Hoping for Heroes

Chapter 41

Harley walks into class the next morning right as Allison jogs out. She gives her a quick wave before making her way into the hall further. Harley takes her seat right as Kira and Scott meet right by her desk.

"Hi!" Kira says to him. "I'm Kira. You knew that. I knew you knew that. I don't know why I just told you that again. Anyway, I have something for you."

"For me?" Scott asks.

"Well, for both of you." Kira gestures to Harley, and Harley waves at a slightly blushing Scott. "It's about the Bardo. My explanation was sort of all over the place, so I did some research and printed it out for you." Harley whistles lowly as Scott rubs at his neck sheepishly.

"Ah, you didn't have to do that."

"It only took a couple hours."

"Wow. Then you really didn't have to do that."

"I swear I printed it out." Kira digs through her bag just as her dad walks up to her. 

"Kira," he says. "You forgot all the research you did for that boy you like." Harley covers her mouth to hide her smile as Scott's jaw drops. Kira turns around slowly and hands him the papers, avoiding eye contact. She sits down before any more damage can be done. Scott looks at Harley, who makes a little heart with her fingers and pouts playfully. Scott rolls his eyes and looks away. Her attention is drawn away as Mr. Yukimura asks Stiles to read in front of the class.

"Oh, maybe someone else could," Stiles suggests.

"Everyone participates in my class, Mr. Stilinski," Mr. Yukimura says.

"Okay." Stiles hesitantly gets up, just staring at the book for a while. Harley pushes herself to her feet just as Scott does.

"Stiles?" Harley asks.

"You okay?" Scott asks. Harley shoves Scott toward Stiles, walking with them.

"We'll take him to the nurse's," Harley tells Mr. Yukimura, who nods in response. The trio makes their way to the locker room, and Harley shoves them inside. "I'll stay out here and let you know if anyone is coming."

Sometime later, Kira walks toward Harley in the hallway, carrying their backpacks they had left on the classroom. Before Harley can speak up, a low growl comes from the end of the hallway. Harley looks to her left and finds a coyote, likely the one Scott and Stiles saw, staring them down. 

Swearing lowly, Harley grabs Kira by the shoulders and shoves her into the locker room, following behind her. She goes to attempt to put up a barrier, but freezes when she sees Kira staring, waiting for her. She instead opts to drag Kira behind the farthest locker, pushing her into a sitting position. She covers Kira's body with hers as the coyote breaks through the glass and comes into the locker room. 

Harley helps Kira to her feet, holding a finger to her mouth, signaling to be quiet. The two slowly shift away from the animal, and Harley whirls around, ready to strike as someone grabs her shoulders. She comes face to face with Scott, who shoves both her and Kira behind him, then pushes down the lockers to trap the coyote. Harley listens closely, shaking her head when she can't hear any other movement. Scott nudges her, gesturing to the baby doll in his backpack, insinuating that it was likely what the coyote, or Malia, was looking for.

Later, Harley walks up to Kira and her dad talking in the locker room, just catching part of their conversation.

"Why weren't you going to lunch like everyone else?" Mr. Yukimura asks Kira.

"That's our fault," Harley answers for Kira. "She was just bringing our bags to be nice. I don't think anyone was expecting everything to go down the way it did." She smiles at Kira awkwardly, looking away after making eye contact. Her attention is drawn to Malia's dad barging into the locker room.