I STARED AT MY CEILING as I listened to Allison's quick but excited voice through my speakerphone. I'd never heard her so excited and to be honest I was surprised she was talking to me about this now instead of last night but maybe she just needed the time to get her head around it.

"—And then we kissed!" She gushed quickly before sighing in content.

"I know." I replied to her with a smile, "I saw."

"It was so amazing." She said to me and I pressed my home button on my phone, we'd been talking to each other for nearly an hour now, "Scott is such a good kisser."

"Is he?" I asked her, "That's nice."

"We're going out together."

"You are?" I asked, rolling on to my front quickly, "Where, when, what time?"

She laughed lightly over the line, "I'm not sure. We haven't figured it out yet."

"Oh my god that's exciting." I said to her, "As if you're going on a date."

"We've already been on a date, remember?" She asked me, "Lydia's party."

"Right." I replied, rolling my eyes. A date where Scott phased for the first time under the full moon and ditched her, "That hardly classes as a date, Allison."

"He was just sick. This one is like a do-over." She replied and I could tell she was smiling by her tone of voice.

"That's good." I said to her, "I'm glad you're giving it another shot, he really likes you."

Her hopeful voice replied, "You think?"

"Of course." I responded as I chuckled, "And hey, his mom likes you as well. She asked me to point you out to her at the game."

"Are you serious?" She asked me, her voice a pitch higher, "Oh my god."

"Allison, chill out." I laughed lightly as she sounded like she started to panic, "Melissa is fine. The woman is like a mother to me."

My friend calmed down, "That's nice, she sounds really nice."

"She is." I nodded, "I'm sure you'll really like her."

"I can't believe we're talking about me meeting his mom. Isn't that, like, too fast?" She asked me.

"Scott's met your dad." I counted.

"Yeah." She chuckled, "Only because he knocked him over."

"That's funny." I tried to sound amused. Maybe Chris knew he was a werewolf and tried to run him over to get it over with. No, don't be stupid Alex. Of course Chris doesn't know.

"So, hey, I should probably go." Allison said to me, "It's getting late."

I pressed my home button for the time and saw that it was already passed half ten. I still had to finish my homework and shower before I went to sleep and I groaned, "God, I didn't know it was that late." I muttered.

Allison laughed lightly, "I'll see you at school Alex." She said to me.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." I replied, looking at the Chemistry homework, "Hey, have you done the Chem homework? I'd text my lab partner and ask him for the answers but I don't think he likes me very much."

"Yeah." She said in amusement, "I'll send you a photo of my answers."

"You god send." I sighed in relief, "I owe you one, Argent."

"Yeah, well, I'll keep that in mind." She replied, "Later."

"Bye, Allison."

The call disconnected and no more than two minutes later my friend texted me a photo of her completed sheet. I would've made the effort to actually do the homework but it was way too late for me now and if I tried to answer these questions I could've been sat here all night. Normally I'd of probably left it and shown up tomorrow empty handed but Isaac's voice in the back of my mind was nagging me to do it.

I made sure to reword some of Allison's answers to make it seem like I hadn't copied off her and even answered a question or two wrong. I hadn't been in Harris' class long but I knew he didn't think much of me in an intellectual way so he knew there'd be no way I'd get all the answers right.

It didn't take me long to finish the homework and I put it in my bag for tomorrow and headed into the bathroom to shower. I wished I could've just gotten away with not washing my hair but it was at that awkward stage where it was clean but it looked borderline greasy and I didn't want to wash it in the morning.

So knowing my bed was waiting for me prompted me to make it a power shower and I was done within ten minutes. I finished up my night routine, brushing my teeth and washing my face before towel drying my hair so it wasn't wet anymore and I changed into my pyjamas before leaving the bathroom.

By the time I had returned to my room I had a message from Stiles and I unlocked my phone to read it.

Pick you up at quarter to

I climbed into bed, pulling the cool covers over me with a content sigh and as soon as I was settled in I replied to Stiles.

See you then

I closed my texts to set my alarm but he replied to me within thirty seconds of me replying to him. He must've been waiting for it to come through because his reply time was remarkable.

