"So are you two dating now?"
"I guess, yeah!" Allison answers. We're walking through the school hallways, getting ready for first period.
"You guess? You aren't sure?" I ask.
"I am sure. It's just early on, you know. Uhm, you don't look so happy?" she stops to look at me.
"I am! I promise. Just... just be careful."
Her frown turns into a cocky smile.
"Aww, you're worried about me!" she chimes.
"Can't deny that."
"Don't worry, I'll be fine! You know Scott, he wouldn't hurt a fly."
"I guess," I say with hesitation.
"Speaking of boys... What's going on with you and Stiles?"
"Wh-What do you mean?" I say, scrunching up my face.
"What I mean is that you're hanging out with him more than me- oh!"
Scott runs into her and then looks at her wide eyed.
"You scared the hell out of me!" Allison smiles and I take a step back to give them a bit of space.
"You're okay?" Scott says, looking extremely relieved.
"Once my heart starts beating again, yeah!" she breathes.
"You weren't answering my calls?" I hear Stiles' voice behind me and I turn around to face him.
"Uncle Chris took my phone. What's happening?"
"Oh. Basically, Scott had a dream about killing Allison in a school bus and he was freaking out, thinking he actually did it. Then neither of you answered our calls and texts so..."
"Oh. That's creepy," I say.
"You know what's even more creepy? Someone was actually attacked in a school bus last night."
"What the hell? You're kidding, right?" I say.
At that moment, a message starts to sound from the speakers.
"Attention, students, this is your principal. I know you're all wondering about the incident that occurred last night to one of our buses. While the police work to determine what happened, classes will proceed as scheduled."
Stiles looks me in the eyes, looking notably serious.
"I'm not kidding."
***
Walking to the cafeteria, I close my backpack, secretly yearning for my phone. Someone taps on my shoulder.
"Grace, hey. We saw the guy that got attacked, he was brought to an ambulance right in front of our classroom," Stiles says.
"Did he look bad?"
"Yes. He was screaming. Well, at least he was still alive."
"Stiles, if Scott really did this..." I trail off, but when Scott himself joins us, I just drop it.
"I remember doing it," he says, making me look him in the eyes.
"You remember hurting him?" I ask.
"Well, no. Not him. But Allison, yes," he says slowly, his gaze locked on mine. I know he doesn't hate me or something, but there's a tinge of doubt in his eyes. He doesn't trust me because he thinks I'm gonna tell my family. I don't even know why I haven't done that yet.
"But dreams aren't memories!" Stiles butts in, louder than necessary. Me and Scott both look at him.
"Then it wasn't a dream. Something happened last night, and I can't remember what," Scott says.
"What makes you so sure that Derek even has all the answers?" Stiles asks.
"Wait, Derek? You want to go to Derek for help?" I ask Scott.
"Well, during the full moon, he was totally in control while I was going crazy! And I think he knows what's going on here! I mean, I'm sure you don't know anything about how werewolves work, like how they think and stuff."
We all take our seats at the table.
"I know a fair amount. I do have something to tell you guys about that by the way, but not now. And okay, when it comes to werewolf dreams and things like that, I don't know anything," I admit.
Scott sighs.
"I can't go out with Allison. I have to cancel."
"No, you're not cancelling, okay?" Stiles says.
"This is Allison's wellbeing we're talking about here," I retort.
"Bu- He can't just cancel his entire life! Look... we'll figure it out," he says, right when Lydia sits down at our table.
"Figure what out?" she asks.
Stiles' eyes are about to fall out of their sockets.
"Just, uh... homework," he answers, turning his face to me and Scott.
"Why is she sitting with us?" he whispers frantically.
"Grace, I just have to say... your outfit is deplorable. Think of the little children in Bangladesh who have to spend 12 hours a day making those appalable shirts," Lydia says.
"I could comment on your superficiality, but you know what? I'm going to let this go," I tell her.
"No. We can't move on from this until I've seen your closet and sorted through your stuff."
Allison, Danny and some other guys sit on our table as well before I can answer. Then Jackson forces one of the guys to leave so he can take his place.
"Hi, Allison," I say.
"Hey Grace! Scott, Stiles," she answers.
"So I hear they're saying it's some type of animal attack. Probably a cougar," Jackson's best friend Danny says.
"I heard mountain lion," Jackson says, making me snort.
"A cougar is a mountain lion," I say at exactly the same time as Lydia. Everyone looks at the both of us.
"Isn't it?" Lydia adds, trying not to come off as intelligent. I wonder why she does that. I mean, she obviously is intelligent, and I got that just from the short conversations I've had with her. The people who hang out with her a lot must really be idiots not to realise how smart she is.
"Who cares? The guy's probably some homeless tweaker who's gonna die anyway," Jackson says.
"How considerate of you," I remark.
"Actually, I just found out who it is. Check it out," Stiles says, showing us all a video on his phone.
