Hard Knock Life ~ Hayden Romero

5.1.2

Stiles drives down the road in his Jeep as Liam continues to question what they're doing after they drop us off. "Is it a party?" Liam asks. "It's not a party." Stiles shakes his head. "Then what's at midnight?" He asks. "Your bedtime." Stiles says and I roll my eyes. "Why aren't the girls going?" He wonders. "They're meeting us there, okay? And just stop asking questions, all right? It's a senior thing. You'll both know when you're seniors." Stiles tells us.

Liam sighs, leaning back in his seat as we both give each other looks. Scott continues to text on his phone, the conversation tuned out. "You guys having trouble with your phones?" He asks curiously as we hear Stiles' engine start spluttering. "Oh. What the hell?" He says as the car suddenly stops in the middle of the road. We were literally in the middle of nowhere.

"You out of gas?" Liam asks. "No, it's electrical. Probably the alternator again." Stiles sighs in frustration. Him and Scott both climb out to check it out, leaving Liam and I in the car. I notice Liam clenching his hands into fists. He puts an earbud in as I look at him curiously. Before I can ask though, we hear something from behind us. We both look at each other before turning back around to look behind us.

"Did you hear that?" He asks and I nod. "Guys..." Liam calls out to them as I continue to look back. We see a lightning bolt strike not far from us and our eyes widen. "Guys!" Liam calls out in a panic. "Yeah, give us a second, please" Stiles calls back. "Yeah, guys, stay in the car, okay?" Scott adds. "Seriously, guys. Hurry up!" I urge them. We hear another lighting bolt and Liam and I look at each other.

Liam climbs into the front, turning the key to start the car. He leans his head out the window to look at them. "Can we go now?" He begs. The two get in and Stiles starts to drive again. Soon, we finally make it to where Malia was helping her Dad and Stiles honks the horn as he approaches. He parks the car, peaking his head out as Malia and her Dad approach.

"Sorry we're late." Stiles calls out. Malia runs up with a smile, kissing him as a greeting while Stiles hums in satisfaction. She finally pulls away as Liam and I lean up to the front. "I'm sorry, too" Liam says, an earbud in. "Hi, Malia" I greet with a smile. "You boys do remember I own a gun, right?" Malia's Dad, Tate, threatens the other three, sending me a wave and a smile. Little did he know, I was gay so he should be worried. Not that I'd try anything with her though. I'd prefer someone a little closer to my age. And plus, she's obviously with Stiles and I'm still trying to gain his trust.

"Vividly." Stiles says and Tate nods before winking at Malia. Malia climbs in the car and I sit in between her and Liam. Scott and Stiles turn to look back at Malia so Liam and I decide to as well. "What?" She asks, looking at all of us. "Did you find out yet?" Stiles asks. "Find out what?" Liam wonders. "They're gonna email me." Malia tells them. "Is this about summer school?" Liam brings up and Malia gives Stiles a look. "You told him?" "Uh..." Stiles trails off.

"It's okay. All they had said was you had to go to summer school 'cause the principal said your test scores weren't good enough and you might have to repeat junior year" I asure her. Malia turns back to look at Stiles. Stiles gives Liam and I a look before turning to look at Scott. "We should've left them chained to the tree." He sighs as Scott turns to look at us. I holds my hands up in surrender as Liam shrugs.

~~~

Liam and I follow Scott through the hospital hallways. "Our Dad's helping out in surgery. He's not gonna be done for hours. So we're either hanging out here or we could still go with you guys..." Liam explains as I just follow behind. Scott presses the elevator button before turning to look back at Liam. "Show me your hands." He says seriously. Liam sighs, looking around before pulling them out of his pockets.

There were bloody claw marks on his palms and blood underneath his fingernails causing me to frown. He was still having trouble. "Okay, so I'm still having trouble." Liam sighs. "No. You're still learning." Scott corrects. "What do you do to stay focused on not changing?" Scott wonders. Liam shows his earbuds. "But it's not working." Liam sighs. "It's working enough." Scott asures him.