Don't be late for god sake

I rolled my eyes.

I'm never late, all right?

You're always late

Just go to sleep Stiles

Yeah, you got it, night Alex

Night Stiles x

Sensing I wasn't getting another reply from him I locked my phone and reached over the side of my bed for the charger. I plugged it in and put my phone on my bedside table, leaving me to settle in the darkness of my room after I turned the lamp off. While I drifted off though my mind was hung up on my friend.

He'd been giving me a ride to school so often now it was almost as if this was the norm for us now. He would text me the night before, reminding me what time he'd pick me up and then he'd always tell me to not be late.

When I got into the Jeep — late — the next morning when he picked me up he'd shake his head at me for making us late but he'd smile at me and laugh it off. We would joke about it and about how we'd have to leg it once we got to school if we stood any chance at making it on time.. it was just how it went between us now. Stiles and I had formulated our own little routine and I loved it.

So as I drifted off to sleep all I could think about was Stiles and the prospect that maybe we were just a little bit more than friends.

________________

"You haven't seen Allison have you?"

I jumped into my locker, literally, smacking my head off the top of the metal and closes my eyes as I relaxed. I let my heart slow to a steady rhythm again before I turned around, closing my locker door harshly as I smiled sarcastically at Stiles — Scott standing by his side.

"What is wrong with you?!" I scolded him, "You just gave me a fricken heart attack, Stiles."

"Yeah but have you seen Allison?" Scott asked me urgently, his eyes wide.

"What? No." I shook my head, "Why?"

"Oh, well, Scott had a dream he was making out with her in the back of a school bus and then he killed her." Stiles said to me.

"Brutal." I nodded once, "Not usually how those types of dreams pan out but we'll roll with it."

"It gets worse." Stiles said to me as Scott looked up and down the hall, "It all felt very real to him and as it turns out there's actually a school bus outside that's been torn apart."

My lips parted, "Oh."

He nodded, "And it's covered in blood and has claw marks on the back of it."

I turned to my werewolf friend and sighed sympathetically as he worried, "Oh, Scotty, that's not good."

"Where is she?" He only replied, ignoring me.

"Did you try calling her?" I asked.

"She's not answering him." Stiles said to me.

I nodded, leaning against my lockers, "Well, if you can remember what time it was I was on the phone with her until about half 10 last night."

Stiles looked to Scott, "Hey, that's good. Right?" He asked him, "It might've just been a dream."

Scott shook his head, "I've got to find her." He said to us both before walking away down the hall quickly.

Stiles and I watched him go and I pouted, "I'm sure she's fine."

"Probably." Stiles agreed and the the both of us began a slow walk to Chemistry, "Just a bit weird that he dreamt about that and the same thing happened in real life."

"Maybe it was him." I shrugged, "Just not Allison who he was with."

Stiles turned to me with an arched brow, "Who else would he be with?"

"No idea." I shrugged, "It wasn't neither of us, thank god."

He nodded, "Yeah, I suppose so."

"Attention, students, this is your principal. I know you're all wondering about what occurred last night to one of our buses. While the police work to determine what happened classes will proceed as scheduled. Thank you."

As the principal finished his announcement I looked to Stiles, "Good job I did the Chem homework then, isn't it?"

Stiles met my eyes and he smiled before he butted his shoulder into mine and nodded as we walked down the hallway, "Probably for the best."

The both of us continued our walk to Chemistry and as we got there Harris was standing by the door waiting with slips of paper in his hands. He clocked Stiles and I and his face wasn't one of happiness as he watched us approach his classroom, "Homework." He said to us simply, "Miss. Anderson do I even have to ask for yours? I'm assuming you've made no attempt to do it."

I sneered at Harris before reaching into my bag and grabbing the sheet of paper, not bothering to unfold it as I slapped it down on the pile in his hands. I left Stiles in the doorway and headed to my desk, seeing Isaac already there with his things out. I sat down on my chair and give him a tight lipped smile as a form of greeting.

He arched his brow at me, "Was that actually the homework you handed Mr. Harris or just a random bit of paper?"

"Nope." I responded, "Believe it or not Lahey you've inspired me to partake in this class."

