"Who's gonna control it?" Harry whispered.
"Rock, Paper, Scissors?" Eren answered with a competitive smirk.
"Bet." Harry responded with a smirk of his own.
The two boys faced each other, extending their hands toward the other. "Rock. Paper. Scissors!" The two boys said simultaneously. Despite having spider-sense and high intellect, the spider boy lost the game of chance to his best friend.
"Yes!" Harry laughed as he pumps his fist. "You can explain the details during the showcase. Deal?"
Eren nodded and they began the course.
The drone started at the Rotating Log. Due to the drone's symmetry, balance was not an issue and they cleared the obstacle with ease. Next up was the Rock Hill. Similar to the first obstacle, the drone sped up the hill with ease while sidestepping the rocks in its way. Once at the top of the hill, the drone dropped to the ground and landed feet first with ease. The crowd began to cheer, as this was the first drone to not roll over upon landing. Harry and Eren looked confidently at each other as the crowd cheered them on. Next up was the Swinging Axes, due to the drone's speed, it cleared all four axes all in one go. The crowd cheered once again as the drone continued through the course with ease. Once the drone reached the showcase area, Eren approached it with glass bottles and set them in front of it.
"The first feature of our drone is our stun gun attachment." Eren told the class as Harry controlled the drone to approach the bottles.
He shot the bottles with the stun gun and they exploded instantly, causing a few people in the crowd to jolt and gasp in fear. Eren and Harry looked at each other with shocked expressions, as they didn't expect it to cause that much damage. Eren laughed it off awkwardly and continued the showcase.
"Anyway, next we will show you guys the camouflage mechanism. Go for it, Harry." He said as looked at his best friend.
The drone became nearly invisible as it blended in with its environment. The crowd let out some "oohs and aahs" upon seeing the drone seemingly disappear. Eren then went to the table of props and grabbed a golf club from the table.
"Now we will show you guys how powerful the outside shell is." Eren said with a confident expression.
"We used Elemental Terratech Metal all around the top here. This stuff is crazy strong and is resistant to all elements." Eren continued as he approached with the golf club. "Let's see if I can damage it, I'll hit it as hard as I can."
Using as much strength as Eren would classify as "human" strength, he swung the golf club down at the drone repeatedly. After several hits, the golf club was bent at the end at a ninety-degree angle, causing the crowd to look on in awe.
"Harry, show them the remote." He instructed his partner.
Harry flashed the remote at the audience, showcasing the dozens of buttons and the massive screen on the front.
"We also have a full 360-degree camera at the bottom of the drone, so we can see what the drone sees via the remote, even if we can't see the drone itself." Eren lectured to the class. "We'll end the showcase with one last feature. Well, I guess we can call it a two-in-one. Harry, you see the vent on the wall there?"
Harry smiled at his friend, as he knew exactly what his partner wanted him to do. He sent the drone over to the wall and began controlling it to climb up the wall. The entire crowd reacted simultaneously with various sounds of approval.
"We used Phycyzm, a synthetic material, at the ends of the legs to allow them to stick to surfaces on command. Now, once Harry reaches the vent, we'll show you our special multitool attachment that is hidden in the shell. "
The drone approached the vent and stood on top of it. A hatch opened up at the top of a drone and a multitool emerged from within it. The screwdriver attachment slowly reached out and began unscrewing the vent. Once the screws were out, the drone pulled the vent cover off.
After allowing the crowd to cheer, Harry made the drone put the cover back on and screw it back into the wall.
"I think that's a good enough showcase. Thank you." Eren told the crowd as they erupted in applause.
He picked up the drone and Harry put his hand on his shoulder. The two looked at each other and smiled confidently as they approach the judges' table to show them the drone. The judges inspected the drone up close, amazed that a few teenagers were able to create such a thing.
"Wow, Harry. You actually put some effort into something." Norman said sarcastically with a smile. As he expected, the Parker boy would act as a motivation for his son. However, their relationship went both ways. Eren helped the boy take his education more seriously, while Harry helped Eren emerge from his shell and become more sociable.
