☾

"Are you going to talk to, what's his name, again?" Lydia asks absentmindedly as we sit on the bleachers after school. On Saturday, when Lydia got over her hangover, I told her about Stiles and how we danced. She's happy for me but she said she isn't particularly happy with the fact that he isn't a hot lacrosse player that she suggested.

Well, Lydia, not everyone likes a douchebag. Not saying that it's her type, it's just that she likes looks over personality when it comes to guys.

I haven't talked to Stiles since the party, but I've been thinking what he meant exactly, "I'll make this up to you!" and what he has in mind. I also can't forget about how close we were, and yet he never touched me other than when I held his hand and when his own was on my waist. Nothing but my waist. And yet his touch was enough to warm my skin and set my blood aflame, the electricity that went up my arm when we touched the first time was there when we shook hands.

Something about him is luring me in, something that never happened with... well, I'm just gonna say, Thou who shall not be named. And that's freaking me out because I'm scared that I feel something this early after meeting him.

Okay, back to the point, it's just kinda early to feel these things. At least I think it is. And if he does return my feelings, I don't know if he'd be willing to go slow... Why am I even thinking about this? I just met the dude and I'm already thinking about this. Geez.

I just need to start off as friends with him first. Then the rest can decide for itself.

"I don't know, maybe. I really want to, it's just that..." I trail off, struggling to form the words. "I came here to get over You-Know-Who and even before I knew his name and properly met him, I started to get some sort of feelings for him."

She gives me a little smile, though still a tad bit judgmental. "Well, I'm happy and all, but just try to keep an open mind about other guys."

I roll my eyes and shake my head, heaving out a sigh as I plug in my earbuds and place them in my ears and start to blast my music while opening my book to continue to read. I honestly don't know why I continue to let Lydia and Allison force me to go to lacrosse practice with them... Well, Lydia, I get since she's my ride home.

It's because you want to see Stiles, my subconscious whispers.

I push that away, refocusing on the words printed on the page. I can't tell how long I've been reading, but I'm on my fourth song when Lydia rips my earbuds out my ears. I turn to glare at her only to see her eyes wide with fear and concern. "Come on!" She urges me, standing up frantically. I look over to the field to see Coach and everyone else surrounding Jackson, and near them, Scott is crouched down on the ground with Stiles covering him.

As I follow Lydia down the bleachers and towards Jackson, leaving our stuff on the bleachers, I see Stiles leading Scott away quickly. Ignoring them for the moment, Lydia and I make it to Jackson and past the lacrosse player, a small gasp leaving my mouth at the sight. Unlike Lydia, I fall to my knees and delicately pull Jackson's head onto my lap, ignoring Coach while looking down at him. I gently pull off his helmet, holding the sides of his head.

"Coach, call 911. He might need to go the hospital," I order, seeing his surprised look but he gets up just as Lydia moves to crouch down next to me, seeming genuinely concerned for her boyfriend. "Okay, everyone back away a bit! Give him some room!" My protective mama bear mode takes over me, even though it was Jackson who was hurt, looking down at the boy as he groans in pain as he shifts. My eyes move to his shoulder which he had moved; injured shoulder, severe enough to cause this much pain.

"Jackson, look, try to refrain moving your shoulder," I advise in a whisper. His blue eyes look up at me, a grimace on his face as he holds his shoulder. "Lydia, take off his glove and hold his hand." Lydia does as I tell her, swiftly removing his one glove and holds his hand. "Alright, this is gonna hurt, but I need to see what he did."

I hold his shoulder that he was previously holding, feeling around slightly and applied slight pressure at his shoulder blade under the equipment he has on. A groan of pain leaves his lips, making me look at him sympathetically.

"Archer, what the hell are you doing!?" Coach demands, back from calling for an ambulance.

I look up at him with quirked eyebrows. "He may have a separated shoulder," I inform him, looking back down. However, I can't help but move my eyes in the direction Scott and Stiles went in.

What the hell is going on with them?

☾

So it's a separated shoulder after all, and now someone I consider a friend... Alright, frenemy, is in pain because of Allison's almost-boyfriend. Great. So for the next few days, I've been somewhat worried about him.

