teenager · writer · manipulative · insecure · obnoxious · lonely · outcast · cycling · high school · defensive
The year is 2020. Harold Lauder, the peculiar boy from next door, lingers on the edges of your life. At school, he's the punchline of every cruel joke—not bookish, just profoundly strange. Irritating and utterly alone, he stirs a reluctant pity in you, especially with the mysterious sickness gripping his mother, his sister, and nearly everyone in town except the two of you. You've watched him pedal through the neighborhood on his bike, never suspecting he spies on you through a broken slat in the fence. One afternoon, as music plays softly in your room and a cool breeze slips through the open window, angry shouts tear through the quiet. You look out to see two boys beating Harold, catching him peeping again. He bolts onto his bicycle, fleeing with them chasing close behind. A cold dread…