"Really?" Isaac asked me somewhat sarcastically as Stiles sat down at the desk adjacent to me.

"U-huh." I nodded at Isaac, "But I, uh, I actually didn't have time to do it last night so I got someone to send me the answers— but it's the thought that counts, right?"

He smiled before he nodded his head, "Yeah. At least you actually did the work."

I rose my brows up in a quick motion while smiling at him briefly and just before Harris started his lesson Scott rushed in. He took my attention as he sat down at the desk in front of Stiles and the both of us watched him expectantly, waiting to hear whether he'd found Allison or not. He didn't show any sign of turning around though and I met Stiles' puzzled eyes before we both looked to him.

"Well?" I asked Scott, watching as he turned around.

He looked confused as he glanced between Stiles and I, "What?"

"Did you find her?" Stiles asked him.

"Oh." Scott muttered, "Yeah. Yeah, I found her. She's okay, completely fine."

"See." I smiled at him, "Told you she'd be all right."

Scott smiled bashfully and looked down to his notepad. Stiles and I looked to each other, grinning knowingly as our friend tried to hide his blush. It was cute that Scott was worried about Allison.

"Ahem."

The both of us looked away from each other and to Harris who was stood by his desk with his arms crossed. He was looking at Stiles and I with a raised brow and I noticed the rest of the class were waiting for us too.

"Perhaps sitting you two across from each other was a bad idea." Harris said to us both and I raised my brow, "Are you ready for me to start the lesson?"

"Feel free to." I shrugged nonchalantly.

Harris didn't try to hide as he rolled his eyes in response to me, turning his back to the class and pointing to the blackboard as he started the lesson. I put my hand into my chin, listening half hazardly to him.

"You know." Isaac said to me quietly and I turned to look at him, "He's only going to lower your grade."

"He won't." I replied, just as quiet, "I'd just make his life hell."

"That's nice of you." Isaac said to me with a nod.

"Well, I'm a nice person."

He just shook his head, smiling to himself as Harris carried on teaching his lesson. He wasn't saying anything very interesting and I was having a very hard time concentrating, especially when I could see Stiles glancing over at me every couple of minutes.

We'd gotten half way into the lesson when Harris decided to set us a task between us and our partners. As soon as he said the word 'go' Scott turned in his seat to face Stiles and I, completely ignoring his partner.

I was starting to see now why our lab partners didn't really like us.

"Do you think I did that to the school bus?" He asked us both, his voice quiet.

"Yes." I replied bluntly at the same time Stiles said no.

They both turned to me and Stiles widened his eyes drastically at me, as if he was silently scolding me for saying that.

"What?" I shrugged innocently, "I just think it's weird how you had that dream and it actually happened."

Scott sighed heavily and he dropped his head, "But if it wasn't Allison who was it?"

"No idea—look." Stiles said to him quickly, leaning further over his desk, "I think we should be worrying about why you did it, all right?"

"But what if I killed them?" He asked incredulously, whispering loudly.

"We don't know for certain that it was you, okay?" I said to Scott, "You can't physically remember it happening, right?"

"I mean.." Scott nodded, "No, I can't."

"Okay." I said, "So we're just assuming, I mean I don't think it's a coincidence but.. you never know."

"Okay so obviously Alex isn't making this any better, right now." Stiles said, shooting me a short glare, "Scott you might've done it you might not have, there's nothing we can do about it."

"Okay." Scott nodded, "Okay."

He turned around, putting his pen to his notepad and writing and I returned to my work. I read the question on the board before Isaac nudged me lightly in my arm.

I glanced over at him but all he did was look over my shoulder. I followed his direction and saw Stiles looking at me with an arched brow. I rose both my brows at him in confusion and shook my head, "What?"

His eyes widened, "Are you ser—"

"—Maybe it was my blood on the door." Scott wondered, turning back to the both of us.

Stiles looked at him as he cut him off and shrugged, "Maybe it was animal blood?" He suggested, "You know, maybe you caught a rabbit or something."

"And did what?" Scott asked.

