All That Glitters Is Silver

We sat in an awkward silence on our way to school. Allison was in a mood again, the same mood she had been in all weekend. She stared at the back of her father’s head, glaring, with her arms crossed tightly across her chest.

I was sitting behind our Aunt Kate in my Uncle Chris’s black SUV. Kate seemed to have an odd sort of smirk on her face, like she had finally gotten something she wanted. My Uncle Chris held a grimace on his face that had been there since the incident at the school a few days ago. I had never seen him so angry when he came to pick us up. Kate, my dad, and Chris got in a heated argument when we arrived home and they thought Allison and I were asleep. We hadn’t heard much but I heard Derek’s name thrown around a few times and that worried me as much as it gave me butterflies.

I hadn’t seen, nor spoken, to Derek since the night we had sex. I assumed that wasn’t going to change anytime soon and I was glad for it.

It was no secret that Chris didn’t want us to go to school today. He and Allison had gotten into a screaming match over it this morning. After the break up between Allison and Scott, she had been a little emotionally unstable.

We arrived at the school as the warning bell rang. Kids scurried towards the doors, not wanting to be tardy. Allison grabbed the handle only to discover that Chris had yet to unlock it.

“Dad.” She said dangerously. I caught Kate’s eye briefly, feeling the tension rising again. I had half a mind to tell Allison to calm the fuck down but I didn’t want her to stab me. She really wasn’t taking this break up well….

“Dad,” Allison repeated, clucking her tongue impatiently.

“What’s your opinion on home school?” Chris questioned Kate.

Kate sighed, twitching in her seat. Her signature smirk clad on her face, “I’m more of a learning by doing kinda gal.”

“What’s your opinion on overprotective dads who ruin their daughter’s lives?” Allison shot back. Kate chuckled, reaching over Chris’s body to the door. She pushed down the unlock button.

Hearing a click, we were released from the car. Allison huffed and hopped out of the car the second it was unlocked. I carefully opened my door and grabbed my bag. Just as I was about to shut the door, Chris stopped me with a concerned look on his face.

“Tell Allison I’ll pick you both up at two-thirty sharp.” He told me sternly before his face softened, “And be careful, Cassie.”

What exactly was I supposed to be careful of?



“I can’t believe this,” Lydia said in her high pitched voice, “All anyone’s talking about is what happened on Saturday and no one knows that it was us.”

Allison, Jackson, and I glanced around the cafeteria, knowing full well that this was true. The room was a buzz with rumors of what had ‘gone down’ that night. They were all complete lies. I had heard some lacrosse players gossiping about a drug deal gone bad. A gaggle of girls that sat near me and Jackson in History had whispered all about a showdown of vampires.

“How very Twilight,” Jackson had commented with an eye roll, smirking as usual.

I couldn’t help but chuckle in response. He glanced over at me with a twinkle in his eye, looking accomplished. Immediately I glanced back at the teacher and went back to writing notes.

Lydia’s voice brought me back, “Thank you for the protection of minors!”

“I just hope they lock Derek away for a very long time. That psychopath….” Jackson scowled furiously.

I shot my gaze to Jackson’s face, “What did you say?”

Lydia and Jackson exchanged confused glances, then peering back at me to make me feel like I was crazy.

“What do you mean?” Lydia questioned.

“Derek who?” I gulped.

“Hale?” Jackson answered, “You were there, Cass. Don’t you remember this?”

“I left as soon as my uncle and dad came! I didn’t talk to the police. No one told me about this…” I felt panic arise in my voice. My face was heating up, but not in the good way that Derek had made it.

“Are you feeling all right, Cassie?” Lydia asked, worried, probably for my sanity.

Jackson made to place his hand on my forehead but I swatted it away, “Tell me exactly what happened that night when you entered the school.” I demanded.

“Well,” Jackson started, looking startled by my abrasive behavior. “Scott sent Allison a text saying to meet him at the school—”

“This was after he was a half a freaking hour late for our double date.” Lydia interrupted, disgusted.

