Open Eyes

How 'Bout It?

Throw it away, forget yesterday

We'll make the great escape

We won't hear a word, they say

They don't know us anyway

Watch it burn, let it die

Cause we are finally free, tonight

Emma hated Mondays. She hated Mondays so much that if there was a way to take Mondays off of the calendar, she would. Because Mondays were for panic mode. Mondays were for the homework you forgot to do the entire weekend, and for screwed up sleeping schedules making you wear your shirts inside out, and different colored socks. Both of which Emma had done that morning before she flew down her steps with her toothbrush in her mouth, and bag hanging off of her shoulder.

"Whoa, Emma, slow down there honey, you're gonna trip and choke on that thing," Her dad, Mark, said softly, raising his coffee out of the way as she ducked under his arm to open the fridge.

"Sorry. Running a little late here," Emma's voice came out muffled, as she pulled out a string cheese from the fridge and hurried over to the kitchen sink, where she spit her toothpaste down the drain and proceeded to wash out the rest of her mouth with water.

"We have multiple bathrooms for that," Her mother, Clarissa, walked over with a dish towel, her face twisted as she watched her daughter's toothpaste float down the drain. "What are you rushing for anyways, I thought you had another half hour before school started, I was going to finish my toast and drive you?"

"I have a ride to school today, and she's currently waiting outside." Emma tore off a paper towel from the roll, setting it on the counter and placing her wet toothbrush atop it.

"Wait a minute, you didn't tell us you had a ride, who is she?" Clarissa leaned against the counter beside Mark, lifting an eyebrow.

"Well, them. It's just Allison and Lydia," Emma waved her hand, and then leaned forward, pecking both of her parents on their cheeks. "Gotta go. Love you!" She bit into the peach and rushed to the front door.

"She—" Clarissa pointed after their daughter, and then looked to Mark for an explanation. Mark took a gulp of his coffee. "That's all we get now huh? Just a kiss and a wave of the hand?"

Mark smiled gently, setting his coffee on the counter and wrapping his arms around Clarissa. "She's a teenager."

"Yes, but she's our teenager," Clarissa pouted, wrapping her own arms around Mark's waist. "What are we gonna do when we don't even get a kiss goodbye..?"

"We make up for the missed kisses ourselves," Mark smirked, dipping his wife and pecking her on the lips. Clarissa snorted a laugh before kissing him back.

Outside, Emma slid into the back of Lydia's car, releasing a shaky breath. "Hey, sorry," She tossed her bag to the side, and chewed the rest of the bite in her mouth. "Parents almost interrogated me."

"They're really cute," Lydia commented, squinting at something through her windshield with a faint smile.

"Who?" Emma rolled down her window and poked her head out, catching sight of her parents kissing through the kitchen window. "Oh, god! Gross! Please, let's leave."

"I think it's sweet," Allison rested her chin on her arm that was resting out the window, glancing back at Emma with a smile. "My parents haven't acted like that in a long time."

"If we're going to talk about parents not acting lovey dovey anymore, why don't we talk about the divorcee child." Lydia pointed a finger at herself. "a.k.a muah." Backing out of the driveway, Lydia balanced the wheel with her knee, using her rear view mirror to apply lipgloss on herself.

"Actually i've had enough of parent talk in general in one car ride, thank you." Emma spoke up and then tapped Allison on the shoulder over the seat. When Allison turned to look at her, she pointed to the wheel. Allison sighed, reaching over and taking the wheel in her hands.

"Hey, I got it!" Lydia protested, pulling her lipgloss from her lips at watching Allison's hands.

"Yeah, sure you do. Wheels were made for hands not knees. Just hurry up." Allison watched the road, her tongue poking out of her lips as she concentrated.

"You both are so melodramatic," Lydia put the cap back on her lip gloss, rubbed her lips together, and tossed the product back in her purse. Then, she gripped the wheel. "Happy?"

"Very." Allison rested back in her seat and then allowed her chin to fall back onto her arm. "I can't believe it's already Monday again. The weekends go by too quickly."

"How would you know? You and McCall were in your own little world all weekend." Lydia gave Allison a look and the brunette gaped.

"We were not. We didn't even see each other.." Allison slumped, adjusting so her chin was in the palm of her hand. The wind coming from the window blew her hair back in whips.

"You don't have to see each other to be lost in a world together. I'm pretty sure you two didn't get off the phone with each other the entire weekend. Every time your phone buzzed it was just Scott. Scott. Scott." Lydia flicked her hand. "It was really quite the bother, really."

"They probably had a lot to talk about," Emma smiled to herself, bumping her foot against the back of Allison's seat. Allison bit back her own smile, tucking her lips inward.

"Oh, right—the kiss. I was meaning to talk to you about that Allison, I don't know if it's such a good idea for you to, yano, tell anyone other then Emma and I about the kiss." Lydia's comment was enough to make Emma's eyebrows rise up on her head.

"Not that I have anyone else to tell, but can I ask why?" Allison leaned closer to the window so she could face her body fully to Lydia.

