Chapter 21
After my freak out after the whole school event, I finally got to sleep with the help of Stiles and the talk with my mother. There were times where I would dream about it, but it didn't shake me as hard as it did before. I was enjoying a quiet night at my house as I tried to catch up with homework.
I was going to ask Lydia over for a girl's night but she had declined all invitations due to some family problems. Lydia has always been one to bottle her life from the outside world, but I have always wanted her to open up to me. After what happened to us at the video store and at school, it was going to be harder to do.
My music paused form the sudden incoming video call from Allison.
I looked at my screen with curiosity but answered it anyway, "Allison?"
"Hey, Juliette..." she answered.
I can make out that she has been crying a bit.
During our life-threatening time at school, we had a small fight about the whole of her and Jackson getting close. She had claimed that the whole situation was just blocking out her reasoning which leads to her breaking up with Scott. I told her that I wasn't really happy with the way she did things, which lead to us not able to really have a proper conversation.
I gave her a worried look, genuinely getting worried about her. At the end of the day, even if she was an Argent, or if she had clearly flirted with my ex, which is Lydia's current boyfriend while Scott was there, or the fact that she clearly got angry at me after Jackson pushed me to the ground, I had gotten to like her as a friend.
"Is everything okay?" I asked her.
She shakes her head as she answered me, "No... I feel like I am making a mistake with Scott... So, I was thinking since you know him for so long, that you might help me- Help me understand."I sighed, "Allison, I don't think I should have a say in this..."
"Why not?" she quickly asked back.
"Well for starters," paused to collect my thoughts, "You and Scott are my friends. I can't take sides. You made a choice and I have to live with it even if it causes the two of you pain..."
"I just want to know if I did the right thing..." she hung her head.
I took a moment to think before I answered her, "If I were to voice my opinion from an outsider's perspective, I would say you did and you didn't."
She looked at me but stayed silent for me to continue.
"Scott has been keeping things, that would have gotten me so mad if Stiles was doing the same to me, but I would also trust in him to tell me what it was at the right time," I offered her my opinion, "If you can't stand the secrets, then I say you did the right thing and should not regret it. But if you still trust him... I would say that you didn't do the right thing and will regret losing such an amazing person to be your boyfriend."
Allison finally smiled as she nodded, "Thanks, Juliette. You gave me a better perspective on things."
"Anytime, Allie," I smiled back.
We were quiet for a moment until I offered her, "Do you want to come over? My mom's at work but we can watch movies and just eat the huge tub of ice cream I have in my refrigerator."
"I would," she laughed, "I'm technically still grounded and this conversation never happened."
"Ah," I laughed, "Well, feels good to have such a laid back mom to understand the situation was not my fault."
"I'll see you on Monday?" she asked me.
I nodded.
We said our goodbyes and ended our calls. I was already back to the homework I was getting through when my phone rang. I sighed, getting annoyed about not having the time to just work. My frustration left me as I smiled at Stiles' picture of the one time I slept over and he was still asleep.
He was calling me.
"Yes, Stiles?" I answered with a smile.
I could make out him talking, but I quickly noticed that he wasn't talking to me.
"There are plenty of girls in the sea," he giggled, "You are bound to find another, Scottie boy."
"Fish," Scott answered back, "I think you mean to say fish."
"Fish?" Stiles asked offended at the word, "I'm talking about girls! I love girls! I love ones with long brown hair, hazel eyes, soft lips, and the perfect body..."
"You mean Juliette?" Scott asked, sounding bored.
My face turned red at the compliment that Stiles has sent me without his knowledge.
"How did you know I was talking about her!?" Stiles asked, excited.
"Because you are head over heels for her since we were in kindergarten," Scott answered.
"Yeah... " Stiles sighed.
I laughed. Deciding I have heard enough, I hang up the call, and send him a text.
9:56 pm - Juliette: Remind me to get you drunk more often.
Noticing the time, I gave up on my work and decided to call it a night.
