the chaos rising • stiles stilinski [1]

two • risk and reward

after the whole bird fiasco, my mom had pulled me out of school for the rest of the day. she said i needed to rest. she also thought my minor injury was worse than it was. when she picked me up, she took me to the store to get some tylenol before heading home. when we did get home, i started to immediately worry about the work i would be missing. it was junior year, one of the hardest years of our high school career and i knew i'd have homework on the first day.

i spent the rest of my day curled up in my bed, ignoring my growing headache. i had already taken three tylenol's and my mother would probably lecture me if i took anymore. i had eventually fallen asleep, my eyes growing tired and heavy.

a couple days later i found myself sat next to stiles in economics. turns out, we had quite a few classes together.

"the stock market," coach said, slamming a book on his desk. "is based off two principles. what are they?" he looked around the room, his eyes landing on scott
mccall. stiles had introduced us earlier today. he was surprisingly nice, too, and again, good looking. "yes, mccall, you can go to the bathroom. anybody else?"

"uh, no, coach, i know the answer." scott corrected, putting his arm down. coach laughed, looking at the boy.

"oh," he said, his laughter ceasing. "you're serious?"

i had learned quite fast that coach finstock was hard to please. he didn't give out rewards easy and most of his time was spent putting people down. especially those on the lacrosse team. honestly, it was quite fun to watch.

"y- yeah," scott stumbled. "it's risk and reward."

"wow!" coach exclaimed. "who are you? and what have you done to mccall? don't answer that. i like you better." he added quickly, pointing at the mccall boy. "does anybody have a quarter?"

"yeah!" stiles said, reaching into his pocket. my eyes widened, watching as a condom fell out of his hands and onto the floor as he pulled out the coin.

"stilinski, i think you, uh, dropped this... and congratulations." coach said, picking the packet up and handing it to stiles while grabbing the quarter from his other hands.

i looked to stiles, noticing the nearly mortified look on his face. my stomach dropped slightly, an upsetting feeling taking place inside. stiles cleared his throat, stuffing the condom into his pocket before looking up to the front. a quiet sigh escaped my lips, my body sinking down into my seat slightly.

"risk and reward. put the quarter in the mug, win the reward!" coach explained, placing his mug on the floor in front of his desk. "okay, watch coach," doing as he said, i watched as he steps back, bending over before flicking the coin into the mug. the class claps for him. "that's how you do it! okay, danny, risk, reward."

"what's the reward?" danny asked.

"you don't have to take the pop quiz tomorrow."

"uh, coach, it's not a pop quiz if you tell us about it." danny informed.

"danny, you know, i really expect more from you at this point. really. mccall! risk, or reward," coach said, placing the silver coin on scotts desk. "the risk, if you don't put that quarter in the mug, you have to take the pop- the quiz, 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." scott stared down at the coin in his hand for a moment before placing it down on his desk. "no play. okay! whos next? who wants the quarter?"