Lesson #6: Pretty Girls make Pretty Girls Jealous

"I talked to Erica Reyes," Derek informed me after helping me up off the ground. He was getting too much joy out of body checking me while we practiced lacrosse. But, at least I was getting better. Try outs were in two days and blocking him from knocking me to my ass was the only thing I still sucked at. "She wants to meet you, but she agreed to help you make Lydia jealous."

"Why would she make Lydia jealous?" I wondered, picking my stick up off the ground. Derek walked back to the other side of the yard to start the play over again. "I mean, Lydia is beautiful. How could she be jealous of anyone else?"

Derek chuckled, like he knew the punchline to a joke that I didn't even know was being told. "Lesson number six," he explained, but that didn't help at all. I shrugged, waiting for him to finish. He sighed, as if disappointed in me. "Pretty girls make pretty girls jealous," he finished. "Lydia sees Erica all over you, she'll start to see you. I promise, it works every time."

I wasn't following, but he was the expert in coolness here, so I nodded anyways. "When will Lydia see us together though? Erica doesn't go to Beacon Hills." There was no way she'd transfer just to help me, considering she didn't even know me. I also knew I wouldn't be invited to hang out with Lydia anytime soon, so I was right to be confused.

Derek sighed, dropping his lacrosse stick on the ground before walking back over to me. "Will you just trust me for once?" He placed his hands on my shoulders, forcing me to look at him after I let my lacrosse stick hit the ground. "Stiles, in these two weeks that we've been hanging out, when have I ever let you down?" His touch was making my thoughts a little cloudy for whatever reason, but I knew he was right. For now, I had no other choice but to listen to him.

"As long as you know what you're doing," I mumbled, wishing I could tear my eyes away from his. When he smiled, it only made it harder. "I-um, I'm actually getting a little hungry, aren't you?" I managed, shaking his touch off. "Maybe we could order a pizza, or something?"

"Or," Derek countered, ruffling my hair. "I could take you out."

The words "like on a date?" almost came out of my mouth, but I stopped them. Of course, Derek would never suggest something like that. He just had a weird way of wording things. "Oh, like where?" I said instead, ignoring the heat on my cheeks at the way he teased me.

"I know a place," he insisted, gesturing for me to follow him back inside. "But first, you need a new shirt. That one is covered in grass stains." I tried to object before quickly realizing it was pointless. The white graphic t-shirt I had put on this morning was now green in some places. A shame, since it was one of my favorite shirts.

"I didn't bring a change of clothes," I remembered, stumbling up the stairs after Derek. I followed him into the room and shut the door behind me out of habit. "I'll just wear a jacket over it," I suggested, but Derek shook his head and started going through his drawer.

He finally picked something, then turned around to throw it at my chest. "You can keep that shirt. I don't wear it anymore. It's a little tight." I held up the shirt and bit back a smirk. Derek was into Star Wars? He sure didn't seem like the type, but there were a lot of things about him I didn't know yet. "Don't say anything," he warned, as if reading my mind.

"Who's your favorite character?" I teased, making him glare at me. "Let me guess. . . chewbacca?"

"Shut up," he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. "Change your shirt, or you're gonna starve." He sounded very serious, so I stripped off my sweaty shirt and exchanged it for the new one, all while trying to ignore Derek's eyes burning into me. "See, fits like a glove."

I returned the glare he gave me, which made him chuckle. I grabbed the hem of the shirt, which almost reached mid thigh. "I'm practically wearing a dress," I complained, grabbing my jacket off his bed to cover it up.

Derek smiled, gesturing for me to walk out the door. "At least you look pretty," he teased, his hand grazing my back as we walked towards the front door. I rolled my eyes, but didn't see the point in arguing. I got into his car and for the next forty-five minutes, we actually had nice conversation. It wasn't about calculus, or Lydia, or more lessons. It was honest conversation with the most popular guy in school. If I didn't know any better, I'd say we were officially friends. At least, in private. If I could talk to the Derek Hale about Star Wars and Harry Potter, I think it was safe to say we were getting pretty close. I doubted he ever told anyone else about his secret nerd movie obsessions.

"What if your asshole ex boyfriend shows up?" I wondered as we pulled into the parking lot of a small cafe. We were in the same town as the mall we went to, so I assumed this was the town in which asshole ex boyfriend lived. If I had to kiss Derek again to get the point across to that guy, I guess I would. Seeing as kissing him the first time didn't really gross me out. . . did that sound gay? It wasn't like that. Really, it was just helping out a friend!

