Slightly Consequential (Slightly Awkward Series / Book Five / Teen Wolf)

chapter one---Creatures of the Night

 Senior Year. 

Tonight was Senior Scribe, which meant we were going to the high school the night before the school year began.

Derek wasn't here in Beacon Hills right now. He was helping Chris Argent and the Calaveras in the search/hunt for Kate Argent.

And it didn't help that my dad, the Sheriff, wasn't too fond of the relationship that we were having, except for when it came to Derek protecting me from all things supernatural and teaching me how to fight back and defend myself better than what just a crossbow, gun or knife can, but... still.

Now, we were Stiles had his Jeep parked up on the beacon of Beacon Hills.

It was a full moon, and there was going to be a storm, but it wasn't raining yet.

I was sitting up on the hood of the Jeep, looking at a map on my binder in my lap.

Scott and Stiles were standing on either side.

I was telling them my plans. "All right, so I found some cool three bedrooms in the Mission District, but they're pretty expensive. A couple in Haight and Ashbury. Also expensive. That's for me, Malia and Kira. For you two? Well, what do you guys choose?"

"What about Berkeley?" Stiles asked. "Don't a lot of students live around there?"

I tilted my head. "Yeah, yeah, we could try Nob Hill."

"The Jeep would probably burn through a lot of clutches," Stiles told us.

"You're bringing the Jeep?" Scott asked.

"You know the plan, okay?" I asked. "No one gets left behind. That's the plan. Lydia's not gonna have a problem getting into Stanford. Kira's thinking USF. Malia's, uh, gonna..." Stiles looked down. I nodded reassuringly. "You know, she'll figure something out, okay? The plan's perfect."

"Or we could also wait until we actually get into college and then figure out where to live," Scott told us.

"I have a vision, dude," I told him. "Okay? And it is a beautiful vision. Don't ruin the vision." I looked at the map. Scott and Stiles exchanged an amused look. "Okay, we can check out the East Bay. Haven't looked at Oakland, yet, you know."

I looked up.

Scott was looking at the full moon in the sky.

"You're all right?" Stiles asked. "You're starting to feel it?"

Scott shook his head. "No. Just thinking."

"About what?" Stiles asked.

"Senior year," Scott answered.

"Senior year?" Stiles repeated. "Come on, that's--that's... that's nothing. That's going to be easy."

"It's more like something Deaton told me once," Scott told us. "You ever hear of regression to the mean?" 

"No, I don't think so," Stiles answered.

I shook my head in agreement. "Mm-mm."

"It was his way of saying that life can't ever be all bad or all good," Scott explained. "You know, eventually things have to come back to the middle. So, think about the last few months. Things have been good, right? But not amazing."

I nodded. "Since Kate technically killed me to kill the two of you, and Braedan revived me, when also saved you, the anchor thing is gone. I don't feel what you feel." 

I hit Stiles in the back of the head.

Stiles held his head in pain. "Ow!"

I looked at Scott, smiling. "See? Didn't feel a thing. The big bads won't come after me to kill either of you anymore. That's a big check in the plus column." Scott smirked in amusement. Stiles gave me a half-hearted look. "And yeah, it's been awhile since Derek's been gone, helping Chris and the Calaveras search for Kate, but I still keep in touch. And Dad's not exactly thrilled about us, but what can we really do after all the times that Derek saved all of us?"