"You know, on the last day, I'm going to do something." The anger was evident on Stiles' face as they walked down the hallway towards the front doorway of Beacon High. Scott made a passive 'eh?' noise, knowing Stiles didn't need him to comment for him to continue his train of thought.
Stiles continued with the barely-there prompt from Scott. "Mr. Harris shouldn't be able to treat everyone in his class like shit and get away with it, you know? It just takes one student to stand up to him, and by the last day, he can't change all my grades and fail me. I mean, he shouldn't be able to, but he'd probably find a way around it because he's an asshole." He narrowly dodged running into a group of girls and jogged a bit to keep up with Scott, who was better at avoiding running into people. "Maybe I should take it up with the school board. You know what high schools need? A protocol for hiring better teachers. A way to weed out the assholes who shouldn't be teaching. I mean, they're staining the minds of the youth and ruining the future. You'd think that'd be a concern for the school board."
"Stiles, I really don't think they'll care. I mean, Mr. Harris is a dick but we've only got what...three more weeks? A month? Who cares? You won't have to see him after this, we're leaving Beacon Hills."
"I know, but I'm talking about preservation of senior ethics, passing on my legacy..." He barely caught the door as Scott went out, then followed behind him. As they were heading out towards the parking lot, he turned to look at the line of cars picking up students- and a stranger caught his eye. "Hey...isn't that the guy we saw at secretary of state?" Scott stopped and turned, looking at the driver in an old beat up pick-up truck.
"Yeah, dude. I think that is. Must have a sibling here." His friend shrugged it off, but Stiles couldn't shake his underlying curiosity. He didn't follow after Scott, even when he started walking towards the parked jeep. Scott eventually turned and said, "Stiles, c'mon."
"No, just wait a second. I want to see who he picks up." Leaning on a nearby car, he squinted into the sunlight. Scott ambled back over to Stiles, and they both stared at the parked truck. After what seemed like a half an hour and a bunch of honks later, Stiles spotted a slender girl with long brown hair walk out and hop in the truck. "There! Hey, she's in our class...Oh look! It's the baby."
"...yeah. Okay, we've watched who got in the truck, let's head out," Scott said as he reached over and slapped Stiles' shoulder. Stiles froze as he watched the girl take the baby from the driver.
"Whoa. Hey, no." Stiles said, jogging over to where the pick-up was still parked in the half-circle driveway. Scott gave him a blank stare, but followed slowly after, wondering why Stiles was running towards the strange truck. Reaching his destination, he rapped his knuckles on the glass on the passenger's side. "Hey, roll down your window." He stared at the girl, who gave him a questioning look as he stared back at her and her driver. The familiar baby smiled at him from the passenger's lap, and reached out to put her chubby hand on the partially rolled down glass.
"I don't know if you're familiar with car seats, but you have to put her in one. It's a safety thing. If you stopped this death trap with her just sitting on this girl's - your sister's - whoever the hell this person is, her lap - this baby would catapult through the windshield. You're endangering this infant, sir." Stiles had almost forgotten how intimidating the guy they met had been, but his glare was burning through him as he stood his ground outside the vehicle. The younger boy pointed at the baby and said, "Safety first, you know. Babies are precious things."
"Did you just call my baby a thing?" The dark-haired man finally asked, and Stiles opened his mouth, then abruptly shut it.
After a moment he said, "...no. I meant, baby seat. For baby protection. You should really use it."
"She'll be fine," The driver insisted as he started turning the wheel to pull out. Scott instinctively reached out to grab Stiles' shoulder to prevent confrontation, but Stiles was so wrapped in the guy's gull to ignore him that he shook out of Scott's grip and ran out in the street as he started rolling away.
"Hey! Don't ignore me! That's a baby! You're endangering a child! Are you even a parent? Is that baby stolen?!" Stiles started jogging after the truck after it picked up speed. He knew there was a stop sign before he could pull out on the road. Running after him, he grabbed the handle of the passenger's side and tried the door, finding it locked. The teenage girl grinned at him and waved as the truck started turning right, leaving him on the corner. It disappeared down the road.
"You suck at parenting!" Stiles yelled after it futilely, and then took off his backpack and turned to look at Scott, who had chased after him and was a few feet away. "Did you see that? Did you fucking see that? He's endangering babies! That guy is an asshole!"
"Why do you care so much, Stiles? People suck at parenting, it happens. You're not a cop, your dad is." Scott tried to calm his friend down by patting his shoulder, and Stiles' mouth hung open as he stared angrily where the vehicle had disappeared to, watching more cars pass them by.
"I care because that baby- I bonded, Scott. I felt her neglect as she rolled away in that speeding death mobile. Her life was in danger and apparently I was the only one who cared. Did you get his license plate? I'm going to report him for child endangerment."
"Ummm...G...8? ...I don't remember, I was trying to keep you from running into the street." Scott shrugged, and then motioned for Stiles to follow him to the jeep. In defeat, Stiles wandered after his friend, still furious at the previous exchange.
"Douche. Baby endangering douche. I'm going to find out who that guy is and pay him a house visit with my dad. Where is the baby's mother? Her dad obviously is incompetent. Maybe they're both incompetent." When they reached the jeep, Stiles unlocked the door and climbed in, still muttering as Scott knocked on the glass. Stiles fastened his own seat belt as he muttered, "Fucking asshole. You know what really bothers me is he didn't have his seat belt on. They get hit by a semi and bam, all three in the windshield. Dead. That is a fucking tragedy right there."
"Stiles, open the door." Scott knocked on the glass again, and Stiles flicked the button irately. Glaring at the wheel as Scott got in and buckled up, he took a moment to turn the key and swing the car into reverse. They drove for awhile in silence as Stiles fiddled with the music, then the air conditioning, then slammed on his break inches from a stoplight. "...still pissed?" Scott asked, knowing the answer.
"Yeah. You know, seat belts have been saving lives for years and that guy thinks he's all high and mighty and can drive without one on him OR his infant daughter. It sickens me. It really sickens me." Stiles fumed, his grip on the wheel tight. "You know what? He's probably not going to get caught. Tomorrow, I'm going to follow his truck after school. I'm going to follow it and then give him a piece of my mind."
"Stiles, I don't know if you should. I think that guy is part of the Hale family," Scott commented, hand slowly lifting up to grab the 'oh shit' handle over his seat as Stiles made another jarring turn. "I heard from someone in lit that the Hale family is a bunch of cannibals or something. You probably don't want to mess with them."
"I don't care if he's a fucking vampire, Scott, I'm going to tell him to buckle in his possibly demon spawn so she doesn't end up being a baby bug smushed on his windshield from reckless driving. Did you see how his stop at that stop sign was a rolling stop? He doesn't even know how to drive!"
"Ah..." Scott was already starting to give up, and then added, "Fine, we'll follow him tomorrow, but I'm going with you. I don't want you to get killed and thrown in a lake."
"Okay. It's a plan. Tomorrow, I'm following that asshole home. It might turn into house of a thousand corpses but I'm going to follow him and make sure he buckles that poor kid in a certified baby seat."