"New year, new us..."
Diana rolled her eyes as she turned to look at Lydia from her place in the passenger's seat of her best friend's car.
"New you?" She almost scoffed, reaching for her bag on the backseat and shaking her head at the way Lydia extended a hand out to her, expecting her to pass her her own bag. "You're lucky I love you."
Lydia winked over at Diana in a silent thank you for her bag, already far too used to the blonde's little quirks.
"You are lucky I love you because you had the chance to be dating one of the lacrosse guys and you still choose not to be." She said, causing Diana to groan silently.
"I don't want to date him."
"You could start dressing better then, at least."
"I dress fine."
"I'm just saying, since this is a new school year, you could try..."
"I'm not changing anything about myself." Diana interrupted Lydia before the girl could start with her long and very boring speeches about being perceived better around the school. "But you? You could maybe change your boyfriend."
"Stop." Lydia rolled her eyes pushing open the car door as if to actually walk away from Diana and her own need of always listing out the number of reasons why she didn't particularly like Jackson Whittemore. "I'm not breaking up with him."
"So I'm not letting you dress me up for school." Diana shrugged, stepping out of the car as well and closing the door after her as Lydia sighed.
"Fine, then." She relented, locking her car and wrapping her arm around Diana's as the two of them started to make their way toward the entrance of the school. "But I just have to say... I still don't think beige is your color, maybe brown, but you definitely should try some green to make those hazel eyes pop."
"Maybe I'll try it." Diana shrugged. "If you stop being so mean to me every time I wear something you don't like."
"I'm just saying!" Lydia defended herself, a small smile on her lips as she started to go on and on about all the clothing combinations Diana could - well, no, should - try since she knew the girl's closet inside out and as much as Diana tried to pay attention to her, fashion was just something she never particularly care for, so she did end up tuning out most of what Lydia was saying as they walked together toward the school. That is, until she heard her name being called from somewhere from her right.
"Oh, god, that is freakin' awesome. I mean, this is seriously gonna be the best thing that's happened to this town since... Since the birth of Diana Hills."
Turning her head around, Diana found the source of the comment and she instantly recognized who it belonged to: Stiles Stilinski, of course, the same boy who had been trying to flirt with her since she could remember but that always got too nervous or, more often than not, too caught up with his messes with Scott McCall to ever properly hold a conversation with her. Every year, Diana wondered whether or not Stiles would grow out of his crush on her and, every year, he surprised her by not giving it up. Lydia always said it was kind of pathetic how caught up on her he was, but Diana thought it was endearing. Maybe a little worrying, but cute in a weird way.
"Hey, Diana!" Stiles waved a little once he noticed she was looking at him. "You look beautiful."
"Thanks, Stiles." Diana called back at him with a smile, not missing the way he blushed a little.
"That, hum... That shirt rocks!" He called out again, only to have Scott snorting quietly at his expense as Diana giggled and groaned a little when Lydia tugged her by the arm.
"Don't talk to him!" Lydia hissed, causing Diana to roll her eyes quietly. "No one talks to him. I mean, except for that friend of his... What's his name again? Steve?"
"Scott, Lydia." Diana corrected. "Scott McCall. And Stiles was just paying me a compliment. I just thanked him. Besides... He liked my beige shirt."
"Of course he did." Lydia rolled her eyes. "He'd like anything you wore. Even something as hideous as this."
"You're so mean."
"Eh, you love me." Lydia smirked again, winking at Diana who just shook her head at her best friend.
"Unfortunately for me... Yes, I actually do."
***
As soon as she was free of her History class, Diana rushed out of the classroom and out into the hallways, looking around to see if she'd find the brunette girl who she had agreed to help out during her first days of school and who she was supposed to meet before their first actual class but she didn't because she actually got to school late.
Taking yet another turn, Diana smiled, finding exactly who she had been looking for and jogging a little toward her as she went through what Diana supposed to be her new locker.
"Allison!" She smiled, once she was close enough to the girl, who turned her head to look at her and smiled right back at her.
