Too Long

Chapter 7: Formal

Ramie, Stiles, and Scott had a test first period, during which Stiles and Scott took off in the middle of. Ramie tried to follow them, but Harris didn't believe that all three of them had to use the bathroom at the same time, especially when he already didn't trust the three of them to even sit near each other during class. Scott and Stiles thankfully came back and finished their tests, and Stiles explained after class that Scott had a panic attack because he was worked up over Allison. Stiles was acting like the night before hadn't happened at all, and Ramie couldn't decide if she was thankful or upset about that.

The rest of her classes before lunch Scott and Stiles weren't in, so she tried her best to put any thought of the previous night out of her head. She found herself at lunch with Allison and Jackson, feeling oddly like a third wheel. Jackson was flirting with Allison hardcore, and Allison seemed to be completely oblivious. Ramie tuned them out until she heard Jackson nearly choke on his food.

"What?" Jackson was looking at Allison like she had four heads.

"Do you... want a bite?" Allison held out her sandwich.

"Oh, I'm okay," Jackson looked down. "I thought you said something else."

Ramie narrowed her eyes at him. He had been acting strange, first freaking out the other night at school, the scabs on the back of his neck, then freaking out over the word "bite." Ramie as beginning to worry Jackson might be a lot more in tune with what was going on in Scott's world than they thought. She wanted to tell Scott and Stiles, but the two were sitting at a different table across the lunch room, and she didn't really feel good about leaving Allison and Jackson alone at the table together.

At the end of the school day, Ramie found Scott and Stiles in the hall heading out to lacrosse practice. They were in the middle of a conversation when she arrived, not noticing her behind them at first.

"Can you just, use your scent to see if you pick up on anything with someone?" Stiles was saying. "Like attraction, arousal, anything."

"Attraction from who?" Ramie butted in, stepping between them then turning back to face them. They both jumped at her sudden arrival.

"Lydia!" Stiles nearly yelled.

"No, Ramie," Ramie pointed at herself, teasing Stiles.

"No, I mean I'm talking about Lydia," Stiles stuttered. "Seeing if she likes me."

"Yeah, I'll ask," Scott said, giving the two of them a weird smirk before walking towards Lydia, who was a bit down the hall pulling books from her locker and putting them in her bag. Ramie saw Scott ask Lydia something, then the two of them went into Coach's office to talk.

"You coming to practice?" Stiles asked suddenly, breaking the silence between the two of them. Ramie looked up at him but broke eye contact almost immediately, unable to get over the awkward feeling between the two of them.

"Nah, I have to write a paper," Ramie nodded, tugging on her backpack straps. "Gonna go to a coffee shop and try to finish it up. You're gonna come over to help Scott with the full moon right?"

"Yeah, I'll be there," Stiles nodded.

"See you later then," Ramie gave him a small smile before turning on her heel and walking quickly away, desperate to get out of being alone with him. As upset as she was about Stiles saying their kiss didn't matter, part of her wished it never happened at all. Things were weird between them, which is what she always feared. She never told him her feelings because she didn't want things to be weird. And now things were exactly that.

...

Ramie ended up spending the whole afternoon writing her paper at a coffee shop near school and got home just as it got dark. Her mom's car was gone, but Stiles' jeep was in the driveway. She opened the front door and immediately heard yelling from upstairs.