"It's all thanks to this guy." Harry said as he slapped Eren's shoulder. "His creativity is truly infectious."
"Good job, you two." Dr. Connors told them, proud of his two students for going above and beyond for the project.
"I'm impressed. What did you say your name was, young man? I'm already acquainted with Harry over here." Dr. Octavious said as he looked over at the Parker boy.
"Eren. Eren Parker." The young man said with a respectful nod.
"You're brilliant, Eren. The both of you. Well done." Dr. Octavious said, writing down Eren's name for future reference.
"Thank you." The two boys say simultaneously.
The rest of the groups went, but none of them were able to even come close to competing with Eren and Harry's drone. In the end, the two boys were announced to be the winners of the competition. They both received a scholarship to Empire State University. However, Harry had no use for it so he asked if he could give it away to another student.
Seeing as to why that wouldn't be allowed, the school let him give it to someone else. Since Cindy was such a big help, he told them to give it to Cindy Moon, allowing for all three friends to go to the university together.
To celebrate, the two called up Cindy and decided to all meet up at Joe's Pizza for a celebratory feast.
Eren and Harry arrived first and sat across from each other at one of the booths. As they waited for Cindy, Harry looked at Eren and talked about the competition before Harry started talking about a girl from the program.
"You see how impressed Lily was? She for sure wants me, bro." Harry said confidently.
"Yeah? Lily Hollister?" Eren laughed. "She is pretty cute, you should go for it."
"I just might, I do love blondes." Harry responded with his hand on his chin. However, him saying this was only meant to be a smooth transition to the next topic.
"Enough about me, what about you?" Harry spoke to Eren with a smirk as he leaned in toward him. "Any girls you're into?" He knew the answer, but he wanted to hear Eren say it.
"Yeah. There's one. I don't know if she's into me or not." Eren rubbed the back of his head while confessing.
"Does her name start with a 'C' and end in 'indy'?" Harry teased with a semi-serious expression.
"No…" Eren lied, but he could tell Harry isn't buying it.
"C'mon bro, we're buds, I won't tell her, I swear." Harry told him with sincerity as he put his hand over his chest.
"Okay, fine. I do like Cindy." Before Eren could continue, he was interrupted by Harry celebrating his observations.
"I knew it!" Harry proclaimed as he slammed the table, causing a few of the patrons to glare at them with confused looks.
"I've liked her since I first moved here when I was around nine or ten years old, so about eight years ago. We've been friends I guess, but we haven't really been close until recently. I always get awkward around her and mess things up. Bro… I even had her in my room once but I fumbled." Eren buried his face in his hands in frustration. Harry held back his laughter before getting serious.
"Nah, bro you didn't fumble, not completely. Have you not noticed how she looks at you? Especially when you start being a nerd and getting all hyper-focused. She does this thing where she bites her pen and stares up at you with puppy eyes. I gotta say, I'm jealous." Harry told him as he bit down on a straw, mimicking Cindy's innocent stare.
"What? That just means she's focused. She's not even looking at me." Eren explained as he looks up at Harry, unimpressed by his impression.
"Bro. She's obviously gonna look away when you look. Underneath that outgoing personality, she's way too shy when she actually likes someone. Plus, she always sits next to you when we all hang out. Every single time." Harry added while still biting the straw as Cindy would.
"What? No, it's probably a coincidence." Eren said in a dismissive tone. He paused for a second before admitting his mistake the night prior.
"I also... Kissed another woman." He admitted.
"You what!" Harry yelled, once again gathering the attention of the other customers.
"Can you quiet down!? Damn!" Eren whispered angrily, not feeling comfortable with the disapproving glares. "I was caught in the moment, she's a coworker of mine. After we finished our shift we just sort of... you know."
"No way... What's she like?" Harry was invested, feeling as if he were spectating a drama on TV.
"She's... I don't know man she's older than me and it felt weird. She's like mid to late twenties." As soon as those words left Eren's mouth, Harry's eyes widened.
"You fucked a milf!?" He said loudly, immediately causing Eren to look around in embarrassment.