---
Monday morning came around as if nothing really happened. I just got up as usual and got ready for school. Taking out a high waisted red button upskirt, a black long-sleeved top, my black leather heeled boots, and leather jacket out of my closet and made quick work of it. It was a simple look but it was a good look at the very least, which would only cause Lydia to approve of it.
"Hey," mom called from outside my room which followed by a knock on the door.
I opened up the door to her in her lab coat and I asked, "Hey mom, what's up?"
"Are you sure you want to go back to school? I can give you another day if you want," she offered.
I gave her a small smile as I replied back, "I'll be fine."
"I only ask since it's a full moon tonight," she cleared up her motives.
"Even more reason to go," I gave her a kiss on the cheek, "I have to help Stiles keep an eye on Scott. Especially when he's heartbroken at the moment."
"Alright," she sighed, "Call me if you change your mind."
"Okay," I smiled.
Stiles' jeep was heard from outside, causing me to smile. I gave my mother another kiss on the cheek before rushing out the door. When I got into the car I turned to Stiles who was looking at me from head to toe.
"What?" I laughed.
"It's unfair what you do to me..." he groaned.
I leaned over the gear shift as I smiled, "Not going to lie, I enjoy the smell you give when I am being unfair."
"What smell?" Stiles asked pulling away before I could even kiss him.
"Stiles, I can smell emotions," I rolled my eyes, "Especially arousal."
Stiles' face turned bright red as he recalled all of the time he thought about her in that way. I laughed finally pulling him for a kiss, which he returned.
"Just know," I finally spoke once we broke the kiss, "It can make me act a certain way when it does appear."
We both jumped at the sound of the window being knocked on. We turned to look at my mother giving us a disapproving look.
"If you guys stay any longer, you are going to be late!" she told them.
I put my seatbelt on as Stiles began to turn his jeep back on and made quick work of leaving the driveway. I noticed my mother laughing but I just rolled my eyes at her. The drive was quick, as stiles wanted to not be late for the tests today. We gave each other a quick kiss before he rushed to look for Scott as I went to look for the girls.
I stopped at the stairs as Allison's father drove up to the front. I adjusted my bag on my shoulder as I waited for Allison to get out. Of course, the hunters were being overprotective of her daughter after the Alpha attack. Once Allison did come out of the car, she waved over to Juliette who smiled back at her.
They talked for a bit as they waited for Lydia to arrive as well. It didn't take long, as the strawberry blond made her way over to them. Lydia stood between the two girls as they entered the school doors.
---
"It's just weird," Allison whispered as they left their classroom.
They have been through one of their tests which were not fun, but everyone was talking about what must have happened. Now, we were heading to Mr. Harris' test room as his room was currently under repair from what happened the previous night.
Allison continued, "Everybody's talking about what happened the other night, and nobody knows it was us."
Lydia scoffed, "Thank you for the protection of minors."
"Not to mention Jackson's parents were the ones to cover it up," I threw my two cents, "I mean we did break into the school in the middle of the night which is a crime."
They stayed quiet for a moment before Allison turned the conversation to what has been going on with her, "Lydia, do you think I made the wrong decision?"
"About that jacket with that dress?" Lydia asked, scanning her outfit, "Absolutely."
I couldn't help but shake my head.
"You know what I mean," Allison stated.
"Hello?" Lydia spoke openly, "Scott locked us in that classroom and left us for dead as Juliette was with the murderer. He's lucky we're not pressing charges or making him pay our therapy bills."
We got to a crossroads in the hallway when I noticed Stiles sitting on the ground. I told the girls I would talk to them later as I rushed over to Stiles. Walking up to him caused him to look up at her as he smiled.
Smiling back, I asked, "What are you doing?"
"My dad's in there talking about Derek," he answers, just as the door opened.
Stiles rushed to get to his feet as Noah walked out of the office with State police. I stood by Stiles' side as Noah excused himself for a moment. Once he did, he crossed his arms and walked over to us.
"Don't you two have a test to get to?" Noah asked them.
"What's going on?" Stiles asked, "Did you find Derek yet?"
"I'm working on it," Noah sighed, "You guys, go and take your test."
"Alright," Stiles nodded, "Dad, listen to me."
