How to be Cool

Lesson #4: Cool people play sports

Today was the start of the third week of Derek helping me. After school, he asked me to meet him in the locker room, which was odd. He usually just told me to come over after school so we could talk about the next lesson, and then we ended up doing calculus for a few hours. At this point, I was putting more time into helping him than he was helping me. Not that I minded, because he really did need the help.

I couldn't remember what lesson four was, so I was getting a little worried. So worried, in fact, that even Scott was concerned. "Stiles, you keep zoning out," he said, waving his hand in front of my face. "Are you okay?" I didn't want to tell him that the reason I zoned out was because he was talking about some girl he liked. The new girl, Allison, who was probably way out of his league.

"Just thinking," I mumbled, pushing my food around with my fork.

Scott hummed, staring at me for a second. "Your new look... is that part of your plan?" I hadn't told him much about the plan since three weeks ago when he told me it was dumb. He didn't even know that I was spending all my time with Derek. Every time he asked to hang out, I lied and said I had too much homework.

"Yeah," I sighed, glancing down at my outfit. It wasn't me at all, but Derek said I looked good. That meant Lydia would think so too. "Why?"

Scott shrugged. "It looks weird on you." He studied me for a minute before cracking a grin. "Did Derek pick those out?"

I tried to hide my surprise and cleared my throat. "What are you talking about?" I had been so careful to not get caught sneaking around. I didn't want Lydia, of all people, finding out about the plan, so Derek and I kept it on the down low. "Why would Derek pick out my clothes? You saw how angry he was a few weeks ago. He'd never help me."

Scott rolled his eyes. "Oh, so you just went to the store and picked those out yourself? And paid for them with what money?" he accused, making me shift uncomfortably. I shouldn't have been lying to Scott anyways, but the fact that he figured it out meant anyone could. "Stiles, your whole wardrobe is different. Every time you see Derek in the hallway, you guys do this weird head nod thing. You never have time to hang out anymore. Oh, and Derek got way better at calculus practically over night. Why are you lying about it? I'm your best friend."

I looked away, so Scott couldn't see my guilty face. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. I just didn't want anyone finding out. If Lydia finds out, it's all over." I realized I was being a shitty best friend, but I couldn't take it back. The best I could do now was to tell him the truth from now on. "I promise, no more lies. I'll tell you everything."

"Maybe not every detail," he teased, his mood lightening up a little. "Just the important stuff."

I smiled, grateful he wasn't mad. "Okay," I agreed. We continued eating in silence, but it wasn't awkward. I was just glad he was done gushing about his supposed future wife. Not that I was any better, considering how much I talked about Lydia in the past, but still. "Hey, any idea why Derek would wanna meet in the locker room after school?" I asked, just curious to see if Scott would know anything.

Scott raised an eyebrow, clearly confused. "I mean, there aren't any practices so it'll be empty."

That was exactly what I was afraid of. Derek was going to be making me do something I didn't want to do, which wasn't any different than normal, but this one probably involved sports. "Great, he's going to murder me," I grumbled, looking up at just the right time to see Derek walking across the lunch room with Lydia. He looked at me with a smirk, as if he knew I was talking about him. I rolled my eyes and looked away.