Kylie, Payson and I hopped in my Jeep. It felt good to drive my own car after being cramped in a leather death trap for two days. Kylie started complaining of hunger two minutes into our trip and surprisingly Payson joined her. I pulled into the first drive thru and ordered three chicken tender meals with fries and sodas. I handed each of them their dinner and relaxed as their mouths became preoccupied with fast food.

I drove through the middle of town pointing out buildings such as: Town Hall, library, DMV offices and the road to the hospital. Then I showed the actual important ones like: movie store, ice skating rink and the gas station that always sold candy that was out of season. I took the next left and made my way to school. It was Tuesday and school was still in session so I was prepared to get questioned about my tardiness in school and the reason why I arrived now with two kids in tow.

I pointed things out to Payson and Kylie as we walked towards the main office. I was going to sign up Payson now, then drive Kylie later to the middle school a couple blocks over afterwards. Kylie seemed enthralled to see an actual high school but I couldn't get Payson to look up from his dying phone.

I walked into the office with my back straightened, head held high and two kids cowering behind me. I cleared my throat and the secretary looked up from her computer. "How may I help you?"

"My name is Stiles Stilinski and I am here to get him signed up for high school." I nudged Payson forward causing him to stumble. He glared back.

"Okay, well here are the forms you will need to fill out. We will also need vaccination records and a health physical but you can turn that in on your first day." I slowly took the papers surprised she hadn't worried about my truancy.

"Aren't you surprised that I'm signing up two other people for school when I should be in school?"

"No, a guy named Derek called and said that you would be out a day or two to pick up your cousins. I'm guessing these are them" her voice was filled with excitement and she bounced in her chair. I smiled glad Derek had thought to plan ahead. "Oh, and she's going to attend the middle school down the street right?" Kylie nodded and smiled widely. "Well, we keep all the forms here so just fill this out and bring it down to their main office the day before she plans on going." I grabbed the new packet of papers and headed out the door.

"Can we go to my school so I can see it?" I didn't really have the time but Kylie had a face you couldn't say no to. We just drove by and the rest of the ride was spent listening to her go on and on about the flowers in the front lawn. I guess when you lived in the woods your whole life; it was kind of hard not to notice things you saw every day.

"Have you really never gone to school?" She diverted her eyes, acting embarrassed. "Don't feel bad about it. I was homeschooled in 3rd grade but my mom said she couldn't handle me running around like a mad man." I chuckled.

I missed my mom more than anything. And no offense to my dad but she was the one person in the world who had understood me. My dad did a good enough job raising me after she died but he spent most of his nights working. And I tried not to take it personally but I had always had this feeling like he blamed me. I know that's crazy! It's stupid to think my own parent is ashamed to spend time with me but the way we act together isn't normal. Especially since I had taken the behind the scenes tour of Beacon Hills.

"Stiles, are you okay?" I came back to reality.

"Yea, I'm fine" I sniffled. "My mom died a couple years back of frontemporal dementia and I was there when she died. I used to have panic attacks when I was younger but I haven't had one in two years. It's still depressing, you know?" She nodded on the verge of tears.

"I understand. My mom died when I was four so I don't really remember her but it hurts all the same." Payson stared awkwardly out the window but I knew he was paying attention.

"I'm sorry." She wiped her eyes and the car became silent again. I drove them back to Derek's loft hoping he would be home by now. I didn't want to leave them alone with Peter since I had to go home and get ready for school tomorrow. I followed Kylie running up the stairs while Payson slowly followed me.

Derek opened the door before I had even reached the top step and beckoned us inside. "I thought you were just taking them to get signed up for school!" He seemed anxious and shut the door behind Payson.

"I tried to sign up Payson but he needs vaccination records and an appointment for a physical, same with Kylie. And you have to turn it in the day before they want to start attending. So, you might want to get them doctor's appointments right away" I leaned against the wall closest to the door, hinting that I was on my way out.

"Could you do that" I glared at him, "please?"

"I'm not their babysitter!" I was glad they had been in the corner talking to Payson's parents. Derek growled and I gave him a face that said, really? He intimidated me but I tried not to show it even though he could hear my heart beat quicken when he scared me. "Fine, I'll get Kylie signed up but why don't you have Payson's parents get him a doctor?" He snuck a glance at the Franz's.

"They're going to be a little preoccupied so I need you to take Kylie and Payson under your wing" he walked closer whispering.