"Go," Noah was getting impatient with them.
I placed a hand on Stiles' arm as an encouraging gesture before he continued, "It's important. You have to be careful tonight, okay? Especially tonight."
"Stiles, I'm always careful," Noah sighed a bit sad this time.
I stepped in this time as I told him, "No, really. Please be careful tonight. You don't know what this is and it's extremely different from what you are used to dealing with, Mr. Stilinski."
"I know, which is why I brought in people who have," Noah motioned to the other police waiting for him to return, "State detective. Now, you two. Go take your test."
I nodded, pulling Stiles away from his father. We took a final glance back to the older Stilinski before we made our way to Mr. Harris' class. Once we did we took out seats that were in the back corner of the room. Stiles sat in front of me as I took a seat behind him. We were chatting quietly as we waited for the class to start.
"Mr. McCall, please take a seat," Mr. Harris spoke up.
Stiles and I turned over to the front of the classroom where Scott was trying to talk to Allison. I gave him a weak smile before turning my attention to our test before us. Mr. Harris gave his speech on the instruction and the testing period began. As I worked through my booklet, I began to get overwhelmed with the different smells of fear, anxiety, and worry coming from many of the students around me. I was used to it, but my head snapped up when a new scent entered the mix.
Scott was slowly losing it. I tried to whisper at him to calm down, but it didn't help. He continued to look around frantically before he ended up shooting out of his chair and rushing out of the classroom. Stiles and I quickly stood up and rushed over to him. Stiles was able to slip past Mr. Harris before he stepped before me, cutting me off from the door.
"Unless you wish to fail my test, Miss Barnett," Mr. Harris glared at me, "I suggest to return to your seat."
"Everyone in this classroom knows I can pass the test anyway," I glared back and rushed past him.
I followed the scent from both Scott and Stiles, which lead me to the boy's locker rooms. I found Scott taking a long hit from his inhaler.
Scott looked at the small device in his hands as his heart rate began to lower, "I was having an asthma attack?"
"No, you were having a panic attack," I offered.
Stiles and Scott looked over to me as I walked up to them.
"Thinking you were having an asthma attack actually stopped the panic attack," Stiles stated.Scott looked at his friend frantically.
"Ironic," I laughed, "I know."
"How did you know to do that?" Scott asked.
Stiles looked over to me before he answered him, "I used to get them after my mom died. Not fun, huh?"
I stood beside Stiles as I gave Scott a pat on the shoulder.
"What triggered it?" I asked him.
He looked up at me and answered, "I looked at her, and it was like someone hit me in the ribs with a hammer."
"Yeah, it's called heartbreak," Stiles replied, "About two billion songs written about it."
"I can't stop thinking about her," Scott stated.
"Well, you could think about this," Stiles spoke up, "Her dad's a werewolf hunter, and you're a werewolf, so it was bound to become an issue."
"Stiles," I gave him a look, "That's not helping..."
Stiles sighed, "Okay, you were dumped, and it sucks..."
"No, that's not it," Scott looked up to his best friend, "It was like I could feel everything in the room, everyone else's emotions."
"That's the moon talking," I sighed, "It's affecting you more without having Allison to be your anchor..."
"So we'll lock you up in your room later just like we planned," Stiles stated, "That way the Alpha, who is your boss, can't get to you, either."
"I think we need to do a lot more than lock me in my room," Scott sighed.
"Why?" I asked him.
"Because if I get out, I think I might kill someone," Scott announced.
---
Lunch came around and I got a call from my mother. I explained that the reason for me leaving the classroom was because of Scott. She sighed and told me that she will talk to the principal about me retaking my test along with Stiles and Scott. I thanked her and returned to focusing on Stiles.
We were sitting outside on the quad as we ate out for lunch. We talked and fed each other, laughing as we did it. It felt so natural and good to have Stiles around me. It was so amazing that I didn't even feel the force of the moon over me.
I genuinely felt... normal.
When lunch was over, Stiles gave me a kiss goodbye as he rushed off to the locker rooms for Lacrosse practice. I entered the school behind him as I went to my locker, finding Lydia there as well.