"Diana, hi!" Allison greeted, still a little shy around the blonde. "I'm sorry we couldn't meet up before classes. I worried so much about pretty much everything that I ended up leaving my house late."
"Oh, no problem." Diana shrugged. "Did you find your class okay?"
"Yeah, actually."
"What did you have?"
"English."
"With Mrs. Clark?"
"Yeah."
"She's awful, isn't she?" Diana smiled when Allison laughed.
"Yeah, she's kind of annoying." She agreed.
"Did you meet anyone?"
"Not yet." Allison shook her head. "I mean, not really."
"Not really?"
"It's just... I was in such a rush to leave my house today that I forgot a pen." Allison said, giggling when Diana did too. "Yeah, anyway... But because I was late, there's was only one vacant desk, behind this boy... I didn't even ask him his name, but he offered me a pen without me even having to ask."
"Well, maybe he just assumed you'd be needing one." Diana smiled playfully. "I mean, you do kind of strike me as the type of person who is in need of a pen and this jacket doesn't help at all."
Allison laughed, shaking her head at Diana, who just giggled along with her. Before either of the girls could even say anything else anymore, however, Lydia approached them, frowning a little at Diana before focusing, instead, on Allison, analyzing the new girl and probably wondering why her best friend was speaking to her at all.
"That jacket is absolutely killer." Lydia smirked at Allison, surprising Diana, who was already half-expecting Lydia to reject Allison without even talking to her at all. "Where'd you get it?"
Allison hesitated for a second, unsure on how to respond. Briefly, her eyes searched Diana's and when the girl just shrugged a little, she decided to at least try and be friendly.
"My mom was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco." Allison said, causing Lydia to gasp, all excited out of the sudden.
"And you are our new best friend." She said, nudging Diana a little as the girl just laughed for a second, before rolling her eyes when she noticed Jackson approaching his girlfriend.
"Hey." He smirked at Lydia, pulling her closer to him by the waist.
"Hey, Jackson." Lydia responded in the same flirty tone, sharing a kiss with him as Diana crossed her arms over her chest and struggled not to gag. Allison giggled quietly when she noticed the girl's reaction, but was quick to recover when Lydia pulled away from Jackson and sent Diana a look before turning to Allison instead. "So, this weekend, there's a party."
"A party?" Allison repeated.
"Yeah, Friday night." Jackson said.
"Oh, you should come." Diana smiled, watching as Allison looked down at her feet for a second.
"Hum, I can't." She said. "It's family night this Friday. Thanks for asking."
"You sure?" Jackson asked. "Everyone's going after the scrimmage."
"You mean like football?" Allison asked.
"Football's a joke in Beacon. The sport here is lacrosse." Jackson responded, almost offended by the idea that Allison could even think he'd ever be playing football. "We've won the state championship for the past three years."
"Because of a certain team captain..." Lydia looked over at Jackson, rather proudly as Diana rolled her eyes again.
"Well, we have practice in a few minutes." Jackson shrugged after smirking a little smugly at Lydia. "That is, if you don't have anywhere else to go."
"Well, I was going to..."
"Perfect!" Lydia interrupted her before Allison could even put a single word out. "You're coming."
Allison frowned, watching as Lydia grabbed onto Jackson's arm again and walked away with her before turning to look at Diana, a little lost. Diana only laughed at her expression, shrugging her shoulders as if to apologize for her friend's behavior.
"If you stick around, you'll get used to her." She said. "But if you really don't have anything else to do, we can watch the try-outs together. God knows I need someone to distract me there as Lydia drolls over Jackson."
"Okay." Allison laughed, locking her locker and allowing Diana to lead her toward the lacrosse field. "Yeah, we can go watch the try-outs, then."