"I said I kissed her. That's it. She's not even a mom, dude. Listen, I just needed to get that off my chest, alright. I feel bad, like I betrayed Cindy or something."
"Dude. It's fine. You're single, you can swap spit with whoever you want. You clearly like Cindy, though. She's obviously the one you like, right? The other lady sounds like she's just interested in your body. Cindy really likes you for you. You dork. I think you should ask her out. Today, don't be a pussy." As Harry spoke, he looked over Eren's shoulder and noticed Cindy walking in.
"Oh, look there's your girlfriend right there." Harry waved Cindy over as she walked into the building. She walked over to the booth and sat next to Eren, of course, without hesitation. Seeing this, Harry looked at Eren while mimicking Cindy's pencil bite once more and laughed. Cindy looked at them both in confusion.
"What?" She said to both of them. She could tell that the two of them are acting strangely, but she didn't know what was going on between them.
"Nothing. Anyway, it's pizza time!" Eren rubbed his hands as he spoke, and the other two smiled as they all decided on what they should order.
The three of them celebrated the victory and eat pizza together. Harry instructed them to all eat as much as they wanted, as he would handle the bill. They all ate until their bellies were full and talked amongst each other for a bit. Once it was late, the three of them got up and headed out of the pizzeria together.
"Congrats again guys! I gotta head home now. See ya!" Cindy began walking away toward the direction of her house, leaving the boys behind.
"It's way too late for a small girl like yourself to walk home all alone. You should have a big strong man-" Harry pushed Eren forward as he spoke, causing the boy to stumble forward since his guard was down. "-walk you home. I'd offer, but I gotta get home and take care of my dog."
"You don't even have a dog." Eren said bluntly, not understanding what Harry is doing due to his density.
"Anyway, see you two later, bye!" Harry said quickly before walking away, waving backward with one hand as his other rested in his coat pocket.
Eren and Cindy stood there for a second until Eren realized what Harry was trying to do. He quickly turned around towards Cindy, his heart pounding rapidly, and walked up to her. "He's right, minus the… extraneous details. You shouldn't walk home alone this late, I'll go with you."
"M'kay." She answered, happy to be able to spend a little bit more time together with him.
The two walked and talked for a few miles until they reached Cindy's building. Once there, Eren walked her to the door and waited for her to unlock it. Eventually, she opened the door and began walking inside.
"Thank you for walking with me. Bye, Eren." She told him as she began closing the door.
As if his body had a mind of its own, Eren extended his hand forward and stopped the door from closing. "Wait."
There was a brief silence between the two as the boy built up enough courage to finally make his move. "Remember when I said I'd thank you for letting me borrow the sewing machine? How about we go to Mickey's Diner this weekend. On me, of course." He said with a surprising amount of confidence.
"Yeah, that'll be fun!" She said enthusiastically. "I can't wait."
"Great! I'll text you the date and time… The date as in the day of the week, not date as in I'm calling us hanging out together a date or anything." He said as he laughed awkwardly.
"We can call it a date!" Cindy said abruptly as her face began to slowly change color.
"Oh. Well, then it's a date." Eren declared to her, oddly exuding a small bit of confidence.
"Mhm!" Cindy spoke in both a nervous and enthusiastic tone while her face turned more crimson by the second. There was about a three-second pause of silence as Eren waited for her to dismiss herself.
"Eren…" Cindy said while looking up at him, her face was still red.
"Yes?" He could feel his heart beating rapidly against his chest from the inside, feeling as if it were ready to burst.
"I can't close the door. You're too strong." She informed him, as his hand was still stopping the door from closing with his superhuman strength.
"Oh! Yeah, of course. Sorry." Eren removed his hand from the door and took a step back.
"Goodnight, Eren." She told him with a smile as she slowly began shutting the door.
"Goodnight."
Once the door was shut, Eren stood there with a massive smile on his face, one that no one saw, but a toothy smile nonetheless. He was truly happy at this moment, despite his complicated feelings for her and Black Cat, he was certain that this was what he wanted.