How to be Cool

Lesson #21: It Has Always Been Stiles

A/N: So I said this would be the last chapter, but I lied. I'll write a few more, just because I love you guys :)

When I got home from the mall, I was surprised to see my dad sitting at the kitchen table. I had almost forgotten that today was his day off. I hadn't really seen him much since my fight with Derek, so he didn't really know what was going on with everything.

"You're home a little late," he noticed, looking up from his newspaper. No matter how many times I told him he could find the news on his phone easier than on the newspaper, he still wouldn't give it up. "Were you with Derek?"

"No," I answered, sitting my things down in the corner before moving to sit down next to him. "I was with another friend at the mall. Since when do you track what time I do and don't get home from school?" I laughed.

"Since the Hales invited us to dinner tonight," he answered with a slight smirk. "Talia thought it'd be nice for us all to get together, since you and Derek have become such great friends. We're leaving in thirty minutes." He picked up his paper and scooted away from the table, getting up to clean his mug at the sink.

"I never agreed to dinner," I said, slightly nervous because I knew he was going to force me to go no matter what. I said I would talk to Derek tonight, but I wanted it to be on my own terms. I definitely didn't want my dad being there while I was trying to fix my relationship either. This wasn't ideal, but I knew it was unavoidable.

Dad laughed, looking over his shoulder at me. "Why wouldn't you want to go to dinner? I thought you and Derek were good friends?"

"I never said I didn't want to go, just that you didn't ask me if I wanted to," I mumbled, staring at hands. He could probably sense something was wrong, but if he did, he didn't mention anything. He hummed, as if he had something else to say, but thought against it. "Never mind, dad, I want to go. It'll be fun," I said, after a long silence.

That was how, thirty minutes later, we were walking through the door to the Hales house. Talia greeted us with a big smile on her face, leading us into the living room where the smell of her cooking filled the air. Derek's dad and Laura both sat on the couch, but Cora and Derek were no where to be seen.

"Dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes," Talia said, moving back towards the kitchen. "Just make yourselves at home!" She disappeared out of view after that, leaving us in the living room to make conversation. My dad easily jumped into conversation with Derek's dad, and Laura was invested in something on her phone. I slipped away without as much of a glance, making my way upstairs where I knew I would find either Cora, or Derek. Someone I could actually talk to.

I stopped at the top of the stairs, listening to the voices bickering back and forth from Derek's room. Cora was angry, or at least it sounded that way. "You really fucked up, Derek. You have to fix this tonight when he comes over!" she was saying.

"Cora, you don't have to remind me," Derek hissed. "I know how much of an asshole I am. I'm going to fix it, I just wish mom hadn't decided to invite him over tonight. We have to sit through a whole dinner before I can actually talk to him."

"I can't believe you, Derek," Cora sighed. I heard her footsteps moving closer to the door, so I took that as my cue to reveal myself. I moved closer to Derek's room, just as Cora opened the door to leave. She paused, eyes meeting mine as I dropped my hand to my side, with no need to knock now. "Stiles, you're here already," she said, glancing back at Derek, who stood there shifting nervously on his feet. "Good, somebody wants to talk to you." She smiled and grabbed my arm, dragging me into the room before excusing herself and slamming the door behind her.