Arkham High

Chapter 7

A flyer was shoved in Harley's face the moment she entered the school the next morning. "Vote Dent!" said Harvey Dent, who was standing by the door handing them out to every student who entered.

"Uh...thanks...I will," stammered Harley, taking it from him slowly as she headed over to her locker.

"I don't even know why he's bothering with all this campaigning," said Crane, unpacking his books. "He's running completely unopposed, as usual."

"I imagine he has some form of conscience," said Tetch. "And doesn't want to feel like he's getting something for nothing."

"What is he getting, besides a huge headache?" asked Harley. "Nobody in their right mind would wanna be in charge of this place!"

"Well, the class president has complete control over all student activities and social functions," explained Tetch. "It's as much power as one can possibly wield as a student. And Harvey enjoys his power, and the respect from his peers that goes along with it. True, he has a great deal of responsibilities, but he enjoys them too. And in all honesty, he's very good at them."

"He seems like a decent guy," said Harley, impressed. "What's he doing dating Pamela?"

"There is a stereotype that certain men value looks over personality," replied Crane. "I would associate Harvey with that stereotype. But you never know - a cutthroat, ruthless woman might be just the thing to have on your campaign trail."

"I just wish we didn't have to put up with all this rigmarole," sighed Tetch. "First the mandatory pep rally, and now this stupid campaign assembly - it just wastes valuable time!"

"Speaking of wasting time," muttered Crane, seeing the Joker approach them. Tetch ducked into his locker to save Joker the trouble of shoving him in, but Joker didn't appear to be in the mood for it, knocking past them and heading for one of Harvey's newly printed campaign posters. He pulled out a can of blue spray paint, whistling, and began defacing the posters a second time.

"Why are you doing that?" demanded Harley.

He shrugged. "Dunno. It's fun, I guess," he said, moving onto the next one.

"It's not fun to destroy other people's hard work!" snapped Harley. "It's just cruel!"

"It's fun to me, all right?" snapped Joker, rounding on her. "It's fun for me to teach everyone a lesson about taking themselves so goddamn seriously! Those nerds and their grades! Harvey and his campaign! They're just so wrapped up with meaningless crap! None of this matters, and the fact that they think it does is massively irritating to me, all right?"

"People taking things seriously annoys you?" demanded Harley. "Is it because you're incapable of taking anything seriously?"

"What's there to take seriously?" he retorted. "Life's one big joke."

"I hope you won't always think that," hissed Harley.

"No, I'm pretty sure I will," he replied.

"Then I feel very sorry for you," murmured Harley. "You'll never have any sense of accomplishment, or any pride in your own achievements. You'll live your life mocking other people's, but never truly having one of your own. I take my grades seriously, because I have to get into college on a scholarship. That does matter to me, because I'm hoping to improve my life. And it's a shame that you can't dedicate yourself to something that will improve your own life, rather than tearing down everybody else's. But I guess I shouldn't have expected anything else from a heartless bully."

She turned to go, but he grabbed her arm, ripping her back to him. "Is that really what you think of me?" he demanded, seizing her shoulders.

"Why? What else are you?" she asked. It was a strange moment for Harley, because although she appeared outwardly calm, her body was shaking and her heart was pounding wildly as his hands gripped her shoulders. He didn't say anything in response - just glared at her, the intensity of his eyes almost hurting her. She could feel the heat radiating from the closeness of his body, and she felt the heat from her own body responding, drawing him in. His face came closer to hers, and she shut her eyes, feeling every breath from the nearness of his lips...