are you doing?" Stiles whispered to himself. Obviously he was spying on Jackson but why? And of course he'd been about to do the same thing… he wasn't sure what he would've been looking for but if Jackson had been attacked, there'd be marks of some kind. Was Scott looking for marks too? Stiles frowned, thinking the situation over. Scott had been with Jackson, they'd driven off together, he would know if Jackson had gotten injured. So why was he looking now? Stiles knew what he heard last night and he knew that Scott was lying about something. But he was showing no signs of being injured at all! Judging by the look of disappointment on Scott's face, Jackson wasn't either. Stiles shook his head and finished getting ready, he'd have more time to think about it after practice… but for now, he needed to get his head in the game if he wanted to make the team with Scott. He said nothing when Scott reappeared by his side and hurried to finish getting dressed. For some reason he didn't want his friend to know that he was watching him. Stiles felt a little guilty about it but Scott was also keeping a secret and Stiles knew that he wouldn't get to the bottom of it by being straightforward with his friend. It wasn't like Scott at all and Stiles was worried.
By the time Coach finished with his speech about wanting the best for the team and expecting everyone to give their all on the field, Stiles was bored. It was the same speech every year, just like how he reused the Independence Day speech before big games. Stiles tuned it out and was studying the other players, taking note of how many spots there were on the team and how many people he needed to beat. He might actually have to try today and he wasn't really prepared for that… but he readied himself all the same. At first Stiles didn't even notice anything, he was so focused on trying to keep up but as they were standing in line waiting for their turn to try and score, he noticed. Scott was beside him, whispering up a storm about how the goalie was different than Danny, his left side was noticeably weaker and blah blah blah… and he wasn't wheezing at all. Stiles was breathing harder than his friend and that was rare (not that he was in the best of shape, but he didn't have asthma). And of course he didn't have time to comment on it before Coach was blowing his whistle and Scott was scooping up the ball and running off. But he continued to watch carefully and noticed that he was keeping up with all the first string players, effortlessly! He usually lagged behind because he just couldn't match their speed and keep breathing comfortably; he had to sacrifice speed for duration (Stiles, on the other hand, was just lazy). It had nothing to do with how much Scott may or may not have practiced over winter break either, this was way too big of an improvement. And Stiles wasn't the only one to notice, Brad, Jason, and Marc were all whispering to themselves about Scott's efforts. At first Stiles was afraid they'd try to sabotage him but they stayed away, mostly just surprised at how well he was doing. One of them did comment that they hoped Jackson wouldn't try to force Scott off the team somehow because if he was really this good, they could use him, dork or not.
He felt a sudden pang of anxiety as he heard them talking, would that mean that they actually would want to be friends with him too? Would Scott leave him behind? As soon as the thoughts entered his head, Stiles pushed them out- they'd been friends for over a decade now, that wasn't going to happen. Scott might be lying about some stuff and he might make 'friends' with the better lacrosse player but he wouldn't just ditch Stiles. Not that Stiles would let him just walk away either, not without good reason, they were best friends! Thankfully Stiles didn't have to dwell on it too long anyways, Coach was blowing the whistle to get their attention.
"I'm having a hard time deciding who to cut and who to keep, which is a good thing for once- you don't all suck! McCall, get in the goal, if they can't score on you then they definitely don't deserve to be on the team!" Coach Finstock called out.
Stiles sighed to himself… now he wasn't entirely sure if he'd make the cut or not, it was a close call between the two of them. Could Scott block the shot or would Stiles even make it close the goal? Stiles prayed that Scott would flub the block on purpose so he'd have a spot. But Coach would probably assume Scott would help his best friend, so he'd have to make an honest effort… Stiles stood back and watched. If he waited long enough, he might figure out which side was Scott's weaker side and he could aim for it. Although if Stiles's suspicions were correct, Scott probably wouldn't be as bad of a goalie as Coach Finstock was expecting him to be. There was more to Scott's performance than just the fact that he could run faster than before and breathe easily. He didn't trip over his feet, he didn't drop a single pass that was within reasonable distance, and his aim for passing was spot on. In fact, he was curious as to why Coach had picked Scott in the first place- he would've been better off picking Stiles! Everything pointed to a huge improvement in Scott's performance… maybe Coach just wanted to see the limits of Scott's new-found talent. Goalie was a tough position, it required more hand-eye coordination that just passing to a teammate. Besides, Scott was absolutely horrendous as goalie last year, even if his abilities in the other positions were not-quite-the-worst.
