Chapter Text
Page 4
“You always test the milk, Harold, that's the first thing you've gotta learn.” Cody points to the small carton of milk on his tray, opening it up and tipping it over, to which.. Nothing, except a gelatinous chunk. “Eugh!” Harold is disgusted at the sight, quickly opening his own and instead choosing just to smell it, and luckily it smells normal. “I know, right? It says best before the 9th, and yet it's still expired.” Cody seems prideful, and Harold is confused as to why.
“Hey, Lindsay!” Cody calls as the girl Harold had given a coin after bumping into yesterday walks down the rows of long lunch tables, another girl in tow. She smiles and waves, her and her friend sitting down at the table with him and Cody. “This is Lindsay and Beth!” Cody introduces, Lindsay pointing to Harold and thinking for a moment. “Uhm, Harry! Right?” She smiles. “Harold, but close enough.” He corrects. “Wow, guess you two have already met.” Cody points to Lindsay and Harold, then to Beth. “And that's Beth.” Cody introduces her for a second time, likely forgetting the first. “My best friend!” Lindsay chimes, and Harold looks to both of them, they look so different. “You two are best friends?” Harold asks, finding their kinship unusual. Beth chuckles. “Yeah, of course, Lindsay was the first person to be nice to me.” Beth smiles, and Harold looks from her to Lindsay. “She's the only person I've really clicked with here!” Lindsay adds, and Harold understands, nodding.
They part ways after lunch, having different classes, only reuniting when an assembly is called near the end of the day. As the principal stands in front of them, Harold swears he has seen him somewhere before, Mrs. O'Halloran and coach chef Mr. Hatchet standing to his side. “Alright students, you all know me by now, Principal Mclean. And another thing you all know is that this year we have no eleventh grade class, instead having two grade ten classes. Due to this, for Wawanakwa High's 2007 Winter Dance™, it will be attended by the tenth graders. You all will be able to vote on who will be the Wawanakwa High 2007 Winter Dance™ king and queen using a ballot box which will be placed at the end of November. Okay, dismissed, everyone out.”
The bell rings, and Cody looks to Harold, who looks back at him. “Is it always like this?” Harold's curious, though he isn't entirely new to school's not being able to fit a certain grade. “It wasn't like this last year.” Cody shrugs, and Harold immediately thinks about the years prior. “What about the year before that?” And to that question Cody shrugs again. “I dunno, haven't met anyone who went here in 2005.” They both begin walking to their lockers, separated for a moment, and in that moment Harold's shoved face-first against the door of his locker. He doesn't see who did it in the moment, but as he sees Duncan walk out the doors he stares at him like he's trying to blow him up with his mind, which he can't say he wasn't trying, it would've been radical.
Cody is standing next to Harold as he rubs his now sore and red nose. “Don't worry, I've got a revenge plan.” Harold assures him even though he didn't ask. “Oh, okay, you've got a revenge plan.” Cody nods, staring straight ahead until they both look to each other. “Wanna come over to my house?” Harold suggests, wanting company for his revenge plot. “Sure.” Cody replies.
— 🖥 ♪ ’♯ ⋆.♬✧’.♭✫. . . .
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Harold clicks his mechanical pencil, staring at the blank sheet of paper. “I think I'm gonna leave a love note in his locker and try to get him in trouble with a girl's boyfriend, do you know, like, any girls who are dating someone?” Harold looks to Cody, who quickly begins to pay attention. “Gwen-” Cody answers almost instantly. “Wait, no, don't use her.” Cody backtracks, and Harold looks back to him from the paper. “Too late, already wrote her name in pen.” Harold motions to the paper, and Cody looks shocked. “You- you were JUST holding a mechanical pencil! How did you grab a pen and write her name that fast?!” Harold shrugs, and Cody makes a loud, dramatic sigh. “Well, I guess it could potentially-likely most-likely very-much-so-likely make her single!”
After nearly 20 minutes of crafting the perfect love note, Harold finishes, holding the paper up and blowing away all the eraser shreddings. He clears his throat, reading out his masterpiece to his excited audience of one member.
—-------------------------------------------------
“Dear, Duncan
For very long, and by that I mean since around November of 2006, I've been infatuated with you, I really mean that.
I kept it to myself for a long time, and of course as you probably know already I started dating, hoping it would go away. I do love him, but not the same way I love you, never the same way.
I know we seem so different, and so similar, and you see me as just a friend. And I know you have eyes for Courtney, it's obvious, but I hope you can find the same love for me that I have for you.
Your not-so-secret admirer, Gwen.”