Jackson rolled his eyes, continuing as if Lydia wasn’t there, “—and when we arrived the doors were open, Stiles’ crappy jeep was broken into…” He stopped thinking something over with slight fear in his eyes. “When Allison didn’t come back, we headed inside for her…” He stopped again, the fear more prominent on his face. I could see him replaying something in his head. Jackson glanced over at Lydia who appeared to have lost interest in this conversation and was trying to engage in one with Allison. “I saw something that night….” He didn’t seem to have words to describe what he saw. Maybe it was the same thing I saw, and, in that case, I wasn’t sure how to put it in words either.

“I saw something, too,” I said in a low voice, “Something big, maybe a cougar?—I don’t know….”

Jackson’s face flooded with some relief, “I thought I was going crazy! But I saw something else—I saw a person standing by a door by the bathrooms. At least, I thought it was a person….It was too far away for me to get a good look at their face. I guess it was Derek because who else could it be?”

Derek. There his name was again, being dropped like a bomb. My heart sped up every time I heard his name like some silly school girl with a crush. I had decided I was over him that night at the school; I just needed my heart to realize that.

And why was everyone blaming Derek for what happened at the school? I knew for a fact that it wasn’t Derek. He had saved me from whatever it really was and then had spent the night with me. He was still at home sleeping when I left and whoever was trapping them inside the school was still there. Why was Derek being framed for a crime he didn’t commit? Who had said it was him in the first place?

“Anyway,” Jackson shook his head, “I could feel that Derek was watching me. I called out to him—this is where it gets really weird—he just kinda fell to the floor and walked away on all fours….” He looked unsettled as he said it, as if he still couldn’t believe what he’d seen himself.

“He walked away on his hands and knees?” I asked incredulously.

Jackson shook his head, “On hands and feet, like some sort of…dog. But a huge dog.”

“Like a wolf?” The words came out of my mouth without really being processed. Jackson looked shocked by my statement.

“Y-Yeah,” He nodded slowly, “Exactly like a wolf.” The conversation seemed to be over. Jackson was in deep thought, glancing over at Scott (who was no longer allowed to sit with us, apparently) with a strange expression on his face, like he was finally figuring something out.

I had one more question, though. “How do you know it was Derek?”

Without glancing back at me, Jackson replied in a distant voice, “It was Scott. Scott told us.”

Scott? Why would Scott make up something like that? Did Derek and Scott even know each other? What the hell was going on in Beacon Hills?

Lydia was, as usual, blissfully oblivious to what was going on around her as she kept trying to engage Allison in a conversation about the upcoming dance.

Allison nodded at whatever Lydia was asking but I didn’t think she was actually listening. Her eyes, like Jackson’s, were locked on the back of Scott’s head.

Stiles and Scott were sitting across the cafeteria, as far away from our table as possible. That was a side effect of their break up, we could no longer hang out, or speak, or look at each other. It was a shame because I had really come to like them. Stiles was funny and Scott was sweet and madly in love with Allison.

Allison was miserable without Scott and the way he looked today (angry and exhausted), I knew he needed her back as well. I remember how happy Allison had been when I’d arrived two weeks ago. She was basically glowing with love for the kid and now she was pissy and melancholic.

It probably wasn’t my place but I still had to figure out what had really gone done that night at the school. I’d seen something—some sort of beast—and Jackson had seen the same thing too. I wasn’t sure who I should tell about my findings. Mostly, because I wasn’t totally sure what I (and Jackson) had seen. I didn’t want people to think I’d lost my marbles. Also, I didn’t know who I could trust with this kind of information.

Allison had revealed to me that Scott was acting strange. I had seen something that caused me to believe her whole heartedly. Before Derek had rescued me, Scott was coming at me. Though I couldn’t see him, I knew something was off. And now I know that Scott was blaming Derek for trapping them in the school, for killing the janitor.

I had gone over that night a million times over in my head and I still had no idea what I was really seeing. Derek was hiding something from me too; he had been there that night with a bad wound that healed inhumanly fast. But talking to him was out of the question. If we were going to speak again, he would have to come find me (though I secretly hoped he wouldn’t).

That left Scott and Stiles. I couldn’t walk over to their table with Allison watching me. She would wonder what I was up to and I couldn’t tell her just yet. But, I need to have a talk with Scott. I have a feeling he knows more than he’s letting on.

Scott probably wasn’t going to tell me so I needed to find a way around his walls.

