Stella Argent - Stiles Stilinski

Chapter 3

Three weeks into Beacon Hills High School, and I found that Allison was right—I was making friends. Scott was someone I could trust. Not that I couldn't trust the others, but there was something about Scott that made me feel like he was a brother to me. Maybe it was the way Allison used to talk about him when they were dating, and those feelings lingered even though they were no longer together.

Now, Stiles, on the other hand... Let's just say that our personalities clashed. We were both stubborn and sarcastic, which made it difficult for us to work well together. There was no denying that he could be annoying, but deep down, I knew we were more alike than I wanted to admit.

A loud noise snapped me out of my thoughts, reminding me that I was in Coach Finstock's class. I shifted my gaze from the window to Coach, who was in the middle of his lecture.

"The stock market is based on two principles. What are they?" Coach asked the class.

I looked around, noticing that no one seemed to know the answer. However, Scott raised his hand confidently.

"Yes, McCall, you can go to the bathroom," Coach responded dismissively.

"Uh, no, Coach, I know the answer," Scott replied with a half-smile.

Coach burst into laughter before turning his attention back to Scott, realizing that he was serious. "Oh, you're serious."

"Yes. Risk and reward," Scott answered, lowering his hand.

Coach's eyes widened in surprise. "Wow! Who are you? And what have you done to McCall? Don't answer that. I like you better. I like you better. Does anybody have a quarter? A quarter."

I glanced to my right and saw Stiles rummaging through his pocket, eventually retrieving a quarter. But in the process, he accidentally dropped something—an unexpected item that caught everyone's attention—a condom. Laughter and snickering filled the classroom, and I couldn't help but smile. I turned to Scott, who was trying his best to hold back a chuckle, sharing a knowing glance with him.

Stiles remained silent for a while, seemingly embarrassed by the condom mishap. Coach, in a surprising move, bent down and picked it up, handing the XXL wrapper back to Stiles with a mix of amusement and congratulations.

"Stilinski, I think you, uh... You dropped this. And congratulations," Coach said before returning to teaching. "Risk and reward. Put the quarter in the mug, win the reward. Okay, watch Coach." He confidently shot the quarter into the mug. "That's how you do it. Okay, Danny. Risk, reward."

I turned around to face Danny, wearing the biggest grin on my face. Danny and I had actually become really good friends. When we first met, he walked up to me and introduced himself by saying, "Hi, I'm Danny, and I'm gay." Our friendship started in a wonderfully unexpected way.

"What's the reward?" Danny asked Coach, clearly intrigued.

"You don't have to take the pop quiz tomorrow," Coach urged him to make a choice.

"Coach, it's not a pop quiz if you tell us about it," Danny responded with a smirk.

"Danny, you know, I really expect more from you at this point. Really," Coach retorted, causing Danny's smirk to falter slightly.

"McCall, risk, reward," Coach continued, turning his attention to Scott. "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. Risk, more work. Reward... No work at all. Or choose not to play."

"But isn't this just chance?" Scott questioned.

"No. 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?"