Harrison King who is now 16 years old, attends an all boys school. He wasn't at all what his parents thought he was. At home he was a vibrant, hilarious, happy kid. But all of that would change as soon as he would walk out the door.
Harrison was an introvert. Although he had tried so many times to make friends, they always seemed to turn around and tease him, call him names, tease any thing they find imperfect, from his freckles to his clothes. Harrison didnt have many friends, in fact he had none at all. He always seemed so aloof at school. Kids would bully him regularly.
His appearance was not average at all, he stuck out like a sore thumb, he was short, had firey red hair, and hazel eyes and freckles that covered most of his porcelain skin. Harrison never saw himself as handsome because people always put him down.
One day Harrison had decided to join the school soccer team, but was quickly turned down by the coach. "Sorry Harrison, you cant join the team...we need someone with a more.......slender appearance". Harrison understood too well what the coach was trying to tell him, so much anger bubbled up and a little rose to the surface "Coach, you dont have to try to be nice to me, im fat i know that, but i can play any position better than any of these guys you've got to let me-" harrison was cut off by the star player who also happens to be the school bully Andrew Patterson "Shutup Harrison, get out of my way let the real players on the field you're taking up too much space you fat fuck"
And there it was again, the word that made Harrison cringe every time he heard it. Harrison starts to flashback -
"God you're fat haha"
"Fuck off you fat freak"
"Ew you're fat dont speak to me"
"Nobody will ever love a fat blob like you hahaha"
"HARRISON!!! GET OFF THE FIELD GOD DAMNIT!" Coach was furious, Harrison ran off the field and ran straight into the boys toilets where he cried and cried for what seemed like forever. He wondered if anybody would ever love him, or ever want to be his friend. All he could think of was people constantly calling him names and teasing him.
Soon enough, someone knocked on the toilet door where Harrison was.
Knock-knock.
There it was again. Harrison had been crying so loud he didnt realise someone else had walked in.
"Uhhh the toilet is occupied, sorry" Harrison nervously said.
"I know its occupied...my name is James, i heard you crying i was just checking to see if you were okay"
Harrisons thoughts went into overdrive. "Wait. Someone is actually asking if im okay?!" He thought to himself. He opened the door to find James. To Harrisons surprise he had never seen this boy at school before.
"Hi im James, im new here, is everything okay with you?"
Harrison stared at him, not for too long though, just enough to pick out the details. James had jet black hair that was dredded, piercing green eyes, and he dressed as if he had just got out of bed, black trackies and a black hoodie. " - uh yeah sorry everything is fine - so uh you're new here?!"
They began talking, Harrison agreed to show James around the school. For once in his life Harrison was noticed and was being spoken to like a friend, for the first time, he didnt feel alone.
That same afternoon he ran home from school just so he could tell his parents about his new friend. He ran as fast as he could, but he could hear footsteps running behind him. "Oh fuck me its probably andrew coming to bash me like last week fuck my life" Harrison tried to run faster but the person caught up and grabbed his shoulder. "HARRISON! holy shit man, i tried to yell at you just before but you were running so i ran after you, oh god i need to breathe can we just sit for a second" - it was James. "Oh fuck dude you scared me i though-" James interrupted him "why are you even scared its like 3:30pm, oh by the way i live like two streets away from here, do you live close by?" Harrison looked at him in shock "two streets away?....i live two streets away..." James looked at him for a second and said "wait....you live on paradise ave too?!" Harrison couldnt contain his excitement "OH MY GOD WE LIVE ON THE SAME FUCKING STREET THATS SO COOL WE CAN HANG TOGETHER AND WALK TO SCHOOL AND SHIT OH MY FUCKING GOD THIS WILL BE EPIC" James stood up, looked him dead in the eye and said "Theres nothing id like more than that bro, cmon lets go home, wanna meet my mum?"
Harrison couldnt believe it, was he dreaming? "Wow" he thought to himself "this is the first time nobody has teased me about my weight, or hair, or clothes"
On the walk home James told Harrison about the school he was at before and how he was so popular. Harrison was the complete opposite to what James was, he wondered of this was all an act from James.
"......so yeah thats my little life story, im really missing my girlfriend a lot but its cool we text and call and then see each other on the weekend. So what about you Harrison? Whats your story?"
Harrison was in shock. He didnt know how to respond to that question cause he has never been asked before. "How do i tell him the truth without him thinking im just a sad loner that has no friends" Harrison decided to lie. "....oh yeah well uh i had a girlfriend, but we broke up cause she wanted to move interstate and well yknow it just wouldnt work. I dont have much to say about myself, my life isnt thaf interesting"
They finally reach out the front of James' house. "Well here it is, my house haha" James said proudly, Harrison almost combusted into a million pieces ... "BRO I LIVE NEXT FUCKING DOOOOOOOOOOOOOR" Harrison screamed it out so loud Amarni came outside. "Whats going on Harrison are you okay?!" "Yeah mum im fine just talking to my friend" "oh harrison youre such a crack, come inside for some food!"
Harrison turned around to say bye to James but it seemed he had already gone inside, "oh what? He must've gone inside already, ill see him tomorrow" Harrison went inside, grabbed a packet of doritos and sat on the couch, he couldn't stop thinking about his new friend he made.
After dinner he done some homework and went straight to bed. Haroldand Amarni sat in the lounge room. "Hey hun, something weird happened today" "what is it armarni?". She hesitated for a moment, harold hugged her in closer "hey its okay, whatever is going on you can tell me, im your husband not a stranger we can work through this together, whats going on?" Amarni stared at Harold..."well today i was waiting for harrison to get home, i saw him walk up the street, he suddenly stopped in fron of our neighbors house and started yelling, it was so strange!" Harold looked confused. "What do you mean? Maybe he was listening to music or something?" "No hun, he had no earphones in, the stranger part is, he was walking alone and it looked like he was talking to himself". Harold paused...."well maybe he was just rehearsing something for school?" Amarni knew Harold was trying to dismiss what she was saying, so she just agreed with him. "Yeah maybe you're right, lets go to bed"