Derek sighed, then looked over at me with a small smile. "If we run into him and you don't want to keep pretending that you're my boyfriend, I'll just-"

"What?" I cut him off, raising an eyebrow. After everything Derek had done for me, and still was doing for me. . . he really thought I'd just betray him like that? "I would never do that to you. I'll be your boyfriend anytime you need me," I admitted, which I immediately regretted. Derek thought it was funny, but my face was burning. "Fake boyfriend, I mean," I corrected myself.

Derek laughed, nudging my shoulder. "Yeah, I got that," he answered. "Come on, let's eat." I followed him into the little restaurant and we were seated in a tiny booth in the corner. It was very homey and something I wasn't much used to. I liked it, especially with Derek being there. Because he was such a close friend. Not for any other reason. It was nice having someone other than Scott to talk to. "After this, I was thinking we could go to the mall? It's only two and I don't have anywhere else to be. What do you think?"

I raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to tell me he was joking. We had been spending a lot of time together, sure, but to spend his entire Saturday with me? "Derek, I find it hard to believe that you don't have better things to do with your actual friends on a weekend."

Derek frowned, cocking his head to the side as he stared at me. "You are my friend, Stiles. Do you not like hanging out with me?"

"I didn't say that," I answered quickly, trying not to screw things up. "I just didn't know if you'd rather be with your other friends." If I were him, I'd probably want to be with my popular friends. If he was caught with me, who knows what would happen.

He looked conflicted, his eyes drifting away from mine as he sighed. Finally, he looked at me again. "I think I'd rather be with you." I didn't expect those words to come out of his mouth, but once they did, I felt not only face heat up, but literally every single inch of my entire body. I couldn't help the feeling even if I wanted to. "So is that a yes to the mall?"

"Yes," I agreed, offering my best smile. He did not need to see that his words had an effect on me. He might get the wrong idea.

Derek returned the smile easily. "Okay, cool." And after that, we ordered, ate our food, and made small talk. It was a little more awkward for me now, because of that one moment we just had, but I was getting over it. I was sorting out my weird feelings.

After eating, Derek drove the few minutes to the mall and found a good parking spot. I wasn't sure what exactly we were looking for, but Derek wanted to go. If anything, we could just window shop. For awhile, I followed Derek around, letting him drag me from store to store without actually buying anything. We joked around and laughed, made fun of some of the stupid shirts with dumb sayings on them. I had never had so much fun shopping before.

"Stiles, let's get matching shirts," Derek said, holding up a t-shirt with Chewbacca on it. He picked up the other one and it was Han Solo. Clearly, Derek was joking, but I still rolled my eyes. "What? Come on, I'd be Han Solo and you would be Chewy!"

"Dude," I grumbled, grabbing the shirt to put it back on the rack. "If anything, I'm Han Solo. You look more like Chewy than I do."

Derek narrowed his eyes at me. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I laughed nervously, taking a few steps back. "Nothing!" I tried, but he was already chasing after me. I made it out of the store and almost into the food court before he got me in a headlock. With his huge freaking muscles, there was no getting free. "Derek, it was just a joke!" I expressed, struggling to get out of his grip.

"Jokes are supposed to be funny," he countered, but loosened his grip on my anyways. Finally, he let me go, giving me an amusing look as I glared at him. "I'll forgive you if you buy me ice cream."

"That's all it takes?" I retorted, raising an eyebrow. He rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything. "Come on," I teased, grabbing his wrist to pull him along beside me. I was going to let go of his wrist, but then I saw a familiar face. I felt Derek tense up beside me at the sight of his ex, but I took his hand in mine to reassure him I wasn't going anywhere.

Derek squeezed my hand nervously, so I glanced at him with a small smile. "We can leave," he suggested, keeping his voice down. I shook my head, still dragging him towards the ice cream place. If Garrett said anything, we'd deal with it like last time. "Stiles," he whispered, tugging on my hand.

Garrett had already spotted us and was walking over to meet us. His smile was anything but friendly. "You two are adorable," he said, clearly sarcastic. "I'm surprised you're still together. Derek knows how to screw up a good thing."

I tightened my grip on Derek's hand, trying not to let myself explode. "We don't need this," I said, pulling Derek away from him.

