All That Glitters Is Silver

As I sat in the stands with Allison, our parents, and Lydia, I realized just how big lacrosse was in Beacon Hills. I’d gone out to one football game in Seattle and it was packed to the brim. It was the same case here with lacrosse. I was convinced that the whole town was at this game, from old folks to newborns, from rich to poor. Everyone was here. It made me slightly worried that I would run into Derek. I didn’t know much about him other than he was gorgeous, drove a nice black car, and visited his uncle at the hospital on Thursdays. He could be the biggest lacrosse buff for all I knew.

I didn’t know much about lacrosse, but I knew we were losing and Lydia was very unhappy about it. She made Allison help her with a poster for Jackson and made the crowd cheer for him. I kind of felt bad for Scott. Allison was cheering for him but no one on the field was passing to him even though (as far as I could tell) he was open for most of the game. With five minutes left in the game, and no one willing to pass it to Scott, I didn’t see how they could win this.

Scott had been acting strangely for the past few minutes. I had also noticed Stiles was acting very anxious and high strung on the bench. His eyes didn’t leave Scott and he seemed to be mumbling something. I was no lip reader so I didn’t know exactly what he was saying, but I used my deductive reasoning and could bet my life’s saving it was about Scott.

Scott bent over, as if he was in pain. The ball flew by a few meters away and Scott sprinted over, made an incredible catch and miraculously dodged every player to score the tying goal. I didn’t understand how he could have seen the ball or been so prepared for it. He hadn’t even looked up before he moved.

Allison was screaming her head off cheering for her boyfriend. Lydia was pursing her lips, thinking something over. I glanced back down at Stiles to see him standing up, laughing in shock and relief.

“That was an amazing shot!” Allison cried excitedly over the booming crowd.

“That really was,” I agreed, nodding slowly, as I watched the ball fly into action. The other players seemed to slither away from Scott as if he were a disease. Allison was chatting too adamantly with Lydia to notice anything strange about the way Scott was acting.

Scott zigzagged across the field, dodging a rogue Jackson, and flipping over the last defender to chuck the ball into the goal so hard it ripped a hole through the goalie’s net and goal.

Lydia and Allison were jumping up and down celebrating with the rest of the crowd as the buzzer rang, signaling the end of the game. I clapped politely, thinking privately that lacrosse was about as interesting as football—as in not very.

“Let's go congratulate him!” Allison grabbed my arm and led me down the bleachers as Lydia set off for Jackson. I caught a glimpse of their faces latched on to each other. Jackson pulled away and glanced up at me. I smiled politely and gave him thumbs up, signaling that I thought he did a good job. He had scored two of the goals tonight.

He smirked at me, clearly pleased with himself. Lydia grabbed his face again, recalling his attention. Allison was peering over the crowd in search for Scott who had mysteriously disappeared. I leaned over a man next to me to see Scott running back to the locker rooms, hunched over.

“He’s over there,” I pointed to Scott’s shrinking form. She nodded and ran off after him. I decided to walk, not wanting to intrude on what ever was going on with him and what was going to happen when Allison came to ‘congratulate’ him.

I tightened my jacket around myself. Taking a step forward, I was suddenly knocked hard into the dirt floor.

“Hmph!” The person groaned, getting off from on top of me.

“Stiles?” I muttered, sitting on the ground on the back of my elbows.

“Cassie! Hi!” He stared at me with wide brown eyes. “Sorry! I was just—didn’t mean to—let me help you!” He yanked me up unceremoniously. I rubbed my sore shoulders when he released me.

“What’s the rush?” I asked, glancing around at the dispersing crowd when my eye caught that familiar brooding man standing by the grand stand. I gasped and turned back towards Stiles, trying to hide my face in the curtains of my hair. My heart was pounding in my chest at the thought of Derek being here, where I was a student, where my parents were waiting for me.

“Just you know—looking for my bestie!” Stiles laughed a little too loudly. I nodded, smiling at his absurdity. He was obviously keeping something from me but I wasn’t one to bother someone about things if they didn’t want to tell me. I also didn’t want Derek to see me with Stiles so I pointed to where his friend had gone.

“Last I saw him he was heading towards the locker room. Allison went after him.” I informed him. He nodded, running off after his two friends.

“See you later!” He called and left me standing alone…or so I thought.

“Cassie?” A gravely, becoming-all-too-familiar-voice asked. I whipped around to look up at those electrifyingly blue eyes.

“H-Hey, Derek,” I smiled unconvincingly, shoving my hands in my pockets. “Pretty great game, huh?”

He gave me a strange look before chuckling, “I didn’t peg you for a sports girl.”

