♐ ♐ ♐ ♐ ♐ ♐ ♐ ♐ ♐ ♐ ♐

TWENTY TWO

"Sage, stop complaining."

"No. I'm not going to stop complaining. I'm going to continue to complain until Coach realizes just how annoying my complaining is and decides not to make me do it because I complain so much."

"Sage."

The blonde glared over at the taller brunette boy to her right. For a good twenty minutes, Stiles and Sage have been bickering about the obstacle that was facing them. A rock climbing wall was positioned in the middle of the gym, taunting Sage. She wasn't the most enthusiastic person when it came to things like this, especially since she wasn't the most fond of heights. Werewolves, she could deal with. Hunters, she was perfectly fine handling. Heights? Yeah, no. She'd rather take her chances with Peter again.

"So, you," Stiles pointed a finger at her. "Sage Connelly, the girl that continues to throw herself into life threatening situations just for the hell of it, are afraid of heights. A rock wall, to be exact."

"Stiles, I swear to god, I will bite your finger off and not think twice about it."

Stiles scowled, retracting his finger away from Sage's face. Allison and Scott were just prepping up to go on the rock wall, and Sage was supposed to be going after with Matt. She wasn't the most excited about her choice of partner, seeing as Allison and Scott got paired together but she wasn't paired with Stiles. After the whole deal at the police station with Isaac and the not-so-real deputy, Stiles and Sage gravitated towards each other. She knew it had to do with her struggling in the hunter's arms, she just didn't think it would affect Stiles the way it did. She was also feeling restless avoiding the tension that was obvious between the two.

After the night of the formal, the atmosphere between them changed. It was like all of those kisses were erased, the fight they had just became nonexistent, and they were just the friends they had been in fifth grade; her threatening Stiles, and him barking back at her when he had the courage. Things were good. Allison and Scott were going strong, apart from the constant fear of her grandfather, Gerard, slicing him in half, as well as her father. Lydia seemed to be getting better from her hike in the woods. Sage noticed that she wasn't the happiest, and had a feeling 'Jackass' Jackson was involved. He's been AWOL lately, barely taking the time out of his day to even associate with her. Apparently the whole bite thing is under control because when she sees him in class he doesn't seem to be crawling on the floor with blood coming through every part of his body.

As for Derek, the two were clearly still drifting apart, and it sucked. Sage missed the conversations the two would have late at night, or, better defined, their arguments late at night. Some part of her needed him present in her life forever because he was the constant reminder of her past, their past, and all that they had been through in the past six and a half years. He was the only one who understood fully why she had such intense trust issues, and no matter how much they fought, or lost their way from each other, he was still her best friend. Even when he turns into a grumpy asshole.

"Connelly, Daehler, you two are up," Coach boomed, getting up from crouching next to Scott, who seemed to have fallen in the time that Sage and Stiles were talking. Sage's whole body froze, and she stared at Stiles with wide eyes. He grabbed a hold of her arm, giving it a small squeeze.

"Hey, you'll be fine. Just think about how much you want to beat Matt," Stiles assured. Sage took a deep breath before turning around, coming face to face with her partner himself, who was wearing a huge grin. It seemed like he knew exactly how to push a person's into thinking he was some stalker.

Matt glanced over her shoulder, his grin slowly falling when he saw that Stiles was now moving towards Scott, giving the boy a pat on the shoulder. Looking at Sage, he narrowed his eyes. "Are you and Stilinski dating?"

"Uh, no," Sage denied, pulling her legs into the harness. Her heart was thumping in her chest but she had to remember Stiles' words. Show Matt that she can beat him. Maybe his ego will be ruined and he'll stop taking pictures of her. "We're just friends."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Daehler, get your ass in the harness! I'll lose my job if you go splat all over the floor!"

Sage snickered before finishing up her final strap, allowing Coach to walk over and make sure it was secure. After Matt got his on, the two wasted no time racing towards the top after Coach blew the whistle. Her hands were shaking, and she thought she was going to fall any second, especially when her foot slipped, but she refused to let Matt win. Even now, he was still a bit behind her. There were cheers from the rest of her class, mostly coming from Allison, Scott, Lydia, and Stiles. Jackson was somewhere in the crowd too, but she didn't want to acknowledge him.

