Chapter Text
It was a BLISTERING summer DAY at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School. George, Harold, Melvin and Erica were assigned for a science group project and were huddled over a desk. George and Melvin were bickering as usual and Erica and Harold were whispering to each other about their cardboard greenhouse.
“YOU DAFT BIMBO!” George screeched at Melvin.
Melvin clutched his chest as he gasped dramatically, and Erica whacked George with a cardboard piece yelling, “Shut up, PERIWINKLE ICE CREAM!!!”
Harold sighed.
Gooch was walking by, holding his greenhouse in one hand and his Jelly Wellies™ in the other, when he tripped over a hot glue gun discarded on the floor and fell on top of Melvin’s recent invention, the Jelly-Welly-Switcho 2000.
“No!!!!!!” Gooch yelled helplessly in slow motion, as his Jelly Wellies™ fell out of his hand and onto the Jelly-Welly-Switcho 2000, shooting at the group and hitting all of them at once.
“AHHHHHHHHH!” The four screeched as they were hit with the ray, collapsing to the floor. The whole class turned them and gasped. Sophie One fainted.
There was a silence as the four were unconscious on the floor, the entire class walking around them, murmuring to each other in concern, some even close to tears. Harold began to stir.
“Wha… what happened?” Harold said, waking up. George rubbed at his face and yawned. Erica opened her eyes to see that she was completely fine and the rest of the class sighed in relief.
“Are you all okay?” Dressy asked, holding up a hand for Erica.
“Yeah, I’m okay.” Erica said, taking her hand and standing up.
“This isn’t good..” Melvin murmured, holding up his now slightly damaged Jelly-Welly-Switcho 2000.
Erica turned her head to Melvin. “What was your latest invention even for?” She asked.
“My recent invention, the Jelly-Welly-Switcho 2000, was designed to switch the flavours of a Jelly Welly™ with another Jelly Welly™. Since we aren’t Jelly Wellies™, I’m not exactly sure of the effects it would have on us.” He said.
“Just great. Now we’ve been hit by some classically weird Melvin invention and we don’t even know what's happened to us!” George sighed. “Why would you even make a Jelly-Welly-Switcho 2000 in the first place? That's the most ridiculous idea for an invention I’ve ever heard!”
“Hey well it’s not exactly my fault!” Melvin answered angrily. “It’s Gooch’s fault for not watching where he was going! And it’s not your business what I decide to make in my freetime, you- you unclipped toenail!”
Harold ignored their arguing and thought about it for a moment and said, “What if it backfires because we aren’t Jelly Wellies™?”
“Yeah, let's hope so.” Erica said. “I don’t feel like turning into a piece of candy today.”
As George and Melvin continued to bicker with each other, Gooch walked over to them with his head bowed in shame.
“I’m really sorry you guys.” Gooch said sadly, trying to help them up. “I really didn’t mean to!”
“It’s okay.” George said, covering an angry Melvin’s mouth who looked like he wanted to say the opposite. “We know you didn't do it on purpose!” Melvin rolled his eyes but refrained from saying anything to George’s glare.
As they all stood up, they began to work on their cardboard greenhouse again, Melvin putting his damaged invention away into his locker.
Even though they seemed to be fine, Harold still had a feeling not everything had turned out the way it seemed to. And he would find out soon enough.