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—ONE—
“I’m telling you, dude, something is VERY not right about him,” Stiles huffed as he and Scott rushed through the halls returning from lunch. Scott furrowed his brow towards his best friend, which went unnoticed because Stiles was singularly focused on the retreating back of the new student, Theo.
Theo Raeken (if that even is his real name, Stiles questioned) had just moved to Beacon Hills (allegedly, Stiles claimed), and was the oldest son to a family of lawyers (so they say, Stiles refuted). Theo and Scott got along fine, all wide smiles and deep dimples, and Stiles… Stiles was a little jealous.
“Stiles,” Scott turned to face him, just outside of their fourth grade classroom. “Just give him a chance. Think about what would have happened if you didn’t give me a chance when I moved here.” Stiles’s lip jutted out.
“I don’t ever want to think about that,” he grabbed Scott by the shoulders, looking towards his feet. “Ever.”
“Okay, but come on, man,” Scott’s hands went around to Stiles’s shoulders, and he waited patiently until Stiles, “do you honestly think he’s…” Scott’s eyes went wide, falling into Stiles’s trap, “a vampire?”
“It’s pretty clear, Scotty. Look at how red he is after lunch recess,” the boys stood beside the door. “Are normal people allergic to the sun?”
“I think he’s just as white as you, and he probably forgot to put on sunscr—”
“And Scott,” Stiles arms flew out animatedly, not noticing the boy now standing behind him in the doorway, “he wouldn’t eat the garlic bread at lunch. GARLIC BREAD! You know who else doesn’t eat garlic?” Stiles waited for half of a second, not allowing Scott time to answer the question or warn him that they had been caught. “VAMPIRES!”
“I’m not a vampire,” Theo said quietly from the doorway, causing Stiles to jump behind Scott for protection. “I’m just allergic to garlic. Mrs. S. says to come inside. The bell rang thirty seconds ago.”
Stiles balked as the boy walked inside, blushing a deep shade of red as he returned to his desk. Scott put his hand on his friend’s shoulder, walking past him through the door.
“Nice going, buddy.”
—TWO—
“H-A-N-D-K-E-R-C-H-I-E-F-S. Handkerchiefs.”
“Congratulations, Theo, you’re the winner of this month’s spelling contest! Come pick out your prize!” Theo went to Mrs. S’s desk, so Stiles quickly turned to Scott.
“New theory,” Stiles said before continuing, ignoring Scott’s noise of protest, “Theo is an old man hiding inside of a fourth grader’s body. It’s just like that old tv show 21 Jump Street.”
“Stiles, your dad already told us that’s not how it works,” Scott tried to reason with him, putting his homework into his backpack, before standing up. “What makes you think he’s an adult? And why would he even be in our classroom?”
“He beat Lydia at spelling, Scott. Nobody beats Lydia at anything,” Stiles looked to Lydia, still unmoving behind her desk, where she had been since she misspelled her last word. “And I bet he’s one of my dad’s guys. He probably put him here to look out for me.”
“Gee, Stiles, if only there were someone else here to look out for you,” Scott said sarcastically, “like, I don’t know,” he turned to the front of the classroom, “maybe your mom?”
“Scott,” Stiles was fuming, “I’m gonna confront him. Back me up.” The boys rushed out of the classroom past Mrs. Stilinski, who was busy answering questions about the night’s homework.
“Theo,” Stiles shouted, causing Theo to turn around. Stiles backed him up into the wall, finger wagging. “The jig is up. I know who you are.”
Theo’s eyes started tearing up, as Scott began to force Stiles’s hand back down to his side.
“Look, Theo, are you an old man?” Scott interrupted Stiles’s interrogation, to his dismay. “Stiles thinks that’s how you won the spelling contest.
“Wh—what?” Theo asked, his face quickly turning from fear of Stiles to a smile at Scott’s words. “No,” he said beginning to laugh, “I just studied. I really wanted to win a prize from Mrs. S., look at this awesome new pencil I got!” Scott looked at Stiles pointedly, as Theo dug through his bag to show his new pencil to Scott.
—THREE—
“HE’S A DEMENTOR,” Stiles screamed, pointing down at Theo. Theo had been on the monkey bars one minute, and the next he was on his back in the bark, wheezing up as Vernon Boyd leaned down to help him.
“GET BACK, BOYD,” Stiles continued to shout, while holding Scott away from the crowd. “HE’S GOING TO SUCK OUT YOUR SOUL!”
Theo’s wheezing did not stop, and Scott broke free from Stiles’s grip, sending for the first time an angry look in Stiles’s direction. Stiles quickly withdrew himself from Scott’s side, playing with the hem of his shirt.
“Hey, Theo, look at me,” Scott said, bending down on his knees beside the boy. “It seems like you’re having an asthma attack.” Scott looked back to Stiles before nodding his head towards the nearest teacher, and Stiles understood immediately.
Stiles ran as fast as he could to the teacher, but not before hearing Scott tell Theo that his mom worked at the hospital and that everything would be fine. Stiles owed Theo an apology.