This morning Lydia informed me that Scott isn't playing tomorrow at the game, which she isn't happy about. I don't really care about that, it's his decision if he wants to play or not, but for Lydia's sake, I have to with her to interrogate him. Sides, I'm not gonna make the poor guy face her alone. Currently, I am sitting next to Lydia in the front row of our math class, which we conveniently have with Scott.

"Ms. Martin, Ms. Archer and Mr. McCall, please work out the problems on the board."

Lydia smirks at me and I mentally groan as I follow her and Scott up to the board, standing on the left side of Lydia with Scott at her right and we each pick up a piece of chalk and I immediately work to answer the problem.

But of course, Lydia has to be stubborn.

"Why is there a rumor going around that you're not playing tomorrow?"

Scott takes a moment or two to answer the strawberry blonde, "'Cause I'm sort of not."

"I think you sort of are," Lydia sasses him. "Especially when you brutally injure my boyfriend by ramming into him."

I roll my eyes; what do you expect? It's lacrosse, and it's a pretty violent game! I look to see Scott staring at Lydia incredulously. "He brutally injured himself ramming into me."

"Nice comeback, McCall," I mutter, loud enough for them to hear.

Lydia gives me a glare, which I return but look back at the problem and continue working on it. "Jackson's gonna play tomorrow," she says. Gosh, he better not get a cortisone shot just to play! "But he's not gonna be at his peak, and I prefer my boyfriend at peak performance."

Really, Lyds? That is too much information for me.

I can't help but smile at Scott's bewildered expression, face scrunching up briefly. "Okay," he drawls awkwardly.

"I date the captain of the winning lacrosse game, and if they start off the season losing, I date the captain of the losing lacrosse team. I don't date losers." Geez, Lydia, it seems you care more about lacrosse and popularity than the health of your boyfriend. This is the one thing I don't particularly like about her, her dumb and selfish teen girl act.

"Losing one game isn't gonna kill anyone," Scott shoots back heatedly. Ooh, she hit a nerve. But she should back off, Scott doesn't deserve this; he seems like a really nice guy. "In fact, it might even save someone."

Wow, okay that sounds ominous.

"Fine! Don't play," Lydia snaps. "We'll probably win anyway. Then we'll go out after like we're planning..." She trails off. I forgot about that; we're all hanging out after the game. Including me, Lydia, Jackson, Allison, and Scott. Allison told Scott he could bring Stiles so that would give us an opportunity to talk more. "And I'll introduce Allison to all the hot players on the team."

Oh no, Lydia, don't... They're happy together and stop blowing holes in my ship!

"And Scott McCall can stay home, surfing the net for porn." I quickly finish the problem to escape this, turning around and swiftly moving back to sit in my seat with Lydia behind me.

"Mr. McCall, you're not even close to solving your problem," our teacher tells him.

"Tell me about it," he mutters.

☾

After school, and after Lydia started to introduce Allison to lacrosse players which I left the instant it started, the strawberry blonde dragged me with her to the hospital with Jackson who is indeed getting a cortisone shot.

"Why do I need to go with you? Jackson is a big boy, he doesn't need me to be here," I complain, plopping down in a seat next to her.

She rolls her eyes and ignores me, putting in her Bluetooth earpiece and does something on her phone, starting to talk to someone. I sigh and tap my foot against the floor in agitation, wondering if Nessa is gonna come through here. She's a nurse and works here with Melissa McCall, Scott's mom, which is probably why I recognized his name since Nessa has mentioned her before.

Suddenly, I perk up at a now familiar voice.

"Hey, Mary Anne," Stiles says, almost smoothly, and leans one hand against the wall while looking down at me. I return the smile while turning my body to face him a little better, my heart already starting to flutter. He really does have a beautiful smile. He also looks a little nervous. "You probably don't remember me, from the party the other night. Um, I also sit behind you in Biology."

I furrow my brows and remember that he does sit behind me in Biology. Huh, wow, I didn't notice that. How could I not? How could I have not noticed him before, even before New York? Gosh, this sucks... Well, at least I noticed him now and now I know him.

"Uh, anyway, I always thought that we just had this kind of connection. Unspoken, of course. Maybe it'd be kind of cool to, get to know each other a little better."

I open my mouth to reply when Lydia takes it upon herself to do it for me. "Hold on, give me a second. Yeah, I didn't get any of what you just said. Is it worth repeating?" She asks, haughtily.

