Empathy ⌯ Stiles Stilinski

[24] the misunderstanding

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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑
the misunderstanding

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( lunatic; pt.iii )

BY the end of the day, Maddie is ready to go home. No detours, just straight home to flop onto her bed and recharge after the callous day she's had. Sadly, yet again, her returning home is not the priority for 3:15pm, heading to lacrosse practice to watch her best friends play is, since Harry and Stiles are her only way home. Harry may not be playing due to a certain arm—in—sling situation but he's staying so he can watch the plays, it helps him feel a little better about the whole situation. Plus, it means delaying the so called 'conversation' that her uncle wants to have with her— dammit! Maddie groans, her head falling back when she realises what that means: she can't head straight upstairs and flop onto her bed.

Then the reminder that tonight is the full moon and she promised to help Scott out also comes into her mind. Why is it the days that she's most exhausted that happened to be the days she can't rest?

As she approaches the locker rooms, Maddie rolls her shoulder as she adjusts the bag strap on her shoulder before she adjusts her glasses to sit properly on the bridge of her nose. She got them out of her locker shortly after the whole fiasco; she started to develop a headache——the meds wearing off and from all the hyperventilating and stress——and remembered the spare pair she kept in the cubical. The prescription's a little off due to them being a slightly older pair from the beginning of freshman year, but they still work, and she has to admit they have helped a little.

There's also the downgrade of stress ever since she went to talk to Coach when he returned from wherever he was that made him need Mr. Harris to fill in for him. He didn't exactly know everything that happened, and she wasn't going to share but even if she simply asked to do the test again without an explanation, Coach would probably let her. She's one of his favourite students, holding a soft spot for her since he had been friends with her mom in high school and she's also one of his best students. The only thing she's done to annoy the lacrosse coach is say no to him when he had asked her to teach the class instead of him, public speaking isn't really her forte.

Which is something she wants to fix, especially since education is a career that she thinks she may want to pursue. It's why debate club was good for her, not only was she allowed to use her argumentative side to her benefit, but she had to speak in front of other people. The only difference between debate club and a classroom, is that the people in debate club actually want to hear what you're saying.

Waiting by the end of the corridor, Maddie taps her fingers against the side of her leg rhythmically, trying to get the time to pass quicker. Her eyes aimlessly scan the people around her, falling onto a familiar face that approaches. She keeps a neutral face but her mind begs him to not come closer, the plea on repeat that goes ignored by the gods. Not today. Of all days, why today?

"Hey," he greets, a genuine smile on his face as he stands by her, hands tucked into his pockets. Maddie can't find the energy to speak and simply smiles back, hoping that it doesn't seem too forced.

Passing by him with a glance in corridors and catching the back of his head in class doesn't really do justice to how much he's changed over the past year. He's definitely taller, Maddie can tell that much——he must have had his growth spurt at some point because rather than standing at his old five—seven, at her best estimate, he is probably just over six foot. What she finds the strangest is that she misses his hair. It used to be wavy and unkempt, now it's a little straighter and slightly more tamed.