***
Diana was happy about having Allison with her during the try-outs since, as expected, Lydia didn't bother giving her a second of her attention now that her hot, popular boyfriend was playing - or rather, showing off - on the field. So, for a while, Diana was glad to have Allison there so the two of them could talk. Eventually, however, Allison had seemed to find something else on the field a little more interesting than whatever story Diana was telling her and the blonde decided to let her watch the game for a while as she pulled out a book from her bag and pulled it open. After going through a whole new chapter, Diana lifted her head to look at her friends and frowned when she noticed how Allison seemed to be watching something - or rather, someone - very intensely.
"What are you looking at?" Diana asked, curiously.
Instead of answering, however, Allison simply nodded over to the field and Diana turned around to watch, just in time to catch Scott McCall making his way toward the goal.
"Who is that?" Allison asked.
"Him?" Lydia asked, cocking her head to the side and frowning as if she didn't even know the boy. "I'm not sure who he is. Why?"
"He's in my English class." Allison said.
"Is he the one who gave you the pen?" Diana asked.
"Yes."
"His name is Scott." Diana said. "Scott McCall."
"Is he good?" Allison asked. "At lacrosse?"
"Scott?" Diana chuckled, shaking her head at the way Scott failed to defend Jackson's ball. "No. He's been sitting on the bench all of last year."
"Hey, way to catch with your face, McCall!" Jackson called, over the laughter of everyone on the field.
Allison frowned at the situation and Diana watched quietly as Scott was suddenly hit with a wave of confidence. Preparing himself for the next hit, Scott kept his eyes on the ball and, surprisingly for everyone around them, he caught it rather easily.
"Yeah!" Stiles cheered for his best friend who was clearly very impressed with himself.
After that, Scott managed to catch all of the next few balls and Diana watched the scene unfold with a raised eyebrow.
"I thought you said he wasn't good." Allison smirked a little, leaning over to Diana as the two of them sat side by side on the bleachers.
"He wasn't." Diana defended herself.
"Well, he seems like he's pretty good to me." Allison chuckled, as Diana hit her arm gently.
"Yeah." Lydia nodded, clearly very impressed as well. "Very good."
***
After making first line on the lacrosse team that year, Scott was automatically invited to the party at Lydia's house and, of course, if Scott was invited, so was Stiles, so it really should come as no surprise to Diana to see the pair there. What did surprise the girl, however, was the fact that Stiles had actually approached her for a chat and, as nervous as he clearly was, that had been the most confident Diana had ever seen Stiles be ever.
"I saw you in the try-outs the other day." Stiles said, trying to start a conversation.
"Oh, yeah." Diana nodded. "Lydia usually drags me around wherever so..."
"You were reading." Stiles noted, causing Diana to turn to him with a frown. "Not that I was watching you or whatever, I don't... Watch you. I mean, I barely look at you. I mean, that came out wrong, I do look at you. All the time. That also... That also wasn't what I really meant, I just..."
"Stiles." Diana giggled, shaking her head gently with a smile. "I was reading. The hound of the Baskerville, if that interests you."
"Really?" Stiles asked, and there was something about his tone that Diana couldn't quite place. It almost seemed as if he was amused by something. But then again, Stiles Stilinski was usually seen amused by everything.
"Yeah." Diana nodded. "I love crime novels and Sherlock Holmes is my favorite for sure."
"I love Sherlock Holmes too!" Stiles smiled, all excited. "And crime novels! My favorite is A study in Scarlet, though."
"That's a good one." Diana nodded. "I might have read that one like three times already. But The hound... Might have read that one like... Five times, maybe six. I always have it nearby so I can focus on something else when Lydia is too busy with Jackson. Or herself. I mean, I love her, but making me sit through a whole lacrosse practice? It's the most boring thing I've ever watched. No offence."
"It's fine." Stiles smiled a little. "It's boring for me too. I'm always on the bench."
"Well, maybe Scott can give you a few tips, right?" Diana shrugged. "I mean, he was always on the bench too and now suddenly he's out there, doing back-flips and whatnots to score a goal..."
"Yeah, I'm not sure that's something he could teach me." Stiles mumbled, causing Diana to frown.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, nothing, I just... I don't think I'd be able to do any of that, ever."