I turn my head to glare at her harshly, my left eye twitching and my fingers clenching. I'm starting to plan her slow and gruesome death, probably sneak into her room and suffocate her.

"No," Stiles replies after clearing his throat and I return my gaze to him his own eyes leaving Lydia to look at me. "Sorry." He moves and makes an awkward hand gesture to the seat on the opposite wall. "I'll just sit," he says awkwardly. "You don't care."

I sigh and debate silently in my head; should I not go talk to him? Or should I?

I should.

Moving out of my seat and ignoring Lydia's questioning gaze, I smooth down my dark purple t-shirt and walk slowly to peak over at Stiles. He's slumped down in a chair, his face hidden by a pamphlet that he must have just grabbed at random. I move to stand in front of him with my hands behind my back and I can't help but laugh softly at the pamphlet he's reading; menstrual cycle.

"You know," I say loud enough to catch his attention and it does, his body starting in surprise as he moves the pamphlet to look at me with barely concealed hope in his eyes. "If you want to know about the menstrual cycle you could always ask me or someone of the female species." He chuckles anxiously and watches me as I sit in the seat next to him, angling my body towards him. "And I'm sorry about Lydia," I apologize. "She can be like that sometimes. Well, most of the time." We share a quiet chuckle, his eyes never leaving mine. "About getting to know each other a bit... I would very much love to do so."

His eyes widen and he flails around a bit, sitting up straighter. I can't help but snort and laugh at his weird but endearing quirks. "Really?" He asks eagerly, resembling an eager puppy.

I nod with a genuine smile, feeling my heart flutter again. "There's just something intriguing about you," I say, rather flirtatiously, in my opinion. His face flushes at the compliment, and I bite my bottom lip in a poor attempt to suppress my quiet giggles. He's just so cute and funny. How does he not have girls fighting each other for him? It just doesn't make sense to me.

I look over him to see Jackson and Lydia kissing, in the middle of a hospital lobby. Gross and disrespectful. "Ugh," I stick out my tongue briefly, repulsed.

"Ditto," Stiles mutters.

I exhale deeply and stand up, smiling. "Well, I'll see you later, Stiles." I walk over to Jackson and Lydia just as they stop their impromptu make-out session. "You two done acting like horn dogs?" I ask sarcastically. Both of them roll their eyes and as we walk the other way, I look back to see Stiles and Scott talking, and I can't fight the smile on my lips.

I definitely don't regret coming here with Lydia after that.

☾

Lydia came over earlier to help me get ready to go to the lacrosse game, which I had protested vehemently to but in the end, the short strawberry blonde won, as per usual. It was yesterday when Stiles and talked at the hospital, and I can't wait to get to know him. And tonight is the first lacrosse game of the new season, so I might get to see him.

We decided to dress similarly; dresses with tights. Except I'm wearing a navy blue sweater over the grey dress, my black leather jacket, and the tights are knitted, so they're pretty thick. I refuse to be sitting outside on cold metal bleachers for who knows how long and not be dressed to battle the cold. But then again, I'm kinda used to the cold.

We're walking across the field, among the large crowd of students and parents, planning on meeting Allison and her father. It's indeed cold, but nothing I can't handle. Thank the Gods I decided to wear gloves, though.

I follow her as she makes her way over to two particular players; number eleven and twenty-four. Scott and Stiles. Huh, his last name is Stilinski. Polish... Okay, now I'm acting weird.

The short strawberry blonde grabs a fist-full of the front of Scott's jersey and pulls him closer, an evil gleam in her green eyes. "Scott..." Lydia starts. "I just want you to remember one thing for tonight."

Stiles looks dumbfounded and I just smile at him which he returns once he snaps out of his stupor, a faint flush to his cheeks that I know isn't from the cold weather. Guess I do have some sort of effect on him. He continues to walk over to the bench, but not before waving at me.

"Uh, winning isn't everything?" Scott asks innocently, looking down at her small hand that has a rather tight grip on his jersey.

Lydia chuckles and lets go of his jersey, straightening out the sleeve of it. "Nobody likes a loser." She pats his chest and struts away, and I don't immediately follow her, instead smiling encouragingly at him.

"Don't listen to her," I tell him. "I know you'll do great tonight, Scott."