I clocked Harris turning away from the board as he finished up and I pretended that I wasn't involved in Scott and Stiles conversation. I kept my head forwards as I listened to them, watching Harris watch Scott and Stiles.

"Ate it." Stiles said to Scott.

"Raw?"

"No, you stopped to bake it in a little werewolf oven." Stiles remarked, "I don't know, you're the one who can't remember anything."

"Stiles—" I hissed to him quietly, trying to get him to notice Harris staring daggers at him but he didn't hear me.

"—Mr. Stilinski." Our teacher called out to him, "If that's your idea of a hushed whisper you might wanna pull the headphones out every once in a while."

Stiles only scoffed in response.

"I think you and Mr. McCall would benefit from a little distance, yes?" He asked him.

"No." He shook his head immediately.

Harris didn't care though and he moved them both away from me, "Miss you both already." I whispered to them as they grabbed their bags.

"Let me know if the separation anxiety gets too much." Harris retorted, "You as well Miss. Anderson."

"You know actually, Sir, that's not really something to joke about." I said to Harris in a pointed tone but when he glared at me in response I just nodded my head before replying to him, "Will do."

The class returned to silence and I looked back down to my work when Isaac spoke up besides me, "For some reason I get the impression that he doesn't like you." He pointed out sarcastically.

"You think?" I asked him in a joking way, "I thought I was his favourite."

Before he could reply though a girl from the front of the class stood up quickly, "Hey! I think they found something!" She said loudly, rushing over to the window.

Like everyone else in the class I jumped up from my seat quickly and I rushed over to the window but I noticed Isaac had reminded in his seat. I looked out of the glass panes next to Scott as Stiles rushed over to us, putting his hands on my shoulders from behind me to look over and out the window too.

Harris' classroom was round the side of the school building so the ambulance parked there was clearly trying to stay out of the way of students prying eyes. They clearly hadn't done a very good job though given we were all stood here.

I watched as four paramedics rolled a gurney with a man on towards the back of the ambulance, stopping by the back doors to roll him in.

"That's not a rabbit." Scott whispered to Stiles and I.

I shook my head silently and I jumped back when the man sat up suddenly, yelling and gripping to the paramedic staff wildly. My back hit Stiles chest and for a minute I was too busy trying to recover from the shock as everyone screamed that I didn't feel his hand on my waist but when I noticed it was there I didn't say anything to him.

"Okay." He muttered to himself and I turned back to see Scott backing away from the window in horror.

Stiles walked away from me and I didn't even know if he'd realised he'd grabbed my waist or not. He walked to Scott, "This is good. This is good." He told him, "He got up, he's not dead."

"Yeah." I nodded, trying to comfort him, "Dead guys can't do that."

"You guys.." He exhaled, looking to the both of us, "I did that."

So, maybe that was a problem.

________________

I promised Allison that I'd have lunch with her today and when we met at our lockers she told me she said she'd sit with Scott. It was kind of a bonus having a surname that began with an A because our lockers were basically right next to each other but when we met she asked me several times if I was okay with eating with Scott and Stiles. Of course I didn't mind, I usually sat with them for lunch anyways.

I wanted to talk some more with them both about the whole bus incident thing and Scott's supposed connection to it but if Allison was sitting with us we wouldn't be able to. I'd just have to catch them later when we were alone.

"So." I said, looking to Allison, "Excited about tomorrow night?" I asked her.

She smiled bashfully, a hint of a blush falling to her cheeks and while she failed to reply Lydia and Jackson walked over to us both. We were at the front of the lunch queue pretty much and they, plus Danny and several other members of Jackson's posse cut in front of everyone behind them. I turned curiously to the people behind Allison and I to see their faces unhappy but not a single one of them dared to speak up and challenge Jackson for butting in.

"What's happening tomorrow night?" Jackson asked, arching a brow as he looked to Allison and I. Lydia was under his arm as she grabbed two lunch trays.

"You do realise there's a whole queue behind you, right?" I asked Jackson, narrowing my eyes somewhat at him.

He shrugged like he didn't give one little care, "And?"

"And you're being exceptionally rude right now." I replied, "Because there's several other people waiting behind you."

"So what." He rolled his eyes, "It's just a lunch queue. What's got you twisted?"

