30 CHAPTER 29

Today was a different flow from Tristan's usual school days since for once he was seated with another person he didn't know before.

They had met when they both picked the same table in the cafeteria. The boy had immediately wanted to leave but Tristan had been too quick to speak.

"Sorry, wrong ta-"

"Don't worry."

"…"

"…"

"O-oh. Cool, I guess."

They both sat down beside each other which only served to lengthen the awkward atmosphere. 

Tristan had three juice boxes with him while his table mate had beans, sauce and bread. 

One slurped while one ate, the silence comforting for one while unbearable and embarrassing for the other. 

"Name's Boyd, by the way. It's… just forget it." Boyd sighed under his breath and just ate in silence, putting extra speed to his jaws as he chewed. 

"Tristan." Tristan replied, seeing no reason why he shouldn't introduce himself when someone else did. 

Boyd looked surprised for a moment at Tristan's reply before nodding. "Cool." He then fell silent again and began eating, this time at a normal pace. 

"You new?" Boyd asked after a moment of both of them keeping quiet. 

"Yeah."

"Huh. Got a thing?"

"Nah."

Boyd nodded his head, his face not leaving his plate as he asked Tristan some questions. Unlike what his bulging muscles might suggest, Boyd was very socially awkward. Talking to someone on his own initiative was something he hardly ever did so he was thankful for the awkward silence that he was familiar with. 

He looked at Tristan for the first time after sitting down and noticed his lack of reaction as he just sloshed his juice away. He noticed that Tristan's muscles were just a level lower than his as they strained the sleeves he wore. 

"Sports?"

"No. Just a byproduct." Tristan shrugged as he saw what Boyd was hinting at. 

With nothing to say, they both relapsed back into silence, each understanding something. 

They had found a fellow brethren of the antisocial breed. 

Tristan had nothing to do since he knew he wouldn't be meeting either Malia or Allison so he thought of passing the time here. 

Having free time, he thought of the news he heard that the man from the school bus yesterday had died to his wounds. He was sure Scott didn't kill the man since he couldn't sense anything different from the boy so he was sure Scott hadn't lost his golden glow. 

The only good news that came out of everything was implementation of stricter curfew which meant that they were not hanging with Allison any time soon. 

If he had known at the beginning, it would have been easy to keep himself out of it, but knowing the Argent girl had changed all that. 

If this had just happened when they first met her, he and Malia could have simply kept their distance and let everything play out while they watched from the sidelines. 

Unfortunately for them, Allison had bonded with them quite quickly and they could say with certainty she truly was someone they can call a friend. 

It was a complicated situation with Malia believing that Allison was ignorant of her family's ways. Tristan, even though he was mostly quiet, wasn't some unfeeling monster. 

If it came to it, he could cut contact with her or kill her if the situation demanded it but they couldn't act now. As long as her father was ignorant of their existence then maybe they could play along since they were trying to appear as normal as possible. 

"Uhmm. I-I think I'll be going." Boyd said and stood up from his seat and took his empty tray with him. 

"Later." Was Tristan's offhanded reply. 

'We really got caught in the middle of it all.' He breathed out. 

Derek. 

Argent. 

Alpha. 

Scott. 

Animal attacks. 

They were involved one way or the other. For some reason, Satomi assured him that as long as he stayed out of the Hunter's way, then he had nothing to worry about. 

'Just hope you're right, Grandma.'

His thoughts were cut short as he felt two people walking towards him pointing him to open his eyes. 

Without even saying anything, the two people, Scott and Stiles, slid into the chairs on his opposite side. 

"Can we talk to you?" Scott asked as Tristan's eyes landed on them. He didn't know why but Tristan gave him a very different feeling from Malia and Derek. It made him a little uncomfortable. 

"Why?" He responded. 

"The shift. How do you guys control."

Tristan's face at this moment was one of befuddlement. 

"Please." Scott pleaded. "I gotta learn how so I don't mistakenly kill someone. How do werewolves control shifting and staying human during the full moon."

To say Scott was desperate was an understatement. The fear of killing someone and having Hunters coming for his life was enough to worry ever hardened soldiers, less alone a sophomore. 

"An anchor. Or a moral line." He articulated each of his words slowly. 

"I get a moral line, but what is an anchor?" Stiles asked immediately after, burning every word into his brain. 

"Something he values more than anything else, or something he loves or is passionate about."

"I'm passionate about lacrosse."

Tristan only stared dumbly at him while Stiles kicked his best friend's leg to admonish him. 

"It could be anything that calms you. A life decision, someone you love, your bottom line. An anchor can be anything. From people to places."

"Oh, that's great! I can be his anchor. Gotta love and not kill your best bud Stiles, am I right or what?" Stiles raised his hand and waved it for a shake with a loony smile on his face only to bring them down when he saw no one react. 

Tristan looked back at Scott. "It takes time, but it works. The next thing I'll suggest is a mantra. Preferably something spiritual." 

"Huh. Never expected werewolves to be spiritual." Stiles' comment reached both their ears but none reacted to it. 

"It's mostly a pack thing." Tristan added. 

Stiles and Scott both groaned as they heard that accursed word. To them a pack only meant one thing, which was killing with and for the Alpha. 

