Chapter three: Risk and Reward

     ECONOMICS CLASS. Val Hated it as in right now, she didn't hate the lessons, or the teacher, she hated the fact that Scott and Stiles were in it with her and she's sure they know what she is. As much as she tried to calm her heart rate, it didn't do much.

"The stalk market is based on two principles." Coach Finstock tells the class holding up two fingers. "What are they?" He asks.

Val turns her head to see Scott raising his hand.

"Yes McCall you can go to the bathroom. Anybody else?" Coach responds.

"Uh, no Coach I know the answer." The boy states, with a little bit of offense.

Coach breaks out into laughter. Scott looks over at Val with embarrassment all over his face.

Val caught herself smiling, before the thought made its presence in her head. Stiles didn't tell his friend about his suspicions? Why else would Scott smile sheepishly at her without such knowledge.

Coaches laughs all of a suddenly stops seeing the seriousness on the Scott's face. "Oh you're serious?"

"Y-yeah, it's risk and reward."

"Wow, who are you? And what have you done with McCall? Don't answer that. I like you better!" Coach clapped excitingly. "I like you better."

"Does anybody have a quarter?" Coach asked his class.

"Yep." Stiles replies digging into his pocket, but what flew out definitively wasn't a quarter. Lying on the classroom floor was an XXL condom.

"Stilinski I think you, uh, dropped this." Coach said picking it up and handing it back to the embarrassed Stilinski boy. "And congratulations." Coach added before going back to his risk and reward lesson.

"Put the quarter in the mug, win the reward. Okay watch coach." Coach bends down onto one knee before blowing on the quarter for some type of extra effect before bouncing it off of the floor and into the mug. "That's how you do it!"

"Okay Danny." Coach said tossing the coin towards Danny. "Risk, Reward."

"What's the reward?" Danny asks.

"You don't have to take the pop quiz tomorrow." Coach replied. Val's eyebrows knit in confusion at the word 'pop'.

"Coach it's not a pop quiz if you tell us about it." Danny stated.

"Danny you know I really expect more from you at this point. Really." Coach took the quarter back and approached Scott next.

"McCall, Risk, Reward. The risk, if you don't put that quarter in the mug, you have to take the pop- the- the quiz, and- and you have to write an essay." Coach tells Scott who looks tempted."Risk. More work." He said holding up one fist. "Reward." Coach blows at the other fist. "No work at all... or choose not to play."

"Isn't that chance?" Scott asks.

"You know your abilities, your coordination, your focus, past experience, all factors affecting the outcome, so what's it gonna be McCall? More work, no work or choose not to play."

Scott put the quarter down on the desk.

"No okay. Okay who's next? Who wants the quarter?" Coach shouts.

Val looks over to Stile who was drumming his hands down on the desk.

"There Ya go! There's a gambling man! Come on step up, step up." Coach encourages.

Just as Stiles was about to toss the quarter, the sheriff and a few deputies walked in behind him. The Stilinski boy didn't seem to notice, he was too busy focused on the thought of no work.

"Stiles."

"Yeah Coach I got it." Stiles replied.

"Stiles." The sheriff said more firm.

Stiles placed the quarter back into his pocket and left the room.

Val listened in on their conversation. A girl had went missing at a party the night before and Stiles was the last person to be seen with her.

The bell soon rang and Val grabbed her bag and headed for the door.

At the corner of her eye, behind a few strands of her loose red hair, she saw Scott walking towards her. Nerves rose in Val but soon went away when Scott gave her a warm smile.

"Hey." He said as he fell into step with her.

"Hi." Val paused searching for something to say when her gaze settled on the two black bands on his shoulder. "Tattoo came out great."

"Thanks, it didn't hurt at all."

Val was going to call his bull shit considering he's a werewolf and the only way to stop a tattoo from healing is the excruciating pain of fire. She didn't have the problem because she was an Ember witch, the fire didn't affect her which is the reason she got a tattoo every time she was upset or angry.

Val figured she'd change the topic, after waiting so long to respond.

"Why was everyone so surprised at you answering a simple question?" Val asked Scott as they walked side by side down the hall.

"Well the past year, I haven't been so involved with school, I had a lot going on." He replied.

Just as Val was about to say something else. She heard footsteps running from behind her, she stepped to the side to turn and see who it was. "I was failing like all my cla-"

"Scott!" Stiles says clumsily running towards the both of them. He notices Val and his face morphs into a crazy glare. "You, youuuu" Stiles trips over air while walking around Val. "Stay back!" he points his finger in Val's face, she removes it rather harshly while Scott looks confused.

"Stiles what the hell?" The clueless McCall boy questioned.

"She's a werewolf Scott!" Stiles exclaims.

Val places her hand on Stiles mouth. "Keep your voice down." Val hissed.

Scott caught on to what was going on as he turned to Val, with a bit of disappointment in his eyes. "You're a werewolf?" 

Stiles speaks into Val's hand which was still placed on his mouth, only humming came out, and hot breath, she felt something wet glide across her palm and she pulled back in disgusts. "What the hell did you just lick me-"

"She's not just a werewolf, I bet she's working with the evil Alphas." Stiles whisper yells. "I bet she's an Alpha."

"I'm not and Alpha." Val hissed at Stiles, pushing the boy away from her.

"Is that true?" Scott asks turning towards Val.

"Val!" A voice calls, they all turns to see Aidan standing there.

Val nervously began walking towards Aidan after giving Scott a guilty glance. Her heart was racing at a high speed, for some reason she hated the thought of Scott thinking the worst of her. She felt the urge to explain, of course she wouldn't know what to say, or how to sugarcoat it because frankly the only explanation is 'yeah my uncles the leader of the Alpha pack that wants to hurt, (possibly kill) your friends part of the Hale pack'

"I thought we all agreed that they wouldn't find out about you." Aidan spat as he shoved Val into an empty classroom.

"That Stiles is quite clever." Val replied.

"Still doesn't change the fact that they weren't supposed to know, and why were you talking to them in the first place." Aidan whispered harshly.

"It was a harmless conversation before I was exposed for being a werewolf, and I saw you flirting with Lydia." Val spat back at him.

"That's different, I'm supposed to get close with her."

"Excuses, excuses." Val muttered.

Aidan huffed before regathering himself. "Listen Val, you can't let your emotions get in the way of this." Aidan rubbed his temple and walked around a bit.

"I'm kind of offended how everyone keeps telling me that." Val said raising her voice the tiniest bit.

"Well we can't put it past you!"

Val felt the familiar feeling of anger and rage rising inside her, and all of a sudden Aidan's face went from pissed to scared. "Val you need to calm down." He whispered stepping back.

"Aidan tell me honestly you're okay with torturing Scott and his friends, you said you were tired of you and Ethan being the bitches of the pack, well guess what, Alpha and all you still are!" Val didn't care that what she said would bruise his male ego, but she was pretty pissed and it was the truth.

"You can walk home today." Aidan spat before walking out the classroom door.

Val let out an angered grunt sending a flame to a bulletin board in the class causing it to catch on fire. "Damn it." She muttered, hurrying to put it out.

Being in the school only amplified her anger, she had to get out of there, of course she had a long walk back to the apartment to cool down.