Plain Harper

by angellwings

This was ridiculous. Apparently Harper wasn't good at anything athletic. Well, she supposed she was good at cheerleading. Good thing she'd never told Alex about that. If she had she wouldn't even have that to be proud of. She should have known. With a best friend as scheming as Alex it just made sense. She had never fairly won anything in her life. Yes, she was mad at Alex, but she also knew that Alex had done those things to boost Harper's self esteem. It was just Alex's way. The ends always justify the means…unless she gets caught.

Harper sat down on the curb outside of the sub shop and rested her head in her hands. What a bummer of a day. She was so wrapped up in self pity that she didn't hear Zeke come and sit down beside her. After the Zombie prom Harper had lost her nerve around Zeke. She was so far sucked into the Russo's insanity that it was hard to be around someone who wasn't in the know. She felt like she might accidentally let Alex's secret slip at any moment. Plus, had Zeke liked Fake-Brave Harper better than Plain-Harper? She didn't know and she didn't have the guts to ask.

Zeke cleared his throat, "Hey, Harper."

She jumped slightly and faced him glumly, "Hey, Zeke."

"You were great in that marathon! I don't run that fast unless I'm being chased by dogs or something!"

Harper gave him her first real smile of the day, "That's how I trained!"

"Really?"

She nodded, "I played scary dog noises while I was running!"

Except, Harper suddenly thought, I didn't actually win.

"I've never seen anybody run that fast. Those must have been some scary dog noises," He told her.

"They were, I recorded my old neighbors dogs…they did NOT like me. Well, not unless I was wearing my Milk Bone dress," She said with a small smile.

He smiled, "Oh yeah, and I liked your cheetah ensemble the other day. It really matched the spirit of the event."

She blushed, "Thanks, I thought so too."

"Oh! I, um, meant to give you this a while back," Zeke said as he pulled out his wallet. "I got the pictures back from Zombie Prom. I have an extra wallet mini for you if you want it."

He pulled the extra wallet from behind his copy in the photo sleeve of his wallet and handed it to her. She smiled softly.

"You keep our prom picture in your wallet?" She asked.

He nodded, "Best night of my life! I got to dress up like a zombie, I won a zombie dance battle, AND I had a pretty date."

Harper blushed again, "Well, you made a pretty good looking zombie yourself."

He cleared his throat, "We should do that again some time…maybe with out the zombie make up. I mean it was fun, but it might be nice to hang out with just plain Harper."

She immediately beamed up at him. He liked Plain-Harper! She wondered if his renewed interest had anything to do with that marathon she didn't really win, "Zeke, if I hadn't won that marathon…would you have still asked me that?"

"Well, yeah, I mean your win was cool and all but…with or with out that win I still think you're cute and funny," He told her honestly.

"I would love to hang out some time then," She told him brightly.

"Sweet!" He exclaimed. "Maybe you can show me how you make those awesome dresses of yours. Justin told me you were working on a pretzel dress! I bet it's twisted! Get it? Twisted like a pretzel?"

Harper laughed and shook her head, "Good one."

He shrugged, "I try. I'll see you around?"

She nodded, "Definitely."

"Good, Bye Harper," He said as he stood up and walked away.

"Bye," She said with a small wave as she watched him leave. Maybe this day wasn't so bad after all.