"How are you feeling, Lyds?" I asked as I opened my locker.
Lydia looked over to me as she gave me shrug, "Beside the trauma it caused me to fear for my life, you almost dying, and my boyfriend ignoring me, I'm doing fantastic."
"You know you can talk to me," I offered.
She laughed, "I'm doing fine, Juls."
Lydia looped her arm around my own as she began to pull me toward the cafeteria. We had this as our free period so we used it mainly to talk and go over school work whenever we didn't have to go to see the boys practice.
"Why are we heading to the cafeteria?" I asked her.
"Allison is over there and I thought that maybe we could take her to see the boys practice," Lydia answered.
"I don't think that's a good idea, Lyds," I sighed, "It would only cause Allison to get hurt."
"Then we can just skip through practice and hang out with her?"
I was about to agree with her when someone called my name, "Juliette..."
We turned to look over to Scott in his lacrosse practice jersey. He looked lost as he looked at me.
"Can we talk?" he continued.
I looked over to Lydia but then nodded to Scott, "Sure, what's up?"
"Alone?" Scott pushed further.
"I'll see you in a bit okay?" I told Lydia before following Scott over to Coach's office.
Scott closed the door behind him as I crossed her arms in the middle of the small office. Something about Scott was giving me the wrong vibes, but if he was struggling with the full moon I was the only one available to help him.
"What is it you want to talk about?" I quickly asked.
He didn't look at me as he asked, "Does... Does Allison still like me?"
I sighed, "Scott, I'm not going to do this. I told Allison I wouldn't take sides..."
"Please..." Scott breathed heavily.
I sighed once more, giving in this time, "Look, Allison is struggling between her own morals when it comes to her dating. Just give her time to think and I'm sure she'll get back with you."
"I did what I had to do to protect us..." Scott finally looked over at me.
His look was intense.
"I know..." I placed a hand on his shoulder, "You have to let it play its course, Scott."
I went to walk past him, but before I could, Scott took hold of my arm and pinned me to the wall beside the door. Without a warning he leaned forward, capturing his lips onto mine. My eyes went wide before I push Scott off of me and slapping him across the face. The claw marks that raked across his cheek slowly began to heal.
I can feel the fire burning in my core as I hissed at him, "Don't you even come to touch me ever again!"
Exiting the room I rushed over to the bathroom, to get away from Scott. I was fuming at the thought that he had asked about Allison and then kissed me a moment later. I knew it was the full moon, but it was still wrong of him to do.
I leaned over the sink in the girl's bathroom as I fought back tears. The door opened as Lydia entered. She looked worried as she noticed my lipstick was messed up.
"You kissed Scott?" she asked.
I glared at her for assuming before I corrected her, "Like hell, I would kiss him. He forced himself on me, and then I slapped him! Ugh! Allison is going to hate me!"
"If you say he kissed you," Lydia offered me a smile, "She should be mad at him, not you."
"How will Stiles take it..." my vision became blurry as the thought of Stiles being mad at me began to fill my head.
"I'm sure he'll take your word for it," Lydia came over to me, taking out a small bag from her larger one and offered, "Let me fix you up, before anyone notices."
I laughed a bit but accepted her help.
Lydia worked quickly to fix up my make up. Touching up my dark lip, I felt like they were back to normal. Smiling once she was done. I looked over to the mirror, taking in the touch up work and deciding to pull my hair. Hair pulled back into a perfect high ponytail, I glanced over to Lydia who approved.
"Let's go show Scott that you are not someone to be messed with," Lydia offered.
I laughed but allowed Lydia to drag me off to the lacrosse field for practice. When we arrived, I noticed Stiles and Scott talking but Stiles stopped to wave at me. I smiled over to him and waved back.
Lydia and I were in the middle of talking, well really gossiping, when we noticed the guys rushing over to Danny. Both of us, worried about our friend, rushed over to Danny. Juliette looked over to Scott and Stiles as they talked, but it was Scott's attitude that made me angry. Either Scott needs to stop being a complete brat or I am going to put him in his place.