Harvey's house was huge, but not very extravagant. I had been there a few times before. He always invited me to his birthday parties. At first, in primary school, I used to come. But those parties always ended up in disaster. I didn't want his parents to think anything bad about me, so I stopped coming. Mr. and Mrs. McDonald were kind and loving. I used to think Harvey was adopted because he had nothing in common with them.

Harvey twisted the doorknob and pushed open the front door. I was a few feet behind him. Like the gentleman he wasn't, he didn't let me in first.

As soon as I stepped inside, I heard a terrible screech from somewhere very near me. I screamed in reply and flung myself forward.

Harvey had his back to me, and I crashed blindly into him, taking him down with me. Harvey's groan was followed by a roar of laughter from behind me.

I rolled off Harvey, my heart thumping loudly against my ribcage. I turned around and saw Jamie emerging from behind the door, with tears of laughter in his eyes.

I was still in shock, so I couldn't utter a single word. I placed my hand on my heart to placate it.

"Look at your face," Jamie laughed. "It's priceless."

I glared at him and got up from the floor, ignoring his outstretched hand.

"My heart is racing," I said, taking deep breaths.

"I know. I do have that effect on people," he said winking.

I rolled my eyes and was about to reply when Harvey groaned again.

"What's your problem?" I turned towards him and saw that he had his hand on his lower lip, which was covered with blood.

"Look what you did," I said to Jamie. He started laughing again.

"It wasn't that funny," I mumbled, feeling ashamed of my extreme reaction.

"Trust me. It was," he said, laughing again.

"Where's mom?" Harvey grumbled, getting up.

He went to sit on the sofa in the living room, and I followed.

"No one's home, it's only me," said Jamie, bringing a first aid kit.

He soaked a cotton pad in spirit and touched it to the wound. Harvey let out a howl.

"Mama's boy is crying," I teased.

"It hurts," he groaned. "And it's all your fault."

"My fault? It was Jamie who incited the chain reaction of events that led to your injury," I said indignantly.

"You can't outsmart him with that physics talk. You and solely you, are guilty for the injury," said Jamie.

"Yeah," agreed Harvey, nodding.

I flared up at once. My hands curled into fists on their own. "What about all the times you hit me?"

"I don't remember what you are talking about," he said.

"In primary school!" I exclaimed. "How could you not remember?"

"Haven't you ever heard of forgive and forget?" he asked.

I merely blinked.

"I have done the latter part. Forgotten," he said.

Before I could launch myself on him to add a bloody nose, both the boys burst into fits of laughter.

I glared at them to cover up my embarrassment. I uncurled my fists, sitting next to Harvey on the sofa.

"Where's Skylar?" I asked, changing the topic. "Don't you drive her home with you?"

"Gone over to some friend's house," he replied.

"Just like you are," said Jamie, trying to sit in between us. Harvey pushed him away.

"Friend?" I scoffed. "More like arch enemy."

"Why are you here then?" asked Jamie, raising his eyebrows, sitting on my other side.

"On very serious business," I said, glaring at Harvey.

He gulped, making a scared face.

"What are you doing here?" I asked Jamie rudely.

I felt both of them stiffen beside me. Before I could say something else, Harvey nudged me in my ribs and said, "he's staying with us for some time."

Jamie didn't say anything and got up to put the first aid kit back in its place.

"Don't leave me alone with her," said Harvey to Jamie, trying to break the tense atmosphere.

I thought it was better if I kept my mouth shut until I had some idea of what was happening. Jamie didn't even smile and left the room. It felt strange to see Jamie not smiling.

I looked at Harvey, raising my eyebrows.

"Jamie's mom died less than a month ago. He stopped talking and eating, and kept himself locked in his room. We get along very well together, so uncle decided it would be good for him to live at our house for some time. It would distract him from his misery," explained Harvey.

I was shocked beyond imagining. Jamie was such a nice and friendly guy. I had no idea that he was grieving from inside. I thought about my own mother. I didn't even remember her and still I missed her. What about Jamie who had lived for 16 years with his mom? She was suddenly taken away from him. He must have been heart broken.

