Scott wouldn't answer any of my phone calls or texts. I tried to keep them as non-werewolf related as I possibly could, but I was guessing he knew the actual reason why I was trying to reach him. I could only see one other option. I would have to go to the party and keep an eye on him. Real smart plan, Stiles. Go to a party where everyone is in danger of being attacked by a werewolf and try to restrain your friend who is considerably larger than you and is also a goddamn werewolf. Not to mention it was at Lydia's house, so that would suck. I had never been there before and never planned on it. But I guess now I had to go to that witch's lair.
When my dad came home I told him about the party. He didn't seem too reluctant to let me go. In fact, he seemed somewhat ecstatic to see me actually wanting to do something social. I conveniently left out the part about the murderous werewolf and that I would rather gouge out my own eyes than go to Lydia Martin's party.
"Just don't come home too late," my father said. "Also, I would be an idiot to think there isn't going to be alcohol at this party. Don't drive drunk."
"Dad," I said offended. "I cannot believe you would accuse me of doing such a heinous thing such as underage drinking." My dad rolled his eyes and told me to have fun. Oh, yeah. Partying with werewolves on the full moon. It was gonna be a blast.
I ran up stairs and started to get a sinking feeling when I noticed the sun was already starting to go down. I had to think of something to wear besides what I already had on. This was a Lydia Martin party of course. Dressing like a normal human being would definately get me noticed. I looked through my closet and came up blank. I was absolutely clueless when it came to clothing. I liked my t-shirts and jeans. I would wear them every single day if I had the option. But being a "girl" I did own a few skirts and dresses. I hardly wore them though. I hated wearing skirts and dresses with a passion. I just never felt comfortable in them. Which was part of the reason why I hated Lydia so much. She always had such nice clothes on and always looked so good in them. It wasn't fair.
The sun was down and the moon was rising when I said, "Fuck it," and put on a skirt and blouse. It didn't matter if I was uncomfortable. I just wanted to help my friend. Although I did keep my converse on. I grabbed my keys and headed out the door. It was only when I had driven for ten minutes or so that I realized I had no fucking clue where Lydia Martin lived. Someone may have told me in the past, but I couldn't be asked to remember it. I pulled off to the side of the road and got out my phone. Who did I know, or at least cared about, that would be at this party? I was tempted to dial Scott, but he was ignoring me. I passed Jackson's name and stopped for only a moment before realizing, yeah, bad idea. I landed on Morgan's name and pressed dial. She answered after only a few rings.
"Hello?" she shouted over pumping music. Good. She was at the party.
"Hey," I answered, "it's Stiles. I was wondering if you could give me directions to Lydia's house. I want to go to the party, but I don't know how to get there."
"Why the hell do you want to come to Lydia's party?" Morgan questioned. "I thought you hated her."
"Scott convinced me to go," I somewhat lied, "but he left without giving me directions. He's picking up Allison."
Morgan told me the directions while I jotted them down on a napkin. I told her thanks and hung up. I would have to burn this napkin after I got there because I never wanted a reason to go to Lydia's house ever again. I eventually arrived and the party was in full swing. People flooded the house and some even overflowed into the lawn. I scanned the driveway and spotted the car that belonged to Scott's mom. So he was already here. No one seemed to be panicking or calling the cops, so that was good. I got out of my car and headed for the house. It was a big place. That was to be expected since Lydia's family was doing pretty well for themselves. Not as good as Jackson's family, but still.
I maneuvered my way through the sea of people and saw a lot of people were dancing out by the pool. I couldn't see Scott anywhere inside, so my best bet was to check out there. I finally saw Scott with Allison. He looked happy. He and Allison swayed together with the music, smiles on both of their faces. I don't think I had ever seen Scott this happy. The moon was at its fullest and its light shined down on the two of them. Scott didn't change. He didn't go crazy. He was just happy.
I stopped myself from going out there and ruining his night even more. I did genuinely believe Scott was a werewolf, but I wanted him to have this moment. I would stay at the party and look out for him, but something told me everything was going to be alright. I grabbed a cup of punch off of a table and took a sip. Just one drink, dad. Morgan found me and grabbed my arm.
"Hey," she said, "glad you could make it. Did you find Scott?"
I looked over at him. "Yeah. But I don't want to ruin his date."
We talked and laughed. We drank and danced. I couldn't believe that I was actually being a teenager right now. And I was enjoying it. Although I didn't know if I would ever be able to stand Lydia Martin, I had to admit she threw some hell of a party. Just as I broke my own promise and got a second drink, I looked back to find Scott. He wasn't with Allison anymore. He was actually pushing his way through the crowd of people inside. He looked like he was in pain.
"Scott?" I called. "Scott, you good?"