The wheels were creaking noisily in my mind as a plan began to form. A plan that would get Allison and Scott back together and give me the information I needed to figure out what was happening in Beacon Hills.

All I needed was a little help in the form of a certain Stiles.



Fortunately, I had my last class of the day with Stiles. Unfortunately, Jackson was also in that class and he rarely let me out of his sight or stopped bragging about his lacrosse accomplishments.

A stroke of luck fell upon me when Jackson had gotten into a milk drinking competition at lunch. One more thing he could brag to me about. But with all that extra milk in his bladder, he had to leave for a bathroom break, giving me the perfect opportunity to speak with Stiles.

As soon as Jackson had disappeared from view, I slipped away to the other side of the classroom.

“Stiles,” I muttered, standing behind his group of friends, mostly nerdy boys but some of them I recognized from the lacrosse team. They glanced up at me, stunned. A red headed boy choked a bit on his water. A few of the lacrosse boys gave me wide, friendly grins (a little too friendly).

“C-Cassie!” Stiles exclaimed, just as surprised as some of his nerdier friends, “Hey! What’s up?” His voice was a little loud and slightly over-enunciated. I could tell he was a bit uncomfortable.

“Can I talk to you for a moment?” I asked, giving an apologetic smile to his friends.

“Yeah!” Stiles nodded rapidly, “Sure thing!”

His friends exchanged meaningful looks, like this conversation was going to lead to sex in the back of the room.

I turned around and bit my lip, walking to a corner of the room that was less crowed then everywhere else. Stiles followed close behind.

When I was sure we were out of hearing range, I dropped my proposal.

Stiles opened his mouth to say something but kept closing it. I waited patiently for his reply.

“You—You want me to help you get Scott and Allison back together?”

I nodded, “You weren’t there this weekend—well—at least not with Allison. She was a wreck and a mess and I’m worried about her. I’m sure you feel the same about Scott, he’s your best friend, just like Allison is mine.”

Stiles thought this over, he knew I was right but something seemed to be stopping him from admitting it.

“Fine,” He sighed, “I’ll help.”

I smiled gratefully, “Good, I wa—”

“On one condition.” Stiles interjected.

I placed a hand on my hip, tilting my head to the side a bit, “And what is this request of yours?”

“Well, the dance is coming up…”

“The Winter Formal?” I questioned. I’d seen the posters and advertisement all over school. Plus, Lydia was in charge of the whole thing and when she wasn’t making out with Jackson she was venting about how incompetent the Leadership crew was at planning.

“Yes, and I was wondering—well, what I want is—if you could—” Stiles stumbled over his words, wringing his hands nervously. I would have laughed if I hadn’t been worried about what Stiles was asking me.

Sure, Stiles was a sweetheart and could easily make me laugh (and he wasn’t too bad looking himself), but I just wasn’t into him that way. Maybe it was because I couldn’t stop thinking about Derek or that I needed to focus on my family situation right now instead of having a boyfriend. Either way, Stiles wasn’t someone I could see myself dating.

“I just don’t—would you—what I’m trying to say is—” Stiles kept on blundering before I stopped him, putting him out of his misery.

“Stiles, this is really sweet and all but I’m not even sure if I’m going to the dance…” I said softly.

Stiles’ eyes widened dramatically as he threw his hands up in the air as if to stop me. “No! Oh, no!” He laughed uncomfortably. “I wasn’t asking—actually I wondering if you could get Lydia to come with me…”

“Oh!” I let out a relieved chuckled, “I thought that you were asking me! That’s—” I didn’t really know how to respond. I couldn’t say that was much better since Lydia was dating Jackson who didn’t seem too fond of Stiles. I wasn’t even sure how I could casually ask Lydia something like this when she didn’t seem to know Stiles existed. I had no idea how I was going to make good on my part but I needed Stiles’ help. The dance was a perfect opportunity to get Allison and Scott back together. And I really needed to get closer to Stiles and Scott if I wanted to find out their secret. “Okay. I will get Lydia to go to the formal with you as long as we can get Allison and Scott to go together. Deal?” I put out my hand for him to shake.

Stiles grinned broadly he grasped my hand, “Deal.”