"Are you okay?" asked Harvey, leaning towards me, wiping my tears with his thumb.

I was crying and I didn't even know it. I never cried in front of anyone. And the two times I did, I was unfortunate enough to do it in front of Harvey, and within a week too. The thought of my parents always made me cry.

"I'm fine," I said, my voice cracking.

"You know, I have never seen you cry before. Even when someone bullied you, instead of crying or getting frightened, you made them regret that they were ever born," said Harvey.

"Except you," I said, sniffing.

"Trust me, you did. Lots of times," he said, smiling.

"And you still bully me," I said.

"I wouldn't say bully. It's a strong word," he said. "It's more like teasing. Besides, I have told you a thousand times before, I am done bullying, teasing, whatever you call it."

"What ever you say," I said, rolling my eyes.

I can't belive that Harvey actually made me feel better. Crying in front of him wasn't so bad. He didn't make fun of me. That was something I never thought could happen. Maybe he really has changed. But I couldn't take any chances. I couldn't trust him unless he proved it.

"What is he doing inside?" I asked, pointing to the door Jamie had gone through.

"Must be crying," said Harvey. "He's a human being even if he is a guy, and he has the right to cry. Besides, I personally think it is better to cry than to bottle up the emotions. So, don't say he's weak."

"I wasn't going to," I said, a bit annoyed that he thought I would. "But I was going to say you should go and comfort him."

"I don't want him to feel embarrassed. I just want to let him cry in peace," he said.

"I know why you are thinking that way, but his mother died. I'm going to go talk to him," I said, standing up.

"Do you guys want something to eat? I was making cereal." I turned around and saw Jamie standing in the doorway.

His eyes looked a bit puffy, and his nose was red. He had obviously been crying.

"Yeah," said Harvey.

"You, Mary?" asked Jamie.

It pained my heart to see Jamie looking so serious. As much as I try to deny it, I like the obnoxious Jamie.

"Sure," I managed to say.

He smiled a little and turned to go. He was trying his hardest to hide the fact that he had been crying. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to talk to him after all. He needed some time to recover. Besides, I didn't even know him. I had only met him twice.

"Aren't you going to talk to him?" asked Harvey.

"Not now," I said. "Maybe later."

Jamie came in with three bowls of rice cereal. He handed one to me and one to Harvey, before sitting down with his bowl on his lap.

Harvey tried to talk a bit and cheer Jamie up, but no joke helped.

"You know Jamie, don't think you are forgiven for scaring me earlier. I will get back at you," I said.

"Okay, I won't forget," he smiled a bit.

"I thought I should tell you because you don't know me," I said.

"I do know you, from all the times Harvey has talked about you since pre school," he said.

"What?" I said.

"I didn't," said Harvey indignantly.

"He told me that you are fierce and ruthless. Like a fire breathing dragon," said Jamie.

I pouted and turned away from Jamie, but I mentally congratulated myself on lifting his spirits again.

"Harvey, I didn't know you were so afraid of me," I said.

He mumbled something and I only caught the last two words, "who's boss".

I glanced at Jamie who looked much better, but his natural cheerful aura had not yet returned.

"I'll be back," said Harvey and went to the kitchen.

"So, do you..." I started to say something when Jamie's phone beeped, indicating a text.

He opened the text and his face lit up at once. He smiled at the screen. I got a bit curious and leaned towards him to take a peek. He quickly turned the screen off and pocketed the phone.

'Maybe it's a girl. Or his girlfriend. I don't even know if he's in a relationship or not,' I thought.

I looked at my cereal, which didn't look so appetising any more.

"I'll be back in a sec," he said. "I have to go to the toilet."

He was back in a minute.

"That was quick," I said.

He laughed and finished his cereal quickly. I was just finishing mine, when he took out his phone and probably texted the girl back.

"Will you take the bowls back to the kitchen?" asked Jamie.

"Sure," I said.

I picked up the bowls and went to the kitchen. As soon as I entered, I saw Harvey fling a pale yellow blob at me.

