chapter iii -
SAPPY SIBLING LOVE

"THANK you, Mr. Stilinski. For, you know, bringing me home," I said in the back of the cop car.

Sheriff Stilinski figured it would be better if he drove me home instead of Stiles. Right now I don't think his dad trusts him to do it. From what I heard, Stiles' precious Jeep was being taken back to his house by another deputy. As of his punishment? I have no idea. I just hope my parents are still at work, but that's not very likely.

"No problem, Hazel," he looked at me through the rear view mirror. I sighed and nodded my head and looked down at my lap. I fiddled with my fingers, a habit I got from Stiles that I couldn't break no matter how hard I tried. I looked back up to see Stiles looking back at me with an apologetic look on his face. "I'm sorry," he mouthed to me. I gave him a lopsided grin as a sign that it was okay. He looked at me for a little longer then turned back to face the front.

We got to my house faster than I expected. To my dismay, there was a car parked in the driveway. As we got closer though I realized it was James'. I let out a sigh of relief; a little while longer until I'll have the argument of my life. Sheriff Stilinski parked in front of my driveway and sighed. "Is that one of your parent's cars?" he asked. "Um, no that's my brother's. I don't know when my parents will be home," I told him.

You see, I don't live that far from the Stilinski residence so Sheriff Stilinski can come and check when my parents are here at any time. What great luck I have.

"Thank you again for bringing me home," I said once more with a smile. He smiled back at me. I got out of the car and waved to Stiles in the front. He gave me a little wave back before his dad drove off. I watched as the car turned off of my street and sighed. I looked back at my house and walked up to the door. I was about to open the door with my keys when it suddenly opened. I looked up to see James in the doorway.

"Uh, hi Ja-" I started to talk but was interrupted by a furious James. "Hazel Rose what the hell! I come back to see you aren't here! Where the hell were you!" he exclaimed. I smiled a bit, him using the nickname he had given me when he was younger never failed to make me smile. "I was with-" I continued but was cut off again. "Was it Stiles? Did he drag you into one of his stupid plans again?" he asked. "If you stop interrupting me maybe I can tell you!" I screamed. James stopped and stared at me for a moment, waiting for me to continue. I sighed, "I was with Stiles and Scott, okay? We didn't do anything too stupid, nothing to worry about," I explained and walked past James and into the house.

"I saw Sheriff Stilinski's car. If it wasn't anything 'too stupid' then he wouldn't have dropped you off," he pressed even further. Before I could reach the stairs James tugged on my arm so I was facing him. I glared at him and held his shoulders in place. "Jam, I'm fine. You don't need to worry about it, seriously. If it was something big, I would tell you," I assured my brother. He stared into my eyes, seeing if I was bluffing, but I showed no sign. It was his turn to sigh this time. He caught me off guard and pulled me into a hug.

"Just please, text me next time you're out doing something," his voice was muffled because of my hair. I rolled my eyes and said, "Yeah yeah. Now enough of the sappy sibling love." I patted his shoulder to indicate that I was done hugging him. He pulled away and nodded.

I smiled and jogged up the stairs to my room. I saw James' lacrosse stick on my bed from hours ago and smirked. As much as being grounded is gonna suck, this night wasn't the worst. Every time I go with Stiles on one of his adventures, I say I hate it; but in reality, I love it. As dorky and annoying Stiles Stilinski is, I can't help but feel as though there's something special about him. Every time I'm with him, I get those butterflies in my stomach. And as cliché as that sounds, it's true. When his dad found us in the woods and he explained what happened (not everything, but you get it) I couldn't help but wonder if he was thinking about "us doing something" actually happening. I sighed and shook my head.

I put the lacrosse stick near my window and finally got to do what I've wanted to do since he was at my window: sleep.

☾ ☾ ☾

I woke up hating life the next morning. All night I couldn't sleep because I was thinking about Scott. Where was he? Before I went to bed last night, I called him to make sure he was okay but he didn't pick up, which made me concerned; Scott always picked up when I called him.

Nonetheless I had to wake up. First day of school. Woohoo.

Appearance on the first day of school always mattered. After I picked my outfit I decided to make myself look a little more presentable, but not trying too hard. My hair was a complete mess because of yesterday and I didn't feel like washing it considering I was already really tired so I threw it up in an incredibly messy messy bun. I didn't have the time to do all my makeup so I just put on some concealer and mascara and I was good.

