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Harley admired Peter from afar. It was the only way he could admire him. With his crippling fear of rejection that was only amplified when he was faced with stone cold stare of Michelle Jones whenever he tried to approach the curly haired boy.
He tried. He really did. But it was hard.
But today, he was gonna do it. He was going to talk to Peter.
“Okay, so you’re actually gonna talk to him today?” Betty asked.
“Yeah!” Harley replied.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Yeah, of course, yeah,” he responded, slightly less confident as they approached the brown haired teen.
“Really, Harls?”
“Mhm,” he said, in a high pitched uncertainty.
“Well, there’s no time like the present. You should just go,” Betty said, knowing that Harley would say…
“Yeah!” As he finally passed Peter, MJ giving him a raised eyebrow and deadly stare, he turned and speedwalked past. “No.” He groaned. “Why is this happening? I thought I was over this but I can’t feel my toes. And he’ll never know, “cause I can’t speak wondering when this all will go away and…”
Peter approached the two. “Hey guys.”
Oh my God, he’s really close to me. His vision blurry and dizzy, he smiled. I think I’m falling. “Hey, Peter.”
“Did you guys take that ridiculous reading analysis on 1984 in AP Lit yet?” Peter asked.
“I have that next block,” Harley replied.
“Oh, good luck. It’s pretty in depth analysis. I annotated the whole thing and I still was lost on some of her questions. But Belmier is pretty ridiculous with her grading, so who knows how I’ll do.”
“I’m sure you did great,” Harley said.
“Ha, thanks.” He checked his watch. “Oh great. My next class is downstairs. I’d better head down.” He smiled softly. “See ya!”
“Man, that was…” Betty started.
Harley covered his face with his hands. “I know.”
“Take it easy. No point going crazy,” she said with a pat to the back.
“He never really sees me but it’s always been that way, and he’ll never change, and I can’t help wondering if he’ll ever notice me. Sweep me off my feet just like Hercules.” He shook his head. “But he won’t catch me. I can’t let myself romanticize, but I see stars in his eyes. I know I shouldn’t but I can’t break free.” His words started to quicken. “Now everything’s a mess, I guess I’ll never get my Hercules, I’m off the rails, a nervous wreck, ugh, get it together Harley. He’s just a boy, a stupid boy, he isn’t worth the energy.” He stopped. “I can’t believe after such a little time he still means this much to me.”
“It’s because you like him,” Betty said softly.
“I know,” he said with a heavy sigh. “But how do I even get close to him when he’s got his bodyguard with him at all time?”
“What do you mean?” Betty asked, confused.
“Michelle! She absolutely hates my guts and won’t let me get anywhere near Peter,” Harley said exasperatedly.
“I’m sure that’s not true.”
“It is! Have you seen the way she glares at me? It’s like lasers. Straight into my soul.”
Betty laughed. “You’re being ridiculous.”
“I’m being completely serious! I’m worried she’ll use her intense intimidation powers and make me just piss myself in fear the next time I try to talk to him.”
“You’ll do that on your own,” Betty stated.
“Thanks. That helps so much.”
“I’ll take care of Michelle, okay? And then you’ll get your moment alone with Peter.”
Apparently, that moment was sooner than later, because that day, at lunch, Betty exclaimed at the lunch table, “Oh God! My ring! I lost my ring!”
Every one looked up. “Where could it be?”
“I know I had it in Math, but I don’t know where it could be now.” She turned to MJ. “Michelle, can you come with me to the girl’s bathroom to look for it?” She turned to Ned. “Would you mind looking around the lunch table?” And then to Peter and Harley. “And could you guys check Mr. Ottoman’s room? You guys have that class with me, so you know where I sit.”
“Of course we can,” Peter said.
MJ glared at Harley, making him gulp nervously.
“Let’s go,” Peter said.
As they walked to the 1200s hall, Harley asked awkwardly, “So uh, are you and Michelle together?”
Peter scrunched his face. “Oh, no. Totally not. She’s a great friend, but we’d never,” he cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Plus, she’s got a girlfriend. She doesn’t live around here, though.”
“Oh. I just, you guys spend a lot of time together, so I…”
“She’s really protective. I used to be a bit of a doormat before her, so she thinks she has to stand up for me.” He gave a sort of pout. “But I can protect myself.”
“I’m sure you can.” Upon entering the classroom, Harley immediately spotted the ring under Betty’s chair. “Found it!”
“Well, that was quick,” Peter said with a chuckle. “Guess we should head back.”
“Actually,” Harley said, mustering up as much courage as he could. “Since I have you here, I was just wondering if uh, would you like to go out sometime? Catch a movie and grab a bite?”
Peter froze. “You want to go out with me?”
Harley rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s fine if you don’t want to. We can just forget I ever said anything and go back to how things were befo…”
“Yes,” Peter interrupted. “I would love to.”
Harley smiled. “How’s Friday sound?”
“Friday sounds awesome.”
“Uh, cool!”
Peter nodded with a big goofy grin. “Cool.”
Harley used to admire Peter from afar, but when as they sat in that dark movie theater, the light of the big screen illuminated his skin, and his head tossed back in laughter, he saw more than he could before.