New Place, New Feelings | Horrid Henry x Rude Ralph

[9] Pillow Talk

Ralph was on the edge of his seat, waiting for the perfect time. One hand rested in his pocket, holding the ball of paper.

As soon as the coast was clear, he pulled out the note and threw it to the desk in front of him. It hit Sour Susan's arm, causing her to turn and pick the note up. Henry and Ralph watched eagerly as she laughed and passed it to Linda. Just as Henry had planned, the small piece of paper quickly reached Anxious Andrew.

Lousy Lana, who up until that point was busy drawing some sort of diagram on the whiteboard, turned around when she heard a quiet laugh come from the middle of her classroom.

"You!" She pointed straight at Andrew, marching over to him. "What's so funny?!"

The ginger-haired boy looked up at the science teacher with fear in his eyes. "I-I... uh..."

Lana's eyes moved down towards the note. She raised an eyebrow, swiping it out of Andrew's hands.

Her face became more and more red the longer she looked at the note, until the point when the class could have sworn there was steam coming out of her ears.

"Margaret Smythe!"

Margaret's eyes widened as she realised what was happening. "Miss-"

"Triple detention after school!"

"But Miss-!"

"Quiet!"

Once the science teacher had turned back towards the whiteboard, Henry shot Ralph a thumbs-up, which Margaret happened to catch out of the corner of her eye. "I'll get you, Henry," she growled to herself, clenching her fists.

- - - - -

"I can't believe that worked!" Ralph exclaimed, laughing.

"I know, right? The look on Margaret's face was priceless!" Henry grinned as the pair left the school. He was glad he was going to Ralph's house, because he definitely didn't want his good mood to be ruined by his parents' nagging. It also meant that he got to spend more time with his best friend, although he'd be lying if he said the thought of that didn't make his stomach flutter.

"She's going to be so mad next time she sees us though," Ralph said, looking at Henry.

"Well yeah, but it's worth it right? I mean, she got a triple detention!" The two boys started laughing again.

"What will her parents say?" Ralph asked.

"Her parents? They won't care, they give her whatever she wants," Henry replied, a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"No wonder she's such a brat!" Ralph joked, making Henry smile again just as they reached Ralph's house. "Right, I'll go and get us some snacks. You can go up to my room if you want."

Henry nodded and made his way upstairs to Ralph's room, which he had always been jealous of as it was a lot bigger than his. Then again, Ralph was probably the richest kid in Ashton Secondary School: of course his room was big.

When Henry first met Ralph, he was actually surprised that he wanted to become friends. He didn't think that the richest kid in the school would want to be friends with someone whose dad worked in a toothpaste factory. But somehow, Ralph saw past that, and that was one of Henry's favourite things about him.

Henry was pulled out of his thoughts when something lightly hit his head, causing him to turn around.

"Daydreaming, are we?" Ralph asked, smirking.

"Er yeah, I guess so." Henry reached down to pick up the object, which happened to be a pack of crisps. He watched as Ralph turned on the TV. "I still can't believe your parents let you have a telly in your room!"

"It's cool, isn't it?" Ralph turned on his game console and sat on his bed as he waited for it to load. Henry sat down next to him.

"Yeah, my parents would never let me have one!" Henry grinned as an image of Mutant Max flickered onto the screen.

"I haven't played it yet," Ralph said, "so I don't know the controls or anything."

"That's fine, we'll work it out," Henry replied, his eyes glued to the screen as a cutscene began to play.

- - - - -

"Watch out for that guy!"

Ralph pressed a button on his controller, making Mutant Max dodge the enemy's attack. He quickly attacked back, downing the enemy and completing the mission.

"Nice one, Ralph!" Henry exclaimed, giving him a high-five. "You're really good at this!"

Ralph shrugged. "I'm used to games like this. Want a go?" Henry nodded, and Ralph passed the controller to him. "Make sure you dodge as many attacks as possible, and don't use your special attack too early!"

"Okay, I think I've got it." Henry pressed the button to move into the next mission and was soon greeted by a tough-looking enemy. "Err, never mind. This one looks hard..."

"Don't worry, I think you'll beat him!" Ralph said, encouraging his friend.

Henry smiled and began to attack the enemy, dodging most of his attacks.

"That's it! Remember, there are different attacks you can use."

Henry pressed a combination of buttons, which resulted in a rather powerful chain of attacks. "Awesome!"

"Use your special attack!" Ralph exclaimed, leaning forwards.

Henry listened to him and pressed another combination, but this time Mutant Max rolled straight into the enemy. "Crap, that's the wrong button!" he exclaimed, quickly mashing more buttons and causing Mutant Max to move rather erratically around the enemy in an attempt to reduce its health. However, the enemy was too strong, and Max soon met his demise.

"Damn it!" Henry pushed the controller in Ralph's direction before leaning backwards, until he was lying on the bed facing the ceiling.

Ralph laughed. "You panic too much, Henry. You forget which buttons to press and then you just start mashing them."

"Well I can't help it!" he exclaimed defensively, raising his arms in frustration. A sudden dip in the mattress alerted him that Ralph was now laying next to him, although he kept his eyes fixated on the ceiling.

"Just breathe, Henry. Take it slow and focus on the combos you're using."

"If I take it too slow they won't register as combos," Henry retorted with a smirk, which earned him a light punch to the shoulder. He turned his head towards Ralph, perhaps to hit him back, but froze when he saw his best friend's gaze fixated directly on him.

Henry could have sworn that Ralph had lasers for eyes at that moment, because he felt his face begin to heat up almost instantly. He felt the urge to look away, to hide his face, but something kept him in his place, and it was Ralph whose gaze faltered first.

"You never told me," he started, his voice wavering, "how you felt about what I said." His eyes found their way to Henry's again, as if they were trying to scan for his thoughts.

Henry's fingers found their way to the hem of his shirt, which he fidgeted with in an attempt to ease his mind. "I don't know. I... I don't know, Ralph."

Ralph parted his lips, as if he was about to respond, but he couldn't manage it. He looked down, unable to form another word. His eyes began to sting, but he refused to cry. Not now. Not like this.

It seemed like an eternity until Ralph felt a soft, warm hand envelop his.