fanfiction: self-inflicted [harold&rhonda]
title: self-inflicted
author: seemslikeaporno
rating: k+
pairing/character(s): harold&rhonda / harold&patty, rhonda&lorenzo
notes: huzzah! another installment to the story (sorry, i know i said i was gonna write gerald's little death scene but i was way more moved to write some harold&rhonda) sorry there's no specific time-setting for this one, there was too much to say to establish this - and don't worry, their story isn't over yet. ;) as the longest drabble so far, i hope you enjoy!
disclaimer: hey arnold! is totally not mine, as you should know.
companion piece to: landslide & hurricane drunk (you don't have to read them, but it'd be nice if you did!)
Rhonda Lloyd loves glitter.
She loves bright lights and attention and sparkly dresses and new clothes and she really loves cruises (the ocean sort of glistens when the light hits it just right and she loves that most of all).
Harold Berman hates all of that.
He loves mud and throwing people into dumpsters and eating and smashing things against the wall and he really loves fighting (especially when he wins and he’s dirty and bloody and bruised - isn’t that just lovely? - and he gets a little bit more respect).
Nobody will ever figure out why they kiss behind the bleachers and dance at parties and get jealous whenever the other has a date to prom (and they don’t). They probably won’t figure it out, either. All Rhonda knows is that she’s not Patty’s friend anymore (WHY DO YOU LIKE A UGLY GORILLA LIKE HER?) and all Harold knows is that he wants to shoves Curly in front of a bus whenever he tries to give Rhonda attention (STAY AWAY FROM HER, FREAK).
(when she smashes his window with a rock it glitters and she sort of understands why he likes it so much)
Rhonda gets a boyfriend in junior year and Harold beats him to a pulp (Rhonda screams and screams but he doesn’t hear her - he just hears knuckles cracking against a jaw - and she doesn’t talk to him for a month after that, but at least she breaks up with her boyfriend). Harold dates Patty until Rhonda gets her kicked out of school for something she didn’t do (Harold doesn’t look at her for three weeks, but at least he doesn’t have to be around Patty anymore).
Rhonda goes to prom with Lorenzo senior year and wears all the glitter she wants, but Harold doesn’t show up so there’s no point in pretending to have fun. She sits by the punch bowl all night and yells at Lorenzo so much that he leaves without her and she has to get a ride home with Nadine.
(he sits by the ocean all night and watches the city lights on the water and he sort of gets why she likes the shine)
They scream at each other at their lockers the next day then he kisses her and some of her lip gloss gets on him but he doesn’t care enough to wipe it off (it tastes like strawberries but he sort of expected cherry). Someone calls him a wuss and he’s so dizzy from that kiss that he doesn’t even mind.
He drops out three months before graduation and never says he loves her.
Her eyes stop shining.
(except for the tears)