"You took him down twice just to find out which version of him said that stuff to you?" Kira walks alongside of me to the bleachers outside to the lacrosse field.
I nod. "Yeah."
Kira shakes her head. "Now, Derek's going to know that you have feelings for him."
"What?" I laugh at her absurd thought. "I don't have feelings for him."
Kira sits down on the first row of bleachers. Her head turns my way, a confused expression on it. "You don't?"
"No."
"Then why did you want to know his answer so badly?" Kira rests her hands on top of the lacrosse stick she has for some unknown reason.
I shrug my shoulders. "I was just curious. I wanted to know if that was sixteen year old Derek or this Derek speaking."
Kira's eyes float to the the empty lacrosse field. None of the guys are out on the field yet, probably still in the locker room getting ready. "If he had told you that he was the one that said it and not just his sixteen year old self, would that change your feelings?"
I hesitant. I don't mean to, but Kira's question has caught me off guard. I don't have feelings for Derek, so why would his answer affect me? Sure, younger Derek had gotten to me a little, but he was so much more different than regular Derek. "No, I like Stiles."
"Stiles has Malia." Kira reminds me, with a sad smile. "You could go for Derek. I know everyone doesn't really like him, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't."
I raise an eyebrow at my best friend. A laugh slips between my lips. "I'm not going after Derek. I mean, yeah, he is pretty damn good looking, but that's it. There's no way I could date Derek."
"So, you're going to try to go after Stiles?" Kira frowns, trying to understand where I am coming from.
"No." I feel the corners of my lips tug down in a frown. "He is happy with Malia and I'm not going to ruin that."
A few of the guys trying out today walk across the field with lacrosse sticks in their hands. I watch the group of them joke around with smiles on their faces. Scott and Stiles are nowhere in sight yet. They must still be in the locker room.
"I was hoping you would find someone and we could double date." Kira rests her chin on the top of the lacrosse stick. "Not that Scott and I are even dating- Actually, I don't even know what we are. You know, he kissed me earlier."
"Oh?" I nudge my best friend in the side.
Kira vigorously shakes her head. "No, not that kind of kiss. It was- like you are forced to kiss a grandparent."
I wrinkle my nose in distaste. "Oh." I drag the word out. "Your relationship with Scott confuses the heck out of me. Why don't you guys just date?"
"I want to, but- I don't know." Kira sighs.
Malia suddenly appears and sits down on the other side of me. Her arms are filled with a math book, loose paper stuffed between the pages. A highlighter is held between her lips. She half nods at the two of us. Kira stares at me until I make eye contact with her. No matter how much I may like Stiles, I'm not getting in the way of things. I refuse to be that girl.
Back out on the field, the rest of the guys have filed out of the locker room and are now running a lap around the field. Dad stands on the edge of the track, waiting for the mass of boys to finish. From the bleachers, I can see a younger boy with blonde hair at the front of the group. Scott is in the middle, keeping a steady pace, whereas Stiles is in the very back. His face is beet red, already exhausted with just the beginning of practice.
Dad watches the group of boys pass him, with a stop watch in hand. "Terrible. Horrifying. Pathetic. Unbelievably pathetic." He adds his own opinion as the boys race past him, completely their first lap. "Is that everyone?" Dad sighs when Stiles finally finishes his lap, collapsing on the ground. "Yep, that's everyone."
I chuckle to myself when Scott rushes over to his best friend, helping him stand up. "Poor Stiles." I whisper. "So, what do you think about this axe murder?" I ask Kira. "Think it's supernatural or just someone going crazy?"
"In this town, it's got to be supernatural." Kira responds without looking my way.
"True." I agree with her. "The son survived, though. The rest of the family died, but Scott said his mom was dealing with the son at the hospital. I wonder how he is doing, probably scared out of his mind."
"I don't know what I would do if I lost my parents." Kira mumbles.
Malia's head lifts up, her attention no longer on the pre-calculas homework she has. Malia looks right past me to Kira. "What's wrong with you?"
Kira's head snaps in our direction, eyes wide, and fingers tightly wound around the lacrosse stick. "Me? Nothing?"
Malia gives her a look, like she doesn't believe a word. "You reek of anxiety and it's distracting. What's going on?"
"Something happened between her and Scott." I fill Malia in.
"But, it wasn't much of a thing." Kira waves a hand. "And, I'm starting to think it never was anything at all."
"What do you want it to be?"
Kira gazes down at the ground, sadly. "More."
I pat my friend's shoulder, comfortingly. "Hang in there. Scott is crazy about you. Just give it some time."
Stiles is the first one up in the line to go up against the goalie, some junior. He puts all of his strength in throwing the ball towards the goal. I cross my fingers in my lap. I know how badly Stiles wants to be on the team again. This is the one thing that keeps him from going insane from all of the supernatural crap.
Much to my dismay and I'm sure to Stiles, the ball flies right into the goalie's lacrosse stick. I sigh, exasperated. The rest of the team behind him chuckles. I glare, hatefully, at all of the boys. I push myself up from the bleachers and over to where my dad is standing. "You're going to keep Stiles on the team, right?"
Dad glances down at me, his whistle between his lips. He pulls it out, letting it fall to his chest. "I don't know."
"He's not bad." I defend my friend.
"But, he's not good."
"He just needs practice." I say as another boy scoops up the lacrosse ball in his stick. The boy throws the ball towards the goal and gets it right in without the goalie being able to block it. "Who's that?" I eye the blonde boy.
"Yes!" Dad shouts before looking back at me. "Liam Dunbar. He's a freshman. He's good, right?"
