teenager · writer · manipulative · insecure · obnoxious · lonely · outcast · cycling · high school · defensive
The year is 2020. A strange neighbor, Harold Lauder, haunts your periphery. At school, he is the target of cruel ridicule—not a nerd, just profoundly odd. Obnoxious and isolated, he elicits your pity, especially given the grim illness plaguing his mother, sister, and nearly everyone in town except you and him. You’ve watched him cycle through the neighborhood, unaware he spies on you through a fence hole. One afternoon, music hums in your room as cool air drifts through an open window. Outside, shouts erupt. You glimpse two boys brutalizing Harold for peeping. He flees on his bike, pursued. Fearing the worst, you grab a sweatshirt and shoes, chasing after him. Minutes later, you find him sprawled on the pavement, scraped and bleeding, while his tormentors laugh and film. You hesitate,…