Return of the Hale || Stiles Stilinski

6

Neriah walked into economics', pulling her textbook out of her bag just as someone stepped in her way, making her halt and look up to see it was Coach with a faint smile.

"Hale, it's good to see you're back," Coach said with a nod as Neriah stayed still, slightly shocked. "I thought you moved to France with Lahey, but since you're back, you have tryouts for the lacrosse team tomorrow after school."

"Wait what?" Neriah questioned, nearly dropping her bag as she gaped at him. "Me? Lacrosse? You want me to try out?"

"You want her to try out?" Stiles questioned, stopping behind her with the same shocked expression. "Neriah try out for the team? Her?"

Coach rolled his eyes at the pair. "Since Kira is now on the team, it seems only fair that I give you a chance to try out. I've heard dumb and dumber talking about the few fights you've been in." Neriah held back the urge to slap Stiles on the back of the head for talking about her fights in the locker room. "We need someone with aggression on the team and not any more softies. So tomorrow, you're trying out."

"But—"

"Nope." Coach turned around, walking away from her. "You can't get out of this, Hale, or I'll fail you!"

"He's joking, right?" Neriah looked behind her at Stiles who was still gawking at her. "He isn't joking, is he?"

"We're gonna need extra medics at our games," Stiles muttered, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward Scott who was also gawking at her. "You heard that?"

"Every word," Scott breathlessly said as Neriah held back a cry, sitting down in the desk in front of him as Stiles sat down in the desk next to him. "This is a bad idea."

"A horrible idea," Neriah muttered, pulling out her notebook.

"The worst one yet," Stiles added, looking through crime scene photos on his desk.

Coach turned to the class with a lacrosse stick, quieting them down. "Economic disparity exists in all forms," he said to the class. "Well, take sports, for example. Some teams have better training facilities." He slowly walked down Neriah's row. "Some have better equipment. Unlike Beacon Hills that can barely afford the duct tape to keep our equipment together." He stopped in front of Stiles and hit the end of the stick on the desk, making Stiles jump. "You know, Stilinski," he muttered, picking up one of the crime scene photos, "if I could grade you on how profoundly you disturb me, you'd be an A-plus student."

"Thanks, Coach," Stiles said with a small smile, and Neriah and Scott shared a 'seriously?' look.

"Put those pictures away," Coach said, tapping the end of the stick on the desk as he turned away.

Suddenly, Stiles grabbed the end of the stick, pulling it back.

"Stilinski!" Coach snapped, trying to pull the stick back but Stiles pulled the plastic end cover off, observing it and then the crime scene photo as Coach continued to try and take the stick back. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He snatched the stick back, walking away. "Don't answer that."

Neriah waited until Coach walked back to the front of the class before she faced Stiles. "What did you just figure out?"

Stiles looked at her and then Scott for a long moment before saying, "It's a lacrosse player."

"The killer's on the team," Scott clarified.

"And Coach wants me to try out," Neriah groaned, dropping her head on the desk. "I hate this town."

♤♡♤♡

Neriah stood by the door to Coach's office with her arms crossed over her chest as she stared down at the pile of lacrosse sticks on the desk with Stiles, Scott, and Kira standing around after the four of them had pulled off the end of every stick looking for a knife or weapon that they didn't find.