—-------------------------------------------------
Harold takes a breath before he speaks again. “What do you think?” Harold asks and Cody looks a bit shocked. “Breathtaking, but oddly specific.” Cody looks at Harold suspiciously. “I can imagine anything.” Harold replies simply and Cody nods. “Hmm, new color?” Harold nods back, standing, putting his hands on his head and beginning to think, grunting as he thinks really hard, and as he thinks really really hard, Cody cheering him on in awe. Harold releases his hands from his head, calmly replying “I've done it, I will name it… Blorange.” Cody claps in amazement. “Wow.”
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06/09/07 - 07/09/07
After a few hours of taking turns playing games on Harold's computer, Cody says goodbye and walks home. Again, Harold logs onto his forum, catch up, log off, fan, melatonin, sleep. He dreams about drinking every flavor of Gatorade in hopes it will help him with sports, and promptly exploding, the pieces of him being sent across the world to all of his extended family. When he wakes up he quickly writes it down in his dream journal he hopes to get examined by a dream psychologist someday before getting ready for school.
On his way in, Harold greets Cody, and they start the day normally, a little too normally, until something interesting finally happens. Before Phys Ed the 10th graders are called to the gym to try on skates, Harold and Cody sit next to each other, both seemingly perplexed as to what in the world is going on. “Do you guys usually go skating?” Harold asks quietly as he tries on a pair of skates, tugging them carefully onto his feet. Cody struggles to put on the skates he thought would be in his size, having to go for a larger pair. “Nuh uh, this is new, I’m not sure what we’re doing.” Cody has a hint of anxiety in his voice. “I haven’t done skating since I was like 9.” Harold combs his hands through his hair before reaching down to take off the skates, laying them to the side. “I went skating last year with my old school, so hopefully I can help you out.” Harold nudges Cody, and they both give each other a friendly smile.
“Alright students,” Principal Mclean begins to announce. “You might be wondering why we are having you try on skates, well, for today’s class we’re going to be playing hockey! But this isn’t any normal hockey. This is a special kind of ice hockey you won't have seen anywhere else. Now, follow Coach Hatchet with your skates in hand to the rink.” He finishes, and people begin to stand, Harold stretches as he gets up, and Cody ties his skates laces together to hold them easier. They both follow around the back of the line, their voices low as they speak. “I don’t remember there being a skating rink around here.” Cody comments curiously, and Harold tries to remember there being one as they follow the rest of the crowd outside of the school and into the large yards surrounding it. “I don’t either.”
As everyone comes to a stop, the crowd disperses to view what’s in front of them, a skating rink in a large, previously empty part of the schoolyard. “That, that was not there a few days ago.” Cody looks dumbfounded, and Harold remembers there being some unfinished thing resembling a skating rink the day before yesterday, but how had they finished it so fast? The walls were thick, a bit too thick, and looked like they had panels in them, which made Harold feel weird about the rink, everything about it was suspicious. Principal Mclean and Coach Hatchet stood themselves in front of the students, looking what seemed to be proud of their possibly some form of illegal skating rink. “Get your skates on, students! Hockey sticks and province-mandated helmets are to my left.” Principal Mclean shouts, motioning to the pile of hockey sticks and box of helmets.
After they pick up a stick and a helmet, then fasten their helmets, Harold and Cody put on their skates. “Imagine? That thing looks like it’s gonna fall apart from a push!” They hear from behind them, and both Harold and Cody tense up, Harold feels like he had a sixth sense when he swings around and blocks getting hit with a hockey stick by using his own, he and Duncan glare at each other as they stand in a stalemate, eventually both turning and walking away from each other.
“Duncan really doesn’t like you.” Cody chimes, wondering why that's so. “I think I bruised his ego.” Harold speaks while stepping into the rink, holding onto the wall behind him to keep himself balanced, Cody doing the same, but they both stay cautiously away from the panels lining the walls. “Oh, Gwen.. So graceful…” Cody swoons as his attention is caught, and Harold tries to trace his eyeline, where he sees two girls, one girl with big gold hoop earrings yelling something about how she got dull skates, the other a goth girl struggling to keep herself standing in her skates. “The big and loud one..?” Harold asks, Cody realizing who he’s talking about and correcting him with a simple “Nope.” Harold nodding in response and looking to the other girl. “I wouldn’t have guessed you’d like goths.” Harold teases despite his flat tone, and as the girl is slipping Cody suddenly slides straight over to her.
“Let me help you, m’lady!” Harold hears Cody shout as he slides on his knees towards her, another guy wearing green swooping to her aid, Cody bickering with him over who got there first before returning disappointedly to Harold’s side. Cody sees Harold staring at the boy, and clears his throat. “That’s Trent, her boyfriend, nothing wrong with him or anything, he’s probably the most normal person in the entire school. I’m pretty sure he plays the guitar but I’ve never had a music class with him so I can’t confirm if he can actually play. No wonder she went for a guy like him.” Cody sighs, leaning back but too far from the wall to lean against it, nearly slipping.