"It's just that telling people you made out with a guy in the boys locker room, doesn't exactly send the best message. People might interpret differently.." Lydia was talking as if she wasn't being completely ridiculous.

"Interpret what? That she's into a guy as much as he's into her?" Emma was now resting her elbow on Allison's seat, in awe at how serious Lydia was being.

"That's not—I'm just saying it could be viewed as being a bit trashy. Making out in the boys locker room is like saying you have something to hide. Plus, the boys locker room is gross, and therefore your making out in it could be thought of as the same." With each word that Lydia spoke, Allison looked more lost, and Emma looked more pissed off.

"Right. Coming from the girl who jumped Jackson on their first date," Emma plopped back in her seat, deciding she was through listening to the strawberry blonde. "Allison, don't listen to her."

"For your information, Jackson and I did not jump each other on the first date—We kissed—and I'll have you know it was very passionate!" Lydia whipped around in her seat, and Allison jumped forward, begging her to return her gaze to the road.

"Oh, I'm sure that's what Jackson told every body," Emma glowered, and Lydia gasped.

"You—" Taking her hands off of the wheel to point back at Emma was what sent Allison in motion, as the brunette's hand gripped the wheel once more, causing the car to swerve.

"Okay you two, seriously!?—Can we just focus on making it alive to school first?" Allison continued to hold onto the wheel for dear life, and both Emma and Lydia stared at each other for a moment longer before Emma returned her gaze out the window and Lydia faced the road, taking control of the wheel. Allison sighed in relief, pressing her fingers to her temples, "Thank you."

The rest of the way to school was silent. Except for the faint sound of a Natasha Bedingfield song playing from the speakers. The tension in the car was high, and Emma felt suffocated. However, not as suffocated as she felt the moment they pulled into the school parking lot, which was filled with ambulances and cop cars. Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach, and it appeared she wasn't the only one. Lydia slammed her foot on the brakes, and Allison placed her hands on the dash, her eyes wide.

"What.." Lydia whispered, lip trembling. "Is that blood!?"

Emma's eyes focused on the school bus that was surrounded, it's back door torn off, blood splattering the sides. Her breathing became jagged and Emma felt her chest tighten.

"Oh my god," Allison cupped a hand over her mouth as the girls realized that it was in fact blood on the vehicle, and yes, there was a lot of it. "Lydia, park." Allison muffled through her hand.

The strawberry blonde sat frozen, her knuckles growing white from how tightly she held onto the wheel. Even her face looked ghostly white, her eyes dazed. "Lydia?" Allison questioned, glancing at the girl. "Are you okay?"

"I need Jackson," Lydia said, although you wouldn't know she was speaking. Her lips stayed awfully still. "I need Jackson right now!"

It was clear the girl was spooked, and although she hated Jackson, Emma assumed he knew how to bring her back to earth in situations like this. So, unbelievably, she understood why Lydia would be desperate for his company. If Emma had a boyfriend, or any guy who was the close to her, she would have wanted to run to them now as well.

"Okay, Okay, well—Park the car, and Emma and I will just catch up with you." Allison assured, glancing nervously back at Emma, before offering Lydia a soft smile.

Lydia swallowed tightly, and nodded. "Yeah, okay." She released shakily, setting the car back in motion. She made sure to go around the entire parking lot, parking at the far back near the woods. It would be quite the walk, but the front half of the parking lot was currently occupied by what looked like a scene from a horror movie.

The moment the car was in park, Lydia grabbed her bag, shutting it off and pushing her car door open. "I'll see you guys at lunch," Neither Allison nor Emma had time to respond before the girl clicked her door shut and was practically jogging in heels to get to the school entrance. Allison slowly looked back at Emma, eyes wide.

"She was really spooked." Allison stated the obvious, and Emma for the first time wanted to knock her upside the head for such an pointless comment.

"Yeah. I guess she's not very used to seeing gore early in the morning," Emma said sarcastically. Although, she had to admit, if she had been by herself when she saw the bus, she might have fainted, but something about being with friends gave her more comfort. "C'mon, let's just get inside. I'm sure we'll hear all about what happened in there."

"I'm not looking forward to hearing about this all day. It's bad enough seeing it. I think I plan to just go about my day and read about it in the paper tomorrow," Allison began to pull her bag strap over her shoulder, and lift her books into her arms.

Emma opened the door, a playful grin on her face. It felt odd grinning when there was a crime scene not even 100 feet from her. "You read the newspaper?"

Allison rolled her eyes as she stepped out of the car, closing it with annoyance. "Yes, I read the newspaper."

Emma only continued to grin, before the two girls fell into step with each other, walking towards the school. More students were arriving, all skidding a bit upon seeing the bus. Most stumbled out of their cars with confused frowns, worried glances. Emma shuddered.

"Today is going to be weird," Emma wrapped her arms around herself. "I don't know why they wouldn't just, cancel school today. Why welcome your students with a scene from the Scream movies?"

"It beats me," Allison sighed, pulling open the doors to the school. "Maybe they'll call it a half day."