Not surprisingly, Jackson was the first to step up once Scott was ready, calling out that he was only going to be giving Scott a tenth of his usual effort. "Why waste my energy on the likes of him?" Jackson scoffed as he picked up the ball. Scott might have gotten a little better at the mid-fielder drills but there was no way he was coordinated enough to read throws from the seasoned attackers.
The ball flew through the air slowly, it was a lofty toss; it was plain for everyone to see that Jackson was barely trying, like he'd said (it was just as likely that he had been lying to trick Scott by saying that). Stiles chewed at his lip nervously, praying that Scott didn't miss such an easy throw. He didn't think he was wrong about Scott's new abilities but it was stressful to watch all the same, because there was a chance that Scott was still a crappy goalie despite all the evidence otherwise. Until today he tripped over his own shoelaces regularly! And Stiles knew that if he missed this insanely easy throw, no one on the team would take him seriously, even after all the work he put into the other drills.
But Scott caught it easily, even lobbed it back at Jackson as he laughed, "Looks like you won't be making the team then."
There was a collective 'oooooh' that spread through the players, many of them openly laughing at Jackson. And the reaction was immediate, his rage was almost palpable; Stiles could swear he was actually growling!
"Okay McCall, if you want to go hard, let's go hard." Jackson took a few steps closer to him before crouching down. He made a few fake attempts to throw it, hoping to get Scott to lunge but he didn't. So eventually he just had to throw it and he decided to go low, trying to look like he was making it curve upwards. But Scott still wasn't fooled- he didn't catch it, it bounced off the sidewall of his crosse, but it wasn't a goal, that's what mattered.
Scott was surprised by that one, he saw what Jackson was going to do and his body just moved automatically… but he wasn't ready for it. Jackson threw the ball fast! Honestly he wasn't even sure how he reacted so quickly… a small part of his mind was wondering how he was performing so well but most of his brain was just too excited by his success to care. He scooped up the ball and lobbed it back to the huddle of players. It looked like Jackson was going to get ready for a third round when Coach interrupted.
"Let's see just how good he is Whittemore, let some of the other guys try," he called out. Jackson was the team captain because he was good in multiple positions and he led the team well on the field, made great calls. But he wasn't the best at every position and he certainly wasn't great after he got pissed. If no one else managed to score on McCall then it should calm him down, and Danny might be getting more field time if he had a McCall as a backup. Finstock saw that the captain almost didn't listen but he eventually passed the ball to Burton, good.
After three other players had failed to score on Scott (three first-stringers!), Stiles slowly moved to the back of the pack. There was no point in him trying, Scott could easily catch it, or he'd just be accused of favoritism and that obviously he let Stiles score. Or… Stiles wouldn't even go anywhere near the goal and Scott wouldn't have to try at all and he'd be cut for sure. No, there was no sense in him trying so instead he just watched, closely.
"Hey, McCall, I know you want a spot on the team, but how about you don't take mine please?" Danny called out after awhile.
"But I thought you always wanted to get time on the field!" Scott answered.
"Lots of people can be 'okay' on the field, but not everyone can be a good goalie."
Scott laughed, "Well, no offense but goalie is boring, you just stand here! I'd rather be on the field anyways."
Danny would've replied again but Jackson decided to chuck the ball right as Scott's face, thinking he was too distracted. But Scott whirled his crosse around and blocked it, frowning at him. "Just checking to make sure you're taking your position seriously," he muttered before walking off.
And Scott would've replied but a familiar voice caught his attention, someone from the bleachers.