"Come on, Sage, you're almost there!" Allison exclaimed, and Sage looked to see that Allison was right. As soon as she reached the top, she turned her head to see that Matt was staring at her. Then he did something that she wasn't expecting, he grabbed the foothold that she was supporting herself on, smashing her foot off. Sage could have held herself up if it weren't for the overwhelming fear of falling to her death that was now getting even worse. Her harness started to zip her down to the ground, and Sage just shut her eyes, clenching her jaw.

The harness must have broken because instead of suspending a few inches above the mat, her body just fell straight down with a loud popping sound. Groaning, Sage opened her eyes to see the whole class staring down at her. Coach was the closest, while Lydia was doing her best to undo the harness. "Connelly, are you alright? Do you need to go to the nurse? Hospital? Do you need surger-"

"Coach, I'm fine," Sage croaked out, getting up to steady herself. Stiles grabbed her arm, putting it over his shoulder to keep her standing. "Perfectly fine, just a bit sore."

Coach pursed his lips before turning back around to see Matt getting himself free from the harness, "Okay, I'll give everyone an 'A' if this stays between us! It was just a slight malfunction, everything is good! Now, who's up next?" Coach didn't seem as affected by the mishap as everyone else was, and to be honest, Sage wasn't even hurt. She might be bruised tomorrow, but at least she didn't die.

"Stiles, Matt push-" Sage leaned in to speak when she got cut off by Coach's loud voice.

"Stilinski! Erica! Get on up there! Stilinski, you take Connelly's harness."

Sage snorted, "That's a reassuring thought."

Stiles didn't seem to mind the possibility of the harness breaking again, happily strapping himself in while Erica seemed less that pleased about having to climb. She actually looked more nervous that Sage was, and that's saying something. Leaning on Danny's shoulder, completely ignoring all of the stares she was getting from Matt across the room, Sage watched as Stiles made it to the top at the same pace she went, easing himself onto the floor with no disruptions. So clearly the harness just didn't like her.

Stiles raised his hands in victory, but Sage's attention was on Erica, who had yet to move. She was still stuck in the middle of the wall, shaking like a leaf as she gripped onto the wall. When the cries rolled around, everyone simultaneously took a step forward, seeming to forget all about Sage's mishap.

"Erica! You dizzy? Is it vertigo?"

Lydia turned to look at Coach and rolled her eyes, "Vertigo is a dysfunction of the vestibular system of the inner ear." Glancing up at the blonde, she shrugged, "She's just freaking out."

"Hey, Erica, are you okay?" Sage called out, moving her body so she could get a look at her face. Stiles and Scott were next to her while Allison and Lydia strayed on the other side of Coach.

The blonde let out a small whimper, "I-I'm fine." She was definitely not fine by the sounds she was making. Sage gripped tightly onto one of the footholds, wishing she could do something to help the girl. She may not know anything apart from her name, but Erica was still scared. She still needed help.

"Coach, maybe it's not safe for her to be up there. You know she's epileptic," Allison said, causing Coach to stare over at her like she had just told him she killed his dog.

"What? Why doesn't anyone tell me these things? Uh, Erica, you're fine! Just, just kick off from the wall. There's, uh, there's a mat to catch you!" Coach explained, trying to get the girl to come off of the wall. Sage knew that the Coach probably wasn't doing his best at reassuring the blonde, especially since she was there to see Sage's harness break. No doubt, that just made the situation even worse.

When Erica made no move, Sage sighed, "Hey Erica? I know you probably don't want to look down right now, but it's Sage. Or Connelly, whatever. But you're going to have to push yourself off of the mat, okay? I know what happened before probably scared the hell out of you, but you've got to get yourself down. If anything happens, you've got twenty students waiting to catch you."

Everyone seemed to stare at her like she was crazy, Coach's face breaking out into shock when he heard her little speech to Erica. Sage figured she might as well try and help as much as she can. Erica seemed to process Sage's words because slowly her hands detached from the rocks she was gripping onto as if her life depended on it. Just like Sage said, the whole class seemed to inch forward as if waiting for the harness to fail.

