To Better The Shattered; Scott McCall [2] ✔

1.30 In Which Someone Is Protecting Him

Ellie split off from Allison on the way to their lockers, knowing they would see each other in English first lesson. They'd arrived in school to speak to Gerard around an hour before any lessons actually started, but getting out of the house was the girls' top priority. Scott and Stiles hadn't met them in any of the usual places, and neither had answered their phones when she called, so Ellie wasn't sure if they were coming in to school or watching Jackson.

There hadn't been a chance to tell them that the police were suspecting foul play, and it wouldn't be too long since the Sheriff decided to search the preserve.

Only two seats were left when Ellie traipsed into the classroom. She took one beside Allison, muttering to her cousin: "Have you seen either of them?"

"No," the taller girl replied. "Stiles wasn't at his locker."

Frowning, Ellie turned to the front of the room in time to see Scott rush inside before the bell rang. Relief filled her, but she couldn't bring herself to relax. Stiles was still gone, probably with Jackson, so the two boys would still be prosecuted in connection to the Whittemore boy's kidnap.

"Scott!" she hissed, leaning forward to catch her boyfriend's attention. "Scott!"

His head turned, but he couldn't reply before a very familiar woman walked through the door. "Your teacher was feeling ill today," Victoria Argent said "and had to leave early. So, you're stuck with me as a substitute. Can anyone catch me up to speed on where we are?" No one volunteered. "Mr McCall, how about you?"

Scott cleared his throat, his shoulders squaring like the hunter was about to attack him (which she would, if she wasn't in a room with thirty other teenagers). Ellie nervously drummed her fingers on her desk as she watched Scott fumble through his notes, searching for the work they'd done on various poems over the semester.

The rest of English went by fairly quickly. Victoria didn't threaten Scott, or send him any menacing glares. They were told to silently revise for the exams approaching. Any low-level chat was immediately silenced by Ellie's aunt - everyone, even the shifty looking guy in the back, seemed to instinctively fear her.

After the bell rang, Ellie and Scott shared a meaningful look. They had a lot of important things to discuss, and finding somewhere to privately do so would almost certainly prove to be a challenge.

"Allison, Ellie, wait behind a moment," the older woman ordered. The girls froze, books clutched to their chest and identical grimaces on their faces. "We've noticed a lot of calls on your phones between you and the odd one, Stilinski."

"Oh," Allison replied easily. "You told us to keep an eye on Lydia, and he's had a crush on her since, like, third grade, so... we have to talk."

Ellie nodded, adding: "He's also our friend; we do have those."

"I know it's hard, Ellie," her aunt said after a moment. "Sitting here, trying not to look at him, but think of how strong it makes you. Especially when all of those other girls are letting their entire high school lives be defined by some boy their hoping will take them to senior prom."

"Can't I be strong and go to senior prom with a boy I like?" Ellie grumbled, hiding the angry glare in her eyes by ducking her head.

Her aunt laughed, wrapping her arms around her and Allison's shoulders. "Of course you can - just with someone else. Remember, so long as you stay strong, we won't have to kill a sixteen year old boy."

"He hasn't hurt anyone. Doesn't your code say that only the vicious werewolves need to be stopped?" Ellie gave her a look of disgust, "Killing a sixteen year old boy woul be your own choice, not the right thing to do. And if you do anything to hurt Scott, I'll go straight to Sheriff Stilinski and tell him about all of the threats you've made to his life for absolutely no reason."