like every day, stiles drove the mccall siblings to school.
when they arrived, teddy thanked stiles, said bye to both boys, and made her way into the building with a new excitement.
it wasn't hard for teddy to find mason and liam that morning.
she saw them across the hall, stood beside a row of lockers.
almost every part of teddy wanted to rush towards her new-found friends.
this was the first time she'd had anyone to look forward to seeing, especially at school.
but, it was only almost all of her.
the part of teddy that didn't want to go— whilst teddy was bright with excitement— was a darker colour.
a purple-ish.
a violet.
teddy thought to herself for a while.
in the twenty-four hours she'd known liam, she had come so far.
she'd spoke to him.
for shy, outspoken teddy, that was like a step on the moon.
yet here she was, walking up to the exact reason she didn't make friends.
liam smiled when he saw her, and felt the butterflies begin to flutter around his stomach like they had the night before.
little did he know, he wasn't the only one with butterflies.
"hey."
teddy tried to act as confident as she could, keeping her chin up, and the smile on her face as realistic as she could muster.
"h-hey."
liam replied almost instantly, causing a smile to play on teddy's lips.
mason raised one eyebrow.
"hey teddy, you okay?"
deja vú almost overcame teddy, as the scene from yesterday replied in her mind, when mason had asked the same question.
this time, though, teddy's answer was different.
she smiled.
"perfect, mase."
"okay."
mason laughed, looking teddy up and down.
"but you seem different."
teddy shrugged.
"i plaited my hair?"
><
teddy barely noticed violets menacing scowls all the way through english.
she was too busy discussing with liam the effect dally's death had on the reader in the outsiders.
teddy didn't quite get the grudge violet held against her.
liam, on the other hand, thought violet was jealous.
who wouldn't be jealous of teddy mccall?
maybe violet admired how quiet teddy was.
much like liam, violet always spoke her mind, whether she liked it or not.
maybe it was because violet was so similar to everyone else, in liam's eyes, but teddy was so different.
she was the one 'different' thing that liam liked.
whatever it was, teddy played it off as though it didn't bother her.
even though it had only been twenty-four hours since they met, liam felt that he knew teddy.
and he knew that violet was bothering her.
><
at lunch, teddy sat with liam and mason and the others.
they all, with one exception, laughed and talked and shared the drama of today.
for the first time, teddy wasn't alone.
maybe she had found her people.
they sat a couple of tables away from scott and his friends.
teddy's cheeks grew hot as she felt stiles point her and liam out, causing all of them to look over.
she didn't hear it, but teddy knew scott had told his friends about liam asking her to lacrosse practice.
with only three hours left to wait, teddy was becoming paranoid.
she had never, not ever, been asked to lacrosse.
or anywhere, for that matter.
she knew the rules of lacrosse, she could even play lacrosse, but still, she didn't want to do something she would regret.
like embarrass herself.
><
eventually, the five went their separate ways to lesson, except her and liam, who had maths.
the pair sat in their seats on opposite sides of the classroom.
teddy should've known to get their early if she wanted a seat with liam.
not that she wanted a seat with liam.
as far as anyone that asked was concerned, anyway.
teddy usually zoned out in maths.
she was good at it, she just found it boring.
the only subjects she really enjoyed were english, history, and science.
teddy finished the assigned work within the first twenty minutes.
so, for the moment, she just sat, twiddling her pen.
teddy never asked for extra work.
it was unnecessary effort, in her opinion.
occasionally, she caught liam's eye from the other side of the classroom, but she turned away sharpish as soon as she felt herself begin to blush.
after ten minutes of doing nothing, teddy removed percy jackson from her bag and placed it on the desk over her exercise book.
she always did this; this way, it would appear that she was working, not reading.
no teacher ever caught on.
until today.
a hand obscured the pages she was reading, before slamming the whole book shut.
teddy's face turned white with fear.
"miss mccall."
her maths teacher towered over, and teddy resisted the urge to curl up in a ball and cry.
the entire class were looking at her.
she could handle mason and liam without being shy.
maybe even garrett.
perhaps, even violet over this situation.
but she couldn't handle an entire class all staring at her.
"y-yes, miss?"
teddy's voice was shaky and unsteady.
she needed to calm herself, so she did the only thing that came to mind.
she looked at liam.
his blue eyes were full of sympathy and care.
he mouthed to her 'it's okay.'
teddy took a steady breath and repeated herself.
"yes, miss?"
"why were you reading in my lesson?"
the teachers reply was snappy, and she brandished the book in the air to emphasise her point.
she wasn't a big taker on private punishment.
"because i finished my work."
teddy said, but her voice was quivering and inaudible.
glancing once again at liam, she repeated herself, louder this time.
"because i finished my work."
teddy's voice had never sounded so bold and confident when talking to a teacher.
it had never been this confident ever, except with her brother and mom, and stiles.
and then liam.
"is that the correct thing to have been doing?"
the teacher cut in again.
"no."
teddy deadpanned.
the teacher seemed shocked at teddy's response, but her face straightened again.
"i would never expect this from you, teddy mccall."
teddy rolled her eyes, and the teacher saw.
"detention."
she half-shouted before walking away, signalling the end of the conversation.
><
the bell went moments later, but teddy didn't notice.
her head was spinning; it was like a ferris wheel on steroids.
teddy had never had a detention before.
maybe she was more like scott than she had thought.
liam ran up behind her as she wandered through the corridor in her free period.
"teddy!"
he yelled from down the hall, causing people to avert their gazes towards the pair.
teddy didn't notice.
finally, liam caught up to her.
"teddy! are you okay?"
teddy nodded slowly, too unsure to say anything properly.
liam's face fell ever so slightly, and then teddy realised.
"oh my god, liam, i'm so sorry."
liam looked down.
"it's fine."
teddy felt so ashamed, she wanted to cry.
because right when she had detention was liam's lacrosse tryouts.
"hey."
liam said, trying to sound chipper.
"i'll tell you if i get in."
"no."
teddy's voice was shaky, but she was sure.
she'd already taken so many risks— back talking her maths teacher, hanging around violet, making friends with liam.
what was one more risk.
"no."
she said again, more certain.
liam looked at her, puzzled.
"what? how?"
after a minute or so, liam caught on.
"no, teddy. that's mad! you can't do that for me."
teddy simply just smirked.
"i'm skipping detention."