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“Stiles, I don’t think this is a good idea.” Scott says gently, his warm brown eyes peeking up at Stiles from beneath a floppy mess of tousled hair. They’re standing at the foot of the jungle gym at school, and Stiles is busy planning out the best route to get all the way to the top. And by the top, he means climbing up onto roof of the slide. “Remember what happened last time?” Scott sends what could pass as a glare at the lime green cast on Stiles’ arm, now faded and dirty and covered in Scott’s name and drawings of sports cars. “Are you sure it’s worth it?”
Stiles huffs and crosses his arms as best he can across his chest. The cast makes things awkward, but he doesn’t care. The image is important here. Because of course it’s worth it. He might only be nine years old, but it’s extremely obvious to him that winning over Lydia Martin is one of the only things that’s worth it. She’s perfect, with her long strawberry blonde hair that never seems to get tangled like the other girls’ and her big green eyes and her little nose. Lydia’s super smart too, she’s the only person in Stiles’ class that gets better grades than him, and she always raises her hand when Mrs. Ward asks questions. Stiles is going to marry her.
But first, he has to get her to notice him. That’s where climbing to the top of the jungle gym comes in.
“So what if I broke my arm,” Stiles huffs, refusing to make eye contact with Scott. There’s a certain power Scott holds in his puppy dog eyes, and Stiles is not about to let his best friend’s particular brand of persuasion sway him. “I’m still doing it.” He scrambles forward, curling the fingers of his right hand around the highest ladder rung he can reach and hauling himself up. Scott sighs behind him, but soon there’s two warm hands helping to hoist him up, there to catch him if he falls.
Scott McCall is the best friend a guy could ever ask for.
“This is so dumb.” Scott hisses.
Even if he doesn’t understand the power of love. He’ll get it one day, and Stiles will never mock his plans to get the girl. Ever.
They eventually make it up to the first platform, ignoring the questioning looks from their classmates as Stiles marches towards the next obstacle. It’s a miniature version of a rock wall, and Stiles’ head almost reaches the top, but he can’t get up it without climbing. Cursing his stupid arm, he tries to pull himself up with one hand. It’s not really working all that well. “You’re lucky I’m here.” Scott grumbles, doing his best to push Stiles up the wall with his shoulder. Stiles can’t help but grin, turning awkwardly to try and pat his best friend on the back. He ends up knocking him upside the head when his cast, and they narrowly avoid crashing back down the wall, saved only by a girl Stiles doesn’t recognizes hauling him up by his good arm.
She’s got curly brown hair and sparkly eyes, and these big dimples in her cheeks when she smiles.
“You really shouldn’t be climbing that with a broken arm,” She says seriously, eyes flickering between Stiles and Scott, who’s dramatically hauling himself up onto the platform.
“What are you doing up here?” Stiles asks in lieu of responding, glancing around at the empty platform. He spots a Hawkeye lunch box in the corner, next to a juice box and a half eaten sleeve of cheese and crackers. The girl shrugs, ducking her head and wrapping a curl around her finger.
“I’m new,” she says quietly. “I didn’t know where else to go.” Stiles instantly wants to give her a hug, but before he can even finish the thought, Scott’s stepping in front of him.
“I’m Scott,” he says, “And this is my best friend Stiles. You can hang out with us if you want.” The girl’s cheeks turn red, and Stiles can already tell that she’s fallen for the Scott McCall charm.
“I’m Allison,” she responds quietly, smiling at Scott. Stiles can almost see Scott’s brain shutting down. It’s already happening. He’s losing his best friend to a girl. Which reminds him. He’s on a mission.
After smirking at Allison he turns away from the pair, sizing up his final obstacle. This was where he met his doom the last time. Getting on top of the roof of the slide. The plastic is hot and slippery (kind of gross really, because why is it slippery? From all the grimy little hands that have touched it before him? Or does the slide fairy come and like grease it up for ultimate sliding experience? This probably deserves more research at a later date). Anyways. He’s not exactly sure how he’s going to get up there with a broken arm.
“I’m gonna need some help,” he decides finally, turning around to find Scott and Allison giggling together in the corner. He refrains from rolling his eyes. There’s still a chance that his eyes might get stuck like his dad always says, and he’s not sure he wants to risk it. Lydia Martin wouldn’t want a boyfriend with his eyes all pointing the wrong way. Stiles isn’t about to risk it. “Yoo hoo, Shrek and Fiona?” he waves his cast in their direction. “A little help over here.” Scott sighs but immediately stands up and makes his way over to Stiles. He grins and holds out his fist for a bump. Best friend ever.
“What are you trying to do?” Allison asks, following Scott at a much more hesitant pace.
“He’s trying to impress a girl.” Scott says, and he’s definitely not afraid to roll his eyes. Stiles hopes they get stuck. See how Allison likes him then.
“Okay, that’s a little unfair,” Stiles counters, glaring at Scott, the traitor. But Scott just pouts a little bit, and Stiles has to admit that he’s kind of right. “Look, I just need to get up there so that I can ask Lydia Martin to be my girlfriend.” Allison frowns deeply, blinking at the roof of the slide.
“Why wouldn’t you just go up to her like a normal person?” She asks after a moment of silence.
Scott and Stiles look at each other.
Huh.
He’d never really considered that option. Stiles prefers big gestures. He wants to show Lydia how wonderful he thinks she is, that he’s not afraid to face ridicule for it. Scott’s looking like he might be switching teams here, so Stiles knows he has to move quickly.
“I just want her to notice me,” he snaps, taking a step towards the slide. “Now help me get up here.” He’s surprised when Allison actually goes along with it, her and Scott using their shoulders to push him up. Stiles scrambles for purchase on the slippery plastic, crowing with delight when he manages to balance on his knees.
Here goes nothing.
“Attention! Fourth graders at Beacon Hills Elementary!” He yells, cupping his hands around his mouth. A silence actually falls over the playground, everyone looking up at Stiles. “Where’s Lydia Martin?” A wave of whispers seems to travel across the crowd, and then he spots her, marching towards him with narrowed eyes. Yeah. So, that’s not exactly the expression he was hoping for. She stops at the foot of the slide, fifteen feet below him with her hands on her hips.
“Are you trying to break your other arm?” She snaps, squinting up at him. Stiles grins and shakes his head.
“Do you want to be my girlfriend?” He yells, trying valiantly to ignore the blush spreading across his cheeks. Lydia looks taken aback for a second, before quickly hiding it behind what he thinks might be fond exasperation.
“If you can get down here without breaking another bone, we can discuss it.” She sniffs. “Meet me on the swings.” And then she’s turning on her heel and marching across the playground, wood chips kicking up in her wake.
“Way to go man!” Scott calls from behind him. Stiles scoots backwards, hoping that Allison and Scott are there to catch him. They do, their hands grabbing at his thighs, then his waist, turning him around to see their excited grins.
“I did it!” Stiles cheers, smacking Scott’s shoulder with his good hand.
“Yeah you did dude,” Scott smiles. “You better get going though, recess is over in like five minutes.” Stiles’ eyes widen, and then he’s leaping for the slide, shooting towards the ground at top speed (okay, so maybe he gets a little stuck halfway down, but no one needs to know that). He can’t keep the wide grin off his face as he swaggers towards the swing set.
Stiles Stilinski has got himself a date.