—FOUR—
Stiles put off his apology for three days, and on a chilly winter Thursday, he is grateful for doing so. Theo, jumping off of the monkey bars, feeling safe with his inhaler in his pocket, lands right on the tip of Stiles’s left foot.
Stiles lets out a large scream, falling to the ground, with Scott immediately jumping off of the swings and running his way. Theo runs to get the teacher, as Scott bends down to grab his friend’s hand.
“He did it on PURPOSE, Scotty,” Stiles said, eyes red and drooping full of comically large tears. “He tried to break my toe! He is EVIL!”
Scott looked back for Theo, running towards the boys with Mrs. S. following shortly behind him. Scott was unsure of what to do, but decided against talking to Theo. Stiles’s mom called his father, a deputy, who was fresh off of the night shift and free to pick him up.
The next morning, as Scott and Stiles lined up outside of the classroom, they noticed Theo and his mom walking directly towards them. Stiles began pounding on the door to get his mother’s attention, expecting a confrontation. She was too late, however, because he turned around and was face to face with his mortal enemy.
“Stiles, I’m really sorry about your foot,” Theo said sheepishly, “I hope it didn’t get too hurt.” Theo turned around to his mom, grabbing the box she was carrying.
Stiles’s mom came out and greeted Theo’s mom, as Theo continued. “We baked these cupcakes last night just for you. They’re our own special family recipe.” Stiles eyed Theo suspiciously as Scott devoured the cupcake he was handed, face crinkling in a smile and nose covered in blue frosting.
—FIVE—
As a part of his apology, Stiles invited Theo over for his and Scott’s most sacred night: party night. Once a month, on party night the McCalls and Stilinskis would gather together for a night of barbecue, swimming, movies, and video games. Theo and his mom arrived exactly at 4:30, and Deputy Stilinski let them through the side gate into the Stilinski backyard.
After hours of swimming and eating, the boys decided to go upstairs to Stiles’s room while their parents took in a boring adult movie.
“Whatcha wanna play, Theo?” Scott looked to the boy, awkwardly sitting at the very edge of Stiles’s bed. “Guest’s choice! Come here and pick something.” Theo searched through Stiles’s game collection, smiling when he found a well-battered and faded case bearing the name Mario Kart.
Stiles loaded up the game, and sat down on the couch between the other two boys. He always beat Scott, but what would Scott think if Theo was better at it than him? Would he still want to be his friend?
As it turned out, Theo was a tough competitor. He and Stiles battled for the inside of every turn, neck and neck in the first race until Theo’s character suddenly disappeared. Stiles frantically searched for a few seconds before crossing the finish line and realizing he came in second place.
“You’re a cheater,” Stiles shouted, playfully shoving Theo a bit too hard. Scott’s mouth opened in a wide O, expecting to have to break apart a fight. He stood in front of them, ready to intervene.
“I’m not,” Theo said smugly, shoving Stiles back. “Back in my old town, the game store had a Mario Kart competition every weekend. Guess who always won.” Theo smiled at Stiles, before looking at Scott, who flashed him an impressed thumbs up as he sat down on Theo’s other side.. Theo beamed.
“Don’t worry,” Theo continued, wrapping his arm around the two boys, “I’ll teach you guys every single shortcut in this game. You’ll be ready to compete in no time.”
—PLUS ONE—
“I’m telling you, man,” Stiles said, slapping a hand against Scott’s chest, “there’s something different about him. He’s like freaking obsessed with pleasing you, or something. He always has to be on your good side. Maybe he’s actually a stalker, and now that you’re close friends he’s going to kill you? He’s gonna lure you in, and you’re gonna fall for it.”
“Stiles,” Scott said tiredly, placing his palm on his forehead. “I thought we were over this… I thought you were cool. He probably just wants to tell me something that he’s not ready to also tell you. You tell me things that you don’t want everybody knowing all the time.”
Stiles looked to him exasperated, “whatever, man. Don’t come crying to me when you go around that corner and he takes a knife to your gut. I won’t miss you.”
“Love you too, buddy,” Scott said, smiling as Stiles walked up to his mom’s desk. He read the note over once again: Scott, something I need to tell you. Alone. -Theo
Packing up his bags, Scott walked out of the classroom and turned the corner to where he knew Theo would be waiting. No visible knives included.
“What’s up, T?” Scott asked, flashing a grin at Theo, who seemed to be sweating.
“Scott,” Theo began, pausing between every few words to gnaw at his own lip. “I think… I think that I like you.” Silence fell between the boys, as Theo looked hopefully into Scott’s eyes.
“Yeah,” Scott said, taking his cue, nodding his head up and down, “I like you, too. That’s why you’re one of my two best friends.” Scott flashed his brilliant smile at Theo once more.
“No,” Theo tried to explain, “I… I really, really like you. I really, really, really like you.” Theo began to blush, as Scott’s head turned quizzically.
“What do you m—” Scott started, but was interrupted as Theo pressed their mouths together. Scott’s eyebrows rose to the top of his forehead in shock, before he kissed back.
“Stiles was kind of right,” Scott said when they broke apart. Theo looked at him questioningly. “He said you were going to lure me in, and that I was going to fall for it.”
Theo waited for him to continue, looking down at his lips.
“But I think I’m falling for you.”