Right Beside You | Stiles Stilinski | Two

27 - The Study Date

I always try to look for the best in people. Most of the time, I figure I've gotten pretty good at it. I can see the good and bad parts of one person, rationalize their actions even when I think they're wrong. You have to take the good with the bad, and I try to be a believer that there is always some fraction of good in people. Benefit of the doubt, right?

But sometimes—sometimes that doesn't matter. You can know that someone has positive attributes, understand why they do what they do, and still hate being anywhere you might come close to sharing the same air. You can't really describe what sets you off about them—you might not even have a reason—but their entire being just grates at your patience until there's nothing left. Sometimes I feel like we are just not destined to be friends with everyone, and that's okay.

Matt Daehler was one of those people for me.

"Why him?!" I asked Allison as we walked through the hall. "Of all the people in this godforsaken school you could go on a date with, why him?!"

"It wasn't exactly a conscious decision, Scarlett." She was laughing at my exasperation, but still managed to sound a little embarrassed about the whole thing. "I mean, I bumped into him when I was trying to talk to Jackson in the locker room the other day. I just said yes to get him off my back, and I didn't realize what I'd said yes to until later."

"See, that's exactly what I mean. He ambushed you. He got you in a situation where you couldn't say no and attacked you."

"Scarlett, there's no way he could've known I was in a rush to talk to Jackson," she said, rolling her eyes. "He didn't force me into it. I was just flustered, and I said yes before I realized. It might not even be a date! It's fine."

"Fine? Mhm. Right. So have you told Scott yet?"

Allison faltered in her step, meeting my knowing look with a guilty one.

"Okay, but before you say anything, I am totally going to tell him! I just...haven't found the time yet. But ever since the library, my parents have doubled up on the security. I think it would be good for me to go out with someone else, just to get them off my back. Scott will get that, so—so it's fine..."

I cocked an eyebrow at her self-assuring tone, but refrained from commenting on it. "I just think Matt's a creep. I don't like him."

"Really? I hadn't noticed." I shot her a mild glare, but it only made her laugh again. "Well, he went to the hospital with a concussion after the library thing, if that makes you feel any better."

"Hm, does it make me an awful person if I say yes?"

"Yes."

"That's too bad, because it does make me feel better."

Allison rolled her eyes at me. "You're horrible. Seriously, I don't get it."

"I'm being serious too, Ally. I'd rather you be going on a date with—with Jackson than with Matt."

"Okay, that is a lie and you know it."

"...Alright, so that's a lie, but you at least could have tried asking Lydia out."

"Yeah, I don't think my parents would have bought that."

"Why not?" I asked with a shrug. "Lydia's beautiful. You're beautiful. I think you would be beautiful together."

"Thanks for your blessing," she chuckled, pushing my shoulder gently, "but Lydia doesn't seem like she would be up for it, especially these days."

The reminder zapped the small smile right off my face.

Unfortunately, Lydia still didn't know the truth about the supernatural. After our detention, the kanima attack, and Erica's near death experience, we got home too late to sit down with her. I'd dragged Scott and Stiles into the house with every intention of putting on a presentation, only to find that Lydia had already gone to bed. According to her mother, she'd gone for a walk and come home with her feet scratched and dirty. She'd taken a shower, retreated to her room, and hadn't come out for dinner.