"… Is there no other way? Something else?" Scott asked desperately only for him to be violently shot down. 

"No. Meet your Alpha." That was the only advice he could give because sooner or later his Alpha will come calling, and it's entirely possible that it'll end in someone dying. 

He got up and left the both of them at the table to dance through their thoughts. 

"Well this was a bust." Scott slumped dejectedly. 

"Not completely since he did give us a way to help your shift."

"Yoga practice and motivational quotes?" Scott asked sarcastically. 

Stiles brought his two hands up to show his ignorance on the subject too. 

"Maybe you just need to think of something that calms you, anything. You need something to work as your anchor." Stiles alluded to Tristan's words. 

Scott just picked himself off the table in a downcast mood and carried his bags. "Come on, let's go."

Picking his bags, they both left the cafeteria only to bump into two people, girls. 

"Hey, watch it." Malia said with a frown on her face.

Scott apologized while scratching his neck. "Sorry. I was… sorry, it's nothing."

"Wait before you go, have you seen Tristan?" Malia asked after failing to find Tristan in their usual spot. 

"He left. You just missed him." Stiles answered while adjusting his bag nervously. 

Allison interjected at that moment, inadvertently drawing Scott's attention. "Well since he isn't here, we should just go for our next class. Maybe he's already there." 

Stiles prodded Scott to move along as he could tell they weren't needed anymore and the way Scott gawked at Allison made him fearful of what Malia would do. 

While they left, Malia and Allison changed their direction and started walking as Malia opened up the conversation. "Why didn't you talk to Scott?"

Allison looked confused at Malia's question as if it was something she couldn't genuinely understand. 

"I thought you said he was cute, and you kinda watched him for most of the game." Malia pointed out which caused the girl to blush a little. 

"That doesn't mean anything. It was just a fleeting thought." Allison said. 

"That is still no reason why you didn't talk to him. Is it because I'm here?"

"No, it's not you." She quickly refuted. She adjusted her beanie and clasped her hand behind her back. "It's just that when we moved to Beacon Hills, I told myself that I didn't want to date so soon."

"Oh, I see." Malia surprisingly nodded with understanding. The most probable reason was due to the fact that they moved a lot and she was tired of forming new bonds that she knew were temporary. 

"Yea. I'm still settling down and I don't think throwing a boyfriend into all that seems like a good idea."

"Probably a good choice."

"Easy for you to say when you have Tristan." Allison said with an eye roll. "I wonder how you guys even started dating."

Malia was short of words as she heard that. "Tristan and I didn't start dating or anything like that, we just grew into it."

"Like you just started kissing and stuff out of the blue?"

"Yeah, something like that. We were pretty much twin siblings when we were young, so obviously we didn't know about romance or sex or anything like that. Until puberty came at least."

Allison stumbled at Malia's words and how she could say all that with a straight face. 

"Our family just left us to our own devices, only giving us the basic sex education and all that talk. We experimented on each other, liked it and just continued. So yeah, he's more like my brother than anything else. Boyfriend is just his title in our relationship." 

They entered their class and went to their seats with Malia still speaking and Allison still listening. 

"I don't know what it feels like to get a boyfriend, since I've never had one. And besides, I wouldn't trade him for anyone else." She said with such confidence that hurt Allison a little. Which girl doesn't want a relationship like this? One where they meant everything to each other without anything coming in between. 

Malia stopped in her steps as her eyes narrowed with her face contorting in irritation. 

"Why is that bitch bee sitting with Tristan and bothering him?" Venom dripped off her words as she glared at the flirty girl, scaring Allison in the process. 

"Everyone settle down." The teacher walked inside the classroom and told them all to sit down, preventing Malia from walking over. 

Allison whispered to Malia as they both sat down. "What's with the violent reaction? Don't tell me… you're jealous?" She teased. 

The werecoyote snorted at the ridiculous claim. "As if. I'm just pissed at the gall she has to disturb Tristan with her irritating buzz."

"Ms. Tate, I'd like your attention please." The teacher called her out with a warning. 

Lydia who saw this just smiled and turned towards the boy beside her. "So Tristan, what do you do after school? I don't think I see you often." She had no reason for engaging in conversation except maybe getting at Malia for publicly insulting her by ensnaring her boyfriend. 

"Nothing." Unfortunately, said boy's response was just a monotonous word that flowed with boredom.

"Hm, really?" She feigned surprise and poked at his arms. "I thought you'd be into… extreme activities." Her sultry voice and the beady eyes would've made a normal boy interested, but Tristan was anything but normal. 

"No."

She nodded at his answers and continued the conversation regardless. "Why not try out for lacrosse? It'll really put those huge muscles to work."

"No."

… 

"I'll be hosting a party soon, you're invited."

"Don't do parties."

…

"You have a girlfriend?"

"Yes. Malia."

…

"Let's be friends, Tristan." She extended her hands, regaling herself in the scowl an angry Malia was sending her. 

Tristan looked at her for a second and shook her hands. As for Malia, she was free to do what she wanted with Lydia as long as she didn't brutally maim or kill her. 

He just hoped she'd stop talking soon and let him focus on the class. 

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