Chapter 4

Harry

Months passed, and soon Tabby and I were best friends. I even began to develop a crush on Tabby, but who's to know?

I learned that Tabby loved to play softball ad baseball. She had good hand-eye coordination, so basically any sport that involves hitting a ball with something was easy for her. She also loved to play chess and war games, because she could discover tactics her enemies posessed. I even set her up online to play Jasper. She was a good sport when she lost, and we even called him up for Tabby to "meet" him. I could tell Tabby was growing fond of her latest opponent.

Tabby's favorite color was blue. It was evident when she came to school with blue highlights in her hair one morning. Of course, I had to steer her away from Danielle, who called her emo, but other than that, I saw noting wrong with it. In fact, I kind of liked it. I toyed with the blue strands more often than her blond strands.

One day, I was given quite a shock. Tabby came over to the lunch table we always sat at with pudding on her nose and shirt.

"Tabby, what the hell?" I asked, grabbing a napkin and cleaning her nose and as much of the t-shirt I could get without accidentally groping her.

"Danielle is being a female dog, but don't worry. She learned that chili is hotter and less easy to clean than pudding," Tabby laughed, grinning at me. I smiled back and handed her another napkin so she could clean the rest off.

"Well, now you're out of a lunch. So share with me," I offered, gesturing to the extra slice of pizza I was too full to eat.

"Thanks. I'm glad I have a Harry to back me up."

"What am I, your property?"

"My table, my property," she said simply. I took a scoop of pudding on my finger and dabbed it on her nose again. She crossed her eyes at it, causing me to fall off my seat in laughter.

"Funny, Clearwater," Tabby said dryly. "Oops!"

She spilled the rest of the pudding on me. I was still on the floor, so most of it got all over my stomach.

"Oh, hey, this is my best t-shirt," I complained.

"You should've thought about that before you messed with me," Tabby growled playfully.

"Oh, really? Well, I call a truce. Wanna hug?" I stood up with my arms outstretched, the pudding still all over my t-shirt.

Tabby squealed and ran off, letting me chase her. By now the entire cafeteria was watching us as I chased her around, arms still outstretched.

Tabby finally ran into the girls' restroom. I pounded on the door.

"No fair, cheater!" I yelled.

"Haha," Tabby yelled from somewhere inside. I stomped my feet, pretending to run off. It worked. I flattened myself against the wall just as Tabby exited the restroom. A bunch of people screamed, "no!" as I jumped out and hugged her. The people who yelled groaned, while others laughed and cheered.

"Harry!" Tabby moaned, struggling to get away.

"Too bad," I laughed, hugging her tighter. I buried my face in her hair to stop myself from laughing.

Tabby stiffened, so I let go.

"Sorry, that was out of line," I mumbled, blushing.

"It's okay. I just think it means something different," Tabby sighed. She looked up and smiled. "Well, you caught me. No we both are a mess."

"Yup," I grinned.

"Sometimes I think you're a pig in disguise," Tabby muttered, passing me by and grabbing a napkin.

"Oh, don't clean that up," Danielle said, coming up from behind her.

"It looks good on you," one of her posse finished.

"Oh, of course, Danielle," Tabby smiled. "But, everyone knows... What looks good on one girl-" Tabby flicked pudding onto Danielle's jacket. "-looks better on the popular girl."

"You little-!" Danielle shreiked. Tabby smirked.

Danielle tried to claw at her, but I quickly pushed her away.

"Danielle, leave Tabby alone," I growled possessively. What was coming over me?

Danielle stopped short. Her eyes flicked from Tabby to me. Then they narrowed.

"You'd choose her?" she asked incredulously.

"I'd choose an honest girl over a plastic one," I growled.

Danielle's mouth opened in shock.

"How dare you!" one of her clique scolded me.

"Yeah, how dare you!" another hissed.

"Harry, let's get out of here," Tabby whispered from behind me. I turned. It was the first time I've ever seen Tabby scared.

Her eyes were wide with fear. She was even trembling.

"Let's go," I snarled, taking Tabby by the hand and dragging her to our table. Danielle was still standing there in shock.

The clique was either trying to get her to snap out of it or glaring at me.

"Harry, what the hell was that?" Tabby hissed.

"What? I had to defend you!"

"You were literally shaking with fury," Tabby hissed. "You looked ready to rip Danielle's face off. Even I have to object to that!"

I paused. "Shaking with fury?" This doesn't sound good...

"Listen, if Danielle goes at you again, tell me, okay? I'm not going to let you get yourself hurt over anything. Danielle wouldn't hesitate to ruin you. I don't want to see my best friend suffer," I sighed, looking into her eyes. I hoped she could hear the unspoken sentence. I love you.

"Harry, what if she tried taking you? I have no other friend!" Tabby said.

"She's already trying," I laughed. "But I made it clear only moments ago that I won't fall for it."

Tabby sighed and closed her eyes. She smiled and opened them, looking me directly in the eye.

"Okay," she laughed. "Now, I'd hug you right now if it hadn't been for the fact that we're covered in pudding."

I looked down. Oh, right.

...

In my "secret base," I lifted an old book off the shelf and brushed the dust off.

"The Memoirs of a Soldier: A Civil War Story"

Intrigued, I flipped through the pages carefully. There were so many names... One that stuck out was Abraham Lincoln.

I almost dropped the book in surprise when I read, "Major Whitlock."

I read on, finally interested.

"Major Jasper Whitlock..."

AN: Ha! You'll have to read the next chappie for that! :D

Hmmm... Do you notice anything different in Harry?