But it didn't, and Erica was on her feet in seconds, quickly fumbling around trying to unhook herself. Sage could only watch as the girl pushed herself through crowd, disappearing from the scene. When people around her started to snicker, she went to walk towards the first laughing person she saw, only when hands grabbed her arms from behind.

"Just leave it, you did the best you could." She heard Stiles voice from behind her, releasing his hands from her arms. She turned to look at him and frowned.

"Stiles, I didn't fall. I was pushed."

And she left after that, Coach shouting for everyone to get to the locker rooms. When she made it into the room, she looked around, desperately trying to find Erica. The girl must have disappeared, or already changed because she was nowhere in sight. Sage ran her hands through her hair, and slowly walked over to Allison and Lydia. They turned around when they saw her, both of them sharing equal looks of concern. She still found it weird seeing people concerned for her. Normally it was the other way around.

"Are you okay? You hit the mat pretty hard. Even for a mat," Allison concerned, raising her eyebrows as she lifted her gym shirt over her head. Sage shrugged, but immediately regretted it when she felt her shoulders tense up.

"I probably just pulled something. I'll be fine, really. It's no big deal. I'm more concerned about Erica," Sage explained, pulling her own clothes off to change back into her regular ones. Lydia sighed before turning towards the girl, crossing her arms over her chest.

"What's with you lately? Did something happen between you and Stiles?"

Sage turned to see that Allison stopped what she was doing as well. "What do you you mean, 'did something happen between you and Stiles'?"

"I mean, did you get into a fight or something? Allison and I both noticed you two acting weird around each other," Lydia explained. "He gets all awkward and you two are bickering more than making out in abandoned classrooms."

"One time, Lydia."

Allison grinned, shutting her locker, "It still happened."

"You two suck," Sage glared, "Seriously, everything is fine. We're j-"

"Just friends," Allison and Lydia spoke in unison. Lydia rolled her eyes, putting on her heels, "Yeah, we know, Sage. That's the only excuse you two use now. Remind me again why you two aren't dating? You've kissed, what, three times now? Get over your trust issues and go after the twitchy boy."

Sage went to deny, but there was a sound from outside of the locker room. Quickly sharing a look with the other two girls, they all ran out to see that Erica was lying in Scott's arms. Careful not to slip in her socks, Sage ran forward, falling down to the ground. "Put her on her side, Scott. Now!"

Scott did as told, and Erica was placed on her side, clawing at his arms for any sort of comfort. Sage leaned over, looking to see that Stiles was already staring, giving her a look that said this was far from over.

Allison moved next to Scott, "How did you know?"

"I just felt it," Scott admitted, keeping his eyes on Erica as they waited for the ambulance.

♐ ♐ ♐ ♐ ♐ ♐

"Where are you taking me?"

"Shh, we're going to lunch."

Sage gaped at him, "Then why are you holding my arm like you're afraid I'm going to run off?"

"Because I am afraid you're going to run off," Stiles said, raising his eyebrows as he turned to her. Sage stopped in her place, and Stiles was forced to as well. "I know you noticed Erica didn't show, and I have no doubts that you're thinking of ditching to find her. Ms. McCall said she's fine, you need to relax."

Sage chewed on her lips as a nervous habit, wondering when Stiles got so good at reading her. Giving a small nod, Sage started walking forward, "Stiles?"

"Hmm?"

"I never run off when there is food."

Stiles rolled his eyes, but grinned anyways, playing around with his pockets, "Great to know you have your priorities in check." Pushing open the doors to the cafeteria, his eyes roamed around the room, and at first Sage thought he was looking for Scott but then she saw him start moving towards Boyd, her partner in one of her classes.

Sitting down, Stiles pulled Sage with him and she crashed into the seat across from Boyd. He stared at her, and she gave a small smile, "Hey Boyd. Nice to see you when I'm not accidentally blowing up our assignments."

"You two know each other?" Stiles asked, stunned.

Sage frowned, glancing over at Boyd, nodding, "Yeah, we're lab partners."

