Chapter 9: Fight or Flight
The day was a piece of chaos- everytime he was in a classroom his mind raced (and he knew it had to be ever worse for Joe), he spent lunch stuffing his face while Joe barely picked at his food, and everytime he was in the hallways his head was on a swivel- looking for Emily.
It seemed like he'd only just stepped off the bus, and here was already gathering his stuff at the end of the second to last period.
The rest of the class was heading out the door, but Harold went to the front of the room, near the demo table, where the wolf skull he'd found was sitting alone.
Mrs. Isaac smiled, and handed him the skull. "I still think you ought to take this to a pro, I'm glad you asked me to look at it but again, I'm no expert."
Harold looked at the wolf skull, and traced his finger along the teeth. "I will Mrs. Isaac. How common are coyotes around here?"
They're not unheard of, but they're nowhere near as common as they once were. I thought I mentioned yesterday over the phone, I think this is much to large to be a coyote."
"I know, but I'm not talking about the skull."
She raised her eyebrows.
"My friend- you know Joe Jones?"
She nodded.
"My friend Joe, well his dog was um... Killed by some wild animal a couple nights ago. We think a coyote. But we burried his dog, and whatever it was that killed him came back and dug up the remains last night."
"Coyote's certainly live around here, and it's not out of the question that they'd dig up... Something that smelled like food. But it's not something I'd expect. Mainly because they are rare, but also because they are quite mobile. I wouldn't expect it to come back to scavenge the same area it hunted the night before."
She looked closely at Harold and added, "I'd be less surprised if it was a wild dog."
His eyes flicked up from the skull, and he asked, "What would I use if I wanted to bait a nd trap whatever it was?"
Mrs. Isaac shook her head. "Nope. You shouldn't do that Harold, wild animals can be dangerous."
"Would dog food work?"
"Of course it would work, but listen to me Harold that is a bad idea. Wild animals can carry disease- and any cornered animal can be vicious- especially canines."
He took off his sweater to wrap the fragile skull, and then placed it carefully in his backpack.
She held his arm and forced his gaze, "Promise me you won't try to trap this animal. Call animal control, leave it to the professionals."
"It's Okay, Mrs. Isaac.... I'll be fine."
"Harold, promise me."
"I promise I won't try to trap the animal."
She let go his arm. Before he left the room, he said, "Thanks for helping me ID the skull Mrs. Isaac, I'll see you Friday."
He shut the door behind him, and pulled out his phone to shoot out a quick text to Joe, "We will kill it Joe. Mrs. Isaac says dog food will work to attract it. Don't tell any other teachers, or parents what we are planning."
The halls were thinning out by now, he had to get to English. He was starving.
And he wanted to. To see Emily.
His phone buzzed and he gave it a glance, a text from Joe, "WHAT are we planning?"
Harold didn't have time to explain. He pocketed his phone and went into Mr. Hanlon's classroom.
He saw Emily, his blood pumped harder. But he managed to smile at her.
She grinned back, and his nerves went haywire.
Monday's class rushed back to him, and he looked at Hanlon with contempt.
Hanlon returned the look, and Harold's anger twitched.
He walked up to the desk, and stood face to face with the teacher, a deadly hush fell over the class.
"Afternoon, Hanlon."
Mr. Hanlon's face was redder than a beet. But he was trying to look smug, "Hello, Maria."
Harold was angry at the mere sight of this guy, he wanted to reach out with his fist and correct Hanlon's face. But had put himself in a position of confrontation... Now he had to push through, or retreat. And he knew how much trouble he'd get in for assaulting his teacher, so he chained his rage, and spoke calmly. "I'm not mad about Monday's class. I just wanted to say, no hard feelings."
He reached out his hand, and held it steady before the teacher.
Hanlon looked at the offered hand, the same way most people would look at a rattle snake.
Harold saw his eye lid twitch.
Hanlon knew all eyes were on him, so he returned the handshake. Harold almost laughed, it was like shaking hands with a piece of pudge, soft and maleable. So Harold looked his teacher in the eyes and tightened his grip.
