PANTS ON FIRE ▹ Stiles Stilinski

chapter one

chapter one
A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH
(season one, episode one; wolf moon)

"MCCALL IS LIKE GOOD." Eli stared in amazement, his brows raised and his jaw hanging at the teenage boy dominating the field. After the initial humiliation of a lacrosse ball knocking him in the head and clanking against his helmet, Scott caught a ball. He caught them all and he caught them with effortless ease. Even when Jackson elbowed to the front of the line and was dramatic with his ego-fuelled run into a jump, whipping the ball, Scott remained unfazed. "I thought he's never played in goal."

"Yeah, me too," Danny muttered, his head ducking closer to Eli's. "What happened?"

Eli shrugged and eyed Jackson, the team captain, who wore a sour expression. Eli was sure that if looks could kill, Scott McCall would be dead and discarded off the bridge by now. "If Scott is actually this good, he might have a shot at being captain."

"No kidding."

Eli nudged his shoulder towards a scowling Jackson across the field. "Do you think he'll still drive me home?"

Danny snorted. "Probably not."

The crowd began cheering loudly, although the cheers were muffled by one ecstatic voice shouting, "That's my friend!"

Stiles.

Maybe it was the way the afternoon sun kissed his skin or the way the chilly breeze nipped at his cheeks, causing a faint red to arise, or maybe it was his wide brown eyes so full of joy for his best friend. Whatever it was, Eli became lost in everything that was Stiles Stilinski.

The thing about Stiles was that he wasn't easy to forget. In every class they shared, Eli was always hyper-aware of the brunet's presence. He doesn't try to notice these things, he doesn't try picking up his voice out of the crowd, he doesn't try to recognize his laugh, he just does. Maybe he was so hyper-aware of the teen because he didn't mind catching his presence. He liked it.

Eli hadn't stopped thinking of Stiles since that cold December Tuesday in freshman year. That morning, a chilling breeze nipped at the skin of Beacon Hills' residents, taunting the upcoming onset of winter. However, the icy air had vanished before lunch and with that, so did Eli's navy hoodie. He wore a Captain America shirt beneath — awesome, right? — and Stiles noticed. Before Lacrosse began, Eli didn't have many friends. He had Kelsey, a childhood friend, but that was all and she was at home sick that day. But Stiles noticed his shirt and he grinned, blurting out 'I love Captain America, dude!' He sat with Eli at lunch, Scott was at home as well, and the entire hour they talked on and on about comic books. And then movies. And then bands. Eli had never smiled so much.

"Montgomery!" Coach Finstock shouted from the sidelines. "Try moving faster than my dead and buried grandmother and throw the ball!"

Eli jumped at Coach's shouts. Shit. Tearing his gaze from Stiles, Eli's stomach lurched at the sight of being first in line. He needed to do good. He needed to be good. Although he was no longer staring at the brunet, a fraction of his attention remained, as it always would.

Adjusting the stick in his hands, the weight of the ball, in theory, was nothing. Yet the weight of what was riding on him, of needing to stay on this team and impressing the boy he liked, filled the ball with pure lead. Scott glared at him from the net, his eyes stern and his breathing laboured. Is this guy alright? Taking a shaky inhale and stealing one final glance at Stiles, Eli ran forward, swung back his stick and hurled the ball, causing it to soar in the air at the perfect angle, towards an unattended area of the net, destined to make a goal... and right into Scott's lacrosse stick.

Of course.

No way that impressed Stiles — well, what Eli did at least. Stiles was, without a doubt, impressed by his best friend's new lacrosse skills and agility.

Eli sighed and walked back, stopping next to Danny.

Danny slapped Eli's shoulder, a faint thud sounding from his palm meeting the hard material of Eli's gear. "Maybe next time."

Coach's shouts echoed in Eli's ears once again and what seemed like the tiniest bit of dread rushed through his veins. "What the hell was that Montgomery?! Do it again."

So, Eli went through the motions again. However, this time around, the ball whipped through the air much quicker and for a second Eli thought he was going to get past Scott. His blue eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat, afraid to release the tiniest of breaths as if it could change the ball's trajectory. As if life itself depended on this small moment. But, even if it was the perfect shot with ideal form, it never made it beyond Scott. It once again landed in his net.

He was just too good.

"Back of the line!" Coach shouted, shaking his head in disappointment.

Eli frowned. From a winning standpoint, he was glad Scott was so good now. He would be profitable for the team, he would be a force to reckon with for the opposing team. That was what they needed right? The team needed strong players to carry them to state. Eli only hoped he doesn't get replaced.

Lacrosse was everything to him.

As expected, later that afternoon once practice ended, Jackson completely ignored and forgot the promise he made twenty-four hours earlier. Eli understood. His friend was complicated, Eli understood that, and although what he did was crappy, Eli couldn't hold it against him. Thankfully, Danny was there when the blond peeled out of the parking lot with wicked speed, offering to drive the teen home.

"What do you think about that body that was found in the woods?" Danny's voice broke through the endless stream of pop music playing from the car radio. Some local channel, one that his aunt Sam loved far too much.

Eli pulled his attention from the endless line of passing trees and turned towards his friend in the driver's seat. He released a sullen sigh. "The police are saying it's an animal attack."

"And you?"

"Mountain lion probably." He fiddled with the fabric of his seatbelt pulled across his chest and returned his attention out of his window, watching the different shades of green blend together in motion. Quietly, he asked, "What else could it be?"

. . .

rose's notes

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter!