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CONFIDENCE. HARRY SPENT all day thinking about that word, and what it meant.
He thought about it all through his morning classes, and now, at lunch, he was
chewing thoughtfully on a TeaLeef Sandwich from his Sloth Lunchbox and pondering
it further. His friends Solsi the Kougra and Trellmire the Shoyru had lunch
at the same time he did, and were sitting at the table eating their own lunches
and watching the Grarrl deep in thought.
"What do you suppose he's thinking?" asked Trellmire
as she sipped her Kau Kau Farm milk. "He's really concentrating."
"Maybe he's pondering the meaning of life, or
why there aren't any toilets in NeoHomes," Solsi said. "They are some of the
great mysteries of life, after all."
Trellmire chucked one of her potato wedges at
Harry's head to get his attention and settle the debate. "Hey, big guy, what're
you thinking?"
"Huh?" Harry looked up from his reverie and
caught the wedge in his mouth, chomping. "Oh… I'm going to be trying out for
the school play today. I'm really nervous about it, but Neffypoo said I should
have confidence in myself. I'm trying to figure out where I get some of that
stuff, and how I make it work…"
Solsi grinned. "Trust me, being a Neopian hero
isn't easy - and it would be impossible without confidence. You just have to
believe that you can do it, Harry, and reach down inside of you and find that
ability to act. I'm sure you can do it!"
"Yeah!" Trellmire said. "We believe in you,
Harry."
"Aww, thanks, guys. I'm going to try my best."
Harry grinned widely and went to throw out the trash from his lunch. Unfortunately,
he passed by Radha's table on the way to the trash can. The spoiled little Cybunny
was doing her nails, surrounded by other beautiful pets that she deemed worthy
of her adorable presence.
"Look girls, it's that famous star, Harry the
Grarrl!" she snickered. "Ooh, Harry, can I have an autograph?" All the other
pets at the table laughed as if this was the funniest thing they'd ever heard.
Harry tried his best to ignore them, and dumped
his trash. But the snobby Cybunny stood up, and blocked his path. She wasn't
just pretty and stuck up, she also had a reputation for being one of the toughest
battlers in the Battledome. Harry gulped and looked down at Radha. "Excuse me,
please…"
"There is no excuse for pets like you!" she
snapped. "You think you're all that because you had a story about you in Neopia's
number one paper. But you're nothing. Harry isn't even your real name, I read
all about it. You're just--" She paused to take a breath and recite the long
string of letters and numbers.
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"Dsaf654dsaf899! Ugh...
not even a proper name. And you're such a common species, too. You think
those stripes make you special? My fur is pure and white, and I'm a rare,
unique Cybunny. The school play is for people like ME and not losers like
YOU!" With that, she stomped back to her table, amidst the giggling of
her friends.
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"You go, girlfriend!" said Tigsam, offering her
paw for a high five. Radha ignored the paw, she was too dignified for such displays,
and went back to painting her nails the most adorable shade of pink. Harry slunk
back to his table in silence. Solsi growled in Radha's general direction, having
noticed the confrontation, but even Neopia's brave peasant hero wasn't stupid
enough to go start something with Radha. He'd seen her around the Battledome,
and wasn't about to get his tail kicked. Trellmire patted Harry on the paw,
sympathising with his plight.
"She's just a bully, Harry. Don't pay any attention
to her. One day, she's gonna get what she deserves. That's what happens to all
bullies, my owner says. It's a thing called karma. What goes around, comes around."
Trellmire folded her arms and wings and looked crossly at the giggling bevy
of pets at Radha's table.
The lunch bell rang, and the pets hurried back
towards their respective classes. For the rest of the day, Harry agonised about
his upcoming audition. He knew that the play had been written by the great poet
and playwright, Alstaf Poogle, and that it involved a forbidden romance between
Scorchio and Jubjubette, but that was all he knew about it. Maybe there was
a part for a Grarrl, or an exceptionally large tree… or something like that.
There could be some sort of place for him, after all.
He just had to remember to have confidence, and
believe in himself. Harry thought about how far he had come from his days of
living in fear at the hands of those two scientists who had made his life miserable.
He'd escaped from that horrible life, and found a loving home and family. He
was doing good in Neoschool, and helping Tiara and Kyerai out around the inn.
"I do a lot of things right," Harry said to himself, right in the middle of
Neopian History class. The teacher, an elderly Kau who was just in the middle
of a lecture on the destruction of Maraqua, gave him a glare. "Sorry, Mrs. Patty"
Harry said, clamping a paw over his mouth. She went on with her lecture, and
Harry remembered not to draw mental conclusions aloud.
During science class, which involved preparing
a basic healing potion, Harry was lab partners with his friend, Kaelik. "Are
you all ready for the tryouts today?" Kaelik asked. Today, he was a silver Grundo,
and reasonably male, or so Harry assumed. You never knew with Kaelik, considering
all those visits to the lab ray - but he wasn't about to ask or check.
"Yeah… I think so," Harry said, carefully measuring
ingredients.
"Me too!" said Kaelik excitedly. "I can hardly
wait. I'm going to wow them with my impressions! Bet you can't guess who this
is." Kaelik picked up the empty vial that their potion would be going into and
made a foul, grumpy face. "With thissss potion, I will turn all you horrible
Neopets into mutant slaves! Muahaha…"
"That's really good," Harry said, laughing.
"Dr. Sloth, right?"
"Yeah, the old greeny himself. Okay, how about
this one?" Still holding the vial as a prop, Kaelik squished up his snout and
looked a bit snobby. "My merchandise is moooooving, so you'd better buy my potion
quick!"
"Hmm… moooving. Kauvara, right?" Harry grinned.
"Yeah, you got it! See, acting isn't so hard.
You try one, now." Kaelik chopped up some of the fresh tigersquash for the potion
and let Harry think about it.
Harry pondered for a while, then decided who
he'd impersonate. He wasn't so good at famous people like Sloth or Kauvara,
but he saw his Science teacher, Mr. Dimwity, five days a week. A cranky old
Skeith with a snarl shouldn't be that hard to do, after all. "Class! Quit yer
complainin' and get back tae work. Yah useless lugs…"
"Hehehe… that's pretty good, Harry." Kaelik
snickered.
Harry went on, enjoying this, "If yah don't get
back tae makin' those potions right now, I'm gonnaa…."
"Gonna what, Mr. Grarrl?" Suddenly Mr. Dimwity
was looming over him. He must have had a faerie queen burrito for lunch from
the smell of his breath. Harry blinked and hurried back about making the potion.
"Nothing, nothing…"
"Hmph." Mr. Dimwity settled back into his chair
with a creak, but he kept a close eye on Harry and Kaelik for the rest of the
class, making talking impossible. Once out in the hallway after the bell rang,
though, the two friends laughed about the incident.
"Man, you should have seen the look on his face
as he was stalking over to you." Kaelik laughed.
"How come you didn't warn me?" Harry asked,
though at least they hadn't gotten in trouble.
"Well, it wouldn't have been nearly as funny
if you knew he was coming." Kaelik grinned. He had an odd sense of humour. "Anyhow,
that was our last class of the day - so are you ready?"
"Ready?" Harry said, swallowing the lump that
was suddenly in his throat. "For the tryouts?"
"Yep! It's time, come on!" Kaelik gleefully headed down the hall towards the
auditorium. Harry followed at a more reluctant pace, the butterflies returning
to his stomach and making him feel ill. His palms were getting sweaty, and he
felt a panic that urged him to run away, no matter what his friends would say.
But he remembered Neffypoo's advice, and tried to have confidence in himself.
He could do this… even though he was scared silly. Kaelik pushed open the double
doors, and Harry nervously walked in behind him.
To be continued... | 