My arms cross over my chest. I don't want to admit it, but he is good. Scott pushes his way to the front of the line, falling into place where Liam just stood. Scott looks way too cocky, like he knows he is going to show Liam how to really play lacrosse. The ball doesn't fly in the net. It hits the side of the goal instead. Once again, the rest of the boys erupt in laughter.
A boy in a red and black athletic shirt yells, "Nice McCall!"
"Hey, Garrett!" Stiles calls out to the boy, looking rather annoyed. "Shut up."
As if they are trying to be better than each other, Scott, Stiles, and Liam throw lacrosse balls over and over again. The sad thing is that Liam is the only one scoring anything. Stiles and Scott haven't gotten one in yet. Why is Scott doing so badly? I've never seen him be this bad before. Scott grows tired of not scoring anything and storms off. Stiles follows him.
"Come on, Scott." I whisper, knowing full well that he can hear me.
Scott looks my way and weakly smiles. The two boys point and look over to where Liam is standing by that other kid, Garrett. Liam rushes forward, scoring yet another ball in the goal. Either he is in the supernatural world or he is just that good.
Dad walks a little out on the field, and I follow him. The shrill sound of the whistle pierces my eardrums. "Hustle!" Dad waits until the boys form a half circle around us. "McCall and Stilinski, grab the long sticks. You're covering goal for two on ones. Let's go! Line it up!"
Stiles and Scott switch out their sticks. While Dad starts to walk back to the sidelines, I take a step towards the two of them.
"Scott, what's going on?" I whisper to him.
Stiles rolls his eyes. "He's not using any of his werewolf skills. That's why Liam is doing better than him."
"Is Liam supernatural?"
Scott shakes his head. "No. I would be able to smell him."
"Arden, off the field!" Dad shouts from behind me.
My tongue pokes the inside of my cheek. "Good luck, guys." I back way. "And, Scott, a little supernatural never hurt anyone."
Once I'm standing back with my dad, Liam pulls his helmet on over his head. Back on the bleachers, Kira looks just as worried as I am. Technically, using any of Scott's werewolf abilities is cheating, but they both need this. They need to be on the team. However, Garrett decides to go up against them first.
I'm assuming Scott tapped into his werewolf abilities because he knocked Garrett's stick out of his hands easily. I jump up and down in joy. Yes! That's how you do it!
"That's my boys!" Dad yells, proudly. Dad turns to the other two boys behind him. "Those two are like sons to me."
A boy in green steps forward next. I bounce on my toes, fingers crossed. With a bit of teamwork, they knock the boy in green down to the ground, no where close to the goal.
I scream out in joy. "Yes!"
One by one, Stiles and Scott knock down players with little to no struggle. Neither my dad or I can contain our excitement on the sidelines. The two guys standing by us just give me strange looks as I cheer on my two friends.
"That's how you do it! That's how it's done!" Dad points to the two of them with both hands.
My jumping up and down ceases when Liam steps up to the plate. Liam is taking this way too seriously right now. My hands cover my mouth as I worriedly watch the scene unfold in front of me. Dad blows his whistle. The three of them take off. Liam jumps away from Stiles' lunge and spins around Scott, scoring the point.
"No!" I scream.
"That was luck!" Malia is standing up. "Do over!"
Dad glimpses back. "Sweetheart, there's no do overs. This is a practice."
"Ten bucks on Scott and Stiles." Malia stands her ground.
Dad nods, pointing to her. "I'll take that action. Hey! Get back in there, Liam."
The four of them get back in position. The whistle goes off once more. Liam races towards the two of them, even more determined than before. Stiles jumps in the air, landing all sprawled out when Liam dives around him. As Liam goes to move around Scott, Scott has another plan in mind by flipping the freshman over his shoulder. A sickening crunch echoes throughout the field.
The whistle falls from Dad's mouth. I push his back, urging him towards his injured player. I chase after him, worried for Liam myself. I told Scott a little wouldn't hurt anyone, not a lot. Liam rolls over on his stomach, bringing himself to his hands and knees.
"Don't move!" Dad yells at the circle of boys, forming around Liam. "Don't touch him!"
Liam struggles to get to his feet. "I'm okay, Coach." He throws his arms around Scott and Stiles when they both help him up, supporting his weight. "I'm alright. Ahhh!"
"I think we better get him to the nurse." Stiles tells dad.
Dad steps out of the way, nodding. He turns back to the rest of the players. "You guy's take a lap. Run around- start running around the field!" Dad scoops up the ball and randomly throws it. "Stupid!"
The ball flies towards the bleachers, headed right for Malia, who is staring down at her book. With fast reflexes, Kira catches the ball with her lacrosse stick before it could hit Malia in the face.
"Oh, wow! Nice catch!" Dad yells to her. "Throw it back."
Kira stands up, switching the stick to her right hand. She swings the stick back before sending to flying back to dad. The ball slams into dad's stomach. He falls to the ground, clutching his stomach.
A gigle comes from me, but I crouch down beside him to make sure he's okay. "Dad?"
Dad groans. "Someone ask her if she's ever played lacrosse!"
XXXXXXXX
No Darden in this chapter. Sorry about that. Maybe in the next chapter. I don't know yet. I don't remember what happens next. Don't know when I will update again, whether it be today or this weekend.
So, Kira is kind of okay with Arden and Derek. Although, Arden doesn't know how she feels yet. Who knows if Derek knows how he feels yet.
I'm going to try to write about more Darden within the next chapters. I actually have a lot planned for this book. Some good, some bad. You'll just have to wait and see.
Question: What do you think should happen at the next training session with Arden and Derek?
So, yeah!