It hit me square in the face. Both the bowls fell from my hands, on my feet. I kicked them to the side, and grabbed a huge jar of mayonnaise, from the shelf beside me.

I scoped it up in my hand, moving steadily towards Harvey. He backed away and kept throwing mashed bananas at me from a bowl. At last he got trapped between the wall and me. His ammunition didn't stop me from advancing.

I aimed for his stomach, and he quickly covered it with his hands. Quick as lightening, I flung the huge glob of mayonnaise towards his face. It landed on his face, with a splat.

I laughed and was about to wipe my hand on his shirt when I heard a crack. A split second later, I felt something liquid seeping through my hair at the back of my head. The cold, viscous liquid trickled down my neck, and into my yellow coloured shirt.

I turned around and saw Jamie laughing like a maniac. He had two more eggs in his hands. I glared at him and picked up the mayonnaise jar again. I stepped towards him and he waved the eggs in the air.

"One more step and I fire," he said.

"Fine," I said. "I surrender. Don't throw anything at me now."

I washed my hands at the washbasin, and picked up a towel to dry them. I placed the towel back on the stand and turned to leave.

"Mary," called out Harvey.

"Yes?" I turned around to face him.

"You are giving up?" he asked, astonished.

"Sure, I don't want to get egged again," I said. "And I should probably go and take a shower. The egg has trickled down my back and I don't like the sticky feeling."

Just as I was passing Jamie, I stopped. "You have something in your hair," I said, pointing.

He raised his hand to his hair, balancing the egg with the last three fingers, and brushed his hair with his forefinger.

Just as Harvey yelled, "NO!", I brought down my fist on his hand and the egg broke on his head. He instantly smashed the second egg on my face.

I staggered backwards and wiped my face with my hand. I saw a bottle of ketchup to my right and picked it up. I was struggling with the cap, because of my slimy hands, when I heard a snicker from behind me.

I turned around quickly and at the same moment managed to unscrew the cap. I saw Harvey standing right behind me, his hands covered with flour. I patted my head and saw a puff of little flour particles. I looked at my hand, the white flour had stuck to the egg.

I jerked the ketchup bottle, it's opening towards Harvey. It fell right on target, creating a red blotch on his white shirt. His laughter died down.

He stepped back and started looking for something else to throw. I backed towards the fridge, and positioned myself in a way that I could look at both the boys. Jamie was standing near the door, guarding my only way of escape.

I opened the fridge and saw a few cans of whipped cream. I took one out and waved it. "I've got ammunition," I yelled.

Jamie glanced at the shelves beside him and walked towards a yogurt bucket. 'Who keeps yogurt out of the fridge. There must be something else in it. Like brownies or cookies.' Of course, I had to think of two of my favourite things.

Jamie opened the bucket and quickly closed it again. "Time out," he said loudly.

By this time Harvey had grabbed the bottle of dish washing liquid as his ammunition, and was standing confidently with his characteristic smirk on his face.

"Who said this was a match or something. There are no time outs. What is inside the bucket anyway?" I asked Jamie.

"I just want to talk to Harvey," he said. "And there's nothing in the bucket."

"Trust me, I won't attack on you," he said.

"This isn't a timeout, but out of the goodness of my heart, I'll let you go talk to him," I said.

"Careful," said Harvey. "I'm sure she has a plan."

'Ah! He knows me well,' I thought.

Jamie looked at me questioning with his eyes, and I shook my head innocently.

He picked up the bucket, and carefully walked past me. I had a plan indeed. I concentrated on Jamie, so that I could listen, what he had to say to Harvey.

Jamie went to Harvey, opened the bucket and whispered something. Harvey looked inside and whispered something back. Jamie whispered something quite long, which I couldn't hear despite straining my ears. Harvey was in the middle of whispering back, when Jamie turned the bucket upside down and put it on Harvey's head like a cap, and ran to me.

I shook the can of whipped cream. "We are a team now," he said. I lowered the can of sweet, creamy, fluffy goodness.

