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There was a soft knock at the door. I’d stayed in my room with Jay as I listened to the chorus of bikes pull away from the clubhouse. My gut was turning, so I focused everything on the little girl beside me, hoping it would distract from my need to get on my bike and follow them.
I called out for them to come in. It pushed open just a little and Harlyn slipped through the space, shutting it behind her. Jay sat up and smiled at her.
“Hey, kid. How was school?” I asked, propping myself up also.
Harlyn shrugged and averted her eyes. “It was okay, I guess.” She shifted on her feet. “Can Jayla come play?”
I frowned. Harlyn was usually so bright, a little bit crazy at times but she was like the life of the party. This new Harlyn was different. She was reserved and nervous. I didn’t like it.
“Come here.” I patted the bed beside me.
She sighed dramatically, but slowly moved over and climbed up.
“Tell me what’s going on?”
“I’ve already told Mom and Dad and Chelsea, Uncle Blizzard.” She rolled her eyes. “I just don’t like school there.”
“Yeah, and they might take that as an excuse, but I’m not,” I scoffed. “Now let’s try that again.”
She hung her head. Something was killing this kid inside. It hurt me to know that she felt like she couldn’t come to us with her problems. She was only six years old, but her heart and her head were so much older.
When she didn’t say anything, I hooked my finger under her chin and lifted her face. I saw the tears, floating on her long lashes just waiting to fall. “Harlyn, you can’t just go around smacking kids because they talk bad about your family. It doesn’t matter what they think of us, you know in your heart—“
“I can’t read,” she sniffed suddenly.
I pulled back, frowning at her. “What do you mean?”
The tears began to fall now. I caught the door open out of the corner of my eye, but Harlyn didn’t notice.
“All the kids, they’re moving up their reading groups. But every time I look at the words or letters they just don’t make sense.” She sniffed again. “The teacher makes me sit at the back and never helps, so I just stopped asking. That kid, he said it was because I came from trash, that bikers are stupid and dumb.”
“What the fuck?”
Harlyn startled and her head swung to the door where her father was standing, his fists clenched against the doorframe in anger.
“Daddy…” A sob broke through her as she leaped off the bed and ran to him. He picked her up with ease, cradling her to his chest. She cried her eyes out, her head tucked in under his chin against his club cut.
Optimus eyed me over her head, his face full of fury. I was angry and we both knew just by one look that someone was going down for this. Optimus walked in and sat on the edge of my bed with Harlyn in his lap.
Jayla pulled at my sleeve and I looked down at her. Her little brow was creased in worry. “What’s wrong?”
I brushed her hair back from her face and attempted to smile despite the feelings I was having inside as I watched Harlyn break down. “She’ll be okay, squirt. Why don’t you go see if you can find Chelsea and bring an ice-cream out of the freezer for you and Har.”
“She’s in our room,” Op said gruffly.
Jayla nodded seriously and jumped off the bed like she was on a mission of paramount importance.
“Harlyn…” Op tried to pull back so he could look at her, but she just clung tighter. He sighed. “Why didn’t you tell us? You’ve read to me before and done fine.”
She was silent for a moment before she sat back and looked up at her father—her freaking idol. “I listened to the other kids read and memorized the words,” she admitted softly.
My heart broke. This kid had been going through hell at school. Both the kids and the teacher—the person who should be working their best to make sure she succeeded—had written her off.
“What’s going on?” Chelsea asked as Jayla pulled her into the room. Her eyes widened as she spotted Harlyn sitting on Op’s lap, tears streaking her face. “Harlyn. Oh, honey.”
“We need ice cream, stat,” I told her.
She looked between Har and me before nodding. “Come on, Jay. Let’s go find the good stuff. I hid it in the back of the freezer so Blizzard couldn’t find it.” Jayla clapped her hands and shot back out the door, Chelsea right behind her. Even Harlyn let out a soft laugh.