He pushed his way past me and Morgan. Was this it? Was he about to go off? Oh, Jesus. Allison wasn't too far behind Scott when she came and asked us if we had seen him. We directed her to the front lawn and she followed him worried. I was a little reluctant to go after them, but I knew I had to. I told Morgan I had to go, gave her my drink, and made my way toward the front door.
When I got outside I didn't see Scott or Allison. His mom's car was no longer there. Was Allison with him? My question was answered very quickly when I saw her across the lawn getting into the passenger side of a black Camaro. I looked at the driver's side and was shocked to see who it was. It was none other than Derek Hale. He looked back at the house and saw me. We locked eyes for only a moment before he got into the car and drove away with Allison. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't help but get slightly aroused. Hot damn, no wonder Allison had gone with him. He could flat out say he was going to murder me and I would still get into the car.
My best friend was somewhere turning into a werewolf and I was fantasising about Derek Hale. I was a horrible person. I ran across the lawn to my jeep and peeled out of the driveway. I searched the dark roads for Scott's car, but didn't see it anywhere. I decided to drive straight to his house. I was only somewhat relieved to see the car in the driveway. The front door was unlocked and I ran up stairs to his bedroom.
"Scott!" I shouted. I tried opening the door but something on the otherside prevented me from opening it all the way.
"Scott, let me in! I can help!"
"No," Scott breathed heavily. It sounded like he had something in his mouth. "Listen, you gotta find Allison."
Typical. The boy is turning into a freaking werewolf and he's worried about Allison. "Allison's fine. I saw her get a ride from the party. She's totally fine."
"No, I think I know who it is!" Scott shouted from behind the door.
I tried pushing on the door again with no luck. "Dude! Just let me in! We can try-"
"It's Derek!" Scott revealed. "Derek Hale is the werewolf. He's the one who bit me. He's the one who killed the girl in the woods."
Derek Hale was the werewolf? Oh my God, it was so obvious! Creeping around the woods the day after Scott had gotten bitten, finding Scott's inhaler, picking up Scott's girlfriend from the party. Oh shit, Derek Hale picked up Scott's girlfriend from the party.
"Scott, Derek is the one who drove Allison from the party."
The door slammed closed on me entirely. I banged on it with my fists, but he had locked it. I called after Scott, begging him to listen, but I knew his mind must be elsewhere. The person who had probably just ruined his life just kidnapped his girlfriend. Frankly, I'd be pissed too. I tried the door handle one more time before giving up. I turned away from Scott's bedroom door, only to look back at it slowly after hearing a terrifying howl coming from its direction. Oh yeah, he was pissed.
Well, I failed at keeping my friend contained on the full moon, so I focused on the next thing I could do to help; find Allison. I ran back to my car, constantly on the lookout for rogue werewolves. I got in and struggled to remember Allison's home address. Scott had mentioned it the other day. On the drive to her supposed street, I tried to come up with some sort of way to explain what the fuck was going on to her parents. Surely, they wouldn't believe me about the whole werewolf thing, but maybe if I left that part out they would just take it as a normal kidnapping. Dear Lord, when did kidnappings seem normal to me?
I almost drove past Allison's house, but I recognized her car in the drive. So I had successfully remembered Allison's address. Hurray for me. Now came the hard part. I hopped out of my car and raced up Allison's driveway, becoming fully aware of what I was about to say. Was this my life now? I knocked on the door furiously and rang the doorbell several times. My thoughts turned to Scott, wondering what he was doing right now. Probably tracking down Derek so he could rip him a new one. Hopefully Allison wasn't in Scott's line of fire or she could get hurt.
What if Scott killed someone tonight? Before that thought had me spiraling into a full on panic attack, the door swung open. A very scary looking lady stood before me with short, fiery red hair and piercing blue eyes. This must be Allison's mother.
"Hi! Mrs. Argent," I blundered. "Um, you have no idea who I am. I'm a friend of your daughter's. This is gonna sound kinda crazy-" Mrs. Argent stared at me with growing confusion. "-really crazy actually. You know what, crazy doesn't even describe-"
"Allison!" Mrs. Argent called. Allison appeared near the banister of the staircase. "It's for you."
There she stood, completely unharmed. Perfectly fine. Derek had brought her home in one piece. Why? Was he trying to protect Allison from Scott? But he was the one who turned him into a werewolf in the first place! What the hell was going on?
"Oh, hi," Allison said pleasantly. "It was Stiles, right?" I nodded, unable to form any words at the moment.
Allison walked down the stairs. "So, what's up?"
"Uh," I uttered, finally finding my voice. "I just wanted to make sure you got home from the party safely. I know Scott, uh, had to take off early."
"Yeah," Allison mumbled, looking upset. "He just left me there. But it was ok. Someone offered me a ride. Said they were one of Scott's friends."
"Oh really?" I pondered. Derek told Allison he was one of Scott's "friends." Yep. Friends till the end. "Ok, well uh, just checking in on you. And you're obviously fine!" Awkward laughter. God, I was bad at this.