"Hopefully.." Emma lifted her shoulders, and Allison joined her, looking down at the ground. Emma didn't even notice Scott, until he slammed into Allison, causing the girl to drop her books. He whipped around, an apology already on his lips. But he stopped in his tracks the moment his eyes landed on Allison.

"Oh my god!" Allison gasped at the impact, and then looked up. The moment she saw Scott she ran her fingers through her hair, releasing a breathless laugh. "You scared, the hell out of me."

"You're okay.." Scott watched her with careful eyes, lowering down to meet her on the ground where she had begun to stack her books back together.

"Once my heart starts beating again, yeah," Smiling gently, Allison looked up from her books, meeting Scott's gaze. The way Scott was looking at her was with a look of relief. Like she had been gone for years, and had just returned home. It was like this sad puppy gaze, that made Emma want to hug him. Allison seemed to notice as well, because her face softened, "What?"

Scott shook his head, a weak smile gracing his lips. "I'm just happy to see you.." Allison's eyes glistened, and she looked back at the boy like he'd just saved her from a tower guarded by a flaming dragon. If they weren't slowly becoming some of her close friends, Emma would gag at the cheesiness.

Suddenly, the intercom throughout the school crackled and screeched, making Emma wince, and place her hands on her ears. "Students, this is your principal. I know you're all wondering about the accident of last night in one of our buses. While the police try to determinate what happened, classes will proceed as usual. Thank you."

Emma slowly pulled her hands from her ears and grumbled. "So much for a half day," Allison looked up at her with twisted lips, before she and Scott raised from the ground. Scott was holding most of the dropped books, and he gently handed them back to Allison, who returned his gesture with a close lipped smile.

"Hey Emma," Scott looked at the girl finally, his voice groggy.

"Scott," Emma gave a nod. "Do you know anything about the show outside?"

Scott's face grew green. "Me? Why would I know anything if not even the cops do?"

Emma blinked, catching sight of his hands twitching at his sides. Frowning, she pursed her lips. "No reason. I just was wondering. It seems everyone's made up some story already. Wanted to know if you had one for the mill."

Scott seemed to relax at this, and he sucked in a breath. "No, sorry. I have nothing to contribute."

Emma squinted at him, and he looked like she was pointing a flashlight in his eyes. Allison, stood completely oblivious. "Thank god, I don't think I could handle that being the topic of one of our discussions too.." Stepping from foot to foot Allison blushed.

Scott returned his gaze to her, lifting his lips into a crooked smile. The bell above them rang, and Allison paused, before reaching over and ruffling his hair. "Save me a seat at lunch?"

Scott looked love struck, his eyes never leaving her as his smile deepened. "Yeah.."

Allison gave him one final look, and then she whipped around at Emma. "See you in a bit."

Emma nodded after her, and then met Scott's eyes. "That was us, by the way. Save us, a seat at lunch." She had chosen not to question him about his strange behavior in the middle of the bustling school hallway.

"Oh! Yeah, of course." Scott shoved his hands in his pockets. "Although, I think Stiles might already have that job covered."

Emma didn't even respond, she simply grit her teeth, and turned to stomp off the other way. She heard Scott chuckling behind her, and she bit back a smile. It was annoying really. How everyone seemed to just assume there was something going on with she and Stiles, when there most definitely wasn't. She hardly knew the kid.

Okay, no, that was a bit of an exaggeration. She knew him now. A little bit. They had been hanging out a lot more recently. But in groups. Never alone. Except that one car ride to the party, and that awkward exchange on her front steps—It was beside the point. She had no intention of being anything more with Stiles Stilinski, then friends. Hell, she wasn't even sure if she wanted to be full blown friends with him.

Okay, no, that was another exaggeration. She most definitely wanted to be friends with him. She wanted to be friends with all of them. Scott, Allison, Stiles—Not Lydia, but somehow they were becoming friendlier and that was just it's own definition of strange. The more she hung out with them, the more she felt like she was actually belonging. For years she'd just been the sick girl who knew nobody. When that part of her life ended and she joined public school, she was just the smart girl, who knew nobody. Now she knew people. And it felt good, even if she didn't want to admit it.

Having the option to say, 'save me a seat at lunch' was insane enough. But the thought that it had already been assumed by Stiles and Scott that her spot should be saved without her asking.. That was mind boggling. Only friends did things like that. Only friends had a routine table that they all met at during lunch to discuss how shitty their day was. Emma found herself lost in her thoughts. She had to admit, in a very odd string of events, she had grown relationships with these people. The title of friends still had yet to fall from her lips, but in her heart she knew she didn't need to say it for it to be true. At least not to them. To her, it would take a little more time. But, to them? She was already in.

When Emma found herself smiling as she walked out of fourth period, she knew why. Because she had a place to sit at lunch. She had a place. And as small of a thing as it was, it meant something to her. Which is exactly why she practically skipped into the lunch room, finding Scott and Stiles almost instantly. Too excited with her knew found realization, she decided to forget the lunch line, and strolled over to where the boys were sitting.