Hanlon winced and tore his hand free as quick as he could. "Please take your seat Mr. Maria."
"Sure thing, Mr. Hanlon." He turned on his heel, to see the entire class watching him in utter confusion. His mind churned, and his adrenaline coursed- he couldn't resist the urge to kick Hanlon while he was down... "Oh, one other thing."
Harold turned back toward the teacher, and scanned the desk. "You owe me a pencil." He plucked the longest one out of the jar, and took his seat.
Hanlon's nostrils flared.
Harold looked too his left and saw that Emily's eyes were wide, and she was staring straight ahead- but he also saw she was trying valiantly to hide a smile.
Hanlon picked up his clipboard, and began role cole- his voice cracked.
But Harold didn't care.
During this one class, Harold's mind stopped it's racing. He breathed peace. The coyote might as well not exist- Hanlon might as well not exist. When he looked at Emily- really looked at her- his anger melted like butter.
He smiled, and watched her.
She was beautiful and he only wanted two things- to know her and stay around her.
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Emily couldn't look at Harold, she knew that. Because she was already too electrified- if she looked and saw his grin she'd perhaps laugh. And if she laughed Hanlon would be her enemy too, if he wasn't already her enemy by association.
She knew Harold was a fool, for puffing his chest out like that, but... She loved the show, and she had to admit that sometimes a slice of hot foolishness is more admirable than any amount of cold caution.
It was perfectly wild, and bold enough to be attractive.
But she was no fool, she was not going to move against their teacher. She wanted to be with Harold, but she knew she wouldn't be with him in all things.
When the bell rang, Hanlon was in mid dialogue- everything in the room slammed into silence and stillness. Even Hanlon, his mouth hung open, half way through a word.
Then everybody the race started and everybody tried to run toward their finish. Books were slammed into bags, pencils clattered, and belongings were stuffed in pockets.
Over it all, Hanlon nearly shrieked, "And that's why it's important to study the..." His voice was loud enough to hear, but it failed to reach their ears.
Students hustled out the door, Emily with them. She stole a glance over her shoulder to see Harold still seated with his arms crossed, smiling mercilessly at their teacher. Emily wondered whether gloating might have been a mistake, that hot foolishness taking itself just a little to far- and she wondered what kind of hurt it would cause.
She waited for Harold, half way down the hall, and when he came out, she walked to meet him. When he caught sight of her, his gloating smile was wiped away and the frantic energy in his eyes was replaced with something warm- gentle even.
She knew then that it was peace, and that she had given it to him.
He stammered, "Emily, I want you to join me for a bonfire... I built the pit and I-"
"Yes, I'll come."
His smile was huge, "Awesome. The other day in art, I forgot to get your number."
"So did I. You know it's not just boys who can get numbers, give me yours first."
He laughed, and rattled it off. While she thumbed it into her phone. A second later his phone buzzed, and he read, "You know who :)"
He saved her contact, and they walked to the bus loop.
Harold walked her over to Joe Jones and Kait Francis were standing hand in hand sullen and quiet, it was obvious she had been trying to comfort him, and it was obvious that it hadn't worked.
It wasn't that huge a school, Emily knew both of them by name. But she didn't know they were together. And she didn't know why Joe would need comforting.
She felt uncomfortable asking, but she felt more uncomfortable with the silence so she asked, "What's going on guys, did something happen."
Joe nodded, "My dog Rufus was killed... By a coyote."
Kait gave him a hug, and he dropped his head on her shoulder.
Joe continued, "We buried him last night. Sometime before the morning the bastard animal dug Rufus up."
Harold gripped Joe by the shoulder, and said, "Look bud, tonight we are going to have a bonfire. The four of us. We'll remember Rufus. We'll have a good time to take your mind of it for a little while. Then... when we're good and ready, we'll talk about our plans for that fucking coyote."
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JUMP TO CHAPTER 10: The Trap
Well that's all you get for now. More to come, I know exactly what's happening in Chapter 10 and can't wait to share it once it's polished up.
PS- if any readers have feed back, I've got exceptionally large ears.