"I thought you wanted them here to fight for you." I also leaned closer, mimicking his hushed tones.

"No! I wanted adults but the parents didn't want to be away from their child and the Alpha volunteered his daughter. He said she had something special that would come in handy. Maybe you could figure out what that special thing is?" It was my time to turn to growl and he stepped back in surprise.

"Sorry. Everyone just seems to be using me all of a sudden and I'm kind of sick of it!" I stormed out of his loft. I drove home and wasn't surprised when my dad wasn't home to welcome me back.

I went upstairs and unpacked, disappointed that I had spent time packing a week's worth of clothes when we had only been gone two days. Maybe I would help Derek and babysit for him until they got into school. Then I would kind of have an excuse to avoid Scott and Lydia a few more days. As I finished packing, my phone started ringing. It was Scott. I reluctantly answered.

"Hello?"

"Where have you been? I called you like five times!"

"I was helping Derek with something and before you ask, I'm going to be out for the rest of the week because he still needs my help." There was silence on the other end of the line but I heard Scott's breathing so I knew he was still there.

"Well, at least I can tell you what happened while you were gone!" He didn't even notice the annoyance in my voice. He took my Darth Vader breaths as encouragement to continue his story and dove right in. "There's this new girl named Allison. Lydia befriended her and she's been sitting with us at lunch. I know I have only known her for like two days but it feels like so much more. I really want to ask her out but I don't know if I want to lose Lydia yet." Yet? What did he mean by yet?

"What should I do?" I couldn't think straight. He was thinking about dumping Lydia to go out with her potential friend after two lunch periods. I hung up realizing I would definitely need the rest of the week to get away from Scott and his drama. I thought after he had been turned into a werewolf that he would be more mature, that the weight of this newfound ability would cause the responsibility in him to surface as well.

Stiles – Derek, I promised you a week so I will watch the kids and get those appointments so they can go to school.

Derek – No need, Peter called. Apparently he has pull at the doctor's office down the road. But I still need a babysitter so I guess you're hired!

I smiled, relieved. I sat at my desk trying to entertain myself on the internet. I watched some YouTube videos and updated a throwback picture to Instagram. I got so bored that I even thought about reading a book but once I read the first line, I got bored of that too.

The past few days I had spent with Payson and Kylie. I had actually gotten Payson to look away from his phone a few times. Kylie was extra bubbly, trying very hard to contain her excitement for school on Monday.

It was Sunday night and we were all hanging out at Derek's loft. Well, at least the three of us and Peter. Derek had taken the Franz's for some late night training. But I kind of wondered why Peter wasn't with them.

"I want to watch the Notebook! I've never seen it and I've heard it's the best!"

"Where did you hear that? You live in the woods" I teased.

"We're not completely barbaric and we're not always in the woods. That's just where we live but most of the adults have normal jobs. The kids just aren't allowed to go to school because we haven't learned how to control our transformation yet and they don't want to take chances. But every week, the kids would go into town and watch a movie or hang with human friends. I lived for those moments." Payson rolled his eyes.

"What about you Payson? What did you do when you went into town?"

"I met up with my girlfriend" he spat it out.

"Oh, my boys got game!" He growled. "I take it things didn't end well."

"Well, as you can see, I'm here and not there. I had to break it off so it didn't look suspicious."

"Well, you'll get over her quickly enough! The girls at Beacon Hills are smoking, especially ones with strawberry blonde hair, green eyes, and are 5'3." I sighed. I looked around and all three of them were staring at me with eyebrows raised. "What?"

"Keep your junk in your pants" Peter snickered as he jumped on the couch next to me. "But seriously what are we going to watch?" I logged into Netflix and searched through kid friendly titles but couldn't find any that interested me so I went to the Teen section and right away found a movie that all of us agreed on, Star Wars.

Before the movie was even halfway through, Payson and Kylie were both snoring. I gently picked up Kylie and carried her to her makeshift room in the corner. Peter did the same with Payson. Derek had tried to make the place more hospitable but now it just looked like it was a home for the homeless. Curtains hung blocking off small spaces with beds and dressers. Luckily his living area was big and he was able to fit three bedroom sized spaces in one area.

I blinked away my impending sleep and yawned. I waved goodbye to Peter who was already flipping through the channels on the TV. I went home, already dreading school tomorrow.