"I thought you said he was a sucky player? He seems really good to me- not that I cared about skill anyways."
"Yea, he's almost too good- he definitely wasn't that good last year…"
Scott looked and saw that Allison and Lydia were huddled together, they'd come to watch tryouts. Allison had made the mistake of mentioning Scott to her new best friend and they probably came to watch him fail compare to Jackson. Lydia was all about status and she wasn't going to let the new girl date a loser. He recalled the conversation he'd overheard between 4th and 5th period. Lydia had practically pounced on Allison, complimenting her outfit. And just like that, Allison was invited to become a part of her inner circle, one of the popular kids. Which meant Lydia instantly started asking about her availability and what kind of guy she was interested in, wanting the juicy details. Scott couldn't tune out the conversation if he tried… which meant he was ignoring Stiles and Harley but he was glad that he did eavesdrop.
"I'm actually not really looking for anyone. Relationships just cause drama and I just want to keep my head down, I don't want to stand out," Allison mumbled, looking to the side. Why did Lydia care so much? Why did people have to date to be seen as important? Whatever… Lydia would probably get bored with her eventually and 'un-invite' her from the group.
"You'll find someone eventually, like do you really think you'll go your entire high school career without finding someone you like? I just want to help you find the right guy, that's all," Lydia pushed.
"I don't know…" she sighed, realizing that her new friend wasn't going to let the subject drop. "Someone nice and sweet, y'know… just someone that I can connect with and talk to."
"Hmmm, right… if you really want to 'blend in' that means you can't go dating a loser- not as one of my friends. How about you look for someone popular, first and foremost, then we can worry about the 'nice' part." Lydia was already making a mental list of the available players and cutting out the ones who were a little rough around the edges. She'd never admit it but she was glad that it meant Allison wouldn't be trying to steal Jackson away from her; he wasn't her type at all.
"So you mean like a football player or something?" Allison grumbled.
Scott could tell she was exasperated already. Maybe the guys from her old school were all like Jackson- thought they were hot shit just because they played a popular sport. The fact that she was resisting Lydia's help told Scott a lot about her and he liked her even more. She wasn't the type to just jump on the bandwagon because the Popular Girl had walked up to her. Allison didn't want some guy that only saw her as arm candy, Scott could be that guy! If she ever wanted to date of course, he wasn't going to be like Lydia and push for anything. It was just that he realized he was her type and he didn't have to try- it was feasible that he might catch her eye just by being himself.
Jackson and Lydia both laughed, Jackson explaining that lacrosse was the sport at their school, they didn't even have a football team. Lacrosse guys were obviously the way to go; Jackson could even point her in the right direction, he was the captain after all and he was friends with all the good players.
Allison had to hold back a frown at his smug attitude but when she spied the netted stick over his shoulder, she visibly brightened. "Scott's a lacrosse player, he had a stick just like that in History."
"Scott? You mean McCall?" Jackson sneered. "I'm not sure you can really call him a player."
"Yea, I mean technically he's on the team but he rides the bench, he's not great. And that means he's… kind of a nobody," Lydia revealed.
Allison blushed, realizing what she'd said, "I didn't mean… He… I've only just met Scott but he seems nice, that's all. And I didn't realize what sport he played until you mentioned lacrosse and I recognized the stick. Seriously, I don't want to date anyone right now…"
Scott's heart almost stopped as he heard how enthused she was when she mentioned his name. He must have made a really good impression on her in class! Who cared that Lydia and Jackson tried to change her mind about him, he could just tell that she was the kind of person that would prefer to make her own choices!
He might've listened to more but Stiles painfully nudged him in the ribs right after that; all he'd managed to hear was that they were talking about a party. It didn't matter though, he'd heard enough to give him hope! And now Allison was watching him play and she thought he was good, it was almost like she was pushing for Lydia to give her approval of him! Scott had to remind himself that she was probably serious about the fact that she didn't want to date so he wasn't sure if he should approach her or not, he didn't want her to feel forced to like him or something. He didn't really have long to dwell on it though, Coach was blowing his whistle and calling them all in to a huddle. He'd been surprised by McCall's performance and still had to find a way to cut some kids but he'd make do. Then he dismissed everyone to the showers and declared that tryouts were over.
