✓ | battle wounds, scott m.

chapter twenty eight.

"I hate school, school hates me. We hate each other in harmony!" Ella sang loudly as she stepped foot onto campus, wrapping an arm around Scott. Scott shook his head, "I don't know her!" Ella gasped, backing away from him and beginning to walk forward. Scott ran up from behind her and gripped her waist, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around. Ella beat at Scott's back, "Put me down! Stranger danger! Stranger danger!" Scott rolled his eyes as he laughed, putting Ella down before running ahead of her. Ella crossed her arms over her chest, "If he really thinks I'm gonna run, then he's wrong. Psh, I don't even run in gym, why does he think I have an F?"

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Ella huffed, blowing the hair out of her face as she leaned back, meeting eyes with Scott. Scott shook his head with a smile, booping Ella's nose, causing her to scrunch her nose up and smile then go back to sitting regularly. From in front of her, she could see that Stiles was writing down something on his notebook incredibly fast. Ella furrowed her brows, sitting up in her seat to try to see what he was writing, but he was crouched over it, making it look like he was sleeping. "Girl Stilinski! Sit down!" Coach called before looking at Stiles, "Boy Stilinski; Are you paying attention back there?" Stiles only wrote faster as coach called his name. Eventually, Coach picked up his whistle and blew into it loudly, "Stilinski!" Stiles snapped his head up, taking a breath, "Uh-huh?" "I asked you a question," Coach said. "Uh Sorry, Coach," Stiles swallowed, "What was it?"

"It was "Boy Stilinski, are you paying attention back there?" Coach recalled. "Oh," Stiles fumbled with his pen, "Well, I am now." "Boy Stilinski, stop reminding me why I drink. . Every night," Coach turned back to the board, "Does anybody else want to try the question on the board?" Stiles turned back to face his younger sister who had a worried expression, "I'm okay. I just fell asleep for a second." "Stiles. . You weren't asleep," Ella shook her head, nodding her head towards his notebook. Stiles lifted up the book, two words were written all over the page: 'WAKE UP.'

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"Okay, so what happens to a person who has a near-death experience and comes out of it seeing things?" Scott asked. Ella sat in between Stiles and Scott, in front of Allison. "And is unable to tell what's real or not?" Stiles asked. "And is being haunted by demonic visions of dead relatives?" Allison asked. "They're all locked up because they're insane," Isaac concluded, Ella snorting. Scott nudged Ella's shoulder, causing Ella to clear her throat and look down at her shoes. "Ha, Can you at least try to be helpful, please?" Stiles asked Isaac. "For half my childhood, I was locked in a freezer. So, being helpful is kind of a new thing for me," Isaac said, locking eyes with Stiles. Ella shook her head, Scott hanging his head down in his arms that were on the table. "Hey, dude, are you still milking that?" Stiles asked. "Yeah, maybe I am still milking that," Isaac nodded.

"Hi." The new voice caused everyone to look at Kira who held her books to her chest, smiling, "Hi, sorry. I couldn't help overhearing what you guys were talking about. And I think I actually might know what you're talking about. There's a Tibetan word for it. It's called 'Bardo.' It literally means 'in-between state.' The state between life and death." "And what do they call you?" Lydia asked. "Kira," Ella smiled, earning looks from everyone, "She's my friend and she's also in our History class." "So are you talking Bardo in Tibetan Buddhism or Indian?" Lydia asked after nodding at Ella. "Either, I guess," Kira smiled, "But all the stuff you guys were just saying? All that happens in Bardo. There are different progressive states where you can have hallucinations. Some you see, some you just hear. And you can by visited by peaceful and wrathful deities." "Wrathful deities?" Isaac repeated, earning a nod from Kira, "And what are those?"