"...I can't go out with Allison tonight. I have to cancel." Scott had just finished saying, and Emma's smile slipped from her face.

"What? Why?" She blurted, and both boys jumped, looking up at her.

"Huh?" Scott asked dumbly.

"Why can't you go out with Allison tonight?" Emma furrowed her brow, taking a seat beside Stiles who instinctively scooted further down the bench to give her room. "I thought you guys have been planning this all weekend, and now you're canceling?"

"He's not." Stiles spoke up, and when Scott looked at him with crazed eyes Stiles shook his head. "No! You're not canceling, okay? You can't cancel your whole life. We'll figure it out.."

Before Emma could ask what they were talking about, Lydia's voice joined the group, and Emma looked up to find the girl way more composed then when she'd left the car this morning. "Figure what out?"

Stiles' mouth hung open, and his lips fell into a stupid smile, that Emma wanted to cover just to save him the shame.

"Homework." Emma spoke up for the boy, who had seemingly lost his ability to talk. Emma wondered what it had to feel like to have such an attraction to a person that you couldn't even speak in their presence.

"Hm." Lydia sat down with her tray, deciding it wasn't an interesting enough answer for her to care.

"Why is she sitting with us?" Stiles leaned forward, whispering to Scott. Emma pulled her sleeves over her hands, looking at Scott. She was confused, didn't they usually sit together? Scott looked at a loss for words himself, but Allison and a few others joined the table, instantly gaining his attention.

Scott hurried to move his bag off the seat beside him, and Allison beamed as she sat down in the newly gained spot. Emma felt a bit overwhelmed. She had prepared for lunch with Scott, Allison, and Stiles. Suddenly the entire crowd of popular preps was sitting or surrounding their table, diving into discussion.

Jackson strolled up to the head of the table, where a boy who Emma remembered to be on the lacrosse team, was sitting happily, leaning back in the chair. Jackson didn't hesitate to be an asshole, nudging the boy's shoulder and stating simply "Get up."

The boy looked baffled, "How come you never ask Danny to get up?"

"Because I don't stare down his girlfriend's coin slot." Danny chuckled, apple in hand. The boy sighed, frustrated and then pushed himself up from the table, allowing Jackson to slide in to the seat.

"Was that really necessary?" Emma rolled her eyes, placing her chin atop her sleeve covered hand.

"Is your life really necessary?" Jackson bit back, and it was a dumb comment, but it was enough to make Emma clench her jaw.

"Jackson, shut up." Allison tossed her straw wrapper at him, and Jackson caught it, deciding to give up the battle that he felt he'd already won. To fill the silence that rested amongst the group afterwards, Danny cleared his throat, beginning to speak.

"So I heard it was some kind of animal attack.. probably a cougar." Danny bit into his apple.

"I heard it was a mountain lion." Jackson tossed his straw cover onto his tray.

"A cougar is a mountain lion," Lydia corrected, her stare stony. Everyone at the table turned to look at her, and Emma stifled a laugh. When Lydia caught sight of everyone's eyes on her she perked up, twirling her hair around her finger. "Isn't it?"

Emma closed her eyes. Lydia was clearly smart. She just dumbed herself down to make Jackson feel inferior in the relationship. She wish she didn't. She would have a lot more respect for her if she just proved to everyone how smart she really was. Stiles seemed to share this inner thought, aggressively pulling out his phone and typing away.

"Who cares, the guy is probably just some homeless tweaker, who was gonna to die anyways." Jackson retorted, taking a gulp of his milk.

"He was a human being, Jackson. He had a life, and he died on one of our buses. We should all care." Emma said over the murmurs of the table, and Jackson found her eyes with a glare.

Breaking the tension, Stiles clicked something on his phone. "Actually, I just found out who it is.." Turning his phone for everyone to see, he pressed play on a video. "Check it out."

The video began, showing clips of the blood coated bus, with the sheriff circling the scene, as a voice over explained the scene, "The sheriff department won't speculate on the details of the incident, but confirmed that the victim," A picture suddenly appeared of an older man, probably in his 50s, smiling. Emma winced. "Garrison Meyers, did survive the attack. Meyers was taken to a local hospital where he remains in a critical conditions."

Scott was the first to tear his eyes from the screen, looking down in thought instead. "I know this guy."

"You do?" Allison asked intrigued. Everyone's attention was now on Scott.

"Yeah, I used to take his bus when I went to see my dad." Scott finally looked up, but he met no one's gaze but Stiles', who fell back into his seat with his jaw hanging open. "He was the driver."

Everyone around the table looked at each other, and Emma couldn't take her eyes off of Scott. Lydia took initiative, clearly either too bothered with the situation or not bothered enough. "Can we talk about something more fun, please? Like..." Dropping her fork and turning towards Allison Lydia smiled, "Oh! Where are we going tomorrow night?"

Emma, Stiles, and Scott looked towards Allison, who looked up at everyone with a clueless expression. Finally Allison frowned at Lydia, confused.

"You said you and Scott were hanging out tomorrow night, right?" Lydia tilted her head, feeling as though this was obvious information.

