The Wild Side | Stiles Stilinski | One

19 - Welcome To Team Wolf

The day I got my sling off was the happiest I'd been all month. In fact, it might've been the happiest I'd been since moving to Beacon Hills. I skipped the first few periods of school so that Mom could take me to the hospital, where I had another checkup appointment for my arm. They didn't give me the all clear, but I was healed enough that I could move from the sling to a shoulder brace. Honestly, they could've put my whole torso in a cast and I would've have cared. I just wanted my right hand back.

After the hospital, Mom took me out for breakfast, delaying school a little longer so we could celebrate. Maybe it was the thrill of skipping, or the joy of being able to use both my hands, or maybe the diner we went to was just that good, but everything was delicious, and I got to eat the best breakfast sandwich I'd ever had in my life.

But it couldn't last forever; Mom had to get back to work, and I needed to go to school. Thankfully, it was a short day for me. By the time Mom dropped me off and I'd checked in at the attendance office, the day was half over. There was only one class before lunch, and while I'd been expecting it to be pretty low-key, I walked into a surprise.

I'd expected a few stares and double-takes. I'd been wearing black all week to match my sling, and I was so sick of it that today, I'd opted for a bright purple turtleneck and high-waisted shorts. I'd also gone full-out on my makeup for the first time in ages and, despite how much Lydia needed to nag me with reminders and encouragement at the beginning of the semester, I found that I'd missed doing it. Lydia certainly looked proud, as she sat at her desk waving me over to join her. But all of that I'd expected. What I hadn't expected was to see Scott and Stiles at the back of the room, sitting together for the first time in days and conversing in low voices.

I frowned curiously as I put my things down at my desk.

"Ugh, you look amazing," Lydia gushed. "I'm so glad they finally took that horrible thing off of you. So you're totally good now?"

"Uh, not quite," I said, my eyes still trailing to the back of the room. "Shoulder brace."

"Hmph. Well, it'll still be easier to work with than that garbage sling. It's way less bulky. You might need to wear collared shirts for a while, but—where are you going?"

I walked away in the middle of her sentence, striding directly over to Scott and Stiles. I stood right between them, waiting.

Stiles noticed me first, stopping midsentence and jumping in his seat. "Scarlett! Sh—hey! You—look at you!"

"Hey," Scott said, lighting up. "Your sling's gone! That's great!"

I didn't reply, looking between them in suspicion. After a few seconds of silence, Stiles scoffed and bounced in his seat.

"Scarlett, knock it off. Clearly Scott and I are talking again, so you can stop this whole silent treatment, cold sho—ow! O-okay."

I cut him off to smack him and Scott each over the head. At this point, they just seemed resigned to it.

"You're both idiots. I'm glad you sorted things out."

Before either of them could reply, I turned on my heel and walked back to my seat. I plopped down next to Lydia, who was watching me with an amused smile.

"What?" I asked, opening my book.

"Nothing," she mused, twirling her hair around her finger as she followed suit. "Just thinking about how well I've taught you."

I rolled my eyes with a grudging smile. Typical.

As it turned out, "typical" ended along with class. When the bell rang, I barely had enough time to close my book before Stiles was grabbing my right arm and hauling me out of my chair.