Red Like Your Eyes

CH 15

Notes: It's been so long since I updated, I hope you guys enjoy and let me know what you think!

Derek had finished his stretches on the green and was about to run to the bleachers when he heard his phone ringing loudly in the quiet silence of the morning.

He reached his bag and saw a missed call from his coach.

"I hope practice isn't canceled" he muttered scrolling through his messages.

He typed in "are you awake?" and sent it to Stiles before returning his missed call.

"Hey coach. Meet you in your office? Alright, I'll be there in a few minutes."

XXXXX

Derek entered the athletic building and smiled at the office workers who seemed to give him strange looks. He knocked on his coach's door and entered when a deep voice told him to come in.

His coach, a burly man who had once been the peak of physical prowess looked up from a stack of paperwork and gave him a tight smile.

"Hey son, take a seat" he gestured and looked away hastily when he saw Derek's black eye.

"What did you want to see me about?" Derek asked as he watched the man stuff the stack of papers into a folder.

"I don't know if you've heard but…well" his coach stalled. "I think it's best if I just show you the damn thing."

He pulled out a packet of paper and handed it to Derek.

"What's this?" Derek looked quizzically glancing at the first page. He stopped in his tracks when he read it.

"PETITON FOR STUDENT REMOVAL" was printed on the top of it. His pulse quickened as he read down the page where he saw his name and then "THREAT TO OTHER STUDENTS AND SELF" in a box next to "CAUSE."

"What?" He began shakily, his fingers trembling.

"The chancellor told me about the fight Derek." His coach started. "You dislocated our first string's jaw."

"And is this a beauty mark?" Derek began angrily, pointing at the large bruise beneath his eye.

"I told them that you are a good student and a great player. They will let you stay in school, but..." The coach drew a breath.

"You're off the team son."

"What?" Derek started, his lungs choking on stale air.

"It was a compromise I had to make." His coach returned grimly

"But I'm on scholarship. If I don't play then I'm not eligible. I can't afford to go here without them." Derek replied, his blood running cold.

"You can take on loans Derek. You only have semesters left" his coach tapped the folder he was looking through and Derek quickly realized that it was his college transcripts and file.

"Coach. The scouts."

"Will be here next year if you still want to try out."

Derek grit his teeth.

"So how do I appeal?"

"I would really think hard about that Derek. You have to understand how powerful Trent's family is. I had to convince the advisory board that you're almost done with school and that you'll be put on athletic probation for your actions."

"What? What about his actions?"

"I'm sorry but this is how it works. You have a bruise, his jaw is extremely swollen. He's on painkillers."

"So. All that training…" Derek started closing his eyes.

"I'm sorry. But you can always come back next year when your probation's done. It may be better this way when you're not as distracted.".

"What?"

"You've been missing practice son."

"I've missed 2 practices the entire time I've been on the team."

"And yet both were within the last three months. I don't think it's a coincidence." Coach explained evenly.

The older man pointed at the form in front of Derek.

"I also need you to sign that form below where it says that you have read and understood the conditions of your athletic suspension."

Derek blinked back tears and muttered.

"How do I go about appealing?"

"The chancellor's office. But it's going to be a real uphill battle for you son. The Selman's have enormous power and influence with the school. I can't stress that enough. There's no point drawing more bad blood."

Derek signed quickly and escaped the office of a man he had long considered one of his biggest supporters. As he walked out of the lobby he couldn't help noticing the bronze plaque where "THANKS to the Selman Family for their generous grant to the ASU athletic program."

He jogged quickly to his car and slipped into the driver's seat, listening to his heart hammer against his ribcage, his head swimming with questions that he had no answers to. His life had changed in a matter of seconds.

He finally pulled himself together and drove out of campus, away from it all.

XXXXXX

Stiles was in histology lab looking over a blood sample and trying to figure out the contaminant from its chemical profile. Giving up for a moment he checked his phone to see if Derek had replied to his text messages.

Seeing nothing he texted "what you up to?" before putting his phone into his pocket.

Just as he returned to his work, his phone buzzed loudly in his pocket almost giving him a heart attack.

He took it out and saw a number he didn't recognize. He hit ignore and stuffed it back into his pocket and returned to his sample.

Once class was over he took out his phone and saw a missed message. He dialed into voicemail and heard a familiar voice on the recording.

"Hey Stiles. This is Danny, Derek's friend. Have you seen him? Call me when you get this. We have to figure out the best way to appeal."

"Appeal?" Stiles muttered to himself as he entered Danny's number into his phone and added him to his contacts. He dialed Danny's number and he picked up on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey Danny. It's Stiles."

"Hey Stiles. Is Derek with you?"

"No. Why would he be with me? It's Monday. You guys have practice"

"Oh. Crap." Danny muttered slowly.

"What? Danny what happened?" Stiles asked, bad thoughts filling his head.

"Uh. Well long story short. Derek got kicked off the team."

"WHAT?!" Stiles yelled making several people in the hallway turn to look at him. He speed walked to a quiet corner before continuing

"Danny what happened?" He urged into the receiver.

"I can't really talk right now I have to go to the chancellor's office Stiles. Do you have any idea where he could be?" Danny returned.

"No. I."

"Well I hope he turns up soon" Danny muttered through the phone." I can't believe Trent would do something like this."

"Ok I'm heading over there. I'll call you when I'm there" Stiles announced hanging up before Danny could respond.

XXXXXX

Stiles parked in the ASU parking lot and called Danny.

"Hey Stiles" Danny's voice came through the phone. "What's happening? Did you hear from Derek?"

"Hey Danny. No. but I was thinking about this on the way here. Do you know where Ashley lives?"

"Ashley? Yeah. Why do you want to see her?"

"I just want to ask her a few questions."

"Stiles. Do you think this is the right time?"