Allison's eyes lit up with realization, and she swallowed the food in her mouth, glancing nervously at Scott. "Oh, uhm, Well, we were thinking of what we were going to do.." She trailed off, looking to Scott for confirmation.

"Well, I am not sitting home again watching lacrosse videos, so," Lydia made a point to give Jackson a look. The boy didn't look ashamed at all. "If the four of us are hanging out..." The girl whipped back around to Scott and Allison, "We're doing something fun."

Emma's eyes popped open wide and she looked to Scott who looked just as concerned. Lydia and Jackson didn't hang out with Scott. Never have. They used to be sworn enemies. Granted, a lot had clearly changed in their dynamics as of late due to the beautiful and effortlessly popular new girl, Allison. But still, Emma doubted she was the only one at the table who thought this sounded like a horrible idea.

"H-Hanging out?" Scott stuttered, turning to Allison, who shrugged weakly. "Like...The four of us?" Stiles placed a hand over his mouth, squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head. Emma could sense the disapproval radiating off of the boy. "Do you, wanna hang out.. like us, and..." Scott motioned back towards Lydia and Jackson. "Them?"

Allison caught sight of Lydia's stare, and so she smiled shakily. "Yeah, I guess it.." Breathing in deeply Allison nodded. "Sounds fun."

"You know what else sounds fun? Stabbing myself in the face with this fork!" Jackson, with a fork gripped in his hand, voiced his opinion. Which, for the first time Emma could say she agreed with. The idea of Scott, Allison, Lydia and Jackson all spending a night together, was enough to make her want to gouge her own eyes out. It was an image that made her shudder in her seat, but she quickly blinked the thoughts away once she remembered that she was in fact sitting at a table with other people.

Lydia, milling over Jackson's words very briefly, suddenly gasped her hair flying over her shoulder as she faced Jackson once more. "What about bowling? You love to bowl!" Emma couldn't imagine Jackson bowling. Although it was pretty funny to attempt to picture the scowling boy trying to carefully calculate his swing to get the ball to hit all the pins. He probably laughed at children who still had to use the bumpers.

Jackson scoffed, patting Lydia's hand in a mock sincere way. "Yeah, with actual competition." With that his facade fell, and he relaxed back in his seat, his eyes not leaving Scott, for which the comment was meant for.

Allison was quick to jump to the defensive line, a coy smile playing on her lips. "How do you know we're not actual competition?" Pausing solely to look at Scott, Allison jutted her chin towards him. "You can bowl, right?"

Emma watched Scott carefully, and whilst he remained a calm composure, Emma was pretty sure if she put a stethoscope to his chest she would hear his heart pounding a mile a minute. It also didn't help that Stiles was practically choking on his apple beside her. Both factors gave her a good idea that Scott was anything but a good bowler. In fact, she'd bet the boy had never stepped foot in a bowling alley unless it was at a kids birthday party when he didn't really have a say in the days' activities.

Still, Scott eventually answered, lifting his shoulder in a slight shrug. "Sort of.."

"Is it—Is it 'sort of' or is it 'yes'?" Jackson challenged, squinting his eyes as he leaned forward across the table to stare Scott down. Emma wasn't sure he realized that his constant need to put himself into a competition with Scott didn't make him look anything but threatened by the doe-eyed boy.

Scott didn't seem to take that into consideration, seeing as his body tensed with anger, and he joined Jackson, turning his body to face the boy fully. "Yes," He said through clenched teeth. "In fact, I'm a great bowler."

The entire table sat in silence for a good minute, watching the two face-off. Allison and Lydia both looked at their males of interest, unsure of which move to make. Emma would have assumed Lydia had a plan as to break Jackson from these situations by now. With a boyfriend like Jackson you had to assume his other half knew when to whip out specific ultimatums to bring him down from planet douche. She'd expected Allison to look like a helpless viewer, but Lydia's lost gaze admittedly surprised her.

So, Emma did what she always did in awkward situations. She laughed. The sound instantly broke everyone's gaze, as they all changed to focus on her. "Sorry, it's just.. I was beginning to hear shitty Western Showdown music in my head. After that just came the visions of the tumbleweeds, and I sort of lost it." She wiggled a finger near her temple to signify she was a bit crazy, but found herself still met with blank stares. "No? Alright, tough crowd." She tucked in her lips. "Please proceed with your death match staring contest."

As she looked down at the table in embarrassment, she felt the body next to her begin to shake, and she glanced over to see Stiles trying to muffle a laugh. A wave of relief washed over her, and she looked up fully to see everyone had relaxed a bit. Scott was rolling his eyes, a slight smile playing on his lips, Allison was looking at her like she was Wonder woman, and Lydia even went so far as to give her a nod of thanks. Jackson surprised her the most, with his smirk planted gracefully on his once stone cold features.

