Rise

Chapter Five

*I don't own Teen Wolf.*

 ~edited~

☾☾☾

        "Are you sure you don't want me to call Bobby for a ride home?" I asked anxiously, not for the first time in the last thirty minutes.  Probably more like the sixth time.  I watched as Scott turned his dirt bike onto the road a ways ahead of us and zoomed out of sight.

        "Okay, first off- I'm starting to think you just don't want to hang out with us," Stiles said as he unwedged the jeep from between two cars.  "And B, did you not see laser death stare Coach gave me when he said, 'You and only you will give her a ride home'?"  He angled his head and gave me a look like I was kind of an idiot.  "Somehow I think he might get the wrong idea if you call him for a ride with your mascara streaked down your face and your eyes all bloodshot.  The kind of wrong idea that probably ends with me mysteriously disappearing and my body never being recovered.  So yeah, Roar, I'm sure.  Now shut up and accept you're going to come play some video games with us."

        I turned my head away so he couldn't see smile slowly curling my lips.  I certainly did want to hang out with them, I just hadn't wanted to intrude.  My friendship with Stiles couldn't hold a candle to the relationship between him and Scott.  The two boys were like brothers.

        "I can't believe you got it right," I mumbled, turning and flashing him an impressed look before pulling down the visor and using the mirror to try to remedy my makeup situation.

        "What?" he asked, looking confused.

        "Mascara," I said.  "My dad always called anything that went on my eyes eyeliner."

        "Oh, yeah.  Atreyu," Stiles said, shrugging it off.  "'Bleeding Mascara'?"

        "I love Atreyu," I said, a little excited.  Kat hated music with any kind of screaming.  She was into everything else, except that.  "I liked A Deathgrip On Yesterday for their old stuff, though.  And their cover of that Bon Jovi song might be the only way I've ever enjoyed his stuff."

        "What?  No way!"

        I snorted and a giggle might have escaped.  "You like Bon Jovi?" I asked, side-eyeing him.

        "Uh- yeah," he said.  "I mean you can't deny he has a few classics you can't help but sing along to.  'Livin' On A Prayer'?"

        "Wow, you're a nerd."

        "I'm a- me?  Wow, that's just insulting coming from you.  You started writing vampire fanfiction before puberty.  I mean you solidified your nerdom the moment you scrawled the words 'Spike's washboard abs glistened in the torchlight'.  Though, you had a pretty good vocab for a twelve-year-old, I'll give you that."

        "I wrote that?!"  My face was flaming.  "What the hell was I doing writing about shirtless dudes that young?  Wow, that's embarrassing.  And, thanks, by the way.  I did read a lot."

        "Yeah, you wrote that.  The words are forever burned into my brain.  It was painful, really," he said as he pulled up in front of his house.  Scott's bike was already there, but he was nowhere to be seen.

        I jumped out before Stiles could open my door for me- wouldn't want to make a habit of that, I mean it's not like we're on a date.

        "Your dad's not home?" I asked, gesturing to the dark house and empty driveway.