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As Harold picks up the hockey stick Cody had discarded when he chose to slide against the fake ice ground, Coach Hatchet blows the whistle around his neck, getting everyone’s attention. Cody takes the stick from Harold’s hand and they both listen as he shouts his commands. “We will be playing HOCKEY, boys versus girls, girls to the LEFT, boys to the RIGHT.” Harold listens, and Cody seems to have trouble figuring out what to the right means, so Harold takes his hand and guides him to the right side of the rink, watching as girls go to the left and boys join them at the right.
Once everyone has properly sorted themselves, their Coach blows the whistle again unnecessarily since everyone had already been listening. He assigns goalies, two people to defend, then two people to face-off in the front for the puck. He just so happens to pick Harold for that last job, Harold stepping up to the line painted on the middle of the ice, on the other side of the line a girl staring back at him with a smug look, her black hair pulled back in a ponytail, Harold finds it strange she’s wearing a crop-top in September. “You’re going down, four-eyes.” She exclaims, looking at him like she was going to fillet him.
After Coach Hatchet blows his whistle for the third time and drops the puck in front of them both, she and Harold fight viciously for the puck, their respective teammates watching on to see who will finally get control of it. Harold thinks he’s close to getting it away from her, until she simply pushes him, Harold stumbling and slipping back. He figures that should be against the rules, but it was already said this wasn’t normal hockey. As he was endlessly stumbling backwards, Harold collides with someone else, turning to find that it’s the same strange boy who had called his glasses cool. “Heather really got you, eh!” He smiles, and Harold gives a weak one back before turning and chasing after the puck.
After losing sight of it, Harold stops dead in his tracks, almost going face first into a large spinning saw blade, it looks remarkably dull, but it would likely still injure him, and as he turns to look at exactly what is going on he sees Cody rolling on the ground, seemingly on fire? Harold has no idea what’s going on, this is by far the most chaotic game of sports he has ever seen, but he knows he has to find the puck. Once he spots it he chases after it and avoids getting hit by genuine pyrotechnics and saw blades, while mistakenly passing it to Duncan Harold distantly wonders if this is in any way legal, but considering they made Harold sign a contract to get into the school they may have actually covered this. Harold steps to the side when Duncan swings his arms back, the puck he sent shooting towards Harold hitting a tough-looking girl wearing a tracksuit who charges after him, and Harold passes the puck instead to a boy who looks entirely disinterested, passing it to someone else without so much as looking away from the book he has in one hand.
After about five awfully chaotic goals are scored, 2 wins for the boys and 3 for the girls, the girls are declared as the winner and it’s finally lunch time. Harold waits at the exit of the rink for Cody, him looking exhausted when he finally makes his way out. “Do they usually rig the arena with booby-traps?” Harold asks him, and Cody tiredly replies with “No.” as they remove their skates, return their helmets and sticks, and walk slowly back into the school.
Getting into the cafeteria, Harold’s gaze catches Duncan and Trent, and Cody’s eyes soon follow to see what Harold is looking at. They’re fighting, as expected, and from what Harold can hear from across the room Trent weirdly thinks the letter is forged as an excuse for Duncan to flirt with his girlfriend. It isn’t what Harold expected but it was still definitely worth it. Duncan looks to the side, and his sight fixes on Harold who’s there grinning, and when Duncan’s expression changes from one of shock and confusion to one filled with hate Harold knows he got an idea of what happened, and Harold quickly looks away, focusing on getting his tray filled.
As he and Cody walk down the rows of tables, Cody chuckles. “Funny we played ice hockey, cause revenge is best served cold.” Cody comments smugly, and as they sit down next to Beth and Lindsay Harold sees a new face at the table sitting next to Lindsay. “Oh, hi Harry, hi Cody!” Harold doesn’t mind her saying his name wrong, it just sounds like a nickname. “This is Owen!” Lindsay introduces him, and he reaches over the table to shake Harold’s hand, Harold reciprocating. After introducing himself properly as Harold, the group chats about their insane Phys Ed period until the bell rings.
— 💀 ✭.’ ✑ . * ♡ ♪
“That’s like, psychological warfare, bro.” Geoff replies, and Duncan gestures to him to signify he’s right. “Exactly! I swear to god, the look he gave me was straight up evil, I know he wrote that letter.” Duncan scowls, and DJ looks puzzled. “What are we gonna do about it?” He speaks up and Geoff looks to Duncan for the answer to DJ’s question. “I don’t know, give me a day to think about it and I’ll tell you both when I come up with something.”