Let's just say the rest of Friday night went off the rails. After the parent-teacher conferences, a mountain lion attacked the school when it showed up at the parking lot. After ditching Stiles' calls to play hooky with Allison, he was less than thrilled with Scott, especially since his father got hit by car.
For Gracie, it took awhile for things to back to normal. When the weekend had Monday finally came as the sun rose and her alarm clock went off, Gracie got ready for school, finally feeling ready to get back into the swing of things.
Looking in a mirror, Gracie smiled at her reflection. She was wearing a a purple t-shirt and a white long-sleeve undershirt with a pair of jeans, which was accompanied with a pair of white sneakers. Staring at herself, she finally recognized who she was -- she finally felt like herself.
When Derek had dropped her off and she headed to her first class, Gracie managed to ignore all the looks from everyone as her eyes scanned through the room. She figured everyone would have forgotten all about the attack, but she was wrong. She was sure when she walked through the door the whole world stopped as everyone just stared her down.
Stiles was sitting at his desk ready to work when the Hale girl walked in. He glanced up, thinking it was Scott when Gracie sat in his friend's seat.
"Are you okay?" She asked before he could say anything. She had been worried about him. But She knew from the text messages she received from Stiles that Sheriff Stilinski was okay, earning only a couple of bruises. "Feeling any better?"
"You mean am I still seething with impotent rage at my best friend?" Stiles asked bitterly. "Then no. I'm not feeling any better."
Gracie nodded, giving him a sympathetic look. She understood why he was mad at Scott, but then again it wasn't all Scott's fault. "Okay. Well, have you talked to him?"
"No."
"It's been three days. Have you had any contact at all?" she prodded. "Did you text him--?"
"--No, no," Stiles interrupted her, pointing at her. "You can't take his side, okay? I need someone on my side."
Gracie held up her hands in defense. "I'm not on anyone's side."
"You were going to say that it wasn't Scott's fault."
Gracie winced. "Well--"
"--Nope, I'm not listening to you anymore," Stiles cut her off again, shaking his head.
"Okay," the Hale girl sighed. She was about to stand up, but was stopped by Stiles as he grabbed her hand when he saw Scott walk in.
"Sit here!" Stiles practically begged.
Gracie just shook her head, almost laughing as she pulled her hand from his not-so-tight grasp. "I'm sorry, but, at some point, you have to talk to him."
With that, she got up, heading to the seat beside Stiles in the next row over as Scott sat down in his seat.
"Still not talking to me?" Scott huffed, whispering quietly to his best friend -- though it was loud enough for Gracie to hear. She tried not to eavesdrop, but she couldn't resist looking at Stiles to see his reaction.
And just like she expected, the Stilinski boy looked aggravated and uncomfortable, sitting straight in his seat and staring at the board at the front of the room.
"Okay, can you at least tell me if your dad's okay?" Scott asked. "It's just a bruise, right? Some soft tissue damage? Nothin' that big..."
Stiles narrowed his eyes, irritated, and clenched his jaw, poking the inside of his cheek with his tongue so he wouldn't lash out at his best friend, who was being a little insensitive. It wasn't just about how injured his dad was or the fact that he had gotten hurt at all. He needed Scott and his best friend just blew him off.
"You know I feel really bad about it, right?" Scott kept on going. With no response, he sighed. "Okay. What if I told you that I'm trying to figure this whole thing out, and that I went to Derek for help?"
Stiles looked at Gracie to see if Scott was telling the truth. When she nodded in confirmation, he exhaled heavily. She kind of felt bad for Scott. She knew how difficult it would be to avoid Allison until the full moon, but it was probably the safest option until he learned how to control his shifting.
"If I was talking to you, I'd say that you're an idiot for trusting him," Stiles grumbled, still not turning back. "But obviously I'm not talking to you."
After a few seconds, Stiles flipped around to Scott when his interest couldn't hold off any longer. "What did he say?"
Gracie let out a quiet laugh, knowing what Scott told him was enough to pique his interest. Stiles didn't trust Derek, that much was clear, so there was no way he'd allow his best friend to get help from the older werewolf, even if he was Gracie's brother.
"What?" Stiles exclaimed after Scott told him what Derek was planning as the two walked out class when the bell rang. "...he wants you to tap into your animal side and get angry?"
"Yeah," Scott confirmed.
"All right, well, correct me if I'm wrong, but every time you do that, you try to kill someone," Stiles reminded his best friend. "...and that someone's usually me."
"I know..." Scott agreed. "That's what he means when he says he doesn't know if he can teach me. I have to be able to control it."
"Well, how's he gonna teach you to do that?"
"I don't know," Scott shook his head. "I don't think he does either."
"No, he actually uses anger," Gracie spoke up, causing both boys to look back at her. "He uses it like an anchor."
"An anchor?" Stiles gave her a confused look.
"Yeah, it's something or someone that anchors you back to yourself," Gracie explained. "Keeps you human -- in control. Anger is Derek's anchor. That's why he wants you to get angry, Scott. To see if you can use it to keep yourself in control."
"But how is Scott gonna control himself when he's so angry?" Stiles asked, trying to wrap his mind around Derek's thinking. "He changes when he's angry."
Gracie shrugged, having no clue. She didn't exactly have experience, being human and all. While she may have been born into a family of werewolves, she hadn't shifted yet.
"Okay," Stiles sighed, turning back to him. "When are you seeing him again?"
"He told me not to talk about it. Just act normal and get through the day."
"When?" Stiles repeated, not listening.
"He's picking me up at the animal clinic after work."
"After work..." Stiles repeated under his breath. "...All right, well, that gives me to the end of the school day then."
Gracie gave him a curious look. "To do what?"
"To teach Scott myself."
By the time lunch came, Gracie sat with Stiles and Scott at their usual table. Stiles was eating his lunch like any other day, but Scott was hiding. He used Stiles' history book so hide his face so Allison couldn't see him. Stiles glanced back at Allison's table and then looked to Scott, annoyed.
"I think the book's making it more obvious," he quipped, rolling his eyes at his best friend.
Looking back, Gracie snuck a glance at Allison, who's head was buried in a book as she sat with Lydia. She whipped back to Scott. "Besides, she's reading, anyway."
Scott peeked over the top of the orange textbook and saw that Stiles was telling the truth; Allison looked fully engrossed in the book she was reading.
"So did you come up with a plan yet?" Gracie asked Stiles, wondering what he could possibly come up with that would help Scott better than Derek's idea.
"I think so," Stiles said, taking a bite from his apple.
"Does that mean you don't hate me now?" Scott asked hopefully.
"No," Stiles grumbled with his mouth full. Gracie rolled her eyes, shaking her head slightly. "But your crap has infiltrated my life, so now I have to do something about it. Plus I'm definitely a better Yoda than Derek."
"Okay, yeah, you teach me," Scott agreed.
"Yeah, I'll be your Yoda."
"Yeah, you be my Yoda."
Stiles snickered and imitated the small, ancient, Jedi Master. "Your Yoda I will be. I said it backwards--"
"Yeah, I-I know," Scott gave him an unimpressed look. Stiles pursed his lips, annoyed yet again.
"All right, you know what? I definitely still hate you," he declared, ripping his textbook from Scott's grasp as he stood up. "Uh-huh. Oh, yeah."
Gracie covered her mouth, laughing as Stiles left the two alone. With the two out in the open, Allison spotted Scott from across the cafeteria. He practically ran out of there and went to the bathroom so she wouldn't follow him.