"You." I told him honestly without missing a beat. I saw out of my peripheral vision as Allison rose her brows impressed and Danny smiled. Behind Jackson the boys on the team 'ooooo'd, slapping each other's chests lightly.

It was almost as if they'd never seen someone put Jackson Whittemore in his place before.

He didn't even seem like he knew how to reply until he just scoffed humorously, "Seriously, Alex?"

"What? Do I look like I'm kidding?" I asked him genuinely.

The only person who hadn't reacted to Jackson and I's bust up so far was Lydia as she stayed silent under his arm but before her boyfriend could speak up again she interfered, "Allison what did you say about tomorrow night?" She asked her inconspicuously.

"Oh, uh.." Allison stuttered. She hadn't expected to be thrown into the spotlight, she was too busy enjoying watching Jackson and I arguing, "Scott and I are hanging out."

Ooooo, no.

I pressed my lips together trying not to twist my face up at the words that rolled off her tongue. They were going on a date but because she'd replied under pressure her immediate response was 'hanging out'. Two people hanging out was an open invitation for other people to tag along.

"Hanging out?" Lydia asked her, suddenly interested as Jackson turned back to his team mates to talk, "Sounds fun."

"Y-yeah." She replied, her eyes widening as she realised she'd dropped the ball herself. Whether Lydia invited herself along now or not was out of her control.

I reached the front of the queue and I grabbed a tray, picking out my lunch while listening half-hazardly to Lydia and Allison.

"Great." Lydia replied but before I could catch anything else I headed over to the table Scott and Stiles were sitting at.

I put my tray down on the table and pulled my chair out harshly before sitting down next to Stiles and leaning back against the plastic backing.

"Hey." Stiles said, looking to me with a confused frown, "Everything, uh-everything all right?"

"Jackson is a pain in my ass that will never go away." I grumbled, scowling at my bottle of water. I picked it up and looked to Stiles, "He's just so fricken annoying."

"Tell us something we don't know." Scott muttered to me in response.

I rolled my eyes and unscrewed the cap on my water bottle, "What are we talking about?"

"Scott's mad dream." Stiles said to me, "And the school bus."

"Right." I nodded, looking to my friend, "Still no further forwards, huh?"

"No." Scott sighed, "But something happened last night and I can't remember a thing."

Stiles tapped my arm lightly as he sat forwards, "Yeah and he thinks Derek can help him."

"He probably can." I shrugged.

"Thank you." Scott nodded in my direction. Stiles scoffed in response. He was annoyed that neither of us had actually taken his side, "Look, he wasn't changed during the night of the full moon." Scott argued to him, trying to defend Derek, "He was in total control while I was running around in the middle of the night attacking some totally innocent guy."

"You don't know that." Stiles replied.

"I don't not know it." Scott sighed before sitting back in his chair, "I can't go out with Allison. I have to cancel."

"No." I shook my head in protest immediately, "Nope, non, noh— not going to happen, all right?" I said to him, rhyming the word no in different languages for emphasis, "You practically blew her off the night of Lydia's party, you're lucky you're even getting a second chance."

"Alex is right." Stiles backed me up, "You're not cancelling, you can't just cancel your entire life. We'll figure it out."

I nodded, turning my head to see Lydia and Allison heading over to us. I knew Allison was having lunch with the three of us today but I didn't know Lydia would be joining also. I looked passed my two friends to see Jackson and Danny heading over too, some of the team following behind him.

I swallowed the pasta in my mouth and nudged Stiles arm in warning, "Incoming." I muttered.

He turned to me in confusion but before he got the chance to speak Lydia placed her tray down next to Scott, looking to the three of us, "Figure what out?"

"Uh.." Scott muttered, a deer caught in the headlights as Stiles eyes widened, "Just, uh, homework."

"Yeah." Stiles agreed but she only hummed in response.

The two of them turned to me as I took another bite of my pasta, "Why is she sitting with us?" Stiles asked me quietly.

I wiped my mouth and shrugged while I ate, "I don't know." I replied, "Allison must've invited her over."