"Oh, come on... I'm sure that's not true."
"Have you seen me, Diana?" Stiles asked with a chuckle as the girl in front of him laughed. "I trip when I'm walking."
"Alright, that's... That's fair."
Stiles beamed then, absolutely giddy about the actual natural conversation he was just having with Diana Hills herself. For a moment, Stiles actually thought nothing would be able to ruin his night, but that had been just a few seconds before Scott had appeared in front of them, stumbling through the house and looking awfully pale.
"Stiles?" Diana called, her voice sounding almost worried as she nudged Stiles a little and nodded her head toward Scott, having been the first one to notice his presence there since Stiles was a little too busy staring at her instead.
"Yo, Scott, you good?" Stiles asked, as soon as he looked over at his best friend.
Scott didn't answer him, though, and, instead, just stumbled off. Diana frowned, about to turn to Stiles again and ask if there was anything wrong with Scott that he knew of, but, before she could, she noticed Allison pushing her way through the crowd of people, clearly trying to get to Scott and, without a second thought, she took off after her friend.
"Excuse me, for a second." Diana mumbled, not wanting to leave Stiles hanging, but too concerned for Allison to give him much of an explanation just yet.
Rushing after Allison, Diana finally reached her once she was out of the house and Diana watched with furrowed eyebrows as Scott entered his car - without Allison - and drove off. Diana could see Allison was upset - of course she would be - so, she decided to go over to her and try to understand what was happening. She gasped, however, when she noticed an older man approaching Allison.
"Allison." He called, and something about the way he said her name made Diana's whole body shiver. "I'm a friend of Scott's. My name's Derek."
Rushing over to Allison, Diana grabbed the girl by the arm and smiled as politely as possible to that Derek guy. Diana felt the way Allison jumped, startled for a moment before relaxing once she recognized her touch and, before she could do anything else, Diana was already talking.
"Hey, Ally, you okay?" She asked, causing Allison to blink a few times as she turned to look at Diana.
"Yeah, I... I think so." She mumbled.
"Do you want to go back inside?" Diana asked, clearly trying to take Allison away from the man standing near them. "Or... Maybe go home?"
Allison hesitated, looking as if she was still in some sort of haze. When her eyes met Diana's worried ones, however, something inside of her snapped and she was quick to nod her head.
"Yeah, hum... Yeah, I'll take that ride home." She said, causing Diana to almost breathe out in relief.
"Right, come on then." She nodded her head toward the back of the street where her own car was parked. "Let's go. Hum, thank you for the help, hum..."
"Derek." The man spoke up, his voice bringing shivers down her spine again.
"Derek." She repeated. "Thank you."
And without another word, Diana tugged at Allison's arm, walking away from him and toward her car. For a while, neither of the girls said anything, but once they were close enough to Diana's car so that the girl could reach for her keys and unlock it, they both decided it was safe enough to talk.
"What just happened?" Diana asked, climbing into her car as Allison did the same in the passenger's seat.
"I... I don't know."
"Did you know that man?"
"No."
"Allison!" Diana practically hissed, starting the car and making her way down the street toward Allison's house. "You don't talk to strangers! Especially full grown adults lurking around a house party full of teenagers."
"I wasn't talking to him." Allison protested, sighing when Diana sent her a quick look. "I wasn't! All he did was tell me his name and say he was friends with Scott."
"Regardless." Diana shook her head. "You shouldn't have talked to him. Especially not alone."
"I know." Allison nodded. "Thank you, by the way."
"No problem." Diana smiled a little. "And, anyway, what happened to Scott?"
"Did you see him?" Allison asked.
"Yeah, he passed by me when he was heading out of the party. He looked sick. Was he sick?"
"I don't know... He didn't tell me." Allison mumbled. "He just said he'd be back in a minute and next thing I know he was splitting from the party in his car."
"That's unlike him." Diana frowned.
"What do you mean?" Allison asked. "You know him?"
