How to be Cool

Lesson #9: I'm never wrong. . . unless it's calculus

I woke up around ten in the morning, though I stayed in bed scrolling through my phone until eleven. Once I finally managed to drag myself out of bed, knowing my dad had left for work already, I took a quick shower and dressed casually. I tried not to think about what I was about to do until I was in my car, on my way to Derek's house. I would have sat in my car contemplating what I was going to say, but Cora was outside on the porch and she was staring at me with her beady little eyes. I had no choice. 

"He said not to let you in," Cora said blandly, looking away from me to scroll through her phone. 

I shifted uncomfortably, glancing at the front door. Cora didn't move. "Are you going to stop me?" I asked, curiously. It didn't seem like she cared enough to try. 

Her eyes drifted away from her phone to look at me again. "No, Stiles, don't go in there," she said sarcastically, her voice flat. I raised an eyebrow and reached for the doorknob anyways. She sighed. "I tried to stop you." She shrugged, looking away again. I rolled my eyes and walked inside without another word to Cora. 

Since Talia's car wasn't in the driveway, I knew it was only Derek and Cora home. I already made it past Cora, so I just had to make my way up to Derek's room. I trekked up the stairs, trying to get my thoughts unjumbled. I knew I had things to say, but I wasn't sure just yet how to say them. One thing I knew for sure was that I had to apologize. 

I hesitated outside of his door, but eventually worked up the nerve to knock. I knew he wasn't expecting me, so when he said the words "go away" I opened the door anyways. He glanced up and met my eyes, a pencil between his teeth. He slowly dropped it down to the calculus book in front of him. He didn't say anything, but I could tell he was surprised to see me. He looked like he was tired, which if he had been working on calculus, he probably was. 

"Hey," I nearly squeaked. He licked his lips, still not saying anything. "Need some help?"

He half smiled, as if he hadn't meant to, but it slipped anyways. "That would be appreciated," he agreed, scooting over as I walked to his bed and sat down next to him, making sure to take my shoes off first. He kept looking at me and not saying anything, but I focused on reading the problems. I talked him through the first one, making sure he understood before letting him work it out on his own. 

While he worked it out, I watched his pencil move, but I let my eyes wander from his paper until I was staring at him instead. He must have noticed because he looked right back at me, waiting for me to say something about why I was staring at him like a creep. "I'm sorry about yesterday," I mumbled, looking away. 

He grinned, bumping my shoulder with his. "I know," he answered. "Me too." His grin made me smile too, but I tried to hide it from him. "We're still friends?"

"Of course," I agreed, pulling my knees up to my chest. "Now do your homework." He rolled his eyes, but listened to me anyways. For two hours, we worked on his calculus homework. When we finally got it done, he threw his book on the floor and flopped back on the bed. I figured I should probably get going, even though I didn't have to hang out with Scott for another few hours. Still, I meant what I said about Derek and I spending less time together. 

"So are you ready for lesson number eight?" he asked, putting a pillow over his eyes to block out the sunlight. I rolled my eyes at him.