I smiled, shaking my head, “I’m definitely not, but my cousin is—she wanted me to mingle with people in town—so, here I am.” I shrugged. “What about you?”

“What about me?” He tilted his head.

“You a big fan of lacrosse?” I wanted to know more about this man. One day a week wasn’t enough for me.

“I used to play in high school.” He snorted, reminiscing on those days for a few moments.

“I bet you were captain.” I pushed a stray piece of hair behind my ear, only for it to fall back out. He reached out, touching my jaw line softly as he swiped up my cheek, pushing the stubborn hairs back. I smiled shyly, feeling my face heat up under his touch.

“I didn’t make it that far.” He muttered. My hand lifted absentmindedly to his. I placed my ice cold one on his large warm one. “You’re freezing.” He breathed, immediately sliding off his jacket and placing it over my shoulders before I could refuse.

“Thanks,” I smiled appreciatively, wrapping his warm coat around me further. “Now you’ll be cold.” I protested slightly.

“I’ll be okay. I’m always warm.” There was something about the way he said it that felt odd to me.

We just stared at each other for a few seconds. I wanted to kiss him. A lot. I had never kissed a boy before, let alone this man who probably had lots of experience. My eyes flickered between his smoldering eyes and red, inviting lips. He was leaning in; even without any experience I understood the schematics behind kissing and ‘moments’.

I froze, though. I let my nerve get the better of me and cleared my throat awkwardly. “How come you didn’t make it far enough to become captain?”

He pulled back, reading my face, “I quit my senior year.”

“Did you not like it anymore, or…?” I was probably pushing my boundaries.

“Personal problems. I was having trouble with…aggression. I had some stuff happen to my family too...” He looked down at the ground. It was kind of like talking to my parents. I could hear the words he was speaking but I could see the cracks in his stories.

I nodded, telling him I understood he didn’t want to talk about it. Before I could ruin the moment again, Derek placed his lips on mine. I didn’t respond at first, I was too shocked by the fact that Derek Hale was kissing me. Then the second shock hit me that Derek was kissing me. I was having my first kiss with a man over five years older than me.

I forced my brain and lips into motion. It was slow and I was seriously regretting my lack of boyfriends now that I had Derek. I had known him for barely a week and here we were, kissing passionately on a lacrosse field with most of the town hanging out behind us.

This was not like me. I never did crazy out of the box things. I definitely didn’t kiss strange, mysterious men. My kissing history backed that up. Even with my lack of kissing knowledge, I knew that this was a mind blowing kiss. He was perfect and even his imperfections seemed to outshine me.

He pulled away slowly; his sweet breath hit my now-hot face. He pushed back that stubborn hair again and chuckled lightly.

“That was…” I breathed with a coy smile on my face. His smile widened as he took in my shocked, flustered appearance. The man liked to make me tick, I could tell that much.

“Amazing…like you.” I took in a sharp intake of breath as I looked back into his glimmering eyes.

“You barely know me.” I mumbled, feeling slightly uncomfortable under his intense gaze. His eyes rummaged over my body and then flashed back to my dark brown orbs.

“What are you doing tomorrow night?” He inquired.

“I’ve got work tomorrow ‘til six-thirty. Why?” I questioned as he smirked flirtatiously at me. It wasn’t like the way Jackson did it. Derek’s smirk made my whole body heat up, embarrassingly lusting over this man. Jackson was just a child who was used to getting whatever he wanted with his looks and talent. There was so much more to Derek that I couldn’t wait to learn. I also hoped to kiss him again soon…

“I want to get to know you.” He said in a low voice.

“I’d like that,” I said truthfully, gliding my hand up his muscular bare arm in what I hoped was flirtatious. I was new to this.

“I’ll pick you up after work and we’ll go do something.” He told me. I nodded hypnotically. I would probably agree to setting a forest on fire if that meant spending more time with Derek.

“I’ll see you at six-thirty,” He sent me that heart melting smile again before walking off.

“I can’t wait,” I sighed as my heart fluttered endlessly over that man.

I watched him saunter off, hands casually in his jeans. He scowled over at the back of the school where Allison, Scott, and Stiles had disappeared to. I thought it was a bit weird but my thoughts were too focused on our mesmerizing kiss to read into it. I breathed in his intoxicating fumes, still lingering on his jacket. I wasn’t sure what I was going to tell Allison when she noticed I had some guy’s jacket.

I’d never kept a secret from Allison or my parents before but Derek was dangerous and unpredictable. He was making me the person I always wished I could be and I wanted to keep him my dirty little secret. I decided that for once in my life, I was going to take risks and Derek Hale was the biggest risk I’d ever made. And I’d never felt so alive.