It turned out that Scott had nothing to worry about anyways, after he'd showered and was getting ready to head out to the parking lot, he spied Allison waiting by the stands. As soon as she spotted him, she waved and Scott allowed himself to feel hopeful. He quietly asked Stiles to wait for him and hurried over to her. "Hey, you came to tryouts?"
"Yea, Lydia dragged me along. I mean it was fun to watch and everything, don't get me wrong, I just… had no idea I'd be coming," she said with a laugh, trying to calm herself down.
"Lydia does come and watch our practices a lot, she really supports Jackson. So I guess if you two are friends, you'll be in the stands a lot too." There was a pause as Scott tried to think of something to say. He'd almost blurted out something about how he'd impressed Lydia but he realized that it meant admitting that he could hear their conversation. Somehow he managed to catch himself, thank goodness.
"So um… I… oh god," Allison muttered to herself. She had no reason to feel so nervous, it was just a party and she didn't want to go alone, that was it! "I was wondering if um… you might be free Friday?"
"I, uh, yea, I'm free, why?" Scott couldn't believe she was asking him on a date already! And she was asking him so that meant it was okay, he wasn't forcing her to do anything!
"I got invited to a party that Lydia is throwing and… please, please don't say anything but… I'm just a little uncomfortable around all of them. Lydia really isn't that bad but it's everyone else… I can't really describe it but lunch was super weird with everyone and I didn't like it. So I kinda don't want to go to a party with them alone. You seem really nice and more like someone I'd get along with so could you maybe come with me?"
"Sure! I… think…" When her face fell he hurried to explain himself, "I just know that Lydia doesn't like me, everyone on the team makes fun of me and Stiles, like all the time. I don't want her getting mad at you because you invited me without her saying it's okay, that's all."
Allison smiled then, understanding; she was right about him being a good guy. "It'll be fine, I promise. Since you'll be with me, she can't kick you out and if she really wants to be my friend, she'll have to accept that I do things my own way. So, she told me to be there at around 8, do you want to go together or meet there?"
"Um… can I get back to you on that? I might be able to borrow my mom's car that night, or I might need a ride…" Scott admitted. He usually didn't mind getting a ride from Stiles but if this was going to be a kinda date, wouldn't it be weird if Allison drove- or if her parents dropped them off?
"Well I have a car so I can totally pick you up, don't worry. I think Lydia would disown me already if I needed a parent to drop me off," she chuckled, only half joking.
Scott nodded, it didn't seem like she'd mind picking him up, "That works, here, I'll give you my number and then I can text you my address and stuff."
"Oh, right, yea, that's a good idea." She put her number in Scott's phone and waited for him to text her so she could save his number. "And just let me know whenever you want to go home. I usually not a big partier and Lydia assured me that there would be drinking. If it gets loud and crazy, I'll be ready to leave whenever you are."
He hadn't thought about that, if she was his ride she'd have to think about him instead of just having fun… maybe he could borrow the car from his mom and then he could be the one to wait for her. "I'd hate to make you leave if you weren't ready. I mean, I'm sure if you're having fun and I need to head home, I can always call Stiles, he'd come get me and then you could stay."
"We can figure out the details later," she offered. He clearly wanted to be a gentleman and that was fine with her but she did need to head home and if she didn't leave now, she knew they could stand there talking for another hour. "We have each other's numbers now so we can iron out the details as it gets closer."
"Yea, alright, cool. I'll uh, see you tomorrow morning then." Scott waved and walked back over to Stiles as she headed out to her car.
"Don't tell me that your dream girl asked you out," Stiles groaned. He could tell by the look on Scott's face that something good just happened. If it was any other day, Stiles would be happy for his friend, honestly… but he already kicked ass at tryouts and had some of the nicer lacrosse guys talking to him in the locker room… If Scott's day continued to just get better, Stiles was going to have some serious questions for whatever entity might be running the universe.