After doing all my usual morning routines, I grabbed my black backpack from my floor and jogged down the stairs. I was met with my mom making waffles and my dad reading the newspaper and drinking his coffee.

I looked around the kitchen for James but he wasn't here. I gladly took a waffle from my mom and asked, "Hey mom, do you know where James is? He's driving me to school." She looked at me and shrugged. "I thought he was waking you up. Maybe he's in his room still?" she said skeptically. I shrugged and put my bitten waffle on a napkin and left the kitchen. I went back up the stairs, but instead of going all the way down the hall I stopped at the second to last door. I knocked lightly on James' bedroom door before walking in.

"James? Are you up?" I asked. I tripped over a pile of clothes while walking to his bathroom, but he wasn't there. I went back to the room and saw something slightly move on his bed. Not gonna lie, I had a mini heart attack. I slowly edged my way over to his bed and groaned. There was James, still asleep. I shook him awake very violently. "Jams. Jams! James Anthony Aberdeen, get up!" I screamed. "Wha- What?" He jolted awake. I lightly laughed at him in his dazed state. "Come on! You're supposed to be driving us to school," I shook him one more time for good measure and left his room.

I re-entered the kitchen when my mom asked, "Did you find him?" I nodded and retrieved my waffle. "So what did you do when we were at work, sweetie?" my dad asked. Oh shit. I don't know what the hell to say! Did they already know? Did Mr. Stilinski tell them? Should I lie?

"Um, you know. The usual stuff," I lied through my teeth and shifted on my feet. My dad looked up from the newspaper, peering over his glasses. "Okay. No need to get all jittery, it was just a question," he laughed a little. I laughed nervously with him. Come on James, hurry up!

I actually couldn't believe I was saying that. I'm not much of a lover of school, but right now anything to escape this awkward conversation would be better than standing here. I heard footsteps descending from the stairs and sighed with relief.

"Quick Jams. We're gonna be late," I told him. He looked at me like I had three heads. "Wow. Hazel being excited for school? That's rare," he chuckled. I glared at him and said, "I just can't wait to see Stiles and Scotty. I called Scott yesterday but he didn't pick up." James looked thoroughly confused at what I just said. "Wait, I thought you saw Stiles and Scott yest-" James said but my eyes widened and I cut him off quickly. "No I didn't! What are you talking about? I was at home."

"Okay well bye mom, bye dad we gotta get to school!" I said, practically dragging James out the door. Once we were outside I walked up to, what was supposed to be, me and James' shared car. He always makes the excuse that he's a year older so he gets more rights of the car. But all I hear is bullshit. I'm the better driver anyways. I tried to open the passenger door but it was still locked. I looked up over the car to James who was staring at me. "Uh Jams... Can you unlock the car?"

"First, tell me something. Who were you lying to in there: me or mom and dad?" he questioned. Well, I can't eat myself out of this situation. "I didn't lie to anyone. I did see Stiles and Scott yesterday but that was when you were gone. Before that I was home. So there, I didn't lie."

Wrong. I technically lied to both of them, more so my mom and dad. But we're not getting into that right now. "There, you have your answer," I said smiling. "Now open the car."

He looked at me weirdly before unlocking the car. I jumped in and put my bag on the floor. I had this since the beginning of freshman year and I've been decorating it with pins when I get them. I don't have many but I do have quite a few Studio Ghibli ones and a couple random ones I got for free on Amazon. I zoned out but came back when James started the car. He reached for the AUX cord but I beat him to it. I stuck out my tongue at him and plugged in my iPod. "Haz. Give me the AUX," he demanded.

"No," I crinkled my eyebrows together. "You're driving therefore I get the AUX." He stared at me but complied. I smiled and started playing Pumped Up Kicks by Foster The People. He groaned in annoyance but all I did was smile. Me and James have very different music tastes. He's more into rap and popular recent music, but I like alternative more. It's always a challenge when we're on road trips with our parents and we play music. In the end, we listen to whatever our parents want.

"Get used to my music Jams. Cause I'm gonna be playing it every single day in the morning," I said grinning. He groaned even louder and I laughed.

This isn't the worst start of the day I've had, but the news I'll be getting at school will definitely change that.

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A/N: i was going to post this in my first period study but my proctor had to walk around the whole cafeteria every like 5 minutes to check if we were doing our work so i wasn't gonna take the risk of getting multiple detentions :)

- kana ☻