Brother || Teen Wolf

Chapter 26 - The Parents

"Jackson's a highly motivated student. In fact, I'd describe him as 'unusually driven'," Mr. Harris explained.

He was sitting on a chair, facing Jackson's parents. The two of them nodded, not surprised at the news.

"Yeah, we were hoping he might ease up on himself a little," the father replied. "He's always been very hard on himself. It's just something we assumed was an effect of him being adopted."

"I think I understand," the teacher reacted, making a face of understanding. "He's never met his biological parents."

"Yeah, that's right," the mother agreed. "It's the need to please, the overachieving, the desire to make someone proud... Someone he's never even met."

"Something certainly seems to have recalibrated his desire for achievement several notches higher. Not to be too blunt about it, but he seems almost obsessed."

Mr. Harris had the reputation to give detentions quite frequently, but that didn't prevent him from observing and monitoring his students closely. Jackson had given him cause to worry, his behavior was unhealthy. Although arrogant, he was a decent enough student but if he kept working so hard it wouldn't be long before he tired himself out.

The rest of the interview went swimmingly, after all Mr. Harris didn't have much else to say about Jackson. When the Whittemore parents left, he looked at the list of other parents he was scheduled to meet. Lydia Martin's parents were next. Mr. Harris smiled, this interview was bound to go well.

"Mr. and Mrs. Martin, please sit down," the teacher welcomed them inside the small room. "Let me tell you, there's plenty to say about Lydia."

"Did I not predict this?" the father scoffed.

"Here we go," the mother rolled her eyes. "Total nuclear meltdown as usual."

"What is it? Is it her grades, concentration issues, erratic behavior?" the father tried to guess.

"I'm not the one who told her she had to choose who she wants to live with, as if that wouldn't warp a 16-year-old girl," Lydia's mother argued.

"Just tell us what the problem is," the father cut the argument short.

"I wasn't aware that there was a problem," Mr. Harris replied with raised eyebrows. "Academically, Lydia's one of the finest students I've ever had. Her A.P. classes push her GPA above a 5.0. I'd actually like to have her I.Q. tested. And socially, she displays outstanding leadership qualities. She's a real leader."

The Martin parents looked relieved but soon went back to arguing, accusing the other of not seeing their daughter for the smart and strong girl she was. The teacher sighed and looked at his watch, hopefully this conference would be over soon. He still had to meet Scott's mother and that was going to be something else. The banging sound of a door slammed shut made him jump slightly in his chair -- it came from Mr. Finstock's office.

Coach Finstock's last interview had not well. Greenberg's parents were just as bad as their son so the conference had been a train wreck. He sighed and let the next parent in. It was Noah Stilinski. Coach invited the man in and looked at Stiles' file.

"Stiles, that's right. I thought 'Stiles' was his last name," the man remarked as the Sheriff sat down.

"His last name is 'Stilinski'," the Sheriff explained, surprised Coach didn't even know that.

"You named your kid 'Stiles Stilinski'?" Coach asked. He stared at the Sheriff incredulously, waiting for an answer.

"No, that's just what he likes to be called," Noah felt obliged to answer.