"You're an idiot, Morrison." That was all he said before taking a sip of his drink, clearing his throat, and turning back to Danny. "So, I was thinking about what Coach said after the game…" Jackson's voice was soon lost as the rest of the table broke back into their separate conversations. Emma was thankful to not be sitting under a cloud of tension, but now that the table had resumed into it's usual manner, she found herself shrinking back into her little shell. Her original intentions for arriving at the table seemingly lost in her head. It was a lot harder to be bold and confident about her new found friendships when their was a hoard of other people surrounding her.

"That was pretty cool what you did there," Stiles nudged her suddenly, pulling Emma out of her thoughts. She gave him a curious glance and he motioned around the table. "Breaking the ice. No offense, but I am both surprised and impressed that you were the one to do it."

"Well, someone had to. Otherwise I think they might have went for each others throats, and then where would we be?" Shrugging sheepishly, she tried not to ignore the sudden hunger growing in her stomach. Now that she thought about it, skipping the lunch line probably wasn't her smartest spur of the moment move.

Stiles seemed to gain a mental image in his head of what Scott and Jackson fighting would look like, and he finished off the moment with a wince. "Yeah, Probably not a good thing to encounter. Sounds like a lot of bad."

"Although I wouldn't mind seeing that pretty little face of his getting a bit scuffed," Emma's eyes were focused on Jackson, as he threw his head back in a laugh that oozed 'I know I look good while doing this'. "Maybe even a little bruised.."

Stiles released a snort. "Down girl, I think his separated shoulder was enough of a beating for the week."

"Technically it was last week. And it wasn't the face. The face gets way more points as a desired target." Emma pointed out, quirking an eyebrow.

"This is true. Should I await your attack or are we still talking about Scott being the initiator of Jackson's abuse?" This sentence Stiles made sure to stage whisper. Which considering the fact they were surrounded by Jackson and his friends, was probably a smart choice.

"I wouldn't hold your breath on mine. If anything were to occur it would be after a lot of planning. I'd rather damage his psyche and then move onto the physical parts." Emma finally focused her eyes on Stiles, pursing her lips in honest thought.

"You're evil." Stiles said, his mouth slightly hanging open.

"I know." Emma nodded, sighing as though she was actually disappointed to hear such things. "Just another one of my many character flaws I guess."

"Hey, you don't have many," Stiles offered, picking up his apple and nibbling one what was left of it. Which was mainly the core.

"Thanks, I guess?" Emma tilted her head, amused and yet confused all at once.

"You can say thank you. It was a compliment." Stiles confirmed, and Emma only nudged him.

The rest of lunch consisted of your average topics of discussion. Each part of the group lost in either a conversation about lacrosse, homework, or in Emma and Stiles' case, the Mets. By the time the bell rang, Emma was showing him her final picture she'd gotten from the last game she'd attended. Her father had lucked out and they'd both ended up with seats right above the dugout. Emma didn't fail to gloat about how she practically had a full fledged conversation with one of the players, and Stiles only groaned in jealousy. At one point he even looked like a small child throwing a tantrum, which got the attention of the rest of the table who only laughed at him afterwards. It had been a rough start, but they'd all walked out seemingly unscathed.

After lunch classes always felt like a blur of unnecessary events. The teachers were just about as ready to get out of the building as the students were. And whilst most of them attempted to care about their jobs and set up curriculum, there was always a looming cloud over the classrooms that consisted of daydreams and the clicking of the clock that hung on the walls. When the final bell rang, Emma found herself hurrying to her locker, desperate to get home and into her bed. It had been a long day, and if she was being completely honest with herself, she hadn't slept well over the past few days. If anything she was scared to push herself too hard. Cured didn't mean that she was 100% healthy. Exhaustion was still a bitch in the night.

She was just forcing camera into her bag, when she heard the complaints of a very disappointed boy behind her. When she glanced up, her hair falling slightly in her eyes, she caught sight of Stiles and Scott, walking hastily down the hallway in what seemed to look like two different trains of thoughts being spoken aloud. Stiles, looking at the floor with a frown, and Scott continuously glancing at his phone.

"…I don't think Danny likes me very much." Stiles pondered, cracking his knuckle with his free hand.

"I asked Allison on a date and now we're hanging out?" Scott scrunched up his face, almost as though he was questioning the gods above as to why he deserved such a punishment.

"Am I not attractive gay guys?" Stiles snapped his head up finally, looking as though he'd reached an epiphany. Emma snorted by her locker, closing it shut. The noise was enough to gain the boys' attention, because they both halted in their travels to glance back at the owner. Emma's cheeks instantly blushed upon their gaze. Stiles was quick to squint at her, in the way he always did. "What's so funny Morrison?"

"You, Stilinski," Emma swung her bag over her shoulder, not detaching her eyes from the boy. "And everything that comes out of that mouth of yours."

Stiles face scrunched up into what looked to showcase offense. He didn't know how to respond to that, so instead he cleared his throat. "I'm going to take that as you thinking I have a wonderful sense of humor."

"Sure, take it that way," Emma blinked, biting back another laugh. "Although apparently Danny doesn't think so." Wiggling her eyebrows, she watched in satisfaction as Stiles' eyes widened. Scott just winced, silently begging her not to acknowledge his idiotic obsession with Danny.