"I guess I'll see you at school," Allison said trying to end the conversation.
"Yeah," I complied. "See ya."
Allison's mother looked at us both strangely before finally closing the door and ending probably one of the most awkward moments of my life. That was saying something, considering all the awkwards moments I'd had in the past. And there were some doozies. But I didn't have time to think about that now. I had to find Scott, possibly wolfed out Scott, and tell him Allison was okay. My ideas were so shit. I called my father on the road, telling him I was spending the night at Scott's. He was fine with it and said he probably wouldn't see me until tomorrow afternoon. I told him to be careful tonight and hung up the phone.
The rest of the evening was spent driving around the wooded area of Beacon Hills, looking for Scott. I was completely exhausted and lost all of my jitters about finding him by 3 in the morning. I didn't care if he was fully wolfed out. I would drag his furry ass into my car myself. I just needed to get some sleep. Why did adderall have to wear off so quickly? I didn't intend to pull an all nighter, but the sun was beginning to rise by the time I had found him. He was walking along the side of the road, shirtless, looking pretty sorry for himself. Poor little werewolf. I pulled up to him and opened the passenger door.
"You suck at hitchhiking, dude," I teased. "You're never gonna get a ride like that. Show of some calf. You can work it!"
Scott looked up at me with full on puppy eyes. It took everything I had not to jump out of the car and hug him until everything got better. He smiled softly and got in the car. Closing the door behind him, we drove back toward town. Scott didn't say anything. I explained the whole situation about Allison to him and he seemed to visibly relax. He still didn't say a word.
"I told my dad I was spending the night at your house," I said, "so I guess we're going there." Scott nodded. He looked so exposed.
"There's a blanket in the glovebox," I informed Scott. He retrieved and draped it over his shoulders. More silence. He needed time to think. I got that. But come on, Scott. Say something, damn it!
"You know what worries me the most?" Scott asked, granting my wish.
"If you say Allison, I will punch you in the head."
"She probably hates me now," Scott moaned.
I sighed. "I doubt that. But you might wanna come up with a pretty amazing apology." Scott contemplated this. "Or you could just tell her the truth and revel in the awesomeness of the fact that you're a freaking werewolf."
Scott looked at me now like I was crazy.
"Ok," I admitted. "Bad idea."
Scott looked away from me again, disjunctively.
"Hey," I soothed, "we'll get through this. If I have to I'll chain you up myself on full moon nights and feed you live mice. I had a Boa once. I could do it." The Boa had turned out to be an awful idea. After it escaped my house twice and almost ate my neighbor's dog, my dad decided it had to go. He told me he had given it away, but I was pretty sure he took it out to the woods and shot it.
The mention of that stupid old snake managed to get a small laugh out of Scott. It was something at least. I smiled at him. This was our lives now. Werewolves. It was amazing how this had now become the new normal of our lives. The rest of the drive was in comfortable silence. We managed to make it back to Scott's house before his mom did. She didn't question anything and we were both grateful for that.
The rest of the weekend was just like old times. Scott and I ate junk food and had a horrible movie marathon. I wanted to watch I Was a Teenage Werewolf, but Scott wasn't having any of that. After laughing at all of the cheesy effects of the 60s, I made Scott tell me everything about the full moon. He explained how Derek had found him in the woods and told him the bite was a "gift." That guy just got creepier and creepier. Then he told me about the hunters, people who actually hunt werewolves for a living. Great. As if Scott didn't have enough to deal with. Scott told me he had gotten shot in the arm with an arrow, but Derek had saved him. It was a little hard to take in and nothing really made much sense. But what was I expecting when I asked my friend to explain his first night as a werewolf?
"So Derek said you were brothers now?" I asked. Scott nodded. "What the hell does that even mean? Like blood brothers? Did you cut your palms and shake hands, cuz that can give you aids."
"Nothing like that," Scott clarified, "but I kinda get what he meant. I could feel some sort of connection between us. It's a little hard to explain."
"I do not want my friend to have any sort of connection to that creepy motherfucker." Can't believe I used to think he was hot.
"I don't think I have a choice," Scott said downcast. "I can't figure this out on my own and he has been a werewolf longer. I might need him."
"You don't need shit! I'm here to help you and now that you actually believe me, it'll be easier to lock you up on full moons."
"It's not just full moons," Scott explained. "You said yourself the change can be caused by anything that gets me angry. This is something I'm going to have to learn to control, even if it means working with Derek."
"I don't trust him," I mumbled.
"Neither do I. But do I really have a choice?"
That kept me silent. Did he? I didn't know anything about this Derek character, other than his backstory and that he was hot. No, Stiles. We don't think he's hot anymore. He wasn't trustworthy, that was for sure. I had no idea what his intentions were or why he had even turned Scott in the first place. Maybe with time these questions would be answered. For now, I fell asleep on Scott's bed with these questions bleeding into my dreams.