Garrett laughed, but I wasn't turning back around. "Was it something I said?"

"I hate him," I grumbled, staring straight ahead as we walked over to the ice cream place. I didn't even realize I was still squeezing Derek's hand until we were waiting in the line and Derek lifted our joined hands as if to point out they were still locked together. "Oh, sorry," I mumbled, untangling our fingers. "I was in character."

Derek smiled, his eyes drifting away from mine to something behind me. "Oh, speaking of character, you're about to meet Erica," he said, waving at someone, who must have been Erica. I turned around to see a beautiful girl walking towards us. She radiated confidence, something I didn't have. Her hair was curly, blonde, and fell just below her shoulders. Her outfit was tight, opposite of what Lydia liked to wear. "You look good," Derek told her when she approached us.

Erica smiled wide, letting Derek envelope her in a hug. When she pulled away from his grasp, she turned to look at me. "Boyfriend?" she wondered, raising an eyebrow.

I felt my face heat up, quickly shaking my head no. "Actually, I'm Stiles," I introduced myself, offering a small smile. I was still trying to get over my embarrassment about being called Derek's boyfriend.

Her face lit up before she pulled me into my own bone crushing hug. "Oh my God, Stiles! It's nice to meet you!" She stepped away with that big smile still on her pretty lips. "Derek told me all about your little arrangement. Who's the girl we're trying to make jealous?"

"You didn't tell her who it was?" I asked Derek, a little surprised. I figured he had told her all of the important details. Derek gave me a guilty look before turning away to move forward in the line. I sighed, turning back to Erica. "Her name is Lydia Martin."

"Wait, seriously?" she replied in disbelief. She smacked Derek on the arm and he glared at her, but it was nothing compared to Erica's angry look. "Hale, why didn't you mention it was the one person I hate the most?"

"I didn't know if you'd agree," Derek admitted with a small shrug.

Erica scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Of course I'll do it, Derek. Anything to make that girl angry."

"Wait," I mumbled, confused. "Why don't you like her?" It was hard to believe anyone could hate Lydia Martin. I understood Derek's whole lesson of pretty girls being intimidated by other pretty girls, but to hate someone like Lydia? I didn't get that.

"She thinks she's entitled to everything," Erica said, rolling her eyes. "She's a snobby little rich girl who pretends she's stupid so boys will like her. And she thinks she's prettier than me."

I couldn't believe any of that was true. Lydia was sweet, even if she never talked to me. I could just sense it. Besides, Derek wouldn't be friends with somebody who was like that, right? Erica was just jealous of Lydia's life. She had to be. "Oh," was all I could say.

"But I understand why you're attracted to her," Erica sighed. "Which is why I'll still help."

"Thank you," I answered, turning away just as we made it to the counter. Derek and I ordered our ice cream, and even though I said I would pay, Derek handed over his debit card anyways. "I was going to get that," I grumbled, and all he did was grin at me as he shoved me over to the side to wait for our ice cream.

Erica waited with us and sat with us while we ate. She was nothing like Derek, but she was still fun to hang out with. She liked a lot of the same tv shows that I did, so that was one thing we had in common. It seemed I was bonding with everyone except Lydia at this point, and she was the end goal. . . right?

"Stiles, you zoned out," Derek said, waving his hand in front of my face. I hummed, looking at him again. He chuckled a little. "I asked if you were ready to go home."

"Oh," I mumbled, glancing at Erica, who was already getting her things together to leave. "Yeah, I guess I am." I wasn't ready to go home and lounge around for the rest of the day. It was only five in the afternoon.

"Okay, cool," Derek answered, getting up. He hugged Erica, we exchanged goodbyes, and then Derek and I walked out to his car. "Wanna watch movies when we get home? Or play video games?"

Wait, he still wanted to hang out with me? This was getting weird. And the even weirder part. . . I wanted to keep hanging out with him too. The thought of going straight home when we got back to town made my chest ache, but the thought of staying with Derek made my heart race. What did it mean? It meant I was spending too much time with him.

"Either works for me," I answered, voice small. There was something weird happening to me, and I was almost sure it was Derek's fault. He was supposed to be helping me get a girlfriend, but instead all we did was hang out. The worst part was that I liked being around him and a lot of the time, when I was with him, I forgot about Lydia all together. I needed to get my head back in the game. For tonight though, hanging out with Derek was fine. But soon, I'd have to remind him that our relationship was purely business.