Harvey took off the bucket from his head. His head and face were covered with yogurt. Thank goodness there was yogurt in the bucket, and not some brownies or cookies. He wiped his eyes and glared and Harvey.

"You traitor," he said.

"Look at your face," Jamie said. "Oh sorry, you won't be able to, it's covered with yogurt." He started laughing again.

"Trust me. It looks much better this way," I added, laughing.

"You have serious issues with his face," said Jamie. "That reminds me, I did ask my dad for his plastic surgery appointment," he whispered in my ear.

I raised my eyebrows in a questioning look.

"Seriously," he said. "Or have you changed your mind, and think he's gorgeous now?"

"Oh no," I feigned gagging.

"Mary," said Harvey suddenly. "Do you notice that Jamie is the cleanest of us all?"

"He's my partner now," I said. "I will spray whipped cream in your eyes. Then Jamie will cover you with that flour," I pointed to the flour bag, sitting right next to Harvey. "And the ketchup bottle might come in handy too."

"On three, Jamie," I said.

"But how will I get the flour?" asked Jamie, confused.

I ignored him. "One, two, three," I yelled and started spraying Jamie's face.

"What..." he opened his mouth to say something, but shut it as soon as the whipped cream filled it. He tried to defend his face with his hands.

Harvey quickly emptied the flour bag over his head. Jamie flung his hands in different directions and spun, trying to dodge us. Harvey picked up the ketchup bottle and emptied it on Jamie too.

When we were all done, we stepped back to admire our handiwork. The blue colour of Jamie's shirt wasn't visible due to the coating of whipped cream and flour, and the topping of ketchup.

Me and Harvey high fived. "You look amazing," I said to Jamie, laughing.

"Yeah, a real live work of art," said Harvey.

Jamie spat the whipped cream and flour from his mouth." I must say you two look stunning too," he said, laughing. "Harvey, how did you know what she meant? I was totally caught off guard."

"I know her well enough to interpret her coded messages," Harvey laughed. "I had no doubt about it."

"I can't wait to see the video footage," said Jamie.

"What video footage?" I asked.

"Harvey texted me to turn on the kitchen cameras," said Jamie. "When I said I was going to the toilet, I really went to the control room."

"So the girl was you," I said to Harvey.

"Girl?" he asked.

"I mean... oh never mind. Aren't the cameras always working?" I asked.

"Only one camera in every room is always on. I turned on the other three as well," explained Jamie.

"It was a fun food fight," said Harvey.

"The three Fs stand for..." started Jamie.

"Fun food and fight," I finished. "Now let's get cleaned up."

"Okay," said Jamie and wiped his face with his hands. I was walking past him, when he wiped his hands on the back of my shirt.

"Hey," I turned around and launched at him.

Jamie backed into Harvey, who pushed him and he crashed into me. I fell down with a bang and Jamie fell right beside me. He kicked at Harvey's leg and Harvey fell on top of him. I sat up, and tried to get out of their way. Jamie clutched at my foot, and wouldn't let go. I was laughing so hard that my stomach was hurting. Jamie and Harvey also sat up and joined me.

We were laughing hysterically, and weren't conscious of the fact that we were covered in flour, yogurt, mayonnaise, ketchup and eggs. And that the kitchen was ruined. The two bowls of cereal and the spoons were scattered on the dirty floor.

We could have laughed for ever if it weren't for the words, "KIDS! What in the name of Lord is going on here?"

Author's note:

This is the longest chapter yet. I really loved writing this. I've always wanted to have a food fight, but I don't like wasting food, so I made my characters have it.

The only food fight I've had is with my cat. The video clip is attached above/ to the side. I have added a soundtrack to cover up my voice.

Now for the mentions. Don't forget, I have to follow you to mention. A big thank you to,

nina_ricci

SunriseShine88

honeyblobs

MLP333

strawberry-pinky

Bareerakhan

For this chapter's special mention, I would like to give a huge hug to,

tere-liye

I love reading your comments. Thanks for all the support.

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See ya!