Stiles looked at his phone which showed his call list, the last 15 calls to Derek going directly to voicemail.

"No. But I really want to do this."

"Well she's in the Omega Chi Sorority house. It's a massive building on the north side of campus. You can't miss it. Do you want me to come with you?"

"No. I'll be fine. Thanks "

He hung up and jogged towards the campus.

XXXXXX

Stiles walked into the lobby of the Omega Chi Sorority house which was decorated in royal purple giving it a rather regal vibe. He approached a pretty brunette who flashed him a welcoming smile.

"Hey"

"Hey" She responded.

"What room is Ashley in?"

"Ashley Brenner or Ashley Smith?"

"Uh. She's blonde and pretty?"

"Oh right. Ashley Smith. She's in room 204."

"Ok thanks" Stiles nodded before heading up the stairs.

His stomach was jittery when he reached room 204 but he knocked on the door anyway.

A moment later the door opened, revealing Ashley in a t-shirt and shorts.

"Hi." Stiles started stiffly.

"Hi." She responded uneasily.

"I figured we should talk." Stiles nodded running a hand through his hair.

"Why?" Ashley responded warily.

"Are you still into Derek?" He blurted out without even having a moment to catch himself.

"No." Ashley returned in shock.

"Really? So why was your boyfriend so mad?"

Ashley poked her head out of her doorway and opened it fully

"Come in" she gestured, ushering him in.

She closed the door behind him and went to her desk. On it was a red photo album and she flipped it open and a picture of his boyfriend and her cuddled up in front of a bonfire greeted him cheerily. In red marker read "Derek and Ashley 4ever." He felt like throwing up, a sudden wave of jealousy coursing through his veins. How dare she write that.

"I misplaced this a while ago and I found it under some books when I was getting ready to sell them at the bookstore. He saw it and thought I was holding on to it."

Stiles thought for a moment, pushing the envious thoughts out of his mind.

"So I have to know. Why did you break up with him?"

Ashley laughed to herself.

"I'm sure you've figured it out by now."

He shrugged not knowing what to say.

"We grew apart. I mean the guys obsessive." She reasoned casually.

"I have a feeling you attract those types" Stiles returned coolly.

"Whatever. It's not my fault that he only cared about baseball, school, and me. It was too much." She shrugged tossing the photo album back onto her desk.

She paused gauging Stiles reaction. He rolled his fingers gesturing for her to continue.

"He. I dunno. He had nothing to say and was so focused on his goals that I just became an accessory. Can you be in love with someone who has nothing to share, only talks about baseball, and has no interest in anything else? It was exhausting. And he never listened. Like ever. He would always act like he was listening but then really he was just thinking about baseball stats or school work."

She sat on her bed

"And don't get me started on the obsessive calling and tracking. God he called me like 20 times when I was late to meet him for lunch once."

"How long have you guys been together?" She asked directing her attention to him.

"Four months."

"You haven't seen anything yet." She muttered folding her arms.

"So what about Trent?" Stiles added. "He seemed like he was friends with Derek once."

"Yeah. They started on the team at the same time. They kept each other up on training and whatever. But I knew Trent liked me long before Derek came into the picture. I started dating Derek because Trent never made a move and I think it caused a rift."

Stiles nodded.

"Well that rift just widened. He got Derek kicked off the team. "

"What?" Ashley exclaimed in shock. "How?"

Stiles shrugged "I don't know the details, just that he found out he got kicked off the team."

"Hold on." Ashley dug under the covers and retrieved her phone. She dialed it."

"Trent? Hey. What happened? Is Derek off the team?"

Ashley listened as Trent explained himself over the phone.

"Trent that's not cool."

A moment later she pulled the phone away from her ear as Trent began yelling through the receiver.

Ashley hung up quickly, her face full of embarrassment.

"Sorry about that. I guess it's true."

"You should tell him to lay off the steroids" Stiles muttered shaking his head. Derek would never speak to him like that.

Ashley retrieved a box from under her bed and dropped the photo album on top.

"These are some of the things I got when I was with Derek. Do you want to give them to him to see if he wants any of it? I know it's weird but I dunno. Just in case."

"Sure" Stiles nodded grabbing the box as her phone began ringing loudly.

"Uh you better go. He'll be here any minute." Ashley spoke warily.

Stiles exited the building quickly and finally made it to the outskirts of the campus, his legs feeling like jelly. He tucked the photo album under his arm when he reached a large dumpster and took special pleasure in hurling the box of gifts into it, the contents of it clanging and shattering in a particularly satisfying manner.

He looked at the photo album, its cheery front cover staring back at him.

"Don't look at it Stiles" he demanded of himself. "Come on. It's so not worth it."

He tossed it into the garbage and took a few steps towards the parking lot when his dreaded curiosity gave in. He ran back to the dumpster and reached over the edge, getting smelly refuse on his sweater but not caring when he finally retrieved it.

He flipped through it and those feelings surged within him again. Pictures of them at birthday parties, a picture of them on Valentine 's Day where someone had captured them kissing sweetly.

"Fucking assholes" Stiles heard himself say as he reached the end where a shot of Derek sleeping soundly with Ashley curled up next to him, her head on his chest also fast asleep stood above the words 'The End.'

He pulled each picture out of the photo album and stacked them together. He ripped them in half, and then again just for good measure. He cast the remains into the dumpster and headed to his jeep, confused to what he was feeling.

It wasn't his finest moment but he didn't care.

He managed to get himself into his jeep and sort through his feelings. In a weird way it seemed to confirm all the nagging thoughts that had been pulling at his conscience.

"Get a grip of yourself man." He spoke shakily reaching for the steering wheel.

He started his jeep and drove to where he believed his boyfriend would be.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Notes: Sorry, kind of sad!