He returns the smile, "Thanks, Mary Anne."

Nodding once I head off towards the bleachers, finding Lydia already sitting with Allison and her father. "Hey, Allie," I greet with a big smile as I sit next to in the free spot next to my strawberry blonde friend. "Mr. Argent."

He returns my friendly smile, "Mary Anne," he replies formally. This is my first time meeting him and he seems like a nice guy, just like his daughter.

The game starts and I actually pay attention, eyes on number eleven like the other two girls. But I just don't really understand this sport, so it's hard to pay attention. So I just keep my eyes on Scott, narrowing them at the field when he's wide open and no one passes him the ball. Almost like it's deliberate.

Just as Scott goes for the ball, Jackson knocks him over. Ever heard of the word 'sportsmanship', Jackass?

And he scores a goal.

Gosh, he's an asshole.

Everyone cheers, even Allison, while I simply glare at him, imagining how it would feel to punch him in his jaw. Might hurt but it'd be worth it.

I look up just in time to see Lydia and Allison holding up the poster Lydia made while cheering. We Luv u Jackson. Ugh. The improper grammar makes me cringe, as well as when I see Scott standing there, watching them. Ooh, low blow, Allison.

"Which one is Scott again?" Mr. Argent asks Allison when the players move to re-line on the field.

"Number eleven," Lydia and I say in unison, but she continues.

"Otherwise known as the only one who hasn't caught a single ball this entire game."

I roll my eyes; it's his first freaking game, geez. Go easy on him.

"I hope he's okay," Allison says quietly, and I look over to see that she's genuinely concerned about him. Aw, that is so adorable.

"I hope we're okay," Lydia adds. "We need to win this."

Don't you mean 'they', Lydia? It's not like you're playing.

She stands up, holding the sign. "Girls," she scolds lightly. "A little help here?" We both give her looks, mine harsher than Allison's; I love Lydia and all, but she's really ticking me off right now. We both stand and help Lydia hold up the sign, our faces showing how enthusiastic we are about this. Note my sarcasm.

Jackson is #1, my ass.

However, Scott leaps over two players, one opposing and one from his team, and catches the ball which was in mid-air. My jaw drops. How is that even possible?

And he scores. It's four to five now. Okay, this is starting to look up.

I stand up and clap, whistling and I can't help but search for Stiles who was standing up with an eager look on his face while yelling as a way to show his excitement.

An opposing player has the ball once the whistle is blown, and he stops while standing a foot or so from Scott. My eyebrows jump when the opposing player throws Scott the ball. Intentionally. Okay, what the hell is going on? This is getting so weird. But it gets even weirder when Scott throws the ball once he is near the goal and it literally tears through the netting of the goalie's stick.

"Go, Scott!" I yell, cupping my hands around my mouth to make my voice louder.

Just one more goal and this'll be over. Thank the Gods.

I remain standing like Allison and a lot of other people who are somewhat quiet, catching Allison saying quietly, "You can do it, Scott."

And as if he hears her, he launches the ball... And scores!

Everyone cheers once more, flooding out of the bleachers and my attention goes back to Stiles who has his arms up, laughing.

I don't wait for Allison and Lydia, making it past them and ignoring Lydia's questions. I get lost in the crowd as I try to get to the bench to talk to Stiles, kinda predictable given my height. My head swivels around to watch out for anyone, and I yelp as I feel a hand land on my shoulder. Turning around, I look up to see the grinning face of Stiles Stilinski.

"We won!" He yells excitedly, literally shaking with adrenaline.

I laugh, genuinely and loudly. "I know!" I yell back, pulling him into a tight hug. He stiffens for a second before returning the hug which ends all too quickly, in my opinion.

As we back away, our eyes connect and we just stand there as the field becomes empty. Just staring at each other while smiling. To avoid any awkwardness, I speak up. "About the other night at the party," I start. "What did you have in mind when making it up to me?"

His face goes blank for a split second before his hand comes up to rub the back of his neck, keeping his eyes connected with mine. "Uh, I honestly don't know," he confesses with a slight chuckle.

I purse my lips in a tiny smirk, "Well, whatever it is, I'm looking forward to it." He blinks rapidly, face blank. "See you later, Stilinski." I wink, spinning on my heel and set out to find Lydia or Allison.

This was indeed an interesting night.