"Huh, well, Boyd," Stiles started, drawing out the boy's name, "You got the keys?"

Sage clacked her tongue, wondering what the hell Stiles was going on about. Boyd's hand lifted, keys secured by the strap connected to it. When Stiles' hand lifted to pull it away, Boyd clasped the keys in his palm, "This isn't a favor. It's a transaction."

"Right, yeah, absolutely."

What the hell is going on?

"I said fifty," Boyd corrected, staring at the twenty dollars laying on the cafeteria table. Sage caught on that the keys had to be what opened the ice skating rink, seeing as everyone in the school knew Boyd worked there. He was one of the few people that had a job Sage wished she could work at. Despite loving animals, Scott's wasn't on that list. She couldn't handle any more canines. She'd go crazy.

"Really? 'Cause I remember twenty. I don't know. I really have a good verbal memory. And I remember twenty," Stiles spluttered, trying to convince Boyd. Sage rolled her eyes, leaning back into the chair to try and enjoy the show. "I remember the distinctive 'twah' sound. Twah-enty."

"I said fifty. With a 'fuh' sound. Here the difference?" Stiles shook his head, making a incoherent sound, "If you don't, I can demonstrate some other words with the 'fuh' sound."

Sage grinned, proud of Boyd's comeback. He might be quiet, but he wasn't a stranger to sarcasm. Stiles noticed he wasn't getting anywhere, "Okay, I got it now. Maybe I just got it confused with fuh-orty." Boyd wasn't pleased, taking a chip from his lunch, sticking the thing into his mouth. "Come on, man. Have you see the piece-of-crap jeep that I have?"

"Have you seen the piece-of-crap bus that I take?"

"Have either of you see the the piece-of-crap conversation this is?" Sage asked, fishing for money in her pocket. When she looked to see that it was a ten, she slammed it hard onto the table, getting up to walk over to Scott. Stiles better be taking her to the damn ice rink if she's paying for part of it.

Stiles showed up a few seconds later, sitting down next to Sage, "Got 'em. So, after you get off work I'll pick you up. Blondie, you're driving with Allison and Lydia."

"One," Sage held up a finger, "Never call me blondie. And two," She raised her second, "Is this your way of inviting me? Because if it is, you really suck at it."

Stiles glared, going to speak up when the sound of heels clacking on the tile floor interrupted him. All heads turned when they saw Erica stride in, looking like a completely new person. For a second, Sage thought it had to be a twin sister because there was no possible way for that to be the Erica they saw before. The girl bent down next to a random freshman, grabbing the apple that he had laying out on his tray, biting into it.

"What the holy hell is that?"

Sage didn't keep her eyes of Erica, but still replied to Lydia, "She looks like me. Erica is literally the sluttier version of me." Turning around, she scowled to her friend, "She stole my thing. "

Stiles grabbed a hold of Sage before she could better digest that Erica was the less modest version of her, pushing her along as the three ran out the door, following after a departing Erica. They crashed through the front doors, opening them up to see that Erica was getting into a Camaro, one that was so familiar, she felt utterly betrayed.

She clenched her jaw, never feeling more angered at Derek that now.

♐ ♐ ♐ ♐ ♐ ♐

Sage laid upside down on Allison's bed. She already discarded her leather jacket, no longer feeling comfortable wearing the fabric if Erica was just going to be replicating her. Now, she was just listening as Lydia spoke about all of the clothes she was going to get Sage into junior year. Apparently, they were all going to come back new people with new personalities. Allison was already talking about cutting her hair, Lydia said she was going to start wearing her hair straight more often seeing as it's almost always curled, and Sage kept quiet, not sure what she was going to do.

"I think you should get your hair lighter," Lydia inputted from her position on Allison's chair. Sage flipped around, quirking an eyebrow. Her hair was already blonde, she wasn't exactly sure what 'lighter' meant.

"What exactly is 'lighter'?" Sage asked.

Allison sat down next to her, "I think you should start wearing lighter clothes too."

Sage gaped at her two friends, "Are you trying to say I'm dark? I think I have a wide selection of colors-"