"Um, kinda. She didn't say it was a date but she invited me to go with her to Lydia's party on Fri-"
"WHAT?!"
Scott winced and shook his head at the loud interruption. "Don't be mad…"
"That's totally not fair! You have a cute girl talk to you, you suddenly have mad skills when it comes to lacrosse- you might even become a more popular player, and now you get to go to one of Lydia's parties? We might as well end our friendship now, you're definitely going to leave me behind…" Stiles pouted.
"What?! I'd never do that, you know that Stiles, don't even joke about that. Some of the guys came up and talked to me about doing a good job, that was it. They aren't going to let me sit at their table all of a sudden. And besides, even if they did, I wouldn't abandon you, you'd have to get invited too or I wouldn't go. I can't help that Allison might actually like me though, that is what it is, and I'm not going to turn her down just because you have a crush on someone that doesn't know you exist, sorry."
"Lydia knows I exist, or did you forget I drove her home last night?"
Scott started heading towards the Jeep, knowing Stiles would follow him. "Last night didn't happen, remember? But okay, let's at least agree that Lydia knows that we've been in the same classes as her since the 3rd grade, that doesn't mean she'll ever acknowledge you. She's a popular girl and I'm nervous about going because I'm worried that it'll hurt Allison's friendship with her. You're a great guy Stiles but I really don't know if you're Lydia's type… that's all."
"Alright, we can change the subject if you want- how about to how you got so good at lacrosse literally over night?" As Stiles said it out loud, the thought came to him. Something did happen overnight, something big. Why hadn't he connected it all before? He'd been suspicious but he didn't actually think that the weird attack might be tied to his physical improvements… just his strange behavior and the lies…
"Stiles, that's not fair at all! It hasn't been overnight- you were with me for hours over break running drills. Not to mention every weekend since October to get ready for the season. We worked hard to make the team and you know it. I just worked harder than you because I wanted to actually be on the team."
He rolled his eyes and gaped at his friend, "Seriously? Are you going to pretend to be that dense? You've never, ever, moved that fast, no matter how hard we practiced. You didn't need your inhaler once today, when was the last time that happened?"
"Like two weeks ago."
"Scott, I'm seriously going to slap you, you know I meant on days when you exert yourself. I do know that over the years your asthma has calmed down a bit, you don't have attacks all the time. But, one consistency is that you always need it at least once when you do any basic physical activity. You know I'm right."
Scott shrugged as he climbed into the Jeep, "Maybe I just had a really good day, or all the practicing finally paid off. I wasn't constantly running drills, I had time to rest between everything y'know, that might be it. I didn't even notice…" And it was true, he was on such a roll that he never thought about the fact that he didn't reach into his pocket for his inhaler. Maybe his mom could finally start saving money, that'd be nice.
Stiles let the subject drop but he certainly wasn't done with it. There was no way it was just Scott's asthma getting better… not so drastically. Not to mention the fact that he was chased and quite possibly bit or scratched by a large monster with glowing red eyes. At first he had thought that Lydia was just in shock, red is a scary color for eyes, unnatural… it wasn't too far-fetched to think that her mind had altered the memory a bit, to match the terror that she felt. But now that Scott was acting weird… maybe it was some escaped lab experiment or long forgotten beast that got loose after a small earthquake or something! What really cemented the idea in his head was that Lydia confessed that Jackson was being weird too. They were together when they got attacked and now both of them were hiding something and acting bizarre. There were too many red flags for everything to just be a coincidence. But Stiles also knew his best friend- he wasn't a great liar but he stuck by his lies. Until there was absolute proof that something had happened to him and Jackson, Scott would continue to deny it all. So Stiles decided to keep everything to himself for awhile, there was no point in alerting Scott to his digging… not if he'd just keep lying. And since he was so preoccupied with Allison right now, it wouldn't be hard at all for Stiles to just casually not be at Scott's house while they were supposed to be doing homework. He waved as he dropped Scott off, ready to get down to business.