How hard could it be? • LM / SS

Chapter 130

TRIGGER WARNING: struggles with coming to terms with sexuality. indirect mention of suicide that's specifically tied to homophobia

"There's nothing I do
better than revenge."

The shrill sound of the school bell rang throughout the classroom, signalling the start of their lessons. Coach slammed the door closed behind him, no one paying much attention to his glare that was waiting for them to quiet down.

Silence finally settled over the room, Coach sifting through the papers in his binder. He walked through the rows of desks, placing sheets in front of each student as he done so. "I'm going to split you into groups of six. For the remainder of this class, I want you to work on putting together a presentation on the topics that are in front of you. I want you to be ready to present by the end of the week."

Jade groaned to herself, picking up her things and moving over to the opposite side of the room with her group members. Trust Coach to partner her with Scott and Stiles. On the bright side, at least she had Max, Lydia and Malia with her, too, which made it slightly more bearable.

It had been two days since Kate had disappeared and Chris, Derek and Braeden had left, leaving the twins and Lilith to find out what independent life was like. So far, it hadn't actually been too bad. It turned out that Lilith was a fantastic cook and she spent most of their days in the twins apartment anyway, which meant it worked out in everybody's favour. The two girls had been incredibly intrigued that Max had been keeping his new tricks a secret, squealing in delight when he made another solider, this time out of water and when he duplicated himself, even if it did only work for a few seconds.

Scott had been pleasantly making an effort to rebuild his friendship with his two cousins, even going so far as to apologise for what he said at the sheriffs station and on Stiles' behalf in the warehouse. Although he still held a slight grudge towards Jade, he was trying to be more open minded, to see things in a less black and white way. It didn't mean he trusted her, or that she was back in the pack— not that she wanted to be, anyway— but it was progress and that was all she asked for.

She had zoned out a few minutes into the talking, finding economics in her top three boring subjects with ease. She glared daggers at Max, rubbing her face sorely, thanks to him flicking a hair tie at her to catch her attention. None of them were working on the set task, the topic having somehow drifted to powers, relationships and everything in between. What was new there,

"Since when are you two back together?" Lydia bluntly interrupted, gesturing to Stiles' arm that was resting around Malia's shoulder. It had been slightly out of character for her— it was written across the others faces— but it had been bugging her for ages, never being able to find the right time to bring it up. She wasn't saying it with malicious intent, simply out of genuine curiousity.

"We never really broke up— we cleared up the whole Stiles kissing Max thing ages ago," Malia replied, forgetting that nobody else in the friendship group had been informed of that piece of information.

Max buried his face in his hands, cheeks flushing red in embarrassment. He shot his best friend a small but fake smile, hoping to show that he wasn't mad at her, that he knew it had only been an accident.

Jade muttered an 'oh lord' under her breath, biting back a smile at the priceless reactions of the others. Considering Stiles and Max had been making heart eyes at each other since they were six, she wouldn't have thought it came as a surprise.

"What did you say?" Stiles raised his voice, earning him a warning from Coach, who was listening in intently, on the verge of getting the popcorn out. This was the only reason he loved working in a high school, because you always heard the drama that was going on. "No, go on, please. I'd love relationship advice from someone who changes her mind on a daily basis about whether or not she's going to try and kill us. You can't maintain healthy friendships, let alone relationships."