"Did he say something to you about my sense of humor? What was it? Does he think I'm annoying? Or is he just a physical guy? Is it because I'm lanky? I thought he digged that," Emma quickly raised a hand to stop him amidst his rambling, and Stiles' lips clamped shut almost immediately.

"First of all, I was joking. And second of all, if you keep rambling on like that, I wouldn't be surprised if he did find you annoying." Now that was an offense, and Stiles took it as soon as it was offered, tucking his lips in and giving a firm nod of his head.

"Noted." Scratching just above his eyebrows, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Emma then focused her gaze on Scott, who looked like a kicked puppy, bouncing up and down on the heels of his feet.

"What's wrong with you?" Emma crossed her arms, eyeing him carefully. "You're not about to have another one of those—whatever that was at Lydia's party, are you?"

Scott instantly stopped moving, flicking his eyes to meet her own. "W—What?"

"You've looked like wounded dog since lunch, are you okay?" Emma reiterated, and she realized soon after she could have used a better choice of words. But then again, it got her point across so how bad could it be?

When Scott didn't answer right away, simply gaping at Emma, Stiles rolled his eyes. "He's just butt hurt that he's going to make an ass out of himself in front of his arch nemesis during their double bowling date this weekend." Scott didn't hesitate to glare at Stiles. "What? It's true isn't it?"

"Not very fond of bowling?" Emma twisted her lips, feeling slightly sorry for the boy.

"I haven't bowled since the third grade. And even then I managed to get it in the gutter with the bumpers still on." Scott admitted pathetically, allowing his head to go limp on his neck. "I'm going to make an ass out of myself."

"Told ya!" Stiles clicked his tongue, leaning against the lockers.

"Shut up," Emma told Stiles simply, before returning to Scott. "So, why don't you just suggest another place to go for double date night. Hell, throw in watching the Notebook, and I'm sure Lydia and Allison will be on your side in a seconds time."

Scott looked up at Emma like she'd just cursed his entire family. "I'm not going to suggest watching the notebook. That'd be social suicide. Jackson would tell the whole team."

"Danny loves the Notebook." Stiles spoke aloud, shrugging his shoulders. Emma and Scott both looked at him, and he raised his hands innocently. "..I overheard him defending Lydia about it when Jackson tried to call it a horrible movie last week, what's the deal?"

Emma rolled her eyes, and sighed. "—Ya see? You wouldn't be the only player on the team who's into a little soaked Ryan Gosling."

"I could be into that," Stiles nodded to himself, his voice husky. Emma wanted to slap him straight across the face for deterring from the conversation. Scott, however, seemed to be still completely against the idea.

"No, if I suggest something else, Jackson'll know it's because I chickened out of bowling, and that means he'll have won." Scott's fists clenched at his sides, and for some odd reason Stiles grew instantly tense about it.

Emma eyed Scott's fists with a frown and then carefully placed her hand on the boys shoulder. "Okay, as much as I understand this whole Civil War between you and Jackson, I don't think you should be forced to embarrass yourself just to try and prove that you're not chicken. Besides, if you're as bad as you say you are.. He might end up winning both literally and metaphorically. And wouldn't you much rather have him win metaphorically then literally? At least if it's metaphorical there's no solid proof."

Emma was pretty sure she saw Scott pout. Very briefly. And she didn't know whether to continue feeling sorry for him, or to tell him to snap out of it. Maybe she just didn't understand what it was like to be a lovesick puppy who didn't know when to be the bigger person.

"I don't know.." Scott mumbled.

"Hey, if you suck just come over my house afterwards and we'll have some video game therapy." Stiles offered, a goofy grin appearing on his face.

"You guys are doing so well on the encouragement thing, really, i'm inspired.." Scott said sarcastically, eyeing the both of them. When Stiles didn't seem to get it, Scott sneered. "—Which actually means you both suck at this."

"Hey, I never said I was good!" Emma released his shoulder finally, pulling her strap up on her shoulder further. "I would back out, but that's just me—Emma the coward."

"I think backing out is more brave then cowardly in this situation, just FYI. I'm completely with Emma on this one." Stiles lifted his finger, and Emma gave him a short nod of thanks. "So, what're you gonna do bud?" He clapped a hand on Scott's back, and the boy began to blink profusely.

Scott groaned, dropping his head back and sliding a hand over his face. "I don't know! I finally make it to first line and the captain of the team wants to destroy me and now.." Scott shook his head and clicked on his phone. "Now I'm gonna be late for work!" Without another word, Scott turned around, taking off down the hallway towards the schools entrance doors.

Emma and Stiles both stared after him as he left, and Emma eventually blew a shaky breath out of her lips. "This is going to be brutal, isn't it?"

"Oh yeah, definitely." Stiles scoffed, placing his hands on his hips and sticking his tongue into his cheek.

"Is he really that bad?" Emma looked up at Stiles, once again being reminded of how tall the boy was.

