chapter three; the new girl

TWO HOURS went by painfully slow despite finding himself in his own thoughts. Stiles though he could do this, sit in a room all day, it was supposed to be just like his bed, he was supposed to just zone out maybe catch a few words from his teachers. He was supposed to be able to do this for his dad, for his friends. Just one day, be fine for one day. Instead he spent it feeling like his heart was going to jump out of his chest.

It took a bit of coaxing to get himself away from the multiple panic attacks that kept trying to pop up but he managed. How was he supposed to manage this five days a week?

Stiles managed to slip past all of his friends and find a somewhat comfy spot at the base of a tree as far from the school as he could get without actually leaving the school. Just under 4 more hours, he could-he could do this. Couldn't he? Yes it was just one day, just one day of school that teenagers did everyday with no problem. He could do a day, he had too.

"Stiles," He said, looking seconds away from clapping his hands in front of his face. "Stiles can you hear me?"

The sun that had been in his face was blocked by the tall man in front of him, dropping a shadow on his face. "How'd you get in without the cops coming?" he joked, the joke falling flat to both of them.

Derek looked at something in the distance before sitting next to him, not close enough to feel his warmth or set his sensory into overload. "I think no longer being suspected for murder helps," he responded. They stayed silent for a moment, and for once Stiles had no interesting facts he could use to break it, nor did he really want to break the quiet. "Haven't seen you at the pack meetings lately"

Stiles shrugged, "Haven't really had any mandatory pack meetings. Need something evil threatening people for that"

Derek sighed, clearly uncomfortable being the one who had to break the ice and keep up the conversation. "It wasn't you, you know that. I thought you were feeling better"

There wasn't really anything he could say to contradict that.

"The packs worried about you. Scott says you two haven't talked since it happened. He wants you to know you can come to him, okay?"

Stiles nodded, not seeing the importance of adding anything.

"You can come to any of us. I know we've never really been friends, but if you want someone to vent to or just say something and know it won't go anywhere you're always welcome to the loft. Even-"

"Talking isn't gonna help," Stiles cut off, finding it easier to look into the blinding sun than at Derek. "You're never sharing your feelings" he reminded.

Another beat of silence. A few months ago Stiles would've joked about how gushy Derek was being, maybe hold it over him for a while. Which only made him feel more fucked up, how was it that Derek was more talkative than he was? What world was that normal?

"I feel like you're gonna let this eat away at you. And I feel bad that I don't know how to help you" Derek admitted after a moment, and Stiles was sure if he ever repeated these words to anyone else nobody would believe him. "That's all, I guess. Stiles-" he said, and whether he meant to put his hand on top of his he would never know, he cleared his throat and the hand retreated. "Theres a girl coming to you"

And just like that he was gone.

"Hey! You're in my science class right?"

He looked up to find the new girl he met this morning, Hope something. She smiled at him, a hand pushing some hair behind her ear as she held back a grimace. Sure he knew he looked like death on a stick, but was it really that hard to keep your reaction to a minimum?

"Hope," she introduced again before taking up the spot Derek had just been in, not quite filling it the way he had been before. "From New Orleans, just moved a few days ago. I'm new, you know that. But I'm trying to meet people, make some friends, maybe fit in a little. You know?" she rambled.

Usually Stiles would have the heart to feed into the conversation, hell months ago he would've been the one rambling to her and insisting she become friends with the pack. Now though, he only saw another girl who would eventually die to the supernatural.

"You look confused, am-I'm being annoying aren't I? Oh yeah I'm definitely feeding into the lame new girl stereotype. I'm just trying to get the lay of the land, figure out who's who. And from the whispers around the school you are Stiles Stilinski right?"

Stiles tried his best to give her a smile, though it ended up closer to a wince. "Yeah. I'm Stiles. And look usually I'd be all over showing you the school and introducing you but I'm kind of just trying to keep to myself right now. Have some alone time" he tried to let her down easily.

Hope nodded, "I get it, I do. I just, well, I didn't have many friends at my old school and so I'm trying to change that here, be someone new. Change, you know?"

Why did she end every sentence with a question?

Maybe Derek broke him down a little before he left or maybe this girl just had the best puppy dog eyes in the world but he felt bad acting so cold toward her. She had no clue about him and this was her first impression, no, she was the only one in town most likely who hadn't heard the rumours or seen the shit in this town that he and his friends were always at the centre of. And in some sick way maybe he could subtle protect her from the supernatural shit show that was beacon hills.

"Yeah, I get what you mean" he finally said after noticing she was still waiting for him to speak. "Sorry, can we redo this whole conversation?"

"Gladly"

He held out his hand to shake hers, if people even do that anymore, and introduced himself. "Hi, I'm Stiles Stilinski. Nice to meet you"

She actually laughed, a weird laugh that Jackson would've made fun of her for if he was still here. But it gave her character, something to distinguish her from everyone else at this school. "Nice to meet you Stiles, I'm Hope Marshall. First day here"

"So New Orleans, huh? City of the dead"

Hope smiled at him, "you wouldn't believe"