"The Sheriff's department won't speculate on details of the incident but confirmed the victim, Garrison Meyers, did survive the attack. Meyers was taken to a local hospital where he remains in critical condition."
"I know this guy," Scott mutters.
"You do?" Allison raises her eyebrows.
"Yeah. When I used to take the bus back when I lived with my dad. He was the driver."
"Can we talk about something slightly more fun, please?" Lydia butts in.
"Like, oh, where are we going tomorrow night? You said you and Scott were hanging out tomorrow night, right?"
I look at Lydia weirdly.
"Uhm, we were thinking of what we were gonna do," Allison answers awkwardly.
"Well, I am not sitting home again watching lacrosse videos, so if the four of us are hanging out, we are doing something fun," Lydia says.
"Uh, Lydia, I think they were going to go on a date... alone..." I mutter. She just ignores me.
Scott turns to Allison.
"Hanging out, like the four of us? Do you wanna hang out, like, us and them?"
"Yeah, I guess. Sounds fun," Allison answers not too enthusiastically.
"You know what else sounds fun? Stabbing myself in the face with this fork," Jackson says.
"Oh, go ahead, do us a pleasure," I say, getting a glare from him in response.
"Unimportant nobody says what?" he retorts, making everyone stare at the both of us.
"Oh, Grace, that's right, you're here too. Why don't you come along with us, take uhh, that guy, what's-his-name, I don't care," Lydia says, giving a nod in Stiles' direction. I can almost hear him squeal.
"His name is Stiles," I say, irritated.
"And, I don't know, I'm not sure if I want to come with you guys," I say. Then Stiles looks at me wide eyed, trying to send me a message, and I immediately realise what he wants to say.
'Say yes! It's my chance to get close to Lydia!'
I look back at him uncertainly, glancing at Jackson.
'Are you sure you want to be on that date? I mean, with Jackson and Lydia together?'
He frantically moves his eyebrows.
'Yes! Come on! Say you'll come!'
I sigh.
'Fine.'
"But..." I start speaking again.
"Since Allison and Scott are there too, me and Stiles just might have to tolerate you two," I say.
"Perfect," Lydia says sarcastically.
"I'm coming to your house to help choose Allison's outfit, and yours too of course. God knows you need help when it comes to that. How about bowling?" she asks, turning to Jackson.
"You love to bowl."
"Yeah, with actual competition," he says.
"How do you know we're not actual competition? Grace can bowl," Allison says.
"I'm alright," I say. I'm not exactly great at bowling.
"Yeah! You can bowl, right?" Allison asks Scott.
"Sort of," he answers reluctantly. Yep, he sucks at it.
"Is it 'sort of' or 'yes'?" Jackson asks.
Scott's silent for a second, doubting what he should say, before he answers.
"Yes. In fact, I'm a great bowler."
***
Me, Scott and Stiles arrive in front of the school. It's weird how deserted it looks, but it's useful for what we're going to do.
"So a lot of things happened, but most importantly I spoke to Derek. He wants to help me actually. He told me I have to go to the crime scene and use my senses to remember," Scott explained to us on our way here.
We all get out of the car.
"Hey, no, just me. Someone needs to keep watch," Scott stops us.
"There's two of us left, we don't both have to keep watch," I say.
"I- I want to be alone for this, okay?"
"How come I'm always the guy keeping watch?" Stiles asks.
"Because you're not the werewolf here," I say.
"Okay, why is it startigt to feel like Scott is Batman and I'm Robin? I don't want to be Robin all the time."
"Nobody's Batman and Robin any of the time," Scott says.
"Well, who am I then?" I ask.
"Oh, no doubt, you're Catwoman," Stiles answers.
"What?! I'm not the villain!" I say, both of their judging stares fixing on me as a result.
"I'm Wonderwoman," I say, annoyed.
"Just stay here, both of you," Scott interrupts us.
"Oh my god! Fine," Stiles says, nearly rolling his eyes.
We watch as Scott takes off and starts scaling the fence. We're quiet, just staring at the area around us, but my mind isn't really focused on being on the lookout.
"I really hope you're not gonna tell your family about him, you know."
Stiles keeps his gaze on the school building, even when I look at him for a second.
"Yeah," I mutter, and I find myself not wanting to do it either. But if he hurt the guy, I just have to.
"Because I'm starting to like you," Stiles adds.
"Oh wow that came out kind of- I didn't mean it that way, you know I love Lydia. I just mean you're a nice friend and I'd hate for this to be screwed over by the werewolf stuff."
Now he looks at me, searching for a reaction, and I just smile.
"Me too. You're a funny gu- oh shit," I say, seeing headlights approaching.
Stiles honks and a few seconds later, we see Scott running towards us.
"Come on, come on," Stiles mutters.
Then Scott gets in the car, yells "Go!" and we're off.