"All i'm gonna say is that if you think of the worst bowler you've ever witnessed, and picture that in your head…" Stiles began, and Emma did her best before nodding. "Yeah, he's worse then whatever you just pictured."

Emma slapped a hand on her forehead. It was a facepalm in honor of Scott, but she realized now that her forehead slightly stung that the action made no sense. "Oh god, what did he get himself into?"

"Love." Stiles said bluntly, "Love will make a man go mad."

"Speaking of that, how's your brain doing with Lydia? Should I be expecting another act of making an ass out of yourself anytime soon?" Emma chewed on the corner of her lip. It wasn't that she really wanted to know, but she figured nobody had probably asked Stiles about Stiles in awhile, so why not.

"I'm going to ignore the fact that you just brought up one of the most shameful moments of my life, and answer your question." Emma stifled a laugh and Stiles couldn't fight the smile playing on his lips. "Anyways, uh, yeah—The 10 year plan is still in action. Not really seeing the light at the end of the tunnel yet though. I think maybe if she stops sucking face with Jackson every two minutes I might be able to see the silver lining." Stiles motioned to nothing in particular, his lip curling in slight disgust.

"Did you just say 10 year plan?" Emma stopped walking, and looked at him in slight disbelief.

"It's a long story.." Stiles closed his eyes, regretting his very existence.

"Yeah, apparently. 10 years long." Emma mocked him, knocking her elbow into his side. The boy instantly bent forward, massaging his ribcage.

"Thanks for that. Really great. I enjoyed it so much." His voice was a pained rasp, and Emma would have felt guilty if she didn't find it so amusing. When her phone buzzed in her pocket, she didn't even have to check the caller ID to know that it was her mother, calling to let her know she was outside.

"Well, I should probably get going. Don't want to keep my mom waiting," Emma pointed over her shoulder and began to walk backwards. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah,.." Stiles stood up fully, still massaging his side. "Yeah tomorrow. When my ribs have yet to heal. How pointy are your elbows woman?"

Emma waved him off, turning on her heel. "Goodbye weakling."

"Hey! Emma, wait!" Stiles called after her, causing her to whip around, her hair falling in wisps around her face.

"Hm?" Emma rubbed her lips together, watching him expectantly as he came to a stop in front of her.

"Well, since they're all gonna go on that date thing this weekend, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out?" Stiles said in one breath, before inhaling deeply. Clearly proving that being put on the bench for an entire season kept him pretty much out of shape.

Emma's eyebrows shot up at his offer, and she was pretty sure she felt herself grow speechless. Stiles stared at her for a moment before jolting dramatically, and shaking his head. "Oh, god, no! Not like—Not like that—Just—Just friendly hang out. Maybe watch movies—Or we could do something else. I just figured cause I hate being bored—And since my best friend is gonna be hostage—Yano, it was a bad idea, just forget I even—"

"Sure." Emma blurted, making Stiles' lips to freeze mid-ramble.

"Wait. R—Really?" Stiles dropped his flying arms at his sides, his body relaxing.

"If it gets you to stop making this extremely awkward then yes." Emma nodded, even though inside she was running around the halls having a personal freak out. She'd never hung out with a boy. Not alone. And she definitely wasn't expecting to be hanging out, alone, with Stiles Stilinski. Not, that she expected anything to happen, but how does one hang out platonically? In all the movies she'd seen, 'hanging out platonically' was code for doing the complete opposite of that. Still, she refused to show her lack of social experience. So, she remained composed, as she watched Stiles do anything but.

"O—Okay. Um. Great. Cool." Stiles swallowed, smacking his lips and clearing his throat. "Cool."

"You're making this weird again." Emma informed.

"Sorry." Stiles winced, laughing nervously. "Okay. So. Friendly Hangout, this weekend. How 'bout it?" He did his best to seem like he wasn't the most awkward human being on the planet, and Emma did her best to hide the fact that she was in the same boat as him.

"How 'bout it?" Emma laughed.

"I'm trying here." Stiles slouched, and Emma found herself laughing once more.

"Yes. I think that sounds—Cool." Emma gave him a nod, and then went to turn on her heel once more. "See you."

"Bye!" Stiles quipped, and they both parted ways.

As Emma kept a serious face on the entire way out of the building, but as she neared her mother's car she couldn't fight the smile that pulled on the corners of her lips. Her first friendly hang out. This was normal. This was what having friends—that were sometimes guys—felt like. She was a normal freaking teenager. And even though she was already panicking slightly about how she was actually going to survive this social challenge, she had to admit.. It felt great.

A/N: Okay, so I don't really know how to feel about this chapter. But then again, I never really do. I feel like this was just a filler chapter. Next chapter expect a whole lot of Emma/Stiles friendship interaction. I love making them insanely awkward. It just reminds me of simpler times when Stiles was this big dork who struggled to talk to girls, and not crying every episode. AH. happier days in the teen wolf fandom.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this. I hope it made up for the slight gap since the last chapter, and I love you all. Thank you for those who are continuing to tag along for this wild ride. It's my first OC fanfiction, and I gotta say your reviews make me feel proud.