"I mean, sort of." Diana shrugged. "I know of him. It's just... We've studied together for a while now, you know? We were never close friends, but... Anyway... The point is... It's not like Scott to leave anyone hanging, is what I mean."
"Well, he definitely left me." Allison mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest as Diana smiled over at her.
"I'm sure he had a reason." She said, laughing when Allison sent her a look. "Look, just talk to him. He surely has an explanation, okay? Just... Give him a chance to explain."
"I'll think about it."
"Fine." Diana smiled, parking the car just outside Allison's home and turning to look at her friend properly again. "In any case, just don't talk to strangers again, okay?"
"I'll try." Allison smirked, causing Diana to laugh.
"Okay." She said. "Good night, Allison."
"Good night, Diana." Allison smiled, stepping out of her friend's car and waving a little at her. "Thank you for the ride."
"Any time."
***
Diana jumped in surprise when she opened her bathroom door, only to end up face to face with her little brother, standing there with a stupid smirk on his face, clearly amused by his sister's annoyance.
"Declan!" Diana whined, hitting her brother in the back of his head as she stepped around him to walk into her bedroom. "You scared me!"
"Sorry." Declan shrugged, clearly not sorry at all. "It's just... There's someone at the door for you."
"Someone?" Diana frowned. "Who?"
"Stiles."
"Stiles?" Diana repeated, surprised, only for Declan to nod his head. "Fine. Tell him to wait in the living room, I'll be down in a second."
With a nod of his head, Declan turned around and left, leaving Diana alone for a second so she could throw a sweater over her pajamas and step outside her room before making her way downstairs and toward the living room. To no one's surprise, standing rather awkwardly in the middle of her living room, was no one other than Stiles Stilinski himself and, as soon as Diana noticed he was still wearing the same outfit he had on during the party, she felt the guilt start to creep up on her.
"Sorry." She said, watching as Stiles spun around in his own feet to turn and look at her instead. "For the wait and for... Leaving you at the party."
"Oh, no, that's... That's fine." Stiles shook his head. "That's not why I'm here."
"It's not?" Diana asked. "Then why?"
"I just... I just wanted to make sure you got home okay." Stiles shrugged, causing Diana to smile gently, pleasantly surprised. "I mean, I saw you and Allison talking to... Hum, that man outside and..."
"Oh, yeah." Diana shrugged. "He was kind of creepy. He said he was friends with Scott. Do you know him?"
"Me? No." Stiles almost scoffed, as Diana nodded. "That's... Hum, that's why I wanted to make sure you were okay."
"I'm fine, thanks." Diana smiled. "I got Allison home safe and I got home okay as well. Thank you, though. For... Coming."
"Yeah, it's, hum... It's fine." Stiles said, shifting his weight from foot to the other before sighing. "I should... Hum... I should go."
"Sure." Diana nodded. "I'll walk you out."
"Okay."
And, without another word, Diana pointed toward the door and walked silently beside Stiles. Opening the front door for him, she smiled a little, nodding at him when he walked past her toward the threshold. Stiles turned around to look at Diana one more time before leaving, as if to say something else, but stopped himself and just waved at her awkwardly.
"Stiles?" She called, giggling at the way Stiles almost tripped over his own feet to turn around and look at Diana as she spoke. "Give me your phone."
"My phone?" Stiles frowned, as Diana nodded.
"Yes." She said. "Your phone."
"Oh, okay." Stiles whispered, reaching into the pocket of his jacket to pull out his phone and give it to Diana.
He watched in silence as the girl worked with it for a few seconds before smiling quietly and giving it back to him. Stiles almost fainted when he looked down at his phone and noticed the brand new contact number there, falling under the name of Diana Hills.
"That way, if you ever need to check on me again, you don't need to drive all the way to my house." She shrugged a little with a shy smile on her lips that made Stiles want to melt. "Good night, Stiles."
And after blinking a few times and shaking his head to make sure he wasn't just dreaming, Stiles managed to find his voice again, even if a little shaky.
"Good night, Diana."