There were a lot of things Tristan expected and some things he didn't expect, and Jackson being whatever the fuck he was what not one of them.
He had expected Derek to wisely choose who he wanted to give the bite but he did in no way expect he would willingly give one to Jackson.
The smugness that radiated off of him that morning immediately caught Tristan's attention as he sent a victorious look his way.
Even though he had no confirmation of Jackson's supernatural status, just the fact that the boy had stopped smelling like a piece of rotten meat and the vibrant step in his gait was something that easily caught his attention.
But for some reason he wasn't aware of, Jackson didn't smell like the typical werewolf newborn. He didn't give Tristan the same hot-blooded feeling that werewolves like Scott had when they first went through their metamorphosis. If anything, he'd say Jackson felt more like him – cold-blooded and venomous.
"You've been staring at Jackson for some while now, anything wrong? Other than the smoldering elation he's currently emitting?" Malia asked as she saw Tristan giving Jackson a squinting look.
"Derek gave him the bite." His words caused Malia's head to go blank for a second before she reeled in her stupefaction and asked Tristan a question the young vampire wanted answered. "Why?!"
Tristan shook his head and turned his face away from Jackson. "How would I know? Hopefully Derek can put a leash on him so he won't run afoul of the Argents."
Malia snorted at his somewhat naïve words. "You think someone as dumb and arrogant as Jackson will bend to Derek now that he's a werewolf?"
Tristan paused for a bit and thought about it. Jackson had the gall to blackmail Scott into finding a way to give him the bite, not caring that Scott could have killed him. Now that he was a werewolf or any weird thing that was wrong with him, his confidence would surely soar to a whole new level.
"He's not Scott who knew nothing when he was turned. If he's still as stupid as he was, I don't mind helping Derek take care of an unruly beta." Tristan said lightly, not caring of the fact that he just insinuated that he would kill Jackson.
With the school formal being this weekend, the mood of the students were quite hyper with only a few not feeling the incoming celebration. Tristan was one of them since he was much of a party guy, even though he was resolute in attending. Other than Tristan, Allison was not feeling the formal at all as it only served to remind her of the prominent fact that Kate was dead.
Tristan and Malia could tell what was going on with Allison but there was very little they could do so left her to do things her own way. She was a strong girl in the fact that she knew when to ask for help if she wanted one.
"You think anything will happen in the formal?" Malia asked.
"Maybe. Hopefully not." Tristan said.
There were in Beacon Hills and they were a werecoyote and a vampire. Problem was bound to follow them anywhere they go.
Since this was one of the few classes they had together, they both went together with Malia sitting in front of Tristan only for her happy face to fall down to a frown as she saw Lydia sitting at Tristan's side after kicking out the boy who sat there.
"Hey, Tristan, Malia~" Lydia greeted them cheerily. "You guys are coming to the formal, right?" She asked in a hushed whisper.
"Yes." Malia answered while Tristan nodded.
Tristan looked at Lydia from a side eye and felt what she was currently going through. It wasn't a secret that Jackson dumped her which caused her prestige in school to take a dive. Even some of her friends no longer wanted to hang out with her because she wasn't as popular as she once was and she also got dumped by the lacrosse co-captain. If she had been the one doing the dumping then maybe it would have been different?
Tristan was inwardly confused since he couldn't really understand how high schoolers thought. She was in this position because she was dumped instead of her doing the dumping.
Lydia currently was looking for someone to latch onto to continue staying afloat and she knew just the right clique.
"What of Allison?" Lydia asked.
Tristan looked at her with brows raised. "What of her?"
"Is she coming?" Lydia clarified. She had her own reasons for wanting to know if Allison had was coming and Tristan immediately saw through it.
"Yes, she is." Tristan replied and then added. "Possibly without a date."
"So going solo huh?" She looked at Tristan and nodded in understanding. "I can see why. How about I tag along? We could have more fun in numbers."
Her plan had been to ask of the other boys fawning over her to be her date for the formal and use that to get a rise out of Jackson but seeing Tristan gave her another idea.
It wasn't much of a secret that Tristan was one of the best players in the team and there was also some rumor that Coach was deliberating whether to demote either Scott or Jackson and make Tristan co-captain. It's also not like he wasn't up there in popularity and looks.
"You're looking thirsty, Lydia. Try not showing your inner slut too much in front of me, okay?" Malia's blunt rebuke shook Lydia out of her increasingly vivid fantasy.
She stuck a tongue out at Malia and turned to Tristan who just had a small smile on his face as if he was enjoying their little banter.
"So what do you say? You can have all…this to yourself if you just say the word." She said in a hushed sultry voice which made Malia's eyes twitch.
If she was a normal girl then such blatant flirting and seduction with her boyfriend would have thrown her into a fit and she and Lydia would have gotten into a cat fight, pulling each other's hair. It was times like these that made her wonder why she refrained from killing certain people.
Tristan only chuckled at Lydia's efforts but ultimately shook his head. "You can continue if you want Malia to lop off your head."
Lydia snorted at that and turned to face her front as the teacher entered the class while Malia sent a ridicule smirk her way as if saying, 'Even on the impossible chance that he leaves me for someone else, trust me, you won't be that person.'
It wasn't her bragging or feeling contempt with pride. It was just her trust in Tristan.
She knew the kind of people he would care about and she could also read his thoughts and impressions of certain people he's met.
.....
"Do you think I should find something doing after school?" Tristan asked Boyd after they finished their lacrosse practice for the day and he still had more than enough energy to spare.
Boyd looked at him as if he was a freak upon hearing Tristan's complaints about having too much energy everyday. "What kind of freak are you?"
"How the hell would I know?" Tristan grumbled as he stuffed his things inside the locker.
Boyd looked at his ripped physique and gave an opinion. "You could go for extra hours at the gym every evening. That works for you?"
"No." Tristan replied. Doing hours at the gym wouldn't help him a lot, unless he wanted to let everyone there know how much he could lift. He also couldn't go for prolonged hunting as that would damage the forest ecosystem.
"Well if you're that desperate why don't you find something that is in line with your future career. You can start it out as a hobby and take it from there." Boyd suggested.
But unfortunately for Tristan, that won't work for him. His dream was to open a weapons shop so how was he going to go about it as a hobby? Go to the gun range?
Leaving the locker room, they came across Jackson who was coming from the bathroom. Jackson looked a bit spooked as he saw Tristan but a smile emerged on his face as his confidence soared based on his new status as a supernatural.
"Excuse me, chumps." He said and forced his way through their middle while making Tristan a receiver of his scorching smug face.
"I hate that guy." Boyd commented as Jackson walked out of sight. "What's even up with him? He's acting as if he's on top of the world. Is that how breaking up with a girl is supposed to make you feel?"
Tristan only shrugged as he threw Jackson's weird behavior to the back of his mind. "How am I supposed to know, I've never been in a breakup before."
"Well, I have but it didn't make me feel like… that." Boyd said while pointing at the direction Jackson went.
Unfortunately for Tristan, this was just the beginning of his new troubles.
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