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??. PREPARATIONS

"Jackson?" I gasped. "What the hell, Jackson!" I yelled. An amused laugh came from the boy.

"What, did you think I was Derek?" Derek's name cut through me like a knife.

"No, I thought you were the Alpha you idiot. Aren't you supposed to be on the field with the rest of the team?"

"McCall and Stilinski are acting weird, weirder than usual. What the hell's going on? You know something."

"Get back to the game Jackson." Just as I began to walk away, Jackson grabbed my wrist, his hand wrapping tightly around it. "Let me go." I hissed to Jackson.

"Not until you tell me what's going on."

"They're trying to protect me, okay? The Alpha showed up two days ago and threatened to kill me. There you have it." I yanked my arm away from him.

"He's still doing that?"

"Yes! And he's not going to stop until I'm like Scott, do you get that?" Jackson, through his thick narcissistic personality, finally got it.

"The plan's still on for tomorrow, right?"

"Watch over Allison the whole time, do not let her out of your sight."

"Is the Alpha going after her too?"

"He'll go after anyone that tries to stop his plan." My lips pressed together to form a line. Jackson's face flashed the slightest bit of concern. It was then I decided that standing alone with Jackson in a secluded area of the school wasn't of my best judgment. Without another word, I turned around and headed to the field where the game was still taking place. Stiles, who of course was on the bench, had spotted me first and immediately was relieved to see me untouched. I smiled to him and headed over to the busy bleachers packed with spirited parents and students. I sat myself next to Allison, who had Chris, Kate, and Victoria Argent to her left. The game didn't have much time left, twenty-five minutes tops. I was trying to concentrate on the game, I really was, but I couldn't seem to focus. All I could think about was Peter coming after me, tomorrows formal, and Derek. Derek seemed to be the biggest worry out of all those things. But that was no surprise to me, every time I tried to get him out of my mind he came right back like a boomerang. I had trusted him, and my trust was hard to earn. He lied to me. That was the worst part. He had this hold on my heart that didn't seem to go away. As hard as I tried, it continued to stay there. Though I didn't want to believe it, he used me. And to get to Scott of all people. To Stiles, since we talked about it at length, none of this added up. Stiles had believed Derek had truly liked me. He had taken every interaction Derek and I have ever had, whether it be when he saved me from Scott or the car drive from hell when Kate Argent was chasing us. Though I didn't notice and Stiles had, when we stopped short before we ran into Kate Argent that night, Derek had placed his arm in front of the steering wheel when our bodies jolted forward. That's why my head never hit the leather; Derek had stopped me from going all the way forward. Stiles explained to me how that was a sign of how he cared for me, but I didn't believe a minute of it. Then Stiles had to bring up the night we discovered Peter's identity. He saw Derek and I kissing in the car, he heard Derek telling me not to go in there, he heard Derek telling me to leave. All these signs pointed to that he still cared, at least to Stiles they did. But as I continued to think about what Stiles had said, I kept flashing back to that night where Derek was taken away from me. I could very distinctly remember Peter coming towards us in the operating room of the hospital and Derek had taken my hand and squeezed it for comfort for both of us. A shiver was sent down my spine as I could feel the ghost of his hand touch mine. Derek had told Peter not to touch me, to let me go. That look he had given me before his uncle knocked me out, he had me so convinced that he cared. He was one hell of an actor. Allison wrapped a glove-covered hand around my arm.