Howling to the Heart || Isaac Lahey

31.

"I still don't understand why we have to do this shit," I mumbled, watching Allison and Scott climb the rock wall in gym class.

After last night's Isaac situation, he went into hiding with Derek, leaving me and Stiles to make up a lie to Mr. Stilinski who found us in the police station with a broken cell door, no Isaac, and a passed-out officer. We spent three hours getting yelled out. It was not fun.

Then Scott called us not too long after, filling us in on how some lizard-type creature nearly attacked him and Allison before taking off into the night.

Beacon Hills was going to shit, and I couldn't wait to leave after High School.

"The school probably has nothing else planned for us," Stiles said, shrugging his shoulders from beside me.

The two of us still haven't had the talk yet. But with everything going on, I decided to push away my annoyance for him, by a bit. Not too much, because I was still annoyed with him indeed. But just enough to make everyone else less tensed around us.

"I mean," he drawled, facing him with a smug smile, "I didn't really mind seeing you in that tennis skirt up there."

I looked down at my white tennis skort and then glared up at him. "Don't make me shove your dirty head into a locker."

He threw his hands up in mock surrender. "I'm just saying what every other guy here is thinking."

"Pig," I muttered, looking back to the rock wall just as Allison kicked Scott's foot and he fell down, the harness around his waist catching him before he could land on the mat. "Now that was entertaining," I said as everyone started laughing.

Scott's harness gave out and he landed on his back on the mat as coach laughed, sitting down next to him. "McCall, I don't know why, but your pain gives me a special kind of joy."

"Don't you just love coach?" I sarcastically asked.

"All right, next two," Coach projected his voice over the laughter that quickly died down while he stood up. "Stilinski, Erica, let's go."

I looked beside me to Erica, a girl I had only spoken to a few times. Everyone knew she had epilepsy, which was why I couldn't understand why coach would tell her to climb the wall.

"Wish me good luck," Stiles said and then head for the wall as Allison got down.

"I hope you fall back on the mat," I mumbled quietly but he still heard me and winked, facing back to the wall as he started to put on his harness.

Who knew that Stiles would grow more confident after I have one conversation with him?

Erica slowly walked toward the other harness, looking like she might puke. I honestly felt bad for the girl. If I was in her condition, I wouldn't do it. But props to her for giving it a go.

A few minutes later, Stiles was ahead of her up the wall with ease, while she struggled, her grunts cutting through the voices around me. Stiles managed to reach the top and came back down but Erica froze, and I took a few steps toward the mat, slapping Scott's arm in the process to get his attention.

Stiles started to take off his harness and above him, Erica was still frozen, but she was hyperventilating now, making me worried.

"Oh, please," she cried out.

"Coach, somethings not right," I said, pointing up at Erica.

He rushed forward, stopping beside Stiles on the mat as I followed behind him, stopping on the other side of Stiles.

"Erica," coach called up to her. "Are you dizzy? Is it vertigo?"

"Vertigo's a dysfunction of the vestibular system of the inner ear," Lydia corrected him, appearing at my side. "She's just freaking out."