The hallway buzzed louder than usual — the kind of restless energy Beacon Hills High got whenever someone new arrived. Jacob leaned against a locker like he’d been there his whole life, flashing practiced smiles at every girl who walked past. Most of them rolled their eyes. A few didn’t.

Stiles noticed him immediately.

“Who is that guy?” he muttered, watching Jacob toss his hair like he was auditioning for a commercial.

Scott followed Stiles’ stare and sighed. “New kid. Already thinks he owns the place.”

Across the hall, you were grabbing books from your locker, clearly trying to ignore Jacob as he drifted closer. He slid into your line of sight with exaggerated confidence.

“Hey,” Jacob said smoothly. “You’re Scott’s sister, right? I’ve heard—”

You shut your locker with a calm click, expression unimpressed. “That I’m busy? Yeah. That sounds right.”

Stiles tried — and failed — to hide the grin tugging at his mouth. Jacob blinked, thrown off, but recovered quickly, stepping alongside you as you walked. He kept talking, fishing for laughs that never came.

Stiles pushed off the wall. “Okay, nope,” he said under his breath, already heading over.

Scott smirked. “Five bucks says this gets weird.”

“Everything gets weird,” Stiles shot back.

By the time he reached them, Jacob was mid-story, gesturing wildly. You looked seconds away from walking straight through a wall to escape.

Stiles slid into step beside you, an arm wrapped around your waist, like it was the most natural thing in the world, which it honestly is. “Hey,” he said lightly, eyes flicking to Jacob. “Didn’t know we were collecting stray monologues now.”

Jacob frowned. “We’re talking.”

Stiles smiled — friendly on the surface, razor sharp underneath. “Were you? Because it sounded more like a one-man show.”

You didn’t even look at Jacob when you answered. “We were leaving.”

And just like that, Jacob was standing there alone, watching them disappear into the crowd while Stiles talked a mile a minute about literally anything else — a clear, wordless message: some people just weren’t interested in his performance.

The hallway swallowed the moment, but Stiles still glanced back once, suspicious as ever.

Because in Beacon Hills, new people were rarely just new people.

And Jacob definitely didn’t feel ordinary.