The table filled up quickly, Danny sitting on Stiles' right while Allison filed in opposite me and next to Scott and immediately the air surrounding the table was awkward. Everyone was settling into their food without knowing what to say and then there was just Allison and Scott whispering back and forth in each other's ear.

I didn't even know where to place myself, it was like two worlds colliding right now.

"Get up." Jackson demanded, standing by the dark haired guy who was sitting at the head of the table.

He looked to him in defence, "How come you never ask Danny to get up?"

"Because I don't stare at his girlfriend's coin slot." Danny fired in amusement.

"That's one way to put it." I muttered under my breath as Jackson pushed the guy out of the seat. First the queue and now this, he certainly was a complete and utter dickhead that was for sure.

"So I hear they're saying it's some type of animal attack." Danny said between us and for a second I had no idea what he was talking about, "Probably a cougar."

"I heard mountain lion." Jackson said.

"A cougar is a mountain lion." Lydia corrected him without skipping a beat. I smiled at my friend until she tracked back on herself as Jackson furrowed his brows at her, "Isn't it?"

"Yes, Lydia." I replied with a pointed look, meeting her eyes across the table, "It is."

"Who cares? The guy's probably some homeless tweaker who's gonna die anyways." Jackson shot.

"Well aren't you an asshole?" I asked him rhetorically, arching a brow at him.

He opened his mouth to retaliate but Stiles stepped on his moment before he could, "Actually, I just found out who it is. Check it out." He said to us, twisting his phone on its side and holding it out for us all to see. I leaned closer towards him to see his screen as the video playing showed the Sheriff walking on the scene.

"The Sheriff's Department won't speculate on details of the incident but confirmed the victim, Garrison Meyers, did survive the attack." The male news reporter spoke, "Meyers was taken to a local hospital where he remains in critical condition."

"I-I-I know this guy." Scott stuttered.

Allison sat forwards in her seat, "You do?"

"Yeah when I used to take the bus, back when I lived with my dad." He nodded, "He was the driver."

Hm, that's odd.

"Can we talk about something slightly more fun, please?" Lydia asked us, "Like, oh, where we're going tomorrow night."

The table fell silent and I pressed my lips together. There it was, the self-invitation.

Ball = dropped.

Lydia frowned when neither Scott or Allison showed no sign of replying to her, "You said you and Scott were hanging out tomorrow night, right?"

Allison chewed her food quickly before shooting me a pleading glance, "Um, we were thinking of what we were going to do."

"Well, I am not sitting home again watching lacrosse videos so if the four of us are hanging out we are doing something fun." She replied.

"Hanging out?" Scott asked, turning to Allison who shrugged innocently.

"Oh.. god." I whispered under my breath, migrating closer to Stiles with every passing second as I tried not to cringe. Scott's face was one of pure horror, like he couldn't think of anything worse to do but have his date with Allison invaded by Jackson.

"It's like a train wreck." Stiles whispered to me and I nodded in response.

"Do you wanna hang out?" Scott asked her, "Like us.. and them?"

"Yeah." Allison nodded, "Sounds fun."

"You know what else sounds fun?" Jackson asked rhetorically, "Stabbing myself in the face with this fork."

I sat forwards immediately, "Hey, you want a hand with that?"

Stiles snickered next to me as Lydia took the fork from his hands, "How about bowling? You love to bowl."

"Yeah." He scoffed, "With actual competition."

"How do you know we're not actual competition?" Allison asked him, leaning forwards. She elbowed Scott, "You can bowl right?"

"Sort of." He stuttered.

"Is it sort of or yes?" Jackson asked. 

"Yes." Scott replied confidently, "In fact, I'm a great bowler."

"Well that settles it." Lydia grinned, "Bowling it is. Alex, you coming with? I could set you up?"

"Oh, no." I shook my head as Allison shot me a pleading glance to agree, "I'm gonna take a hard pass on that one. I can think of much better things to do with my time."

"Oh, yeah, like what?" Jackson asked me.

I leaned my elbows on the table and sat forwards, "Like anything that doesn't involve going anywhere with you."

And as Stiles opened his palm on the table for a high-five I gave it to him before sinking back into my seat.

____________